Welcome to Expedition 8000

First of all we want to say thank you for taking the time to read this, your support os greatly appreciated.

2020 has been a rough year to put it mildly. We have seen the world shut down in the face of an epidemic the likes of which has not been seen since the Spanish Flu of 1918. While we have all been affected in one way or another, those in developing countries have been particularly impacted. Nepal, where tourism accounts for about 8% gross domestic product, has seen their tourism numbers decrease from 1.19 million in 2019 to less than 10,000 in 2020.

To make matters worse, like in many countries, Nepali workers lack the social security net available to those in more affluent nations. This has meant that large numbers of tourism workers have either lost a large portion of their income or have had to seek other employment. This also represents a loss to the employers, who have spent time and money training their staff. While the light is hopefully at the end of the tunnel with the recent announcement of the development of multiple vaccinations, the reality is that tourism will not immediately recover this year.

Last year we, along with many others, followed with great excitement the Project Possible expedition, which saw Nirmal "Nimsdai" Purja climb all fourteen of the worlds eight-thousanders in six months and six days. This smashed the previous record of over seven years. This year we hope combine the inspiration of Nims' grand plan with the current reality of lockdown and to "climb" all of these peaks from sea level to summit via a stair machine. This equates to 35,940 stories or 115,972 vertical metres and we have set the goal of completing it all in the same time frame as Nims.

The plan at the moment is to continue preparing physically and to talk to potential sponsors as well as beneficiaries. Hopefully we can raise some funds, as well as awareness about the working conditions of porters and the environmental concerns raised by the growth of trekking industries.

You can get involved by following the journey on Instagram via @expedition_8000.

If you want to reach out, you do so via Instagram or email info@expedition-8000.com.

Stay tuned for further details!

Climb on!

David and the rest of the Expedition 8000 team.

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Khumbu Panorama.

From left to right:

Tobuche (6,542 m), Everest (8,848m), Lhotse (8,516 m) and Ama Dablam (6,812m)

Credit: Sharp Adventures