D-Day
Tomorrow.
We're all set. The only thing left to do, is to conquer ourselves and climb that mountain!
Thanks to Lieve and Belgacom, we'll keep you all posted on how we are doing up there. Stay tuned on our journal ...
So long
- posted by team @ 11:07 AM

 
lost&found
Our cargo has been found! Patience is the keyword in Nepal. Don't ask ...
- posted by team @ 12:26 PM

 
We're not alone
Not less than 5 expeditions to Himlung Himal were featured this year’s autumn!
There's the Japanese team, unfortunately caught in an avalanche a few weeks ago. They left Himlung without a summit bit.
There's a German and a French team currently making their way up to the top.
And, there are 2 (!) Belgian teams! This came as a surprise to us as well! Apparently, we were not the only ones to come up with the idea to be the first Belgian expedition to Himlung Himal. The other Belgian team, in fact a mixed Belgian-Portugese team, has just arrived at base camp.
All those teams should have left Himlung though by the time we get there, so we'll still have the mountain all to ourselves!
- posted by team @ 10:24 PM

 
No panic
Not just yet. Our climbing gear, send by cargo has left the country 2 weeks ago but hasn't arrived in Kathmandu according to Asian, our trekking agency. Lost. 4 days to go.
Maybe a little panic ...
- posted by team @ 10:11 AM

 
First European visitors to the Himlung area
Omer did some historical research and it seems we will be walking in the footprints of giants ...
>> read all about it!
- posted by team @ 10:11 PM

 
Final Walk @ Coo
A final hike in the Ardennes was held Sunday October 19th. Meeting point
were the (in Belgium) worldfamous waterfalls at Coo, on the Ambleve river... we've got some nice pictures, btw>>read more
- posted by lieve @ 7:52 PM

 
Decisions
An avalanche killed the leader of a Japanese expedition climbing Himlung Himal Thursday. Ayumi Njawai was swept away in the avalanche between the expedition's first and second camp. This sad news has been confirmed by the Ministry of Tourism.
The main reason for us to climb the mountain as late as November, is to avoid the high avalanche risk just after the monsoon. This year appears to have been a very snowy monsoon season in the Himalayas, so avalanche conditions are even higher.
Off course we want to reach the summit of Himlung Himal, but more importantly, we want to have a safe, fun, rewarding mountain experience.
Decision-making --deciding when to go up, how to go up, perhaps even whether or not to go up-- is the very essence of the challenge of mountaineering. Those decisions are often harder and more critical than the physical climbing itself. And those decisions must constantly be reviewed and altered during the course of every climb, be it a two-day summit bid on Mt. Blanc or a three-month assault on Mt. Everest.
It's not always a slam dunk when you come and climb a peak in the Himalayas!

- posted by team @ 10:39 PM

 
Problem solved!
Gulf Air lifted the embargo. So we packed our climbing gear for Wig to drop it off at BruCargo.
Simple, right ? However, someone considered gaz canisters to be climbing gear, and forgot the fact that airline companies don't like those things ...
- posted by team @ 12:38 PM

 
Problem...
One month to go. Everyone is getting really excited ... stressed out as well. Facing some problems to get our climbing material to Kathmandu. Gulf Air won't allow us to take more than 20K. Not enough. As you can imagine. Solution: cargo. Problem: embargo till at least 15th of october ...
- posted by team @ 5:06 PM