Winter Assault on K2

Victor Kozlov - Team Leader

A team of 15 climbers from Russia are making a winter attempt at the summit of K2.  K2 is considered the second most deadly mountain above 8000 meters, for every four who reach the summit one dies in the attempt. This is a summer statistic as no one has made a winter attempt until this year.  This means of the 15 at least three will never return home.  In the winter the temperatures will be twice as cold and the wind twice as fast, making the danger of frostbite and hypothermia even greater, not to mention the increase in danger from avalanche.  

So why do it?  The very real possibility of dying or losing a limb or two just to say you have done it.  This is a chance to get their names in the history books.  To be like Hillary, more likely many will end up like Mallory though, dead and left on the mountain.  

Does this qualify as adventure? Yes, and is it worth it?  Only if you live through it.  

Speed sailing the Eiger

The Eiger, Photo by Cyrill

Maybe this is not an adventure I would go on, but it certainly is exciting. First to climb the Eiger is considered one of the greatest challenges in mountaineering and is the test of any great climber, not all survive.  But these men who not only climbed the mountain but decided to use a speed chute to ski off the mountain.  The video is very much an adrenaline rush. 

asdff

Hike the Highest in the Urals

Four Polish students climbed or more accurately hiked to the highest mountain in the Urals', Mount Narodnaya. They have a wonderful set of photos of their winter ascent of the mount which can be viewed on their blog Cold United.

A little bit about Mount Narodnaya.  The name translates to, "The Peoples Mountain" and in Communist Russia that only makes sense.  It is 6214 feet high and is located in the northern region of the Ural Mountains.  The Ural Mountains are the dividing line between Western and Eastern Russia just as the Rockies Mountains separate the Western and Eastern United States. 

If the region is safe this looks to be a nice hike in a very beautiful region of the globe.

The Cascade Challenge

Greg Stafford, Will Fain, Cole Iverson, and Rex Shepard have set their sights on something they call the Cascade Challenge, a 1000 mile Multi-event trip; biking, skiing, and climbing over 14 mountains in the Cascade range. 

The four young men are currently getting all of the logistics together, how to transport all of their support gear, what equipment they will be using along the way, how their bike are set up, etc... It is actually amazing how much is required in pre-event planning, layout out of routes, setting time schedules, getting the necessary gear and making sure you have some reasonable means for transporting your gear, and last but definitely not least, training for all of these events.

This sounds like a very exciting adventure and I would love to be joining these fearless four, I wish them clear skies and trouble free riding.

To read more about their trip visit the First Ascent blog.

The Greatest Mountaineer

No the greatest mountaineer is not a Westerner or even someone from the South Pacific he is Apa Sherpa.  Apa has officially summitted Mount Everest, or Mt. Sagarmatha in the local dialect, 21 times.  His first accent of Everest was on May 1, 1990.  By doing the math you discover that Apa has summitted not only 21 times but 21 consecutive times.  This is more than just impressive, but phenomenal.  You can read more about his last accent on the Explorers website.

Speed is Everything

Here is another video clip of a young man who has set his sights on being the fastest mountaineer in the world.  It is very exciting to see a man who has set himself goals and is working to accomplish them in a timely manner.



Ueli Steck - The Swiss Machine from Mountain Hardwear on Vimeo.

Climber falls 1000ft and still plans to climb Mt Everest

Adam Potter took a 1000 ft fall/slide off Sgurr Choinnich Mor in Scotland and ended up on a bolder unconscious and a back that was broken in three places.  After he revived he was found by the crew of the HMS Gannet Sea king while consulting his map for a way home.  He says he is still planning on climbing Mt Everest in eight weeks as long as his back heals up properly.  For more details read the article on the Survivors Club Website.