Video explains a climb up Everest

by Kraig Becker on

At 29,029 feet (8848 meters) in height, Everest is the tallest mountain on the planet, and a significant challenge to any high altitude climber. For years, the mountain has held sway over the general public as well, despite the fact that most of us have no idea what it actually takes to reach to the summit. The video below helps to put it all into perspective however, demonstrating the process that climbers go through on their expeditions.

Scaling the highest mountain on Earth requires a significant investment in both time and money. Mountaineers will spend in the neighborhood of $50,000 for the opportunity to possibly stand at the top of the world. But perhaps more surprising than that, they’ll also spend upwards of about two months on the climb as well. Due to the extreme altitude involved, they must take time to acclimatize before making their summit push. That process can take several weeks at least.

This video demonstrates that process very well by showing the path that most climbers take when climbing from Nepal’s South Col Route. The mountaineers begin in Base Camp, which is located at about 17,600 feet, and proceed up the mountain to a series of high camps. They’ll usually shuttle gear to those pre-set locations, then spend a night there, before descending back to lower altitudes to rest and recover. All the while, their bodies are slowly getting use to the much thinner air.

This video was created by climber Alan Arnette, who will be attempting Everest for the 4th time this spring. Everest is just another challenge on his 7 Summits for Alzheimer’s expedition however, during which he hopes to climb the highest mountain on each of the continents to raise funds for the Cure Alzheimer’s Fund.

[Photo credit: Pavel Novak via WikiMedia]


Artist plans exhibition at the summit of Everest

by Kraig Becker on

The Louvre, the Met, and the Hermitage. Without a doubt, three of the most prestigious art galleries in all the world. But if 78-year old artist Ranan Lurie gets his way, you can soon add the summit of Mt. Everest to that list.

Lurie has announced plans to place three acrylic-on-canvas works of art on the 29,029-foot peak. These small pieces are a part of a much larger project consisting of dozens of individual works that has been on display at the United Nations for some time. That project, entitled “Uniting Painting” stretches over 600 feet in length and has been a focus of Lurie’s artistic talents for more than 40 years.

While the details of just exactly how those paintings will get to the summit have not been elaborated on, we can assume that Lurie has commissioned a team of climbers to carry his works to the highest point on the planet when the Everest climbing season gets underway next spring. If all goes according to plan, the world’s highest art exhibition will probably take place sometime around mid-May, 2011.

Lurie hopes that by displaying his art in the High Himalaya, he can send a message to the world about the scope of his works and the uniting message he hopes to convey, which is that no matter what our race, creed, or culture, art is a common denominator.

Mt Everest now has cell phone service

by Kraig Becker on

Nepali cell phone company Ncell announced this week that they have activated a cell tower in Mt. Everest base camp, providing reliable 3G coverage on the mountain for the first time. To commemorate the launch of the service, the technicians completed the highest altitude video call ever from 5300 meters (17,388 feet) on the mountain.

Ncell’s service will replace expensive, and often unreliable, satellite phones, which can be easily disrupted by bad weather and technical issues. Sat phones have been the defacto standard on Everest for years but the new cell service offers not only improved voice communications, but also a relatively speedy data connection all the way to the summit, located at 8849 meters (29,035 feet). That data connection will allow for photos, audio, and even video to be shared by climbers.

The new cell tower won’t just provide coverage for climbers and trekkers on and around Everest however. It will also give Nepali citizens living in the Khumbu Valley the ability to make phone calls for the very first time. The remote region has few modern conveniences, but in a country that only has cell coverage for about a third of its people, this is a big step forward for communications. Ncell, and it’s partner TeliaSonera, plan to spend about $100 million to expand coverage to 90% of Nepal’s population by the end of next year. Considering the challenges of travel in the Himalaya, that will be quite a feat.

It is impressive that visitors to Mt. Everest can now make a phone call, even while standing on the summit. Now if only AT&T could eliminate the dead zones in my home town. Then I’ll be really impressed.

Veteran Everest guide lost in the Himalaya

by Kraig Becker on

Over the weekend the mountaineering community lost a legendary climber when Chhewang Nima Sherpa was swept off a remote Himalayan peak by an avalanche. The mountain guide, who has reached the summit of Everest on 19 separate occasions, was helping to set the all important ropes to the summit of a peak called Baruntse, located in eastern Nepal, at the time of his disappearance.

On Saturday,Nima was leading a team of Sherpas, working in advance of their paying clients who focus on acclimatizing in the early stages of the climb. The men were busy fixing lines up the mountain, which will eventually be used by the climbers to reach the summit, when the avalanche hit, knocking Nima off the Baruntse’s northeast face.

Other guides and climbers immediately went into action, organizing a search and rescue operation, but they found no trace of the missing Sherpa. Yesterday, a helicopter was brought in to sweep the mountain, but after just a few hours the search was called off. After surveying the area, the SAR teams determined that there was no possible way that anyone had survived the avalanche.

Baruntse is one of the “lesser” Himalayan peaks, rising 23,389 feet. It is often used as a training mountain for those aspiring for bigger mountains such as Everest. Nima was the lead guide for the Shangri-la Trekking and Climbing company who are taking a team of paying customers to the summit of the mountain.

[Photo credit: Mathias Zehring via WikiMedia]

Explorer visits “three poles” in one calendar year

by Kraig Becker on

Last Friday, polar explorer and mountaineer Eric Larsen completed a rare fall summit on Mt. Everest. For most climbers, that would be a big enough accomplishment for any given year, but for Larsen, it was simply the third, and final, leg of a major expedition that saw him become the first person to reach both the North and South Pole, as well as the summit of the highest mountain on the planet, in a single calendar year.

Larsen launched his Save the Poles Expedition in November of last year, beginning the long journey across the desolate Antarctic continent to reach the South Pole. On January 2nd, 2010 he accomplished that feat, wrapping up the first leg of his planned expedition. In late April, he followed up his success at the bottom of the world by reaching the top, completing the second stage of the expedition by reaching the North Pole after 51 days out on the ice.

With the first two stages of the expedition out of the way, Larson had just Everest, which is sometimes referred to as the Third Pole, to conquer. Standing 29,035 feet in height, the mountain is a considerable challenge during it’s traditional climbing season, which falls in the spring. But that season also happens to overlap with the annual window to reach the North Pole, so Larsen was forced to schedule the climb in the fall, which has far fewer climbers on the mountain and offers more unpredictable weather. During the spring season it is not uncommon for 500 climbers to reach the summit of Everest from both the Nepali and Tibetan sides of the mountain. This fall, Larsen, along with his two Sherpa guides, were the only people to stand at the top of the world.

The Save the Poles Expedition was designed to raise awareness of the impact of global climate change on the extreme environments of our planet, something that Larsen has now experienced first hand. The explorer now hopes to take that message to the masses as he hits the speaking circuit to share his adventures with others.

Considering the very active year he’s had so far, I think it is also safe to say that Larsen has earned some much deserved downtime on a warm beach somewhere.

[Photo credit: Eric Larsen]