Wet finisher

Slowly, very slowly. My feet feel as if they were twice as thick. My legs are a rock-hard muscle package that hurts with every step. I’ve never taken part in a marathon, but I suppose I am feeling like a 42-kilometer-runner on the day after the race – with the difference that more than two marathon distances stick in my bones, literally. From Wednesday, 8 a.m. to Thursday, 7.55 p.m. I hiked 96 kilometers. And I have reached my goal: from Cologne Cathedral on the Way of St. James to Aachen Cathedral within 36 hours, including an overnight stay. Five minutes before the time that I had set before I reached the gate of Aachen Cathedral. The mission “Power pilgrimage for Nepal” was accomplished.

Flyers

A candle in Cologne Cathedral

When I walk into the cathedral early on Wednesday, it’s still empty. I light a candle, then a priest in the sacristy gives me the pilgrims’ blessing. Ready to go. At 8.20 a.m. I’m on my way. In Widdersdorf, at the edge of the Cologne city area (after 13 kilometers), I swear like a sailor for the first time. Somewhere on the last about 500 meters, I must have lost my map sheets that were in my trekking pants’ pocket. So back again. At a crossroad, I find the empty transparent envelope. The about 20 map sheets have been blown by the wind across the road. Two passers-by help me to collect the sheets that are partially wet now and printed with tire marks. “Now you know why we call it flyers”, says one of my friendly helpers and grins.

Not quite perfect piste conditions

The sun says goodbye

Then my hike goes by without incident. “All fine for skiing and tobogganing?”, a joker asks me in Frechen-Königsdorf (kilometer 21), when I pass him with my trekking poles. “Perfect piste conditions”, I reply. That’s not entirely true. Only after five and a half hours, I’m walking for the first time a long distance on forest trails. After all, the wind has now blown away the clouds, the sun is shining. When it goes down at 4.30 p.m. – I’ve left Kerpen (kilometer 33) behind me – the hardest part of the day begins. I am getting weaker, with pain in my legs and feet, walking only in the light of my headlamp. Don’t think! Go on and on, now on country lanes that seem never-ending.

Got my hopes up too soon

In the light of the headlamp

It’s about 7 p.m., when I see an illuminated rotunda on the horizon. I assume that this is a church in the town of Düren, where I want to finish my first stage. I summon up my last reserves of strength – and get disappointed by the place-name sign Merzenich (kilometer 47). The eye-catching building was an old water tower. Another five kilometer till Düren, then even across the town! At 9 p.m. I reach my interim destination (kilometer 56), after 13 hours on the road. Obviously I look all but fit, the woman at the hotel reception hands me commiserating a bottle of mineral water.

In twos

Still almost dry

I don’t sleep much due to heavy storm and rain that is pattering against the windows. Nevertheless, I feel so far recovered the next morning that I leave the hotel on time at 8 a.m. My son Jan, who is studying in Aachen, has got up earlier than I to accompany me on the second stage of my hike. This is balm for the soul. You are hiking simply easier if you have someone to talk to. Behind Düren, the Way of St. James leads through forests for a long time. The trails are muddy after the severe weather the night before. After four hours we enter a snack bar in in the small village of Schevenhütte (kilometer 70). We fill up our empty storages of calories with meatballs and large portions of French fries.

Raining cats and dogs

Hiking in the rain

“Normally, no more pilgrims are passing here in November”, tells us the owner of the snack bar. He is surprised that we didn’t ask for a pilgrimage stamp at the church on the other side of the road: “You are no real pilgrims without stamp.” We make up for it a few hours later, in the small village of Breinig (83 kilometers), where the stamp for the pilgrims is hanging in a box on the main road. At that time, it is already dark again, and it’s raining cats and dogs for a while: For the last six hours, we are hiking under a constant shower from above.

Stumbling to the finish

Our wet handprints on Aachen Cathedral

The forest and field paths are muddy or have turned into small streams. The water flows into the shoes, into the neck. The rain cover does not work anymore. When we turn to the finish line in Aachen, we are wet up to the underpants. On the last kilometers, we are even stumbling through the city, no longer in an upright position. It’s only the goal to reach the Cathedral within the set time that pushes us forward. And we succeed: Only when we are already taking our “summit pictures” in front of the now closed Cathedral (kilometer 96), the church bells are ringing: 8 p.m.

Go to the bank!

So, dear sponsors: Now please multiply the amount you fixed for each kilometer I hiked with 96 and transfer the money to the account of our aid project “School up!”:

Recipient: Nepalhilfe Beilngries
Bank: Volksbank Bayern Mitte eG/Germany
IBAN: DE05 7216 0818 0004 6227 07
BIC/SWIFT-Code: GENODEF1INP
Intended purpose: Gerlinde and Ralf School

Thank you – also on behalf of the children in Nepal! If I have estimated right, the amount of my sponsored hike should be about 800 euros (including donations as fixed amounts) for the reconstruction of the school in Thulosirubari. For that, I accept my heavily aching muscles for a few more days.

