Everest Skydive Celebrating10 Years A Himalayan story that reflects ten years of cultural sharing, a life time of passion in the sport, knowledge with logistics and safety coordination, operational experience and a growing love for the world s most sublime mountain peaks. NEPAL By Wendy Smith Looking back over 10 years, the experience gained in this quite unforgiving high altitude environment has touched my heart and given me a growing curiosity for experiencing more adventures here, like climbing. After my first invitation in 2008 to Direct the Aerial Cinematography and jump for the First Mount Everest Skydives, I was asked back to Nepal at the beginning of 2009 to work on a project with Nepal businessman Suman Pandey of Explore Himalaya Travel and Adventure, to create a commercial activity with high altitude skydiving. I worked full time for two years helping set up operational logistics, international marketing and actively jumping with core crew members of the First Everest jumps in 2008. During the following years, as a team Everest Skydive has gone on to manicure equipment and missions with new and exciting options promoting adventure tourism in Nepal. Below The sun sets on Mount Everest. Photo: Wendy Smith
Approaching the unknown with equipment for missions promotes a huge mention to the Skydiving Industry sponsors who believed in me and what we could do with Everest Skydive. Performance Designs, Sun-Path Products, Vigil, Cookie, L&B and Sigma have continued to give their support to this project as we jumped, tested and recorded data on products in higher more aggressive environments. Explore Himalaya and Fishtail Helicopters of Everest Skydive, have enabled higher location scouting, opening areas more technically challenging and remote around Nepal. We collect data, images and information that has sparked media, science, human performance and a moving military interest as a training ground, from around the world. This adventure was started in 2008 using a fixed wing turbine Pilatus Porter aircraft (ferried in from Switzerland). Soon after this event, proving the worth of this aircraft at such high altitudes, Yeti Airlines brought two for servicing the upper Himalaya strips. Everest Skydive utilized these aircraft during the first four years of annual operation, we then moved on to undertake a Commercial Helicopter drop operation at the top of world. Photos: Wendy Tara Air s PC6 lands at Syangbouche airstrip. 2
Derek Thomas and Bill booth prepare for T/O Photos: Wendy Smith. Ryan Jackson exits from 29000 feet with Priscilla Telmon, Figaro Magazine. 3
Photo above: The Pilatus Porter PC6 operating drop altitude up to 94000m with take-off from Syangbouche airfield at 3780m elevation. Below: AS350B3 Helicopter in parachuting HALO operation. Photos: Wendy Smith 4
5
Above photos: Wendy Smith Fish Tail Helicopters AS350B3, Exit Omar, Alexander Zadirov and Vladimir Dolganov. Full jump operation started with the AS350B3 for Everest Skydive in 2013. Over the years, equipment innovation and adaptation has enhanced our high-altitude tools. Lighter design equipment and testing Ted Atkins bail out oxygen system has allowed Top Out Oxygen, http://topout.co.uk a mountain climber oxygen supplier, to test and have approved, a new system called Top Out Aero http://www.topoutaero.com This product is now available for civilian HALO skydiving worldwide. One of the benefits of Top Out is that it allows a precise delivery of oxygen, with greater freedom of movement in freefall. Well that proved good for 8848 Vodka! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbbhpfz_ijk&feature=youtu.be Photo: Paul Henry de Baere, Omar with Mount Everest on the right, spring 2016. 6
HISTORY: During the First Everest Skydive in 2008, Omar and I were lucky enough to free-fly a two-way, encompassed with our then slightly heavier jump gear and oxygen equipment. At the door giggling and breathing nervously under mask, wondering if it would stay on and if we would land on target. Developing Top Out Aero systems has welcomed further freedom of flight with higher speeds, at higher altitudes. Photo below is another two way with Omar in the Himalaya into Ama da Blam base camp at 15000 feet AMSL, to celebrate my 20,000 jump in 2013. Photo: Omar. Wendy exits for a freefly jump into Ama Da Blam base camp. Photo below: James above the route to Everest. 7
Photo: Wendy Smith, Valdimir Dolganov from Russia fly s his canopy back to Synagbouche DZ. One of the greatest concerns was about landing our canopies at this thin air altitude, on target! Armed with a series of different sized canopies from Performance Designs and taking into consideration other logged landing experiences, the crew have established suitable size and types for solo jumpers and tandems, for the various altitudes of our landing sites throughout the Himalaya s. Photo: ESD, Tom landing with Kim Marsh at Syangbouche. 8
Every expedition unravels a secrete experience and having Everest Skydive described to me through the eyes of a participant that had so embraced the complete Nepali way wrote: [ What I loved most about this expedition and the Everest Skydive and Explore Himalaya Travel & Adventure team was that we shared this extraordinary experience of interdependence and interconnectedness... Extraordinary. because the ordinary life experience of teams and people is forging co-dependent control which projects fear, judgment and 2-dimensional love/hate relationships with each other, the world and environment. Nature does not dwell at this base 2-dimension level; the Himalayas resonated at spirit's level of freedom, resilience and love. I pray you each get the chance to experience the treasures of the Himalayan mountains someday. Namaste] Photos: Wendy Smith, along the route to Everest The pleasure of being able to share this spiritual experience with clients from all touches of life can be one of the best reasons to keep going back. 9
Photos Wendy Smith: Ted shares magic along the way, Pablito embraces his first Himalayan experience. Photo: Paul Henry de Baere, Our spring expedition team planking at Hotel Everest View 3880m. 10