David Chan
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A memoir by David Chan

Getting Back from Base Camp

While Somewhere in Vietnam, They’re Sipping Cocktails

A fiftieth birthday. A trek to Everest Base Camp. And the surprising challenge of finding a way home when everything starts to go wrong.

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Proceeds support Sir Edmund Hillary’s Himalayan Trust and the people of Nepal. Learn more

Book cover of Getting Back from Base Camp by David Chan: a trekker in an orange jacket looks out over snow-covered Himalayan peaks.

The story

There are easier ways to mark a fiftieth birthday.

The classic Everest Base Camp trail, Lukla to base camp.
Waypoints on the classic Everest Base Camp trail
WaypointAltitude
Lukla2,860 m
Phakding2,610 m
Namche Bazaar3,440 m
Tengboche3,860 m
Dingboche4,410 m
Lobuche4,940 m
Gorak Shep5,164 m
Everest Base Camp5,364 m

  1. Sea level · 5 a.m.

    David Chan knew this. He knew it during the 5 a.m. treadmill sessions, in the insurance paperwork, and in the conversations with his wife that never quite resolved.

  2. Nepal · 2025

    He travelled to Nepal to celebrate his fiftieth birthday with a trek to Everest Base Camp, and to raise funds for the Himalayan Trust along the way.

  3. 4,300 m

    At 4,300 metres, he knew it every time he received a message from his friend celebrating the same milestone while sipping cocktails in Vietnam.

  4. Everest Base Camp · 5,364 m

    Getting there was the plan.

  5. 5,100 m

    And he knew it most clearly at 5,100 metres, unwell and pinned down by a storm, watching his rescue helicopter skid, slide, and crash on landing.

  6. Getting back was the story.

    Read what happened next

Photographs

From the trail.

Photographs David took on the way to base camp and back. The black-and-white ones appear in the book.

  • David smiling on a suspension bridge strung with prayer flags, snow-capped peaks behind
    Crossing one of the trail’s suspension bridges.
  • David with three fellow trekkers giving a thumbs up on a dry ridge, Ama Dablam and snowy peaks behind under a clear blue sky
    With fellow trekkers and Furi Sherpa on the trail to the Hotel Everest View.
  • The snow-covered pyramid of Ama Dablam against a clear blue sky
    Ama Dablam, 6,812 metres, often described as the most beautiful peak in the Himalaya.
  • A Garmin watch on David’s wrist reading 12:03 and an altitude of 4203, above a rocky trail and a river valley
    The Garmin Instinct 2 Solar that went to base camp and back, reading 4,203 metres.
  • Selfie of David and Praveen in down jackets with Furi Sherpa balancing on one leg, arms outstretched, among the lodges of Dingboche with a snowy peak behind
    With Praveen and Furi Sherpa in Dingboche.
  • Selfie of David in a red top and orange sunglasses with Furi Sherpa on a rocky trail, both in matching caps, Ama Dablam and snowy peaks behind under a clear blue sky
    With Furi Sherpa, both in caps from the Sir Edmund Hillary Visitor Centre, Ama Dablam behind.
  • Selfie of David in a red top and cap on a snowy slope, a white pyramid peak at the head of the valley under a deep blue sky
    Clear skies and fresh snow higher up the valley.
  • Selfie of David in a red and grey beanie with Praveen, both smiling, in front of a steep snow-covered peak
    With Praveen, the Underwater Monk.
  • David in a red jacket leaning on the Everest Base Camp rock, painted 5364 m, with snowy peaks under cloud
    At Everest Base Camp, 5,364 metres.
  • Black-and-white photo of David and Furi Sherpa holding a Scout flag at the Everest Base Camp rock
    From the book At Everest Base Camp with Furi Sherpa and the Scout flag.
  • David in a yellow jacket and red beanie grinning in a snow-covered valley
    Fresh snow on the trail.
  • Black-and-white close-up of David in a hooded jacket, looking tired in the snow
    From the book At Gorak Shep, feeling unwell shortly before the helicopter crash.
  • A trekker in an orange jacket descending a snowy slope under heavy cloud
    Descending from Gorak Shep to Pheriche at 5,000 metres.

The book

Part travel memoir, part personal journey.

Getting Back from Base Camp follows David along the Everest trail through storms, setbacks, and moments of unexpected clarity. It explores resilience, perspective, and what it means to keep moving forward when the path ahead is uncertain.

  1. 01

    Resilience

    Storms, setbacks, and a rescue that did not go to plan.