I will start at Cologne Cathedral …

Every kilometer counts. On Wednesday, I will set off for my „Power pilgrimage for Nepal“. The starting point of my sponsored hike on the Way of St James is Cologne Cathedral at 8 a.m. MEZ. My aim is to reach Aachen Cathedral, which is about 100 kilometers away, within 36 hours, including an overnight stay halfway. Meanwhile, the donations for each kilometer that I’ll hike have mounted up to seven euros – due to the information I’ve got directly from you. Maybe the sum will be even higher. Of course more sponsors are always welcome, even after I will have got footsore. I am pleased with every cent for our aid project „School up!“ which is aimed to rebuild the school of Thulosirubari in Nepal as soon as possible. The “Ralf and Gerlinde School” in the mountains, 40 kilometers as the crow flies from Kathmandu, had been damaged so badly by the 25 April earthquake that it had to be demolished.

Storm and rain showers

The Archbishop of Cologne, Cardinal Rainer Maria Woelki, has wished me “fine weather and above all many sponsors” for my “Power pilgrimage for Nepal”. The latter has already come true, but I’m less optimistic for the former.

… and hopefully finish at Aachen Cathedral

According to the weather forecasts, it will stay dry with a little luck. However, it could be stormy. That is unlikely to change on Thursday, and then, on my second day of hiking, I must expect rain showers too. I’ll inform you via Twitter (have a look at the right side of the blog) where I am and about my physical and mental state while I’m hiking, later probably sneaking or in the end dragging myself. For those who want to read directly on Twitter: My name there is “Springinsfeld”. This character of a mediaval German novel was the pseudonym I used for my first article that I published in a small magazine with a circulation of only 500 copies a few decades ago.

By the way, I already made (for some other reason) a short visit to Aachen Cathedral on Monday. Just at that moment, it began to rain. That was surely a good omen for my “Power pilgrimage for Nepal”, wasn’t it?

The site where the school was located

“We feel very sad to see ‘Ground zero’ of this huge school building”, says Sunil Krishna Shrestha, representative of the German aid organization “Nepalhilfe Beilngries” in Nepal. As reported before, the devastating 25 April earthquake had damaged the “Gerlinde and Ralf School” in the small mountain village of Thulosirubari so badly that it had to be demolished. The ruins had posed a danger to the children who had continued to play there after the quake. Meanwhile, the destroyed school building, where about 700 students from the region around the village had been taught before the quake, was leveled to the ground. “We were able to recover windows, doors and a few school desks and boards from the rubble”, Arjun Gatraj, the chairman of the school management committee at Thulosirubari, writes to me, adding that the old bricks could not be saved because the IOM (International Organization for Migration) had used heavy machinery to demolish the building.

Provisional classrooms

The winter is coming soon. The lessons are still held in tin sheds. “We haven’t any plan how to heat the rooms during winter because there is not enough money”, says Arjun. “The tin sheds are too cold in winter.” Nevertheless, the teachers want to continue their lessons. The ongoing blockade of the Nepalese-Indian border by opponents of the new constitution has consequences for Thulosirubari too. “Important goods and medicines are running short because it is hardly possible to find a vehicle to transport them here”, says Arjun Gatraj.

From Cologne Cathedral to Aachen Cathedral

Cologne Cathedral

Last June we started our donation campaign “School up!” to rebuild the “Gerlinde and Ralf School” as soon as possible. The well-known climbers Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner from Austria and Ralf Dujmovits from Germany are collecting donations for “School up!” during their lectures and other events. The slogan of my next activity for the project is “Power pilgrimage for Nepal”. Two weeks from today, on 18 November, I will set off in my hometown Cologne from the Cathedral for a (tough) two-day sponsored hike in all weathers on the Way of St James. The end of the hike should be the Aachen Cathedral, about 100 kilometers away. Because of my no longer quite new knees, I will not walk nonstop but stay overnight halfway and continue my hike early the next morning. That should be tough enough.

