How to use a compass?

Part 1 - How to use a compass

Step 1 - Always ensure that the map is facing the correct way. On Irish OS maps north is always to the top of the map as you are reading it

Step 2 - Say for example I want to navigate from the summit of Kanturk or Brown Mountain to the summit of Scarr as per the exert above. Place the baseplate of the compass on the map between the two points ensuring the straight edge of the compass intersects both points (You can also use the black lines from the baseplate (see compass image above) as your straight edge - hold the compass with the straight edge on the map for the next stage

Step 3 - NB that the Direction of travel arrow (as per the image above) points in the direction you wish to travel

Step 4 - Next step involves twisting the Compass dial so that the Orienting arrow / Orienting Lines match the Easting (blue) lines on the OS map - this has to be precise

Step 5 - Check that the straight edge still intersects the two points on the map (sometimes while twisting the compass dial you can inadvertently move the compass)

Step 6 - Once you are certain that you have done all the above steps correctly you can now remove the compass from the map

Step 7 - Holding the Compass horizontally in front of you, position the compass approx at the base of your sternum and turn yourself around until you get red on red. You will notice from the compass image that there is the RED orienteering arrow and the RED Magnetic Needle. When they are positioned together the direction of travel arrow will point you in the direction you need to travel

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DECLINATION - I will not go into the finer details of the declination principle, however if you would like to know more about it please follow this link

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_declination

Declination basically refers to the difference between True North (also known as Geographic North), Grid North and Magnetic North .

True North: Geographical North pole.

Grid North: This is shown on the North - South grid lines on the map and may be up to 2 degrees different to true north.

Magnetic North: The earth's magnetic pole doesn't correspond to the Geographic North Pole and because the earth's core is molten, the magnetic field is always shifting slightly (variable point somewhere north of Hudson bay in Canada) The red end of your compass needle is magnetized and wherever you are, the earth's magnetic field causes the needle to rotate until it lies in the same direction as the earth's magnetic field.

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With all this in mind it is necessary to adjust your compass to account for Declination. All OS maps have an information section on the right hand side called The National Grid. Located here is the Declination correction required for that area. For example OS Map Discovery Series 56, 4th Edition has a declination correction of 6 degrees 26 minutes West of Grid North (you do not have to account for minutes on the compass) - so adjust your compass 6 degrees to the West dec marked on your compass (turn compass wheel anti clockwise)

NB. Depending on where you are in the world the direction of declination will vary. It is important to consult your local map always.

Sunday 4th April 2010 - Lukla to Kathmandu on the world's worst plane journey

Sunday 4th April 2010 - Lukla to Kathmandu on the world's worst plane journey

Today is the day I have been worried about for so much of this trip. I've tried to put it to the back of my mind until today. If we do not take off this morning I am not sure what I will do. Our flight is the third of the Tara Air flights due to leave today at approximately 08.30am. We get to the airport and it looks as if the flights are taking off, thank god. In all the time I was worried about it not taking off I am now actually nervous about the flight taking off. This has been dubbed the world's most dangerous flight and I have already had the privilege of seeing how steep the runway is so naturally I am a little nervous. I am not normally nervous with flying but this one has me edgy. The look of the plane we will by flying on does not really help.

I have to be a little anti social today and the only thing I can only on is plugging in my mp3 player and listening to some Keane, Snow Patrol and try just to relax. We have to wait for longer than expected which adds to the tension. Also, as our plane is only 17 seater and each flight has an air hostess Prackash has had to take an earlier flight out of Lukla. The actual take off does little to ease my nerves. The plane takes off like a bat out of hell thanks to the slope of the runway and we are wedged into this tiny prop plane, engines screaming into my ears and again I wonder how did I pay for this. I think everyone was nervous but show it in different ways. I don't recall ever being as afraid of anything in my life as I was taking off in that plane. The anticipation was worse than the reality, knowing the runway just stops and you either sink or swim is not a comforting thought. Landing was another experience I will not forget too soon, the plane feels like it is going to Flip over tail first when coming in for landing. Disembarking in Kathmandu I was a happy bunny. I think next time I will walk from Lukla, its only another week.

