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]

13-year old Jordan Romero summits Everest

by Kraig Becker on

13-year old Jordan Romero reached the summit of Mt. Everest, the tallest mountain in the world, earlier today, setting a new record for the youngest person to achieve that feat. The successful summit also leaves him just one peak shy of his ultimate goal, to become the youngest person to climb the Seven Summits.

For much of the week, high winds buffeted the mountain, preventing climbers from going to the summit. But today, as predicted, a new weather window opened, granting access to the peak once again. This change in the weather has spurred another round of summit bids from both the north and south sides of the mountain. Jordan, and his team, topped out on the north, or Tibetan, side of Everest.

With Everest now added to his resume, Jordan can now turn his attention to the one mountain that remains on his list of the Seven Summits. This fall, he’ll travel to Antarctica to climb the 16,050 foot tall Mt. Vinson, the tallest peak on that continent. While not nearly as high as Everest, which stands at 29,029 feet, the extreme cold and harsh Antarctic conditions give the mountain its own unique challenges.

Jordan’s summit of Everest wasn’t the only one of note today. Climbing legend Apa Sherpa claimed his 20th summit of the mountain, extending his own record in the process. Apa first climbed Everest back in 1990, and has not failed to reach the top of the mountain in any year since then, an impressive feat of skill and endurance.

Congratulations to both Jordan and Apa on their amazing accomplishments.

Korean woman becomes first to climb all 8000 meter peaks

by Kraig Becker on

44 year-old Korean climber Oh Eun-Sun put her name in the record books last week, and joined very elite mountaineering company in the process. On Tuesday, she reached the summit of Annapurna, the 10th highest mountain in the world at 26,545 feet, and in doing so, became the first woman to climb all fourteen of the worlds mountains over 8000 meters (26,246 feet) in height.

For Oh, who climbed with a South Korean television crew in tow, the summit was the culmination of more than a decade of preparation, training, and climbing. In her home country, she was already a celebrity, and millions watched live on television as she made those final steps to the top of the mountain. Having completed her task, she is now likely to be one of the most famous athletes in South Korea.

Located in Nepal, Annapurna is widely considered to be one of the toughest, if not the toughest, of the 8000 meter peaks to climb. While shorter in stature than its more famous cousin, Mt. Everest, it is far more technical to climb. Additionally, the mountain is notorious for its poor weather and avalanches are common on the steep upper slopes. Oh herself failed to summit Annapurna last fall, prompting a return trip this spring to give it another go.

Oh Eun-Sun’s claim to being the first woman to summit the world’s highest peaks is not without controversy however. Spanish climber Edurne Pasaban has called into question Oh’s summit of Kangchenjunga, the third highest mountain in the world at 28,169 feet. Pasaban cites a lack of photo evidence and interviews with Sherpas who say that the Korean climber didn’t reach the summit on that mountain. Pasaban has been in pursuit of the 8000 meters peaks herself, and is likely to summit her final mountain, the 26,289 foot Shisha Pangma, located in Tibet, this week.

Climb a mountain for charity in 2010

by Kraig Becker on

The details for the 2010 Summit For Someone program were announced late last week, and registration has gone live this morning, allowing for experienced and aspiring mountaineers alike to climb a mountain for a cause next year. The program, which is sponsored by Backpacker Magazine, has become an annual fund raising event for Big City Mountaineers, an organization that enhances the lives of at risk urban kids by introducing them to a variety of outdoor activities.

The concept behind Summit For Someone is simple. You select a mountain that you would like like to climb from a list of iconic peaks, that includes the likes of Denali, Rainier, or Whitney, amongst others. Each mountain has a dollar value attached to it, and when you fill out the registration, you are committing to raising that amount of money for the Big City Mountaineers. Climbing Rainier, for instance, requires a pledge of $4000, while the more remote and technical Denali is $7500. You can choose to pay for the climb yourself or recruit your friends and family to sponsor your climb, but either way, the cash is going directly to a great cause.

Once you’re locked into your climb of choice, you’ll also receive a gift card for MountainGear.com that will help you pick out some of the equipment you’ll need for your adventure. The value of the gift cards also vary depending on the mountain you select. For instance, using the same two examples above, Rainier would garner you $800 in gear, while Denali nets you $1200 in loot.
For 2010, the Summit For Someone program has added a couple of new destinations and other options. One of the new mountains is Devil’s Tower in Wyoming, which will offer a technical climb very different from some of the other alpine challenges. Also, aspiring mountaineers who would like to build the skills necessary for future mountain adventures may want to sign up for the beginning mountaineering course that will take place in Rocky Mountain National Park.

If you’re starting to plan your 2010 adventures and the thought of a climbing expedition sounds enticing, than perhaps a Summit For Someone climb will be the perfect fit. Not only do you get to challenge yourself on an outdoor adventure, you’ll be doing it for a great cause as well. The trip will be rewarding on a number of different levels.