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The Mountain Company Newsletter
 
Welcome to The Mountain Company's New Year 2007 Newsletter!
 
Roland has just got back from the post monsoon season in Sikkim and Nepal. He trekked to the Goecha la with a group and then led a Charity Challenge Everest base camp trek.
 
If you have not been to Sikkim it is definitely worth considering a visit. The 8 day trek to the Goecha la has superb views of the Kanchenjunga massif.
 
If you do not have much time and would like to see an 8000m mountain up close then the Goecha la would be a good choice (for example Everest base camp has 14 trekking days and Annapurna Sanctuary 11 trekking days).
 
 
Roland will be in the UK until June so please call any time to chat about a trip to the Himalayas and Kilimanjaro.
We look forward to hearing from you!
 
The Mountain Company team
In This Issue
Our approach
Trip Dossiers
Current political situation in Nepal
Manaslu Circuit October '07
Western led treks for 2007
K2 & Gondogoro La July & August '07
IPPG's new porter shelter at Machermo
Himalayan Education Lifeline Project
Mountaineering news from the Himalaya
Our approach 
The Mountain Company's approach has always been to operate treks to a limited number of countries. By focussing on a handful of countries we organise and plan our trips to deliver the best possible service.
 
We have done the majority of treks ourselves so will be able to give you comprehensive advice through first hand knowledge. Roland spent 9 months on the road in 2006 visiting Nepal, Bhutan, Pakistan, India (Ladakh and Sikkim) and Tibet.
 
With the amount of time we spend in these countries we develop a good understanding of the cultural and political situation of each region. We are also able to keep up to date on the changes to the trekking routes and regulations.
 
The Mountain Company has a panel of experienced Himalayan travellers and mountaineers who lead groups for us. We use western leaders for treks visiting remote areas and more technical climbs and for the other treks we use local leaders. For further details on our western leaders click here 
Trip Dossiers 
We have been working hard on updating our Trip Dossiers throughout 2006. The Trip Dossiers provide information to help you choose and plan your holiday. They contain day by day itineraries (including photographs), pre departure and country information. 
 
You can download these from our website by clicking on the Download Trip Dossier link on each trek page. Every trek now has a Trip Dossier.
Current political situation in Nepal 
 
As predicted in our last newsletter the situation in Nepal was stable for the post monsoon trekking season for October and November.
 
In November the government and Maoists signed a peace accord, declaring a formal end to a 10-year rebel insurgency. The rebels are to join a transitional government and their weapons will be placed under UN supervision.
 
We have already had a number of bookings for our 2007 treks to Nepal and it looks like it will be a busy year, so we encourage you to book soon to avoid disappointment.
Manaslu Circuit October '07 
Gary Pfisterer is leading our Manaslu Circuit in October/November 2007.
 
Gary is a very experienced mountaineer and trek leader. He has climbed Everest and led expeditions to K2, Kanchenjunga (3 times), Dhaulagiri, Shishapangma, Makalu and Lhotse.
 
For more information on the Manaslu Circuit, take a look at here
Western led treks for 2007 
K2 & Gondogoro la, Pakistan
After our successful K2 trek in 2006 we have two departures for 2007, July 1st to 23rd and July 29th to August 20th. Both departures are already guaranteed to run. �1495 incl. flight from Skardu to Islamabad.
 
This trek has rightly been named as one of the Top 5 mountain walks in the world! Roland will be leading both departures over the summer.
 
Click here for more information on the K2 trek 
 
Manaslu Circuit, Nepal
October 25th to November 18th '07, �1695, led by Gary Pfisterer
Gary is a very experienced expedition leader having organised many 8000m trips including a successful K2 expedition in 2000.
 
The Manaslu Circuit is a superb trek around the huge massif of Manaslu and crossing a high pass. It is similar to the Annapurna Circuit but without the crowds and the road construction that is currently going on there!
 
Click here for more information on the Manaslu Circuit 
 
Mera Peak expedition
October 18th to November 10th '07, �1490 incl. Lukla flight, led by Roland Hunter
The Mera expedition offers you the chance to climb a Himalayan peak at high altitude while following a non technical route to the summit.
 
This expedition would be suitable for either a climber visiting the Himalayas for the first time or keen hill walkers with some previous experience of using crampons and iceaxes.
 
This itinerary has been carefully designed to allow for gradual acclimatisation. We believe that by using this itinerary you will have a higher chance of safely summitting MeraPeak and enjoying it as much as possible along the way!
 
