Brighton solicitor, Hugo Hunt, has succeeded in his attempt to climb the 7220 metre (23,465 feet) summit of Baruntse, a mountain in the Everest region of Nepal. Hugo and his team of five friends and two climbing Sherpas, who have just returned from the five week expedition, achieved their goal where others failed. “We were lucky with the weather and with conditions on the mountain”, Hugo said. “The end of the monsoon was late, and when we arrived at Base Camp, seven other teams had already been thwarted by late snow, cloud and wind. We brought calm, sunny weather with us, and that gave us the chance we needed.” All eight members summitted, three of them twice. “You could say we were 137.5% successful, as eleven of our possible eight reached to top”

The climb was not without incident. Five of the eight climbers were forced to weather an overnight storm at 6100 metres (nearly 20,000 feet) where one of them showed early signs of cerebral oedema – a potentially lethal illness caused by high altitude. All of the team members had to stave off very low temperatures in the early onset of winter. “We had to keep our toes and fingers moving in the early hours of summit day, so as to avoid losing them to frostbite. I still have uses for mine”, Hugo, 54, said. “In the event, we all came back with all the extremities we left with”

It took the climbers eight days to walk in to the mountain’s base camp from the nearest air strip, and to start acclimatising to the altitude. There is 40% less oxygen at 7000 metres than at sea level, so it is necessary to prepare by spending time at each new level. The team had twelve days at base camp within which to achieve the summit but the initial acclimatisation was going well so Hugo and four others in the group made the summit earlier than planned. Three of them summited again three days later with the remaining members of the team.

The successful climbers were rewarded with some of the best views of the Everest region of the Himalayas. Baruntse is near the centre of the area that contains many of the highest mountains of the world, including the biggest of them all, Everest itself. The expedition was hit by tragedy when one of the team’s porters died on the way back to Kathmandu. It is thought that altitude sickness was the cause. “We were not with him at the time of his death, but I understand he was climbing strongly in the morning, but succumbed very quickly later in the day. Those that were with him were unable to save him”, said Hugo. “He had a wife and three young children, and we are looking into ways of helping to secure their future”. It was not possible to recover the body, which had to be cremated near to where he died.

One of Hugo’s reasons for climbing the mountain was to raise money for a Future For Nepal (www.futurefornepal.com), a charity dedicated to giving disadvantaged children in Nepal an education when they would not otherwise get one. Donations amounted to over £6,000, and two children from the same remote village in Nepal start their education in Khatmandu in April 2008 as a result of the fund raising.

On their return to Kathmandu after their success, the climbers visited the school to which the children sponsored by Future For Nepal go. “There are 26 FFN sponsored children at the school”, said Hugo, “and we were welcomed so warmly by them all. It is a delightful secular school, with a strong emphasis on social morals. The sponsored children come from some of the poorest families in a poor county, and yet they are impeccably turned out, polite, respectful and, above all, happy kids. They look on each other as members of a family with the older ones looking after the younger ones. It really is a brilliant project, and it is such a bonus for the success of my trip to know that two more deserving children are joining them”.

Further donations can be made to Hugo at FitzHugh Gates, 23 High Street, Shoreham by Sea, West Sussex BN43 5EE.

And does Hugo have any plans for future expeditions? He said, “When, at 7000 metres, you are concentrating on your rhythm of two or three breaths to every step, all you can think of is getting to the top and down again. Then, there is a firm resolution never to attempt anything as hard or foolish again. But as soon as the pain stops, and you look around you again, the hankerings for new challenges always return. But don’t tell my wife or my business partners”.

For more information contact:
Hugo Hunt, FitzHugh Gates, 23 & 25 High Street, Shoreham by Sea West Sussex BN43 5EE
hugoh@fitzhugh.co.uk

01273 461381
www.fitzhugh.co.uk

See also:
www.futurefornepal.com

30 November 2007