Easter Sunday and only one week to go before I fly out to Kathmandu. I’m going from feeling excitement to dread….8000 metres ‘The Death Zone’, where your body starts to eat muscle and slowly dies….a bit mellowdramatic and very much hyped up by TV programs about Everest, but it is still a dangerous place if not treated seriously. Luckily, I’ve never been driven to reach the summit and although it’s the main aim of this trip to do so, I believe I have the common sense to turn back, even 50 metres from the summit if weather conditions are bad or my health is at risk. Summit fever is something that I’ve never suffered from and to me the enjoyment is all about the journey, the views and the serenity and solitude that the ever-changing beauty that the mountains and nature give to me.

I decided to take some photographs of my gear to put on the blog, but they were uninteresting and basically boring, so I’ve posted a couple of more unusual ones. It still gives you some idea of the specialist gear that’s needed at 8000 metres.

I also did my last training walk last Thursday, like on previous occasions I opted for an easy, enjoyable walk, this time around The White Peaks and Dove Dale. The weather was kind, if a little cold. The scenery was breathtaking with snow drifts 4 to 6 feet high, blown into petrified waves, covering all in their path. It was a 25k walk, further than it will be from Cho Oyu Base Camp to the summit and back and that’s going to take me 5 1/2 weeks!!!! My only regret is that ‘Uncle Les’ couldn’t join me as he always has on my last walk.

And for all of you out there on a diet, you’re going to be envious to learn that after losing over 8kg in weight over the last three months, I’m going to try to put half of that back on again before I go in a weeks time….bring on those cream cakes!! I do, however expect to lose in the region of a further 7kg while I’m away.

I have to admit I find it difficult to make this pre trip blog very interesting or enlightening, time just passes as my departure draws ever closer, with very little for me to add to my previous blogs.

The thought of not seeing Carolynn and the rest of the family for 7 weeks cuts deep….but Tibet and The Turquoise Goddess await……

It’s getting ever closer……the  start of a dream, the dream I thought would never come to fruition, an 8000 metre peak. But it seems to be dominating my life and some would say it’s become an obsession.  My days are planned around training and testing equipment, do I go for a run, do Insanity, swim or go to the gym…..or god forbid do some work!!!

The training appears to be going well with having just come back from the Cairngorms, in Scotland, for a week, which is renouned for high winds and low cloud, but most of all for its severe winters. They are, I thought, an ideal training ground for the Himalaya. As it turned out the weather was kinder than is normally the case in Central Scotland. I was, of course, with Uncle Les, my trusty companion and James, my eldest son. We managed  to walk for five of the six full days we were there. The snow and ice conditions were near perfect and most of the week was spent on the Cairngorm Plateau, with the weather ranging from near white out conditions to a cloud inversion over Ben Macdui.

One person I haven’t mentioned is a young man who I have trained with over the last three years. He started training me after I got back from the trek to Makalu Base Camp and was preparing for the trip to Island Peak in 2011. After the Island Peak trip we stayed good friends and carried on training together and he abviously caught the walking bug. We’ve been to Wales and Derbyshire, on many occasions. He also came with Uncle Les and I to do the Alte Vie 1 in the Dolomites. He’s a great motivator, pushing me to my limits and my fitness has improved many times over since we first started training together….his name is Matt Fabyonic

Anyway  time is moving on…..only three weeks until I fly to Kathmandu and then drive to Tibet and Cho Oyu Base Camp. As it gets closer aprehension and excitment are setting in, the enormity of the expedition is dawning……