Everest BC 2009 - Team Three - Final Post from Kathmandu

29/09/2009

Team Three - Kathmandu - 1470 m

The third team got back 24 hours ago from the mountains and are now busy shopping around Kathmandu. I am busy relaxing with, would you believe, a cup of tea. Tomorrow we all fly back to the UK.

I want to congratulate all the teams this year for their friendship, sense of adventure, and a good understanding of how both I and Snowball Expeditions operate in countries such as Nepal. To explain we guide teams into exciting areas of the world and as we trek through other peopels areas we feel its respectful to contribute to the communities or at least understand the cultral differences....

Posted by: Mark Wood | Click here to read more.

Everest BC 2009 - Team Three - Base camp Reached and Back in Namche!

26/09/2009

Well, it has been an incredible few days and a fantastic end to Snowball Expeditions' 2009 Everest Base Camp trips. Warwick University can be extremely proud of its twelve students who managed to make it through the extreme conditions and their personal mental and physical barriers to reach the Base Camp on Thursday 24th at 3.42 pm (Nepalese time).

When I last wrote we were just about to leave Namche Bazaar for Tengboche monastery. As we reached this holy place - at 3860 metres - the mountains really started to dominate both our vision and our thoughts. In the last post I also wrote that I never tire of this place and am still able to say 'wow' at everything I see around me, and this trip was no exception. Looking at the splendid majesty of the peaks never gets old or jaded. ...

Posted by: Mark Wood | Click here to read more.

Everest BC 2009 - Team Three, Day Three - Namche Bazaar

22/09/2009

Team Three, Day Three - Namche Bazaar 3446 metres.

Team three consists of Warwick university students and represents the broadest diversity of nationalities that we have had so far: there are three people from Singapore (who have all done military service), one from Iran, some from India and we also have a person from a place called Birmingham! We had all met for the first time at the university a few months ago - which now feels like an age. But it was good to see them all again on their arrival in Kathmandu....

Posted by: Mark Wood | Click here to read more.

Everest BC 2009 - Monjo Schools Project

20/09/2009

Leading three teams up to Base Camp has been great fun and all the teams so far have had a wonderful time. However, the trips aren't just about trekking through some of the most beautiful scenery in the world - as the teams have discovered...

Every year I lead around 80 people on treks to Everest Base camp, a route that takes us through the Monjo community, so I know the area and people well. Despite the numbers of trekkers and tourists that Everest attracts, Monjo still remains one of the poorest communities in the area. I have a strong personal belief that, as a traveller, it is right to give back something to the people and the environment we travel through, and so I have made a commitment to help the schools here both through rising funds to improve their educational facilities and also to raise awareness of their conditions back in the UK....

Posted by: Mark Wood | Click here to read more.