  2. 02

    Perspective

    The stories of the Sherpa people, and the enduring legacy of Sir Edmund Hillary.

  3. 03

    Moving forward

    Finding a way home when everything starts to go wrong.

Written from the trail

  • Voice recordings
  • Photographs
  • GPS data
  • Journals

Captured throughout the journey, then shaped into an honest, detailed account of one of the world’s most iconic mountain regions.

Read an excerpt

In David’s words.

Chapter 14 Debuche to Dingboche

It was the week my friend Richard and I both turned fifty. He was in Vietnam doing it the sensible way, sun on his face, cocktails within reach, while I was in a lodge at over 4,300 metres thinking about hydration and sleeping altitude. … The contrast was so absurd it became almost funny, then, strangely, clarifying.

Chapter 19 Gorak Shep: Yellow Bird

On the screen was footage of a helicopter buried in the snow. … The machine skidded across the icy landing pad as though the ground were greased, then spun violently and tipped onto its side in a massive plume of snow.

Furi turned to me. “Oh my God,” he said. “It’s crashed.”

“What? It’s crashed?” I asked, still trying to catch up.

“Yes. Our helicopter. The one we called for.”

Chapter 25 Wellington

The best souvenir I brought back was not a photograph at Base Camp. It was not the view from the ridge above Dingboche, or the memory of Everest appearing through the cloud. It was the quiet gratitude of being fortunate enough to go, lucky enough to return, and wise enough, finally, to appreciate how much the people at home had carried while I was away.

Reaching a place is optional. Getting back is mandatory.

Chapter 16, Dingboche to Lobuche
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The cause

Every copy gives back to Nepal.

On 26 August 2026, part of the glacier on Langtang Lirung collapsed. A torrent of ice, rock, and water tore about 100 kilometres down the Trishuli valley, sweeping away villages, bridges, and livelihoods.

Net proceeds from every sale (book sales less shipping costs and any applicable taxes) support the work of Sir Edmund Hillary’s Himalayan Trust, which has stood with the people of Nepal’s mountains for more than sixty years. David’s trek to base camp raised funds for the Trust too. As Nepal recovers from the floods, every copy continues that support.

Buy the book About the Himalayan Trust
Map of Nepal Everest Base Camp in the east, where David's story unfolds, and Langtang, north of Kathmandu, where the August 2026 floods began. Everest Base Camp Langtang Kathmandu
Langtang, where the floods began Everest Base Camp, where the story unfolds
Lives lost
1,400+
Homes destroyed or damaged
27,000+
People affected
1.6 million

Figures as of September 2026. Sources: Nepal National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority; Encyclopaedia Britannica.

David and the Himalayan Trust

Black-and-white photo of David outside Khunde Hospital, under a Himalayan Trust Nepal sign
Outside the Himalayan Trust’s Khunde Hospital.
David and Dr Kami Temba Sherpa standing together inside the clinic at Khunde Hospital
With Dr Kami Temba Sherpa at Khunde Hospital.
Black-and-white photo of David with Alexander Hillary at a formal event
With Alexander Hillary at the Everest Day commemorations, New Zealand’s government buildings.

The author

David Chan

A New Zealand-based husband, father, traveller, and occasional collector of questionable ideas that seem much better at sea level than they do above 5,000 metres.

David in an orange jacket with a New Zealand flag patch, smiling in falling snow with trekking poles
About halfway between Gorak Shep and Pheriche.

David is a lifelong believer in the value of adventure, service, and leadership, and has dedicated much of his life to volunteering in New Zealand. Through more than 30 years in martial arts and, more recently, Scouting and outdoor education, he has helped young people develop confidence, resilience, leadership, and a spirit of adventure.

Getting Back from Base Camp is his debut book. Drawn from voice recordings, photographs, GPS data, and journals, it combines personal reflection with the stories of the Sherpa people, and reflects his passion for meaningful travel, the legacy of Sir Edmund Hillary and the Himalayan Trust, and the remarkable people of Nepal.

Home
New Zealand
Martial arts
30+ years
Volunteering
Scouting and outdoor education
Family
Wife Mancie and two children

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Book cover of Getting Back from Base Camp by David Chan.

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Published 15 September 2026 Paperback ISBN 978-0-473-78952-7 Hardcover ISBN 978-0-473-79689-1 Ebook ISBN 978-0-473-79690-7

0 m · Home

Getting there was the plan. Getting back is the story.

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