Donation per kilometer

Aachen Cathedral

I am looking for sponsors for my “Power pilgrimage for Nepal”. The revenue is used one hundred percent for “School up”. This is how it works if you join in: Before I start you determine an amount for every kilometer that I will hike between 18 November, 8 a.m. and 19 November, 8 p.m. Means: If you want to give for instance ten cents per kilometer, it would be a total of ten euros at 100 kilometer – if I really succeed in hiking this distance within the time indicated. Those who prefer to contribute a fixed amount of money can of course do so. I am grateful for any euro for the school in Thulosirubari.
While I’m on the road, I will inform you via Twitter where I am and what I am experiencing. At the end I will tell you how far exactly I hiked within these 36 hours. Then you should transfer your donation directly to the bank account of “School up!”:

Recipient: Nepalhilfe Beilngries
Bank: Volksbank Bayern Mitte eG/Germany
IBAN: DE05 7216 0818 0004 6227 07
BIC/SWIFT-Code: GENODEF1INP
Intended purpose: Gerlinde and Ralf School

You may wonder why I’ll go on a pilgrimage, albeit a short one. Very simply, because I am a Christian. And a bit of assistance from above for our project in Nepal cannot do any harm.

P.S.: You can inform me by email (you find the address on the bottom right) about the amount that you have decided to give for “Power pilgrimage for Nepal” – of course, under the pledge of secrecy, as an additional information and motivation for me. Many thanks in advance!

Landslide north of the village of Phakding

A cautious all-clear for the Everest Base Camp trail. “None of the major suspension bridges appear to be affected by new geotechnical hazards as a result of the earthquake”, says the report of a group of mountain guides and engineers of the US based agency Miyamoto International which is specialized on earthquake damage. “Much of the trail and most of the rock retaining walls (both above and below) the trail are undamaged. We have observed very little foundation damage to buildings.” At the end of June the team had assessed the condition of the trail from the village of Lukla to Everest Base Camp after the devastating earthquake of 25 April and the aftermaths. 83 percent of the observed lodges and houses were given a green tag, meaning that they were undamaged or hardly affected. And the others? “It was found that most of the buildings that were damaged can feasibly be repaired. Building owners have started reconstructing damaged buildings”, says the report.

Relocation due to hazards

Hazard of Rockfall in the village of Shomore

Heavy damage was particularly found in the lower parts of the Khumbu valley, where the small villages of Toktok and Bengkar are faced with a great hazard of debris flows and rockfall. The experts recommend relocating parts of the villages and the trekking route to the opposite side of the river Dudh Kosi. The team advises as well not to stay overnight further up the valley in the village of Shomore that was hit by rockfall. In some places of the trail signage is necessary to inform trekkers about hazards like rockfall or landslide, says the report. For the entire trail to Everest Base Camp the experts recommend a more detailed study after the monsoon period.

Local people hope for tourists coming back

Gorak Shep near Everest Base Camp

“The local teahouse owners are rapidly reconstructing the lodges and most of the works have been completed”, Dawa Gyaljen Sherpa writes to me. The Nepalese mountain guide was a member of the assessment team. “The local people are hoping that tourism will be back in Khumbu.” The Nepalese government said it would move quickly to make the trails safe. “It is our top priority to repair the trails. We’ll relocate them wherever they cannot be repaired”, said Tulsi Prasad Gautam, an official of the Tourism Ministry. Before the earthquake, usually about 40,000 Western trekkers per year had been visiting the region around Mount Everest. The fall trekking season will start in September.

More aid is needed

Dawa Gyaljen Sherpa points out to me that most of the people in the Khumbu region who were hardly affected by the earthquake live off the main trekking route and are not engaged in mountain tourism. “They still need the aid of relief organizations”, says Dawa. It’s not over. Don’t forget Nepal!

P.S.: I want to remind you of our donation campaign “School up!”. We want to rebuild the “Gerlinde and Ralf School” in Thulosirubari in Sindhupalchowk District that was particularly hardly hit by the earthquake. The school was heavily damaged and has to be demolished before it can be rebuilded. You find the bank details for your donations on the right side of my blog. Thank you for your support!

70 students per class

Discussions under trees

Meanwhile teachers have resumed the lessons, in sheds made from bamboo, wood and CGI sheets. “But the children are not safe enough to stay inside these temporary learning buildings because they cannot protect them when rain and wind take place at the same time”, Arjun, chairperson of the School Management Committee of Thulosirubari wrote to me. The “Gerlinde and Ralf School”, which was only inaugurated in 2009, was – as reported before – so badly damaged that it must be completely demolished. “Almost all of the furniture and teaching materials were destroyed too”, Arjun said. “In our leisure time, we and the teaching staff are now using the ground under a tree to discuss the teaching and learning methodologies.” Due to the lack of rooms, the classes have been merged, they now have about 70 students each. “The teachers are feeling that it is problematic to teach them effectively under these conditions.”

“Everybody joined the work”

Opening of the school in 2009

This is reminiscent of the period before the construction of the school. “When we were in Thulosirubari for the first time, we met children who were taught sitting on the floor due to the lack of school furniture,” says Gerlinde. “The small classrooms were overcrowded.” At that time, the idea was born to build a larger school together with the Nepalhilfe Beilngries. “Everybody joined the work, the childrens’ parents, whether men or women, all helped. Eighteen months later, the new school building was finished”, the Austrian mountaineer, who was the first woman to climb all 14 eight-thousanders without supplemental oxygen, recalls. ”I’ll never forget the moment when we were standing in front of more than five hundred students who were so incredibly happy about their new school. It was a wonderful day.”

