The England-based adventure travel company, KE Adventure Travel, organized and led this trip, which was timed to exactly coincide with reaching Everest Base Camp on New Year 2000. This auspicious timing has no other significance than to provide us party-poopers with a way to escape the hype of all the “New Millennium” activities back in civilization! So, together with thirteen other millenium escapees, I set out for 18 days into a region of the planet guaranteed to take my mind off all the normal concerns of civilization, and captivate my attention instead with the spectacle of the world’s highest mountains, and the realities of dealing with winter-time, high-altitude hiking and living. While this can’t be compared to an actual climb of Mt. Everest itself, there were plenty of strenuous physical challenges on the trip - some optional, and some a required part of the itinerary - to provide a tremendous feeling of accomplishment and personal satisfaction when we achieved them.

The highlights in the itinerary were the optional dayhikes on the layover days where we could climb a local peak for a better view of the surrounding mountains. The first “peak,” Gokyo Ri (17,590 ft), was near the top of the Dudh Koshi Glacier Valley, and offered a sweeping view of the high peaks in the Khumbu Himalayas, including Mt. Everest, Lhotse, and Makalu. The next high point was the Cho La Pass itself (17,780 ft), which ended up being a very strenuous and long climb on steep snow and ice (6 hours up, 3 hours down), requiring an ice axe to cut steps and to self-arrest if needed. Once in the Khumbu Glacier Valley, the dayhike up Kala Pattar (18,490 ft) gave a magnificent view of Mt. Everest and neighboring peaks from close up, and then the hike on the glacier up to Everest Base Camp (17,780 ft) brought us as high as most of us were ever likely to get on this famous mountain. Needless to say, the scenery was breathtaking (and all those other cliches!).

Total trip “members:” 14 - Toni & Godwin Baron, Darren Cavedaschi, Tracey Dinar, Heather Gunn, Andy Holland, Helen Jordan, David Kemp, Ed Moseley, Simon Ripley, Elaine Robinson, Jon Walker, Dave Stuart, and me. (11 of these members were from Great Britain, 3 were from the United States.)

Western leader: Rex Munro (from Australia)

Nepalese support staff: 1 Sirdhar, 4 Sherpas, 8 Cooks, 15 Porters (approx. at the start), 2 Yakmen and 7 yaks (at the start).

The Sherpas: Dik, Kajee, Purna, Dani

All food and group items were provided by KE, and the members only had to bring personal daytime and overnight items. We carried only the daytime items in our daypacks, and all other loads were (gratefully!) carried by the porters and yaks. We would typically get up around 7am (just after sunrise), have a hearty breakfast, start hiking around 9am, stop for lunch between noon and 2pm, then finish the trip to our destination for the day. Once in camp, the sherpas would set up the monstrous two-person tents for us, and we were free to relax for the rest of the day. Tea and snacks would be served around 4pm, and then dinner around 6pm, just after sunset. Basically, it was luxurious for a camping trip, and we only had to pack and unpack our own gear while the support crew took care of the rest.

Meals were prepared by the cook crew, and typically served to us by the sherpas. The service started first thing in the morning - the sherpas would bring us a hot mug full of the beverage of our choice right to our tents at the appointed wake up time. Considering the cold temperatures we eventually encountered, this was a delightful (and necessary) enticement to get us out of our sleeping bags and start the day!

Once up, we always had a hot breakfast (porridge and eggs, or porridge and toast, or porridge and muesli, or porridge and...!), and were given a handful of candy and trail snacks for the day.

Lunch was usually a sit-down hot meal, starting with a hot lemon drink (we were never completely sure what it was, but it was hot and quite tasty...!) followed by several ample courses that were based on British or Nepalese cuisine. Ramen noodle soup was a popular starter, and fried potatoes (“chips”) made a frequent appearance as well, much to the delight of the British contingent!

Dinner always started with hot soup, and then consisted of three or four more courses that were either common Nepalese dishes, or local renditions of British dishes. Lentils and rice (dal baht) were a common favorite, often served with curried vegetables, or vegetables with a spiced tomato sauce. The food was always well-prepared and tasty, with ample spices to be interesting, and enough variety to satisfy our Western tastes. There was always plenty of it too, even for hearty eaters like me!

There’s no denying the fact that it’s cold during the winter in the Himalayas! It was regularly around zero degrees Fahrenheit overnight, and sometimes colder than that. Inside my tent, it reached around ten degrees F, one night, and was often in the low teens. Daytime temperatures were in the 60’s at the lower elevations, but only in the 20’s at our higher camps. With adequate (goose down) insulation, however, I was never uncomfortable, and at worst had to deal with the occasional cold hands and feet. (My personal worst enemy was the dryness of the air, and a sore, dry throat ended up taking away my voice after about five days, and I had no more than a whisper to communicate with for two weeks until we returned to moister air at the end of the trip!)

We enjoyed the typically fair wintertime weather in the Himalayas; after the monsoons have ended, the weather usually stays clear and dry for weeks on end. We encountered only a few days with a bit of fog, and the remaining time we had bright blue skies all day long! In the valleys, we were sheltered from the wind, but on the ridges or peaks and passes, we often had a brisk breeze to contend with. Overall, there was nothing extreme about the conditions we faced, and with proper management of clothing layers and ample hot drinks, it was easy to stay comfortable.