Destination Kathmandu!

Standing in line in the grand 'immigration' hall waiting to get my 3-day Nepal transit visa reminded me of the ‘organised chaos’ that is so typical of Nepal. For 1.5 hours I listened patiently to the heavy ‘thud’ of the visa stamp slamming down on the passports on the hundred people ahead of me in the line, the careful counting of the US dollars for the visa entry fee, the shuffling of papers looking for hotel addresses and the quiet humm of tourist anticipation. Off in the corner two local people had been tasked with tending to the paint peeling off of the windowsills while another swept up the dust brought in by the arriving planes.

And so the journey begins...

“Life is uncharted territory. It reveals its story one moment at a time.” (Leo F. Buscaglia 1924-1998). Needless to say my own uncharted territory will certainly be developing further over the coming weeks and months... It's a strange feeling being so conscious of that. I have just two short hours until my taxi comes and takes me to Heathrow. My two bags (guess-timate weight is 35kg, 8 over the maximum) are both parked at the front door waiting to be whisked away on this great adventure - although, given the weight, the more appropriate term would, in fact, be 'lugged'..! I managed to get everything organised in time and even had a delicious 'last supper' at the fantastic pizza-place just down the road with my flatmate... complete with a complimentary glass of champagne! I have a number of different emotions and thoughts going around in my head - nerves, excitement, standing on the cusp of the unknown... Soon this journey will 'formally' begin... and I can't wait..!

The Sherpa Tradition

I opened my eyes, shuddered and wiggled deeper into the down depths of my -30C sleeping bag. The wind outside was howling and I could tell by a dark-ridged shadow along the ouside of my bright yellow tent that a fresh layer of snow had fallen overnight. Ice condensation lined the inside dome - sparkling in the light coming from my headlamp. Over the sound of the wind I could hear a 'crunch crunch' outside - it sounded like someone walking over styrofoam. Early morning chatter was heard coming from the tent next to mine and then suddenly there was a rustling at my tent-flap.
"Heather di-di - Good morning to you..!" sang a cheery voice as my tent was unzipped and a thick-gloved hand lay a tray of biscuits and a cup of warm tea at the foot of my Thermarest. I smiled to myself as I fumbled for the warm thermos, marveling at the gracious hospitality of the Sherpa culture. I couldn't believe that I was actually getting tea and cookies in bed..! I don't even get this kind of first-class service at sea-level, let alone 6000m..!!

A lesson in altitude

It feels rather ironic to be sat in my living room listening to Bob Dylan and wearing a giant plastic facemask attached via a long clear tube to a machine sat humming quietly in the corner. I'm currently sitting quite comfortably at 6560m breathing in oxygen at 78% being pumped into my lungs from the 'hypoxicator' and am now in the second 10-minute segment of a 90 minute long intermittent hypoxic training (IHT) session.
The fingertip pulse oximeter, attached to my finger glows, providing an 82% blood-oxygen saturation (%SpO2) reading and pulse rate of 68... All this to help with my acclimatisation on Everest and to reduce the potential for Acute Mountain Sickness - more commonly referred to as 'AMS' or 'Altitude sickness'...

Millet Everest meets Jimmy Choo

I can't say that I've ever been a 'fashionista' but I do recognise the difference between 'fashion' and 'fashion-faux-pas'. I'm sad to say that on Everest I will not be receiving any Vogue-style-points or make it onto any 'Best Dressed' lists in the glossy pages of Hello and Grazia over the course of the 72-odd days of the expedition... I will even go as far as to pre-warn you that I will fall victim to the 'fashion-faux-pas to end all faux-pas'... "Crocs with Socks" (followed a close second by sandles with socks... shudder...). Having said that I have come to appreciate the true utilitarian quality to not-so-fashionable mountain hardwear and have embraced with giant, down filled open arms the advances in climbing technology since the days of Mallory and Irvine. Gone are the days of grandmothers home-knitted socks, sealskin - wool jackets combos.... Welcome to the new era of mountain fashion featuring  merino wool, kevlar liners, gore-tex of every size, shape and color, nalgene bottles, mittens weighing less than a burger from your local Argentinian steakhouse and crampons that double as corkscrews for the celebration vino upon a successful summit attempt...

Spinning for Sport Relief - Pulse racing, adrenaline pumping for Sport Relief

With "Lady Gaga" booming through the speakers and wishing that I'd indulged in my usual full-fat morning latte, relaxed with my feet up on the sofa, I found myself sat on the familiar and excrutiatingly hard saddle of a stationary bike at my local gym, Body Works West at 8:30am on Sunday morning peddling furiously through the first 'Rise and Shine' spin session of a 12-hour long spinning bonanza, all in aid of Sport Relief. I'd intially only committed to 4-hours but then, somehow, managed to convince myself that peeling the layers of wet clothing off my back four times in one day would somehow be more painful  and uncomfortable than actually cycling all 12 spin sessions... so instead settled for a compromise and cycled 11 back-to-back-super-sweaty-spin classes, winning a months free membership to the gym, getting a snazzy David Beckham designed Sport Relief t-shirt and contributed to raising over GBP 1,500 for Sport Relief in the process..!

Altitude Training... at Sea Level

''Place this plastic mask against your face and try to relax,'' said Richard Pullan, the Director of the Altitude Centre in Covent Garden as he handed me a clear-plastic surgical mask. The mask was linked via an omnious thin tube to a greyish white box about two-foot square called a "hypoxicator", which micro-filters the air to reduce oxygen and remove impurities. ''It is the purest air in London,'' he promised, switching on a widescreen television directly in front of me and as I felt my heart start to race.... I felt as if I was part of a strange science experiment as two lines on the console in front of me plotted my pulse (a red line) and the percentage of oxygen in my blood (a blue line) on a graph. The blue one was dropping fast: 98 per cent, 97, 90, 85 … I stared at it anxiously as I tried to relax wondering if it had been a wise move to trust a relative stranger with control over one of  the most critical elements - oxygen- reqired to keep my body going...

The Second Step... in Scotland

Scotland has always conjured up images of horizontal rain, old castles, haggis, men in kilts... not to mention Braveheart, Mike Myers (part Canadian), and the lovely Ewan McGregor ('sigh!')...  Scotland now takes on a meaning much more significant than men in kilts and Scottish gastronomic tendencies.... The Glencoe Hills and Ben Nevis provide some of the best winter walking and climbing conditions in Britain suitable for the beginner and the expert alike. It is the perfect training ground for Everest and there are many people who say that if you can survive the conditions in Scotland then Everest will be a 'walk in the park' (errrmmm... well, maybe not a walk in the park but it will be a good training ground..!!).

Keeping Fit

Aconcagua, Argentina