APM event hosted by the Midlands Branch on 13 March 2024. Speaker: Stevan Jackson Kangchenjunga (8586m / 28,169ft) in remote North-eastern Nepal is the world’s third highest mountain. It is rarely climbed as it has no easy routes, all its faces are objectively dangerous and its ridges long and hard. This event was held on 13 March 2024. In 2000 Stevan Jackson led only the second British expedition to climb the South-West face (Yalung face) since the very first ascent in 1955. This has not been repeated since. He was subsequently involved in the British Everest West Ridge Expedition, 2006. This presentation offered several benefits to project managers at all levels: 1. Learning from Extreme Environments: Project managers can gain insights into leading & managing projects in extreme and unpredictable environments. Lessons learned from high-altitude mountaineering are often applicable to the business world, especially in terms of risk management, contingency planning, and decision-making under pressure. 2. Risk Management Skills: The challenges faced during such expeditions are enormous and involve significant risk. Understanding how these risks were assessed, managed, and mitigated can provide valuable lessons in risk management for any project. 3. Team Dynamics and Leadership: High-altitude expeditions require strong leadership and effective team dynamics. Project managers can learn about building, leading, and motivating teams, especially in challenging and high-stakes situations. 4. Adaptability and Problem-Solving: Such expeditions often encounter unforeseen challenges, requiring quick thinking and adaptability. Learning how the expedition leader navigated these challenges can provide project managers with strategies for problem-solving and adapting to changing circumstances in their projects. 5. Project Planning and Execution: Mountaineering expeditions involve meticulous planning and precise execution, like complex projects in the business world. Project managers can learn about planning strategies, resource allocation, and execution tactics. 6. Resilience and Perseverance: Lessons in resilience and the importance of perseverance in the face of adversity can be incredibly inspiring and applicable to the project management world, especially for managing long and challenging projects. 7. Prince 2 Methodology Insights: With the speaker being Prince 2 qualified, attendees can gain specific insights into this widely recognized PM methodology, which can be particularly beneficial for beginners or those looking to formalise their project management skills. 8. Networking and Inspiration: Attending such a presentation provides an opportunity to network with other professionals and be inspired by a leader who has achieved remarkable feats in both mountaineering and project management. https://www.apm.org.uk/news/scaling-new-heights-project-management-on-the-world-s-3rd-highest-peak/

1. “To be a person is to have a story to tell.”
Isak Dinesen (aka Karen Blixen (1885-
1962))
• My story is of leadership of
mountaineering expeditions on the
highest mountains in the World:
“Succeeding in the Savage Arena”

5. The Fourteen 8,000 Metre Peaks
• Mount Everest
Elevation: 29,035 feet (8,850 meters)
• K2
Elevation: 28,253 feet (8,612 meters)
• Kangchenjunga
Elevation: 28,169 feet (8,586 meters)
• Lhotse
Elevation: 27,890 feet 8,501 meters)
• Makalu
Elevation: 27,765 feet (8,462 meters)
• Cho Oyu
Elevation: 27,765 feet (8,201 meters)
• Dhaulagiri
Elevation: 26,794 feet (8,167 meters)
• Manaslu
Elevation: 26,758 feet (8,156 meters)
• Nanga Parbat
Elevation: 26,658 feet (8,125 meters)
• Annapurna
Elevation: 26,545 feet (8,091 meters)
• Gasherbrum I
Elevation: 26,470 feet (8,068 meters)
• Broad Peak
Elevation: 26,400 feet (8,047 meters)
• Gasherbrum II
Elevation: 26,360 feet (8,035 meters)
• Shishapangma
Elevation: 26,289 feet (8,013 meters)

