Skibbereen barrister conquers Everest Base Camp

A three-week expedition to Everest Base Camp proved challenging and thrilling for Skibbereen barrister Catherine Griffin.

Catherine was part of a nine-person team led by mountaineer Pat Falvey and local Sherpas.

Courtmacsherry-based Cllr Paul Hayes, and his brother Kevin, also completed the trek and posted stunning online photographs and videos of the entire journey.

One of the highlights for Catherine was the re-enactment of her Kilimanjaro submitting photo-op in which she posed with a copy of The Southern Star.

The MD of The Southern Star, Sean Mahon, had been on that Tanzanian trip in 2019, and had presented each of the West Cork trekkers with a framed copy of them holding the paper at the summit.

‘It’s hanging in my office in Cork ever since,’ said Catherine, ‘so on this occasion I wanted to bring home a similar souvenir from my second expedition with Pat Falvey.’

Catherine had – quite literally – packed her bags, ready for the Everest trip in April 2020, but the day after Leo Varadkar’s famous March 12th speech, Pat phoned to say it was all off.

‘Everest Base Camp at 5,364m was more challenging than Kilimanjaro even though it wasn’t as high,’ she said.

‘Physically, it was a lot tougher. It was hard because you’re climbing in altitude and we don’t get to experience that in Ireland. We started at 3,000m and it took us a week from the time we arrived in Lukla to get to the base camp.

‘It was a week’s walking, averaging 12 to 15 km every day. Of course, it was easier on the way out because you are dropping altitude.

‘That varied only once when – in an effort to get a flight out of Lukla ahead of the weather – we had to do two days walking in one,’ said Catherine.

‘Our legs were knackered at that stage but we had to do 25 km from 6.45am to 5.45pm – with just a couple of breaks – to get out on the available flight.’

Catherine said the amount of kit required for this kind of expedition is ‘considerable’ but she already had a lot of the gear, being a proud member of Skibbereen Walking Group and well versed in hillwalking in Cork and Kerry. 

‘I did have to buy a couple of extra things – like extra warm jackets and a really good sleeping bag but nothing exceptional.

‘It’s not like we needed oxygen,’ she said, ‘and we were staying in tea houses along the way.

‘They were like B&Bs. They were basic but warm. It was certainly easier than camping on the sides of Kilimanjaro.’

As well as having the rare and wonderful opportunity to experience the Sherpa culture of the Himalayan villages, Catherine was delighted to find the food ‘exceptional.’

‘I am actually vegan and I was worried how I was going to fare, but they grow all their own veggies.

‘We’d see them using old fashioned hoes and scythes in the production of the most amazing vegetables as we walked through the Khumbu valley.’