Aspen to host ultimate adventure weekend in June

by Kraig Becker on

This June, Aspen, Colorado will be ground zero for the outdoor adventure crowd when the city plays host to the second annual Outside in Aspen weekend. The event, which is sponsored by Outside magazine, features top adventure athletes, numerous outdoor activities, and plenty of rockin’ parties as well.

The event kicks off with a welcome party at the Sky Hotel on Friday, June 10, but the real festivities get going the following day. At 8 AM on both Saturday and Sunday, a host of adventure activities get underway, giving visitors the chance to mountain bike, paddle, cycle, hike, and climb with top outdoor athletes, including professional cyclist Tyler Hamilton and pro kayaker Brad Ludden. There will also be an adventure filmmaking and photography workshop, and the annual Aspen Triathlon will also take place on Saturday as well.

When not participating in these great activities, visitors can hang out at the Adventure Base Camp, which will offer a number of outdoor related exhibits, gear giveaways, and refreshments as well. The Base Camp will also be the site of the Adventure Symposium on Sunday, where a panel of adventurers and explorers will discuss the risks and rewards of extreme adventure.

All in all, it should be another fantastic weekend for outdoor enthusiasts, and two-night lodging packages are available for attendees at very reasonable prices. Visitors to the event can stay for as little as $99 per person in double occupancy rooms at a number of hotels in the city. Visit the Outside in Aspen website for all the details. Adventure activities are priced separately and can also be booked via the website.

Outside in Aspen looks like it will be a great way to kick off the summer, with a fantastic weekend of adventure in the middle of June. From what I understand, last year’s event was a lot of fun, and it looks like the second iteration will be even better. Besides, do you really need much of an excuse to go play in the mountains of Colorado?

[Photo credit: Outside in Aspen]


82-year old climber dies on Everest

by Kraig Becker on

A few weeks back we posted a story about 82-year old Shailendra Kumar Upadhyaya, a former Nepalese foreign minister who was hoping to become the oldest person to summit Mt. Everest. That attempt came to a tragic end yesterday, when it was announced that Upadhyaya passed away while on the mountain.

The exact cause of death is still unknown, but what we do know is that the octogenarian was on his way up to Camp 1, which is located at roughly 20,000 feet. Apparently, the climber did make it to that destination, but died there a short time later. This was to be his first acclimatization rotation on the mountain, which is an important part of the process for preparing for an eventual summit attempt. A government official announced that the former minister passed away at approximately 4 PM local time.

Upadhyaya undertook his expedition in an attempt to show the world that the elderly are still strong and capable members of society. He was hoping to break the record set by a climber by the name of Min Bahadur Sherchan, who scaled Everest at the age of 76 back in 2008. The fact that he had little mountaineering experience didn’t seem to bother Upadhyaya all that much.

In the original article about his attempt, I noted that climbing Everest is no easy feat at any age, and that I hoped he would know when to call it quits before he got into any real trouble. It seems that probably wasn’t the case however, and while we don’t know exactly what exactly brought about his demise, it is likely that the challenges of the climb were just too much for his body. While reaching Camp 1 is an important step to acclimatizing for the higher altitude, it is nothing compared to what he would have faced much higher on the 29,029 foot mountain.

Mountaineer summits Everest, tweets from the top

by Kraig Becker on

Yesterday we mentioned that the Sherpas had finished fixing the ropes to the summit of Everest, clearing the way for all the commercial climbing teams to soon follow. We predicted that the big push to the top of the mountain was still a week away, but a British climber took advantage of good weather and empty slopes, to rush to the summit yesterday. Once there, he not only savored the view from the highest point on the planet, but he also took time to send the first ever tweet from the top of the mountain.

Mountaineer Kenton Cool, who climbs with the Dream Guides company, set off for the summit two days ago, not long after getting word that the Sherpas had finished the route. He reached the top at 7:30 AM local time, notching his ninth successful climb of the mountain. Cool was sponsored by Samsung on this expedition and he used one of their smartphones to send the following tweet from the summit:

“@KentonCool: Everest summit no 9! 1st tweet from the top of the world thanks to a weak 3G signal & the awesome Samsung Galaxy S2 handset! @samsunguk”

Cool was able to send his tweet thanks to a 3G cell tower that was installed near Base Camp last fall. That tower has provided very spotty service to the climbers this season, but is still a marked improvement over years past when only expensive satellite phones were able to provide any kind of communications from Everest. The tweet is also excellent advertising for Samsung’s Galaxy S2, allowing the Brit to give his sponsor the recognition that they were surely looking for.

Does anyone else find it annoying that climbers can now make phone calls, send texts, and tweet from one of the most remote places on the planet, while I still get dropped service on my nightly commute home?

