Prince Harry won't be climbing
Mount Everest this spring with a group of wounded servicemen as planned, his spokesman said Friday.
The 27-year-old royal made a four-day trek to the North Pole with members of the Walking with the Wounded organization last April and was expected to reunite with them to scale Everest this May.
"He won't be going to the
Himalayas because of his military commitments. Naturally, he is very disappointed that he won't be able to join the Walking with the Wounded team," Harry's representative told The Daily Telegraph.
Source: upi.com
29th January: Wounded soldiers train for Everest climb in Cumbria
A team of injured servicemen are training in the Lake District ahead of an attempt to become the first war-wounded personnel to climb Mount Everest.
It is the final training camp for the group, organised by the Cumbrian charity Walking with the Wounded, which helps get injured servicemen and women retrained and back to work.
In 2011 the charity received international attention when its trek to the North Pole was joined by its patron, Prince Harry.
One of the team aiming to climb to the summit, Karl Hinett, was severely burned by a petrol bomb in Basra in 2005.
He said: "Ever since my injury I've always tried to push myself, just to find what I can do, post-injury.
"Everest is like the ultimate challenge."
The scale of the challenge facing him is even more apparent because his damaged skin, easily affected by cold weather, will make him prone to frostbite.
Mr Hinett is used to things being difficult - last year he ran 52 marathons, sometimes two in a weekend to fit in around the Walking with the Wounded training.
'Highest thing on the planet'
Five of the members of the Everest team have an injury and a story of bravery and danger to go with it.
Many still thrive on testing themselves to the limit of what they can achieve now, post-injury.
Capt David Wiseman - shot in the chest during a firefight with the Taliban in Afghanistan - sees it as proof "you can set your own challenges".
"The most exciting thing about climbing Everest is just to be on the top," he said.
"At that minute, to be the highest thing on the planet."
Martin Hewitt, Walking with the Wounded's expedition manager, said he too joined the military "searching for adventure and challenge".
The trek to Everest - and the North Pole before it - offers him an opportunity to continue that search.
He said: "That's why I joined the parachute regiment. I can no longer achieve that because of my injury, but I still seek to lead people in austere environments."
'Fantastic opportunity'
Shot through the arm, Capt Francis Atkinson went from army doctor to patient.
He was recruited by Walking with the Wounded during rehabilitation at the Headley Court military hospital, attracted by a "good cause" and the "fantastic opportunity to do some climbing".
He thinks a week in the Cumbrian hills will be an opportunity for the men to get used to their kit and each other.
"Because we're all either ex- or serving armed forces personnel we have a fairly good way of knowing what each other's strengths and weaknesses are," he said.
They all praise the charity and its efforts to help those whose injuries can sometimes make even the smallest challenges seem impossible.
Mr Hewitt said: "It's close to my heart. I've seen a number of my own colleagues injured on operations and, while some go on to make a successful transition into civilian street themselves, others need a great deal of help and support."
Source: BBC News
26th January: Stephen Venables - The Legend of Eric Shipton
This winter/spring 2012, internationally acclaimed mountaineer, writer and broadcaster Stephen Venables tells the story of legendary mountaineer Eric Shipton in this fast-paced, beautifully illustrated talk that blends historical detail with personal experience.
One of the greatest mountain explorers of the twentieth century, Shipton was a team-member on all four Everest expeditions during the 1930’s and found the route that Hillary and Tenzing would follow to the top of the world.He famously missed out on Hillary’s historical ascent after being sacked from the expedition - his small-team, minimal logistics approach to climbing just didn't fit with the grandiose, large-scale expedition style of the British Empire.
Instead, Shipton dedicated his life to exploring untouched mountain ranges all over the world, from the mountains of East Africa to the untouched ice-fields of Patagonia in Tierra del Fuego.Admired by explorers, and loved by women, he inspired a generation of mountaineers, including Venables, who in 1988 became the first Briton to climb Everest without supplementary oxygen.
In his lecture he will mix readings from Shipton’s books with stories of his own journeys in the explorer’s footsteps, illustrated with photography and film clips.
A Ledbury man who lost all of his toes and the top half of five fingers after a successful assault on Mount Everest is to tell his story at the town theatre for Armed Forces charity Help for Heroes.
