hi - My travel agent has just talked me into a 2 month holiday - mountain climbing in Holland! I'm so excited..He said that is once in a lifetime trip! Have any of you been?

Mountain climbing in Holland, eh? I think you should reconsider and go snorkeling in Luxembourg.

You might want to pack a tel' no. of a good lawyer

Be sure to do some research on strenuous exercise at high elevations. That thin air can really do things to you. Drink LOTs of water and take it slow. Remember, a little alcohol goes a long way.

Will you be in the Karakoram Range?
I recommend attempting K2 after you warm up on Nanga Prabat.
K2 via the Abruzzi Ridge is said to be spectacular.
Take along some warm clothes, however.
K2 is almost as high as K3.

Oh, and please don't leave your oxygen canisters along the trail! They are really mucking up the environment.

err Yes..yes i think i will

Well, real climbers don't need oxygen. Just those rich ones who get hauled up by the guides like sacks of wheat.
Some of them, unfortunately muck up the environment in more ways than one. Do take along a good ice axe and some extra crampons. One bent crampon can ruin the whole clip.
And don't buy those cheap soft steel pitons. You need the hard ones; a couple of corkscrew types will not hurt. There is one band of rock on K2 that is rotten limestone and you need 8 inch pitons for sure. And test that kernmantel climbing rope for "give". You need about 25% give and stretch in the line, or else you get your insides jerked out at the end of a fall. By the way, do you have an experienced climbing partner? I hope he knows how to set a good belay.

I went on a similar vacation, but ours also included a whale watching excursion in Austria.

You know Dutch, I did the same thing in Austria without intending to, whale watching that is. We were at Schönbrunn Palace when an American tour group came through. It only took 4 of them to fill a room.

And oh yes, for climbing the Abruzzi Ridge on K2, I think sun goggles would be vital as well to prevent snow blindness. Of course, the first worry is to get to the Abruzzi Ridge. Take an avalanche shield just in case you need it.

When does school start where you live, Playlad?

Oh playlad, before I forget it, you should begin your trip with a thorough examination of the great museums in Amsterdam - some of those Old Masters captured the Peaks of Holland perfectly, and though the centuries may have altered the landscape a bit, there's nothing like great art to inspire a great hiking vacation.

Yes. I wonder if playlad ever heard of K2, or even know in which nation it lies.

Bob, I think K2 is playlad's GRADE, not a geographic location to him.

Scale the peaks of Holland if you wish, but for sheer thrills nothing can top riding a lobster through Latvia, although I also have fond memories of galloping across Greenland on a giraffe and meadering about Mexico mounted on a mongoose.

I cannot, however, entirely recommend traversing the Sahara seated on a serpent. The one selected for me was an exceptionally surly specimen and an absolute devil to saddle.