A Helicopter Ride to Remember

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Parked on the ?hard standing? at the edge of the Kathmandu runway sat an ageing lump of rotor blades and fuselage. Neither Rhys, nor Lee had flown in a helicopter before. Including our own body weights, we squeezed 3.2 tons of equipment in through the clam-shell rear doors of the Mi-17 helicopter. Piled from floor to ceiling, the ground-handlers couldn?t get any more in if they tried. The side door was closed behind us and there was a roar from the two gas-turbine engines as they fired into life. Seconds later the rotors started to turn, followed by the whole fuselage shaking, as they increased in speed.

With clearance from Air Traffic Control, we started to make our way to the edge of the runway, the tyres straining under the huge weight. We were all fired up and raring to go. The Logistics Team were ?going in?. We sat on the edge of the runway for a few minutes and then the word was given. ?Alpha, Delta, Mike, you?re clear to take off. Bearing 080, wind 10 knots?. With this, the huge 5-bladed rotor dish started to strain upwards, dragging the rest of the vast airframe with it. We were airborne.

Climbing higher and higher, 2000 meters, 2500 meters, 3000 meters, we cleared the smog of Kathmandu city and headed north east for the high-mountain village of Sangboche, which sits above Namche. It wasn?t long before we totally forgot about the odd noises coming from the aircraft, the Himalayas had come into full view down our port side. We had climbed clear of the clouds and the view was absolutely stunning. High above us were 7000 and 8000 metre peaks, backlit by a deep and intense blue sky. It couldn?t have been a more prefect day.

After about an hour, the village of Namche came into sight, sitting in its sun-drenched bowl, surrounded by monstrous peaks. Our lodge and the location for the second laboratory sat on the edge of the village above the main centre. We swooped low over the houses, before rising up to the dirt runway at Sangboche, where a team of porters were awaiting our arrival. As we hit the ground, we skidded on the soft mud before making a U-turn and coming to a halt.

?That was one heck of a ride?, shouted Lee, full of the joys of being alive!

We jumped out of the helicopter and ran over to meet two of our Sherpas. The clam-doors were flung open and they jumped aboard to start unloading the contents. We had arrived.

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