www.EdonEverest.com
05/03/10 Leaving Newcastle
Location: On the train
Yesterday was Jen and my 5th wedding anniversary so we went out for a nice meal at the Baltic restaurant to treat ourselves before being apart for three months. I'm not looking forward to that element of the expedition at all, but it's unavoidable unfortunately. It's a shame as when you see amazing sights you always want to share them with those closest to you - but the video and photos will have to do.
So thats it, today I leave the flat and head down to London to see my family before flying out on Sunday. Fingers crossed I've packed everything I need and won't be too far over my luggage allowance.
Yesterday was Jen and my 5th wedding anniversary so we went out for a nice meal at the Baltic restaurant to treat ourselves before being apart for three months. I'm not looking forward to that element of the expedition at all, but it's unavoidable unfortunately. It's a shame as when you see amazing sights you always want to share them with those closest to you - but the video and photos will have to do.
So thats it, today I leave the flat and head down to London to see my family before flying out on Sunday. Fingers crossed I've packed everything I need and won't be too far over my luggage allowance.
03/03/10 Back to ITV to pick up the camera
Location: Newcastle
Went back to the ITV offices next to the Tyne in Gateshead to pick up the Handycam they are providing me with for the expedition. They also gave me advice on shots to set up and the kind of content they were after - when things go wrong it makes great footage apparently. I made a joke about filming the disappearing sunlight as I fell down a crevasse and they replied 'okay, but chuck the camera back out as you fall', oh how we laughed...well they laughed, I grimaced like an ape.
So as I needed to practice getting some 'shots' I headed down to the Quayside and took the lift up to the viewing platform in the Baltic. Below is a photo as it takes forever to upload a video, but it gives you an idea of how great the view is up there. I then went downstairs to the Damien Hirst exhibition. It was essentially a made up pharmacy with lots of empty pill bottles and some natural honey on the floor. The concept was to awaken us the dangers of modern medicine as opposed to natural remedies apparently. This all seemed fairly acceptable until I asked what the electric insect trap on the ceiling represented? 'Oh it's God!' I was informed by the attendant. Time to leave.
Afternoon gym session then tonight out to watch the footy with old work mates and no doubt some mickey taking, should be good. Two days left to get everything sorted...
Went back to the ITV offices next to the Tyne in Gateshead to pick up the Handycam they are providing me with for the expedition. They also gave me advice on shots to set up and the kind of content they were after - when things go wrong it makes great footage apparently. I made a joke about filming the disappearing sunlight as I fell down a crevasse and they replied 'okay, but chuck the camera back out as you fall', oh how we laughed...well they laughed, I grimaced like an ape.
So as I needed to practice getting some 'shots' I headed down to the Quayside and took the lift up to the viewing platform in the Baltic. Below is a photo as it takes forever to upload a video, but it gives you an idea of how great the view is up there. I then went downstairs to the Damien Hirst exhibition. It was essentially a made up pharmacy with lots of empty pill bottles and some natural honey on the floor. The concept was to awaken us the dangers of modern medicine as opposed to natural remedies apparently. This all seemed fairly acceptable until I asked what the electric insect trap on the ceiling represented? 'Oh it's God!' I was informed by the attendant. Time to leave.
Afternoon gym session then tonight out to watch the footy with old work mates and no doubt some mickey taking, should be good. Two days left to get everything sorted...
01/03/10 Less than a week to go...
Location: Newcastle
Time really is running out now for getting everything sorted before I leave Newcastle on Friday and the country on Sunday. I am fairly confident I've got all the important gear together, so now all thats needed are those bits and pieces which don't make it onto any lists but are important nonetheless - like factor 50 sun cream and drugs for when things get nasty.
Today I have been trying to arrange the satellite internet connection for basecamp. It looks like all the calls to the US and googling of 'how much is 100 megabytes?' has paid off. The kit should arrive into KTM just before me so Sujan and I will have some time to play with it and hopefully get it working, fingers crossed.
Massive thanks to all the messages of support from friends. Last night I was given an astronauts pen for writing in -20C by Hannah and Iain, cheers guys. Plus I was sent some great pics of Helen and Mark's decorated rental car from NZ - see below. The fundraising also took a significant leap forward with a hefty donation from my parents, thanks Mum and Dad. Everyone's huge generosity will make such a difference to the charities and patients involved.
Question of the day - If you worked at an airline check-in desk and someone was a few kilo's over because they were going to try and climb Everest for charity, would you charge them for it?
