Our 15 minutes of fame

Just published in the Keswick Reminder:

CLIMBER TIM PLANS EVEREST DOUBLE

Keswick climber Tim Mosedale is planning to become just the tenth Brit to summit the world’s highest peak from its north and south sides in a few weeks’ time.

Tim left Cumbria yesterday (Thursday) on the first leg of his journey to Everest where he is leading a party of climbers who are hoping to complete the ascent of the mountain from the Nepalese side.

Tim, who runs a guest house in Keswick with his wife Ali, who is a nurse, was part of the Karrimor expedition in 2005 when he summited Everest from the northern, Tibetan, side.

The father of two has assembled a fully supported expedition with experienced Sherpas including one who has summited Everest twice in the same week.

Tim worked for an Outdoor Centre then spent ten years as a full time climber and mountaineer, guiding in the Himalayas and Greenland. He has over a decade of experience in Nepal where, last November, he added Ama Dablam to his list of summits. He has also climbed 50 unclimbed peaks in Greenland in the course of six expeditions.

He said: “Climbing the south side of Everest is a more expensive operation due to it being a longer trek in and the cost of permits. If successful I will be the tenth Brit to summit from both sides. It’s brilliant that I am able to work on the mountain and it’s the highest accolade I can get on my CV. The great thing is that, in helping the other members of the team to reach their goal, there’s something in it for me if I summit, so everyone is a winner.”

Tim says he cherry picked the people who will be going with him to ensure they had the right attitude and experience to spend eight weeks in close proximity in harsh conditions.

He said: “We fly to Kathmandu then on to a small airfield on the side of the hill at the start of the base camp trail. We are spending three weeks trekking in to give the team time to shake off the western pressures and gel. All bar one have been with me on previous expeditions.

“From a guiding point of view the south side is much safer. In theory it is a bit easier, but Everest is never an easy mountain,” said Tim. “It is the pre-monsoon season, but weather conditions can still be variable.”

Anyone wanting to follow Tim’s progress can visit the blogette at: www.thebige2011.co.uk

Grollies

Just when I thought I had managed to get everything in hand Ali asked me .... so how many pairs of undies are you taking this year?

Yikes! I knew there was something I'd missed.

Now you may not have heard of the 8 day rule. Wear your pants, then turn them back to front, then inside out, then back to front again (so that's 4 days) and then swap with your tent partner - hey presto 8 days!

Now there are 5 plus myself plus our expedition doctor on this trip so in theory I could get 28 days out of one pair. So 3 pairs should see me right for the whole trip.

Only kidding ... I'll travel in a pair and leave them in KTM to pick up on my return once they have been laundered.

3 days to go ...

Time is now ticking ever faster as we approach take off (Thurs 10p.m.).

Last minute supplies purchased, comms set up, individual e mail addresses established for the team, paperwork all e mailed to Kathmandu, bookings taken for the B&B and another 2 enquiries for Ama Dablam - one for this year and one for next.

Chatted with the Sirdar this morning and he's all set - so we are meeting for coffee in Kathmandu on Saturday. How bizarre.

Now I just have to pack. Thankfully most of my kit and equipment is already out there but even so I can't decide where to start - especially with the med supplies.

And what I have here is but a third of our medical kit. Hmmm

Keep in touch

Hi y'all,

Just a quick blogette to say that we all now have our own e mail addresses for you to keep in touch with the team should you want to drop us a line. Check The Big E website for details.

Also you can sign up to our Blog and you'll get a notification whenever we update the site - there's a box on the Blog and a box on The Big E 2011 website for you to enter your e mail address.

In theory the Blog now updates Twitter which then updates Facebook - but there have been teething problems recently and I'm not convinced. So we may well tweet our way up The Khumbu as well.

Hope you enjoy the show ...

6 days to go

What a bonkers day. Now have slightly fewer than a million and one things to do - but there's still a lot of work to be done before we depart for the BIG trip next Thursday. Just as well I managed to get all the last minute things done a few weeks ago before they became last minute things to do.

Have managed to procure 4 sets of spare crampon heel sections for our G12s. Basically we discovered back in January, whilst doing some pre trip training in Scotland, that the new G12s (which are great) have serrated rear points which get stuck on the rungs of the ladders. There were two solutions - one was to bring the foot slightly backwards before lifting and stepping forward and the other was to get new crampons. BUT seeing as most of the team had just bought new crampons it seemed a bit of a waste to get yet more pairs of crampons. Especially when everyone is spending so much already.

Now then, 'how difficult can it be to slightly alter the way you cross a ladder?' I hear you ask. Not actually that difficult. But when you extrapolate and bear in mind that we may have 30 to 50 ladders to cross and we'll be doing it at altitudes in excess of 5,500m and maybe in the dark with a heavy rucksack on over a yawning crevasse - suddenly it becomes a problem. And some of the ladders are strapped together to form a long wobbly bendy bridge - the most I have heard of to date was 13 (yes thirteen) ladders all connected together to form a bridge over a HUGE gaping chasm.