Former SAS officer Michael Patrick “Bronco” Lane will present a slide show of the 1976 British Army ascent of the world’s highest mountain at the Market Theatre for the charity that helps members of the Armed Forces who have been wounded in action.
Major Lane said: “It’s that time of the year for people like me to do our bit.
“This will take the form of my giving a slide show of the successful ascent when, together with SAS colleague Brummie Stokes, we became the fourth and fifth Britons to reach the summit, survive an unprotected bivouac at 28,000 feet and live to tell the tale.”
A contemporary account by Major M W H Day spoke of Bronco and Brummie climbing to the summit in relentless snow.
At the peak, Major Lane had the composure to take the expected photographs and carry out various scientific measurements, including that of monitoring the heartbeat of his colleague.
It was during the descent when frostbite began to be a major problem. Major Lane later presented his preserved amputated toes and fingers as exhibits for the National Army Museum.
The show will take place on Wednesday, February 8, at 8pm, Tickets are priced at £5 each and all proceeds will be directed to Help for Heroes.
The Market Theatre can be contacted on 01531 633760.
Source: Worcester News
4th January: Apa Sherpa starts his 1700km trek
A Sherpa who has climbed Mount Everest a record 21 times, will trek hundreds of kilometres along some of the world's highest mountains to highlight the impact of climate change on the Himalayas, organisers said on Monday.
Apa Sherpa, 52, will be accompanied by two-time Everest climber Dawa Steven Sherpa on the gruelling 1700km 120-day walk that starts this Sunday.
The route passes along the length of Nepal's Himalayas going through the shadow of eight of the world's 14 highest mountains including the 8 850m Mount Everest to raise awareness of global warming.
"During the walk we will see the challenges faced by the local people in dealing with the effects of climate change on the remote and poor foothills of Himalayas," Sherpa said about the trek beginning next week.
Sherpa said he had written to global celebrities like UN chief Ban Ki-moon, former US Vice-President Al Gore and Britain's Prince Harry inviting them to join him along some parts of his journey saying it would "make the world take notice of our dire situation".
However, he said none of them had confirmed participation.
Environmental activists say the Himalayan glaciers, the source of several Asian rivers, are shrinking fast due to global warming threatening the lives of 1.3 billion people living downstream in their basins.
In 2009, Sherpa collected a piece of rock from Mount Everest which was presented to US President Barack Obama to highlight the impact of climate change on the Himalayas.
"The international community is now asking us how to help Nepal cope with the problem and we have no answers," Sherpa said.
"During this trek we will try to find out how the mountain people are adapting and what they need to fight the impact of climate change," he said.
Experts say mountainous Nepal is vulnerable to climate change despite being responsible for only 0.025% of global greenhouse gas emissions, among the lowest in the world.
Global temperatures increased by an average of 0.74°C over the past 100 years - with warming in the Himalayas being faster, according to the Kathmandu-based International Centre for Integrated Mountain Development (Icimod).
Source: News24
10th January: Skiing on Everest
Less than 1,000 feet from the summit of Mount Everest, John Callahan, Jim Gile and their childhood friends, twin brothers Mike and Steve Marolt, realized they had to turn back. Mike's feet had gone numb.
While they didn't summit, the group etched their names in history as the first Americans to ski down the North Face of the mountain. For them, it's not about the summit, it's about the skiing.
Source: skiingeverest.net
2nd January: Prince Harry is all set to climb Mount Everest
Prince Harry will make good on his promise to the wounded servicemen he joined on their trek to the North Pole to join them on their next challenge - the world's highest mountain
With the celebrations to mark his grandmother’s diamond jubilee, the Olympics and his first official solo tour taking him to Jamaica, Belize and the Bahamas, the year ahead already looks hectic enough for Prince Harry. The third in line to the throne is, however, adamant that 2012 will also see him realise his long-held ambition to conquer Everest.
The 27-year-old prince dropped a broad hint at the end of his trek to the North Pole last year to raise money for Walking With the Wounded, the charity of which he is patron, that he wanted to join the group of wounded servicemen on their next challenge in May, which will see them climbing the world’s highest mountain.