6. Major Expeditions
• 1978 Member RN&RMMC Arctic Norway & Lofoten Islands Expedition
• 1987 Leader RN&RMMC Mt Kenya & Mt Kilimanjaro Expedition
• 1988 Leader RN&RMMC Cordillera Huayhuash (Peru) Expedition
• 1989 Leader RN&RMMC Cordillera Real (Bolivia) Expedition
• 1994 Member RN&RMMC Yosemite Expedition (California)
• 1995 Leader RN rock climbing expedition to Costa Brava (Spain)
• 1996 Deputy Leader British Services Gasherbrum I (8086m) Expedition
(Pakistan)
• 2000 Leader of the British Service Kangchenjunga (8586m) Expedition
(Nepal)
• 2002 Leader Services Annapurna Circuit Expedition (Nepal)
• 2006 Leader visiting team Everest West Ridge Expedition 2006 (Tibet)
• 2007 Group Leader Services expedition to Aconcagua (Argentina)

7. My Himalayan Apprenticeship

8. Gasherbrum I – Hidden Peak

12. Himalayan Apprenticeship
Gasherbrum 1 (8086m)

13. Lessons
Learned from
Gasherbrum
• Be a team player
– Be observant
• Be able to function at altitude
– Be prepared to continue
when below par
• Don’t be psyched out
– Bite size chunks
• Be organised
– Get your life sorted
• Be adaptable
– No plan survives contact
with the mountain

16. THE BRITISH SERVICES
KANGCHENJUNGA
EXPEDITION 2000
• Kangchenjunga is located in
remote North Eastern Nepal
and at 8586m / 28,169ft is
third highest mountain.
• It is rarely climbed as it has no
easy routes, all of its faces are
objectively dangerous and its
ridges long and hard.
• Its position at the extreme
east of the Himalaya ensures
that it bears the full brunt of
the monsoon.
• The British Services
Kangchenjunga Expedition
aimed to climb the South
West (Yalung) Face

17. THE BRITISH SERVICES KANGCHENJUNGA
EXPEDITION 2000
“There is no doubt that those who first
climb Kangchenjunga will achieve the
greatest feat in mountaineering, for
it is a mountain which combines in its
defences not only the severe
handicaps of wind, weather and very
high altitude, but technical problems
and objective dangers even higher
than those we encountered on
Everest”
Sir John Hunt

19. Features of
a Project
• A start and a finish (Time)
• Is a unique activity with a visible output
• May involve uncertainty and risk
• Involves a team coming together
specifically for the project
• A budget (Cost)
• Non repetitive tasks, sequential order
• Use of resources (including human
resources)
• A single point of ultimate responsibility
• Clearly defined team roles
• Clear aims, objectives, goals (Quality)

20. Aim of the Expedition
To conduct a Joint Service
mountaineering expedition
to the Kangchenjunga
Himal region of Nepal in
order to allow personnel to
participate in Adventurous
Training designed to test
leadership and develop
fitness, self-reliance, moral
courage, initiative, powers
of endurance and
interdependence.

22. Dated 23 March 00
BSKE 2000 – OUTLINE SCHEDULE OF KEY DATES
DATE EVENT REMARKS
Fri 17th March Expedition Launch (Royal Marines Museum, Southsea,
Portsmouth)
Mon 20th Mar Advance party (Hughes, Edington, Scott, Martin) depart UK,
with expedition equipment.
Tue 21st Mar Advance Party arrive KTM.
Equipment to BGN go-down.
21st – 28th Mar Advance Party in KTM – obtain equipment from BGN.
Collect bulk of expedition equipment from Pokhara (Andy
Edington + Colin Scott).
Fri 24th Mar Pema to Oktang with Summit Trekking kit for MT BC.
Mon 27th Mar Main Body (23 pax) depart UK.
Tue 28th Mar Main Body arrive KTM.
28/29/30 Mar In KTM (Summit Hotel)
31st Mar Both Teams fly to Suketar (26 pax)
Two shuttles
1st – 10th Apr Walk in to Kangchenjunga South Base Camp
6th April Helo Lift to Ghunsa (2800kg)
JT kit left at Ghunsa for trek to Pangpema
Main Team kit (& JT medical kit) moved over to Kanchenjunga
BC to await arrival of both teams
10th or 11th Apr Both teams arrive Kangchenjunga BC
Junior Team Leave BC for trek to Pangpema
about 17th Apr JT arrive Pangpema.
8th May JT Depart Pangpema for Suketar
About 15th May JT Arrive Suketar
Thu16th May JT + Lincoln Rowe fly Suketar to KTM
Fri 19th May JT + Lincoln Rowe Fly KTM to UK
Wed 31st May Main Team depart Base Camp for Suketar May decide to leave earlier if all gone well
Sun 4th June MT arrive Suketar
Mon 5th Jun MT fly Suketar to KTM
Fri 9th June MT fly KTM to UK This date is fixed – virtually no chance of changing

