I first saw Ama Dablam in 2002 and several times since then culminating this past spring, when I saw the peak from many new angles as I completed my Great Big Walk. It was then, that I knew that I truly wanted to climb Ama Dablam, also know as the “Matterhorn of the Himalayas.” Ama Dablam is 6856 metres and is located in the Khumbu Valley in Nepal.

My reasons are many…a huge challenge, a technical peak, a shakedown expedition, a chance to face many of my inner mountains…and much more I suspect. My mantra line for this climb is “We’ve all got a mountain.” It’s both metaphoric, figurative, and literal. No matter what our path is life is, no matter what our goals are…there are mountains to climb, rivers to cross, hurdles to surmount, beautiful vistas to see.

I will post three updates per day to my blog. The first will be a general post with the planned itinerary for the day, a Nepal “Did you Know?” and a Find Your Fit Activity suggestion. The second post will be a SPOT update with my geographic position marked on a map. Finally, each evening (Nepal time), I will call off an audio post about the day’s highlights and activities. You can see all of the updates below (or by clicking here).

You can post comments or questions on any post and TA’s communications team will try to forward them to her on the mountain (no guarantees unless the tech gods co-operate). You can see what the weather forecast is for Ama Dablam by clicking here. The leader of TA’s expedition will also be blogging from the mountain, you can access his blog here. For those in the Twitter-verse, TA’s Twitter handle is @taloeffler and Tim’s is @timmosedale.

I’m hoping for your support me as I climb this next outer mountain and all the inner mountains in between. It’s is intensely beautiful and just a tad bit intimidating. To the summit (or however high I climb) and safe return!