How's the training g going for this mate? I am getting married next year and I really want to do something like this afterwards before having kids etc. Everest base camp or kilimanjaro are what I am considering. Kilimanjaro has its appeals as you actually get to the top. Everest though has a huge pull for me, Something I have always been interested in, although I would prefer to see it from the north, and see the Mallory and Irvine memorial. The lure of seeing Everest may well win out over kilimanjaro.
Best of luck with it.
Hiya mate,
Sorry, I completely missed this until now.
The training
was going pretty well. As referenced, I had a plan built out and had started working through that, including gradually increasing the difficulty and length of the walks (as part of this I did the Pyg/Miners tracks at Snowdon, plus Mt Wellington (Tasmania) and Bluff Knoll (Western Australia), among others) and was feeling really good. Then last week of June I went to the gym and did a back workout, no issues whatsoever, went home and carried on with my day, went to bed...and then woke up the following morning unable to move. It turned out that I'd slipped a disc and was more or less bed-bound for a week. It got very gradually better across the next few weeks, but still miles off being able to do any real physical activity and with quite severe sciatica pain (meaning I had about 40% movement in my left leg and basically wasn't sleeping). This was at the end of July, and at that point I had severe doubts that I'd make it onto a plane, let alone to Base Camp. A friend of mine had suffered from back issues previously and recommended a chiropractor who had done a brilliant job with her, so I went to see him and, after hobbling into his office, told him that I had 5 weeks to get myself into a position where I could complete the EBC trek. He
seemed* confident and so I went with it and had weekly sessions with him, along with a training plan that he put together for me (mostly stretches and latterly some bodywork exercises to strengthen certain muscles and improve mobility). Long story short, I got to a position where I did indeed board the plane, albeit I was still way off where I wanted to be and hadn't trained properly for near enough two months. For context here, the morning of my flight to Kathmandu I woke up at 4am in agony with the sciatica pain and at one point, literally in tears with it. I even typed out (but didn't send) a message to the person I was going with to tell him I wouldn't be able to make it. I'm pleased to say that I did get there, and I did complete the trek in the end, and actually, the going up part I found relatively easy, probably in no small part because I went into it unbelievably focused on the challenge and under no illusions of what I'd signed up for (plus the injury I was still carrying was on my mind throughout - I was stretching
constantly). Slightly strangely, the last couple of days coming down I found the most difficult, and transversely to going up, I think, in hindsight, that was partly due to me having mentally switched off a bit, having achieved what I set out to achieve by reaching Base Camp (and suddenly a 10 hour day wasn't all that motivating). I still had issues with my back going up, but thankfully that was mostly the stopping me sleeping part, and the walking during the day was okay. The altitude factor was relatively mild, compared with some, but it had more of an impact than we even realised at the time, and it was only when we got back down and the symptoms cleared that we could appreciate those effects.
The picture is with a shirt from a local team where I grew up. We lost my dad in early 2020 and he captained them for a number of years, so I took that with me as a nod to him. That was another thing that drove me on the way up as well, was having told his best mate - who sorted me the shirt - what I was doing and why I needed it.
If you're looking at doing a trek, I'd 100% recommend it though. It's an amazing experience, amongst incredible scenery, and alongside some of the most inspiring people I've ever met, in terms of the guides and porters in Nepal. We did the trek 2nd to 16th September and I'm so glad we chose that point to do it as well, because the trail was more or less empty, with it still being the end of the monsoon season (although we had no rain on the way up, and actually, the weather was lovely, barring some cloud cover at times). As we were coming back you could see the trail starting to fill with more and more walkers passing you the other way. One of the best moments on the trek, for me, was finding myself completely and utterly alone, walking through the valley towards Dingboche on day 5. I sat down for half an hour and just listened to the wind and the sounds of the birdlife, without a single person to be seen or heard on either horizon. That half an hour was worth the trip in itself, even more than Base Camp (which was also great).
Anyway, if you're interested, I'm happy to pass on some details of the company we used for the trek (who were brilliant from start to finish), along with our guide (who was also fantastic, including setting up a meeting for us with Kancha Sherpa (the last remaining member of the Hillary/Norgay Everest Expedition from 1952). Let me know
* I met my friend who had recommended the chiro this past weekend, and she mentioned that she had been in to see him again last week. Apparently he was asking whether I actually made it to EBC, because he didn't think I would...
