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HINKES OVERCOMES LOCAL DIFFICULTY TO ARRIVE AT BASE CAMP IN TIME FOR HIS BIRTHDAY Alan Hinkes has safely completed the arduous trek in
to Kangchenjunga base camp at around 7000m, arriving the day before
his 51 birthday. He now begins the acclimatization process which should
see him attempting the summit in the next few weeks. Alan's Trek into base camp was made much harder due to the Maoist rebel activity currently going on in Nepal. The Maoists have closed the roads out of Kathmandu which forced Alan to take a helicopter to the road head, where he could begin his trek. Earlier in the week a convoy taking a Russian expedition out of Kathmandu was attacked by rebels and one climber was seriously injured, forcing him to be helicoptered to a military hospital back in Kathmandu. From base camp, via his satellite phone, Hinkes said, "It's snowing pretty hard but it's not too cold (about minus 10 Celsius). I'm feeling as well as can be expected in these early stages of acclimatisation and hopefully I'll start getting out and about in the next few days. I'm also pretty chuffed to have made it up here in time for my birthday and cook has promised to knock me up a cake later.” "I’d like to thank for everyone who has sent messages of support to me via the Berghaus website and I'll call in again soon, I promise." Kangchenjunga is the final peak in the Challenge 8000, Hinkes’ attempt to become the first Briton to summit the world’s 14 highest mountain, all more than 8000 metres. He hopes to be able to summit some time in mid May and is expected back into the UK by early June.
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