So............................back from EnduroHimalaya and what a trip!! my 4th trip and one of the most difficult you could imagine
Started with Good weather from Shimla once we got there but then a Monsoon hit us.
There were 31 clients 5 team and support from mechanics and logistics crew.
The 3 trips before had been text book,had managed the whole trip without a hitch ,and this time last year had been the best weather of the 5 trips,hence I booked as Medic for this year.
We got to Kalper ok but after much partying it started to rain at 4 am.
by the next morning it was pissing down ,but we set off for Spitti valley, a beautiful location,but it rained and rained.
That means landslides in this part of the world and sure enough the mountains started dropping rocks ,we got trapped between 2 landslides for 7 hours untill a Tata made JCB came and dug us out.
We went back to Kalper and reviewed the situation.
A Re route was needed and we headed for manali ,via chindy,It had rand for 5 days and the roads were awash with mud andwater.
Coming round a corner in the rain i met a Bus on my side of the road ,tried to dodge it going to its nearside,rn out of road,hit a tree with my chest and the bike went over the edge
I got 4 broken ribs and no end of piss taking ,but the bullet suffered only a broken brake lever
i took myself to Hospital to confirm the diagnosis ,and as they were undislaced fractures I could carry on the tip after a day in the ambulance as sweep medic
a few came off,one guy went 20 feet down a cliff and was amazingly unscathed,another guy in front of me grabbed the front brake and went down hard on his right shoulder fracturing his collar bone =Game over
Once in Manali the weather lifted and we did a shortened route .
This was one tough trip,but I think the guys got a real adventure,the commraderie from clearing landslides with our bear hands and walking the bikes through,the river crossings up to the tank,the mad Hotels we were trapped in for a few days the intense monsoon rain all made it very real and not a dvd rerun.
It seems a million miles away now but i miss it already,and hope to go again next year ,it really gets the hook in you out there .
Started with Good weather from Shimla once we got there but then a Monsoon hit us.
There were 31 clients 5 team and support from mechanics and logistics crew.
The 3 trips before had been text book,had managed the whole trip without a hitch ,and this time last year had been the best weather of the 5 trips,hence I booked as Medic for this year.
We got to Kalper ok but after much partying it started to rain at 4 am.
by the next morning it was pissing down ,but we set off for Spitti valley, a beautiful location,but it rained and rained.
That means landslides in this part of the world and sure enough the mountains started dropping rocks ,we got trapped between 2 landslides for 7 hours untill a Tata made JCB came and dug us out.
We went back to Kalper and reviewed the situation.
A Re route was needed and we headed for manali ,via chindy,It had rand for 5 days and the roads were awash with mud andwater.
Coming round a corner in the rain i met a Bus on my side of the road ,tried to dodge it going to its nearside,rn out of road,hit a tree with my chest and the bike went over the edge
I got 4 broken ribs and no end of piss taking ,but the bullet suffered only a broken brake lever
i took myself to Hospital to confirm the diagnosis ,and as they were undislaced fractures I could carry on the tip after a day in the ambulance as sweep medic
a few came off,one guy went 20 feet down a cliff and was amazingly unscathed,another guy in front of me grabbed the front brake and went down hard on his right shoulder fracturing his collar bone =Game over
Once in Manali the weather lifted and we did a shortened route .
This was one tough trip,but I think the guys got a real adventure,the commraderie from clearing landslides with our bear hands and walking the bikes through,the river crossings up to the tank,the mad Hotels we were trapped in for a few days the intense monsoon rain all made it very real and not a dvd rerun.
It seems a million miles away now but i miss it already,and hope to go again next year ,it really gets the hook in you out there .