Buckingham Palace has since declined to comment on whether it would be possible to fit the climb into his schedule – “it will all depend on his Army commitments,” his spokesman will say only – and there has been no comment, either, from the charity. Now, however, Mollie Hughes, the 21-year-old mountaineer who plans to become the youngest British woman to climb Everest when she makes her own ascent with Kenton Cool in May, and who has been co-ordinating their climb with that of the Walking With the Wounded group, has told Mandrake she has been told that the prince will also be going up.
“He won’t be doing the full climb as it will take a long time and it requires rigorous training so I think he’ll be joining at a base camp,” she tells me. She adds that she is aware of the Walking With the Wounded group’s plans as they are planning their climb in the same month as hers and they are expected to be staying at the South Base Camp in Nepal, where the two groups will prepare for the testing conditions on the mountain.
The weather and a range of other factors mean that the Spring – any time between March and May – is reckoned to be the best time to climb Everest.
Happily, the climb does not conflict with any of the prince’s existing engagements with his spokesman saying that his first solo official tour has still to be put in his diary.
The prince struck up a quick rapport with the group of wounded servicemen that he joined for four days last April on their successful trip to the North Pole. “I think for me, personally, I’m hugely proud to be a British soldier, to walk alongside these guys,” he said. “What these guys have done – and what they will continue to do throughout their lives – is just truly inspirational.” He assured them, too, he would see them on their next challenge.
Source: The Telegraph
31st December: Football on Everest
Mountaineers from Ukraine will scale new heights to celebrate co-hosting next year's European Championships, playing a soccer game on Mount Everest to kick off the tournament.
The climbers will ascend the world's highest peak, in the Himalayas, with their June 8 game marking the start of the event.
Sergei Kovaloyov, president of Donetsk Region Alpinism Federation, confirmed the high-altitude stunt.
"A team of Donetsk climbers plan to play a game of soccer on Everest in honor of Euro 2012," he said.
"Let Ukraine score its first goal from the world's highest mountain."
Ukraine will share hosting duties with neighbours Poland next year, with the Poles opening up against Greece in Warsaw on June 8. The 16-team tournament will culminate in a July 1 final in Kiev.
Source: Fox Sports
26th December: Santa fly’s over Mount Everest
Santa Claus was spotted flying over Mount Everest on Christmas Eve in his sleigh pulled by his trusty reindeer Rudolph, Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Donder, Blitzen, Cupid and Comet.
23rd December: Apa to trek the Himalayas
Apa Sherpa, the Nepalese climber who has conquered Mount Everest a record 21 times, announced Wednesday plans to embark on a gruelling 1,700 kilometre (1,060-mile) trek across the Himalayas.
The 51-year-old father of three, dubbed "Super Sherpa", will set off in January on the 120-day walk with climber Dawa Steven Sherpa in a bid to raise awareness of climate change.
The expedition, the first official hike along the length of Nepal's Great Himalayan Trail since it opened in September, will take in some of the world's most rugged landscapes and see the duo ascending beyond 6,000 metres (19,600 feet).
"The Great Himalaya Trail is possibly the world's best long-distance walking trail," Apa Sherpa said, describing the adventure as a "once-in-a-lifetime opportunity".
The route extends along the length of the Himalayas in Nepal, passing in the shadow of eight of the world's 10 highest mountains.
The expedition has been dubbed the Climate Smart Celebrity Trek and the duo said they hoped to be accompanied along parts of their journey by Hollywood and Bollywood stars, although organisers admitted none had yet signed up.
Apa Sherpa, who was born in Nepal but now lives in the United States, first scaled 8,848-metre Everest in 1990.
He has spoken of the dramatic changes to Everest in the past two decades, and after an expedition last year said rising temperatures were making the mountain increasingly dangerous for climbers.
The climber has dedicated his last four ascents to efforts to preserve Everest, which the Sherpa people consider sacred, and this year climbed with a team removing tonnes of rubbish left behind by earlier climbers.
Last year, he set up a foundation dedicated to improving education in the remote Himalayan region where he grew up.
