Billi Bierling – Journalist and Climber

Against most people’s imaginations and expectations, life in Islamabad can actually be quite an active one – you just have to look out for all the different opportunities. There are the Margalla Hills that offer great hikes or runs, numerous gyms, yoga and Pilates classes, plenty of opportunities to bike, several swimming pools, my core [...]

I have just come back from one of the most amazing places I have been to in terms of landscape and people – Chitral situated in northern Pakistan in the midst of the majestic Hindukush mountain range. The reason I went there was a professional assignment for the Swiss Development Corporation (SDC) I am currently [...]

I am sitting here drenched in sweat even though our little house in Islamabad is rather cold at the moment. Winter has started and the temperatures have dropped significantly and in spite of being warm outside in the sun, it requires a shawl, a hat and a hot-water-bottle inside the house. “I can’t believe I [...]

It has been exactly four weeks that I came back from Makalu, spent five days with my friends in Kathmandu and quickly took off again to start another batch of working for the Swiss Agency for Development and Corporation (SDC) here in Islamabad. It has been a quick transition between attempting to climb Makalu and [...]

Finally, my mind has arrived where my body has been for the past five days – in the heat and dust of Kathmandu, where roadworks are still ongoing and even getting on a bike through the traffic has become almost impossible. However, it has been great to be back here for longer than one day [...]

This is just a quick update to let everyone know that I am back in Kathmandu after a short helicopter flight from Yangle Kharka. Well, the helicopter flight was short but the walk from base camp to Yangle Kharka was long as it took us 10 1/2 hours to get there on Sunday. I am [...]

Robot: As reported by Billi on her satphone: “EXPEDITION OVER. WE R AT C2 BUT ITS FAR TOO WINDY TO MOVE TO THE MAKALU LA. WEATHER NOT SUPPOSED TO IMPROVE, SO WE ARE GOING DOWN. MORE …” soon…. See more updates on Billi’s Twitter feed.

This is just a very brief update to let you know that we are attempting to reach the summit again on Monday, 8th October. I personally don’t think that I’ll stand a big chance to set foot on the smallest 8.000 er summit in the world as the winds are just too high and I [...]

  http://www.outsideonline.com/blog/outdoor-adventure/expedition-watch-climbing-makalu.html?172175051

I am lying in my sleeping bag at base camp and it is feeling cold – but maybe not as cold as two nights ago when I was shivering in my tent at an altitude of 7,900m, where it was about -20C. A lot has happened since then and I am not sure whether we [...]

Hopefully will will now also being on Twitter and posting from her satphone over the coming days. Hopefully. Follow her here: https://twitter.com/BilliBierling Tweets by @BilliBierling

Robot here. Received a small text from Billi yesterday. It mentioned that she is safe and well and hoping to be up the around 29 September (i.e. today). She says also that she is feeling good but slow, as always.  More updates as I receive them!

Finally, we have touched this beautiful mountain properly. After having been up to our camp 1 at 6,100m for one night and tagged camp 2 at about 6,500m, we are back at our base camp. I am saying ‘our base camp’ as we seem to be camped about two hours further down the hill than [...]

Hello, This is Billi’s robot. 10th September update (and Billi has run out of Satphone credit): We are at ABC at 5400m and it is beautiful. We are the only expedition here and the walk in was great!! 5th Sept update: IN YANGLE KHARKA. BEAUTIFUL LANDSCAPE. STILL NO PEOPLE. VERY GRATEFUL THAT I AM SO [...]

After having spent a week in Kathmandu it is time to leave again. It has been great to see friends and be back in the city for a few days, however, the current road widening campaign that is going on all over the city makes getting around even harder. Last year, the Nepali government (whichever [...]

After having come back from Kilimanjaro and the Safari that goes with it, I all of a sudden noticed that it was only 10 more days until I will leave for my next adventure and go to Makalu, the fifth highest peak in the world. The Tanzania trip went well and even though I did [...]

After having spent six beautiful weeks in Europe I am on the road again – first to Tanzania, then back to Nepal and later in the year to Pakistan for work . Europe was beautiful and I really enjoyed Bavaria, my friends’ and family’s company, the peace and quiet as well as the feeling of [...]