TWO Aviemore adventurers who have helped raise £6,000 for two local charities by trekking in the Himalayas said the hairiest part of their trip was the return journey.
Gordon Mair and his wife, Debbie, recently arrived back home after making it to Everest Base Camp and also climbing the nearby 18,500ft mountain Kalla Patha in Nepal.
Mr Mair said the trip to bring in money for Disability Snowsport and the Badaguish Outdoor Centre was a "once in a lifetime experience".
However, the couple were grounded at Lukla Airport in Nepal for three days before having to endure a replacement bus service via dirt tracks all the way to the kingdom's capital, Kathmandu.
The couple were amongst a quartet who made it to the top of Kalla Patha, after leaving behind five members of their group at Everest Base Camp.
"For most of the group the goal was Everest Base Camp," said Mr Mair, who arrived home from -15C temperatures in Nepal just in time for the big freeze.
"The climb up Kalla Patha was tough; it was a long slog because we were trying to reach 18,500ft."
He added: "The weather during the trip was excellent - every day with clear blue skies, although it did get rather chilly at night.
"It was similar to what we have had recently in Scotland, but without the snow!"
Mr Mair said the 13-day trip had ended in turmoil when the group became part of a 2,000-strong throng of passengers stranded in Lukla Airport.
The Aviemore newsagent said the replacement bus service had been "the worst experience you could imagine".
"The weather did break just as we finished our trek, and due to low cloud over Lukla we were grounded, with no fixed wing aircraft flying at all," he said.
"As a result we missed our flights home, and as the weather showed no signs of changing we eventually had to be evacuated by helicopter and flown to an airfield further down the valley.
"There we were supposed to be picked up by a fixed wing plane.
"We sat for five hours before being told that the plane wouldn't be coming after all, and that we would be making the remainder of the journey back to Kathmandu by bus."
He added: "The bus was probably the worse experience you could imagine.
"There was no real road to speak of, so we were travelling down a dirt track, which made for quite an interesting journey.
"There were people being sick because they were being thrown everywhere!"
The couple intend to donate the money to the two locally based charities early in the new year, once it is all collected and counted.
Anyone still wishing to donate can do so via the Just Giving website: www.justgiving.com
