I will be joining an expedition organised by Himalayan Expeditions, and led by American climber Dan Mazur. There will be nine climbers on the expedition - five from the UK, and one each from Italy, Switzerland, Finland and the US.
The expedition will run from the end of August until mid October 2008, around a month and a half. All being well we would hope to reach the summit in early October. Around 40% of climbers reach the summit, with the main problems being altitude sickness, physical exhaustion, and the weather.
This is pretty serious stuff, certainly much more difficult than anything I've attempted before, so fingers crossed!
I've been hard in training - running (60km+ per week), weights, interval training, long stints on 15 degree inclined treadmill with a 20kg pack, as well as "on location" such as in a recent trip to Iceland (see above).
Nepal is one of the ten poorest countries in the world, with a GDP of just $260 per head. Life in rural Nepal can be very hard, and the difficult geography often means that children have no access to schooling. Classroom in the Clouds aims to build a school in Lukla, in the Himalayan region from which many of the sherpas come.
I will try to post news updates on this site when possible, probably by satellite phone, although nothing will be possible above Advanced Base Camp.
There will also be updates posted on the website of the expedition organisers: