Everest Base Camp, and the amazing high country around it, are high on the bucket list of hikers everywhere. Embark led a fantastic trip there in 2011, and here trip leader Jim Ronning narrates a series of amazing photographs from the trip.
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Sometimes you hear expressions like “I could do that with one arm behind my back,” but nobody ever really means it. So when we saw this headline — Texas Woman Climbs Mount Everest With One Leg — we stopped everything to read the story.
Well, the more you read, the more impressed you’ll be. Turns out Rhonda Graham is 61 years old, and her leg was amputated due to a staph infection in 1980. She got a prosthetic with pictures of mountains on it, to keep the dream alive in her mind. And by the time she finished the climb, the altitude had taken out most functionality of the leg itself. She pretty much literally did this on one leg.
We think just trekking to Everest Base Camp is amazing, and walking the Khumbu Region a rare adventure for most people. To do any of that, at 61, and/or with one leg, would be a cause for wonder. But to climb Everest? Rhonda says she did it to inspire people, and it sure worked for us at Embark. We love her message: “A leg doesn’t define who you are.”
Next up for Rhonda? She plans to climb Mount Kilimanjaro in July. Go, Rhonda!
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One of our favorite adventure writers, Kraig Becker of The Adventure Blog, has published his latest Himalayan High musings on Gadling today, and this time it’s about trekking to Namche Bazaar.
One of the most popular pockets of civilization on any trek through the Himalayas, Embark spends days 3 and 4 on our trek to Everest Base Camp in and around Namche as we acclimatize at just over 11,000 feet, resting and explore the hamlet. We also spend a night at Namche on our way back to Kathmandu on day 11.
Perched high on the steep slopes of the Khumbu Valley, Namche Bazaar has some of the best tea houses in the region, although as Becker points out, making your way around Namche does require stair climbing. But we don’t think of it as a hassle; getting around Namche Bazaar is a fun way to keep your legs moving in one of the most beautiful and quaint settings anywhere in the world.
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Adventure Junkie blogger Kraig Becker recently returned from a trek to Everest Base Camp, and is writing a mini series of tales from the front for Gadling.
His first and introductory post, Himalayan High: A Trek to Everest Base Camp, came out earlier this week, and his second, Kathmandu – Gateway to the Himalaya, appears today.
Becker, who you can also follow via Twitter at KungFuJedi, is one of those casual, sentence-fragment writers who manages to share his wealth of knowledge about all sorts of adventure goings-on around the world without talking down to his readers. He also turns out to be a natural photographer (see above pic). In his musings on the chaos of 21st Century Kathmandu, he maintains a perspective on his place in the gateway to the world’s greatest mountain range:
All of these experiences in Kathmandu, both good and bad, are just a prelude to what really brings you to Nepal. A Himalayan adventure of a lifetime. In my case, that meant a trek to Everest Base Camp and a once in a lifetime hike through the most incredible scenery on the planet. Soon, I would trade the heat and smog of the city for clear blue skies, roaring glacial rivers, and incredibly thin mountain air. Something I was more than ready to experience after two days in the Nepali capital.
And in the end, we’re probably all better-equipped to handle the complexities of modern civilization after escaping to – and surviving – the parts of the world that remain so lightly tread.
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Trek to the doorstep of the world’s highest mountain in what is arguably the highlight of any journey to Mt Everest. This 25 day outing will take us to the exotic and chaotic Kathmandu, and from there, on a strenuous and challenging exploration of Nepal’s magical Khumbu region, allowing for close-up views of dozens of Himalayan Giants as we ascend Island Peak, a 6189 meter peak just four miles S. of Mt. Everest.
Sleeping mainly in tea houses along the route, ease into the vibrant Sherpa culture, pose alongside friendly herds of yaks, breathe in the spring aromas of hedgerows and Rhododendrons bursting to life, and run your fingertips through the rush of glacial water as you approach that most illustrious of giants, Mt. Everest.
This outing will not only include a trek through the heart of the famed Khumbu region all the way to Everest Base Camp, but will also include a climb of Island Peak, known to the Sherpas as Imja Tse. At more than 20,300 ft. in elevation, Imja Tse provides unobstructed views of some of the world’s highest mountains, including Everest, Nuptse, Lohtse, the Lohtse Wall, and Makalu.
Costs, exclusive of your international airfare to Kathmandu, will range from $3755 to $3943 depending on party size, and will include all in-country meals and lodging, all trekking, access and climbing permits, and all guides, porters and equipment. Your application must be received by September 30, 2010, and a deposit of $500.00 will be required upon acceptance.
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Courtesy of PeakFreaks.com
It’s that time of year on Everest, that little window of opportunity as climbers launch their final bids for the summit.
And while the media go all-out to cover these bids, and the teams themselves boast ever-shinier blogs and self-reportage, little is said about the sherpas who are so key to every one of these missions as they help mountaineers navigate the world’s highest peak. But let it be known that, while we await the “first summits” of 2010, which some set out for this morning, a group of nine sherpas actually made the year’s first summit yesterday, along with a Himex guide. Western climbers are not allowed join this first group of sherpas even if they want to, but still, the sherpas’ purpose was not glory or news coverage but finishing fixing the lines to the top so that the glory can go to others.
We at Embark applaud the sherpas, porters, medical crew, and all who help any expedition team safely reach the summits of mountains worldwide. We could not do what we do without them, and their bravery, work ethic, and mountaineering skills are second to none.
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Jordan Romero reaches the high point of his life, literally, at 24,900 feet on 1 May 2010.
Jordan Romero has had his eye on the summit of Mt. Everest since he was 9, but he didn’t start making headlines until he embarked to the mountain as a 13-year-old earlier this season. All the requisite arguments for and against such a young climber tackling such a dangerous peak continue to mount, but in the meantime, the kid is climbing Mt. Everest, and he’s climbing hard.
According to the Team Jordan blog, updated mostly by Jordan’s pops, the group made it to the North Col camp Saturday despite a lightning and thunder storm and then descended off the shoulder of Everest to hunker down and wait out a series of coming storms at ABC. Jordan reached his highest point over the weekend at 24,900 feet. His report is: “A tad tired and in need of sleep before we make the biggest climb in the world, but strong as expected.”
Listen to their most recent audio update:
Jordan’s Everest expedition is costing $150,000, supported by a pretty hefty group of sponsors. Jordan, his father and his father’s girlfriend are making the ascent with three sherpas.
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