Dangerous way to school

Lessons for many students

Only the memory remains – and the ruins of a school, which was once a symbol of hope for a better future. In the village, hostels are also missing for students and teachers who are coming from outside to stay. “The students have to walk for hours to attend the lessons”, Arjun Gatraj wrote. “But now their way to school is more dangerous due to the earthquake.” After all, said Arjun, Thulosirubari has been spared from floods and landslides in the monsoon so far, so that there is no need to worry about the crops and plantations. “The villagers are thinking more of their children’s future than their own lives.” And that will be decided in the classroom. “Let’s combine our efforts to rebuild the school”, Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner appeals – even to you. You can ensure with your donations for our project “School up!” that the “Gerlinde and Ralf School” will soon be more than just a memory.

You can transfer money to this bank account in Germany:

Recipient: Nepalhilfe Beilngries
Bank: Volksbank Bayern Mitte eG/Germany
IBAN: DE05 7216 0818 0004 6227 07
BIC/SWIFT-Code: GENODEF1INP
Intended purpose: Gerlinde and Ralf School

P.S. I’ll be on holidays till the end of July. But you won’t have to miss my blog completely. Next week I’ll publish a series in occasion of the 150th anniversary of the first ascent of the Matterhorn.

The School in Thulosirubari after the earthquake

It looked as if the magician David Copperfield had staged one of his grand illusions. “The school was much smaller than I remembered it”, Ralf Dujmovits tells me. “First I didn’t even realize that the ground floor had just slumped down. The upper parts of the building were still standing. Only when I got loser, I saw the extent of damage. That really brought tears to my eyes.” Germany’s most successful high altitude climber visited the “Gerlinde and Ralf School” in Thulosirubari one and a half weeks after the devastating earthquake in Nepal. Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner and Ralf Dujmovits had given financial support to the project of the German aid organization “Nepalhilfe Beilngries” and thus had made it possible that the school had been opened in 2009. “If you suddenly realize that the building has to be demolished, you just begin to cry”, says Ralf. You all can help to rebuild the school by supporting the campaign “School up!”.

Guaranteed for the benefit of the people in Nepal

In recent weeks, I have written repeatedly about the consequences of the earthquake in Nepal. Many have asked me how they can help the people in the country directly – with the guarantee that their money does not disappear into dark channels. So the idea was born to use my blog to give my determined support to a specific aid project. I will provide you with first-hand information and reports on the progress of the project. That way I want to document that the people in Nepal really benefit from the donations. I have a longtime friendship with Gerlinde and Ralf. So the choice fell on the School of Thulosirubari that needs to be demolished after the described earthquake “write-off”.

Nothing but a pile of rubble

The village Thulosirubari is located near the city of Chautara, about 40 kilometers as the crow flies east of the capital Kathmandu. “Far away from the famous trekking routes, really isolated”, says Ralf. “You can reach Thulosirubari on partially adventurous gravel roads. You don’t pass by coincidentally. You really must want to go there.” More than 5,000 people are living in the village, which is part of Sindhupalchowk District. In no other district of Nepal more people died in the quake. 3,440 of the more than 8,700 dead, who were registered by the Government of Nepal, came from Sindhupalchowk. “In some villages, only ten percent of the houses remained. The rest is nothing but a pile of rubble.”

Place of energy

Gerlinde and Ralf at the opening in 2009, on their right Austrian climber Theo Fritsche who helped to build three schools with Nepalhilfe Beilingries

Before the earthquake, 700 students per year attended the “Gerlinde and Ralf School”. “They come from far away, some have to walk up for two hours to reach the school”, says Ralf. “It is located on top of a hill. From there you have a great view of the mountains in Langtang. For me it was always a place of power where I felt a lot of positive energy.” With your help this place of energy is to be restored as fast as possible. “The whole nation is set back if education is missing. That is the real disaster”, says Ralf Dujmovits. “It’s mainly the education of young people that pushes a country forward.” The reconstruction of the school can also help to keep the rural exodus from the region around Thulosirubari within a limit. “It is important that people feel at home there”, says Ralf. “And that parents can hope that their children have a future despite the earthquake. “ So, let us tackle! School up!
Here are the bank account data of the donation campaign in Germany:

Recipient: Nepalhilfe Beilngries
Bank: Volksbank Bayern Mitte eG/Germany
IBAN: DE05 7216 0818 0004 6227 07
BIC/SWIFT-Code: GENODEF1INP
Intended purpose: Gerlinde and Ralf School