I'm hoping for lots of No's on this one people.
Time really is running out now for getting everything sorted before I leave Newcastle on Friday and the country on Sunday. I am fairly confident I've got all the important gear together, so now all thats needed are those bits and pieces which don't make it onto any lists but are important nonetheless - like factor 50 sun cream and drugs for when things get nasty.
Today I have been trying to arrange the satellite internet connection for basecamp. It looks like all the calls to the US and googling of 'how much is 100 megabytes?' has paid off. The kit should arrive into KTM just before me so Sujan and I will have some time to play with it and hopefully get it working, fingers crossed.
Massive thanks to all the messages of support from friends. Last night I was given an astronauts pen for writing in -20C by Hannah and Iain, cheers guys. Plus I was sent some great pics of Helen and Mark's decorated rental car from NZ - see below. The fundraising also took a significant leap forward with a hefty donation from my parents, thanks Mum and Dad. Everyone's huge generosity will make such a difference to the charities and patients involved.
Question of the day - If you worked at an airline check-in desk and someone was a few kilo's over because they were going to try and climb Everest for charity, would you charge them for it?
I'm hoping for lots of No's on this one people.
Helen and Mark, you gotta love 'em
Stormy weather in Tynemouth on Sunday
27/02/10
Location: Newcastle
The slightly embarrassing YouTube video has now had over 260 views and I am being consistently referred to as Adventurer Ed by friends. It's great the video is getting so many hits advertising the expedition - so lets hope that gets converted into sponsorship. I've also registered with Jamie Clarke's (see yesterday's blog) www.liveoutthere.com website and uploaded the video in case it piques some Canadian or American interest.
I have also had contact from Colin at www.Everest1953.co.uk. This is a website dedicated to the British story on Everest and will include a daily update on how us Brits are getting on when we all descend on both the north and south sides of the mountain soon.
My day has been a relaxing one, chilling out reading the papers in the morning with good coffee. Then a trip through the rain to the Newcastle Discovery Museum in the afternoon to keep the in-laws entertained. A big thank you to everyone who has donated so far, I really do appreciate all your efforts, with the gift aid included we have smashed the £2000 barrier! Thank you! Special mention has to go to Molly and Stu who today sent me a good luck card with protein rich beef jerky inside to take with me, thanks Molls.
The slightly embarrassing YouTube video has now had over 260 views and I am being consistently referred to as Adventurer Ed by friends. It's great the video is getting so many hits advertising the expedition - so lets hope that gets converted into sponsorship. I've also registered with Jamie Clarke's (see yesterday's blog) www.liveoutthere.com website and uploaded the video in case it piques some Canadian or American interest.
I have also had contact from Colin at www.Everest1953.co.uk. This is a website dedicated to the British story on Everest and will include a daily update on how us Brits are getting on when we all descend on both the north and south sides of the mountain soon.
My day has been a relaxing one, chilling out reading the papers in the morning with good coffee. Then a trip through the rain to the Newcastle Discovery Museum in the afternoon to keep the in-laws entertained. A big thank you to everyone who has donated so far, I really do appreciate all your efforts, with the gift aid included we have smashed the £2000 barrier! Thank you! Special mention has to go to Molly and Stu who today sent me a good luck card with protein rich beef jerky inside to take with me, thanks Molls.
26/02/10 Contact
Location: Newcastle
Had two nice emails this morning, one from Sir Chris Bonington wishing me luck on the expedition again, which I still think is pretty cool. The second was from Jamie Clarke, a guy we met out in Nepal when he was part of a sponsored Pumori expedition. Most of you probably won't know who Jamie is (we didn't) but he's a bit like the Canadian Bear Grylls, with his own TV show etc. The fella is tall, good looking, confident and funny, but despite all those things you can't help but like him. Have agreed to meet for a beer in KTM at some point. If you're interested in his own expedition up the south side of Everest click here.
My cousin's mate has also come good for the transporting of kit to Nepal, which is great news. He has asked not to be thanked though as he doesn't want the hassle of going through official company channels. So I wont thank him, unless I see him, then I'll get him a pint.
Had a good trip to the gym today with a nice long swim at the end. Currently feeling pretty healthy though a bit heavy from all the eating, which I have to say I have thoroughly enjoyed! Got the in-laws coming up tonight for the weekend, luckily we get on so looking forward to seeing them.
