23 Mar 2022 - The Final Countdown

With only 10 days left to go, I thought a final pre-departure post was long overdue as there's plenty that's been going on. The question is really one of where to start...

It's go time

Well, most importantly, it looks as though the trip is definitely going ahead, albeit not quite as originally planned! Following on from a couple of people dropping out of or deferring their Expedition with Jagged Globe earlier this month, the trip was no longer commercially viable to run with just two climbers. Luckily, Jagged Globe is a world class outfit who, for a number of years, have been working with Pemchhiri as their Sirdar (lead Sherpa) who is kind of a big deal - 32 summits of 8,000m mountains (including 15 ascents of Everest) and part of the Nepalese team who climbed K2 in Winter for the first time in 2021 - he's pretty incredible. As a result of the regard that they are held in and their respective connections, Pem and Jagged Globe have managed to secure me a place with Nirmal Purja MBE's Elite Exped team (the same Nims Dai from 14 Peaks, yes), with Pem still coming along with us too. So what that's meant in practice is having to get my head around changing guiding companies and a team that was going to have 4 climbers for Everest, to now being part of a much larger team of around 19 (which I think is split across those wanting to climb Everest, Lhotse (same route until camp 3) and Lobuche which is a lower peak (6,145m) that can also be accessed from Everest Base Camp). The Elite Exped team are some very impressive operators, however, and I am very grateful to both Pem and Jagged Globe for being able to sort this out for me and keep the 2022 dream alive.

Admin and prep

There's also been some positive news in that the need for a pre-departure PCR in Nepal has been scrapped for those who are fully vaccinated against Covid-19, which hopefully means that we won't have to quarantine on the other side, but if we do, then of course we will. Beyond that, I've been recruiting the assistance of my eagle-eyed mother who has been making sure that I've packed every single item on my ever-changing kit list, whilst trying to help me to pack within my luggage allowance (time-lapse video below). The latter turned into an impossible task in the end, weighing in at a solid 10kgs over my allowance at a cost of £450, but it was still worth a try and hopefully eased some of my Mum's nerves in terms of making sure that I'm well-prepped!