Outperform - Island Peak Himalayan expedition - the ride home

There is nothing which can describe the helicopter ride back to Kathmandu - it was quite simply the best thing! What a way to end the expedition - two helicopters arrived for us. Fighting against the thin air one came to pick up our bags, and drop off some clearly essential supplies (flat screen TVs, microwaves and an assortment of other carefully wrapped packages. A mother and small child clambered on top of our bags and were whisked off ahead of our chopper which again unloaded everything from newspapers to what looked suspiciously like a flat packed wardrobe!

We were then treated to the best way to view the Himalayas from the hovering diving and contouring helicopter which had to land at Lukla (after only 15 minutes!) to pick up more fuel and then we were back in Kathmandu within an hour!

A wonderful end to a wonderful expedition.... I wonder if the wife will look kindly on the plan for a repeat visit to get to the top.....

Outperform - Island Peak Himalayan expedition - the walk down

Back at Chukung we found a slightly recovered Pete but going down had been the best thing to do. Both marks were full of the climb but we were not at all envious of them. The whole team had done our utmost to reach the top and it had only been a combination of physiological and physical barriers which had prevented us from doing so.

There is still unfinished business on Imja Tse (as the Nepalese call the mountain)!

Will we go back? maybe. Was it memorable? Definitely. A wonderful exhilarating, physically demanding and psychologically draining experience.

The decent from Chukung the next day was a tremendous push as we flew down the mountain as fast as we could. We called in on our friend the head monk at Tembouche to thank him for his prayers and to broach the idea of Mark Ws to set up an Internet link for the Head lama in the region to be able to use Skype to broadcast his daily prayers... seemed to go down well and mark is now to get back in touch to arrange a more detailed exploration of the idea with the Lama next year.

We descended to Namche in one go - a huge distance and a very long day which saw us arriving in the dusk. We were tired and most of our limbs ached but it had been fantastic and the views on the way (pictures) were nothing short of spectacular!

The next day was to bring its own exhilaration too - I had booked another helicopter.... well it seemed a good idea at the time... to take us back to Kathmandu direct from Namche - weather permitting.

Outperform - Island Peak Himalayan expedition - Attack Camp (part 2)

The day dawned slowly but with a clear and spectacular view around us. Behind us Island Peak's ice wall sat on the top of the immediate horizon (pictured) whilst around us were the most clear and beautiful mountains I had ever seen. It was as if Mother Nature was saying - 'OK you've had a lot of mist - just now look at what you have missed!' (pictured).

Pete got up to admire the view too but he was not in a good way and after a few hours he announced that he needed to go down, Looking at him I noticed his lips were blue and he was slurring his speech. Definitely time to descend and one of the Sherpas took him down to base camp 350m below us and then on back to Chukung.

I sat and waited for the others to come down. Around 15.30 I saw a couple of specks on the high horizon and signaled to one of the Sherpas to join me going yup to meet them. Very sensibly he grabbed a thermos of hot water, some mugs and tea and set off at a pace that I could not match!

I climbed up to around 5700m and met the two marks as they came down. they had had an amazing time but were unable to reach the top as it turned out to be too dangerous to scale the last 100m! We descended to Attack Camp and some food before packing everything up and then descending back to Chukung down the very steep tracks for the 8.5km trek.

Outperform - Island Peak Himalayan expedition - Attack Camp

We arrived at 'Attack Camp' (pictured) in the mist - getting used to it now! - after a very hard slog up the valley from Chukung. WE climbed glacial moraine out of Chukung and then passed just about every glacial feature known to geomorphologists! It was a spectacular array of glacial lakes, U shaped valleys with braided rivers and huge 'glacial erratic' boulders dumbed all over the valley floors in a series of random locations as the glacier had retreated after the last ice age. It was wonderful!

