The afternoon we arrived back to the South Col after the summit we were spent. Completely destroyed. In the tent, we had a chat with Tim about the pros and cons of staying the night at the South Col vs descending to Camp 2 where our bodies would get a much better rest. The Sherpa […]
05
Jun
Jun
None of us slept that night due to the trepidation of what was ahead and partly because once again it was damn uncomfortable in the tent! The alarm went off at 11:15pm and we again started the process of boiling ice for 3 people to drink straight away and to top up our bottles for […]
05
Jun
Jun
Sorry for the delay. It has been an eventful two weeks! We finally decided that the 26th or 27th would be the time to move up the mountain. Despite all the other teams moving up earlier and the weather turning out to be either perfect or a little windy on those days, Tim insisted that […]
20
May
May
This is a summary post just to provide a quick update. More detailed posts will come next week. After 6 days in Namche we returned to Base Camp on the afternoon of the 17th. There were weather windows opening in the next few days and we could have headed straight up the hill but Tim, […]
14
May
May
It was good to arrive at Camp 2 albeit a bit lonely as the rest of the team and guides were down in Base Camp but after my 24 hours of solitude in Camp 1, I was used to it. The Sherpa came to hang out with me now and then and they are a […]
12
May
May
Apologies for the lack of updates as of late however I have been freezing somewhere around 6500m completely off the grid for the past week. This is a long post. I hope you can bear with it, I have tried to keep it to the bare essentials. Another will follow immediately after. When my plane […]
01
May
May
The journey back was truly a living hell. Any weight on my left foot was sheer agony and not possible. I hobbled my way around Istanbul airport with my ankle swelling to the size of a grapefruit, why it took this long to swell and start bruising? I don’t know, maybe temperature, maybe altitude, maybe psychological. […]
23
Apr
Apr
Everest base camp is a mess of rock, mud and a spattering of yak shit, all on top of a massive moving chunk of ice. There is not one flat area anywhere in the camp. It is a twisted, winding, grinding mess of a place which is constantly changing with ice spires protruding from the […]
22
Apr
Apr
Sorry for the delay in getting this post out but things have gone a little pear shaped as of late. Before we get onto that, we should pick up from where we left off – departing Dingboche. We sorted our gear into what we would need for the next few days camping up near the Kongma […]
14
Apr
Apr
We have been offline for days. Next post will be published hopefully tomorrow. We are currently in Gorakshep, the last town before Everest Base Camp. We can see the summit from here. The trekking is almost complete. The climbing will soon begin. This is our view while we wait for our lunch. Our porter’s loads […]
09
Apr
Apr
We were supposed to stay in Gokyo for two nights and that made sense as the day we arrived was a big one. It took some of the team over 8 hours to over the pass and down to Gokyo and were understandably exhausted afterwards, however due to changes in some people’s itineraries we had […]
07
Apr
Apr
We woke at 3:30am, ate our breakfast in the dark with our head torches on, got our kit bags packed and backpacks readied in the cold morning silence. After some delays, we left the Lungden View Lodge at 4:40am. Everything was black apart from the glittering star filled sky above. We marched uphill with our […]
04
Apr
Apr
Our last morning in Thame we woke up to a beautiful white landscape after a heavy snowfall the night before. The porters played football in the snow covered field next to the tea house while we ate our breakfast and got ready to leave. We climbed a small hill and then peeled down into the […]
03
Apr
Apr
After a good couple of days in Kyamjuma we packed up our gear and made our way to Thame. We immediately climbed uphill to a huge town – the biggest in the Khumbu – called Khumjung. Khumjung is the administrative capital of the Khumbu valley and the location of the Khumjung Secondary School which was established […]
30
Mar
Mar
Upon arrival into Lukla we made our way around the runway to a restaurant where we ate breakfast and had a quick briefing from our expedition leader Tim Mosedale. After going over the particulars of hygiene, trail safety and tea house etiquette, we put on our packs and started moving. When heading into the Khumbu […]
29
Mar
Mar
After a zippy 13 hour flight without delays on Turkish Airlines, I touched down in Tribhuvan airport on Saturday the 25th at 11am. I managed to be one of the first off the plane so got ahead of the other 250 odd passengers, promptly sorted out my visa, collected my bags and got out of there. I was […]
24
Mar
Mar
Well this is it. I leave this evening and I think I am prepared. Physically at least, I still have the problem of saying goodbye to my beautiful girls. All the gear is sorted and bagged. I feel I am forgetting things. No worry, whatever is missing I can buy in Thamel, Kathmandu. What […]
20
Mar
Mar
New challenges 5 months after getting back from Everest in 2015 we had a beautiful baby girl we called Charlie and everything changed! I could not go to Everest in 2016 for obvious reasons which was good that I got to spend time with Charlie in those early months but also disappointing in the fact […]
20
Mar
Mar
The expedition in 2015 was going well. We had a great trek into Base Camp and got settled in. Enjoyed our acclimatisation climb of the nearby peak Lobuche, the team were fantastic (the best I’ve had in fact) and IMG were excelling at providing a top notch guiding service as usual. After a month of […]
20
Jul
Jul
This post is a draft. Here is a summary of 6 days in Switzerland with primary objective of summiting the Matterhorn. Flew to Switzerland and met guide Aaron in Interlaken. We stayed that night in an Interlaken Hotel and had a leisurely 10am start the next morning. Went straight up Jungfrau railway which goes through the […]
01
May
May
As soon as Base Camp was decimated teams were evacuating to Kathmandu and Lukla. By the time we had decided to pack up and leave, helicopters had stopped flying from the Khumbu valley to Kathmandu as it seemed that the Nepalese government would commandeer any helicopter which came down and then re-purpose it for aid […]
