Satellite Phone Report Tuesday 29 August 2006

Now at 4500m. Progressed well up to now and it looks good for the future – feels as strong as a Sherpa! Carrying a 20kg backpack and surviving well on local food and copious amounts of black lemon tea. Weather is wet and misty but had a brief glimpse of a 7000m peak yesterday. Sleep last night was restless – experienced breathing difficulties - but this was only due to the fact that this was higher than he had been before. At 4500m he was only getting 64% of the oxygen available at sea level. This is what acclimatisation is all about. Plans to ascend to 5000m tomorrow which will be height of Mount Shishapagma Base Camp. Then, day after tomorrow, will descend again, to take up story.
Have recorded chart details for past six days of ascending to 4500m - but still unable to post this in tabular format. Must check how to do this. Will follow up.
Fourstones

Sunday 27 August

Early this morning we got a telephone call - it was Hoseman! “Did I wake you?” he asked. “No,” I replied “I’ve been at work a couple of hours!” ‘Good’.
The reception was beautifully clear. He was experiencing typical Monsoon weather. Three days of ‘wet’. It turned out he had left Dhunche and had traversed beautiful scenery all the way up the Langtang Kolo or valley and had reached the Bhote Khosi River junction. “It just gets better and better”. He had been staying with families all along and had found them to be the most wonderfully friendly and obliging people. Starting off with more food than he had needed (typical!) he found himself giving away his rations and living off the hospitality of the locals. “Often, they just refuse to accept any payment but I always insist on paying my way. Its their livelihood.”
At the moment he was sitting enjoying a cup of lemon tea with a group of chickens and a huge rooster all around him. There were lots of lodges to stay in and many more being built. With the rain, the trail was rather muddy and quite difficult at times. Maps were poor but when one came to a fork in the path all one did was to wait until someone came along and they would direct you.
After crossing over to the north side of the Langtang River he was expecting to reach 2400 metres soon. He had found a way of transmitting voice mail to his blog and was hoping to get a favourable report on how successfully it had been received and recorded. Earlier this morning he had also phoned Mackworth to wish Claire a happy birthday! He was having a superb time and thoroughly enjoying the experience.
We have just listened to Hoseman's voice mail message - works well, good sound and loud and clear. Well done!
From Fourstones 27 August








Views of valley along the route to Trisuli






Local bus to valley villages - took 13 hours on return - quite fun when bus designed for shorter people!

Audioblog, via Satellite, via the US, from Dhunche

Audio blog removed as funtionality no longer available from blogger.com

Krishanarpan

Off to Dhunche this morning so quick update
Had a very successful day yesterday
Bought some Grivel crampons – see http://www.grivel.com/Products/Dettaglio_ramponi.asp?ID=5 and 2 Terra Nova tents see http://www.terra-nova.co.uk/epages/terranova.storefront/44ed00a8003b2c342741ac10014005b9/Catalog/6
Very chuffed with the tents as I know them very well. One will be great for Camp 1 – larger and a little heavier the other is perfect for Camp 2 & 3. Mingma sourced these for me and I’m very grateful. He also took me on the back of his motorbike to Bhat Bhateni shop. Many stories of clothes, shoes, food TV’s and washing machines (for base camp). So will be returning there to get supplies after my trek.

Diner was as follows:

Authentic Napali Cuisine
1. CHEERS WITH RAKSI & SUKUTI
(Homemade alcohol with dry charcoal meat)
2. ALOO TAMA KO JHOL
(Soup of bambooshot with potato & Nepali herbs
3. CHARA-ATHAWA-KHASI KO MASU
(Mutton curry cooked in local way)
4. with HARIYO PARIYO SAAG
(Fresh green sautéed vegetables)
5. with MIS MAS TARKARI
(Mixed vegetables in Nepali spices
6. with JHANEKO DAL
(Lentils tempered with Himalayan herbs)
7. with GOLBHENDA KO ACHAR
(Tomato pickle)
8. with SADA BHUJA
(Himalayan long stemmed rice)

Absolutely delicious and the best meal I have had for ages (other than the last couple of dinners with Claire!)

So you might not get an update for 8 days – should be back into Kathmandu on the 3rd – that is if I can’t get my Sat to email directly to the blog – I will try!

By the way "Krishanarpan" means Bon appetite

In Kathmandu!

One thing about blogging is that many things can happen between blogs, and the writer has to remember that the last thing readers see is the last blog - therefore one has too follow on..

