No mountain in the world captures Alpine Climbers imaginations like 22,525 foot Ama Dablam.

It stands alone in the Solu Khunbu (Everest) valley, towering almost 10,000 feet over the famous Sherpa villages on Thyangboche and Pamgboche. With no easy route to the summit, climbing Ama Dablam is reserved for the dedicated Alpinists, who have built skills in much more than simply high altitude climbing. The successful climber of Ama Dablam will have solid pitch climbing experience on both ice and rock, and be comfortable climbing with a pack on his back in very high alpine conditions. It is for this reason that Ama Dablam has a technical difficulty greater than that of Everest and has only a handful of successful summiteers each year with very few completing alpine style (self sufficient - light, fast, no fixed ropes and without any oxygen).

In October 2008, Northern Irish Climber, Paddy Cave set off on attempt of Ama Dablam, Apline style, sponsored by TradeTalk, Ireland’s premier price comparison site built by Export Technologies, an eCommerce Company with long standing relationships in the Mountaineering, Climbing and Outdoor industries.

On successful completion of the expedition, Paddy commented of his experience:

“Climbing the South West ridge offered every type of climbing, and from Camp 1 it was incredibly exposed and interesting. The routes from Camps 2 to 3 were most challenging, involving ice climbing and sustained pitches of steep ice and mixed terrain. Ama Dablam has a famous mushroom (shaped) ridge, the most difficult section which involved a horizontal traverse across the cornices tenuously stuck to a knife edge ridge. This section drew on all of my previous skills and experiences, and was most technical in nature. From here I climbed straightforward 50-70 degree ice and snow around the hanging glacier (the Dablam) and up to the summit face where the view was spectacular. From the summit, it is no wonder why Ama Dablam is known as the “Jewel of Khumbu”, undoubtedly the ‘most beautiful peak in the world’. It is aesthetically pleasing, technically challenging and was a most fun expedition”

Below is a picture of TradeTalk's successful expedition with Everest in the background.