In October, Zulfi and five others trekked to Everest Base Camp raising a mammoth total – so far – of £100,000 for Help for Heroes, Marie Curie Cancer Care and the National Autistic Society.

At the charity fundraiser, Zulfi will be sharing tall tales from the trek – including details of his 50th birthday party at Base Camp, where a bit of bhangra dancing went down a storm!

Tickets priced £15 including food and entertainment are available from Deeva Restaurant Tel: 0113 236 0947 www.deeva.biz.

Just done Kala Pather. We are 1 day ahead of schedule. Half team down with altitude sickness – but ok.

Starting to head down now.

Another dream fulfilled! Having my birthday party…

From the original schedule:

Gorak Shep Altitude 5164m

This is the final acclimatization stop on most common treks to Everest Base Camp from Lukla, following what the Dalai Lama dubbed “the steps to heaven.” Climbing time from here (the original Everest base camp) to the current base camp ranges from 1.5 to 2.5 hours depending on weather conditions, acclimatization and the physical condition of the team. Fingers crossed! Strange to learn that Gorak Shep means “Dead Ravens”. What’s that all about?

Looking forward to seeing the summit – which can’t be seen from base camp – and some spectacular views from Kala Pather. It’s all downhill from here…

A few team members with altitude sickness but ok to continue so far!

Symptoms of altitude sickness:

• Periods of sleeplessness or needing more sleep than usual
• Loss of appetite
• Vivid, wild dreams (apparently especially at around 2500-3800m)! Hmmm, not sure about that one!
• Periodic breathing. (Surely we should be breathing all the time???)
• The need to rest/catch your breath frequently. (Well, I get that now if I have to run up the stairs so not sure how I will monitor that one).
• Runny nose.
• Increased urination (apparently a good sign) J
• Dizziness.