Yesterday I helped my mate Si take some stuff to the tip and he said he was sick of the cold weather we have been having in Newcastle. I heard myself agreeing with him before my brain engaged - by comparison to Everest it's toasty up here.
Had two nice emails this morning, one from Sir Chris Bonington wishing me luck on the expedition again, which I still think is pretty cool. The second was from Jamie Clarke, a guy we met out in Nepal when he was part of a sponsored Pumori expedition. Most of you probably won't know who Jamie is (we didn't) but he's a bit like the Canadian Bear Grylls, with his own TV show etc. The fella is tall, good looking, confident and funny, but despite all those things you can't help but like him. Have agreed to meet for a beer in KTM at some point. If you're interested in his own expedition up the south side of Everest click here.
My cousin's mate has also come good for the transporting of kit to Nepal, which is great news. He has asked not to be thanked though as he doesn't want the hassle of going through official company channels. So I wont thank him, unless I see him, then I'll get him a pint.
Had a good trip to the gym today with a nice long swim at the end. Currently feeling pretty healthy though a bit heavy from all the eating, which I have to say I have thoroughly enjoyed! Got the in-laws coming up tonight for the weekend, luckily we get on so looking forward to seeing them.
Yesterday I helped my mate Si take some stuff to the tip and he said he was sick of the cold weather we have been having in Newcastle. I heard myself agreeing with him before my brain engaged - by comparison to Everest it's toasty up here.
24/02/10 Packing
Location: Newcastle
Got a phone call from my cousin Nick last night. He had been reading this blog and when he read about the weight allowance problems he called to ask if I wanted him to contact his mate at a well known global delivery service company. Seems his mate had helped him out before when my cousin worked for Comic Relief and they needed kit shifted around the planet. Anyway I leapt at the chance of assistance with getting gear over to Kathmandu so he asked me to give him an idea of how much I'd need shifting. As a result today has been my first proper pack up day and its not gone brilliantly to be honest. Essentially I'm taking lots and lots of stuff (see below), all of which I need, and its going to come in at around double the allowance for someone going on a beach holiday, no massive surprise there then. Fingers crossed the guy at the three letter carrier comes good otherwise it might just sting a bit when I break the weigh-in scales at Heathrow. Massive thanks to Nick for all his help in the meantime, check out the family business here if you are interested. Finished the 'working' day with a 10 mile run as a break from the gym and felt good afterwards. Tonight I'm going to settle down and treat myself to a beer whilst watching the footy - can't wait, is that sad?
Got a phone call from my cousin Nick last night. He had been reading this blog and when he read about the weight allowance problems he called to ask if I wanted him to contact his mate at a well known global delivery service company. Seems his mate had helped him out before when my cousin worked for Comic Relief and they needed kit shifted around the planet. Anyway I leapt at the chance of assistance with getting gear over to Kathmandu so he asked me to give him an idea of how much I'd need shifting. As a result today has been my first proper pack up day and its not gone brilliantly to be honest. Essentially I'm taking lots and lots of stuff (see below), all of which I need, and its going to come in at around double the allowance for someone going on a beach holiday, no massive surprise there then. Fingers crossed the guy at the three letter carrier comes good otherwise it might just sting a bit when I break the weigh-in scales at Heathrow. Massive thanks to Nick for all his help in the meantime, check out the family business here if you are interested. Finished the 'working' day with a 10 mile run as a break from the gym and felt good afterwards. Tonight I'm going to settle down and treat myself to a beer whilst watching the footy - can't wait, is that sad?
Might have to leave some of the food behind...and clothes...and will I really need a towel?
21/02/10
Location: Nottingham
Just got back from a great weekend in Nottingham catching up with some old school friends before the big trip. Everyone was on good form and special thanks to John and Kirsty for hosting. Brian made an awesome chilli on the saturday night and we drank possibly a little too much beer and had a good laugh, all in all just what I needed. We put one of the F10 tents up on the saturday afternoon but in the end there was enough space in the house so it wasn't needed. Bit of a shame as it snowed overnight and would have made for a good picture in the morning - though really it's nicer to sleep in a proper bed whilst it's still an option.
Just got back from a great weekend in Nottingham catching up with some old school friends before the big trip. Everyone was on good form and special thanks to John and Kirsty for hosting. Brian made an awesome chilli on the saturday night and we drank possibly a little too much beer and had a good laugh, all in all just what I needed. We put one of the F10 tents up on the saturday afternoon but in the end there was enough space in the house so it wasn't needed. Bit of a shame as it snowed overnight and would have made for a good picture in the morning - though really it's nicer to sleep in a proper bed whilst it's still an option.
