Coming March Namgyal & Armand join Richard Keidan of the US based Miles Levin Foundation during a revisit to one of their project sites in Khotang, home district of Namgyal.
Purpose of the visit is to meet the local NGO ‘Creative Porters Society’ to discuss a new proposal to Khotang’s development concerning Health & Education. The new proposal may extend the existing project that was started in 2010, focusing on providing water & sanitation (toilets), land for a school and a sponsor program for poor children. The visit will also be used to reevaluate the progress of the existing project.
In April we’ll post more information about this visit and its results on this blog. If you’re interested to support a project in Khotang or the Miles Levin Foundation, please contact us at: info@mountainconsult.com or visit: www.miles2nepal.org.
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February 24, 2012 | Categories: News & updates | Tags: charity, khotang, Miles Levin, namgyal sherpa, trekking | Leave A Comment »
Just ended our big packing and checking morning.
I’m still puzzled how an empty kitbag can seem so huge, while packing your belongings it seems to become smaller and smaller
The sleeping bag which should keep me warm till -49C took already one third of the space! Can’t tell you how often I got a reaction these days of people (Nepali as well as Western) who were completely horrified and flabbergasted; they can’t even name a single reason why you would go up to stay in this cold voluntary and actually also have to pay money for that…
Also in the bag are ordinary stuff like climbing gear, climbing boots, several down clothes, special socks, 2 mattresses, sunblock factor 80(!), Thermos and covers for that, face mask, 3 pair of gloves, 3 pair of sunglasses for all different purposes (yes… horrible, normally I never wear any!) etcetcetc.
I must admit that I also bought myself some luxury items, but I call them ‘absolute required luxury’
I’ll give you some…
First of all; chocolate! Candy bars, tablets and Nutella as well. About the quantity of this black gold; if I have to count it in monthly Nepali salaries I’m getting a little embarrassed here
Also a ‘must have’ is a pair of warm booties to stay warm in the rocky BC and to avoid scratching the expensive and somehow fragile climbing boots completely open before you have even started your climb! My favourites for this cold environment are boots from Canada; people there are so used to live in extreme cold half of the year that I totally rely on their designs and trials!
Next are a few books to fill the acclimatising and rest days in the BC (actually every extra gram which is not reserved for equipment can you see as ‘luxury item’), tasty tea (Moroccan mint, yummie) and not to forget some Kenzo perfumed body lotion; the environment is barren enough already
Not sure if the yak who will devotedly transport all my stuff to the BC must be happy or not, but at least it will get a hug from me, as well as a delicious snack (besides grass, what’s a Yak’s favourite candy…anyone???).
CU tomorrow. X
April 8, 2010 | Categories: Eveline Wessels | Tags: charity, climbing, everest, expedition, gear, mountaineering, nepal, preperation | Leave A Comment »
During our first day we started to prepare the rest of the camp together: hammering ice to create ‘flat’ camp spots, shoveling rock screw, collecting big stones to build tables, ‘sofas’ etcetc. During the night we felt that the flat camp areas could have needed some more perfectionism, feeling like lying on an Auping bed that has been lifted at both extremities simultaneously, or just only in the middle (both not comfortable I can tell you). That mixed with the fact that you7r fundament (glacial ice) is cracking like hell it always takes some nights before you can say “I slept” (leave alone the superstitious ‘well’).
Anyway! We also started to practice to get used to the many ladders we’ll need to cross in the Icefall. Some close contacts with the ‘Icefall Doctors’ (Sherpas preparing the Icefall route) resulted in a private ladder in our camp; a real eye catcher for peasants it seemed.
And further…. Wait…. The consulted Lamas proclaimed that our Puja (the spiritual kick off of an expedition from the BC) had to wait for 9 more days. And without Puja, no Icefall entry… Ohhh gosh, then the days get long, and cold L With a daily window of ca 2h without snow and/or wind you have to get very creative how to spend your day, stay warm and cheerful. Nicknames for each other were soon created, play cards were fully booked and dull books became real page turners. And the strange thing is; you become SO tired, extremely tired! The event of the day was always the arrival of more load; grabbing porters out of the snow to dribnk a cup of tea with and tear the stuff from their backs, curiously like opening your Xmas box of food items.
In no time we could extend our camp with more tents, mountains of personal kitbags of all climbers, more food and… a generator! Powerrrrrrrr!!! We soon discovered that the required petrol was not there yet to run that Ferrari-red engine, as well as no laptop and light bulbs for which that machine was actually bought. It felt like a nice wrapping paper covering an empty present L
Actually, we’ve had some major Cargo challenges due to bad weather. Some loads had therefore be to be walked in from Jiri, another 7 days away, causing supplying delays. Amongst it; oxygen (maybe that’s what the Lamas must have been feeling!).
And then… I became sick… Not AMS (Acute Mountain Sickness), no diarrhea, no… an ordinary sinusitis (very painful at altitude). And the horribly morbide thing is… also our medicines were still on the way. Since your body doesn’t recuperate well at that altitude (it’s all about prevention; passed station) AND the Puja was still days ahead, Armand and I decided to go down for a few days. To some greenery and bright sun.