I was relieved for two reasons on landing in Kathmandu, one I wasn't dead and two I was a step closer to home and the doubt of will we wont we leave Lukla was gone. We had a long way before we were home but once in Kathmandu I knew I would get home. We arrived in Kathmandu early morning still so we had to find something to pass the day. We had been planning for ages to go to the Radisson for dinner again when we got back to Kathmandu. Its funny, I could not wait to leave this place but now I am so happy to be back here. I have a quick shower once we get back to the familiar territory of Hotel Tibet. I collect my belongings from the safe store downstairs including my clean clothes. Its great to change into shorts, they are a bit more weather appropriate now than trekking clothes. A few of us head to Baskin Robbins just around the corner, I get a vanilla milkshake, magic. The next port of call we have been talking about for several days now, ever since we started coming back down we have been planning our next location and salivating at the thoughts of it, KFC. It has only recently opened in Kathmandu and is apparently really clean and spotless inside. Kris,Jamie, Myself, Jonas, Yas and Scott, the other guys have even gone so far as to plan what they will order. KFC didn't know what hit it id say this day, six of us ordered enough food for sixty. I have never enjoyed a meal so much as I did this one. Definitely worth the wait.

We go to the local supermarket and stock up on some beer for the afternoon, our plan is simple, drink beer on the rooftop of Hotel Tibet, pass away the afternoon until dinner time. At one point the waiter from the hotel came up, saw the bottles of beer so I asked him for a few glasses, when he came back I gave him a more than generous tip to keep quiet so to speak, worked a treat. We go to the Radisson tonight and bring Prackash along with us. We have all contributed towards a tip for him and someone has gotten him an English flag and asked us all to sign it, I had some problems signing a flag that is not of my own nation but I bit my lip. Prackash had certificates for us all for making it to Base Camp, they are tacky but these things normally are. We have a great night, have a lovely meal and after dinner we head out to the Irish Bar and then onto Thamel to sample the bars. We dont stay out too late though as we have a long flight the following day. Earlier in the day Jonas and Asif had gone to a local tailor to arrange to get us some memorable tee shirts, hand sewn and made to commemorate the journey. They cost us 700 rupees each which to be fair is nothing for a hand made tee shirt. On the back is the route we took to Base Camp, they are very impressive shirts and thanks to Jonas for coming up with the idea.

This has been the most memorable trip I could have imagined. I have met some great people on this trip and I like to think I have made some lifelong friends as a result. We shared a special experience on this trip, our journey to Base Camp, Kala Patthar and back over the last 18 days. I hope to see some of them again.

Saturday 3rd April 2010 - Namche Bazaar to Lukla, the last push

Saturday 3rd April 2010 - Namche Bazaar to Lukla, the last push

It is time for our last day of trekking. The time really has flown since we actually landed in Lukla, sure there has been lots of downtime but it never seemed hard to pass the hours. Everyone is buoyed by the fact we are going home in a couple of days. Six hour walk downhill to Lukla, piece of cake right? Wrong. We set off at our usual time of 08.00am after my tried and tested porridge breakfast. We start off by going back down the steep Namche hill, this was so difficult on the way up and now we are flying down it. Whoever said going downhill is easy needs to come here and try this hill. It places a lot of pressure on the knees and by the time I get to the bottom of this particular one my right knee is shaking from the punishment. It is at this stage I wished I bought that trekking pole for 1300 rupees in Namche, I saw it on the way up and thought no way, that's too expensive. Most of the ground to Phakding was either flat or uphill, how come I do not recall going over this. We plod along now at a good pace, something my body later does not thank me for. After three hours we arrive back at where we stayed on our first night in Phakding. Normally we would have stayed here but due to losing our day its just a lunch stop now. I go all out and have a mushroom and cheese pizza, it was actually delicious.

