7 Eco-adventures that may be hazardous to your health

by Kraig Becker on

Many adventure travelers like to mix a sense of danger into their travels. It’s not enough to just go somewhere and experience the culture and explore the landscapes. For some, they have to feel the rush of adrenaline while they risk life and limb for their next great thrill. Fortunately, Treehugger has just the list of travel experiences for them, offering up 7 eco-adventures that could get you killed.

As you can probably guess, there are some wild suggestions on the list. For instance, they recommend volcano boarding in Nicaragua, something we wrote about awhile back. For an entirely different thrill, Treehugger recommends heading to Bolivia and taking a mountain bike for a spin down the Highway of Death, a particularly nasty stretch of road that we spotlighted back in March.

Some of the experiences are relatively quick, and over in a short time, like BASE jumping off of a Himalayan peak, while others demand much more of a commitment. For example, climbing Annapurna, a 26,545 foot mountain in Nepal, which would require weeks to climb, months to train for, and years to gain enough experience to even try.

The other suggestions on the list are equally intense and offer their own level of challenge and fear. But for someone looking to add new experiences to their life list, perhaps you’ll find something here that will inspire your next adventure.

Sherpa summits Everest for record 19th time

by Kraig Becker on

Yesterday was the third straight day of summits on Everest, with more than 100 climbers making an attempt on the mountain from both Nepal’s South Side and from Tibet to the north. Weather conditions have been excellent and the winds at the summit have been unusually calm, aiding the climbers and extending the weather window longer than expected.

One of the climbers amidst the dozens going up the mountain is a mountaineering legend by the name of Apa Sherpa. Apa is the record holder for the most summits of any climber in Everest history, having recorded 18 previous trips up the mountain. Yesterday’s succesful summit adds to the legend, giving him number 19.

Apa began his illustrious career on Everest back in 1988 when, as a young guide, he made his first attempt on the mountain. That attempt ended in failure above 27,000 feet. The next two attempts also ended without Apa reaching the summit, but in 1990 he helped guide a team from New Zealand to the top of the world, standing on the peak of Everest for the first time. He has achieved a successful summit every year since.

Following that first summit, Apa became a Sirdar, or Senior Guide, and is now considred to be amongst the most skilled and experienced high mountain guides in the world. A few years back, he and his family, moved to Utah to give his children the opportunity for a better education, but each spring he returns to Nepal to lead a group of climbers up the tallest mountain on the planet.

Congratualtions to Apa Sherpa on his record 19th summit of Everest. What an amazing feat!

Summit Day on Everest!

by Kraig Becker on

After several false starts, over the past week or so, Summit Day has finally arrived on Mt. Everest, with dozens of climbers reaching the top of the highest mountain on Earth earlier today. Summit Day is the culmination of weeks of preparation that includes a process of acclimatization that prepares the climbers for their final push to the top.

Typically, Summit Day begins late at night, with the mountaineers setting out from Camp 4, located at 26,000 feet, around midnight or so. They’ll climb throughout the night, hoping to top out the next morning, reaching the summit in daylight. Once there, they’ll spend 20-30 minutes at the summit, taking photos, resting, and enjoying the view, before turning back down the mountain. They know that getting to the top of the world is only half the journey, and a successful climb isn’t complete until they are safely down.

Amongst the climbers who reached the summit of Everest today are Ed Viesturs, whose return to the mountain we wrote about awhile back, and Peter Whittaker of the First Ascent Team. For Viesturs, this is his seventh trip to the summit of Everest, and adds to his already impressive resume that includes him being the only American to reach the summit of all fourteen 8000 meter peaks, doing so without the use of supplemental oxygen. For Whittaker, this is his first Everest summit on his third attempt.

Congratulations to all the climbers for a job well done!

Update: The summit teams from earlier today are all safely down the mountain and resting at Camp 4 before completing their descent to base camp. More teams headed to the summit today.

Ten Mountains For The Amateur Mountaineer

by Kraig Becker on

A lot of adventure travelers also happen to be armchair mountaineers. They follow the worlds top climbers as they make bold attempts on impossibly high and remote mountains in all corners of the globe, and they cheer them on as they stand at the top of the world. Many of them secretly wish they could go on their own expeditions to these distant peaks, but for a variety of reasons, they never have the opportunity.

It turns out there are a number of great climbs that can give you the feeling of your own big mountain expedition, without the big mountain expense and the need to give up several months of your life. Forbes Traveler has put together a list of ten such mountains each of which will challenge the heartiest of travelers, while delivering a true mountaineering experience.

Several of the mountains on the list are icons that are already popular with amateur climbers. Mountains like Mount Blanc on the border Italy and France. The 12,000 foot peak is considered the birth place of modern mountaineering, and is one of the classic climbs of Europe. The 19,340 foot Mt. Kilimanjaro is also considered a classic climb, taking trekkers to the highest point in Africa.

The other mountains on the list, while possibly lesser known, offer unique mountain experiences that are sure to thrill any adventure traveler and would-be mountaineer. These peaks can be climbed in a matter of days, rather than weeks, and they won’t leave your pocket book quite so empty as say an Everest expedition, which can cost upwards of $50,000 and require two months of time on the mountain.

So, if you hear the call of the mountains yourself, and you can’t resist the lure, strap on your crampons, grab your trekking poles and head to any one of these peaks for an adventure of your own.

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.