First summits of the year on Everest

by Kraig Becker on

The first successful summits of Mt. Everest for the 2011 spring climbing season took place yesterday, and as you might guess, they were accomplished by a group of Sherpas. The six-man team stood on the highest point on the planet after fixing the ropes to the summit, the same ropes that will now be used by the foreign climbers who will soon begin the long, challenging climb for themselves.

Each year, dozens of climber travel to Everest, the tallest mountain on the planet at 29,029-feet, in an attempt to scale that iconic peak. They spend upwards of two months, and $50,000, for the chance to stand on top of the mountain for just a few brief moments. Over the course of those two months, they climb up and down portions of the mountain several times, allowing their bodies to acclimatize to the extreme altitude, in preparation for the final push to the summit.

While those visiting climbers slowly adapt to the altitude, the indigenous Sherpas prepare the route to the top of the mountain. Using thousands of feet of rope, they put into place the lines that the climbing teams that follow will use to safely move higher on Everest. They’ll also establish a series of high altitude camps, four in all, which the mountaineers use as rest stops while acclimatizing and on their way to the top. This is difficult and draining work that only these unsung heroes of the Himalaya can complete in a safe and timely manner.

With the route to the summit now finished, the commercial climbing teams will now look for a weather window that will allow them to climb to the summit as well. Most are finishing their final acclimatization rotation over the next few days, after which they’ll return to Base Camp for a brief rest. All eyes will then be on the weather forecast, as the climbers look for an extended period of good conditions that will allow them to safely climb up the mountain. They may have to wait awhile however, as the weather on Everest this season has been unusual. Climbers report colder and windier conditions when compared to previous years, with more snow as well.

If all goes as planned however, there will be a spate of summits in about a week or so. Traditionally, most of the summits take place around the middle of May, before the seasonal monsoons set in in early June.

Busy season for the doctors of Everest ER

by Kraig Becker on

The spring climbing season in the Himalaya is well underway, with dozens of teams climbing on a variety of mountains across the region. The busiest of those peaks is Mt. Everest of course, where in a few weeks time, a couple of hundred mountaineers will be hoping to stand on top of the highest summit on the planet. Many of them wouldn’t have a chance of doing so however, if it weren’t for the hard work of a dedicated team of doctors who staff the Everest ER.

More formally known as the Everest Base Camp Medical Clinic, the Everest ER first appeared on the South Side of that mountain back in 2003. It is a joint effort between the Himalayan Rescue Association of Nepal and the U.S., two organizations that work closely with one another to ensure that the climbers have a reliable place to have their health needs addressed. Over the course of the past eight years, the ER tent has become a staple on the mountain, dealing with everything from minor sprains and bruises to life-threatening high-altitude sicknesses.

2011 has been a particularly busy season for the staff of the Everest ER. Last week they noted that they had already seen 276 patients and were on pace to shatter all previous records for the number of visitors to come through the doors of their tent. Since setting up shop in April, they’ve had to evacuate three of those patients due to the severity of their altitude sickness, but each of them recovered nicely once they were taken to lower altitudes. Another patient, a Sherpa no less, made the ill advised move of taking off one of his gloves while high on the mountain. The 100 mph winds there quickly delivered a severe case of frost bite that the docs had to treat as well. The vast majority of the other ailments that the ER team has had to deal with have been simple stomach issues, severe colds, and a case or two of the Khumbu Cough, an upper respiratory condition that is common to visitors of the region.
The record number of patience that the Everest ER doctors have seen this year is not indicative of careless climbers or overcrowding on the mountain. In fact, by most accounts, Everest is quieter this year than it has been in some time. But over the past eight years, the ER staff has built an excellent reputation of having the skills and supplies necessary to treat any health related problem that the climbers have, and that has earned them a healthy dose of respect around Base Camp. In years past, some of the larger commercial expeditions would bring their own team doctor with them, but now many of them are saving money by leaving their doc behind and relying on the Everest ER squad instead. This means that mountain is probably safer then ever to climb, as a well trained, and well prepared, medical staff is on duty at all hours of the day and night.

Of course, everything that they’ve treated thus far this season is just a warm-up for what is to come. Later this week the Sherpa guides will complete the process of fixing the ropes all the way to the top of the 29,029-foot peak. Once that work is complete, the other climbers can begin their summit bids at well, and sometime around the middle of the month, they’ll do just that. The real dangers of the climb will reveal themselves when the mountaineers head up to the top en masse, where they’ll be left exposed, possibly for hours, in extreme cold and thin air.

They can rest assured however, that the Everest ER docs are there for them should they need them.

[Photo credit: Pavel Novak via WikiMedia]