The guys who really have to be flying out of Nepal on the 4th are visibly worried now and I am one of them. I dont have the luxury of going home a day or two later. I have connecting flights and a hotel in London already booked and will not get money back for either if the plane does not fly out of Lukla tomorrow morning. I have a more pressing concern for now however, the last two hours of this trek to Lukla. Bogged down by pizza I struggle to keep up with the guys. I think my body knows I am nearly there and has gone into hibernation a few hours earlier than it should have. It is a real slog, the uphill sections just seem to keep coming no matter how many of them we get to the top of. Finally, mercifully the final fifty steps appear. I had dropped behind the guys a little, only by a couple of minutes but they waited for me at the top of the steps, I then, using the last drops of energy took off running until I got to the top. Yes, we had made it back to Lukla. The round trip and walking element of this trek is over and we had all (Group 1 at least) walked into Lukla together. I was so happy at this stage, we were there back at Lukla. The highlight being en suite toilets and showers, what luxury. We sit and enjoy the heat from the sun for a while, just relaxing, after all we deserved it.

After taking a long hot shower and getting the last of the dust off my body some of us walked up to Starbucks, I don't know how I feel about there being a Starbucks here but for now I love it. Now do not be fooled into thinking it is like the Starbucks from home, it is nothing like it but the seats are comfortable, the coffee was excellent so it was a pleasant treat. That night we all contributed 3000 rupees to cover dinner for that night for ourselves and also to cover dinner for the porters who carried our rucksacks everyday up the mountains. It also covered tips for each of the porters and guides who had done such a great job. Dinner was to be shared between us all that night, one group of trekkers, guides and porters. I finally felt it would be OK to order some local meat. Yak steak was on the menu for me for later, I was looking forward to it. Dinner was planned for 7.30pm that evening so I went back to Starbucks, ordered a hot chocolate and went onto the net to home for a while. I put a comment on my Facebook page updating the world of where I was currently enjoying hot chocolate. I hope some people were jealous.

We were watching the Man United and Chelsea game in the league at the time in the Irish pub (there is always an Irish pub no matter where you go) for the afternoon and shooting some pool before we had to get back to the hotel for dinner. The drinks were going down very well and we managed to negotiate a group discount on the drinks considering there were so many of us. The steak that night was fantastic and some of the nicest food I have had. I could not leave without sampling the Yak meat and thankfully it did not disappoint. It was like a thin fillet steak from home and was delicious. Back to the pub we went after dinner, we moved between two pubs for the night, the one just below our hotel and the Irish pub. It was a very enjoyable night with all the guys, just out have some drinks and chatting, having so

me fun. Naturally as the drink started to flow we got hungry, we had joked with Chewang that we would love to get some pizza, he disappeared and before you knew it was back with five pizzas for us all. I think it cost us only 400 rupees each. Prackash had to shout us a round at one stage as we all ran out

of cash.

We just spent the last of it on drink. I think it was midnight before I got back to the hotel, a very respectable time to be fair but for here it felt very late. It had been a great night out with the guys, we just revelled in our successes of the last few days, the relief that we had made it there and all made it back in one piece. It was a fantastic night.

Friday 2nd April 2010 - Orsho to Namche Bazaar

Friday 2nd April 2010 - Orsho to Namche Bazaar

Another six hour walk awaits us today as we make our way to Namche. Our call this morning is at 06.30am, breakfast is served at 07.15am and we are out the door by 08.00am. We have our morning routines down to a fine art now, even packing the rucksack every morning has become easy. I do not care about separating clean and dirty clothes any more, only a few more days to put up with them anyway so in they go. I doubt there are many clean ones anyway. We know we have two uphill climbs ahead of us today, one is thirty minutes and the other sixty minutes. Group one while en route decide we will wait until we get to the top of the second, the sixty minute climb before we stop for lunch, that way we will only have an easy sixty minute walk left to get to Namche. Not ideal but we have all learned that a long uphill walk after lunch is way harder on a full stomach.

