Thu. 12th April. NYALAM

An acclimatisation day and our first training walk up the ridge above the town.

Nyalam is at about 3,400 m.

We walked up above the town to around 4,000 m. Not a pretty place!

New Toy! - GPS

With a few treks lined up it was time to get a proper GPS.

This one will collect data which can then be overlaid onto a Google Earth map.

This is my morning run;

Winter at last!

It's now much cooler in Brisbane - single digit temps. overnight (like 9°C).

So it's now pleasant exercising. I'm getting in some early morning runs and longer walks if I have the time - New Zealand only 6 weeks away.

Then it's Bhutan in October.

Spotted today that the 31 year old, Oxford educated, King is getting married to 20 year old Jetsun Pema in October. Could be quite a party.

ANNAPURNA - 11 Weeks to go!

11 weeks before I leave for the trip to Annapurna {8,091 m. - 26,545 ft.} - the 10th Highest mountain in the world. NOT climbing it, but we'll get fairly high and get some of the most spectacular views in the world.

I'll also be seeing Manaslu and Dhaulagiri and will then have 'eyeballed' all 14 of the worlds highest mountains - those over 8000 m.

Cousin Phil & myself going with 'Bonington Treks', led by Joe Bonington with his Dad, Sir Chris, coming along to celebrate several anniversaries.

In 1950 it was climbed by Herzog & Lachenal. It was the first of the 8,000 m. peaks to be climbed.

In 1960, Annapurna II, 7937 m. and 16th Highest in the world, was summited by Sir Chris, Richard Grant and Ang Nyima.

In 1970, Annapurna South Face was climbed by an expedition led by Sir Chris. Don Whillans and Dougal Haston reaching the summit. Ian Clough was killed in an ice-fall on that trip.

We are leaving Pokhara and climbing over a pass called the 'Namun Bhanjyang' at 5560 m. (18,241 ft.) then dropping down to Manang.

We then climb up to Tilicho Lake at just under 5000 m., up to a small peak at 5870 m. (19,250 ft.) then out over the Mesokantu La at 5400 m.

Should be a great trip. Training under way and the new boots being broken in - but it's still ridiculously hot here in Brisbane.

The Training !

Massive landmark - I'm now down to 69.9 kg - Broken the 70 kg. barrier !

Otherwise the last 4 weeks have been limited by the usual early winter head-cold and the heaviest rainfall in 20 years. Plenty of flooding in and around Brisbane, so running & cycling have been off.

MASOCHISM - I'm sure this Exercise must be doing some good.

So. Another 4 weeks have spun by.
In that time I've managed to do a little more than the previous 4 weeks.

Today sees me on;

Walk 83 km.
Run 49.5 km.
Bike 194.2 km.

I need to get some longer walks in - breaking in a new pair of boots.

iPhone as a GPS

Easter was a washout at Maleny - 180 mm. in the last week!

Still managed to give the mulcher a run - it's fabulous.

Found out that the iPhone has a GPS facility so I got Paula to drive me down the hill to the Mooloola Valley and I walked the 10 km. back up.

Plug the phone into the computer and - Hey Presto - fancy pictures on Google Earth.
- the house is on top of the hill.

TRAINING!

After a pathetic total of 42 km. of walking in February I had to 'up the ante'.
The last 4 weeks I've managed (besides work, gardening, possum proofing the garage etc.);

Walk. 82 km.
Run. 18 km.
Bike. 58 km. (only had the bike a short time)

Next 4 weeks - 100 km. walking. Double the running and at least 150 km. on the bike!

ONLY 3 MONTHS TO K2.

I did get myself a new backpack - a Mountain Designs 'Edge 60'

NEW TOY! - Bicycle this time.

All part of the training scheme - only 3 and a half months to K2!

It's a Giant Strata.
• ALUXX FluidFormed frame w/low standover
• SR XCM-HLO fork w/100mm travel & hydraulic lock-out
• Shimano 24 speed Altus/Alivio drivetrain
• Shimano crankset & cassette
• Hutchinson Scorpion tyres

Never thought I'd have a bike with disc brakes!

All I have to do now is get on it and get moving.
We have over 400 km. of bike tracks in Brisbane so there's no excuse for not getting on and making the quadriceps swell.

And so the training begins....

4 months to the K2 trip.
I did a 3km run this morning and it was soooooo.. HOT!
Luckily our summer is coming to an end so the early morning run will become a thing of masochistic beauty.

