Boulders, Bales, Bonding and Bottom Burps....

                                   

Hi Everyone,

Some major updates on the Everest Test trip to update you all on. A major get-together and the official media launch activity have all happened in the last week which have helped grease the wheels of the expedition even further and take it forward into another gear.

Last weekend saw an SAS/It's a Knockout/Sports Day/Cage Rage Fest at Kinsey's Farm in Hereford. After a long drive last Friday night, with even SatNav scratching it's little electronic head at times, I arrived in the pitch back at the Hern family farm near Leominster. Fellow Tenzinger Kinsey had organised a weekend get-together of epically athletic proportions where we would be tested to the maximum level; getting involved with various team and individual events to test our core strength and to assist with the team building. A welcome beef stew and a cold one went down brilliantly as nervous conversation filled the family kitchen. Various maps and the weekends itinerary were laid out for all to see and we had individually been numbered for all of us to create our own fantasy team for the weekends events. That done we were all escorted up to the village hall; our digs for the weekend, where we were all brimming with nervous excitement. Camped next to fellow Tenzinger's Joe and BJ it was pretty evident that the nervous excitement was difficult to contain as bass level "botty-coughs" shook the very foundations of the Hall. I'm sure these two may well cause avalanches higher up the mountain - the lentil and rice combo's probably won't help this either. Once the heaters were cranked up to Outback level temperatures and the ever musical Williams in full flow it was pretty evident that sleep was going to be at a premium this weekend.

7am sharp the door was kicked open by Kinsey carrying a bathtub full of porridge; major sustenance for the days activity. Sleepy heads began popping up from their sleeping bags and the guys who had set up their inflatable beds with a wry grin the night before now untangled their way out of their now half-inflated heaped mess of blow-up mattress, sleeping bags and clothes. Porridge and coffee were consumed and the skin-tight, packet squashing Ron Hill running bottoms were surgically pulled up; ready for the days events.

Kinsey walked us up to the aircraft hanger he calls a chicken shed ready for the Bleep Test designed to get us going and get the blood moving. We all did admirably well and BJ stormed through to finish just over level 13; an impressive effort. Next, we were taken outside for event No 2. A simple plank of wood was laid out outside the chicken coup and a boulder the size of a Volkswagon was man-handled into the competitors arms, the idea being we would be tested on how far we could all throw this boulder backwards, over our heads. A great event. Yours truly came second only to Big Nick Mollineux as he tossed the rock over his head with the same disdain as if it was a coffee flavoured Revel. Rowers.......

The next event was a team game and involved each member of teams Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta, and err, the next one, rolling a tractor tyre around a square 100m course, professionally marked out with 4 sticks. This tested everyones upper arm and leg strength. A heated final meant competitiveness reared its head with some manhandling of the umpires which seemed to do the trick with the photo finish result swinging away from team Gamma.

Throughout the morning we were also escorted around section of the 5 mile finishing run which seemed twice that length and involved hills that even farm-machinery would be hesitant about tackling. Gulps were audible from the teams as Kinsey continued to explain the outline of the course with a certain amount of relish. It was then back to the farm house for a welcome rest, some delicious soup and warm bread. Just what the doctor ordered.

The next event saw the teams loading palettes with rocks, that needed to picked up and carried a short distance from a large pile. Obviously, migrant workers hadn't made it down to Kinsey's neck of the woods yet which meant these rocks could be neatly tidied away onto palettes through the efforts of Team Everest to used in the construction of perhaps a wall or airport terminal. Gamma romped home with win; fiercely contested all the way to the wire by practically ever other team but the winners just kept themselves to themselves; waiting for the medals. A solid effort by my fellow team mates, Kiwi, Alex, Simmo, Tooves and the ever flatulent BJ.

We were all pretty bushed now but a few more surprises still lay in wait. The Scarecrow event was a hot topic of conversation with us all; everyone having different romantic ideas of stuffing scarecrows with little, fluffy armfulls of soft straw. Back in the chicken shed 3 round hay bales, head height for my 6ft 2 frame, awaited us and the idea was that individually we all had to push these huge rolling weights down a slalom course and back to tag the next person. This I found to be an a.b.s.o.l.u.t.e bastard. My neck and neck race with Haydn saw him comfortably win in the last 10 metres. Notable performances from Hillsy, Kiwi and G-man probably meant that a few world records were broken; if indeed a world record for such a ludicrous event even existed. Impressive. The final event saw us engage each other in a Tug-of-War; every team spent by now but some furious action ensued from a couple of the teams. The sight of Hillsy being dragged along on his arse being a particularly amusing moment.

Finally, the 5 miler awaited. I hate running at the best of times but this was a huge run and I think most would agree. My body was fairly ruined by now so i wont bore you with the foot by foot account but I finished in just over a hour. The racing-snake leaders finished in about 45 minutes which was seriously impressive and the rest of the field finished soon after the hour mark. My day finished with me showering in the pitch black, in a chicken shed, in Herefordshire. Now, I would be lying if I said I didn't hum the theme tune to Deliverance several times during my rub down but it passed without so much as a banjo being plucked - which was lucky. The Ron Hills had stood up well too with minimum luggage-rash and I was a happy, warm, clean and thirsty man. I was defianetly looking forward to my pie and chips and several pints of Herefordshires finest.

A brilliant weekend despite the sheer pain but it was obvious that Kinsey and his family had worked very hard on this team building exercise and huge thanks must go to all the Hern's. It was a great evening in the pub and the lock-in at the end was a nice and very welcome touch and it enabled all of us to drink an amount that would ensure passing out and thereby enabling us to enjoy our last nights sleep on the village hall floor. Negotiating the sleeping bodies strewn around the hall proved to be final hurdle when I had to go for a late night wazz but once successfully managed even Joe and BJ's bodily orchestras couldn't keep me awake.

Personally it was great to meet members of the trip that I hadn't really had the chance as yet to talk to and get to know better, so I was thankful that I made the weekend, managed to get involved and contribute a little and get to know my fellow loons a little better. It's obvious everyone is keen to pull in the same direction to make this expedition a success.

This will be a great trip.

Today - Jan 27th - saw the official Press Launch. Our PR guys, Alex and Marcus at Captive Minds (www.captiveminds.co.uk), have been so supportive of the trip and they had obviously pulled out all the stops. Coverage of the trip has been viewed today on London News programmes and within various papers. I was unfortunately unable to make it today, which will go down as a big regret, but with my company being small and them being supportive already of this trip, I felt the right thing to do would be to be around today and get some pressing projects underway. The guys that were there treated the London crowds and the waiting press to a Freeze Mob outside of The National Gallery and interviews were taken with various members of the trip - Kirt, Haydn, Mike and Glen all gave their accounts. Mark Butcher and Chris Adams were present to lend their vocal support. ITV London interviewed Kirt and the evening papers ran the story; more coverage will be in the news tomorrow too. My loyal readers (if I have any) and stumbling, "small-hours internet hobbyists" may wish to keep there eyes peeled.

Links to coverage

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7853571.stm
http://sports.in.msn.com/cricket/stories/article.aspx?cp-documentid=1717306
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/27/cricket-match-on-everest
http://www.itvlocal.com/london/news/?player=LON_News_15&void=280959

http://www.atestabovetherest.com/

for further updates.

If it wasn't already the button has well and truly been pushed and in all areas; we are very much on our way and April will be here before we know it.

Keep your eyes peeled and in touch soon.