Tent up before the snow
How much time does John spend practising Guitar Hero?
17/02/10 Some people get 15 minutes - heres my 2min 39secs of fame
Location: On Location
Okay, so yesterday - how can I describe the day? Pretty strange really I guess. The plan was to do some filming at Gibside, but the reporter (Ian) and cameraman (Martin) turned up early at the flat when I wasn't quite ready (I hadn't even done my hair) and wanted to do some filming in the flat itself. So I sat and smiled whilst being filmed looking at this website trying not to think about all the junk and mess around me. They then asked if we could film in the gym as that's where I've been doing my training and they felt it was more relevant than me putting a tent up. So I called Chris at Greens and understandably he was delighted at the idea of getting ITV to film there.
Off to the gym and they filmed me on the cross trainer, on the rowing machine and doing weights. Which was fine as I had learnt from the last photo shoot in the gym (in the down suit) not to pick heavy weights due to repeated "and just hold that there.." moments. We then did some interviewing in the gym about the HRA, the expedition, sponsors etc and despite being a bit tongue-tied I hope its okay. I also tried to stress to them the need to include sponsors and the website in the footage. After that we drove over to Gibside and they filmed me putting up the new tent from Vango - including getting in and out a few times.
Overall I think the filming went well despite taking much longer than expected. Ian and Martin were great - talking through what they wanted to do and Martin even gave me some tips on filming which was really appreciated. We then headed back to the studio and I got what appeared to be a thumbs up to the idea of taking a small ITV camera with me on the climb. Hopefully this could work out really well, especially as they want to give me a bit of training in how to use it. I just hope it doesn't weigh too much as I'm going to be way over my weight allowance as it is. In the taxi on the way back the driver wanted to know all about the filming and the climb and said "Hey, when it's on tonight I'll be able to say to the misses that I picked you up"!
Okay - so here is the footage. Thanks to Ian and Martin for all their help.
Have a look if you want a laugh.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31Y8ruCWwqs
Okay, so yesterday - how can I describe the day? Pretty strange really I guess. The plan was to do some filming at Gibside, but the reporter (Ian) and cameraman (Martin) turned up early at the flat when I wasn't quite ready (I hadn't even done my hair) and wanted to do some filming in the flat itself. So I sat and smiled whilst being filmed looking at this website trying not to think about all the junk and mess around me. They then asked if we could film in the gym as that's where I've been doing my training and they felt it was more relevant than me putting a tent up. So I called Chris at Greens and understandably he was delighted at the idea of getting ITV to film there.
Off to the gym and they filmed me on the cross trainer, on the rowing machine and doing weights. Which was fine as I had learnt from the last photo shoot in the gym (in the down suit) not to pick heavy weights due to repeated "and just hold that there.." moments. We then did some interviewing in the gym about the HRA, the expedition, sponsors etc and despite being a bit tongue-tied I hope its okay. I also tried to stress to them the need to include sponsors and the website in the footage. After that we drove over to Gibside and they filmed me putting up the new tent from Vango - including getting in and out a few times.
Overall I think the filming went well despite taking much longer than expected. Ian and Martin were great - talking through what they wanted to do and Martin even gave me some tips on filming which was really appreciated. We then headed back to the studio and I got what appeared to be a thumbs up to the idea of taking a small ITV camera with me on the climb. Hopefully this could work out really well, especially as they want to give me a bit of training in how to use it. I just hope it doesn't weigh too much as I'm going to be way over my weight allowance as it is. In the taxi on the way back the driver wanted to know all about the filming and the climb and said "Hey, when it's on tonight I'll be able to say to the misses that I picked you up"!
Okay - so here is the footage. Thanks to Ian and Martin for all their help.
Have a look if you want a laugh.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31Y8ruCWwqs
15/02/10 Deliveries (not babies for a change)
Location: Newcastle
Today was delivery day for the first batch of stuff to come down from those generous soles at Vango, even the DHL delivery guy seemed a bit surprised by the amount of stuff being dropped off. Five large cardboard boxes and it felt a bit like christmas opening them all up to find sleeping bags, a tent, cases, stuff sacs and lots and lots of Wayfarer meals (yes I had a chicken tikka ready meal for lunch, and it was good). Had just about finished unpacking that lot when I got another knock at the door and it was a delivery of crisps from Pipers of Lincolnshire. The guy there had emailed me back after my sponsorship request saying they couldn't provide any corporate sponsorship but could provide some crisps if I wanted. Well anyone that knows my weakness for crisps can guess I was never going to say no to an offer like that. But when the crisps were delivered it was twelve boxes, each containing forty packets! thats 480 packets of crisps (okay, so its 478 packets now). This time the delivery fella wasn't the only one surprised. Luckily when I wandered down to our local corner store and chatted to the owner she remembered the article in the Journal and offered to help me turn the crisps to currency. Thanks Pipers, nice crisps too.
