Wow! Is it true! Surely I must be dreaming. In fact I am not. I have less than 72 hours until I leave for Nepal and my attempt upon Mount Everest. So much time, preparation, committment, and money have gone in to making this dream a reality. I have so much to be thankful for and so many people to thank.
First and foremost I thank God. In today's society that almost seems cliche. Kind of like the thing to do when accepting some award or for being recognized for some great achievement. However, I genuinely am thankful for His loving hand of guidance upon my life. A close second is my wife and son. They have sacrificed so much while I have prepared, in earnest, for this expedition for some time now. A huge dept of gratitude is owed to my employer, Piper Electric Co., Inc.. I truly am blessed to have an employer so supportive of my endeavors and so willing to partner with me on this lofty attempt. I thank the MaGills (Mark, Matthew, and Daniel) for their generous gift of (1) carabiner and some new 6mm prussik cord. I thank everyone who I have shared a trail, a summit, or a rope with this past year. Your company is priceless. I must not forget my great pals at Combat Calisthenics (Nick's girls - (Donna, Sharon, Jolene), Beth, Ronno, Kurt, Nick, and Sean Lowe). You have pushed me physically beyond what I have imagined. I especially enjoy the insightful talks on ObamaCare. Although, I repsectfully disagree.
Who else? So many people are owed a thank you that I know I have forgot some. Please do not underestimate my gratefulness.
I have most of my gear already set aside and ready to pack away into my travel duffels. Every single piece of gear is accounted for and ready for use. This is so cool! My flight leaves Denver International Airport at 4:00pm on Friday the 26th of March. I fly direct to Los Angeles and after a brief layover I fly direct to Hong Kong. This will be a long flight (14 hours +). After a long 15 hour layover in Hong Kong I fly to Kathmandu, Nepal with a brief stop in Dhaka, Bangledesh to pick up a few people. All said and done I arrive at 10:30pm on Sunday evening. I will send 1 more update before I leave and then I will report live from the beautiful foothills of the high Himalaya. Oh, if you are reading this - Thank you.