So back to the drawing board. File or saw off the serrations? Could do, but it seems a shame to adulterate a perfectly good pair of crampons. Try and balance on one rung at a time under the instep instead of placing the foot on 2 rungs and having the heel then catch? Hmmm - 13 ladders strapped together to form a bendy, wobbly bridge over a deep deep crevasse in the early morning whilst it is still bitterly cold and I still haven't quite woken up and you want me to make it harder than it already is - I don't think so.

Ponder ponder. So a quick call to the very helpful guys at The Mountain Boot Company and lo and behold they have managed to find 4 pairs of old style heel sections for us to borrow. Guys - we are indebted to you.

So the recent bit and pieces we've been working on are that we now have Sat comms (I'll be playing with it in the park on Sunday), the most comprehensive expedition 1st aid kit you've ever seen, batteries and solar power galore and movies on the iPad (just downloading Shark in Venice and Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus as we speak! Both truly crap films but we'll need a few light hearted moments to take away the stress).

I've managed to get Twitter to update Facebook (not that difficult) but try as I might the Blog and Feedburner aren't posting to Twitter which is something I may just have to just give up on. We'll just have to post the blog and then post a Tweet to let everyone know. Long winded and not very 21st Century but it will do.

The B&B is full, I'm working on the hill tomorrow and the weather's looking good. Couldn't have planned it better if I tried.

Finalist nomination in prestigious AA category

Well well, I've just opened the post and am delighted to say that I have been nominated as a finalist in the upcoming AA awards. The ceremony will be held in London on Monday 16th May, but alas I will be on Everest.

So the long and short of it is:

'Dear Mr Mosedale

Congratulations! In the eighteenth year of this prestigious award we are delighted to confirm that you are one of only 25 proprietors who have been nominated by our inspectors from over 3,500 establishments in the AA Guest Accommodation scheme as a finalist in the 2011 AA Friendliest Landlady of the Year competition.'

Regardless of the fact that I am far from being a landlady ... the long and short of it is that Elm Tree Lodge has been nominated as being a friendly place to stay at and we are in the top 1% of AA Guest Accommodation establishments.

What is particularly great here is that when you don't even know you are being assessed and so haven't been jumping through hoops or been on ones best behaviour, but you get nominated, it's quite a compliment.

Must go and iron my dress.

Ama Dablam is a go go again

Well another 6 bookings for the B&B and another 3 enquiries for Ama Dablam with one wanting to pop a deposit across straight away.

And the really great news is that I have managed to borrow another film for the iPad - A Shark in Venice. It is without a doubt the crappest effort I have ever seen. Utter drivel with appalling special effects (in fact they are so bad they should perhaps just be called 'effects') - and then the cast are so totally serious and bigging themselves up in the 'making of section' that it's cringeworthy. It features one of the illustrious Baldwin brothers - but unfortunately it's Stephen Baldwin. It's the biggest laugh EVER so if you come across it you've got to watch it.

Films, books and music for Everest

Just managed to get a bunch of films across to the iPad to keep the team entertained for the forthcoming Everest expedition. So we've got from good old Matrix, Bourne and Ocean's trilogies to the likes of Usual Suspects, Fightclub and Plunkett and Macleane but also including a spot of Holy Grail, Dr Strangelove, Borat and Life of Brian for the lighter hearted moments. There's also Snatch, Lockstock, Lucky Number Slevin, Memento and Layercake to mention but a few. Touching the Void - yes. Avalanche? Alive? Vertical Limits? At the moment a resounding no as I have thankfully run out of space.

But what of music and podcasts? What would you take? And books? A great time to read some tome that you would never otherwise consider. War and Peace for instance. But then it's difficult to get stuck in to something that is too heavy when we are trying to remain upbeat and optimistic. It's great to be able to read some easy drivel - but then we also have to consider that people might visit our mess tent and our reading material may well give people the wrong impression of our team of hardy mountaeers. Particularly if all we have on the table is some Jackie Collins novels, the latest Loaded and anything by Dan Brown.

Here's to an entertaining trip.

No where did I put my copy of "Dark Majesty: The Secret Brotherhood and the Magic of a Thousand Points of Light?" (No 11 on the Amazon list of 'Worst Books Ever Written.')

Will they won't they?

Less than 2 weeks to go and the situation in Bahrain is less than ideal ... because that's where we transit on the way out to Kathmandu.

Gulf Air refuse to acknowledge what Plan B is because as far as they're concerned Plan A is working just fine thanks. But what if, suddenly, Plan A is no longer acceptable? Well they won't say what the alternative is.

I suppose they could fly via another destination (they used to fly via Abu Dhabi but I'm not sure whether they can change locations at the drop of a hat as it will undoubtedly require a lot of ground handling staff and equipment), but my guess is that, if things go truly pear shaped, they'll just give us all a refund.

Which will leave us in a slightly tight spot as there are 11 of us travelling together. So I've come up with our own Plan B which we can put in place at the drop of a hat should we be cancelled.

But there's absolutely nothing we can do about it right now so I'm not even going to worry about it or mention it again.

Apart from that it's all systems go ... so watch this space.

