Climbing Mt. Mera

I just got an e-mail from my friend Christobel. It seems she and her son Tom (aged 11), have just spent the last few weeks in Nepal, trekking in the Himalayas. Christobel and I had discussed doing this many years ago, and she even bought boots, but it fell through and we went to Goa instead. Good thing, as neither of use was the least bit prepared, and the plane we probably would have taken crashed on approach to Kathmandu airpot.

The story, in Christobel's own words:

Hardest thing I have ever done, but thin (3 weeks of no alcohol, bloody hard physical exercise hours each day topped off with a good bout of diarrhoea and vomiting will do that to you!) and would do it again tomorrow!! Below is Tom at the top of Mera - 6450m, and Tom is the youngest person to get up - so very proud!

I got altitude sickness at 5800m at high camp so stayed there while they left at 2am for a 5 hour ascent in -50 degrees Celsius weather with over 100kph winds at the top! and only 40% the oxygen as at sea level. Tom went with our sherpa Jamling - a lovely boy who had done the north face of Everest in May - so I trusted despite people telling us there were dead bodies in the crevasses!