As many of you know, I was fortunate enough to help guide and to be the photographer for last year's Everest Rocks! trek to Everest basecamp as a fundraiser for the Love Hope Strength Foundation.
It was an amazing adventure from start to finish, with incredible performances by rock legends Mike Peters (The Alarm), Cy Curnin & Jamie West-Oram (The Fixx), Slim Jim Phantom (Stray Cats), Glenn Tilbrook (Squeeze), and Nick Harper. As if the music wasn't enough, we also were rasing money for the Bhaktapur Cancer Center in Bhaktapur (the old city of the Kathmandu Valley). The nearly $500,000 raised through the trek bought the Center essential equipment that will saves many lives in Nepal.
While I was capturing still images during the trip, Alex Coletti and his video team of Damien Drake and Stash Slionski put together a great film of the entire adventure which aired recently on VH1. If you missed it, have no fear...it's also available on DVD through the Love Hope Strength store.
Watching it the other day, I was impressed by how well Alex and his team put together such a huge amount of material, packaged it into a viewable timeframe, and kept it emotional, poignant, and to the point. From the stunning scenery of the Khumbu to emotional performances (like that of Nick Harper playing Imaginary Friend - see video below) to the real life stories and struggles of cancer patients in Nepal, the Everest Rocks DVD is great, and the funds from it will help the LHS Foundation help more people around the world in their fight against cancer.
Listen to Nick Harper playing the emotional ballad Imaginary Friend and explaining the song below, and then go buy the DVD!
- Jake Norton is an Everest climber, guide, photographer, writer, and motivational speaker from Colorado.
