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| 02 June 2009 I recently returned from a brilliant trek to the Everest Base Camp with my son Joe.
Joe, who is a personal trainer in Sydney (crouching in the centre) has just started a trekking company and this was his first Commercial trek. He believes in packing in as much as possible ands the first morning in Kathmandu we all climbed the highest hill in the Nakajun Forest Park, just outside the city.
The trek starts at Lukla, a tiny airstrip the feel of an aircraft carrier.
Our route was the classic one to the Everest Base Camp, but the first time I had walked in 1961 to the foot of Nuptse, we had started in Kathmandu - at that time there were no roads or air strips in that part of Nepal.
Joe leading our team up the path to Namche Bazar.
For me it was full of memories, but the most precious thing of all, was sharing the experience with Joe and seeing what a great job he was doing in leading the trek.
Namche Bazar is very different from when I first visited it in 1961. There is electricity from Hydro electric power, well appointed Sherpa lodges, every kind of shop...
...and even cyber cafes.
This was what it was like in 1961.
When we made the first ascent of Nuptse by its huge South Face. Nuptse (7864m) is the third peak of Everest forming the southern retaining wall of the Western Cwm.
The little kids haven't changed at all over the years, but now, thanks to the schools founded and funded by Ed Hilary's Himalayan Trust, they all get a good education.
I also met many old friends. This is Ang Phurba in his home and Lodge in Khumjung.
He was with me in 1972 on our first attempt on the South West Face of Everest. The two of us went up to Camp 5 to push the route out to the left hand end of the Rock Band.
Ang Phurba offering me a cup of tea at Camp 5
Ang Phurba coming up to jopin me just below our high point (end of the green line is route topo). It was mid November and temperatures were down to -40 with winds of 50mph.
His family home in Khumjung is the oldest house there, one of the largest and has never been modernised. He is restoring it to its original state, retiling the roof, when most modern houses have corrugated iron and giving it to a charitable trust so that local youngsters can see how their fore-fathers lived and through that get in touch with their roots, and trekkers can see how the Sherpas lived fifty years ago.
Pertemba is showing Ang Phurba and myself around the house and the progress that has been made. This is the living room. The kitchen fire is on the right. There is no flu and the smoke finds its way out through the roof. He has collected all the original kitchen utensils that a traditional family would have used. On the left is a churn for making the Tibetan tea.
The house also has its own private Gompa. The walls have wonderful murals that are over a hundred years old and the colorful pile in the left foreground are Tibetan prayer books that Pertemba has brought from Kham in North East Tibet, because the originals had been badly damaged by water from the leaking roof. These books will go in the cubby holes in the wall behind once he has purchased the wooden slats that act as covers for each stack of Tibetan script.
Pertemba's 89 year old aunt lives in the house, refusing to move into a comfortable modern one. She loves the old ways.
From Khumjung we walked to the Thyangboche Monastery, the spiritual centre of the Sherpa Community.
Joe and I had a very special visit to make, for this is the chorten, commemorating the life of Arne Naess, the leader of the Norwegian Everest Expedition - the one that I joined in 1985. He was killed four years ago in an abseiling accident in South Africa.
The members of the Norwegian team in 1985, with Arne on my left.
It was Arne that made my dream possible, of reaching the highest point on Earth.
You can just see the tents. In 1985 there were just two expedition, ourselves and an American team attempting the West Ridge of Everest - the left had sky line.
This year, we were told there were at least 1500 people, maybe more. It was like a small town and there was even a bakery. I was impressed by how clean it was. There was no rubbish.
One of our trekkers, Trinh Dai, who had escaped Vietnam with her parents as a boat person in the seventies, had the symptoms of High Altitude Sickness and so Joe took her to the medical post which is manned throughout the season by volunteer doctors. He has just given her the right drugs and she made a full recovery.
The climax of the trek was an ascent of Kalapatar, the 5550 metre hill above Gorak Shep from which you can get a superb view of Everest.
Cat, a good gymnast, frames Everest just below the summit of Kalapatar.
Whilst Joe tries a hand stand in celebration and sheer exuberance. It was a great and very happy trek, enjoyed by all the participants, many of whom are planning to sign on for the next adventure. Joe is leading another trek to the Everest base camp in November. If you are interested in going for a very special trek with many extra features check out his web site: |