Source: AFP
20th December: Sherpas want Bharat Ratna for Norgay
Amid raging a debate on whether Hockey Wizard Dhayan Chand should be conferred Bharat Ratna before Master Blaster Sachin Tendulkar, the Sherpa community of Darjeeling feels that Late Tenzing Norgay Sherpa should be the recipient of the highest civilian award of the country for the then impossible feat of summiting Mount Everest on 29th May 1953.
Initially the Bharat Ratna was considered only for those, who excelled for "exceptional service towards advancement of Art, Literature and Science, and in recognition of public service of the highest order". However a notification by the Prime Minister's Office on recommendation of the home and sports ministries in July 2011, brought an amendment whereby the Bharat Ratna would be conferred "in recognition of exceptional service/performance of the highest order in any field of human endeavor" - which now brings almost all fields including sports that had earlier remained out of the purview of this award.
"Late Tenzing has been recognized by almost over two dozen countries of the world with their highest honour and awards. He has been selected as one of the 10th best athletes of the world by Life Magazine in 2000 and declared as one of the most influential people of the world by Time Magazine in 1999. It is apt that the person who made by India proud in the global arena should be conferred the Bharat Ratna," stated Phurtemba Sherpa, joint secretary of the United Sherpa Association.
The Association has nominated Tenzing Norgay for the Bharat Ratna and has demanded that a committee should be constituted comprising of academicians, historians, stalwarts of various fields including sports to carefully weigh as to who should be conferred the highest civilian award. "Let the achievements of all the nominees be weighed carefully before a decision is reached" stated the Joint Secretary of the Association.
The Sherpa Association will be sending faxes to the President of India, Prime Minister, Union Home minister, Union Sports Minister, Leaders of the opposition of the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha and the West Bengal Chief Minister with this demand.
Reacting to this Jamling Tenzing Norgay, son of Late Tenzing Norgay, said, "Our family is honoured that the Sherpa community has decided to recommend my father for the Bharat Ratna. My father had made our nation proud when our nation was still in infancy (having gained freedom in 1947.) He still continues to inspire the youth of our nation. He was the first Indian and Asian to rise from a humble beginning to become an instant icon worldwide. His iconic image atop the summit is an enduring symbol of the human spirit."
The family and the Sherpa community however feel that the Indian Government has neglected this legend. "Tenzing Norgay had been conferred the George Medal- the second highest civilian award of UK in 1953. He had then been conferred the Padma Bhushan- the third highest civilian award of India in 1959. In 2008, late Sir Edmund Hillary was awarded the Padma Vibhushan- the second highest civilian award of India becoming the 13th foreigner to receive this award. However my father is not a recipient of Padma Vibhushan," said Jamling.
Tracing history, Tenzing Lhatoo Sherpa, Vice President of the Association stated that a tug of war had taken place between India and Nepal to claim Tenzing as their citizen immediately after his ascent of Mount Everest. "While the Nepal Government was all out wooing Tenzing as a Nepal citizen, the then Prime Minister of India Pundit Nehru had sent two emissaries to Kathmandu- the Nepali capital to woo Tenzing and bring him back to Darjeeling, India."
Passang Phudar and Thackpa, both Sherpas from Darjeeling and close associates of Tenzing were sent to Kathmandu by Pundit Nehru and were successful in getting Tenzing back to Darjeeling, whereby Nehru embarked on a world tour proudly introducing Tenzing to the world. The Himalayan Mountaineering Institute was also built in 1954, to honour Tenzing and to promote mountaineering.
Tenzing served as the Director and Advisor till his death in 1986 in Darjeeling. During his spell at the HMI he kept his promise to Pundit Nehru of "Producing a thousand Tenzings" thus elevating mountaineering in India.
So far, 41 people have been conferred with Bharat Ratna including Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela, Amratya Sen, Jawaharlal Nehru. The first three Indians, who received the prestigious award, were Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman, Chakravarti Rajagopalachari and Sarvapali Radhakrishnan in 1954. Pandit Bhimsen Joshi was the last recipient of the award in 2009.
Source: Hindustan Times
18th December: Doug Scott Lecture
Doug's lectures are famous for his personal and thought provoking commentary, illustrated with his stunning photography of the world's most spectacular mountain landscapes.
