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Our Treks
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Trek Everest

About Us:

Rob Casserley Bio

Kevin Vann Bio

Pasang (Ang) Nuru Bio

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Rob Casserley MBBS MRCS Bio:

Dr. Rob Casserley, former surgeon and now general practitioner with a specialist interest in altitude & expedition medicine. Co-founder of trek8848, Rob is a trekking & mountain guide who has summited Everest 7 times, including double summits in spring 2007 and spring 2010 – the first ever Western climber to have achieved this feat. He has been featured in "Everest ER", a 5 part BBC1 documentary series about medicine and climbing on Everest. He assisted Sir Ranulph Fiennes as doctor, guide and cameraman in 2008 on the mountain. Other summits include: Cho Oyu – 6th highest mountain in the world (twice), Manasalu – 8th highest mountain in the world, Denali (twice) and Ama Dablam, to name but a few. He speaks English, French and workable Spanish. He has completed over 10 marathons and several half marathons. Rob competed in the 2009/2010 Woodvale Atlantic Row where he rowed for 73 days and 2900 miles before having to get off the boat to fly to Nepal guide a group of trekkers on Mt. Everest in the spring. Dr. Casserley is also a motivational speaker and has addressed audiences like: Royal Geographic Society, London (UK), Stryker annual general sales meeting, Birmingham (UK); Sports and exercise medicine annual meeting, London; Expedition Medicine courses – Chamonix (France), Toubkal (Morocco), Auckland (New Zealand); sports clubs, charities, schools, colleges.

Other interests:

  • Running – best half marathon 1hr 27mins, best marathon 3hr 06mins
  • Skiing
  • Traveling
  • Tennis
  • Surfing

Kevin Vann Bio:

Kevin Vann was born and raised in the metropolis of Manchester, Tennessee (pop. 8500). Having fallen off of the top of a bunk bed he shared with his brother, at the age of nine, and having landed directly on his head, well, he was never a normal person from that period on. Most normal people in small town USA dream of marriage, family, bar-b-cues, etc...but not Kevin. Having spied a copy of a National Geographic magazine, he realized that travel was in his DNA. Soon after obtaining his Registered Nursing degree from Motlow College, he moved to Mexico City to study medicine, but the allure of travel put his pursuit of a medical degree on hold...forever. A lifelong dream (since verbalized in third grade) was to visit Mt. Everest Base Camp...which was accomplished in 1985. From that point on, the interest turned to actually climbing big hills. He has climbed several 5K,6K,7K meter mountains all over the world.

Kevin was the first person ever to canoe the entire length of the Duck River of Tennessee (an impressive 268 miles!) in 1999, solo. Kevin has worked as a volunteer in refugee camps in Afghanistan in 1987, working in the lawless Northwest Frontier Provence, during the Soviet Union's occupation. He has also worked in several other countries, from Mexico to Saudi Arabia as a Cardiovascular Nurse Consultant. He graduated from the Arizona Heart Institute in 1985. In 2001, he got lucky and topped-off Mt. Cho Oyu, and was subsequently invited to join Henry Todd's expedition to attempt Everest for 2003. In that year, he encountered a odd-sort by the name of Rob Casserley, became quick friends, and was lucky enough to top off the Big E with Rob. In 2007, while climbing Denali with Rob, an idea was hatched to create a trekking company like none other...specializing in the Khumbu Valley of Nepal...and the rest is, as they say, history. Kevin's latest goal is to climb the "7 Summits"...5 down...2 to go. Kevin is presently working as an independent contractor in the San Francisco Bay Area as a critical care nurse.

Pasang (Ang) Nuru Sherpa Bio:

Born in Pangboche, one of the original villages in the Khumbu Valley.

1 brother and 2 sisters.

Married to Lhakpa and has 2 children.

Worked as a tea boy on Mount Everest and Cho Oyu in the late 1990’s early 2000’s and was seen to be extremely strong, kind and have a brilliant grasp of the English language.

Employed as a climbing Sherpa in 2002 on Cho Oyu and reached the summit with Rob Casserley on 1st October. This was the start of a lifelong friendship and the role of brothers to each other.

In Spring 2003, with Rob Casserley, Kevin Vann and Guriman Sherpa, he reached the summit of Mount Everest for the first time, using supplemental oxygen. A few weeks after the summit, he ran the Everest marathon with no previous running experience and came 3rd in a time of just under 4 ½ hours!

His second summit of Cho Oyu in autumn 2003 was eclipsed by the incredible achievement of summiting Everest without supplemental oxygen in 2004. This underlined the fact that Ang Nuru is one of the strongest and most highly respected climbing Sherpas in the Himalayas.

He has gone on to summit Cho Oyu 2 more times as well as Ama Dablam.

His 3rd summit of Everest came in 2006, but disaster struck that autumn. His brother-in-law and 2 others were killed whilst climbing Ama Dablam and after a few too many scares on Everest, Ang Nuru made the brave decision to focus on his family and hang up his climbing boots for a while. Since then, he has focused his attention on trekking and trekking peaks and has become a fantastic guide in the Khumbu valley. Unlike other companies that often use Nepali’s from elsewhere in the country as guides, Ang Nuru was born and bred in the Khumbu valley and knows everything that there is to know about the place. In combination with his charm and grasp of the English Language, he is one of Trek8848’s finest assets.