In and around Kathmandu

Thanks Muds!

Well just completed a year at Hermes with a great crowd of Muds! Thanks guys and girls I really enjoyed working with you all!


Now onto other quests - that being going back to Shishapangma. This will be my third attempt at getting to the 8,013m summit. It's the lowest of the fourteen eight-thousanders in the world and located entirely in Tibet. In both 2006 and 2007 I was stopped by bad weather. Both of those attempts were during the Post Indian monsoon period of September/October. This year I'm trying in the Pre monsoon.
Image from www.adventureweather.com


Now Shishapangma is one of the easiest eight-thousanders according to Wikipedia. We'll perhaps for someone like Reinhold Messner, but for a normal Mud like me it still presents quite a challenge. There is a double marathon in South Africa between Durban and Pietermaritzburg - 89km, which I completed in 1985,1987 & 1989 (almost got cancelled this year due to the IPL!) But the point about it is that it's almost impossible to complete without having run it before. This happened to me in 2007 on Shisha - I was much better prepared, especially mentally. Now yes I've had a little hick up with my not so humorous Humerus, so I'm not as prepared as I would like to be but I still have the benefit of being on the mountain twice before!


So the plan is to spend 3 to 4 weeks acclimatising in Nepal in the valleys and passes West of Mount Everest. Unfortunately Claire has been flat out at work so will not be able to make the trek, but Wendy & Ray (Mum & Dad), Major Hume and family and Sonal will be coming along!


As some of you know I do have a fair amount of communication gear (CTU style!) with me so hopefully will be able to update this blog as we go along.


If you are interested in getting email triggers please drop me a line Email me!


Cheers
Mark


PS the previous attempts and some other "stuff" are also all in this blog - just browse through the archive menu

The Mountaineer

The Summit is the place to be

To contemplate Philosophy;

Relieve the Mind’s Turgidity;

Enrich the Spirit’s lethargy;

Refresh the Physique actively;

Indulge the Sense: Touch and See

Explore the Earth’s Anatomy

Gentle, softly sensuously –

Reaching upwards, climbing free

From the Tibia to the Knee

Across the Thigh of Ecstasy

On a high, to Apogee!

By Raymond E Hose