So Heathrow.... as Claire has said, it couldn't have gone smoother. We arrived 3 hours before take off and were second in the check-in Q. The guy behind the desk, didn't even ask me one question (did you pack your bags etc etc..). Just said I was booked all the way through and that was that. What a relief! Claire had just given me two of her Ibruprofens as I had a splitting headache. That quickly cleared especially due to the smooth check-in. My extra 10kg was not even noticed. After a very sad good-bye to Claire, I joined the Q for the security check...that did snake around the world (I think 3 times) but I eventually got through and into duty free.

Qatar airways is great. Plenty of leg room and a new plane, personalised video good food etc etc 3 of the cabin crew were South Africans and all seemed very happy working for Qatar. Smoke could be seen as we flew over Bagdad and Iraq - not not really. Watched The Sentinel with Michael Douglas, Kiefer Sutherland and Eva Longoria - quite fun, but 24 still better.

Doha international airport was new and clean - aircon was actually quite cool and I had my (high altitude) puffa jacket over me while I slept the couple of hours for the Kathmandu (KTM) connection - crazy seeing was over 40 degrees outside. Only one of two Europeans on the flight, and the tallest, rest all Nepales. I sat next to Mingma Gelu Sherpa (5 time Everest summiter).



His two sisters are also climbers in their own right. His one sister summited Everest when she was 15 and his other is the only woman to have summited 5 times! See http://www.mounteverest.net/news.php?id=699. Hopefully will be able to arrange some mountain food from his suppliers for my trip - one thing that I did not get time to do back in the UK. Anyway, good flight again, about half full and arrived at KTM at about 18:45. Met by Samir from Explore Himalaya See www.explore-himalaya.com. This is a great company run by Suman Pandey and I can highly recommend them. I used them for my trip to Everest Base camp back in 1998. They dropped me off at the Hotel Marshyangdi - very pleasant twin room on the second floor (view over garden at the side) with hot water, aircon and multi channel TV! See www.hotelmarshyangdi.com. Just so that you have an idea I'm paying $25 including breakfast. immediately went out to explore the local Thamel sights and very much sounds. I forgot to mention that the trip from the airport was entertaining to say the least. Although everyone and everything is all over the road, they all seem to co-exist somehow.

KTM was very much how I remembered - I think though some of the roads have new tar on them - less mud! Amazing the number of industries jam packed next to each other. Everyone trying to get your business - things have been quieter for the last couple of years to to the political instability, but on the ground all seems just the same. There is some issue with petrol prices but life seems to carry on...

This morning was clear and blue and I had a long relaxing breakfast in the hotels garden. Have decided to go to Langtang for my 8/9 day pre-climb trek. Objective will be to get my "mountain legs" and get as acclimatised as I can prior to our drive to Shisha base camp. See www.welcomenepal.com/new/destinations_parks_langtang.asp. Bill Tilman and Peter Lloyd explored this area in 1949 and this is detailed in his book "Nepal Himalaya". He described the valley as one of the most beautiful in the world. Here was his peak Gangchempo - the "glorious Fluted Peak".




So it should be fabulous, other than the rain (I'm taking a large golfing umbrella - and no Dries it's not a DeBeers one) and the leaches. As very early in the season I should also have some peace and quiet and there should not be any lost wildebeest on the trail. Will also be testing out my equipment - new sat phone, GPS etc along the way. Another reason for going to this area is that Shisha is just to the north - who knows if I get high enough I might even to have my first glimse of my objective.



So plan is to finalise some food and gear tomorrow and then catch a local bus the next day to Dhunche (7/8 hours on a good day!). Then trek North West to Morimoto Peaks base camp. How far up I go will depend on conditions - one never knows what the monsoon might have done in the valleys...
Will blog again tomorrow
By the way you can text me: https://sms.thuraya.com

My sat number is +88216 52 00 22 91 Say who you are else I won't know...

Don't worry if I don't respond - saving batteries...

Who's watching the blog...

You did not reconfirm your flight - ticket cancelled!

Oops...
I phoned Qatar airlines this morning, as had been told to reconfirm the fight (72 hours before departure!). Yes I was now within the 72 hours and was told by a rather unfriendly employee that as I had not reconfirmed the flight by now, the ticket had been cancelled (without refund). They obviously over book and manage the situation this way. My only option was to arrive very early for the flight and go on stand by! Hmmph! Not a very good idea especially considering the mess at the airports these days...and also due to the fact that I need to beg (or pay if begging does not succeed) for my extra luggage – have just received a large 4.5kg of high Carbohydrate powder!

After some thoughts and discussions with Claire, decided that I would rather re-book (and pay) than get there early and still be told that the flight was full...and then find out the next flights were also full...
Expedia indicated that some seats were available on the next day’s flights - funnily within the 72 hour limit - wonder how one reconfirms those!

Anyway spoke to Trailfinders...and after some discussions (after he had said this airline does insist on pre 72 hour re-confirmations), was told that they had been able to reconfirm my flight for me...there were still some seats available!

