Doesn’t time fly, firstly I must apologise for not having posted a blog in a while. I must say that it has been a hectic start to the New Year, but it’s been really exciting.
Film Night
On the 14th of January, we ran a film night at Whitfield House. We had a great response, with around 130 people attending, which exceeded the room’s capacity, so unfortunately a few people had to stand. Allan opened the proceedings and also introduced Sumit, who gave a short presentation on the Everest region. I had a quick chat about the climb, and the difficulties involved in expedition life before showing a 30 minute film from our Everest summit climb. People really seemed to enjoy the footage, and the overall feedback was incredible. In hindsight, and despite a couple of technical issues, we wished we had allowed more time, as we could have continued with questions for a fair bit longer.
I would just like to say a quick thanks to Joy and Henry for offering your beautiful facilities to us for the night. (http://www.whitfieldhousecairns.com.au)
Also, we really appreciate the support of our local community including the great write-up’s in the Cairns Post and Cairns Sun, Zinc FM and the ABC radio stations, as well as Bang Coffee (http://bangespresso.com.au), Amanda Gale Physio (http://amandagalephysio.com.au), It’s Extreme Adventure (http://itsextreme.com) and Port Douglas IGA (http://www.cornetts.com.au) who all helped to promote the event.
We live in a wonderful part of the world, and it is great when local people get behind you.
Everest Base Camp Trip
Things are progressing well with the planning for the EBC trek. We have decided we are only going to run one trip, from the 28th of April to the 17th of May 2012, as it was too difficult for Allan to get the extra time off work, especially with the climb in Tibet towards the end of the year.
We have a great group, with trekkers from Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane, Western Australia and five Cairns locals confirmed. Everyone has started training and is getting excited about this incredible adventure.
If you are interested, let me know as we have a couple of spots left.
Back to back 8000m peaks
Our planning and dates have been set for Shishapangma and Cho Oyu in Tibet. We are just working out the logistics and climbing permits, which should be fine. It looks like the old Everest climbing team will be re-uniting, with Raul and Chris coming along. Without doubt, this is going to be a really difficult and challenging undertaking, as climbing one 8000’er is hard enough, let alone attempting them back to back. The plan is to take on Shisha, and then travel to Cho Oyu and without the need to acclimatize, attempt to ascend the mountain in one continuous push, over a number of days.
To my knowledge, this has only been achieved by one other Australian, Andrew Locke, who is also part of an elite group of people who has also climbed all 14 of the 8000 mountains.
Our overall objective is to slowly chip away at the 14, and see how we go. There is now discussion that K2 is on the agenda for 2014, but at this stage, we will just take it one mountain at a time. I am so excited about the challenge, but I suppose I can’t get too far ahead of myself.
Well done Chris
Our close friend and climbing partner Chris Burke recently returned home from a successful expedition of Mt Vinson Massif (4892m), being the highest mountain in Antarctica. Good work buddy.
Speaking Plans
We continue to have great interest on the speaking side of things, and head down to Townsville on the 16th of February for another film night with proceeds going to the Cancer Council. Hopefully we can generate some interest down there and get people excited.
I am also speaking at upcoming events for Contours Women’s Fitness, which I am really excited about. Hopefully I can motivate some ladies to go on and realise their potential, and also gain some personal inspiration from their stories.
We have been booked in to present at a number of schools, in both Queensland and NSW. We are really looking forward to this, as it is great fun chatting with the kids. They really get involved, and love watching the climbing footage and asking great questions.
I have a feeling this is going to be a busy year with the climbing, trekking and speaking engagements, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. It is a great feeling to share our story with people, and hopefully it is something we can continue to do for many years to come.
I hope everyone is well, and have had a great start to the New Year.
Speak soon
Sharon
We are what our thoughts have made us; so take care about what you think. Words are secondary. Thoughts live; they live far – Swami Vivekananda
