October 31, 2007 – Team Arrives at Lukla, First Trekking Day

Ms Hawley with Ama Dablam Team

Hi everybody, it's John Freeman calling from Phakding here in Nepal. Our first day of trekking has been a very enjoyable, although an easy relaxed day. We were a little bit delayed to the mountain landing strip at Lukla today with early morning ground fog from Kathmandu, but we were in good hands with our; oddly enough, Canadian trained pilot Rashib who was trained in Manitoba. He made a great landing on the mountain landing strip that has become the famous entrance for many trekkers and climbers coming to this region.

Don and Jack woke up early with myself at about 4 o’clock this morning and they were anxious to get here. They have both been to this region before, so a lot of the sights are familiar but some things have changed, many have changed for the better.                                          

We enjoyed our walk along, it was a leisurely pace today and they look like they are going to be very much ready for the days ahead, the longer days.

They enjoyed a good lunch, and now we are sitting at our lodge with the Berg Adventure trekkers who are heading up to EBC and with whom we will share a lot of experiences along the way.

Everyone is healthy, happy and motivated for things to come.

Our objective:

Ama Dablam
Nepal Himalaya

22,494 feet
6857 meters

First Ascent:

March 13, 1961
Barry Bishop
Wally Ramanes
Mike Gill
Mike Ward