We sorted out the camp and had some food before trying to sleep. We had decided to leave as soon after 02.30 as we could in order to get to the summit in the early dawn - the best time for the snow to hold our weight on the high cornices. It was at this time that the lead guides decided to mention to us - in typical frank Nepalese style - that we were to be the first people this season to try to get to the summit and, just so we knew, three Japanese climbers had fallen off and been killed last year in an early attempt! So we spend the 'night' in 'the tent of awake'!

We were 'woken' at 02.30 with a cup of tea and the news that the two lead guides had 'popped up to the top' last night to have a look! They hadn't made it - forced back by a huge crevasse and a massive avalanche which had torn away the upper snows and cornices of the peak! 'Should we be climbing?' we asked. "Yes - we might as well have a go since you are all here" came the reply - not massively reassuring.

We set off at 03.30 with Pete and I relieved of our packs for the first section as Pete was still weak and I was suffering from increasing headaches and bouts of 'wow is that the ground?' dizziness. After only 30- 40 minutes of climbing it was clear to me that if I carried on I would have fallen off! The dizziness spells camp thick and fast and the last one was so bad Mark W had to stop me from walking off the edge. Time to go down!

Pete was sent down too - he was in a bad way and despite a minor protest he knew it was not in the interests of the team to carry on.

We descended and left the two Marks to go up with the two sherpas.

Once back in camp we both went back to bed and I managed to drift off to sleep as I listened first to the distant sounds of climbing and then just to the wind.

Outperform - Island Peak Himalayan expedition - Chukung

Only four or five dwellings, that double as lodges in order to add to an otherwise very meagre subsistence existence, make up Chukung (pictured) at 4743m. This is a godforsaken place with holes in the ground for toilets and no hot water. However, the lodges are clean and the people always ready with a smile. How on earth they manage to be so cheerful in this place is a mystery to me and an example to all the miseries in the cities of the western world bemoaning their situation - they have no idea!

We arrived around noon, having left Pheriche at 08.30 in the mist - again! Pete is suffering and pretty ill having picked up a bug from our designated cook (Sucre Sherpa) - who will not be going any further with us and who is quarantined at the end of the building! After a light lunch we got all our climbing gear together and headed out to the nearby hillside for a quick 'crash' course on using the 'gris gris' and other equipment we would need on the ice and snow of the final ascent.

Pete is an already accomplished climber so chose to go to bed to try to get rid of his 'cold'. The rest of us were shown the ropes - quite literally - and then after about an hour of huffing puffing and climbing up and down a steep scree slope the head guide (Singi Sherpa) pronounced himself satisfied with our cack handed efforts and said he thought we would "probably not fall off the mountain"! With this reassurance we all tramped back to the lodge across the swollen river for a cup of lemon tea and to reflect that the next time we had the bits of equipment to use it would be on the mountain and at 5800m!

The rest of the afternoon was spend resting and reading before we had an early meal and turned into the sleeping bags. Tomorrow we would go to 'Attack Camp' at almost 5500m!

Outperform - Island Peak Himalayan expedition - Lukla to Namche Bazaar

... a wonderful roller coaster helicopter ride in the early morning mists and low clouds got us from KMD to Lukla at 2804m.

It was an amazing start to our adventure but we were now significantly behind schedule. We all knew that we would now be working against the clock, not only the time but also our biological clocks and their ability to assimilate enough time to be able to ensure that Mark Kelly and I - who had not already been to Everest base camp - had time to acclimatise without the dangers of suffering altitude sickness on the way up.

After a quick cup of tea - we started walking up to Namche Bazarr at 3440m.

There is not much to say about the walk to Namche... it just kept going up, and up, and up and when we got bored of going up it gave us a little flat bit .... then went up again!

We were walking pretty fast for a team in this altitude and few stops but plenty of water allowed us to cover the 10.4 miles to arrive in Namche as it was getting dark at around 18.30 after a really hard day which left me fighting for breath as the altitude and reduced oxygen kicked in.

