Mera Peak - Nepal

The team:

The team was made up of Sumit ( our expedition leader), Robin (the cook), Lakpa and Lakpa, Pasang and Pasang, (4 Sherpa guides), up to 70 porters, and 10 “members”. The 10 members included Boydo (the hindu-like hash smoking holy man), Liam (can’t wait to get back to my Ducati), Candace (cough cough), Sharon (wonder woman), Allan (the big bear), Chris (whose brother has a squashed penis), Pat (the hibernating spam lover), Kerri ( the serious second timer), Nic and I.

The camping:

Each campsite had a toilet tent, a mess tent, and our own individual tents which the Sherpa guides would set up for us each night (even if you tried to help them they wouldn‘t let you.) Many sites were isolated in wilderness, but sometimes we stayed near teahouses.

The food:

The meals tended to be a 3 course affair catered for in the mess tent, to keep energy levels high for the trekking and the climb. Breakfast was any combination of muesli, porridge, rice pudding, cornflakes, pancakes, eggs and tea. Lunch and dinner always began with soup, then any combo of dahl baht, potato curry, noodles, spaghetti, Tibetan bread, dumplings, chips and pizza, with canned fruit for dessert. (After the Langtang trek where we ate noodles every day, even this limited variety was a relief!)

The hospital:

There wasn’t a day that went by when someone wasn’t sick from gastro, altitude or the dusty air. Candace hacked away from a lung infection, Boydo hacked away from something hindu, and Pat was at one point coughing up blood! Liam, Chris and I had bouts of gastro, ugh, and most of us got at least some signs of AMS - altitude mountain sickness. Above 3000m, the oxygen thins out, it gets harder to breath, and so harder to walk and climb. The resting heart rate rises. The effects of AMS vary, but it came at me with a vengeance. The higher I went the more I would walk like a drunk and talk like a drunk, then my head would start exploding and I'd have to sit down. I'd become nauseaus and lose my appetite. And the side effects of the remedy (a drug called diamox) are pretty unbearable too; pins and needles everywhere, even in the face!

The climb:

Mera Peak is stunning. From it you have an amazing panorama of Everest, Lhotse, Manaslu, Chooyu and others - but these are 4 of the above 8000 metre peaks. Its not a hard climb to do; indeed its really just a walk -with crampons, and for us (as there was a crevasse near the top), a 20 metre ice climb. After setting out alpine style at 4 am, we arrived at around 8 making excellent time in perfect weather. A magical summit day.