We make great progress but have to frequently stop due to Jopke and Yak trains passing us on narrow paths with full loads. The trail is very busy today as all the backlogged trekkers seems to be heading the one direction at the same time. We cant help but feel a little smug, its not malice but you do feel smug knowing what they have ahead of them before they get back to where we are now. Now my body feels weak and frail and I begin to wonder how I managed to get up here at all, it seems such a long walk back. The first thirty minute climb brought us back into Tengboche where we reminisced about our game of football against the monks. We took five here and then on the trail again. You can see it in us all that we want to get to Namche, get into the shower and use the internet as soon as possible. It has been a tough three or four days. If I am honest the second climb took a lot more effort than I had expected, it was very physically demanding and reminded me of our walk up to Namche on our second day of trekking. That same feeling of when is it going to end came back. Mercifully we get to the top of the hill where lunch was calling us. The last hour was great, a nice handy walk into Namche to finish off the day. We roll into Namche and the same lodge as before by 14.30pm. On a sad note I got to see Everest for the last time (for this trip at least) and made a vow that I would be back someday to finish the job.

I don't even wait for, lets be honest a badly needed shower but instead head straight for the internet cafe. I can hardly wait to tell them at home about my exploits over the last few days and what has happened since I last emailed them. I do hope they are proud of me at home, I do not think my words will do justice to just how hard it had been, no words can, it is something you have to experience for yourself to truly understand. The exhaustion, the pain, the lack of oxygen, lack of sleep, headaches, it makes you wonder why would you bother in the first place. It is fantastic to read emails from home and to send one to Laura and my family. I then get back to the lodge for the second most important task I have been looking forward to, a shower. It has been a week since I last showered properly and I must stink big time. Tonight after dinner we head into the Paradise Bar again to celebrate Scott turning thirty. We shoot some pool, have plenty of drinks and just generally unwind and have a laugh. Everybody comes to the pub tonight which is great, we haven't had much opportunity on this trip to be all together at once. We meet up with Yasir again in Namche, he was turned around in Lobuche by Prackash as he was really struggling with the altitude. It must have been hard to have to turn around one day from Base Camp but also good to see Prackash will not sacrifice safety.

Thursday 1st April 2010 - Gorak Shep to Orsho, the long walk down

Thursday 1st April 2010 - Gorak Shep to Orsho, the long walk down

Waking up today I feel the same as I did yesterday with one major difference. I know I will be heading lower soon, 1000m lower to be precise and that can only be good for my headaches. I take two Ibuprofen after waking up and hope these two will be my last for this trip. We have quite a long walk to go today. Normally we would take four days to come back down the mountain, however we lost one of those days at the start due to bad weather so we must cover thirty eight miles in three days. An average of twelve and a half miles a day or twenty kilometres. We are walking from Gorak Shep at 5170m to Orsho at 4130m. Four of the group get up this morning at 04.30am to go to Kala Patthar, Scott decides to go again in order to get a picture of himself with a bag (dont ask), German, Claire and Corinne are the others to go. The rest of us fall out of bed around 07.00am but naturally I am awake since 06.00am. I have another baby wipes shower before getting dressed, I am hoping it will be my last as tomorrow we get back to Namche Bazaar, back to relative civilisation and back to hot running water. Some of us leave Gorak Shep at 09.30am heading for Orsho, Another group left at 08.30am but we said we would wait for the Kala Patthar people to come back before setting off. We are all in great spirits as all bar one of us made it to Base Camp and ten out of sixteen made it to Kala Patthar, above average we are told. Team morale is high.