The route was pretty spectacular not least from the deep ravines and high wire bridges but also because over the last few weeks there had been torrential rain with the monsoon season lingering in the mountains far later than normal. The result was a significant number of landslides which required us to pick our way around on a regular basis.

WE managed to call in at Monjo village - whrre Mark Wood has adopted a local school and provided laptops and links to the outside world via Skype for the school and the teachers. We arrived to find the school recently painted by the last expedition Mark had taken up a week before but the lap tops were all stored neatly away and not in use due to a big meeting in the technology room earlier that week by the village. We could only hope that the laptops would be out and used again soon by the children.

Namchee was the last place we would be able to have a hot shower and - still gasping for breath and with a rising headache from the altitude - I gratefully indulged in the last hot water for 6 days!

Outperform - Island Peak Himalayan expedition - more details

In response to a number of questions here is some more detail of the Island Peak expedition in the Himalayas last week....

I was sitting in a hotel room in Mumbai - as you do - when the phone rang. It was Mark Wood from Lukla - it was also 05.30!

There had been a fatal plane crash. Our team (the Everest Base Camp expedition run by Mark's company - Snowball Expeditions) were not involved but there were 15 dead and the flights into and out of Lukla were all cancelled. There had already been enough bad weather to stop flights for the 10 days before and Mark wanted to get a note to his blog to reassure all people at home that all was well and the team would get out as soon as they could.

This was the start of a whirlwind 10 days of my own expedition to climb Island Peak in the Everest range.

Thank goodness that mu son (Tom) was safe and that the team were now in a lodge in Lukla on the final leg of their journey out of the Himalayas.

The next day I flew to Delhi and then to Kathmandu.

There remained a day of waiting but the team managed to get two aircraft out of Lukla in the afternoon of 26th August> There was a good deal of work to do to get the team out of KMD as although everyone had insurance cover - the insurers were less than helpful in many cases. Mark Kelly - one of my fellow explorers for Island Peak - and I sat in the reception of the team hotel with laptops and one after the other helped sort insurance and flights for the team to get away. By later evening we had everyone sorted with a few stragglers dealt with the next day.

It wasn't over though.... After seeing Tom off on his early morning flight on the 28th one of the team members (Lizzy) called from the departure lounge of the airport. She had fainted and cracked her head on the way down - there was blood everywhere and the airline were refusing to let her fly! Mark Kelly and Pete Bradley (our medic for Island Peak) rushed off to take her to hospital which Mark Wood and I got the remaining team members away... and we hadn't even got our flights out sorted yet!

The next 24hours consisted of hospital visits, Mark K and Pete flying round KMD in an ambulance with sirens and everything dealing with Lizzy and then... eventually Lizzy booked on a flight - with the (poor) help of her insurers. I had spend a good deal of time on the web and the phone working with Lizzy, doctors, insurers and airlines to help get her away.... Now we could turn to our own adventure!

We had booked a flight the next day (already a day behind on our already tight schedule) and duely arrived at the alloted hour (06.00) at the airport ready to go. After 4 hours of delay they canceled the flights to Lukla for the day! We returned to the hotel frustrated and fed up. We then retired to our haven of quiet in the hubub of Kathmandu - a smoothie and coffee bar in Mandeala Street - which would have not looked out of place in central London or Manhatten!

A number of cappuchinos and banana smoothies later and we decided to try again the next day....

Still in Kathmandu!

We are still in Kathmandu. We have had to postpone our helicopter flight until tomorrow. One of the last remaining people leaving last night unfortunately fainted in the airport just before checking in and hit their head. As a result they were refused access to the aircraft and to fly out! We had a panic phone call at 19.30 and sent one of the team to collect them from the airport and take them to hospital.

We have now had to rearrange everything and assist the client, deal with the local hospital doctors and get a discharge and 'fit to fly' certificate. This has to be sent to the insurers for confirmation that the client can be repatriated to the UK on the next available flight.

We will not leave until we are sure that the client is well and confirmed on a flight.

