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Hi everybody, I am back from Nepal, Mount Everest that is, and the Himalayas.

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That was sort of my last recording, a long time ago now.

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I mentioned about that trip, which I am happy to describe here, give you the tips if you

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ever want to be there, if you just want to visit Everest Base Camp, I will lay out my

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steps, give you some of my tips, what I learned, some hints of what to do, what not to do.

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Probably it will take me more than one sitting to record the whole experience since I was

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training for it for over one year.

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And I mentioned some of that training in other episodes like the training for mountaineering.

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So you can go back and check that episode for the details about how I trained, what

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I ate, etc.

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But again, it was over a month that I spent over there.

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It definitely, it's hard to cover everything in typically the 10 to 15 minutes that I like

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to keep those episodes limited to.

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Otherwise, I don't want to bore everybody to death and you can jump to whatever you

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think it's more valuable.

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But let me give you guys sort of the start.

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So what I did, and just lay out the, what I actually plan and accomplished and sort

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of the overall goal.

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And then I'll go into some of the specifics in sort of the next one or two episodes more

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than I think I'll have to record in order to give you the full overview and cover as

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many interesting topics as possible.

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So the plan was to head over to Nepal and then to the Himalayas and climb this mountain

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called Lobuche East because Lobuche West, the other side of the mountain is extremely

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technically challenging.

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So Lobuche East is about 6,000, nearly 200 meters, a little bit over 21,000 feet in altitude,

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icy conditions.

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It is on a way, depending where you're going to, which path you take, which track you take,

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which is on your way to Mount Everest and Lhatsi and the other mountains around there.

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So you have to pretty much follow the Everest climbers, the Summitors, as well as the people,

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most of the time, the people who are just tracking their way to visit the base camp,

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the Everest base camp, which is on a bucket list for many people.

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So that was the plan, which was duly accomplished.

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As you probably, and if you haven't, there are the episodes where I climbed other mountains,

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including Mount Baker, and of course, close by here in New Hampshire, Mount Washington,

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which I did three times before trying to head over to Nepal.

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So there was a lot of training involved, but that was the overall plan.

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And I'll just tell you the start of it, the Summitors specifics in terms of how I actually

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accomplished that.

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So first thing is select an expedition team.

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I selected an expedition team, as I mentioned in other episodes, I gained absolutely nothing

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mentioning those companies other than I paid them and they were great.

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And I got great service.

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In this case, I selected CTSS, climbing the seven summits.

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That's what stands for.

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They are amazing.

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They are probably today the largest expedition in the Himalayas, especially Everest.

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I got to spend a good amount of time with one of the owners, Mike Hummel, who climbed Everest,

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I believe seven times.

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Now he is coordinating all the expeditions, especially the ones to Everest.

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Great guy, super experienced, awesome infrastructure.

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I mean, there are other expedition teams like that, right?

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You have Nim Spurja from Elite Exped, who was on Netflix.

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He's the guy behind that documentary called 14 Peaks.

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If you haven't watched it, it's pretty cool.

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There is IMG, who is a very long tradition, being very successful in Everest and most

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of the other Everest documentaries on Amazon Prime and the likes will typically portray

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IMG, which stands for International Mountain Climbing.

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And there are others.

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There are several.

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There's about, I think, 30 or maybe even 40 different expeditions this year at Base Camp

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alone, right?

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Different sizes, of course, different levels of infrastructure.

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Again, mine was awesome, CTSS.

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Food was amazing.

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The guides were great, super experienced.

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The logistics super well planned.

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What else can I say?

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The Sherpa team, right?

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Just fantastic.

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So much that I'm going to keep climbing with these guys whenever I can.

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So that's sort of the very first step, right?

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So you select that, the one that fits your style, and just be mindful that there are

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some expedition teams out there that will take your money regardless of your experience.

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And they say, sure, I'll take you up to the summit of Mount Everest, even though some

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people never put crampons on their boots and feet.

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And then we get there.

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And he's like, oh, crap, right?

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What am I going to do now?

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So they'll take your money and they will try to take you up there.

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Although it's extremely dangerous, and this is typically how people die, right?

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Because they lack the experience and the support.

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So just be mindful of it.

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Sometimes trying to save some money, especially for things like that.

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And honestly, most of the things that I describe in my podcast, it's not the way to go.

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So just keep in mind that if you find an expedition team, make sure that one, they have a strong

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track record, but two, they also almost like interview you and validate your experience,

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or at least give you a training plan and follow you.

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So you are successful.

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And they are successful in the end.

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Some of these guys are in for the long haul.

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It's not like they're going to form an expedition team this year, bring like seven people, and

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then let's say all of them die.

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It's horrible.

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And then they just close shop and they take everybody's money.

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So it's a ton of money that goes into it.

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Even shorter expeditions, you're going to spend a considerable amount of dollars or whatever

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you are.

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Whatever currency is just a ton of money.

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So be sure that you invest it wisely.

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And on top of it is of course your life and your well-being.

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You want to come back.

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So that's very first step.

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I did it.

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I worked with these guys over the course of many months once I selected them.

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And they kept me up to date on the logistics and how I was training, et cetera.

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Once that is done, well then the fun almost begins, right?

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Because the fun really begins when you start officially the expedition in this town, very

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or small village called Lukla.

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But basically you've got to head over to Nepal, right?

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You can go through the Tibet route, but that's a whole different story.