24
Apr
Apr
This was the first rotation to acclimatise up Everest. We were on a schedule ahead of most others which would see us move all the way through the Icefall, up to Camp 1, spend two nights and then up to Camp 2 to spend two nights. The plan was to then come back down to […]
20
Apr
Apr
Well as promised our schedule granted us a few rest days in Everest Base camp before we tackled the next part of our adventure. Although rest days, there were activities and training which took place to keep the blood pumping and to assist with the acclimatisation process. It’s amazing how lethargic you can become up […]
16
Apr
Apr
We left Everest Base Camp 6 days ago and trekked the 17kms back down to Lobuche Base Camp (4700m) where we had been a week before. The air was thick and we all slept well that night. The next morning packed up our climbing gear and headed up to Lobuche High Camp (5200m approx). We […]
10
Apr
Apr
After three days in Lobuche Base Camp we made the move to EBC. This was the biggest day so far and after a long 17km trek gaining around 600m in elevation we found ourselves walking along a sharp lateral moraine (side ridge created by a receded glacier) which took us up and down over piles […]
09
Apr
Apr
After a few days resting in the last teahouse of our journey, we packed up and made the move to Lobuche Base Camp. Lobuche is a 6010m mountain we would need to climb in time to come as a type of technical training ground before we hit the larger obstacles on Everest (such as the […]
08
Apr
Apr
The next day was a move day from Tengboche to Pheriche which I was pretty sure I was going to sit out. I woke the next morning and felt a little better so decided to stick with the team and the schedule and move on up. The initial downhill felt good however the second we […]
04
Apr
Apr
On my first night in Namche Bazar I went to sleep with a sore throat which over the next few days had developed into a chest cold however I wasn’t too fazed as it didn’t seem to affect me much. After a few days in Namche taking advantage of the shops and stocking up on […]
04
Apr
Apr
Our next destination was the famous Namche Bazar. This trek was amazing. The trail was increasing in gradient and the valley in full bloom with Cherry blossom and lush green pine trees with the roaring glacial river always by our side on the valley floor. Every 30 minutes or so we would pass through these […]
31
Mar
Mar
The next morning we woke at 6 am and headed to the airport to have another attempt at getting out to Lukla. We had decided that rather than waiting all day to get our flight (as we were now back of the queue) which could have been cancelled, that we will hire helicopters instead. Much […]
31
Mar
Mar
Upon arrival in Kathmandu I was greeted by some local IMG staff who placed a necklace of chrysanthemums over my head packed my bags into their truck and drove me from the airport, through the dry, dusty and noisy streets of Kathmandu to our hotel. I have been to places before which have questionable driving […]
23
Mar
Mar
Well this is it, my final post from the safety and warmth of my home in Barcelona. I have been racing around the city today buying up little last minute items I had forgotten or wanted replaced. The ‘City bag’ and duffels all packed, everything just fit in and the combined weight is 45Kgs which […]
22
Mar
Mar
It took around 5 hours to organise but I have sorted and ‘stuff sacked’ everything I am taking with me and it all compresses down to this. Just as a reminder that was from this: I reckon that’s a pretty good effort! Just awaiting a helmet and some new insulated water bottle parkas to be […]
19
Mar
Mar
Well I have 95% of everything I now need. Just need to finalise my ‘sock solution’, little more food and documentation. I have divided up my equipment into two groups. Small things including food, medication, hygiene, electronics, climbing hardware, vision and documentation. Larger items such as clothing, boots, big climbing hardware and sleeping equipment. (on […]
16
Mar
Mar
In one week and one day I drive to Barcelona airport to catch my Turkish airways flight to Kathmandu via Istanbul. I will spend two days there and we will then fly to Lukla airport where we begin our trek into Everest Base Camp. Mind and body I have done all I can to mentally […]
19
Feb
Feb
The date today is the 18th of February 2015. I leave for Everest in 34 days. A lot of people ask me how I train for Everest so I thought I would give a summary of my routine here. But first a short video of some mountain specific training. I normally keep pretty fit but […]
17
Jan
Jan
In July 2014 I was chatting to Paul, my friend from Aconcagua and he informed me that he had locked in his expedition to Everest in 2015. I also knew of a few other friends who were heading to Everest the same time. After much thought and deliberation I concluded that I should do Everest […]
07
Jul
Jul
Soviet Highs With McKinley still in my thoughts everyday, I was unpacking my equipment one day and had a thought. Elbrus expeditions leave soon and I couldn’t be in better shape to tackle that peak than right now. I got in contact with IMG and agreed a good rate, paid my fees and started to […]
07
Apr
Apr
‘The High One’ With only about 4 months between Aconcagua and Mt McKinley in Alaska (also known as Denali or ‘The High One’), I knew I had a LOT of training to do. McKinley is serious. McKinley is proper. McKinley is cold (some say the coldest mountain in the world). McKinley is technical. I was scared […]
07
Jan
Jan
‘The Stone Sentinel’ In June 2012 I was due to climb Mt McKinley in Alaska as I had already paid the deposit. When it came time to preparation, I realised I was not physically or mentally ready for this expedition and still a little jaded from my terrible performance on Kilimanjaro. I managed to move […]
07
Nov
Nov
It began in Africa In 2011, I managed to convince my wife Alejandra and a couple of friends to join me on my climb up Kilimanjaro. After Mont Blanc I have to admit I was pretty confident. I even made the mistake of thinking I was naturally good at coping at higher altitudes. Oh how I […]
15
Jan
Jan
My earliest memory of being inspired by mountains was when I was about 8 years old growing up in Perth, Australia. On a family road trip, my parents bought me an extreme sports magazine which was filled with amazing photography of people skydiving, skiing off cliffs and ice climbing frozen waterfalls etc. I was in […]