Sitting here at the bar of a pizza restaurant in Chamonix this Sunday night writing this on my laptop (drinking water, off the booze since 1st Jan). Just had a couple of great days refreshing technical skills on some fun routes: rope work, glacier travel, mixed ice and rock climbing in crampons. Been having totally awesome weather – so much that it almost feels like cheating and not as good training but trust me I’m not complaining!
Been out and about with mountain guide and all round good guy Kenny Grant for the past two days. Check out some of these shots and videos from the Marbrees over in Italy yesterday and then the Cosmiques Arete today looking down on Chamonix.
Looking forward to another great day tomorrow before heading back to London.
45 days to go! Time to start raising money to build schools in remote hill villages of the Makwanpur district, Nepal. Makwanpur lost 150 schools to the 2015 Earthquake.
I was meant to be in the snow and ice of the Atlas Mountains in heavy winds this weekend but Easyjet overbooked the flight and wasted eight hours of my time yesterday, I tried to make a late switch to the alps but all flights were booked or gone so this weekend will be in rainy London instead. Easyjet were incredibly rude overall but the key is to brush it off and keep moving forward.
With so much to do, I’ve decided today would be a day for getting things done. I just sorted my travel insurance with specialist operator Ripcord. It was an absolute nightmare speaking to insurers over the past few weeks until I found an incredibly efficient, knowledgeable and customer friendly team at Ripcord. Laurie spent a good hour with me just now going through multiple scenarios and I feel comfortable that I know what I’ve paid for. The large scale disasters of 2014 and 2015 have clearly left insurers on the back foot on Everest expeditions so its great to see someone taking the lead and providing such high quality customer facing staff.
I’ve also set up the charity fund raising page today. Joanna Bega from Child Rescue Nepal has been brilliant helping tailor a fundraising exercise to build some schools in Makwanpur.
All generous donations gratefully appreciated, please go to:
We’ve been allocated four projects totalling £52,000 to fund. Child Rescue Nepal has confirmed all monies raised through this project will be ring fenced for these projects only. If we raise enough for one School thats great, 2 even better, all four wonderful! And of course CRN have confirmed there are a lot more villages desperate to rebuild school facilities following the 2015 earthquake.
All these projects are focused on the Makwanpur district, away from the hustle and bustle of Kathmandu and the tourist trekking trails and out of sight, Every £1 raised will go straight into getting these projects completed: from bricks and mortar to the wood for seats and benches. Any questions feel free to reach out to me on mchughrory@hotmail.com or Joanna.bega@childrescuenepal.org
A school building in constructionThese little guys deserve a place to learn
