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The Himalayan Trust Summit Challenge

By Anonymous
Four years ago, I spent six weeks working as I volunteer teacher trainer in the Solokhumbu region of Nepal. The Solokumbu region is where Mount Everest is, although the villages that I worked in were much lower in the valley. I did see Everest as a tiny peak in the distance on one hike I did during my time there, but we were pretty far away.  As a result, the remote mountain villages that I worked in didn't see the tourist traffic that villages higher up in the valley would see. Tourists bring the potential to earn money through tea houses and sherpa services. The lack of tourists and the remoteness of the villages meant provided additional challenges to the people who lived there. 

The Himalayan Trust is the charity set up by Sir Edmund Hillary to support the people of the Solokhumbu with building schools, training teachers and providing clean drinking water. During his time in Nepal, Hillary formed a close connection with the people living in the villages he visited as he trekked to and from Everest's Base Camp. He recognised their need and his own ability to offer support. When I travelled to Nepal, the Himalayan Trust organised the logistics of my trip and set me up with REED Nepal, a company that delivered teacher training workshops in the Solokhumbu. 





Volunteering is a great way to make a difference and it is not always possible nor is it the only way to help. This year, I took part in the Summit Challenge. During the month of March, I have been recording the number of vertical meters that I have gained while walking, running and biking, working towards a grand total of 8848 m, (the height of Mount Everest). I collected sponsors to raise money for The Himalayan Trust. This money would go into education and clean water initiative in the Solokhumbu. 

As you already know, I really enjoy getting out into the hills and so this challenge was no real hardship for me. It did motivate me to get out a bit more often and to do an additional hill climb to gain some extra vertical meters. As I enjoyed being out in our awesome backyard, it made me reflect on how privileged I am to live in this part of the globe. For me, walking in the hills is something I do because I enjoy it. It is a choice. While in Nepal, I met teachers who walked an hour and a half to get to work each day across mountainous terrain. One teacher had walked for three days to get to the training course that I was working on. They walked due to necessity, not for fun. 

To ensure that I would be able to complete the required vertical meters, I planned out roughly how may meters I would need to do each week, (2000 m). This helped me to stay on track. I also worked out that I would need to walk up Rapaki track a total of 27 times to equal the height of Everest. I knew that I wanted a bit more variety than just doing Rapaki nearly every day, but this helped me to get my head around how much I needed to climb to achieve my goal. To start my challenge off with a good number of vertical meters under my belt, I ran/walked up Mount Herbert and then biked up and over Evans Pass to get home. The motivation for the bike was a stop at Utopia Ice in Sumner on the way home. Most often, I fulfilled the challenge by biking up Rapaki and riding across the Port Hills or by walking up Huntsbury Track. 

Now that the challenge has been completed I feel really happy that I was able to use my passion for biking to make a positive difference to the people of Nepal. 











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