As a way to to take audience participation to a new level, they’ve decided to make this trek a workshop in photography and videography like no other. Chris is an accomplished photographer and teacher while Jon is an accomplished filmmaker and storyteller. Both of these “famous” podcasters have won numerous awards and accolades for their productions including “Podcast Award-Education” for Chris’ show in BOTH 2005 & 2006. “Best Video Podcast-Nomination” for Jon’s show in 2007 as well as iTunes’ “Best Podcasts” for 2006 & 2007.

Basically, these guys know what they are doing and have built impressive audiences for each of their shows and created a dedicated community of listeners and viewers. Chris has found great success with his series of photography workshops across Europe and the United States. Jon has recently used the power of his podcast audience for good and has been fundraising to help his 2007 Tibetan guide, Lobsang, weather the financial disaster accompanying the closing of Tibet’s borders from the rest of the world.

Now, these two podcasters are looking to take audience participation to a level that has no precedent–all the way up to and beyond 17,500 foot (5350 metres) Everest Base Camp in the famous Khumbu region of Nepal!

Here are the basic details as they currently stand:

• The trek will take place May 4th to May 22nd, 2009
• The trek will start and end in Nepal’s capital of Kathmandu
• Participation will be very limited. Right now the goal is a MAXIMUM of 10 trekkers plus Jon & Chris
• Trek support will be provided by a fully insured Nepal-owned guiding company that Jon has a long and trusted relationship with.
• The fee for the trek will include all in-country transportation as well as food and lodging. It will also cover the workshop aspect of this trek which, to be sure, is the reason to trek with Jon and Chris in the first place…
• The trek will not be an exercise in luxury. Nepal is a Third World country and the trek will take you to some remote areas. You will need to be in good physical condition but need not be any type of human Superman. Although demanding, an Everest Base Camp trek is within the capabilities of almost anyone.
• Since the “focus” of the trek will be a photography and videography workshop, we want you to be able to bring all of the equipment you’d like to use. Since we’ll be trekking up to some extreme altitudes, we have hired a group of porters and yaks to carry the bulk of our gear and supplies. You will only need to carry a light daypack and any gear you wish to use on any given day.

The Everest Trek 2009 will most certainly be the adventure of a lifetime. If you’ve never been to the Himalayas then this is your chance. This will be Jon’s 3rd trip to Nepal and will bring his total number of days spent in the region up to over 4 months!

The goal here is to provide an adventurous, safe learning environment to empower you to take the kinds of photographs and video you’ve only dreamed of taking. And because Chris and Jon are podcasters, the entire trip will be documented ad nauseum with both 1080p HD video and high-resolution audio. They will be using this trek to generate months of content for their shows–and you’ll be part of it! This is an amazing opportunity to not only enjoy the adventure of a lifetime, but to have it professionally captured in photos and video and fully produced to be shared with the world.