Travel diaries

My travel diaries

In the footsteps of Mallory

In the footsteps of Mallory

An expedition to the North Col of Everest. April/May 2007.

Saturday 21 April, 2007 - London Heathrow

As I'm settling myself onto the plane at Heathrow Terminal 3, intending to bury me head in my book for the rest of the flight, I'm interrupted by a familiar voice.

"I recognise that bald head. Is it Mark?"

I look up and recognise Chris, a fifty-something Welsh PE teacher I met at a pre-expedition weekend a few weeks ago. It turns out he's sitting in an aisle seat two down from me. Either side of me are two trekkers, Stuart and another Chris, who are walking to Everest Base Camp as part of the Caudwell Xtreme Everest Expedition.

Now we all have something to talk about. The Xtreme Everest Expedition aims to send around 200 trekkers to Everest Base Camp and 10 doctors all the way to the summit, with the aim of measuring the effects of the reduced oxygen levels at high altitude on the human body. It is hoped the research will provide answers about why some patients in intensive care survive with reduced oxygen while others die. For Stuart and the second Chris, this means as well as walking to Everest Base Camp, they get a few light sessions on an exercise bike thrown in as a bonus.

This experiment is taking place on the south, Nepalese, side of Everest. Meanwhile Chris the PE teacher and I will be travelling to the north, Tibetan, side of the mountain to join the expedition teams climbing the fixed ropes to Everest's North Col.

Stuart is 60 years old and retired. It turns out he spent 2 years with the VSO teaching in Sri Lanka 20 years ago. As this is something I've considered doing myself, he tells me all about the joys of voluntary work overseas while I contribute a few breadcrumbs about coping at high altitude.

We have a couple of glasses of wine and a cognac with our dinner before trying to get some sleep. The Qatar Airways stewardess gives us some stickers containing messages like Leave me alone , Wake me for duty free and Wake me for meals .

"What are we supposed to do with these, stick them on our foreheads?" Stuart asks.

I read the instructions and stick the one saying Wake me for meals on the top of my chair back. I then fall asleep for about four hours and wake up having missed breakfast.

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