The Himalaya - A Walk in the Parks?

2nd September 2010

You may remember back in July, we told you about Richard Parks' upcoming 737 Challenge – an epic adventure that will see him summit seven peaks and venture to three poles within seven months to raise money for Marie Curie Cancer Care.

As part of his intensive preparation, Richard (of international rugby fame) has been training in France, Ecuador, Italy, Scotland, Greenland, Wales, and in July successfully climbed Mt McKinley (also known as Denali), the highest mountain in North America.

Richard will now spend seven weeks in the Himalaya and will climb Cho Oyu, the sixth highest mountain in the world. He’s is joined by former Olympic rower and gold medallist Steve Williams, who will also accompany Richard on the 737 Challenge Mount Everest climb and the journey to the geographic North Pole.

Parks and his team are currently in Lhasa in Tibet acclimatising ahead of this big climb. One of the world’s highest cities, Lhasa is the perfect training ground for the ex-rugby star turned mountaineer.

Updating his Facebook status, Richard said; “In Lhasa in Tibet acclimatising at 3,600m for 3 days. We are visiting a Buddhist temple and monastery tomorrow to be blessed for the climb.”

Before setting off Richard said; “Cho Oyu really is the culmination of my year long training for the 737 Challenge. It will be my longest expedition to date and my first time at 8,000 metres”. He added; “It’s important on many levels; the first is that it will provide the psychological confidence that I have performed at 8,000 metres before Steve and I head to Everest, secondly as my longest expedition, it is perfect to simulate legs of my challenge, from everything from performance to logistics, to fulfilling press duties and communicating whilst I am away, as well as filming”.

At 8,201m, Cho Oyu will see Richard perform for the first time in the ‘Death Zone’, around 7,900m, the point at which there isn’t enough oxygen in the air to support human life. This Everest ‘Mock Exam’ will test his kit, oxygen and ability to acclimatise to the altitude.

Steve Williams knows that the expedition is crucial for them both. He stated; “I am really excited about testing myself on our first 8,000m peak. It will be our first serious mountain together and a chance to work as part of a team, share a tent and work out what each other’s bad habits are!”

Cho Oyu, or Qowowuyag in Nepal, lies in the Himalaya at 8,201 metres above sea level, and is 20km west of Mount Everest on the border between Tibet and Nepal. Cho Oyu means "Turquoise Goddess" in Tibetan.

Although climbing a mountain over 8,000 metres high is a little extreme, you can still experience the delights of Himalaya trekking on one of our amazing trips. Journey to Everest Base camp, cross the Tibetan plateau and discover the serene beauty of the world’s most dramatic mountain range with Exodus, the adventure experts.

July 2010

7 Summits, 3 poles, 7 Months - A World First

Parks Conquers Alaska's Mt McKinley Ahead of 737 Challenge

One of the most exciting new challenges this year is Richard Parks' (of Welsh international rugby and Barbarians fame) attempt to climb the Seven Summits (the highest in each continent) and walk to both poles within seven months starting in December to raise money for Marie Curie Cancer Care.

Ranulph Fiennes and Steve Williams will be joining him on stages of this colossal expedition and if successful, he'll be the first person ever to have climbed all Seven Summits in a calendar year and also the first to have stood on all the 'Three Poles' (North Pole, Geographic South Pole and Mt Everest) within a year.

He's just completed a training climb of one of the high seven - Mt McKinley (also called Denali) in Alaska after a 19-day ascent that saw him getting snowed in by a storm for a week at 4,300m on the slopes. Mt McKinley, whilst a lot lower than Everest and Aconcagua, is one of the toughest of the Seven Summits to climb due to its northerly location and notoriously difficult weather conditions. 

We wish him the best of luck with this incredibly tough challenge and will be following his progress on this site.

You can follow in his footsteps, walking on the far more temperate foothills of Mt McKinley on our Alaskan Hike.