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Presents Ski Everest Autumn 2000 !
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Wednesday,
August 30, 2000
The
adventure is about to begin
On
Wednesday, at 6.20 p.m., the ten-member SI.MOBIL
Extreme Ski Everest 2000 Expedition will take off
from the Ljubljana airport for Vienna. From there,
the flight continues directly to Kathmandu, to
arrive to Nepal on Thursday at 10 a.m.
All
expedition members are in good health, and eager for
the real adventure to begin. The preparations, both
physical and organizational ones, are over. The last
pieces of the gear are put together. The first text,
photo and video coverage from Kathmandu will be on
the internet already on Thursday.
Friday,
September 01, 2000
Preparations
for tackling the mountain
The
preparations for tackling the worlds highest
mountain which is at present still covered by
monsoon clouds are progressing well.
Today
the team met the head of their Nepalese assistants,
the so-called sirdar, Ang Dorje, to discuss the
journey to the base camp and the load which is to be
carried. The expedition is to leave Kathmandu on
Wednesday, 6 September. Till then, all formalities
requested by the Nepalese government need to be
settled and the gear which is still missing is to be
acquired.
The
load is expected to consist of 160 pieces, 30-35 of
which are to be carried by porters, while the rest
is to be transported by 65 yaks. The expedition is
to take a bus ride from Kathmandu to the village of
Jiri (200km away). From there, a helicopter is to
take the team to the village of Lukla in the Solo
Khumbu region (home to the Sherpas). The Lukla
airport is still closed for traffic by planes due to
the damage caused by the monsoon. Today, the
expedition received a visit by Ms Elizabeth Hawley,
an American who has been living in Kathmandu for
over 40 years, corresponding to a number of
newspapers and magazines as well as for Reuters. So
far, says Hawley, only one expedition has applied
for ascending Everest, a team of Korean
mountaineers. The base camp below Everest at present
hosts another Korean expedition, which aims to
conquer Lhotse (8,501m), ranking the fourth among
the worlds highest mountains (the ascents of Everest
and Lhotse are by the same route till the elevation
of around 7,300m).
Kathmandu
today welcomed almost a million women who celebrated
a Nepalese variant of 8 March (Woman's Day). Their
destination was the main Hindu temple, Pashaputinat,
where they most ardently prayed for, very
interestingly, the happiness of their husbands. A
happy man a happy woman, it is believed over here.
Expedition members hope that these words will touch
also the hearts of the ladies waiting for them at
home ...
Dispatches
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