Welcome to my climbing blog

I hope in this blog to share my thoughts and enthusiasm for mountains and may be provide some inspiration for you to venture into the hills yourself.

Everyone has chapters or phases in their life. It always intrigues me that brief moments in time define and shape a lifetime. It doesn't seem to balance, 1 day, 1 hour or 1 minute defining 70 years on this planet.

But certainly my summit day on Everest defines my life, no matter what I do in the future, I will never move beyond or past Everest. My other summit days are all milestones and stick in my memory vividly, I cannot tell you what happened during any random month or day in 2006 only 3 years ago, yet I can relive every moment of my summit days from 1999 - the choices I made, my thoughts, my feelings, the route, the views.

Climbing mountains is something different for most people and is a landmark, whether it is Denali in Alaska, Ben Nevis in Scotland or Cheviot - the highest point in Northumberland. I urge you to go out into the country and walk, feel the pain from the exercise, because the positives far outweigh the tiredness. The fresh air, the views and accomplishment are thrilling.

Since returning from Everest I have enjoyed many happy reunions and celebrations with friends and family. I'm currently staying with my parents and am enjoying home cooking from my Mum. Her cakes and bacon sandwiches have helped to replace the 10kg I lost on Everest.

Believe me, trekking in Nepal is the perfect diet regime, you exercise 6 hours a day, you lose appetite through the altitude so don't eat much and you receive a number of food poisoning doses from the third world germs. A triple whammy! It works for me every time, at least a stone. May be I should patent it :o)

As for me now, I've just returned from Switzerland - but that's for another blog.

Bye for now, Rich.