Today was also supposed to be the day for my appearance on North East Tonight, but its been put back till tomorrow, which means another days fretting before the inevitable mumbling beetroot faced performance is broadcast to the (north east) nation live on telly, joy.
Today was delivery day for the first batch of stuff to come down from those generous soles at Vango, even the DHL delivery guy seemed a bit surprised by the amount of stuff being dropped off. Five large cardboard boxes and it felt a bit like christmas opening them all up to find sleeping bags, a tent, cases, stuff sacs and lots and lots of Wayfarer meals (yes I had a chicken tikka ready meal for lunch, and it was good). Had just about finished unpacking that lot when I got another knock at the door and it was a delivery of crisps from Pipers of Lincolnshire. The guy there had emailed me back after my sponsorship request saying they couldn't provide any corporate sponsorship but could provide some crisps if I wanted. Well anyone that knows my weakness for crisps can guess I was never going to say no to an offer like that. But when the crisps were delivered it was twelve boxes, each containing forty packets! thats 480 packets of crisps (okay, so its 478 packets now). This time the delivery fella wasn't the only one surprised. Luckily when I wandered down to our local corner store and chatted to the owner she remembered the article in the Journal and offered to help me turn the crisps to currency. Thanks Pipers, nice crisps too.
Today was also supposed to be the day for my appearance on North East Tonight, but its been put back till tomorrow, which means another days fretting before the inevitable mumbling beetroot faced performance is broadcast to the (north east) nation live on telly, joy.
Xmas day
Crisps
Tynemouth beach on Sunday, nice isn't it...
Everything here is practical, my Dad would be proud
Lots of crisps
...dead porpoise not shown
12/02/10 In the paper and perhaps on screen?
Location: Newcastle
Great news - the right article, not the one I feared, made The Journal newspaper today (circulation approx. 39,000) on page three no less, and was also included in the Evening Chronicle (circulation approx. 64,000). I also found out that the Living North piece has been included (circulation 15,400) in their new issue covering four whole pages. So taking into account the other papers and magazines - that means around 200,000 people could have been subjected to images of my ugly mug! and it is a truly terrible photo of me in the Journal. However, just waiting on that corporate sponsor now...
I also had a call when we were in the bank this morning whilst hemorrhaging more money out to Nepal. The call was from a fella named Ian at ITV/Tyne Tees who had seen the article in the Journal and was interested in me doing an interview on TV ... a live television interview, Aaargh! luckily Jen has been on hand to give me support and encouragement, like 'it will be fine, stop being a wuss'.
I might have to let you know about that one after it happens in case I make a right *** of myself. Check out the Media Coverage page of this site for the newspaper articles and to laugh at just how bad that Journal photo is.
Great news - the right article, not the one I feared, made The Journal newspaper today (circulation approx. 39,000) on page three no less, and was also included in the Evening Chronicle (circulation approx. 64,000). I also found out that the Living North piece has been included (circulation 15,400) in their new issue covering four whole pages. So taking into account the other papers and magazines - that means around 200,000 people could have been subjected to images of my ugly mug! and it is a truly terrible photo of me in the Journal. However, just waiting on that corporate sponsor now...
I also had a call when we were in the bank this morning whilst hemorrhaging more money out to Nepal. The call was from a fella named Ian at ITV/Tyne Tees who had seen the article in the Journal and was interested in me doing an interview on TV ... a live television interview, Aaargh! luckily Jen has been on hand to give me support and encouragement, like 'it will be fine, stop being a wuss'.
I might have to let you know about that one after it happens in case I make a right *** of myself. Check out the Media Coverage page of this site for the newspaper articles and to laugh at just how bad that Journal photo is.
