INTRODUCTION

On 24th March, 2014, Kavita Chauhan & I will depart for Kathmandu, Nepal to take on a 30-day Challenge for Charity, trekking 120 miles (190km) across the undulating Himalayas to the base of Everest (known as Everest Base Camp) following in the footsteps of Sir Edmund Hilary & Tenzing Norgay Sherpa during their successful expedition to conquer Everest in 1953. 

Nepal is a small country located in the Himalayas between India & China. It is home to eight of the 10 highest mountains in the world including Mt. Everest itself. The capital city of Nepal is Kathmandu.

Our long trek will begin from the small town of Jiri, eastbound against the 'grain' of the Himalayas to Lukla, through the little remote villages where we will spend the nights in simple accommodation and with basic food offered by the local villagers. This classic route of the early expeditions gains and loses more than 10,000m of elevation during its many steep ascents & descents across the ridge lines of the Himalayan mountain range. 

The Trekking Route across the Himalayas (in orange) from Jiri to Lukla and then on to Everest Base Camp

 

From Lukla, our journey will then continue northwards to Namche Bazaar and will culminate at Everest Base Camp (5,364m), where we will spend two nights in tents under harsh weather conditions in the company of mountaineers who will be preparing to make their Everest summit attempt, climbing up through the notorious Khumbu Ice Fall to the next camp (Everest Camp 1) higher up the mountain. Our highest ascent will be the Vantage point of Kala Patthar at 5,545m, before we trek back through Namche Bazaar to the small airfield at Lukla, the world's highest and most dangerous airport, where our trek will end with a small propeller plane flight back to Kathmandu. 

 

The chart above is the Altitude Profile of our challenge trek and demonstrates the ascents and descents we will encounter as we trek across the Himalayas from Jiri to Everest Base Camp and back to Lukla. The peaks represents the ridges lines of the Himalayan mountain range that we will cross. The route gains and loses more than 10,000m of elevation, greater than the climb to Everest itself.

We take on the challenge as a tribute to George Mallory, a remarkable mountaineer who was the first person to make an attempt at the Everest Summit in the 1924 Everest Expedition from the North Face of the mountain. Mallory tragically lost his life close to the summit, although it remains unclear to this day whether he was on his way up or on the way down from the summit at the time. There are many who believe that he is indeed the first person to summit Everest.

We are trully honoured to take on this challenge on the 90th Anniversary of the fatal 1924 expedition.

We hope to continue updating our Blog throughout the trek so you may follow our progress and share our experience in part. We will, however, be trekking through remote areas of Nepal and the Himalayas where there might not be access to the Internet or any communication with the outside world. We therefore apologise in advance for any break in our updates during our trek.

Thank you for your interest in our journey and for taking the time to follow our story.

Kind Regards & All the Best, 

Mani