Making life a holiday with interesting vacation and adventure ideas.

Billi Bierling writes in the Nepali Times: "Mountaineering is always unpredictable because of weather, avalanches and the effects of altitude. But climbing the world?s highest mountain this year has an added uncertainty: China."

As hundreds of climbers are gathering in Kathmandu for climbing expeditions to the south side of Chomolungma, China is exerting pressure on Nepal to ban all expeditions to the mountain during China's olympic year. It seems that Beijing is doing all in its power to avoid someone unfolding a 'Free Tibet' banner at the summit just as the olympic torch gets there.

The cancellations and uncertainty has already cost several hundred people their jobs, at a time when they normally earn most of their annual income, and the people suffering most are the Sherpas. Read more in Billi Bierling's article.

Labels: China, Everest, expeditions, Mount Everest, Nepal

Thomas Bell writes in the Telegraph "Sir Edmund Hillary has been mourned in Nepal as a 'second father' to the Sherpa people and an honorary son of their mountains and valleys."

One of Edmund Hillary's great achievements was to help the people of Nepal and the Himalayan country has declared how immensely proud it is to be home to the world's tallest mountain, and also how immensely proud it is of the giant foreigner who, along with Tenzing Norgay Sherpa, climbed it for the first time, 55 years ago.

Read why Nepal granted him greater honours than any other outsider, in Thomas Bell's tribute article.

Labels: 2008, Edmund Hillary, Everest, Mount Everest, Nepal

A group of explorers for a US television documentary claim that they have found giant footprints of the the Yeti, the so-called abominable snowman. The expedition team have spent a week in search of the mythical creature in the icy Khumbu region near to Mount Everest, in the Nepalese Himalayas.

Read more and see a picture of a cast from the enormous footprint.

Labels: Bigfoot, Everest, expedition, Himalayas, Yeti

A record 514 people have climbed Mount Everest this year, which means that more than 2000 people have now reached the summit since the first, officially recorded, successful ascent by New Zealander, Edmund Hillary and Sherpa, Tenzing Norgay, in 1953. However, mountaineering's great unanswered question is, did George Mallory and Sandy Irvine reach the summit 30 years earlier?

In 1924, Mallory and Irvine disappeared just 800 feet from the summit and eight years ago, Mallory's body was found by Conrad Anker. Now, retracing the steps of Mallory and Irvine, Conrad Anker is playing the part of Mallory and Leo Houlding is playing the part of his climbing companion, Irvine. They are dressed in period costume and are using authentic gear, to recreate the climb for a documentary.

The climb is also being recorded by blog and web video, on the expedition website.

Labels: Conrad Anker, Everest, expedition, George Mallory, Leo Houlding, Mallory and Irvine, Mount Everest, mountaineering, Sandy Irvine, video