Billi Bierling – Journalist and Climber

After almost seven weeks in the clean air of the Bavarian Alps I have returned to Kathmandu, where traffic and pollution is still as mad as it was when I left. It was really sad to leave Germany as I very much enjoyed being with my lovely family, doing a few good mountain trips and [...]

I have just come back from a two-day ridge traverse in the Alps of Garmisch-Partenkirchen and I think it was one of the most beautiful but – apart from Everest – one of the most daring things I have ever done.
My very good friend Andi from Munich, his brother-in-law, Bernd, and I decided to climb [...]

I am sitting here in my front garden with Richard looking at the medals we received after having done a mountain race today. The medal says: ”Zugspitz Extremlauf” – well, we did not do the ‘Zugspitz Extremlauf’ but I guess time was too short for the organisers to change the wording to “Gentle run up [...]

I have just noticed that I have not updated my website since I signed the ‘Golden Book’ of that famous Bavarian village of Garmisch-Partenkirchen but life has not really given me a reason to write anything interesting….until last Sunday that was. On 12th July my friend Chrissie Wellington, the current Ironman World Champion, broke the [...]

It has now been a week since I had the honour to sign my name into the famous “Golden Book” of Garmisch-Partenkirchen – well, it cannot be that famous as I had no idea what it was when my mother rang me all excited to tell me that I had been invited by the mayor [...]

After having suffered in the sweltering heat of Kathmandu for three weeks, I am now trying to cope with wintery temperatures of around 10 degrees in my Bavarian hometown Garmisch-Partenkirchen. I have finally arrived in Europe after not having set foot on the continent for more than one year and it is great to be [...]

A lot happened in Kathmandu last week, hence the silence on my website. However, one of the sad events was the death of Mick Parker, a fine Australian climber and friend of mine. Mick, together with British mountaineer Roland Hunter, had just come back from a successful trip to Makalu, which at 8,485 is the [...]

I have been back from Everest for over one week now, however, the fact that I actually made it up there still has not sunk in yet. Maybe it is because I don’t really feel it – or look like someone who has just climbed the highest mountain in the world. My friends here in [...]

ven though I was planning on writing something about base camp and the politics around Mount Everest, I first want to quickly update you about what (training) life is like after having climbed Mount Everest. It sucks! Even though I was boasting about having run all the way to Thoka the other day, I am [...]

Once again, I would like to apologise for having kept quiet for a few days but life in Kathmandu is still busy and I have not had enough time to sit down and reflect properly. There are still a few things about my Everest expedition I would like to share with you, however, I need [...]

After three days of running around in Kathmandu interviewing expeditions for the Himalayan Database, I have finally found the time to reflect on Everest and the experience I gained there. I have to admit that it still has not quite sunk in yet, and it is actually quite amazing how quickly you get back into [...]

Once again I have to apologise for not having been able to update my website since I arrived back in Kathmandu on Friday afternoon. After we had been snowed in at base camp for a couple of days the whole team managed to leave our temporary home on 27th May. I had one laughing and [...]

First of all I would like to apologise that I have not updated my site since I returned to base camp from the top of the world, however, we have been snowed in and have been unable to move. I had actually been planning to rush back to Kathmandu to help Miss Hawley with [...]

You’ll all be glad to know that Billi is now safely back in basecamp. Was great to see her this morning but I had to wait around 15 minutes as she kept on and on in front of the Discovery Channel camera. After its battery finally went flat, I got a chance to congratulate her [...]

No news this afternoon from Gorak Shep. Sorry to let you down!
Fair weather Alex Treadway didn’t visit from base camp today (there is low lying mist which makes it a bit chilly) and so no update from him. I am assuming though that the sites I mentioned yesterday have been updated and they can confirm [...]

I heard that Billi is safely in Camp 4 with most of the rest of her team at 7900m. There they will rest, rehydrate, eat if they can, keep warm and descend tomorrow I believe to camp 2. Then another night there before descending for the last time through the icefall back to basecamp.
Will keep [...]

I can’t tell you how strange / tense it is sitting at basecamp living this summit bid through tiny bits of radio communication.
Base camp is pretty deserted as most of the climbers are on the mountain.
Billi set off with the ’strong’ group of climbers this morning, well last night, at 11:30pm. The weather was reportedly [...]

This is Billi’s friend Richard in Gorak shep.
All I know right now is that the weather is very good, very calm, very beautiful.
Alex Treadway informs me that Billi left base camp early on 17th. Yesterday morning she was safely in camp 3 and hoping to summit on 21st.
I am going to base camp now and [...]

s we have yet another day in paradise without much happening climbing-wise, I thought I should enlighten my readers about how mountaineers cope with “calls of nature” in the middle of the night, during bad weather, or just in general.
I have been climbing in the Himalaya for about ten years and I have never [...]

Finally, the snow showers have died down and we have enjoyed quite a warm afternoon. People are doing their laundry, catching up on emails and watching Monty Python’s ‘The Life of Brian’ in the White Pod. Once again this whole expedition seems surreal and I still cannot believe that we are actually at the foot [...]

It may sound weird for a German to be invited to the celebrations for the Russian Liberation Day at Everest Base Camp, however, that is what happened to me a few nights ago. Alex Abramov is the owner of ‘7 Summits Club’ and I have known him for a few years now. Alex is a [...]

his Thursday was a sad day for the teams at Everest Base Camp and the Sherpa community as a huge avalanche hit the Khumbu icefall and killed Lakpa Nuru Sherpa from Thame. The serac, which had been towering above the Khumbu icefall and had been waiting to come down for quite some time, hit a [...]

his is just a very short update as I am writing this in the internet cafe at Gorak Shep. Yesterday, I and six of my team members thought that we might be going for the summit this morning. Russell had looked at the weather forecast and thought that there might be a lull in the [...]

hilst the Nepali prime minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal has resigned and swine fever is spreading across the world, we have just received the news that Phurba Tashi, Dorjee Sherpa, Nima Sherpa of Himex and one of our team members, David Tait, managed to become some of the first people to reach the summit of Chomolungma [...]

Apart from the fact that we still have not found the owner of the blue male underpants, which Ellen and I found in a sleeping bag on Lobuje, life at base camp is back to normal. All members have come back from Lobuje Peak and all Sherpas have come down from Camp 2 to rest [...]

nce again, Team Didi (that is Ellen and I) together with Lance from the United States were the first to arrive at the summit of Lobuje Peak on Friday, 24th April. Despite the doubts many of our team had about going back to the 6,119m peak, it was actually a good idea as a lot [...]

n Tuesday, Russell and the guides decided that we will not yet go up to Camp 1 through the icefall but go back to Lobuje Peak for another acclimatisation trip. The plan is to go straight from Lobuje to the summit, sleep one night at the top at 6,119m and go straight back to Everest [...]

p>The other evening, when most of our team were either at Lobuje base or high camp, a few of us were sitting in the “white pod” talking about life behind the scenes. It struck me then that even though we are inundated with programmes about Everest, very little is actually known about life behind the [...]

I have just arrived at Gorak Shep after having scaled Lobuje Peak this morning. It was the most beautiful morning and the conditions were perfect. I think it was the first time that I was not cold when I had to get out of my sleeping bag at 5am to climb a peak in the [...]

This is just a quick message from Gorak Shep, which is the last village on the Everest Base Camp trail before you get to the actual base camp. A third of my team is on their way to Lobuje base camp to acclimatise on Lobuje Peak and Alex and I walked down to Gorak Shep [...]