The following is a continuation of Mera Peak Expedition — Why Basa matters so much If arriving in Basa was remarkable, spending a day there was incredible. We slept incredibly well after our prior evening of rahksi and dancing…and rahksi. Even though we were in their home village and they slept in their own homes, the […]

The following is a continuation of Mera Peak Expedition — Arriving in Basa Challenges Nepal is a great example of what happens when extremely poor meets well-meaning. Westerners have been coming to Nepal in large numbers for several decades because of its amazing mountains and equally amazing people. Westerners have opened their hearts and pocketbooks and donated […]

The following is a continuation of Mera Peak Expedition — Phaplu at last. The next day’s trek was almost entirely downhill from just above 3000 m. (about 10,000 ft) and ended up at 1800 m. (5900 ft). We were in the sun most of the time, making it a warm but very enjoyable journey into […]

The following is a continuation of Mera Peak Expedition – Getting in and out of Kathmandu. After our aborted attempt to fly to Phaplu from Kathmandu on Monday, we were able to successfully fly out at around noon on the 11th of October. The Tara Air plane was a small turbo prop that sat 19 […]

No arrival in Kathmandu, Nepal can beat the greeting that we’re always given by our friends from Adventure Geo Treks, known as ‘AGT’ by us, and ‘Geo Treks’ by the locals. For us, they’re much more than a commercial operation and much more like friends. Though he owns and runs one of the largest tour […]

Craig Welzbacher standing in while Chris and Jeanne are in Nepal climbing Mera Peak. My wife and I decided to go to Peru this summer to see Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley. It’s been a bucket list item for me for the last 20 years, although at 40, I hopefully still have a long […]

We leave for Nepal in a few short weeks to climb a peak in the Sagarmatha Region of Nepal. Mera Peak is 6,476 m (21,247 ft) and while it is called a trekking peak and not a climbing peak, it wasn’t summitted until 1953, the same year as Mt Everest. To go that high means […]

The following is a guest blog by Jeff Rasley From the Prologue to my book, Bringing Progress to Paradise: “The avalanche struck when our team was hiking out from base camp after a failed attempt to climb 21,224-foot Mera Peak in the fall of 1999 in the Solu-Khumbu region of Nepal. Fifteen climbing teams spent […]

The following is a continuation of Langtang Valley Nepal in April 2010, Part 1: Kathmandu to Kyangjin Gompa After a short meal, we made the decision to hike to the glaciers we had seen as our helicopter landed. It was a very aggressive plan considering that we had only arrived from Kathmandu that morning and […]

The following is a continuation of Langtang Valley Nepal in April 2010, Part 2: Hiking the Langtang Lirung Glacier Only twenty-four hours into actually trekking and on our fourth day in Nepal we were treated to a hike up a nearby peak known as Tsergo Ri at 5024 m. (16,428 ft.).  The approach involved heading […]