23. DAY DATE BASE CAMP CAMP 1/2 CAMP 1 CAMP 2 CAMP 3 CAMP 4
PERS LOADS PERS LOADS PERS LOADS PERS LOADS PERS LOADS PERS
1 Apr-10 18 ABCDEFGHI Recce
2 Apr-11 18 ABCDEFGHI 7 (14 x 1/2)
3 Apr-12 18 ABCDEFGHI 18 0
4 Apr-13 18 ABCDEFGHI 18 0
5 Apr-14 18 ABCDEFGHI 18 0
6 Apr-15 18 ABCDEFGHI RD
7 Apr-16 18 ABCDEFGHI 18
8 Apr-17 18 ABCDEFGHI 18
9 Apr-18 18 ABCDEFGHI 18
10 Apr-19 18 ABCDEFGHI RD 0
11 Apr-20 14 CDEFGHI 14 4 AB 0
12 Apr-21 14 CDEFGHI 14 4 AB 0
13 Apr-22 14 CDEFGHI 14 4 AB 0
14 Apr-23 14 CDEFGHI 14 4 AB 0
16 Apr-24 14 CDEFGHI RD 0 4 AB RD 0
15 Apr-25 14 CDEFGHI 14 4 AB 4
17 Apr-26 14 CDEFGHI 14 4 AB 4
18 Apr-27 14 CDEFGHI 14 4 AB 4
19 Apr-28 14 CDEFGHI 14 4 AB 4
20 Apr-29 14 CDEFGHI RD 0 4 AB RD 0
21 Apr-30 10 EFGHI 10 8 ABCD 4 AB
22 May-01 10 EFGHI 10 4 AB 4 4 CD 0
23 May-02 10 EFGHI 10 4 AB 4 4 CD 0
24 May-03 10 EFGHI 10 4 AB 4 4 CD 0
25 May-04 10 EFGHI RD 0 4 AB RD 0 4 CD RD 0
26 May-05 10 EFGHI 10 4 AB 4 4 CD 4
27 May-06 10 EFGHI 10 4 AB 4 4 CD 4
28 May-07 10 EFGHI 10 4 AB 4 4 CD 4
29 May-08 10 EFGHI RD 0 4 AB RD 0 4 CD RD 0
30 May-09 10 EFGHI 10 4 AB 4 4 CD 4
31 May-10 10 EFGHI 10 4 AB 4 4 CD 4
32 May-11 10 EFGHI 10 4 AB 4 4 CD 4
33 May-12 18 ABCDEFGHI RD 6 4 AB rtbc 0 4 CD rtbc 0
34 May-13 18 ABCDEFGHI RD 0 0 0 0 0
35 May-14 18 ABCDEFGHI RD 0 0 0 0 0
35 May-15 10 ABCDI 6 (not CD) 8 EFGH 0 0
36 May-16 2 I 2 8 ABCD 0 8EFGH
37 May-17 2 I 2 4 AB 4 4 CD 4 8EFGH
38 May-18 2 I 2 4 AB 4 4 CD 4 8EFGH 0 0
39 May-19 2 I 2 4 AB 4 4 CD 4 8EFGH 0 0
40 May-20 2 I 2 4 AB 4 4 CD 4 8EFGH 8 0
41 May-21 2 I 2 0 0 8 ABCD 8 8EFGH 8 0
42 May-22 2 I RD 0 0 RD 0 8EFGH RD 0
43 May-23 2 I 8 ABCD 0 8 EFGH
44 May-24 2 I 8EFGH 8 ABCD 1st Summit Bid (EFGH)
45 May-25 2 I 8EFGH 8 ABCD 2nd Summit Bid (ABCD)
46 May-26 10 EFGHI 8 ABCD
47 May-27 18 ABCDEFGHI
48 May-28 18 ABCDEFGHI Spare / Strip Mountain
49 May-29 18 ABCDEFGHI Spare / Strip Mountain
50 May-30 18 ABCDEFGHI Spare / Strip Mountain
51 May-31 18 ABCDEFGHI Spare / Strip Mountain
52 Jun-01 18 ABCDEFGHI Spare / Strip Mountain
53 Jun-02 18 ABCDEFGHI Spare / Strip Mountain
284 144 68 80 48 64 16 16
Total Loads carried 416
Total Man Days above BC 304
Total Base Camp Man Days 660

