Walking the Himalayas: Everest calling

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“Everest has captured my imagination ever since I was a boy. Now I am truly in awe of the mightiest mountain in the world.”

Levison Wood is standing on Kala Pattar, in the shadows of Mount Everest with a massive grin on his face as the helicopter blades create a deafening din.

A former officer in the Parachute Regiment, Wood is perhaps best known for his exploratory walking expeditions in Africa and Asia. In 2014 he became the first person to walk the entire length of the Nile river in the course of nine months, which resulted in a documentary series and Sunday Times bestselling book titled ‘Walking the Nile’. In 2015, he undertook another challenge, walking the entire length of the Himalayas from Afghanistan to Bhutan, which would be turned into a documentary series and a book.

So, helicoptering in to Kala Pattar for a 15 minute long photo-op was not the typical Wood way to go about things. Especially a moment as huge as that, the opportunity to get up close and personal with Everest.

Wood’s team had already walked two thirds of the Himalayas – from the Wakhan Corridor in Afghanistan to the remote Rukum district in Nepal. Had the plans remained unchanged, the Brit would have trekked to the Everest region.

However, an accident caused by brake failure brought his plans to a screeching halt. Miraculously, everyone survived the 150 m drop down a ravine. Except, he had no sensation below the elbow in his right arm. The crash had wrecked his arm, almost ripping it off. He spent three days in a local clinic before being airlifted to Kathmandu and eventually flown back to England to have his arm operated on.

A few metal plates, screws and stitches later, Wood flew back to Nepal in October to complete his challenge.

“It was a choice between having a broken arm in England or a broken arm in Nepal. So I thought I might as well go and deal with it out there.”

The six weeks of lost filming opportunity meant, the trip could no longer accommodate a trek to the Everest region. However, it seems ‘Walking the Himalayas’ would not seem complete without a glimpse of the “Mother of the World”, even if it meant 15 mins on Kala Pattar.

Click below to read the full story: 

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/real-life-stories/ive-survived-crocodiles-tigers-even-7222189