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I have no experience about it.

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I did via Nepal.

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So they will take care of the permits, right, to getting to the park, to do your climbing,

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depending on the kind of mountain you're going to climb.

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So you have all those steps taken care of.

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Not a lot of paperwork.

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So you get to Nepal, to be honest.

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You typically, you get a visa.

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I had to have one.

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Then you head over there, right?

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So you get to Kathmandu.

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That's sort of where it almost begins, I'm saying.

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Because Kathmandu is a relatively big city for Nepal standards.

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And it is just absolutely crazy.

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Very chaotic.

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I've been to many other chaotic towns and I know quite a lot of Southeast Asia.

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But Kathmandu is unique.

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It's really worth it to spend a couple of days there.

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I spent two days when I landed in Nepal before the expedition actually begun.

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I just spent a couple of days in Kathmandu just doing sightseeing and walking around.

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Absolutely crazy.

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Amazing.

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Just make sure while you're there that you don't get hit by any vehicle.

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It could be a car.

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It could be a bike.

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It could be anything, really.

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That's going to ruin the rest of your expedition, you probably have to go back.

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So it is, it's not trivial.

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I'm not going to say it's dangerous, but if you're going to cross the street, be careful.

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It's the very first days.

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Be careful what you eat, why you're there.

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So I typically, I can eat anything and I'm never sick.

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And I put my body to the test in Nepal for a month.

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Nothing happened.

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I'll tell you later what happened to some of the team and how the team was made up.

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But that being said, not because I typically am very well eating whatever, that I was going

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to go out and go crazy.

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So I try to keep it safe, relatively safe, eating wise, et cetera, in the days that I

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were there before the actual expedition starts, because that was my goal.

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So that's another tip.

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Keep that in mind.

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Sometimes we get tempted to try something super cool and super new, but there's a time

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for that.

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And I did it once I was back in Kathmandu.

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So then I said, okay, now I can splurge a little and try some yak meat or yak cheese or something

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that I don't find yet over here.

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That's the first step, right, Kathmandu.

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And then from there, there are two options.

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You can take an up until last year, you could take the airplane, that was the normal way,

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the cheaper as well, and just fly to Lukla.

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That's about a 40 minute flight into Lukla.

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Lukla, L, U, K, L, A airport, if you Google.

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First thing that shows up, and the second and the third is the world's most dangerous

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airport.

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And it is insane.

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I fly airplanes and I just started flying helicopters.

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And if you understand a little bit about airplanes and landing requirements and takeoff requirements,

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you see that airport, you understand why it is considered to be the world's most dangerous

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airport.

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It is insane, right?

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There is an inclination on the one runway, super inclined, I think it's like 15% inclined

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to help the airplane is actually slow down upon landing.

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And also helps it speed up on takeoff, which is crazy, right?

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Again, it's hard to describe, it's better if you guys go and Google and take a look

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at the pictures and the videos and we'll give you an idea.

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It's just an absolute crazy experience.

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So you can fly into it or as of this year, 2023, what the Nepali government did because

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there were just too many flights, especially in the months of April and May, going back

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and forth to Everest and to Leucla.

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So what they did is they said, okay, no more airplanes are taking off Kathmandu because

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it's just one runway.

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So if you have a big 777, 767, whatever, big passenger airplane taking off, it has to wait

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for the tiny little airplane to take off or vice versa.

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It's just one runway out of Kathmandu.

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So what they did is like, okay, you know what, you guys take the helicopter or you can drive

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four hours from Kathmandu to another local airport and then you fly out of a plane from

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there.

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So again, two options, keep that in mind.

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It started this year.

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We kind of knew about it and we were informed up front, nobody chose to drive four hours

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outside of Kathmandu because then if there's something weather related or whatever you

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cannot fly, then think about it.

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You have to drive back to Kathmandu.

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There's no way to sleep around that airport.

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So that's eight hours in a day plus the time you spent at the airport.

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So that's one day that you just gonna throw away.

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So yeah, cost more, take a helicopter.

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That would be my recommendation out of Kathmandu.

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It's about a 40 minute flight as well.

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We'll get you to Lukla without the excitement of landing a plane there, but we'll get you

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there.

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And if your goal is, as was mine, to actually do the expedition and climb the mountains

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and so then that's part of the process.

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So you gotta pay some extra money, fly to, we're talking about a couple hundred dollars,

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you know, 300, 400 bucks more than if you're flying an airplane full of people, you know,

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typically they will feed four people, or maybe five in a helicopter, right?

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Plus your duffel bags and everything and then you fly off there.

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Quite a view as well.

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Great ride, helicopter ride through the Himalayas, somewhat unique.

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And that's when you land to Lukla.

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When you land there, that's where the fun officially begins and your expedition begins.

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And from there, right, you're going to start your trek and your hike throughout the Himalayas,

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all the way to base camp, if that's your goal, or stopping along the way to other mountains,

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all the way to summit Everest, if that's your goal as well.

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I'm going to save that chunk off the trip to the next podcast.

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I'm already, I'm checking my watch here.

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I'm already 16 minutes into this, but that gives you probably an idea and I hope you did

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of how to get things started, right?

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An expedition team, how to select one, you know, things to watch for, you know, and how

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you're going to get yourself to Lukla safely and in time for the expedition.

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So, to the next one, and then I'm going to start talking about the hike from Lukla to

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Everest.

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To guys later.