Cyclone Hudhud: The 2014 Annapurna Disaster, Nepal.

I've been considering writing something on this since the news broke. Fortunately experienced Mountain Guide and Author Jamie McGuinness has taken up the mantle and has said what needed to be said in a much better way than I ever could (see the link below).

Jamie McGuinness wrote the Trailblazer guide book "Trekking in the Everest Region". We used it extensively on our first unsupported trip in 2012 and found it to be invaluable; referencing it on a daily basis.

It is a tragedy that really could have been prevented for the most part. Nepal is a staggeringly beautiful country, but it is a country that is also chaotic and suffers from many social and political problems that will take a long time to be fully addressed, if ever. Don't let that put you off from visiting though; it is one of the most rewarding places in the world in which to travel.

I would personally add to Jamie's comments that there is a worrying lack of genuine mountain experience amongst the majority of trekkers. Hiring a reputable guiding company is a good start but there is no substitute for personal experience. The ability to route find, read a map & compass, and make simple safety decisions, should be something most people entering The Himalaya should probably consider before embarking on an arduous trek in a remote, and potentially hostile, region.

My heart goes out to all the families that have been affected by this unfortunate tragedy; I know from personal experience the pain that you are suffering. Rest In Peace.

You can read Jamie's viewpoint using the link below to his website Project Himalaya.

http://project-himalaya.com/nepal-info-cyclone-hudhud-storm.html

Alpkit. A great brand and a cool place to visit.

Alpkit have a great showroom.

Alpkit are a brand that many of you may not be familiar with. A lot of climbers and mountain-bikers (particularly Bikepackers) certainly will be.

They are based in Newthorpe, close to the town of Eastwood, on the Nottinghamshire/Derbyshire border.

They have a great reputation for producing quality kit and because they sell direct, either from their website or from the factory showroom, they are able to keep their prices very competitive. And I mean competitive. 

I'm a great believer in buying the best that you can afford, it always pays off in the long term; and believe me I've made the mistake of buying cheap! Alpkit, however, seem to have pulled off the coup de gras of making quality kit and keeping prices attractive.

I've visited their showroom a few times and I own a few items of their kit. After today's visit I own quite a few more.

I went particularly for some of their Bikepacking kit. (Bikepacking is simply the lightweight mountainbiking alternative to bicycle touring with pannier racks etc.)

I have been drooling over it for a while but with my current plan to take on The Tour Divide in America I thought it was time to take the plunge and get myself kitted out.

Review: Rab Ascent 700 Sleeping Bag

A grumpy Dave Slater demonstrating "The Rab Ascent 700" in Bupsa, Nepal, during our first trek in that region.

I first acquired this bag, from Rab, in early 2012 and it has since been on four high-altitude trips to The Himalaya. I think I can now give it a fair assessment.

Firstly it's squarely a 3 to 4 season sleeping bag, and from a UK perspective you are unlikely to use it outside of the November to February Winter period. Internationally, of course, you might well use it much more than that.
It is manufactured from the excellent Pertex Microlight fabric and is filled with 700gms of 650 fill power European duck down.
Which means that is reasonably light and very warm.
I have the (now) older version of this bag and it weighs about 1400gms when packed into the stuff sack.

(The information from Rab, provided below, is for the current model).

The Yak Attack World-Series!

The Yak Attack goes global!

Regular readers will be very familiar with my Yak Attack exploits in Nepal. Over the last twelve months, Founder & Race Director, Phil Evans has been a busy man, travelling the world and reconnoitring new trails & venues for a World-Series!

In recent months all of that "hard work" has to come to spectacular fruition.

"The Yak Attack World Challenge Series" has been born!

"The Yak Attack World Challenge Series will see a proliferation of Yak Attack formulated events in some of the world's most inaccessible and least developed regions over the coming years. Each race will be a multi-day, stage race that pushes its riders to the limit, both physically and emotionally, through hostile terrain and climate in unfamiliar and challenging settings, which will result in the experience of a lifetime for modern-day adventurers."

Musings from the couch (potato).

Given the title of this piece you might well be thinking that I've been sprawled out on the psychiatrists couch, and to be fair that wouldn't be an unreasonable assumption. Although, let's be honest, your common or garden psychiatrist would probably have a complete meltdown, and require the services of one of their own practitioners, if they spent half-an-hour trying to psychoanalyse some of the stuff that floats around inside my head! 

Nope, the fact is I have become a couch-potato. There, I said it. It's out in the open.

It isn't entirely self-enforced, well, I say not entirely, what I mean to say is that it wasn't a concious decision; I fell off my bike. And broke my elbow. And two ribs. And my iPhone. Luckily the bike is OK, which is good, because they are expensive to repair. Ribs heal by themselves, for free.

Soooo, given that I have time on my hands, I thought I ought to do some catching up.