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Yearly Archives: 2015
Nadolig Llawen! Merry Christmas!
Mountain Experience are about to embark on the southern migration for the winter! We hope to keep you updated on all our adventures if WiFi will permit us.
Nodolig Llawen! Merry Christmas! Best wishes for your adventures off the beaten track in 2016
Everest Base Camp by the long way round.
As it’s the EBC season, some readers may like to see this article on last year’s trip there.
The view to Gokyo from the Renjo La.
Everest is the high peak on the left above the lake.
An account of a Jagged Globe Trek in October 2014, with Nigel and Lisa, Hugh and Richard, Lianne and David, Helen, Colin, Chris, Phil and Alex the trek leader; Dawa the sirdar and Nuru his deputy; Lots of porters, a cook team and a few yaks!
Monday 13th October
This wasn’t my first time to do this, but I still felt the shock as the alarm woke me at 0350hrs in the morning. We were at The Summit Hotel in Kathmandu and our plan was to get an early start to beat the bad weather before it compromised any of the flights into Lukla. The usual scenes of chaos gripped the airport as people weighed, packed and repacked their kit for the Twin Otter flight into what has been dubbed…
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Testing weather conditions for the latest NNAS Silver assessment.
A day of great visibility and autumn colours was followed by another with hill fog that made navigating much harder for the latest NNAS students. Amalfi Veterans Team 1 were not deterred though and did a great job leading the team across the difficult terrain during their assessment.
Students hand railing the edge of the escarpment
During Day 1 the team learned the skills they would need to navigate successfully and get off the beaten track and enjoyed views that stretched for miles!
Students take a bearing to cross a featureless piece of ground
Day 2 was completely different with very poor visibility and damp weather. Throughout the day the students remained positive and ensured they used the skills they had learned to navigate to given places with pinpoint accuracy.
All four candidates were successful in achieving their Silver Navigator award. “What a great course” said Dawn G. “I’ll definitely be using these skills on future walks.”
Amalfi veterans Team 1. The weather meant that visibility was sometimes as low as 15metres.
Team Ultimo finish this year’s season for Mountain Experience on the Amalfi coast.
Mountain Experience finished this year’s expedition season with a final week on the beautiful Amalfi coast. Just south of Naples, the region has stunning scenery, ancient monuments and world class food. Team Ultimo indulged in all of that! We were really fortunate with the weather, just missing the heavy rain wherever we went. Occasionally the views were wreathed in cloud, but without fail, would always open up for us at some stage.
The team enjoying their lunch after the rain.
Team Ultimo enjoyed a fabulous view toward Ravello after dodging the storms.
What a great way to end the year’s travels!
Another great week finishes on the Amalfi coast for Team Quindici!
In conjunction with Explore! Mountain Experience have finished another great week of walking on the Amalfi Coast.
Team Quindici on the Walk of the Gods.
Team Quindici enjoyed great weather, fantastic food and stunning scenery, all finished off with a spell on the beach, gelato or a few glasses of wine. If that wasn’t enough, there were goats, left handed squirrels and mysterious small piles of pebbles thrown into the mix for good measure. A brilliant week!
Fiery red on the Amalfi coast
It’s been an exciting week with yet more wildfires on the Amalfi coast. Helicopters and sea planes have been dumping water onto brush fires high on the steep mountains that overlook the sea, whilst roads have been closed due to safety concerns.
But that didn’t stop the latest Explore! team from enjoying the stunning scenery, plentiful wine and great food that is on offer here. 15 clients trekked into the National Park, along the stunning coastal clifftop path, down ancient steps to Amalfi, across Pompei’s iconic streets and to the summit of Vesuvius. A hot week indeed!
Yet more adventures in Italy
A view down to Amalfi
Mountain Experience are delighted to return to the Amalfi coast of Italy. Hot sunshine, fantastic food, scenery and beaches; what a great way to end a day’s walking!
A whole month of Africa
Mountain Experience have had a fantastic month in Kenya and Tanzania, working with Camps International and West Hatch School from Essex. Several weeks of project work preceded the finale, an attempt on Mt Meru, Africa’s 5th highest peak.
The view from Meru summit with Little Meru, Rhino Point, the Ash cone and Kilimanjaro all visible.
Staff and students mixing concrete for a floor.
Installing windows into a classroom.
The project work was diverse and included deworming goats, building Elephant deterrent fences, laying floors, making mud bricks, mixing concrete, digging ditches, crafting desks, installing windows, the list could go on…….!
The trek was a great challenge and resulted in 27 of 28 people safely reaching the summit. Special thanks go to Sammy K and the staff of Camp Tsavo for looking after us so well and of course, to the staff and students of West Hatch School for their fantastic effort during the trip.
A herd of elephant visiting a waterhole near our camp.
A proud mum telling us about her family.
A great three weeks in Vietnam
Mountain Experience are proud to have been associated with Belmont House School on their recent trip to Vietnam. Working with Outlook expeditions, the team spent time visiting the sights of Hanoi before moving onto the village of Tien Dong where they undertook project work at a kindergarten and school.
Hot work in the fields
They cut back undergrowth, shifted building debris and painted a series of murals that they designed themselves.
Team members walking through the fields near Sa Pa, North Vietnam
The team also spent several days trekking through the beautiful scenery of the Tonkin Alps where they stayed in local villagers homes, before moving on to the coast and visiting the stunning Ha Long bay area.
Sa Pa market place
Red Dzao villagers on the trail
Water buffalo getting out of the heat
Third successful week at Amalfi finished.
Mountain Experience have had a great third week on the Amalfi Coast with Explore! It was a wrench to leave such a great venue, but made easier knowing we will be back in the autumn.
Team members hailed from Canada, Australia, the US and UK. New friendships were forged as they explored the old paths in and around the Amalfi coast, and made the most of their day on Capri by reaching parts of the Island other teams don’t usually get to.
Team posing above the Walk of the Gods
View down toward Capri from the Walk of the Gods
Mountain Experience 