So I’m a little sceptical, but will arrive at Heathrow (still early due to extra luggage) and see what happens. As I have a buffer of my acclimatising hike I can spare a day or two. The afternoon flights seem a lot less busy so am pretty confident that I will get on one very soon.

So next update will either be from London tomorrow or Kathmandu on Monday. Hold thumbs for the later!

Did have a big win though today – I got one of the “just released” Thuraya satellite phones (http://www.thuraya.com) See the spotlight on the Thuraya SO-2510. An absolute win as much more compact and much lighter than previous models – Good old Tottenham Court road

Penultimate training day

Thanks for all your emails of support. I'm glad you have enjoyed the blog so far. Some answers to some questions:

I leave this Sunday for Nepal - Intend to do a +/-10 day hike somewhere around Annapurna to begin my acclimatisation. Have not had much of this as I have for the last 6 weeks been on contract in The Hague (I think I'm below sea level at present). Thereafter I join Jamie’s Sherpas for the adventurous drive from Kathmandu to Tibet (via Zhangmu & Nyalam) on the 5th September.

Here is an extract from Jamie’s diary when he did the trip in 2000 “Anyway, so thru seas of mud we plunged, thru swollen side creeks, our 280kgs (mine is 35kg) of gear was hauled and portered and tossed onto trucks, and we were treated like proper sahibs. God, what a privilege, and I don't mean this lightly. The stout legs, the straightforward, proud smiles when we acknowledged a job well done. The locals knew we were tough, but since they were getting paid (even if fairly minimally), we were not allowed to ride in the back of the truck. Hell, the destruction we passed thru. There were three major landslides before the border, then the forms were brought to us, while we filled them in over lunch. The Chinese official scrutinised us much more thoroughly, but everything was in order and we trudged up a road that had become an ankle-deep torrent, to be greeted by utter destruction, a stream had brought down stones and debris, taking out some buildings and a vehicle or two that had gotten in the way. Nature, like anywhere, has little mercy.” – Sounds interesting… I have budgeted plenty of the time for the climb and only have my return ticket booked for 15 October.

Yes, very bad timing with all this Heathrow nonsense! As you can see from my equipment list, flying with "normal" luggage allowances is impossible. Even though I have begged the airlines (Qatar), they have not budged. I will have to resort to paying for extra luggage – at least it will come with me, as there is not really anything I can leave behind.

Yes I think it's a good idea to support some charity - I had been thinking about doing something for the NSPPC - http://www.nspcc.org.uk/. Claire and I have supported them since we came to the UK (now 10 years ago). I will put something together – perhaps x£ for every meter I climb above BC? What do you think?

Today was my second last day of walking up an 18% slope with 23kg on my back on a treadmill – it sure is going to be a pleasure to rather do this with some fantastic mountain scenery. I’m feeling ready!

Google Earth – see http://earth.google.com/ – if you have broadband it’s amazing…

Start of "live" blogs

So this is what Hoseman has been up to!
If you have not read any of this, and you have the urge to, then start at the beginning i.e. the bottom.
This is will be the online diary of my trip and I have back dated a few entries so as to provide you with some background...

Any updates will occur at the top of the blog so you will easily be able to see if an update has been added. I am hoping to be able to use Jamies laptop at ABC to send emails which will appear here as posts. If I have enough satellite air time I will also send some photos. There might be an email address for you to use at ABC, but I still need to set this up.
I have used the months (in the archive section) to categories the following:

December 2004 - A bit of fun
January 2005 - Some background on past adventures
January 2006 - Objectives and plans
February 2006 - Equipment
March 2006 - Training
... the rest will follow as per the date they are added...

Note to get to new blogs you need to start at www.8000m.blogspot.com

Training - Benchmark tests on step machine

This shows some interesting results and was a great motivational tool. The table below shows the durations for each intensity level on the step machine - level 20 is motoring! Each time the test was performed the same times and levels were followed. Again I was very happy with the results

Lap Duration Level
2 .......05:00..... 10
3 .......05:00..... 13
4 .......00:30..... 10
5 .......01:00..... 15
6 .......00:30..... 10
7 .......01:00..... 15
8 .......01:00..... 10
9 .......02:00..... 15
10 ......01:00..... 10
11 ......02:00..... 15
12 ......02:00..... 10
13 ......03:00..... 15
14 ......02:00..... 10
15 ......03:00..... 15
16 ......02:00..... 10
17 ......01:00..... 18
18 ......02:00..... 5
19 ......01:00..... 18
20 ......02:00..... 5
21 ......01:00..... 20
22 ......05:00..... 5
23 ......01:00..... 0

Total bechmark test time 44 minutes

Training - Weight vs VO2max vs Heart rate rest

Objective here is to have a high VO2max (polar simulate this with OwnIndex), a low heart rate rest rate and an optimal weight. I think the results are self explanatory, showing improvements as I got fitter. The "bounce" in July of the resting heart rate I feel was due to a new contract I accepted in The Hague....Obviously the impact of change and a new environment!