Group one as we are now collectively known head off with Chewang at a good pace and soon we catch up to the people that left at 08.30am, we make it to Orsho for 14.30pm including a quick thirty minute lunch stop near Dughla where we stopped on the way up. I took the time to check out the memorials to fallen climbers as I promised myself I would once we were on the way down, there is a memorial to an Irish man called Sean Egan who died on his way to Base Camp on an Everest expedition. Also there is a memorial to a US guide called Scott Fischer of the Mountain Madness adventure group, made famous by the tragedy of 1996 high on Everest. I have read so many books about the 1996 disaster and feel like I know Scott personally. I take the opportunity to have my picture taken at the memorial. It is a sombre reminder for me that even the best mountaineers in the world can die on Everest. The walk today was fairly easy. I didn't find it difficult at all and by the time we get to Orsho I am a new man. The temperature is not quite summer weather but positively roasting in comparison to Gorak Shep from that morning.

I can feel my strength is back and I am eager to push on, feeling like I am right now I could go all the way to Lukla. The boost gained by the additional oxygen is amazing, 1000m lower in a short space of time and the air seems thick with it. Of course the main benefit for me now is that I no longer have any headaches. I cannot explain the relief of having a headache free evening. A silly thing to notice but with the lower altitude there are a lot more flies and they are really starting to annoy me. Roll on Namche, the internet and a shower.

Wednesday 31st March 2010 - The hardest but best day of my life

Wednesday 31st March 2010 - The hardest but best day of my life

Similarly to yesterday I wake up with a splitting headache. Even though today is Base Camp day I am not too excited. Once I get en route I know I will be excited but for now quiet and reflective. It is an early start today too, we are woken at 05.00am for departure at 06.00am. I find it hard to eat this morning, I am not hungry at all and the one day I need it most I just cannot force food down. I grab some biscuits and try to snack on those just to have something in my stomach. Today we are heading for Gorak Shep at 5170m where we would stop for an hour or so before heading to Base Camp at 5360m and back to Gorak Shep. All in eight hours walking hence the early start. The first part of the walk is tough for me, I feel really weak and have little energy. Its very cold from the snow and the sun has yet to rise to give us some warmth. The sky is the most amazing colour however and I soon forget about the headache. I stick with Jess and Richard for about an hour and a half before I start to feel strong again. It is hard to explain but the strength just came back all of a sudden. They stop for a break and I just keep going, afraid to stop the rhythm I have built up. We have a couple of steep 100m sections to climb which are tough going at this altitude. I manage to catch the first group who were ahead of me all morning and plan to stick with them now for the rest of the day.

The sun begins to rise as we pass the far side of Nuptse and is an awe inspiring site. It brings with it warmth and I am feeling on top of the world again. The weather is immaculate. Some of the guys half heartedly suggest doing Kala Patthar today also, with us being so far ahead of the other group we could quickly eat some food at Gorak Shep, head up Kala Patthar and catch the group en route to Base Camp. Perhaps it is cockiness on our behalf, we can see Kala Patthar in front of us and think thats not so bad. Pumori can be seen just behind Kala Patthar from our angle giving us the illusion that it will be easy. Pumori was named in 1921 by Mallory, 'Pumo' means Daughter and 'Ri' means Peak, so the literal translation of Pumori is Daughters Peak

.

Chewang our guide for today is not against the idea and so it gathers pace, Joans and Asif are the main pushers of the idea but we are all up for it. Chewang needs to check with Prackash but we decide amongst us that if Prackash says yes then we go for it. I quickly order beans on toast in order to get some energy into me. Just in case we are given the go ahead I want to be ready. I expect he will say no but you never know for sure. He arrives into the restaurant and we waste no time in telling him our proposal, we could take Chewang, be up and down Kala Patthar in time to catch the main group en route to EBC. To my shock he agreed and before you know it we are outside ready to go.

