The Stage is Set on Everest

by Kraig Becker on

The Himalayan spring climbing season is rapidly approaching its busiest time, with teams on Everest preparing to finally make a run at the summit. The stage was set for that to occur yesterday when the first climbers of 2009 reached the top, as an extremely skilled group of five Sherpas completed fixing the lines to the peak.

First to top out was Mingma Tenzing, closely followed by Panuru Sherpa, both climbing with the International Mountain Guides team. Next was Kami Rita, climbing with Alpine Ascents, and finally Dorje and Nima Tsering, who are part of the Himalyan Experience team. On the south side of Everest, teams work together to set the ropes up the mountain, and these three teams are the biggest, and most well funded on the mountain. They pooled their resources to help ensure that everyone has a safe road to the top.

British climber David Tait was not far behind the Sherpas, and he became the first non-Sherpa to summit this season. For Tait, this is his third time on top of Everest, making the journey without the use of supplemental oxygen. This is an unusually early summit, as generally weather slows down the progress, but until this past weekend, it has been very calm in the region.

No more summits are expected to take place until next week. The other teams are just now finishing their acclimatization process, and more bad weather is expected in the next few days. The First Ascent team, consisting of climbing legends like Ed Viesturs and Dave Hahn, have projected that they will begin their summit bids on May 8th with the hope of reaching the top on the 12th. Looks like next week will be very busy on the highest mountain on Earth.

The Worlds Highest Photography and Videography Workshop

by Kraig Becker on

A unique trek is about to get underway in Kathmandu, Nepal. It is a combination of adventure travel and photography/videography workshop that will see ten lucky people spending the next three weeks exploring the Himalaya, while receiving expert instruction in how to shoot better photographs and video.

Everest Base Camp Trek 2009 is the brainchild of professional photographer Chris Marquardt, who hosts the Tips from the Top Floor photography podcast, and professional videographer Jon Miller, who hosts The Rest of Everest, a video podcast that is the most comprehensive look at climbing in the Himalaya you’ll find anywhere. Each day, Chris and Jon will provide lessons, tips, and inside information to those joining them on the trek, all the while hiking up to Everest Base Camp, located at 17,500 feet.

Right now, Chris, Jon, and the rest of their team are gathering in Kathmandu, and the trek/workshop will get underway in the next few days. They’ll spend a little time siteseeing in Kathmandu, before flying off to Lukla and begin the actual trek up the Khumbu Valley. Most days will be spent on well marked trails which lead to Himalayan villages, and like most visitors to the region, they’ll spend the night in traditional tea houses.

But the aspect that sets this trek apart from all the others, is the workshop. Several hours each day will be set aside for photography and videography instruction. The students will then have the chance to immeditely put what they’ve learned into action in one of the most scenic settings in the world.

The team will be posting regular updates to their website over the next few weeks, sharing their experiences along the way. Hopefully they’ll be sharing some of those amazing photos as well.

For Some Climbers, It’s Not Just About Going Up!

by Kraig Becker on

The spring climbing season is in full swing in the Himalaya, and the climbers on Everest, and the other major peaks in the region, are focused on acclimatizing and preparing for their summit bids, which are most likely to come around mid-May. For most of them, their focus is squarely on getting up the mountain, standing on top, and then getting back down in one piece.

But there are some climbers who feel that reaching the summit is only half of the adventure. Guys like Ben Clark, Josh Butson, and Jonathan Miller, who are currently in base camp on a 23,390 foot mountain in Nepal called Baruntse. For this team, the expedition isn’t just about reaching the summit, but also making an impressive descent as well. That’s why, when they reach the top, sometime in the next few weeks, they’ll congratulate one another, brieflyadmire the view, and then step into a set of skis, and proceed to make the first descent of the mountain.

This adventuresome trio will be climbing Baruntse along a new route, one that no one else has ever used to reach the summit before. They’ll also be climbing in “Alpine style” which means that they’ll go up the mountain in one push, carrying all the gear they need with them, including their skis. They’ll make the climb without the aid of Sherpas or porters of any kind. It is mountain climbing in it’s purest form, and then of course they’ll ski down a massive Himalayan wall that no one has ever skied before.

You can follow the expedtion at SkiTheHimalayas.com, where you’ll learn more about the climbers, view photos from the climb, and read regular dispatches, directly from the team, on their progress. Follow along as the adventure unfolds.

The Highest Cricket Match in the World

by Kraig Becker on

The sport of Cricket can trace its origins back to England in the 16th century. Over the course of the next 200 years, it rose in popularity to the point of becoming a national obsession in that country, and when the British Empire expanded around the globe, the game went international with it. Today, Cricket is played in more than 100 countries, one of the most popular sports in the world.

That popularity has inspired two teams to go to Nepal in an attempt to play the highest Cricket match in history. Over the past few weeks, the players have assembled in Kathmandu, flown to Lukla, and have been trekking up to Gorak Shep, a remote Himalayan village, where they intend to play an official match at 5165 meters or roughly 16,945 feet.

The teams are named Tenzing and Hillary, in honor of Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary, the first two men to summit Everest, the mountain that looms over the field they will be playing on. Traditionally a team is made up of 11 players, but these have 15 in order to ensure that altitude sickness doesn’t prevent them from fielding a full roster. That doesn’t seem likely however, as even though a few of the players have had to remain behind, they are expected to rejoin their squads over the next few days.

The trek to Gorak Shep was completed on Sunday, and the athletes will now take a few days to acclimatize and prepare for their match, which will include officially sanctioned umpires. You can read all about the teams, their quest to play the highest match in the world, and their adventures in Nepal at their webiste TheEverestTest.com.

A New Annapurna Circuit?

by Kraig Becker on

We mentioned the Annapurna Circuit a few weeks back, calling it one of the world’s classic treks, but also lamenting the fact that a new road, built in the name of progress, was altering the experience forever. What once took the better part of three weeks to traverse, can now be driven in just two days, and the solitude of the Himalayan hike is now gone.

While the traditional Annapurna Circuit may never be the same, according to this story from the Times Online, a new one may be emerging to take its place. An adventure travel tour operator based in the U.K. called Mountain Kingdoms, foresaw the impact of the new road, and hired three Sherpa Sirdars to create a new route. The result? An eight day trek around the Annapurna Massif, home of the 10th highest mountain in the world, that begins in Muktinath and runs back to Naya Phu, a village not far from Pokhara, the hub of that part of Nepal.

This new trekking circuit offers much the same experience as the old one. The clearly defined and easy to follow trail passes through a remote village every few hours, and those villages have the traditional teahouses that are popular along most trekking routes in the Himalaya. Teahouses offer inexpensive food and places to sleep, allowing hikers to travel much more lightly than on similar treks in other parts of the world.

The article indicates that the new route is breathtakingly beautiful, and a throwback to the quiet solitude of the old Annapurna circuit. For now, it remains a bit of a secret, but that is likely to change soon. Go now for a really unique trekking experience.