We have, however, decided that three of us will take the helicopter tomorrow in any event and one will stay behind to ensure the client leaves OK.

Following a review of the arrangements myself, Mark Kelly and Pete Bradley (medic) will fly out in the helicopter at 08.30 tomorrow. Mark Wood will stay with the client if necessary and return to the UK. If all goes well Mark will be on the flight tomorrow with us.

Fingers crossed!

Everest Base Camp Expedition team members leaving KMD

Now working with Snowball Expeditions to help team members return to the UK. The weather and air crash at Lukla earlier in the week have played havoc with flight arrangements and bookings. Mark Wood and his team are doing a great job to help people get out and back to the UK. Their safe return home is our first priority. we will deal with the planning for the Island Peak climb once all the Everest Base Camp Expedition team members have left.
Our current plan is to head out on Sunday but this could well change. At present we are obtaining the relevant documents for our entry to the National Park and Everest region. In the midst of everything else we still have to stay focused on sorting personal kit and arranging our own transport back into the mountains.

Everest team arrive back KMD

Good news an hour ago - as the team walked into the hotel in KMD! Good to see my son and to hear of their adventures stuck in Lukla with food getting in shorter supply! The whole region is totally reliant on the daily flights to replenish supplies and the delays caused by the recentpoor weather have created quite a strain on the local hotels, shops and other supply systems.

Back in KMD the team is full of enthusism and broadly very happy! Now only need to sort their flights back! We can then start planning for our own trip!

Delhi and Mumbai - preparation continues

Sitting now in a hotel in Mumbai having just run a training session for a business here. The hot and humid conditions will be a far cry from the snows of Nepal in a few days time. The team on the base camp challenge run by Snowball Expeditions have made it to base camp and their progress can be read by logging on to markwoodexplorer.com where the regular updates have been posted.

It will be good to team up with Mark who will be leading the Island Peak Expedition. Also will be great to see my son Tom who has been on the trip and who has been testing some of the kit I'll be using on the climb.

Finding time to do some gentle training in the hotel but this is not the time for too much vigour as the last thing I need is an injury right now!

India and the Himalayas

Sitting here at Heathrow about to board a flight to Delhi. Spending a couple of days in Delhi and Mumbai doing some work then fly to Kathandhu on Wednesday to start the preparations for the trek to the base of Island peak and then up it!

Regular blog updates can be found both here at at markwoodexplorer.com

Training in Turkey

Setting off tomorrow for Turkey for a week in the Southern region. 'Holiday' is the theory but I will be training in the local mountains to build the final fitness needed for the Island peak expedition.

Check out the attached link to a recent Island Peak expedition to get a perspective on the challenge.

Really looking forward to this - the next big challenge!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcsR2nWmWhU

Planning for Island peak and Everest base camp

Just back from a hectic week in Chicago, Singapore and Kuala Lumpar! The work front severely hampered training this week so have had a strong gym session to make up for it today! The kit list has been checked for my son who is out on the Everest base Camp expedition from next Monday (9th August) He will be celebrating his 21st birthday in Katmandu before setting off with Mark from Snowball Expeditions and a team of 20 others to trek to base camp before returning in time for me to meet him as I set off from Katmandu on 27th.

The outdoors in certainly getting to be a family affair at present though I think the spell in the village in the Himalayas earlier this year gave him a taste for the high peaks in the region.

Kit list complete and a new set of crampons purchased today make me even more enthusiastic about the climb.

Island Peak and the Himalayas

Planning is now at an advanced stage for the climb of Island Peak in early September this year.

I am currently squeezing in training between trips to Beijing, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur and the US. The work with senior leadership teams around the world is exciting and absorbing but playing havoc with the schedule to develop the fitness for the climb. Having said that there is much excitement in the small team about the prospect of a 'proper climb' this summer. The rest of the group will be leading on Everest base camp expeditions in September so I will have to get acclimatised quickly when I arrive in Kathmandu in late September for the attempt.