It’s important to step away from the business sometimes to spend quality time with the family and it was great to take a few days off although in reality I never really step away from the business. It’s my passion after all and I love taking customers out to Nepal, it never feels like a job to me.

I managed to get out and about for 3 hiking days over the holidays, with one day standing out amongst the others because of the amazingly large amount of snow we had. I planned a days training for 3 customers, Adam, Stephen Dean who are booked onto our Everest Base Camp trek plus a friend and took them on a winter training hike up Pen Y Fan in the Brecon Beacons. It was certainly a test for the guys, especially with the 5am wakeup call and the cold temperatures. I couldn't believe how deep the snow was too, It was easily 2ft of snow in most places with all of the paths fully covered so we had to be laser-focused on accurate navigation but we managed to summit before sunrise and watch the sun peak through the clouds and we also got some cool pics to take home too. The views were worth it! It was perfect training for an Everest Base Camp trek and naturally, there were a few aching muscles the day after that's for sure.

Dean, Stephen, and Adam all work for Barclays in different roles and have different reasons on why they want to trek to Mt Everest but one thing they all share is a determination and desire to make it to BASE CAMP. These are ordinary guys in ordinary jobs looking to do an extraordinary thing and let's not beat around the bush here, getting to Everest Base Camp is an extraordinary achievement. It really is!