11/02/10 The Journal calls and more photos
Location: Newcastle
Got a call at 9.00am this morning from Dan, a reporter with the Newcastle Journal paper. He was responding to another set of emails I had sent out yesterday trying to get media coverage for the climb in order to raise awareness for the charities, hopefully boost sponsorship and even, in an ideal world, find a company that wanted to provide corporate sponsorship. Anyway we had a nice chat, went over the usual questions that the press have asked: How did the expedition come about? Who are the HRA? Why Everest? Aren't you afraid of dying up there? (I wasn't, but thanks for mentioning it) etc.
He than asked if I was busy this morning? 'No, not really' I replied. 'Great, can we send a photographer round now?' errrr...sure. Quick shower, tidy the flat, do the washing-up, fling on the Vango jacket (always thinking of the sponsors you see) and the doorbell goes. Luckily Leanne was lovely, friendly and also 5 months pregnant (what's with all the babies all of a sudden?). She copied some images off our laptop then asked me to gear up for some shots outside. There's not a lot of greenery around here but she soon had me leaning against a tree, wearing my harness and carrying my climbing helmet and ice axe - looking I suspect pretty stupid (we'll soon see I fear). Next she decided she wanted a picture of me from below, so she lies down on the pavement and asks me to stand above as if I'm about to step over her. If anyone had driven past they would have seen what appeared to be an axe wielding maniac treading a pregnant woman's face into the dirt - not quite the positive PR I was hoping for.
Apparently it will be in tomorrow's paper, fingers crossed the headline is something like 'Climbing for Charity' and not 'Climber Goes Berserk in Gosforth - Shocked Witness Informs Police'.
Got a call at 9.00am this morning from Dan, a reporter with the Newcastle Journal paper. He was responding to another set of emails I had sent out yesterday trying to get media coverage for the climb in order to raise awareness for the charities, hopefully boost sponsorship and even, in an ideal world, find a company that wanted to provide corporate sponsorship. Anyway we had a nice chat, went over the usual questions that the press have asked: How did the expedition come about? Who are the HRA? Why Everest? Aren't you afraid of dying up there? (I wasn't, but thanks for mentioning it) etc.
He than asked if I was busy this morning? 'No, not really' I replied. 'Great, can we send a photographer round now?' errrr...sure. Quick shower, tidy the flat, do the washing-up, fling on the Vango jacket (always thinking of the sponsors you see) and the doorbell goes. Luckily Leanne was lovely, friendly and also 5 months pregnant (what's with all the babies all of a sudden?). She copied some images off our laptop then asked me to gear up for some shots outside. There's not a lot of greenery around here but she soon had me leaning against a tree, wearing my harness and carrying my climbing helmet and ice axe - looking I suspect pretty stupid (we'll soon see I fear). Next she decided she wanted a picture of me from below, so she lies down on the pavement and asks me to stand above as if I'm about to step over her. If anyone had driven past they would have seen what appeared to be an axe wielding maniac treading a pregnant woman's face into the dirt - not quite the positive PR I was hoping for.
Apparently it will be in tomorrow's paper, fingers crossed the headline is something like 'Climbing for Charity' and not 'Climber Goes Berserk in Gosforth - Shocked Witness Informs Police'.
08/02/10 Another new arrival...
Location: Newcastle
Returned to the north east yesterday and went round to our friends for an evening meal. Spent a bit of time with their baby daughter, who of course promptly threw up (do all children throw up this much or just the one's we meet?). Fortunately not over Jen this time, but poor Sharm wasn't so lucky. After a delicious sunday roast, just the type of meal I crave when spending months in the Himalaya, I got the call we'd been waiting for - my sister Ruth had given birth to Emily Rachel Florence, and both mother and daughter were doing well. Fantastic news, massive congratulations and best wishes to Ruth and Sam. Looking forward to seeing them in a couple of weeks and meeting my new niece.
On to today and the latest Accent magazine has been published that includes an article on the expedition. Becky at Accent kindly sent me a pdf of the article (see the Media Coverage page of this site if your interested). The pdf that was sent looked great except that the colour contrast of the picture of me had been played around with and it looked like I had a terrible case of acne/measles all over my face. Luckily I got a copy of the magazine through the door an hour later and thankfully its been darkened on the printed version - so I don't look like a sixteen year old, or a pizza.
Returned to the north east yesterday and went round to our friends for an evening meal. Spent a bit of time with their baby daughter, who of course promptly threw up (do all children throw up this much or just the one's we meet?). Fortunately not over Jen this time, but poor Sharm wasn't so lucky. After a delicious sunday roast, just the type of meal I crave when spending months in the Himalaya, I got the call we'd been waiting for - my sister Ruth had given birth to Emily Rachel Florence, and both mother and daughter were doing well. Fantastic news, massive congratulations and best wishes to Ruth and Sam. Looking forward to seeing them in a couple of weeks and meeting my new niece.