24. BSKE 2000 - Statement of Income & Expenditure
INCOME EXPENDITURE
Main Team Personal Contributions @ 14 x £1,500 £21,000.00 Jagged Globe - in Country Costs - Both Teams £110,503.00
Junior Team Personal Contributions @ 11 x £750 £8,250.00 Equipment (Down, Neoprene, CEBE, Fixed Rope, Snow Shoes) £14,619.62
Berlin Infantry Brigade Memorial Trust Fund £15,000.00 Insurance £5,479.40
Nuffield Trust £14,112.62 Meals in Summit Hotel & in Kathmandu - Both Teams £4,230.00
JSETC Sponsorship Grant £9,000.00 Main Team - Sherpas' Bonuses £3,355.00
JSETC Endorsement Grant £3,000.00 Both Teams - Tips / Bonuses - Camp Staff £2,000.00
JSMC £5,000.00 Training - Bavaria/Switzerland/Scotland/Wales £1,750.00
CILOR Main Team £2,800.00 Freight to Nepal - Out £3,175.20
CILOR Junior Team £1,750.00 Freight - Return £1,653.23
Army Central Fund £10,000.00 Satcom calls both teams £2,358.11
HQ LAND Grant £10,000.00 Launch - Catering £1,682.61
AMA £1,650.00 Launch - Invitations - Printing £71.63
Sailors Fund £14,000.00 Food & Drink supplements - Both Teams £711.57
RN Sports Lottery £13,000.00 Expedition Stationery & Postage £1,575.00
Fleet Amenities Fund £3,000.00 Gas - Both Teams £509.04
RM Corps Funds £3,600.00 Expedition T Shirts £296.00
J Raitt (in lieu of Corps Funds) £600.00 Replacement Stoves for RAFMA £204.69
RN&RMMC £3,000.00 Postcards - Main Team £164.97
DNPTS AT Grant £1,500.00 Postcards - Junior Team £172.72
Residue from RNRMMC Gimigella Expedition £1,249.49 Flights to Pokhara £167.50
RAF Special Projects Fund £6,000.00 Hire of Radios £150.00
RAF Sports Lottery £1,200.00 RGS Copyright £70.50
RAFMA £1,100.00 VCDS Presentation Jul 00 £585.00
Sale of Expedition T Shirts £375.00 Miscellaneous £562.32
Sale of Expedition Post Cards £200.00 Total £156,047.11
A Hinkes £1,500.00 Balance of Income over Expenditure £0.00
BT £1,000.00
Bull Computers £1,000.00
BA £880.00
Thames Water £500.00
Software Training Services £250.00
Stephenson Engineering £250.00
Allied Distillers £250.00
Mrs C L Smith £30.00
Total £156,047.11

25. Team Selection

26. Team Selection
• 14 Members
– 1/3 Experienced Himalayan
Hands
– 1/3 Good strong Alpine
Climbers
– 1/3 Competent (new blood)
– Need leaders in each of the
groups (strong spine)
• 3 teams of 4 plus 2 spare
members
• 4 Sherpas
– For logistic lift NOT lead
climbers