Reciprocal links and refunds

I need your advice. Do you think that my B&B website (or the climbing and expedition website come to think of it) will be enhanced by having a link exchange with:

DESCRIPTION: NationwidePools - offers metal, resin coated or resin injected above ground pools.

I'm just so touched that they have taken the care to contact me, personally, and I would hate to feel that I am missing out on something here.

Incidentally I've also had some bad news by e mail today. My Abbey National, HBOS and Paypal accounts have all had irregular activity on them and have been suspended - until I click on the link to reactivate them which I'll do in a couple of minutes.

But the good news is that I am due a VAT rebate AND have been overcharged by HMRC and am due a tax refund. Unbelievably I am also the sole descendant of Mustafa Mbooto in S. Africa and he has left his entire legacy of US$97,000,691 to me which is brilliant. I am, however, a bit concerned that this may affect my tax refund so I may decline to get in touch.

2 weeks 2 days 2 go

Time is ticking and things are getting slightly bonkers now. Taking oodles of bookings at the B&B as people are sorting their breaks and holidays.

Trying to sort as much of the last minute stuff for the expedition before it all becomes last minute stuff. Various items ordered and are in the post, freight is on the way, Bahrain Airport (we transit on the way to KTM) still open, hotel booked in KTM, accommodation booked in The Khumbu, teeth just been checked and our member of staff arrives Friday to run the show whilst I'm away.

Another booking for Ama Dablam and various other enquiries coming in for that expedition. Glad to see that I'm still top of Google for Ama (although it would be great to be above Wikipedia as well) and highly placed for the B&B. No doubt that will change somewhat whilst I'm away but that's the least of my worries!

Off to talk to a class tomorrow about Everest for their big write. Last time I was there I mentioned that we had a guy along who we all called Gandalf (on account of his big beard). When the kids were picked up one of them told his mum 'We had a talk from a man who went to the top of Everest and there was a wizard.'
'No, Johnny, I think you mean there was a blizzard.'
'No mum, it was a wizard.'
'Actually, Johnny, the word will have been "Blizzard."'
'NO, THERE WAS A WIZARD.'
'Don't be so rude and stop shouting please and listen to your mum when she's trying to tell you that the word you mean is blizzard.'
'WIZARD!!!!!.'
'DON'T YOU SHOUT AT ME - IT IS A BLIZZARD.'

Anyway you can see where a conversation like that is going and little boy ended up in floods of tears and refused to back down whereas Mum knew best and kept correcting him. It all became so distraught that the next morning she went in to ask the teacher what on earth had been going on. 'Ahhh, well Johnny, I'm really sorry for shouting at you last night but I just hadn't understood that there was a guy who looked like a wizard on Everest.'

I wonder what I could sneak in tomorrow to cause more mayhem?.?.?

L'enclume

Just had the most awesome night out at L'enclume - a michelin starred restaurant in Cartmell. Ended up having a 15 course meal. A toptastic night out and the first night in six months that Ali and I have woken up in the same bed together because our totally awesome friend Ann had the kids for the night.

Highly recommended for amazing food, great ambience and really efficient service and presentation. If you want to learn how to put on a show then go here.

A nice relaxing coffee this morning (again, sans kids), a trip over Windermere on the ferry and then collected the children and now we're home. And to top it all we also have guests in the B&B.

Took another 2 bookings for Ama Dablam so that expedition is shaping up nicely and still plenty of others showing interest. Probably not going to be quite as busy as last year but then that was a bumper trip. But delighted that I have so many people on board already (along with 4 for Island Peak as well).

Outbound freight

Just delivered our freight down to Manchester Airport. The trip's been a long time coming and suddenly it's there on the horizon.

It's our 7th anniversary just after I get back and rather disappointingly I have discovered it's the anniversary of wool and copper! WT? I was rather hoping for something more exciting. I wonder whether Ms Summers has an alternative list? Any suggestions?

Anyway never mind that there's a whole load to fit in between now and then.

Tick tock tick tock ... 3 weeks and counting

Departing for Everest 3 weeks today! Yip yip.

Lots to fit in between now and then - whether it be planning, purchasing and training or catching up with my family and making sure that everything is place for the B&B to run smoothly whilst I am away. We're delighted to have been able to appoint Suzanna as a member of staff to run the B&B in my absence.

This has been a week of meetings and liaising with people. Have had chats with other Everest summiteers and leaders asking for top tips and handy hints and thankfully no advice has come to light that hasn't really been covered or thought of already (apart from a tip about the oxygen system. One of my friends had a client who had a freak occurrence that compromised his O2 supply so we've got the preventative measure for that in place).

The team now comprises myself and 5 for the Big E along with our trusty Base Camp manager. Her boyfriend is accompanying us trekking for 4 weeks, 2 friends of one of the climbing team are trekking for 2 weeks and then there are 3 folk for Island Peak as well. So 13 of us in total.

Meanwhile the preparation for the November Ama Dablam expedition is also underway with 5 people signed up for that trip and 4 for Island Peak as well.

And then there are the usual array of guests booked in to the B&B and a smattering of climbing days in the diary for summer as well. Looks like it's going to be a busy year again.

I wonder whether I'll be to knackered to have another go at The Bob Graham Round ...