Only 2 hours on the way Armand’s jaw decided to join my misery, forcing us to go all the way down to visit a dental clinic (what a couple we make…!).
So, here we are; right back to where we’ve started almost 3 weeks back; watching the planes come in and out! I must admit; it was a little mental crash for me.
Now I try to look it from the bright side; going to treat ourselves with curd, fresh bread, apple pie, coffee and some strong antibiotics we will strengthen our bodies for the coming 3 days to finally walk back and go up again. Fingers crossed it will be the magic recipe… no more time to waste!
April 5, 2010 | Categories: Eveline Wessels | Tags: base camp, charity, climbing, everest | Leave A Comment »
Kathmandu is heating up and so does the project planning. Only one month to go and still a lot needs to be arranged! According to the latest schedule, a group of 20 sherpas will head to Lukla at April 25th, to arrive at the BC 6 days later. All load will be dropped directly at the BC by 2 helicopters; one of the so welcome received sponsorships from the Nepali Army. Apart from making the logistics much more easy and transparant (just think of all those Kgs to be transported by porters… and how much dahl and baht that requires ), it will definately serve as a major project kick off. Imagine those circulating black hawks above the BC releasing material for 5 camps, 25 expedition members and 40 expedition days…
But that’s for later; what about these days?
Namgyal and Chakra are still flattening the profile of their tires to reach as many sponsors as possible. Still half of the budget needs to be covered by sponsorships. Different parties have been reached, resulting in many positive responses. So, time to transform these promising reactions into clear Rupees!
Last week the whole sherpa group joined a 3 days rock climbing course. Just as a refreshment, since this expedition will ask for other techniques than ‘routine’expeditions (can we still talk about ‘routine’ though, operating above 8000m???!). Guiding Western folks up and down the mountain demands for other capacities (YES, when there would be a price for patience, climbing sherpas would be nominated for sure!) than performing breath taking acrobatic moves to get every piece of garbage out crevasses, as an example.
Furthermore, material preps have been started. Sponsor T-shirts have been designed, several tailors are running their sewing machines full time to finish in time the required kit bags, down suits, sleeping bags and any other personal stuff that contains stiches. Oxygen supply has been ordered, permits are pending and insurances are covered (thanks to again a valuable sponsor).
Have you always been curious about the logistics behind a professional expedition…? Monitor this blog carefully; a lot will happen in the coming weeks…!
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March 23, 2010 | Categories: Everest Cleaning Expedition 2010 | Tags: base camp, charity, namgyal sherpa, preperation | Leave A Comment »
Mt Everest, with 8848m, the highest mountain on the planet. A living goddess for different religions and cultures. This beautiful mountain is also known as the highest pile of garbage in the world. Now, let’s say that this is a bit exaggerated, but it’s true that many international mountaineering expeditions and climbers have left their used and broken gear through the years. We’re talking about tents, oxygen bottles, gas cylinders, wrapping materials, climbing rope, etc. Besides the garbage, several dead bodies still remain at different places on the mountain. The Nepalese people are aware of it, they don’t like it and they feel embarrassed. With the tourism year of 2011 ahead, one experienced high altitude Sherpa decided to do something about it…
Namgyal Sherpa, the Nepalese project director, has been leading a project team of highly driven Nepalese professionals to setup this new cleaning expedition. Their goal? To clean up everything above the death zone (8000m). That’s easier said than done, in fact, it’s a very difficult undertaking at a very extreme altitude. That’s why they called it the Extreme Everest Expedition.
The expedition is planned in April/May/June 2010 and 20 experienced climbing Sherpa’s are included. There is only one ‘but’… and that’s the money. Will they be able to get enough money to finance this national project? Yes, the government and private companies are already involved, but it’s still a long way…
We’ll be in Kathmandu and on Everest as independant reporters to write about this great Sherpa initiative. Let’s see how it goes and let us know what you think!
27.702871
85.318244
March 18, 2010 | Categories: Everest Cleaning Expedition 2010 | Tags: charity, cleaning, everest, expedition, garbage, leftovers, summit, waste | Leave A Comment »
Kathmandu is heating up and so does the project planning. Only one month to go and still a lot needs to be arranged! According to the latest schedule, a group of 20 sherpas will head to Lukla at April 25th, to arrive at the BC 6 days later. All load will be dropped directly at the BC by 2 helicopters; one of the so welcome received sponsorships from the Nepali Army. Apart from making the logistics much more easy and transparant (just think of all those Kgs to be transported by porters… and how much dahl and baht that requires 
Mt Everest, with 8848m, the highest mountain on the planet. A living goddess for different religions and cultures. This beautiful mountain is also known as the highest pile of garbage in the world. Now, let’s say that this is a bit exaggerated, but it’s true that many international mountaineering expeditions and climbers have left their used and broken gear through the years. We’re talking about tents, oxygen bottles, gas cylinders, wrapping materials, climbing rope, etc. Besides the garbage, several dead bodies still remain at different places on the mountain. The Nepalese people are aware of it, they don’t like it and they feel embarrassed. With the tourism year of 2011 ahead, one experienced high altitude Sherpa decided to do something about it…
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Eveline Wessels
