Everest 2008: HobyJackson Expedition Gearing up for South

Brad Jackson and Sandy Hoby are hoping to make the 2008 Mt. Everest season a success. They will be leaving their native Australia on friday. Brad contacted me lastnight with news that the permit Altitude Junkies, with whom Brad and Sandy will be climbing, had applied for on the South has been granted. Originally, like quite a few expeditions this year, they were planing on a North Expedition until China decided to change everyone’s plans.

“My partner and I are off to Kathmandu this Friday with Altitude Junkies (Phil Crampton) to attempt the South side of Everest. We initially planned to attempt via Tibet but we all know what happened there.

“We got to 7,200 m last year on Cho Oyu till we got kicked off due to bad weather and a closing permit with IMG this year but both felt fit and umm..reasonably healthy (a touch of the AMS, now and then), so hoping to give Everest our best shot this year.

As they mentioned, they will be climbing with Altitude Junkies in 2008 and led by Phil Crampton who will be leading his 5th expedition up the world’s tallest peak. Phil has lead expeditions in the Himalayan region for over 10 years. Phil is already in Kathmandu finalizing preparations for the team and awaiting their arrival.

Sandy Hoby will be climbing for the Cure Our Kids Foundation

Sandy, herself was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer–FAP–which is elaborated on at the Cure Our Kids website:

“People with FAP inevitably succumb to bowel cancer and rarely live past 30. That is, unless they have their whole large intestine removed – which was the case with Sandy. Having been diagnosed early, Sandy was lucky to have had this medical intervention to prolong her life. Yet, what it also means is that she has a much lower than normal immune system. So even common ailments such as a cold can seriously jeopardise her health.

But her condition hasn’t stopped Sandy from living life to the full. Quite the opposite. It’s taught her to seize every opportunity for happiness, and above all to strive to achieve an abundance of peak experiences which life has on offer.

Now, with the world’s tallest mountain as her forthcoming challenge, Sandy needs your support. She is taking on this mammoth expedition with the aim to help kids with cancer at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead experience as much joy and wellbeing as their limited lives might allow. Yet, to achieve this important goal she asks you to please make a donation to Cure Our Kids.

You can learn a bit more about Sandy and Brad by visiting their personal site HobyJackson 2008 and taking a look around. They offer a glimpse into their daily life, as well as some very good photos of some of their past expeditions–including Cho Oyu.

Altitude Junkies will be making daily updates to the teams progress on the expeditions website–just go there and click ‘news’ to follow along.

Also, I am hoping to gain an interview with the pair as well as some special reports once they get to Kathmandu–pending approval from Phil Crampton.

Many teams will be enroute to Kathmandu–a few are already there, others will be leaving in the next couple of days to meet up with teammates. The 2008 Mt. Everest climbing season is getting ready to kick off–once the teams are in Kathmandu, daily reports should start kicking in. I will try to keep all of you updated, not only on the Altitude Junkies Expedition, but on the rest as well. It is going to be an exciting year!

By the way, stop on over and check out Brad and Sandy’s Expedition, and if you have an extra five bucks, help support Sandy’s Cause. I am sure they will appreciate all the help they can get.