Summer 2007 newsletter
| Summer 2007 newsletter |
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The Mountain Company Summer 2007 Newsletter Welcome to The Mountain Company's newsletter.....first of all, we were delighted to be mentioned in an article in Newsweek International April 2nd edition in The Good Life section their weekly guide to the best in travel, fashion, food and technology. The piece describes The Mountain Company's range of luxury lodge treks in both the Annapurna and Everest regions of Nepal. Our luxury lodge trips are becoming very popular with people who like to go trekking but stay in hotel standard accommodation after a days walking! If you have not already seen the article, and would like to, then please click here
The Mountain Company online book store Hopefully this will be a useful resource for anyone with an interest in the Himalayas whether you are researching your next trip or are more interested in some armchair mountaineering! You can access the bookstore through our homepage via the link "Photos, maps and DVDs" or by clicking here Roland has written reviews for most of the books, his favourite one at the moment is Three Cups of Tea: One Man's Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time by Greg Mortenson. If you are joining The Mountain Company this summer on the K2 & Gondogoro la trek then you might be interested to read this one. Take a look at Roland's review on this book by clicking here
** 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! This trek is guaranteed to run but there are still places available. If you are thinking of joining this trek we recommend booking your flights to Kathmandu as soon as possible as there is a lack of supply on this route especially in the peak trekking month of October. For more information on the Manaslu Circuit
** Frozen Zanskar river (Chadar) trek, Ladakh ** A trek on the frozen River Zanskar, traditionally called the Chadar, is an unforgettable journey. You will be exploring a remote area that is cut off from the outside world for the winter and can only be visited by following the old trade route along the frozen Zanskar river. This is a truly adventurous trek graded as an expedition grade 5 due to the unpredictability of the conditions encountered and the remoteness of the area visited. The amount and condition of the ice on the Zanskar river varies year on year and day by day so a flexible attitude to the trek is essential! For more information on the Frozen Zanskar river trek
** Everest north col expedition, Tibet ** This is an opportunity to climb up to 7000m on Mt Everest, the highest mountain in the world! It will be led by Roland Hunter, who reached the summit of Everest via the North East ridge in 2001. This trip will suit someone who has some previous climbing experience and is fit and determined. We would encourage anyone who is interested in joining this expedition to get in touch with us as soon as possible. It is going to be a busy year on Everest in 2008 with the Chinese organising a vast expedition to take the Olympic flame to the summit so we will need to apply at an early to get the permits. For more information on the Everest north col expedition
** K2 & Gondogoro la, Pakistan * For more information on the K2 & Gondogoro la trek
** HELP Sikkim Goecha la with Gangtok and Kalimpong, India ** Come and join this trek to raise funds for the charity Himalayan Education Lifeline Project ("HELP")! This Charity Challenge is open to everyone. Jim Coleman, the founder of HELP, will also join the group on this trek in October 2008. For more information on HELP take a look at their website http://www.help-education.org This is beautiful trek starts in sub-tropical forests, passes through pasturelands of grazing yaks and reaches the Goecha la, at just under 5,000m, opposite the eastern flank of Mt Kanchenjunga. There are many other impressive mountains seen on this trek including Kabru, Rathong and Pandim. Roland led a group on this trek in October 2007 so knows the route well, please get in touch if you have any questions. For more information on the HELP Goecha la trek
** Lunana Snowman trek, Bhutan ** The Lunana Snowman is a very special trek that crosses the full length of the mountains in the remote region in the north of Bhutan. More people have climbed Everest than successfully complete this trek! Factors such as the high altitude, long distances, climate, remoteness and logistical organisation that makes this into a challenging trek. For more information on the Lunana Snowman trek
Question: what
is the best way of purifying water while trekking
Question: I am looking for a crampon that I plan to
use on a easy to moderate snow slope for only one day of a 3 week
trek. Do you have any recommendations?
The season started off on April 30th with five Sherpas from Himex summitting Everest followed by a bold oxygenless climb by Kazakhs, Maxut Zhumayev & Vassily Pivtsov. The Kazakhs were pushed to their limits and spent 48 hours without food or water. Their gamble paid off although they had to accept help from other teams on the way back down the mountain. The huge Chinese team was up next, this was a trial run for taking the Olympic torch to the summit next year. On May 9th 17 climbers from their team stood on the summit and apparently also successfully lit the torch! English climber David Tait was hoping to be the first person to complete a double traverse of Everest going from Tibet to Nepal and back again! David and Phurba Sherpa stood on the summit on May 15th and from there successfully reached the Nepalese base camp. He decided to quit while he was ahead and stick with the achievement of a single traverse and not climb back to the summit and over to Tibet. For more information have a look at his website http://www.davidtait.com/ From May 16th to May 22nd waves of people reached the Everest summit taking advantage of the stable weather and low winds. There are still a number of team hoping to reach the summit over the next few weeks such as Project Himalaya and also the Altitude Everest expedition who are re-enacting Mallory and Irvine's climb (Leo Holding is Irvine and Conrad Anker is Mallory!). For more information check out their all singing and dancing website at http://www.ueverest.com/
Kangchenjunga
Manaslu
Dhaulagiri
Annapurna
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