On to today and the latest Accent magazine has been published that includes an article on the expedition. Becky at Accent kindly sent me a pdf of the article (see the Media Coverage page of this site if your interested). The pdf that was sent looked great except that the colour contrast of the picture of me had been played around with and it looked like I had a terrible case of acne/measles all over my face. Luckily I got a copy of the magazine through the door an hour later and thankfully its been darkened on the printed version - so I don't look like a sixteen year old, or a pizza.
06/02/10 Down on the Farm
Location: Lincolnshire
Back home for the weekend to see my parents for the last time before the expedition and pick up some climbing gear stashed at the house. Always enjoy going home to see them and they'd been busy on the farm clearing overgrown and fallen trees (I'm convinced my Dad is only truly happy when holding a chainsaw). The result was a huge farm style bonfire which smoked out the neighbours half a mile away. Some people prod a fire with a stick, my parents use a JCB.
I also went for a short 2 mile run this morning and now my right knee is a little sore has swollen up slightly. I suspect its from running on the tarmac road as opposed to the treadmill and paths like normal but its not good news. Hopefully it will settle down asap.
Back home for the weekend to see my parents for the last time before the expedition and pick up some climbing gear stashed at the house. Always enjoy going home to see them and they'd been busy on the farm clearing overgrown and fallen trees (I'm convinced my Dad is only truly happy when holding a chainsaw). The result was a huge farm style bonfire which smoked out the neighbours half a mile away. Some people prod a fire with a stick, my parents use a JCB.
I also went for a short 2 mile run this morning and now my right knee is a little sore has swollen up slightly. I suspect its from running on the tarmac road as opposed to the treadmill and paths like normal but its not good news. Hopefully it will settle down asap.
04/02/10 Vango Meeting
Location: Glasgow
Traveled over to Port Glasgow just outside of Glasgow itself today to meet the team at Vango who have agreed to sponsor the expedition. Between us there have been dozens of emails so it was nice to meet them all in person - and what a truly great bunch. Okay, so you wouldn't expect me to say much else about people who are giving me free kit, but they were really nice people who wanted to help out with the climb as much as possible. When they first asked me to send them a 'wish list' of gear it was a little tricky, a bit like doing a wedding list I suppose, because you could really do with the items but don't want to appear greedy. Truth is though we discussed the stuff I had picked out and they kept making suggestions of more things to take, it was great!
I also chatted with their designer about the construction and testing of their tents, sleeping bags etc as free kit is great but it has to be up to the job otherwise its just deadweight and I'll be in serious trouble. Having seen and checked it all I'm happy to report it's all top quality, well tested and well designed kit. I was especially pleased to hear that whilst generally most products get a facelift every now and then in the outdoor gear market, their Vortex tent (a vital piece of expedition equipment) is so good, and has won so many awards they now see no reason in changing it - and they are giving me two of them, one three man for Basecamp and a two man version for higher up the hill. Check it out here if you're interested.
Best of all, following my utter failure to get the airline to help with the luggage allowance (£36 per extra kilo they charge, the robbing...) Vango have kindly offered to send some of the kit to Nepal direct, shame that there's an import tax in Nepal but it will still save us a fortune.
No training today, but the last two days were good exercise and other expedition matters have been dealt with so not feeling too guilty about it...well maybe a little.
Traveled over to Port Glasgow just outside of Glasgow itself today to meet the team at Vango who have agreed to sponsor the expedition. Between us there have been dozens of emails so it was nice to meet them all in person - and what a truly great bunch. Okay, so you wouldn't expect me to say much else about people who are giving me free kit, but they were really nice people who wanted to help out with the climb as much as possible. When they first asked me to send them a 'wish list' of gear it was a little tricky, a bit like doing a wedding list I suppose, because you could really do with the items but don't want to appear greedy. Truth is though we discussed the stuff I had picked out and they kept making suggestions of more things to take, it was great!
I also chatted with their designer about the construction and testing of their tents, sleeping bags etc as free kit is great but it has to be up to the job otherwise its just deadweight and I'll be in serious trouble. Having seen and checked it all I'm happy to report it's all top quality, well tested and well designed kit. I was especially pleased to hear that whilst generally most products get a facelift every now and then in the outdoor gear market, their Vortex tent (a vital piece of expedition equipment) is so good, and has won so many awards they now see no reason in changing it - and they are giving me two of them, one three man for Basecamp and a two man version for higher up the hill. Check it out here if you're interested.