27. Team Selection
• Team selection focussed on four key
qualities:
– Commitment
• To getting someone on the top
of Kangchenjunga
– Character
• "Leadership is a combination
of strategy and character. If
you must be without one, be
without the strategy."
General Norman Schwarzkopf
– Compatibility
• The ability to get on with
people is essential
– Climbing Competence
• A requirement, but not the
first one

28. Training
• Training included
improving key skills
and techniques ( e.g.
placing, ascending
and descending fixed
ropes) but the most
important job was to
meld 14 climbers into
a highly effective and
committed team
willing to work for
each other.

35. Puja ceremony at the Summit Hotel, Kathmandu

36. Kangchenjunga Team Responsibilities
1. Lieutenant Commander Steve Jackson RN Leader / Finance
2. Surgeon Commander Andy Hughes RN Deputy Leader / Doctor
3. Captain Aleck Burrell RM i/c Load Carrying
4. Captain James Raitt RM Environmental management
5. Colour Sergeant Dave Pearce RM Training Manager
6. Sergeant Ady Cole RM Morale
7. Sergeant Larry Foden RM Knots & Dits
8. Major Roddy McArthur HLDRS Sponsorship / PRO
9. Staff Sergeant Dave Bunting APTC Equipment / Training
10.Sergeant John Doyle Internal Communications
11.Sergeant Neil Greenwood RE Heads & Bathrooms
12.Squadron Leader Colin Scott RAF Food / Gas
13.Chief Technician Dan Carroll RAF Technical Climbing Adviser
14.Corporal Ian Venables RAF Equipment Manager

37. Downtown
Kathmandu
(Thamel)
• “There are ...a thousand
Kathmandu's, layered and
dovetailed and piled on top of
one another in an extravagant
morass of misery, chaos and
dignity”
David Reed: The Rough Guide
to Nepal

40. Suketar airstrip Landing felt like a controlled crash

41. Trek - Typical Daily
Routine
• At 6 AM, awake to a bowl of hot water for washing.
Pack bag for the porters to carry and daysack for
you to carry. While the porters take down tents, eat
a small breakfast of oatmeal porridge, cereals,
eggs, and tea.
• From 7 to 10:00 AM, walk to a brunch spot chosen
by Sirdar
• 10 AM to noon, we would eat lunch (typically -
chapatis, jam, boiled eggs, canned fish or Spam,
and tea).
• From noon until usually 3:00 PM complete the day's
walk to suitable campsite.
• 5 or 6:00 PM, dinner in meal tent .
• 9:00 PM - bed.

42. Our Cook
Team
Hardest job on the support
team

48. A rare opportunity to bathe

55. Porters in the foul weather gear we
provided
They are not difficult to spot either in the jungle or on the glacier

56. Final Camp on the Walk-in at Ramze
The altitude at Ramze is 4,615m ( 15,141ft)

61. ‘March or Die’
Day
• A miserable 14 hour day on the Yalung
Glacier in foul conditions , feeling ill and with
the porters having an epic

62. Base Camp at
Pache’s Grave
(5,300m /
17,384ft)
• We arrived at Base
Camp on 12 Apr after a 13
day walk-in covering the
70 kilometres from Suketar
(2,500m)

63. Base Camp Base Camp had all mod-cons including individual accommodation..

66. Dedicated staff

68. And a beautiful vista towards Jannu

69. Avalanche from
Jannu
• This was a regular occurrence but
Base Camp was well sited to avoid
the dangers from avalanche

72. Electricity

74. A relaxing
communal
dining area
• World Scrabble
Championships taking
place (the Doctor (cap
& spectacles) won but
only because he relied
on medical words and
strange sailing terms
which we later
discovered he had
invented himself!