Training - Heart Rate Zones

Using my Polar AXN 700 I have captured statistics regarding calories and heart rate during all my training sessions.
This shows the heart rate bands where the training occurred. Interesting to note that in the first week of training 1:30 of the 1:51 of max heart rate zone occurred - obviously out of shape in the beginning.

Training

Goodness this has occurred in many places:
Canada (hmmm sounds about the right place), Holland (hmmm flat!?), Brussels (Why?), England (hmmm wet or very hot)

also many hours at the following


http://www.fitnessfirst.co.uk/






www.westvliet.nl/eng









www.britmilfit.com



Training officially started on February 12th 2006.
Therefore to date:
184 days
136 hours of training
100,158 Kcals burnt

Equipment Focus - Ghost SL 40

Nearly impervious to weather, the Ghost™ SL is designed for Arctic, Himalayan, and Antarctic expeditions. It is our most hardcore, cold temperature bag. Mountain Hardwear’s exclusive welded-baffle construction and moisture shedding Conduit™ SL shell aid insulation and wind resistance. Ghost’s roomy cut provides room for dressing / undressing, or for extra comfort when you’re waiting out a storm at base camp.

Equipment Focus - Millet/OneSport Everest

For the 6,000-8840m range

The Everest is the benchmark for high-altitude disciplines.
It has trodden the fourteen 8,000+ metre peaks, the Seven Summits and the two poles, and today equips the vast majority of expeditions to the Himalayas. New materials, such as GORE-TEX® Top Dry, have made it 10% lighter, and it achieves isothermal performance down to -60°C.



Description
- High-performance upper, insulating, waterproof, and very resistant to abrasion.
- Removable inner slipper in insulating aluminised alveolite.
- Microcellular midsole increases insulation.
- Carbon and Kevlar® inner rigidity reinforcements.

Equipment Focus - Bask Expediton suit

Very warm down overall for extreme conditions during polar expeditions and high altitude Alpine climbing. The salopettes are very lightweight and take up little space. Thanks to "closed warm seam" technology it will protect you against extreme frost (-35°C).





Anatomical shaping of the knee patch and elbow area
Uses "Closed warm seam" technology
Big warm hood with tunnel, can be easily adjusted with elastic cord , cordlocks and a Velcro flap
Front, back and side zippers are insulated with inner flaps and closed with outer Velcro flaps
Elastic, adjustable suspenders inside the saloppettes
Cuffs are made of Polartec® fabric
Cuff volume is adjusted by Velcro flaps
Hooks on the sleeves for fastening gloves
Two capacious outer pockets are covered with Velcro flaps
"Warm" chest pocket with zipper
Two inner pockets with zippers
Single zipper runs along the full length of the pants and around the rear, allowing you to adjust ventilation and to detach the back flap
Front zipper with two sliders can be opened both from the top and bottom
Snow gaiters at the bottom
Knee area and bottom part of the pants are reinforced with durable fabric

Peglers.co.uk

Click on this link above to see Dave Peglers company - If he did not have it in stock he got it for me. His service and that of his colleagues was fantastic!

Equipment - Other

Sleep:
Mountain Hardware - Ghost SL 40
Snowline Mountain Equip sleeping bag

Navigation:
Gromit

Vision:
Cebe OTG Edge - Cat. S3
Adidas Evil eye Elevation climacool

Electronic:
Leica Binoculars
Canon Camera & Lens & Charger
Sony camcorder & charger
Video tapes
Polar watch
Camera bag
Summit camera Sony cybershot W100
Satellite phone & charger & battery
Solar Charger

Equipment - Upper body

PHD - Mustagh Down Jacket
Arc'teryx Men’s Alpha SV Jacket
Wild Things Insulated jacket
Icebreaker Bodyfit260 Slalom shirt Zip alloy/mars L
Mountain Equipment Fleece jacket
Mountain Equipment blue base layer top
Mountain Equipment Coop orange base layer top
Expedition weight thermal shirt MH powerstretch top

Equipment - Lower Body

Icebreaker Bodyfit260 Bodyfit260 Strider black/charcoal L
Expedition weight thermal trousers MH powerstretch tights
Trekking trousers
North Face fleece longs
Mountain Equipment Coop blue base layer longs
Moonstone Shell outer trousers