Kip Powick Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 My youngest son took it upon himself to fly over to Kathmandu, fly on a puddle jumper out of KTN to a tiny mountain airport and then trek for 3 days into the mountain to a small village in order to assist the locals, (many sherpas), with their mountaineering skills with respect to safe rock and ice climbing procedures. Apparently every year a dozen or so climbers in the industry do such a thing ...all at their own expense, using their own company vacation time.He flew from Salt Lake Cirty, to Phoenix, to LAX and then on to Singapore, over to Bangkok and then on to Kathmandu....45 hours in airports and airplanes.Arrived in Kathmandu but none of his 4 bags ( that he paid an extra $476.00 in excess weight for.......climbing gear he will donate to the locals), arrived with him. He started a baggage check with Thai airways, his last carrier, and so far no one knows where the bags are but his initial carrier to LAX said they are out of their system so they must have made it to LAX. He and I have been "skyping" back and forth, and I have called Thai Airways in LAX and everyone is blaming every other airline except the one they are responsible for.The end result......4 bags missing......, he has nothing but his carry-on......had to go buy some clothes..apparently not much selection in Kathmandu, and this is after 4 sectors were done in "J" class.Yes, a trace was started with Thai Airways but 6 days later, (he initiated his flight on 06 January)..still nothing And he wonders why I don't like making connections and prefer to board once...get off once.......but then again he had no choice...Rant over...I feel better venting... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
conehead Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 No disrespect intended toward your son but..... Wouldn't those locals, who grew up there and have spent their entire lives in those hills, be the experts in mountaineering skills? I mean, some of them go right to the top (29,000 ft) with no supplemental oxygen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kip Powick Posted January 13, 2012 Author Share Posted January 13, 2012 No disrespect intended toward your son but..... Wouldn't those locals, who grew up there and have spent their entire lives in those hills, be the experts in mountaineering skills? I mean, some of them go right to the top (29,000 ft) with no supplemental oxygen.That's what I thought too but apparently, due to the isolation as well as lack of funds, they don't get 'updated' with all the new equipment and safety procedures.Most mountaineers bring their own equipment and expect the guides and porters to have their own gear as well but unfortunately that is not the case. This event has been only been going on for a few years and each individual that goes to help for the time, shows the men how all the new gear works and then leaves all the gear there for the guides to use.I misspoke when I stated a dozen or employees from different companies go to instruct, apparently it is about 6 or 7. It is purely a volunteer effort, no payment, all travel expenses at your own cost but the locals provide all meals and a place to sleep.Here is an excerpt from his email to me.............................teach climbing to the local Nepalese people who want to work as porters and guides in the Himalaya. There will six Western instructors teaching a total of over 130 students over a month. So after 45 hours of travel to Khatmandu, a short flight to Lukla, then a 3 day walk to the town of Phortse ................attached is a photo of the village they are going to,,,,, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boestar Posted January 14, 2012 Share Posted January 14, 2012 Wow Kipp that looks like an awesome experience and place to live for a time. That view is breathtaking.Funny I always thought the Sherpas were the experts and could do all that climbing without modern gear....Who knew. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kip Powick Posted January 20, 2012 Author Share Posted January 20, 2012 Update...Eight days later and all the baggage is finally there...but not really.... ...It arrived in Kathmandu in dribbles and drabs and fortunately the last fellow in this volunteer group took 3 of the the 4 lost bags on his flight to a small village and then porters humped them up the mountains for 3 days..... to the climbing school !!!Oh Joy..he has his stuff.........wrong !! The last bag arrived after the last guy flew to the village to start his trek for 3 days. It is sitting in Kathmandu as it arrived after he left ....and it is the one with all my sons "personal" stuff in it. The other 3 bags were the donated gear and stuff they use at the climbing school !!!He hopes the pilot has to do another flight for whatever reason and they can take the bag to the village and a porter will walk for 3 days to get it to him.Interestingly...they are based at 3432 Meters above sea level and then each day climb higher to teach ice and rock climbing .....!! Oh the joys of being young !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boestar Posted January 21, 2012 Share Posted January 21, 2012 What an awesome adventure to be on. I was just turned on to a documentary Called The Long Way Round and its sequel The Long Way Down. It is Ewan MacGregor and another guy trecking accross Eurome and North America on motorcycles for 11 days. Something I would love to try one day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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