DIL Trust UK successfully reach Everest Base Camp in April 2011

Photo: Everest summit

Congratulations to the team from Development in Learning ("DIL") Trust UK who successfully trekked to Everest Base Camp in Nepal with The Mountain Company in April this year. In spite of poor weather and conditions up high the group carried on with admirable determination to reached Base Camp on April 26th.

DIL Trust UK seeks to establish or adopt, and operate primary and secondary schools for less privileged children, primarily girls, in the under-developed and rural regions of Pakistan. Their Everest Base Camp trek was a fundraiser for this good cause in Pakistan.

Thanks to Georgina Hobbs and Nepalese Sirdar Buddhi Rai for their help in making this trek such a success and of course thanks also to the porters who carried the group's gear for everyday of the trek.

If you are interested in trekking to Everest Base Camp to raise funds for a charity of your choice then please take a look at our Open Everest Challenge led by Alan Ward with dates November 29th to December 17th 2011. This trek is now guaranteed to run and there is currently availability please get in touch soon if you would like to join this group.

Roland Hunter

www.themountaincompany.co.uk

Islamic Relief Everest Challenge successfully reach Base Camp

The Islamic Relief Everest Challenge team all arrived safely back to Kathmandu today. Congratulations to eleven members of the team who successfully trekked to Everest Base Camp on December 13th.

This group has raised a significant amount of sponsorship for various water projects in Africa.

Roland Hunter

www.themountaincompany.co.uk

Everest climbing season 2009

Everest climbing season 2009 is fast approaching with most teams planning to arrive in Kathmandu towards the end of March. If you are interested in following the events on Everest then I suggest you take a look at Alan Arnette's website. Another good source of mountaineering news is MountainEverest.net, this website posts regular updates on all 8,000m expeditions in the Himalayas and Karakoram. 

Roland Hunter 

www.themountaincompany.co.uk

World record attempt for staying on the summit of Mt Everest

Photo: Everest summit

In May brothers Pemba Dorje Sherpa, Nima Gyalzen and Phurba Tenzing will attempt to break the world record for staying on top of Mount Everest. The current record is held by the late Babu Chiri Sherpa at 20 hours. They are all very experienced Sherpas having between them made 16 Everest summits and Pemba currently holds the speed record for ascending to the summit in an amazing 8 hours and 10 minutes!

New Trailblazer guidebooks

Trailblazer Publications have recently published two new or updated guidebooks to the Himalaya region: the 5th edition of the Trekking in the Everest region by Jamie McGuinness and also the 1st edition of Himalaya by Bike by Laura Stone. I have just read Jamie’s Trekking in the Everest region and can recommend it as the best trekking guidebook to the Khumbu. I like the Trailblazer approach of covering a region rather than an entire country resulting in a more comprehensive and informative read. 

Trailblazer also publish trekking guidebooks to the Annapurna and Ladakh regions. I have used all three of these guidebooks while trekking in the Himalayas. One reason I find them so useful is due to their superb maps, not only are they very easy to follow but also include accurate walking times. Therefore, you can decide where to stop for the night whereas other guidebooks tend to include “day by day” itineraries which results in everyone staying in the same campsite or lodge each night. 

Laura’s book Himalaya by Bike covers the classic rides of the Himalayas: Karakoram Highway, Manali to Leh, Leh to Srinagar, Spiti and Kinnaur, Bhutan, Sikkim and Friendship Highway between Tibet and Nepal. This guidebook is clearly a labour of love; over the last three years Laura has cycled all of these areas while researching the book. As in all Trailblazer books, the author’s passion for travel comes through in her guidebook and no doubt will provide inspiration for many to start cycling in the Himalayas. For more information take a look at www.himalayabybike.com (currently being updated). To find out more about Trailblazer Publications take a look at their website at http://www.trailblazer-guides.com/

Roland Hunter

Everest Base Camp!!

Photo: Islamic Relief group at Everest BC

Congratulations to the team from the Islamic Relief who successfully trekked to Everest BC and Kalapathar on December 1st. They raised a large amount of money for water projects in developing countries, so well done to everyone involved! With increasing numbers of trekker visiting the Khumbu during the peak trekking month of October, my top tip is to go later in the year at the end of November and into December . The weather is normally stable at this time of year with sunny days and there are far fewer trekkers around. In fact from speaking to The Mountain Company's October Everest BC group I am convinced that it was colder in Gorakshep in October than late November....