More pictures from Kathmandu and Him 09 Exped team

The Team at Heathrow Airport

The Exepedition team arrive at Kathmandu Airport

Dave Green , arriving at the Summit Hotel, Kathmandu

The arrival ceremony at the Summit hotel, Kathmandu

The ceremony gets underway

Children playing at the SHGCP

My Peak Potential at SHGCP

Children and mothers at SHGCP

Greg and Anna met the children who wil benefit from their fundrasing

The children at SHGCP

The building begins

Kate Pitchforthdoing as the locals do

For Andrew!

Working hard

The teams first night out in Kathmandu

A well derserve beer for the boys!

Richie - Demolition man!

Dave meets Bimal

Victoria, Kate, Chris and Dave present Bimal with fundraising cheque

The boys get stuck in

A night out in Tamil, Kathmandu

Cargnegie Great Outdoors at SHGCP

Kate presentents SHGCP with the donated toys

Anna hard at work, nice head gear Anna!

Himalayan Expedition 09 arrive in Kathmandu

The Himalayan Expedition 09 team has arrived tired but enthusiastic in Kathmandu, Nepal over the weekend. A team of Leeds Metropolitan University staff and students are embarking on a three week expedition which is being led by the University’s Outdoor partners My Peak Potential Ltd. Expedition leader and Director of training for My Peak Potential, Dave Bunting MBE, worked closely with Leeds Met on a Military expedition to Everest’s West Ridge which he led in 2006. He and his deputy Richie Painting, arrived in Kathmandu on Weds last week as the advance party. One of the most important roles has been visiting the Charity which the Expedition team is helping; the Self Help Group for Cerebral Palsy. Here they met Bimal who is heading up the project they are helping with. They viewed the area that the team will be helping to clear and chatted about the project ahead.

Once the team arrives in Kathmandu they will settle into their hotel and then start work the following morning at the Self Help Group Centre. Here they will present the Group with a cheque raised by the team through a variety of fundraising projects over the last year. When given the news about the fundraising the team had done, Bimal said “I can't believe it !!! you made me cry .... I see blank but thankful eyes of our special children.. we will use best of this contribution.”

They will also be helping the Group with various building projects at the centre and meeting some of the children and families that use this valuable resource.
It is then onto the next stage, a trek to Everest Base Camp. Where they will experience the rarified air of this high altitude region and stunning scenery where they will be able to see some of the world’s largest mountains and meet the wonderful people that live in this harsh but beautiful place!
Please keep posted for the next installment!

Himalayan Expedition Training Weekend

After spending 7 months out at the Carnegie Alpenrose as a My peak Potential trainee it was fantastic to see some familiar faces back in Bavaria last week and also to meet some new ones.

I am referring to the training week for the Himalaya 09 Expedition which saw the whole team of Leeds Met staff and students travel to Bavaria for 5 days of preparation and planning for the trip to Nepal in October this year. The team will be aiming to reach Everest base camp as well as volunteering with a community project at a school for children with cerebral palsy, for which the team are aiming to raise £20,000.

The week combined briefings, mountain skills training, snow shoeing and that all important team bonding, in perfect clear blue skies which resulted in certain team members returning home with an unexpected lobster appearance.

Having been unable to attend the first training meet in North Wales I was meeting some of the team members for the first time. From the outset I was struck by what a friendly, motivated and diverse group of people have been put together for this ambitious project.

Unlike many commercial trekking expeditions where you simply turn up at the airport, this one is unique in that each team member has a specific area of responsibility from fundraising to coordinating the physical preparation. This results in the team developing personally and also learning vast amounts about expedition planning which contributes to a more rewarding and fulfilling experience.

Coming from a sporting background I have always enjoyed being part of a team and all the camaraderie and friendships that come along with having that collective identity. The group of individuals that arrived on day one, through the activities, the fantastic setting and a few bar games thrown in for good measure, left a focused, motivated and above all bonded Team.

As the team left for the airport there was a real buzz of excitement in the air, that one day in mid October, after much preparation and a great deal of hard work, we will be standing as one at Kala Pattar in Nepal, looking up at the top of the world.

By Dave Green