Newsletter April 2007
Everest 2007
We are about to depart New Zealand for Kathmandu to embark on the Adventure Consultants 2007 Everest Expedition.
With many months in the planning it is always exciting to turn all those thousands of hours of preparation and countless hundreds of emails and phone calls into effect to create an expedition. So it will be good to get on the plane and finalise all the preparations in Kathmandu meet up with the group to begin the trek into base camp. We have a full team of climbers and 4 guides being Mike Roberts, Luis Benitez, Mark Sedon and Guy Cotter. As usual we will be accompanied by our super-strong Sherpa team headed by Ang Tshering Sherpa as base camp Sirdar and Ang Dorjee Sherpa as climbing Sirdar on the mountain.
Running expeditions in Asia is never without some form of political difficulty and as usual we have encountered many hurdles in with getting the expedition underway. For a while there it looked as if the Chinese would close the North (Tibetan) side of the mountain so they could practice their torch carrying fanfare to the summit of Everest in preparation for the Olympics next year. Luckily they decided to keep it open as closing it would have put undue pressure on the Nepal side. Of course while they were at it they put prices up on the North side and introduced a requirement that all climbers must have climbed above 8000m before but it is highly unlikely they will enforce this later pre-requisite.
This will be the 14th expedition to the mountain for AC and our results show that we have had an 85% success rate with a total of over 100 ascents. To follow the expedition look for the daily dispatches that will begin on March 30 through to the culmination of the expedition in late May.
Everest Base Camp Trek
Following closely in the footsteps of our Everest team members are the Broad Peak trekking group. The group is being led by Mark Sedon who is one of the Everest expedition guides this year. They will overnight in basecamp with the climbing team before heading back down the valley to return home.
Mera Peak Expedition
Paul Rogers is leading the Mera Peak expedition which for many people is the ideal first expedition peak and at 6476m is the highest trekking peak in Nepal. This 23 day trip has seen the footsteps of quite a few climbers who have gone on to ascend Mt Everest later in their careers which must be something to do with the magical views of the world's highest peak from its summit! Check out the dispatches for the expedition.
New Zealand
The New Zealand season is still going and we have been blessed with mostly good weather since early January that has seen most trips finishing successfully. Ice climbing courses (5 days Mon- Fri) are next, starting early July - book on early as these courses are popular and are the perfect way to hone your skills for summer ascents and make your winter sport official - waterfall ice climbing!
Our Ski and Snowboard Mountaineering Courses are also popular and allow you to tour the stunning alpine glaciated regions of our Southern Alps National Parks and learn backcountry travel skills for skiing/snowboarding at the same time.
George Lowe visit
No two days are the same at the AC office and there are often a few celebrated guests arriving to say hello. In early January we had a surprise visit from George Lowe and his wife Mary who were passing through Wanaka. George was instrumental in forcing the route up the icy Lhotse face through to south col on Everest in 1953.
Another person we enjoyed hosting was Mike Gill who partnered up with AC guide Steve Moffat for an ascent of Mt Aspiring in February. Mike is a kiwi mountaineering icon who made the first ascent of Ama Dablam in 1961 whilst working with Ed Hillary building hospitals in Nepal and was responsible for numerous ascents in the New Zealand Alps.
Ama Dablam Nth Ridge
Ama Dablam is often called the world's most beautiful mountain and most would agree that the north ridge is the most beautiful route on the world's most beautiful mountain. At present we are the only operator to offer ascents of the stunning north ridge with our September expedition and with very limited spaces for seasoned technical climbers we can guarantee an adventure of the highest degree.
Denali 2007
Mike Roberts will be leading the June 10 Denali Expedition with American Alpine Institute, and there are still spaces available on this departure. Call the office today if you would like to make arrangements to join on.
