Baruntse (peak on the far right) from Makalu

      Maybe the title gives it away ‘Never say Never again’. After every trip to the Himalaya I say ‘Never again’, why I don’t know, as I’ve returned   four times now….and you’ve guessed it, I’m going back again in February next year. This time to do two peaks, Mera Peak (6,476 metres) the highest trekking peak in the Himalaya  and Baruntse (7,129 metres) a ten-day expedition from Base Camp, so all in all a trip of 40 days.

Dawn at Hope Valley

I’m not going to bore anyone reading this with all the reasons that I’m continually attracted to the Himalaya, as the reasons are all there in the previous pages of this blog from my Cho Oyu expedition. I will, however, go back a year and a half when I returned from Cho Oyu a little disappointed. I told everyone I failed to summit, even though all through my blog I emphasised that summiting wasn’t important and that I would enjoy it for what it was, an experience that made me realise just how magnificent and BIG the Himalaya are. I recently read Alan Hinkes book on conquering all fourteen 8,000 metre peaks and he emphasises that ‘Pushing on regardless and getting killed, or suffering severe frostbite that results in amputation, is failure’. Alan’s motto over the 18 years it took him to climb all fourteen 8,000 metre peak was ‘No mountain is worth a life, coming back is a success and the summit is only a bonus’. I’ve come to the conclusion that he’s right and on mulling over, Alan’s introduction to his book ‘8000 Metres’, I decided ‘It must be OK to return’….so I am. Carolynn got suspicious when I said I was going to sell all my high altitude gear and instead of it going on eBay, it all disappeared into the loft, a bit of a give away really. The question you’re all asking is ‘will he return to Cho Oyu….the answer Never say Never Again!!!!

Fair Brook on the way up to Kinder Scout

Anyway, I’ve started training again in earnest. This time I’m doing Shaun T’s T 25 with a touch of his Insanity as well. This has certainly reduced the excess weight I put on after returning from Cho Oyu, but I need to get walking fit, so poor old Uncle Les has been dragged out of retirement and pulled reluctantly away from his beloved cycling to keep me company on those long drives to North Wales…

Darren on the Canon

Darren, I hope will appear regularly as we get closer to 20th February 2015.