Team outlook

Currently seven climbers on our 2008 Project Himalaya NE Ridge Everest Expedition. There are a couple more climbers seriously interested but who have not yet committed. We also have a New Zealand mountain guide and his private client joining us for base camp support. So we are good-sized team and will have plenty of backup.

Who is on the team? There are three climbers who have previously been on expedition with Project Himalaya, and four people who have been 7000m high previously, most of them very recently. So far there is only one woman booked, but there is a reasonable chance one more will book, perhaps as part of a private group.

The crew have already started working on the Everest expedition, we have a new base camp kitchen tent just ordered, some gear and oxygen will be packed in the next few days, then most of the crew are going back to their village (they all come from the same village, or close by, anyway) for a break to see family.

In Kathmandu politically there is increasing pressure on the current government to call elections and get a constitutional assembly elections over with. The problem is most of the parties think they will not do very well, and so say they want elections but really do not want to face the electorate. Currently they are talking about elections in March next year. If this does go ahead, Nepal will very likely be in the news just before the Everest expedition, and not all of it will be very pretty.

However it is very unlikely that personal security is affected at all.

Bye for now. David