One for the Road: Into Hot Air

by Kelly Amabile on

Funny man Chris Elliott has taken his comedy to new heights in his third book, a comic spoof on a classic travel adventure that was released last month. Into Hot Air: Mounting Mount Everest is a novel that pokes fun at, well, just about everything, including the author himself. Elliott’s narrator, also named Elliott, wonders if it really was Sir Edmund Hillary who was the first to scale Everest. The discovery of a diary written by a crazy great uncle begins the questioning, and readers are dragged along on a mysterious and laugh-out-loud journey that includes a cast of all-star celebrities.

Elliott depicts epic adventure at its funniest, and ” …also takes aim at disaster movies, celebrity activism, and reality TV shows like Survivor and The Amazing Race.” As Chris explains in this recent Gothamist interview, CNN and the titles of other folks books did inspire some aspects of his own story: “It’s more or less using Everest and the action-adventure genre as a backdrop for my goofiness.”

Climbing Everest Naked

by Neil Woodburn on

It sounds like something I’d be dumb enough to try; scale the top of Everest and strip naked at 29,000 feet to celebrate.

Damn it if someone has already beaten me to it.

Last year a Nepali climber did just that. While it sent some chuckles through the climbing community, others weren’t so amused. Everest is, after all, the holiest mountain in the country and local Nepalese were shocked at the sacrilegious act which some have likened to stripping in church. The episode has caused such an uproar, in fact, that Ang Tshering, president of Nepal’s Mountaineering Association, has argued for “strict regulations to discourage such attempts by climbers.” I would assume that concern for one’s own private parts in minus 10 degree temperatures would be discouragement itself, but apparently it isn’t.

There is, however, a bit of irony here that has been nicely pointed out by Guardian Journalist Hank Wangford. It seems that naked mountain climbing may have originated many years ago on Everest itself (or at least very near it). The above photo is of legendary climber George Mallory crossing a stream in 1922 on his way to the holy mountain. Way to go George!

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Samantha Larson: Youngest American to Summit Mt. Everest

by Justin Glow on

I’ve had dreams of climbing Mt. Everest ever since I first read John Krakauer’s Into Thin Air. Of course, my dreams often include me casually strolling up the side of the mountain — warm cup of coffee in my hand — making it to the top of the world’s tallest mountain with minimal effort to pose for pictures in front of a flag with my own face on it. Cut me some slack…these are dreams! It turns out that Everest is a bit more difficult to climb than my subconscious — or even a teenage girl — would lead you to believe.

Samantha Larson — an 18-year-old girl from Long Beach, California — has become the youngest American to climb Mt. Everest, and the youngest in the world to climb all 7 summits.

“We made it to the top!” she exclaimed on her blog upon reaching the summit of Everest last Wednesday. “Now all we have to do is get back down…” Turns out she could be the world’s highest blogger as well!

Congratulations, Samantha — only 16 more to tie Apa!

Bear Grylls Breaks Himalyan Paraglider Record With “Petrol-Powered Paraglider”

by Willy Volk on

Bear Grylls — otherwise known as the filthy British guy in Man vs. Wild — literally soared into the record books yesterday after he completed a “petrol-powered paraglider” flight over the Himalayas. Wonder if he saw Conrad Anker?

Shivering through mind-numbing temperatures of -76°F to pass the 29,500-foot-mark — almost 10,000 feet higher than the previous powered paraglide record — the adventurer/explorer had to carry his own air on his back, as the oxygen is too thin to supoport life at that altitude.

Promising that he’ll never do anything as dangerous again, Bear told The Telegraph, “It was the hairiest, most frightening thing I have ever undertaken in my life.” Think he’s exaggerating? Check out the photo gallery and video The Telegraph is hosting, and I bet you believe him!

If you want to learn more about the record, check out GKN Mission Everest, which chronicles the preparation and adventure.

Conrad Anker Climbing Everest 1920s-Style

by Willy Volk on

British mountaineer George (“Because it is there”) Mallory died on Mt. Everest in 1924. Though no one knows for sure whether he and his climbing partner, Andrew Irvine, summited the world’s tallest mountain, some have speculated that the pair — wearing gabardine, wool, cotton, and silk — were woefully unprepared to tackle the extreme temperatures there.

Now, a team of climbers — led by American Conrad Anker, who found Mallory’s body in 1999 — is trying to retrace their steps as closely as possible. In addition to using the same kinds of gear that Mallory used, replica clothes have been made especially for the modern-day climbers. Back in 1924, Mallory wore a Burberry suit over a woollen vest as well as a fur-lined motorcycle helmet and hobnail boots. Anker and his team are dressed the same way.

A documentary of the climb is being made. Though no modern-day climbing gear will be shown on the film, I doubt they’ll be shooting in B&W.

[Via Get Outdoors]