As many of you already know, Russ Lamb and Sam Kay are together attempting to climb Mount Everest by the South East ridge route, setting off in March 2007.  At 8,850m (29,035 feet), Everest is the highest mountain in the world.  For those who are interested, more information on the climb is set out below.

Many of you have been asking about whether or not we will be raising money for a charity - the answer is yes!  We are hoping to raise funds for the Samantha Dickson Brain Tumour Trust, which is the largest single funder of laboratory based brain tumour research in the UK (see http://www.sdrt.co.uk).

6,500 adults are diagnosed with a malignant primary tumour each year in the UK, in addition to 13,500 diagnosed with a secondary tumour from other cancers.  Brain cancer now kills more children than leukaemia and a child diagnosed with a brain tumour has a 60% chance of survival after a five year period, compared to an 85% survival rate in respect of leukaemia.  Duncan Tunstall, a close friend of Michael Bardell (a banking partner at Travers Smith, where we also work), was diagnosed with a low grade brain tumour in 2001.  A keen rock and mountain climber, Duncan is undertaking a number of Alpine climbs with a view to raising some much needed money for SDBTT.  We are proud to be associated with this.

Our target is to raise £29,035, ie. a pound for every foot we have to climb!  Please note that we are arranging the funding of the climb ourselves, so all the money you contribute will go directly to SDBTT (net of the Just Giving costs).

In case you would like to know more about the expedition, the rough plan is to head to Everest Base Camp (5,600m, 18,370 feet) from Kathmandu and, having acclimatised there, to make our way up the mountain following a similar route to the one undertaken by the 1953 expedition that led to the first successful summit of Everest.  From Base Camp, climbers have to venture through the treacherous Khumbu Icefall.  The Icefall is regarded as one of the most dangerous stages of the climb. The Khumbu glacier that forms the Icefall moves at such speed that huge crevasses open without much warning and large seracs (ice towers) suddenly collapse. It is estimated that the glacier advances three to four feet down the mountain every day and, as the ice structures are continually changing, crossing the Khumbu Icefall can be somewhat challenging.  Camp I is situated at the top of the Icefall at 6,065m.  The route then continues along the Western Cwm to Camp II at 6,500m, nestling at the base of the Lhotse face.  Although the Western Cwm is only a gently rising glacial valley, it can become unbearably hot as the sun's rays are trapped by the sides of the valley and the high altitude intensifies their strength.  From Camp II, the climb continues up the Lhotse face on fixed ropes up to Camp III (7,470m), which is perched on a ledge that has to be hacked-out of the steep face.  Making it this far will take until the end of April as it takes time to carry the loads needed for a summit push this high and climbers need to move slowly up the mountain so that the body has time to acclimatise to the altitude.   If we are lucky enough to make a bid for the summit, we will leave Camp III for the South Col, which sits in the Death Zone at around 8,000m (where the oxygen level is less than a third of that at sea-level).  The route then continues from the South Col up to the Summit Ridge, negotiating the Hilary Step before reaching the true summit at 8,850m.  After plenty of hard work and lots of luck, we will hopefully be in a position to make a bid for the summit some time in May 2007.  Sounds quite straightforward…

Feel free to contact Russ or Sam directly if you want some further information on the climb, the charity or to have a chat generally.