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
Finalising plans this week around the expedition I’m going to join for Everest. In the past weeks I’ve had to firm up my intention to climb on the south side rather then the north (thanks to numerous posts on the subject, especially the one from Alan Arnette). It’s not a clear cut call and all the pro climbers who base themselves on the north have strong and opposing views to those who are based on the south.
The great news is that I’ll be joining Tim Mosedale on his expedition and that we have a date for arriving in Kathmandu – 26th March. Now we can get into planning the details, finalising training plans, and ensuring we have all the kit we need for the big trip.
The other great news is that I’ll be joined for the first leg of the trip by Joanna Tizzard, Michael McHugh, Bernie Angopa, and Sami Mansour. It’s going to be a blast trekking to base camp with great friends and having all that fun it will make the overall trip feel a lot shorter I’m sure. We all climbed
Finally, I’ve also decided to write this blog, hopefully entertain some of you, and raise money for charity. Will let you know more shortly.
Been a great week here in the mountains of Ecuador doing some high altitude fitness training in the the most beautiful of surroundings and escaping the pre-christmas drinks and party season back in London.
Check out these videos from summits of Illinizas and Cayambe, 2 of the 6 summits of the week:
The Cayambe summit day was a particular highlight. We left the refuge at 11pm and summited just after sunrise. We then returned to the refuge and I picked up an awesome Specialised mountain bike for a 1200m decent from the refuge past the entrance to the national park. Thanks to the good folk at Papagayo for lending me the bike! Totally sweet ride.
5 day London to Edinburgh cycle challenge – great week on the bike with Lukedog and JP Little-Westgate and what a fantastic set up from RBS on this charity ride with food stops, medics, mechanics, masseuses and full signposting all the way. So much fun, legs v. tired, and all for a great cause.
princes-trust.org.uk
Something entirely appropriate about cans of Tennants Super at the finish line in Gogarburn.
Very happy to be giving the bike to the guys who are putting it on a truck back to London – certainly won’t miss it for a few days!
A few photos from our week:
The boys getting massages behind me while I ponder why I haven’t lost any weight this week!
Beware the cows!
The route was sign posted the whole way, great organisation from RBS!
After our success on the summit, we were in high spirits as we made our way back to the lower glacier where the planes land.
We hiked down from camp 3 all the way over night, the Alaskan summer nights never ending. We arrived back to the landing strip by 4am on 3rd June and celebrated by digging up the cache and breaking out the beers and Pringles.
Back at the first camp, where the planes land. This is 4am in the land of eternal light, and we are under strict orders to be quiet till 8am when Linda the camp and air strip manager wakes or we won’t be on a flight any time soon! As it happens, a blizzard comes in and we end up waiting 4 more days…so close…ugggh
The hike down the mountain through the night, this is the sunset at around 11pm, it only goes down and starts coming up again this far north in Alaska in June.
The weather clears and there are big cheers as the planes start flying in. Weather can cloud over quickly so we’re keen to get on one!
Dan, Freddy, Rory, & Jeremy waiting to be called for a flight, 24 days on the ice coming to an end, great trip all!
Great to top out on North America’s highest peak. Total whiteout made this the best picture from the summit on what was a 16 hour summit day in tough conditions!
Lost my appetite but otherwise spirits are good up at high camp as we prepare mentally for the summit push tomorrow. Chose the wrong freeze dried meal – Mexican chicken – not what my stomach wanted when dinner time came around! Those kidney beans looked revolting.
The winds have picked up and the weather has definitely started to turn but Andy, Ian, and Mike from the Alpine Institute have decided we have the green light and will go for it. Quite a lot of people getting frostbite when making the wrong decisions with the weather here this year so we have full trust in our guys who have been awesome throughout.
