New Year 2007 newsletter
| New Year 2007 newsletter |
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Latest news from The Mountain Company Roland has just got back from the post monsoon season in Sikkim and Nepal. He trekked to the Goecha la with a group and then led a Charity Challenge Everest base camp trek. If you have not been to Sikkim it is definitely worth considering a visit. The 8 day trek to the Goecha la has superb views of the Kanchenjunga massif. If you do not have much time and would like to see an 8000m mountain up close then the Goecha la would be a good choice (for example Everest base camp has 14 trekking days and Annapurna Sanctuary 11 trekking days). For more information on the Goecha La trek take a look here The Mountain Company’s approach has always been to operate treks to a limited number of countries. By focussing on a handful of countries we organise and plan our trips to deliver the best possible service. We have done the majority of treks ourselves so will be able to give you comprehensive advice through first hand knowledge. Roland spent 9 months on the road in 2006 visiting Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan, India (Ladakh and Sikkim) and Tibet. With the amount of time we spend in these countries we develop a good understanding of the cultural and political situation of each region. We are also able to keep up to date on the changes to the trekking routes and regulations. The Mountain Company has a panel of experienced Himalayan travellers and mountaineers who lead groups for us. We use western leaders for treks visiting remote areas and more technical climbs and for the other treks we use local leaders. For further details on our western leaders click here Gary Pfisterer is leading our Manaslu Circuit in October/November 2007. Gary is a very experienced mountaineer and trek leader. He has climbed Everest and led expeditions to K2, Kanchenjunga (3 times), Dhaulagiri, Shishapangma, Makalu and Lhotse. For more information on the Manaslu Circuit, take a look at here As predicted in our last newsletter the situation in Nepal was stable for the post monsoon trekking season for October and November. In November the government and Maoists signed a peace accord, declaring a formal end to a 10-year rebel insurgency. The rebels are to join a transitional government and their weapons will be placed under UN supervision. We have already had a number of bookings for our 2007 treks to Nepal and it looks like it will be a busy year, so we encourage you to book soon to avoid disappointment. We have been working hard on updating our Trip Dossiers throughout 2006. The Trip Dossiers provide information to help you choose and plan your holiday. They contain day by day itineraries (including photographs), pre departure and country information. You can download these from our website by clicking on the Download Trip Dossier link on each trek page. Every It is going to be a busy summer for The Mountain Company in Pakistan with two K2 basecamp & Gondogoro la treks. The departure dates are July 1st & July 29th 2007. The K2 trek is considered to be one of the best mountain walks in the world. Roland led the summer 2006 departure and will also be leading the groups in 2007, please give us a call if you would like to discuss anything about the trip. For more information on this trek please take a click here The Mountain Company is a proud supporter of the International Porter Protection Group’s new Porter Shelter and Rescue Post at Machermo in the Khumbu. This building was officially opened on October 10, 2006. We plan to support their next project of building a similar shelter at Gorak Shep close to Everest base camp. For further information click here The Mountain Company has recently partnered with Himalayan Education Lifeline Project (HELP), if you have enjoyed visiting the Himalayas and would like to contribute in some way we recommend this good cause! The aim of HELP is to enable young people from poor communities in the Himalayas to improve their employment opportunities through education and in so doing enhance, not only their own standard of living, but also that of their extended families and of the wider communities they come from. For further information take a look at their website here Roland will be in the UK until June so please call any time to chat about a trip to the Himalayas and Kilimanjaro. Our office telephone number is 0207 4980953. We look forward to hearing from you! The Mountain Company team
** K2 & Gondogoro la, Pakistan ** After our successful K2 trek in 2006 we have two departures for 2007, July 1st to 23rd and July 29th to August 20th. Both departures are already guaranteed to run. £1495 incl. flight from Skardu to Islamabad. This trek has rightly been named as one of the Top 5 mountain walks in the world! Roland will be leading both departures over the summer. Click here for more information on the K2 trek
** Manaslu Circuit, Nepal ** Gary is a very experienced expedition leader having organised many 8000m trips including a successful K2 expedition in 2000. The Manaslu Circuit is a superb trek around the huge massif of Manaslu and crossing a high pass. It is similar to the Annapurna Circuit but without the crowds and the road construction that is currently going on there! Click here for more information on the Manaslu Circuit
** Mera Peak expedition ** The Mera expedition offers you the chance to climb a Himalayan peak at high altitude while following a non technical route to the summit. This expedition would be suitable for either a climber visiting the Himalayas for the first time or keen hill walkers with some previous experience of using crampons and iceaxes. This itinerary has been carefully designed to allow for gradual acclimatisation. We believe that by using this itinerary you will have a higher chance of safely summitting Mera Peak and enjoying it as much as possible along the way! Click here for more information on the Mera Peak expedition
Everest post monsoon In the 1980s and 1990s there were autumn Everest summits every year and were similar in number to summits in May. Since then the mountain has been almost completely deserted in the autumn. The last time Everest was summitted from Nepal in autumn was in 2000. Berg Adventure Everest expedition All of the team got to the summit and several members skied down parts of the route! For dispatches from the expedition, click here Spanish Everest Super Couloir expedition Ama Dablam Japanese Lhotse soth face expedition Polish Winter Nanga Parbat expedition This is a hugely experienced team with much 8000m experience. The Polish have an incredible track record climbing in the winter, in fact the Polish are the only nationality to make first ascents on the 8000m peaks in the Himalayas.
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