With just under two months to go I’m getting quite nervous about the prospect of trekking up to the base camp of the world’s largest mountain, a.k.a. “The Roof of the World”. Up until now, it has been quite amusing just to tell people: I’m climbing Mount Everest to see their reaction (generally their faces go slightly white) and then I add to the base camp!

I’ve had some pretty mixed responses from people who know me. Most people don’t actually believe me when I first tell them, and then once they’ve finally understood that I’m not teasing, they can’t understand why I’ve decided to do this! The majority laugh saying, “rather you than me!”

Quite a few people, when they hear that I’m going to base camp and not to the summit (which would really be barmy!) then assume that it’s going to be easy and “just a stroll”. I often feel that I have to justify the trek and demonstrate the difficulties I’ll have to face by comparing it with Mount Kilimanjaro, as it isn’t that far off the height of “the world largest free standing mountain” which people rave about. Only then do people appreciate the task (and then offer to sponsor me!).