“Now we wait.” That begins a prepared update from Ted via sat phone to Aspen at 9:34 p.m. Monday. “Nine days ago, we arrived to Ama Dablam base camp with near perfect weather. We made three trips with loads of gear and food to Camp 1, at 19,000 feet. After spending two uncomfortable nights there, we climbed up to Camp 2, familiarizing ourselves with all of the technical rock pitches, including...
From Dingboche ~14,200 feet- So far, so good. Actually, it’s better than that. It has been a perfect start to the trip. With ideal weather, great food and comfy tea house accommodations, everyone is healthy and having fun. In an effort to acclimatize, we went up Chukking Ri this morning. It took us four hours to reach the snow free summit, above 18,000 feet, with awesome views of the Lhotse Face,...
After flying to Lukla yesterday, and trekking in to Phakding where we spent the night, we made the trip to Namche Bazaar today. Namche, at more than 11,000 feet, is the largest village in the Khumbu Valley. The rest of today and tomorrow will be spent checking it out. So far, everything is great. As an added bonus, Adrian has many of the same staff Russell Brice employed when I was on...
Actually, the yaks aren’t loaded up yet, but they willl be soon. That shot is from Everest back in 2003. I just thought it was fitting for the moment. Christy and I pulled into Kathmandu last night and met up with Dirk. Tomorrow we fly to Lukla and begin the trek in to basecamp. Total time is just over a month to the mountain and back, and the schedule is stacked. Check out the more detailed trip-itinerary. Ama Dablam,...
Gettin’ Ready With our depature for Nepal on Wednesday, we had time for a little last minute trip prep. Our planned route on Ama Dablam is the SW Ridge. As a true hand and foot climbing route, it won’t have any significant “jug hauling”, that is, pulling ourselves up a fixed rope with mechanical ascenders, or jumars. For safety reasons though, we will be clipped in and using an ascender, while...
A writeup from a 2008 climb of the Kiener’s Route on Longs Peak.
“I’d like to see the guy who can ride up that!” said the rude guy from California as he arrived to the top of Murphy’s Hogback, walking his bike. When it was revealed that not only did most of our group ride the steep hill but Jared managed to do it with his daughter, Maia, in tow, he started in about how his gear ratios weren’t the same (otherwise he most certainly...
(or better yet, …to us!) Canyon country is awesome this time of year. So when Tim asked if I’d like to join him and some friends on a Westwater trip, I was in. I’ve always been curious to see what this classic Colorado River run was all about. And with rapids that bear names like Funnel, Skull, Razor Rock and the Room of Doom I knew this wouldn’t disappoint. It might be nice to go...
The ten second countdown to the start of a 100 mile race is a crash course in coping. I often feel a bit sick to my stomach and while standing there I can’t help but think about what is happening, what kind of mistake I’ve made. How did I get in this situation? Why would anyone voluntarily sign up for this, let alone pay money to participate? Will I really watch the sun rise twice while...
We’re ready to go. Here’s some info to follow along.
We met in Aspen in 2000 and have been happily stuck in the rockies ever since, getting out in the mountains every day we can, in every season and by all means possible. Read More