75. • Two men's rations for 1 day weighs about 3Kg.
• Early on the team carried a total of 92 man-days of the rations
to Camp 1 (about 150 Kg)
• The rations consisted of Service rations packs with the bits we
don't like or can't eat (appetite is extremely sensitive at high
altitude) to be replaced with treats provided by our many food
sponsors.
• Favourites items include Pepperami mini salami sausages,
Primula Cheese Spread, KP Peanuts, Raisins, Noodles,
Kingfisher Norwegian Tinned Salmon, Spar Tinned Sardines,
Twinings specialist teas, Tunnocks Caramel Wafers, Waitrose
Dried Fruit, Ovaltine and Cadbury's Hot Chocolate.

78. Base Camp also had a
rather steep introduction
to the mountain

79. Base Camp to Camp 1

81. Base Camp to Camp 1 - Getting over ‘the Hump’

82. Much of the route from Base Camp to Camp 1 was ‘fixed’

83. Heading towards the Rock Band

89. Temperature Inversion at Camp 1

90. Camp 1 to Camp 2

92. Camp 1 to
Camp 2
The steep bit

93. Camp 1 to Camp 2 The Traverse

94. Top of the
traverse
Note the snow
conditions

95. Typical
Kangchenjunga
weather
If you can’t operate in
these conditions you
will not summit on
Kangchenjunga

96. Camp 2
(6,500m)
Looking back down
towards the Yalung
Glacier

97. Dave Pearce and Colin Scott at Camp 2
Typical afternoon cloud building up in the valley. Behind them are the peaks of Ratong and Koktang

98. Dave Pearce digging out tents at Camp 2

100. Route up the Ice Field towards Camp 3

101. Camp 2 – Camp 3

103. Camp 2 to
Camp 3

105. The
summit
team at
Camp 3
(L-R) Nima Dhorje,
Pemba Norbu, John
Doyle and Ady Cole

106. Sherpas
leaving Camp 3

107. Camp 3 to Camp 4

108. John Doyle above Camp 3 In the background about
100km away is Mt Everest

111. Camp 4 at
about 7,600m
/ 25,000ft
• Camp 4 was a very basic with no sleeping
bags, climbers rested – you can’t sleep - in Down
Suits . A couple of days food and fuel were
stashed here and oxygen in the event of a
medical emergency.

112. Leaving Camp 4
for the
Gangway
• John Doyle's team left Camp 4 at 0200 whilst at
Base Camp the expedition leader kept a very cold
vigil by the radio. Pema, the Sirdar was burning
juniper on the chorten (altar) and was chanting
prayers to bring good luck to the summit team on
their 1000 metre climb to the Summit.

113. Initial mixed ground on the way to the summit

114. John Doyle gives the thumbs up to Ady Cole

115. Ady approaching
the summit
The summit team were on the move
for 20 hours on 13 May 2000

116. Nima Dhorje, Ady Cole and
John Doyle on the summit at
2pm on 13 May 2000
(Photo by Pemba Norbu)
• Ours was the only ascent of the Yalung
Face of Kangchenjunga by a British
Expedition since the first ascent By
George Band and Joe Brown on 24 May
1955. It was the first ascent by a British
expedition without using oxygen

119. Ady and John back
at Base Camp
• John and Ady were 10th and 11th Britons to summit
on the mountain by any route. John Doyle had become
the first Serviceman to summit on two of the fourteen
8000m peaks. Ady Cole had previously never been
above 4000m. Both were awarded the MBE in
recognition of the expedition’s achievements.

120. Base Camp
Party
• Shortly after the summit party returned to Base Camp,
the expedition leader received news that he had been
selected for promotion to Commander in the Royal Navy.
This resulted in a modest celebration at Base Camp and
Steve being in bed for a couple of days!

121. Final
word
• “It was never just about the
cash, it’s the buzz, building
the team, planning the job,
carrying it out, it’s the
camaraderie, trusting other
men with everything you
know, with your life. You
above all people should
know what that feels like.”
– Bruce Reynolds, Great Train
Robber, to DCS Tommy Butler
1969