Click here for more information on the Mera Peak expedition
 
If you are interested in any of these treks and would like more information, go to the trek page on our website and download the Trip Dossier.
K2 & Gondogoro La July & August '07 
 
It is going to be a busy summer for The Mountain Company in Pakistan with two K2 basecamp & Gondogoro la treks. The departure dates are July 1st & July 29th 2007.
The K2 trek is considered to be one of the best mountain walks in the world. Roland led the summer 2006 departure and will also be leading the groups in 2007, please give us a call if you would like to discuss anything about the trip. For more information on this trek please click here
IPPG's new porter shelter at Machermo
The Mountain Company is a proud supporter of the International Porter Protection Group's new Porter Shelter and Rescue Post at Machermo in the Khumbu. This building was officially opened on October 10, 2006.
 
We plan to support their next project of building a similar shelter at Gorak Shep close to Everest base camp.For further information click here
Himalayan Education Lifeline Project 
The Mountain Company has recently partnered with Himalayan Education Lifeline Project (HELP), if you have enjoyed visiting the Himalayas and would like to contribute in some way we recommend this good cause!
 
The aim of HELP is to enable young people from poor communities in the Himalayas to improve their employment opportunities through education and in so doing enhance, not only their own standard of living, but also that of their extended families and of the wider communities they come from.
 
For further information take a look at their website here
Mountaineering news from Himalayas 
 
Everest post monsoon
Climbing Everest in the post monsoon season is a very different prospect to climbing in the extremely busy pre monsoon. There are very few other climbers around so the work fixing ropes can not be shared with other expeditions.
 
The weather is has higher humidity and increased precipitation increasing the risk of avalanches.
In the 1980s and 1990s there were autumn Everest summits every year and were similar in number to summits in May. Since then the mountain has been almost completely deserted in the autumn. The last time Everest was summitted from Nepal in autumn was in 2000.
 
Berg Adventure Everest expedition
Berg Adventures organised an expedition to Everest in September comprising a strong team of sherpas and American climbers- Dave Hahn, Kit DesLauriers, Rob DesLauriers, Bryce Brown and Jimmy Chin.
 
All of the team got to the summit and several members skied down parts of the route!
 
Spanish Everest Super Couloir expedition
A Spanish team planned to climb the Super Couloir, a combination of the Japanese and Hornbein couloirs, on the north side of Everest. They climbed in pure alpine style without oxygen or sherpas, no fixed ropes and were hoping to make the summit in one single push. In the end the climbers climbed high but had to descend without the summit.
 
Ama Dablam
On November 14th there was a large serac fall on Ama Dablam which swept away an entire camp killing six climbers. The avalanche came down onto Camp 3 and sadly they did not stand a chance. The climbers were both Sherpa and westerners and were attempting the standard route on the mountain.
 
Japanese Lhotse south face expedition
On Lhotse a Japanese team led by Tanabe climbed the south face although did not summit the mountain. Following an attempt by the same team in 2001, this was their second go on the south face of Lhotse in winter conditions. The team had a training climb of Shishapangma beforehand and then came over to Nepal to attempt Lhotse.
 
Polish Winter Nanga Parbat expedition
At the time of writing there is a Polish team attempting to climb Nanga Parbat in the winter. The team tried to establish Camp 3 on January 1st but they could not get beyond Camp 2 due to high winds on the ridge.
 
This is a hugely experienced team with much 8000m experience. The Polish have an incredible track record climbing in the winter, in fact the Polish are the only nationality to make first ascents on the 8000m peaks in the Himalayas.
We hope you enjoyed the newsletter, we are always happy to chat about our trips, so please give us a call!
  
Roland Hunter
The Mountain Company
Western led treks for 2007 & 2008
K2 base camp & Gondogoro la (Pakistan) July & August '07 led by Roland Hunter for more information on the K2 BC & Gondogoro La
 
Mera Peak
(Nepal) October '07 for more information on Mera Peak
 
Manaslu Circuit
(Nepal) October '07 for more information on Manaslu Circuit
 
Ice trek (Chadar) on frozen Zanskar river (Ladakh) January '08 for more information on the Chadar
 
Snow Lake Biafo & Hispar trek
(Pakistan) July '08 led by Roland Hunter for more information on Snow Lake
 
K2 base camp & Gondogoro la (Pakistan) August '08 led by Roland Hunter for more information on the K2 BC & Gondogoro La
 
Kangshung face and Everest northside Base Camp (Tibet) August '08 led by Alan Ward for more information on the Kangshung face trek
 
Lunana Snowman (Bhutan) Sept/Oct '08 for more information on Snowman trek
 
Laya Gasa (Bhutan) Sept/Oct '08 for more information on Laya Gasa trek
 
Dhaulagiri Circuit (Nepal) October '08 for more information on Dhaulagiri Circuit
 
Manaslu Circuit (Nepal) October '08 for more information on Manaslu Circuit 
 
Mera Peak
(Nepal) November '08 for more information on Mera Peak
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