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Update on Calton Athletic Everest Base Camp Trek

Written by Mungo Ross, February 2016

The Calton Athletic group trek to Everest Base Camp is on!

Because of the devastating earthquakes in the spring of last year plans were interrupted, so the group have delayed departure until this years� autumn season. At least eight members of the Glasgow based alcohol and drug addiction recovery group have committed themselves to the adventure of a lifetime, very likely to be joined by a few more of their colleagues by the time they set off on the 10th of November.

We have had several days out on the hill together now and two bothy weekends in order for us all to get to know and trust one another before disappearing into the Khumbu and subjecting ourselves to the rarefied atmosphere of the Himalayas. I have never met a group of people who are so utterly there for each other; the commitment and determination to confront a life that has become so chaotic and hopeless, and the help and support that is needed to sustain recovery are all immense � the goal of getting themselves to EBC is but a step on that journey, but a huge step! Their excitement is tangible, they are finding it hard to believe that they will actually visit one of the most famous locations in mountaineering history, but I can so easily anticipate posting a photo of the group at the foot of the Khumbu icefall in a just few months� time.

We met in Aviemore on the 7th of Feb to go through the form-filling and preparation they need to do between now and November, then went for a very wet and windy walk in Gleann Eanaich, keeping off the Cairngorm Plateau in the latest storm to sweep through Scotland this winter. If their commitment and enthusiasm to tackle days like these are anything to go by, the trek to EBC will be a dawdle!!! Going to see Everest Base Camp just for its own sake strikes me as a good enough reason; if it provides a goal and the incentive to stick to a programme of support and recovery as tough as these guys are on, it�s an even better reason. We will have another couple of days together on the hill before we go, in the meantime they are training hard to turn a dream into reality.

Mungo Ross

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