Everest In Season Again...

It's that Everest time of year again, as things warm up after the winter and before the monsoon arrives, and dozens of climbers will be attempting the world's highest mountain from both the Nepal and Everest sides.

If you want regularly updated news from the mountain then the Everestnews.com site is the place to go with reports from many of the expeditions on the mountain together with general features about Everest. It's not quite as mad as it was a few years ago when, fuelled by the internet boom, Mountainzone.com had a reporter with satellite phone sat at base camp covering the scene.

There are a few British teams on the mountain. Among them an 11-strong group from the south of the Lake District who are being filmed by the BBC for a forthcoming programme called 'The Challenge', see this article.

Meanwhile, Flt Lt Ted Atkins from RAF Marham in Norfolk is attempting the mountain solo beginning with a two-week walk-in from Namche Bazaar to optimises acclimatisation. You can follow his progress here.

Atkins led an RAF expedition which put two climbers on the summit in 2001, this time though he is climbing alone You can see film from the 2001 expedition in streaming video on this BBC page.

Last but not least as far as some of OM's male membership is concerned, British socialite and blonde ice-axe wielding pin-up Annabelle Bond is, of course, attempting the mountain this spring. You can follow her progress on her web site which includes a regularly updated expedition journal rather irritatingly written in block capitals - guess the altitude plays havoc with your caps lock...

'IT WAS NOTHING SHORT OF A MIRACLE THAT OUR TENT SURVIVED THE HOWLING GALES THAT PERSISTED THROUGHOUT THE NIGHT. I THOUGHT WE MAY DO A MARY POPPINS INTO THE KHUMBU ICEFALL.' - Reads the entry for 14 April. Perhaps she's just shouting cos cos she's excited. Bless.

You can expect people to start summiting in May and we'll tell you if anything interesting happens.