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……