ADVENTURE JOURNAL

  It is impossible to emulate all the challenges of High-Altitude Himalayan Mountaineering, particularly back home in the city of Melbourne, Australia. But when it comes to preparing for Himalayan expeditions, with a bit of lateral thinking, you can train the various components that you will endure in the thin air of the Himalayas.   Aerobic fitness is an obvious one. Our Dad use to enhance his aerobic fitness training by dragging a car tyre whilst on his morning jog. He combined this with pushing one of his kids around in the pram. Very soon Dad learnt to ignore the...

 Working in the Edmund Hillary store in central Auckland is a real experience. People are really interested in the brand; how it came to be, what it represents. Nearly every person has a personal story with Ed, whether they met him in passing or if he was a close family friend that came around for dinners.  People feel a connection with Ed, his passions, his kindness, and they feel that connection with the style and the quality of the clothes, it’s what makes the brand so unique. Shopping at Edmund Hillary is less about the retail and more about the...

The Himalayas isn't just a destination for those seeking an adrenaline rush. Away from the relentless struggle of high altitude mountaineering as well as the chaos that accompanies modern mountaineering tourism, you can always find a taste of normality across the Khumbu. Coffee shops and bakeries provide a welcome treat for trekkers and climbers; espressos, cappuccinos and yak butter croissants fill the air across the Mount Everest trail. In this image, I am enjoying an espresso in a little coffee shop in a town called Khumjung, sitting at 3,800 meters. Behind me is Khumjung school, which was built by my...

Following a reconnaissance expedition to the Mount Everest region in 1950s, my grandfather famously said "I will come again and conquer you because as a mountain you can't grow, but as a human I can".

Well, nearly seventy years on, my brother and I will need to adopt this mindset.

Alexander and I have just spent nine days in Queenstown, using this time to do more climbing training and push ourselves out of our comfort zone before heading back to the Himalayas. Doing a climbing trip together is more than just a team-bonding experience, it's also about becoming more mature climbers; learning to make the decisions around weather and climbing conditions. Here we are atop Single Cone Peak, which is one of the three peaks along the Grand Traverse of the Remarkables. George Hillary Photography by Alexander Hillary