Story
On 12th October 2006 a friend of mine, Richard Edy woke up to what is every parent’s worst nightmare. His son Charlie Edy had died at the tender age of 3 months from Sudden Infant Death Syndrome AKA Cot Death http://www.bbc.co.uk/herefordandworcester/content/articles/2006/11/09/cot_death_father_feature.shtml
Following Charlie’s death Richard, and friends have raised over £12 000 for FSID http://www.justgiving.com/CharlieEdy The Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths (http://www.sids.org.uk/).
My contribution toward this is to raise some money for the foundation as well as realise an ambition whilst completing the Annapurna Circuit Trek in the Nepal Himalayas. The funds raised will be used to further the foundations aim of bringing about an end to cot death through funding research and providing parents and health professionals with the latest information on risk reduction. It will also provide support to families affected by cot death.
Background:
Nepal is a landlocked country in South Asia bordered by Tibet to the north and Indiato the south. Famous for being home to the Himalayas it contains 8 out of 10 of the world’s highest peaks includingMt.Everest. Along with mountains and fantastic scenery is also famous for being home to the Gurkhas who are an elite force within the British and Indian armies. Gurkhas wages pensions and payments for associated services (e.g. flights for families and returning home on leave) account for over 20% of ’s GDP. Most Gurkhas come from the Gurung and Magar people who inhabit theAnnapurnaregion where I shall be trekking.
Trekking info:
The Annapurna Circuit Trek is a 21 day 300KM/186 mile trek circling theAnnapurnaMountains in the centre of Nepal. Varying in altitude between 445m/1460ft and 5416m/17,769 ft. the trek passes through a lot of ecological zones ranging from sub-tropical to alpine. The traditional start is Besisahar 2 hours north of Dumre on the Kathmandu–Pokhara highway. Trekkers follow theMarsyangdi river up to the Manang valley andManangTown. This is a good place to spend acclimatizing to the altitude before crossing the Thorung La Pass. The first village on the other side of the pass is Muktinath an important pilgrimage site to both Buddhist and Hindu’s. Further on is the region’s capital Jomsom and further still Tatopani where many trekkers rest and bathe in the volcanic springs. A climb up Poon hill follows. This has some great views.
Challenges:
Thorung La Pass
At 5416m/17,769 ft high the Thorung La is one of the highest passes in the world. At four times the height of Ben Nevis, 938m/3077ft. above the Matterhorn and 608m/1998ft aboveMont Blancshort of being a mountaineer it’s the highest most people can go whilst having their feet on the ground.
Acute Mountain Sickness (AMS)
Mild AMS: Headache, nausea, loss of appetite, difficulty in sleeping and light headedness are all symptoms of mild altitude sickness. Under no circumstances should you go higher.
Serious AMS: Persistent, severe headache, Persistent vomiting, Ataxia (loss of coordination, inability to walk in a straight line, looking drunk), Loss of consciousness ,liquid sound in lungs, persistent watery cough, difficulty breathing, coughing blood ,severe lethargy, blueness of face and lips, high resting heartbeat (over 130 BPM) are all symptoms of Serious AMS. Immediate descent is the only course of action. Failure to do so can result in death.
Mountain sickness does not differentiate between people’s fitness and whether the person is foreign or Nepali. In short there is not much you can do to prepare. This is the biggest challenge on the trek and short of an injury the most likely reason to fail!
Feel free to pass this page onto friends and colleagues. The more the merrier
Obviously I have barely scratched the surface regarding both the trek and . If you would like more information please feel free to contact me.
Thanks
Ash