Thursday, 16 May 2013

Expedition Wise team to climb unconquered Himalayan summit


This year is the 60th anniversary of the first successful ascent of Everest by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay.  Inspired by this historic achievement, this November our Director, Brian Jackson and 2 other Expedition Wise staff, Ian Foster and Bug Wrightson, are attempting to ascend an unclimbed mountain in Nepal.



The 3 intrepid explorers will head out to a recently opened up area of Nepal north of the Annapurna range taking up to 9 days to trek in, 7 days to climb and 7 days to trek out again.

They will attempt to be the first ever people to climb Chhubohe (5,603m/18,383ft).
Brian is specifically raising money for Pancreatic Cancer UK, as he recently lost a friend to pancreatic cancer.  If you wish to support him in his fundraising, please click on the link to his Just Giving page and click on Donate. 


100% of all funds raised will go directly to the charity as Brian is paying for the challenge himself.

Wednesday, 15 May 2013

Ethiopia Simien Mountains – 2013


Our Director has once again been off leading a Charity Challenge expedition to the Simien Mountains in Ethiopia, now his 5th expedition to these parts.

Well, what a difference a year makes!

In 2012 at each camp there were between 10 – 20 people queuing for medical attention but this year, with the new Arkwasiye clinic, (paid for by a previous Charity Challenge trek group – BDO Stoy Hayward) there were only a handful of people at each campsite.  This is fantastic news for the region.


This year, our Director was leading a group raising money for AfriKids (projects for young people on the streets in Ghana) whilst trekking for 8 days through the Simien mountains from West to East and summiting Ras Dashen, the highest peak in Ethiopia and 4th highest in Africa on route.


Expecting the usual 35 - 40 degrees of heat each day, the group were very surprised by the first rains in living memory to fall in the Simien Mountains in March, the driest month of the dry season!!  The group encountered snow, hail, thunder, lightning and rain which goes to show that there are no 100% confirmed seasons any more around the world.  The group did well to manage this surprise weather and it actually made the overall trek far more manageable in the lower temperatures of between 20 - 30 degrees.