An attempt on Lobuje East, 1991 |
 Wednesday, 2 October 1991 – From Kathmandu to Jiri: Prior to leaving the Hotel Kathmandu, we posed for a group photograph. From left to right are: Tenzing, one of the expedition’s two Assistant Sherpas; Ang Pasang, the expedition’s Sirdar (which is a position roughly equivalent to Chief of Staff); Tarchen, the expedition’s Group Leader; Rod Rutledge, a 28-year-old chemical engineer from Gladstone, Queensland; Ralph Baulis, a 31-year-old Telecom technician from Launceston, Tasmania; Geoff Seawright, a 29-year-old software developer from Brisbane; Diane Cowan, a 31-year-old New Zealander, who was living in Melbourne and working for Kone elevators; Mike Curtin, a 48-year-old buyer-manager from Melbourne; Nigel Roberts, a 47-year-old university lecturer from Wellington, New Zealand; Jon Guyver, a 40-year-old parks supervisor from Sydney; and Dave Little, a 39-year-old general practitioner from Terrigal, NSW. Incidentally, Geoff Seawright and Diane Cowan had climbed Kilimanjaro (in 1987 and 1989 respectively) and, as I wrote in my Lobuje East expedition diary, it seemed that there was “a natural progression from Kilimanjaro to Lobuje.” When this photograph was taken, Eric Hodge, a 49-year-old public servant from Canberra, was lying in the back of the bus suffering from the ill-effects of food poisoning. |