Best of all, following my utter failure to get the airline to help with the luggage allowance (£36 per extra kilo they charge, the robbing...) Vango have kindly offered to send some of the kit to Nepal direct, shame that there's an import tax in Nepal but it will still save us a fortune.
No training today, but the last two days were good exercise and other expedition matters have been dealt with so not feeling too guilty about it...well maybe a little.
Vango product designer Martin
03/02/10 Munro'd
Location: Cairngorm
The weather forecast had predicted heavy low-lying cloud over the mountains today, so the plan last night was to head further south in search of clear skies. However luck was with us (and the forecast predictably wrong) and the Cairngorm range was basking in winter sun by the time we finally got our slightly aching muscles moving. So new plan - go and see what we'd climbed the day before and bag a Munro in the process. They say a picture tells a thousand words, and if the thousand words are from me then the pictures become an even better option. Suffice to say it was stunningly beautiful up there and much colder than it looks...
The weather forecast had predicted heavy low-lying cloud over the mountains today, so the plan last night was to head further south in search of clear skies. However luck was with us (and the forecast predictably wrong) and the Cairngorm range was basking in winter sun by the time we finally got our slightly aching muscles moving. So new plan - go and see what we'd climbed the day before and bag a Munro in the process. They say a picture tells a thousand words, and if the thousand words are from me then the pictures become an even better option. Suffice to say it was stunningly beautiful up there and much colder than it looks...
02/02/10 Whiteout
Location: Coire an t-Sneachda
Yesterday I traveled up to Scotland on the megabus (no, it wasn't, not even close), met Andy at Dundee and we drove up to Aviemore to meet his mate Isaac. In the evening we went to the pub. The day wasn't worth a separate blog so therefore it doesnt get one.
Today however was fantastic, there is tons of snow up here and it's still falling. We got up early and headed over the ski centre in the car. The picture below hopefully shows just how much snow has accumulated up here! We then trekked up to the start of the climb in Coire an t-Sneachda (don't trust my spelling). Fantastic conditions of a proper whiteout, biting wind and blizzard. The climb was fairly easy as Isaac was new to this sort of 'fun' but it was still good training for me. At first we put in some icescrews for protection (screws that bite into the ice wall so holding us in case of a fall) but the group in front were moving so slowly we just roped up and beasted past them. I was able to front point the whole route (i.e. walk up it vertically using just the front spikes of my crampons and the ice axe) so gave my calf muscles a bloody hard workout. Once at the top we could only see about 5m in the blizzard so winter navigation skills were vital to stop us wandering over a cliff edge. Fortunately between us (well mostly Andy) we took the right bearings, got down safely and had a good trek back to the ski centre. All in all it was hard work, freezing cold and difficult - a great days training.
Yesterday I traveled up to Scotland on the megabus (no, it wasn't, not even close), met Andy at Dundee and we drove up to Aviemore to meet his mate Isaac. In the evening we went to the pub. The day wasn't worth a separate blog so therefore it doesnt get one.
Today however was fantastic, there is tons of snow up here and it's still falling. We got up early and headed over the ski centre in the car. The picture below hopefully shows just how much snow has accumulated up here! We then trekked up to the start of the climb in Coire an t-Sneachda (don't trust my spelling). Fantastic conditions of a proper whiteout, biting wind and blizzard. The climb was fairly easy as Isaac was new to this sort of 'fun' but it was still good training for me. At first we put in some icescrews for protection (screws that bite into the ice wall so holding us in case of a fall) but the group in front were moving so slowly we just roped up and beasted past them. I was able to front point the whole route (i.e. walk up it vertically using just the front spikes of my crampons and the ice axe) so gave my calf muscles a bloody hard workout. Once at the top we could only see about 5m in the blizzard so winter navigation skills were vital to stop us wandering over a cliff edge. Fortunately between us (well mostly Andy) we took the right bearings, got down safely and had a good trek back to the ski centre. All in all it was hard work, freezing cold and difficult - a great days training.
The road up to the ski centre
Feels more like the Alps
Winter navigation in a whiteout
Andy playing with his new icescrew
(good name for a cocktail?)
Covered in hoar frost
Inside a snow hole
If anyone wants one of these badges let me know
