Neil and Dave visit the Rab factory.

Neil Cottam, Dan Thompson and Dave Slater at the Rab UK Headquarters.

Dave and I called at the Rab UK Headquarters in Alfreton, Derbyshire today to collect the Neutrino Endurance Jackets and Ascent 700 Sleeping Bags for The Himalaya Quest. Many thanks to Dan Thompson for arranging this for us and the generosity of Rab's parent company Equip Technologies for supplying them to us. It's been a great help and has allowed us to focus on the many other things we've had to deal with.

Thanks Guys. You're The Bomb! :)

Tricia Whitt commented  on our Facebook page that "It is all starting to look mighty real now!" OMG I think she's right! Seven months ago it all looked so far away; now with just over seven days to go it's starting to look a bit scary! :D But in a good way ;)

We are really looking forward to it now and I can't wait to see my old friend Wilco Voulon when he arrives in the UK, from The Netherlands, next Saturday to travel with us. :)

New page added: Travelling light. Advice for Backpackers

After posting my Yak Attack pack list earlier I decided to do more detailed post on my normal travel packing.
I travel the world, whenever I can, with carry-on luggage and it's comfortably possible to do this with a pack size of around 35 litres and a weight of 8-10kgs.
Why not take a look at the new page and see if it helps you to travel lighter. 
With a smaller luggage burden you'll also being doing the environment a favour too. Double win! :)

Travelling Light. Advice for Backpackers


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Packing for Yakking!

I thought it might be of value to my fellow travellers to give you a look at how I pack light for travelling and in particular my pack list for our upcoming Himalaya Quest.

I’m one of those backpackers who likes to travel as light as possible and have been around the world using just carry-on luggage. I really got into this because of the budget airlines and the ability to keep my travel costs low by not having checked-in luggage. I then realised the value of not dragging too much stuff around and the freedom of being able to walk straight out of an airport without wasting valuable time waiting for my luggage to meander around the carousel. (And my backpack never gets lost!)

I normally use an Osprey Atmos 35 litre pack and if I can’t fit something in I probably don’t need it!

With a little thought and the use of versatile clothing it’s amazing how far you can travel with pack weight of under 10kgs. (Actually I’ll write another piece specifically for travelling light and stick to my Himalaya trip for this one).

Under a wandering star.

Dave enjoying the view from High Tor, Derbyshire.

Dave and I headed to the hills again today for a spot hiking and to continue breaking our boots in for the trek. It will also help to condition our leg muscles for the rugged terrain on the route to Everest. Hopefully!

We met at Matlock in The White Peak area of The Peak District National Park at about 9.00am and sensibly headed straight in the nearest Costa’s for a cup of coffee! The thermometer was reading -5c and we fancied a warm up first :D

The view from The Limestone Way across to Riber Castle.

Trails & Tribulations.

Always smiling! Derbyshires Peak District National Park. Ladybower Reservoir in the backdrop.

Today (Thursday) we set out for a Dark Peak epic!

However as often happens it didn’t turn out to be quite the epic we had planned (no change there then! :D).

Mitch and I set out about 08.20am to hopefully meet up with Mark Franklin in Edale; the beating heart of Dark Peak mountain biking. The Captain (Mark Bishton) couldn’t make it today which was a shame because whenever The Captain comes out it means that I’m not the slowest rider! En-route Mark Franklin informed us that his van wouldn’t start and he wouldn’t be coming either. Just me and the wing-man today then (or am I his wing-man? Probably!).

The forty mile drive to Edale always flies by when you have the beautiful Derbyshire countryside for company and Mitch and I arrived in good time. It was unexpectedly windy when we opened the car doors and not a warm wind either. We shivered and grumbled as we got changed and prepared the bikes. It was a ‘jackets on’ job for the first few miles until we warmed up. Once mounted we retraced our steps along Edale road towards Nether Booth before climbing steadily up the bridleway that traverses Nether Moor, through Jaggers Clough and up on to ridgeline at Hope Cross. I stopped briefly to take a couple of photographs of the stunning views all around us; it is a truly beautiful place and I never tire of it.