Instead of Sitting at my Desk I'd Rather Be...

... on Everest with AlanArnette… or at least at Everest Basecamp.

Imagine the sights and smells of the chaotic Kathmandu, the white knuckle ride of the flight to Lukla and then days of trekking through the Khumbu valley, surrounded by the highest mountains on the planet, staying in tea houses, watching the yaks on the trail and the rope bridges across the rivers.

I’ve read so much about the climbing Everest, Bear Grylls Facing up, Into Thin Air and Jo Gambi's Holding On aswell as eagerly follow blogs and Twitter updates every year. I almost feel like I know the route from Lukla, to Namache Bazzar and Dingboche and of that first view of the mountain. I wonder what the feeling is when those that are attempting to stand on the summit see her wind torn peak with that famous plume of snow created by the jet stream winds racing across it.

I imagine seeing the Icefall for the first time and the Basecamp ‘village,’ and being part of the excitement and nerves of those going higher even if this was my final destination.

Of course I’d love to experience the climb through the icefall, to see the magnificent Western Cwn, to struggle up the Lhotse Face and enter the Death Zone… but I know that this is a long way off if ever, I wonder if I’d ever have the strength and bravery to face what the climbers face on a daily basis on the mountain.

So for now I’ll sit at my desk and have a little daydream. I wonder about the sights and sounds that Alan has experienced so far as he trekked into Basecamp then higher as prepared for his summit bid and think maybe someday I’ll experience them too…