Plan is to gradually increase the distance and speed. Still do the walking with weights and - NEW plan - a weekly bike ride.

The motivation is knowing that I'll be able to breathe at 19,000 ft in early July.

In the words of Tom Baker - "Bring it on!"

And it's not just George going overseas.....

Paula, Jake & myself are off to Lord Howe Island for a week in January - a beautiful place.

I have just paid the deposit on my trip to Pakistan in July!

Off to Baltistan, to climb over the Gondoro La, down to Concordia, up the Godwin-Austen glacier to K2 Base Camp, then out via the Baltoro glacier.

The serious training starts at Lord Howe with an ascent of Mt. Gower - 875m (2870 ft.) straight out of the ocean.

The Training

So August has gone and I was only able to run 80 km and walk - as above in my 'weights & backpack' outfit - for 89 km. A total of 169 for the month - 669 km as my training for Tibet, with a week to go! I'll nail 700 km in total and feel like I've made some sort of effort to 'go high' as they say on Rum Doodle.

The Exercise

Cracked the 500 km. mark in preparation for the climb.
To be honest, June & July were light months because of the Vietnam trip and then my northern-hemisphere-aquired cold which lingered here in our southern winter.
Anyway, with a combination of morning runs and longer energetic walks with backpack and 5kg. dumbell in each hand the months are;
March - 83 km. April - 86.5 km. May - 155 km. June - 90 km. July - 86 km. - 500.5 km!

This month is already going well and I'm trying to crack 200 km for August.
I leave on the 8th Sept. for Kathmandu and Tibet.
As they say in Little Britain, BRING IT ON!!!

TIBET in 2 months!

So the holiday is over. Nearly time for the next one. Only 8 weeks to get even fitter and to GROW THE BEARD again.
Last time the beard was invaluable. My co-trekker Michael's face just about shrivelled and fell off but the beard was protection.
Currently sporting a mean 3 day growth!

The training so far.

Walking is with a 5 kg. (11 lb.) dumbell in each hand or a backpack when 'bushwalking'.
Running is around the local biketracks, usually at 5.30 am..
March I did 47 km walking, 36 km. running - Total 83 km.
April I did 28 km. walking, 58.5 km. running - Total 86.5 km.
May I did 105 km. walking, 50 km. running - Total 155 km.

Must try harder in June.

31st May - No Picnic on Mt. Barney

Mt. Barney. 1354 m. - 4442 ft. (36 ft. higher than Ben Nevis!)

So, I had a free day and decided to attempt Mt. Barney on the Queensland/New South Wales border - about 120 km. from Brisbane.
I set off at 4.30 am and started walking at 6.30. It was cold and with low cloud - and we're in the middle of a drought! I was hoping the cloud would clear by mid morning.

A couple of hours walking/scrambling up the South Ridge brought me to the cloud level and then it got a bit unpleasant. There is no defined track. I got wet and cold. The rocks were as slippery as a really slippery thing and I was the only person on a mountain notorious for people getting lost & rescued. Time to go down. THEN I got lost. Ended up on the wrong ridge. The ridge I wanted to be on needed wings to get to. In fact it just meant retracing my tracks for about an hour and regaining the apology for a trail. Got back to the car about 2.00 pm somewhat bedraggled.
Anyway, it was great exercise & fresh air. Another 13 km and about 3000 ft. of 'uphill' for the training.

This is the view of Mount Lindsey from high up the South Ridge.

Thur. 3rd MAY. Training walk in the Blackall Range

Since the beginning of March I've been doing a bit of walking (with backpack & 5kg. weight in each hand) and also been running VERY early in the mornings before it gets light. I've gradually upped the distance run to a 5km. circuit which fits in nicely with getting to work. So, in March I walked 47 km. & ran 36 km. - total 83 km. In April I walked 28 km. & ran 58.5 km. - total 86.5 km. Time to up the ante.

Yesterday I went for a long walk along trails in the rainforest north of Brisbane, near Maleny - part of 'The Great Queensland Walk'. It was very dry which made it easier - less slippy, no rivers to cross and no leeches. There was a total climb of over 600 m. - 2000 feet - and a distance of 29 km. - 18 English miles. I did it in 6 hours and was amazed to find I was able to walk without any pain this morning!

Discovery Channel has been screening a great documentary on Everest which really shows what it's like at ABC and beyond. A good incentive to keep the exercise going.