Entertainment insurance executive James Chippendale and music icon Mike Peters of the Welsh band The Alarm know about fighting. Both suffered through battles with cancer, never gave up, and managed to beat back the disease which ravaged their bodies.
After the fight, James and Mike came together to build the Love Hope Strength Foundation (LHSF) with the aim of building a worldwide support network for cancer patients, from Kansas City to Kathmandu.
To that end, they have teamed up with musicians and a group of dedicated trekkers - all of whom have been touched by cancer in some way - to embark on an amazing journey: a trek to Everest's Khumbu Basecamp in Nepal to raise money for LHSF and the worldwide cancer network.
And, as if that weren't enough, the musicians will play an acoustic concert at Basecamp - all 17,600 feet of it! - and the entire journey will culminate with a full-blown rock show in Kathmandu in late October, 2007. All of it will be captured on film by MTV and BBC crews headed by Alex Coletti, producer of the acclaimed MTV Unplugged series.
I am honored to be a part of the team as a photographer and additional guide, and am looking forward to the joys, thrills, and challenges of this amazing trek.
Most of the trekkers have not been to Nepal before or the Everest (Khumbu) Valley, and I thought it would be helpful for them to see a bit of the terrain, the views, faces, and places of this spectacular region.
To that end, I put together a couple of photo montages for the team, hosted on YouTube. There are two slideshows, one of Kathmandu and one of the trek through the Khumbu region to Basecamp.
But, before watching the videos, please swing on over to the LHSF Everest Rocks website and see how you can help to create a worldwide network for cancer patients. As Margaret Mead said:
Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. In fact, it’s the only thing that ever has.
You can view the embedded videos below, or click on these links to see them on YouTube:
Kathmandu video:
Khumbu Trek video:
Thank you so much for the inspiring videos combined with the moving music. It is a very nice trip to the mountains from the 780' elevation of Winnipeg in the Canadian prairies.
Posted by: David Zinger | June 27, 2007 at 10:05 AM
Thanks, David! Glad you enjoyed the videos and they provided a nice altitude excursion from the prairies!
Best,
-Jake
Posted by: Jake Norton | July 11, 2007 at 12:06 PM