Two thoughts are going through my head right now:

1 - can I make it to Kala Patthar?

and

2 - it would be great to get it all done today so I can relax tomorrow

It will take us one and a half to two hours to get to the top of Kala Patthar, approximately an hour down to the path and five hours round trip to Base Camp on top of the three hours we had already walked to Gorak Shep. We understand what that means, an eleven hour day walking at the highest altitude, a gain of 700m in one day and possibly risking mountain sickness, yet we still plan on going. Its possibly a silly idea but there are seven of us and each one will inspire the next to get there. The seven are Myself, Jonas, Kris, Asif, Ebrahim, Jamie and Scott. Its still only 09.30am when we set off for Kala Patthar after a quick group picture. We can see it in front of us as we begin walking, it is deceptively steep and the two hour trip up lived true, at least for me. Scott flew up in fifty minutes, some of the other guys in an hour and a half but it was 11.15am before I made it to the top. I struggled on the last 100m or so, taking twenty steps and then stopping for a minute to catch my breath but I made it and it was the proudest moment of my life to date. The views from here were unbelievable, Everest looked huge in the camera lens from here and I will admit to some tears forming in my eyes. I was so happy to be here, it was the culmination of almost a years planning and the relief was immense. The hard work, the pushing, the pain it took to get here was taking its toll but at that moment I was the happiest person in the world. All seven of us made it to here, every one of the guys getting there in there own time, battling I'm sure there own demons but we all made it. Those guys are heroes in my opinion. Scott being Scott and needing the loo found a narrow (no offence mate) crack in the rocks on top of Kala Patthar and went for it. I could have stayed there forever but time was not on our side today and we still had six hours of walking ahead of us. From here though I took my favourite picture of the entire trip, one of me with Everest behind me. I am obsessed with this picture and it now graces my desktop at home.

We have put ourselves onto a fairly tight schedule today, Chewang thinks of a short cut down to the path we need to get to Base Camp. Unfortunately it involves some severe bouldering and scrambling to get down to it which is energy sapping. At about 12.50pm we make it to the track, we are definitely behind schedule and the other group but we don't waste much time in walking towards Base Camp. Chewang tells us we are about two hours still from Base Camp, we don't believe him as throughout this entire trip the guides have always been generous with the time, we regularly shave an hour of what they tell us so we think to ourselves maybe an hour. The group splits a little again, Scott, Kris and Jonas are to the front, Myself and Jamie a bit behind with Ebrahim and Asif behind with Chewang. Myself and Jamie seem to be running on empty and we stop for five minutes, eat a Mars bar and try to regain some strength. We meet loads of people telling us that we are nearly there, only thirty more minutes, then you would meet someone else further along and they would say forty more minutes, that is soul destroying. We come into sight of Base Camp thankfully and once we are nearly there we run into our group who are just after leaving. We did very well as we roll into Base Camp only forty minutes behind them and at approximately 2.15pm on the 31st March 2010 the seven of us complete the journey to Everest Base Camp. We are ecstatic to have gotten to both Kala Patthar and Base Camp today, not many groups do that so we feel very proud of ourselves. Base Camp I was told was a bit of an anti climax but when I saw it I loved it. Some expedition tents had been set up, you are close to the Khumbu Icefall, what more could you ask for. I take loads of pictures, I have some pictures of Laura that I brought from home to take with me on my journey. I take my favorite one out just as I did on Kala Patthar and get a photo of us together on this memorable day.

I just realise I have spent eight hours above 5000m and the tiredness hits me hard. Soon the elation wears off and we are on the trail home again, the body is screaming at me for a rest but now sunlight is an issue. What motivates me is that instead of having to get up tomorrow at 04.30am to go to Kala Patthar I can have a lie in and recover, that thought is fantastic. The headache is back but now it doesn't matter, we start descending tomorrow and I know that will help enormously. I will remember this day for a long time and I suspect the other guys feel the same way. We manage to catch our group again not too far outside of Gorak Shep just to complete the day, We all arrived back together with not much light left in the nights sky.

