On Monday Evening Jon Summers spoke of his trip to Everest Base Camp and Kala Pattar earlier this year.
Jon and his mate Peter trained for this rip by running and walking up and down Mt Te Aroha, climbing Mt Taranaki and doing the Tongariro Crossing.
They flew to Nepal via China and arrived in Katmandu which is 1400m above sea level and experiences snow on an average 3 days a year. They were part of an organized group which consisted of Charlotte (French), Rory (Canadian), Peter (English New Zealander), and Jon (New Zealander from Walton) and their Guide, Thimn.
After 3 days they flew up to Lukla which is 2800m above sea level and it was there that the purpose of their trip started, to climb to Everest base Camp at 5288m above sea level and go up to Kala Pattar a further 400 metres up in the Himalayas.
A few of the highlights Jon spoke of were the numerous Tea Rooms, the Prayer Stones, swing bridges, Sherpa’s, the very public cremation ceremonies, the rhododendrons and that donkeys have the right of way on the tracks.
The trek up to Base Camp and Kala Pattar took 10 days to climb and 3 days to come down. Jon was burning on average 4100 calories a day and as a result lost 4 kilos while he was away. All members suffered high altitude sickness in various forms.
It was a very interesting talk and down to earth.