I anxiously await my dinner tonight, I am starving but also when its done I am off to bed straight after. I walk about Gorak Shep with Scott looking for somewhere to send an email, I cannot wait to tell them at home what we achieved today, how hard I had worked and how I hadn't failed them or myself. It will have to wait until Friday however as everywhere is closed and I know there is no internet connection in Orsho. I cannot wait but I will have to. If I was offered a helicopter ticket right now to Kathmandu airport for the first flight home I would take it. I feel privileged and feel I am the luckiest person in the world. I look forward to the 'easy' walk down which starts tomorrow morning.

Tuesday 30th March 2010 - Dingboche to Lobuche

Tuesday 30th March 2010 - Dingboche to Lobuche

I wake up today in bad shape. The headache is worse than ever before and I feel really tired and lethargic. We are woken at 06.30am for a departure time of 08.00am. I pack my rucksack very slowly and take two Panadol Extra, hoping they do the trick. This headache is right at the bottom of my skull on the back of my neck and is not particularly bad but constant. The tiredness is new to me however, I have been feeling strong up to now and lacking in some motivation to go on at the moment. I have put too much stress on myself about making it to Base Camp and more importantly Kala Patthar. I cannot fail to make it there or I fear my dream of climbing Everest is lost. The first few hours of today's walk are slow and steady on my behalf which is fine. The ground is relatively flat and allows me to save my energy. I had heard from some trekkers we passed on the way down that if you can get up the hill before Lobuche then you will make it to Base Camp. We stop in Dughla at 4600m for Lunch after a few hours walking and from there we can see the hill we must climb. It looks OK but I know from further down the mountain it will not be easy. The hill is only about 200m high but will take thirty to forty minutes to climb. I am struggling today with confidence and motivation. I also seem to be quite dizzy at times too. I spend most of the day talking to myself about how I cannot give up, I cannot quit at any cost. I hate quitting and even have a tattoo on my legs saying "Never Give Up".

I eventually struggle up the hill, on top of which lay memorials to fallen Everest climbers. I am too tired to fully appreciate the moment following the climb but you can definately detect a sombre atmosphere here. I will spend more time on the way down looking at the memorial plaques to see who they are for but right now I just want to get to Lobuche. We pass Base Camp for Lobuche East, there are some tents set up for an expedition and I start to get a feel for what it must be like to be here for a prolonged time on a climbing expedition. Once we reach Lobuche it begins to snow and it is bitterly cold outside and inside. Prackash had suggested earlier in the day that we would go for a little walk in the evening up a little higher on a small hill, this he said would be good for our acclimatisation. Lobuche is at 4940m so every extra effort now would make all the difference. I am sitting in the restaurant feeling a little sorry for myself, the headaches are not improving and its really snowing hard outside. I spend maybe an hour talking myself out of going but by 3.00pm when the group were due to leave I run to the room to get my wet weather gear and I join them. Only about half of the group goes on the walk. That maybe might make the difference between success and failure. To get up and go when you really do not want to is what defines success.

We are only out for forty minutes but I am so glad I went. We throw some snowballs and just mess about. There is no internet access here, well at least none I can find so it will probably be a day or two more before I get the chance to email home. That makes me sad but in a way helps me focus on the task at hand. While we are out walking we see a tent marking the spot where the body of a porter lays covered in the snow. Prackash was sent a picture on his phone of the dead man, people actually took pictures of the man as he lay dead. I could not believe this but maybe it is a cultural difference between us. Nobody is exactly sure about how he died but they suspect mountain sickness and alcohol were involved. Soon after this a helicopter flies in to take his body back to Kathmandu. My attention turns to tomorrow, the big day is finally here and I am now so close. The walk to Base Camp will be about eight hours round trip in total so it will be a long day at our highest altitude. I am almost ready for home now, Once I achieve my goals I will of course be delighted but by then it will be job done.