I love to climb or more specifically to be out in nature. This past week, I took a long climb to almost 13,000′ on Longs Peak in Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park. It was a rare winter day with mild temps in the high teens and virtually no wind – unheard of for Longs in January. The scenery of the snow covered Continental Divide was stunning as was the lightly peppered Diamond on Longs’ East Face. I was completely alone for the majority of the day. I had started just before sunrise and enjoyed watching the sun light up the continue reading
Partners supporting Alzheimer’s Research
You can now support Alzheimer’s research through purchasing products you might already buy. I am so pleased to announce that Body Results and Action Wipes will now donate a percentage of each noted sale to the Cure Alzheimer’s Fund. I have has teamed up with outdoor conditioning coaches Courtenay and Doug Schurman at Body Results, a Seattle-based company that focuses on wilderness sports conditioning. Also with Martha Van Inwegen of Life Elements with the Action Wipes product line for athletes. Cure Alzheimer’s Fund The Cure Alzheimer’s Fund use 100% of all donations to fund breakthrough research. None of your donation continue reading
Those who want to make an immediate contribution, there is a quick and easy way to do so. By texting “HAITI” to “90999″ a donation of $10 will be made to the Red Cross and charged to your cell phone bill.
Exercise Wards off Alzheimer's
You may wonder why I link mountain climbing with Alzheimer’s. My simple answer is that a healthy body = a healthy mind. You don’t have to climb Mt. Everest, a short amount of daily exercise will do the trick. A new study from the famed Mayo Clinic proves the point: Those who said they did moderate exercise — such as swimming, brisk walking, yoga, aerobics or strength training — during midlife were 39% less likely to have mild cognitive impairment, while those who did moderate exercise later in life were 32% less likely to have the condition. The Mayo team continue reading
Climbing Round Up
A brief update on the mid-winter climbing season. The Southern Hemisphere is in focus with Mts Kilimanjaro, Vinson and Aconcagua receiving the usual attention. Thus far it has been a safe season albeit with death. The commercial outfitters are in full swing with multiple expeditions to these three of the seven summits. Word has it they are sold out and doing well. The local outfitters are also doing well reporting good business. This is impressive given the world economy. Somehow climbers always find a way to climb. Aconcagua After a difficult start for many teams including an early season death, continue reading
Everest: Beyond the Limit online
If you missed Everest:Beyond the Limit Season 3 (2009) you can watch all 5 episodes online for free http://tinyurl.com/yeyav9o Update: it seems it is not available online in Europe.
2010 Digital Photography
Welcome to a new decade! And as you would expect, technology leads the way with cameras at the center stage. Most hikers, trekkers and climbers love to take pictures from their perils so picking the right camera is important. I have updated a long time section of my site for the latest technology now available in 2010. Probably the most exciting announcement in the past year or so was a brand new format called Micro Four Thirds. The promise is of a camera with the performance of a DSLR in the size of a point and shoot. Panasonic and Olympus continue reading
Updated 8000m Climbing Statistics
Ever wonder who was first to summit K2 or how many women from India have made it to the top of Everest or some other nuance of climbing statistics? Well Eberhard Jurgalski has updated his website for 8000m climbs up to 2009. You can download a huge number of spreadsheets with summit, route, nationality, death and more records from all 14 8000m mountains including Everest. A great resource for research or just for interest. Thanks Eberhard, Alan

When I started this website almost a decade ago, my vision was to simply share my experiences through introspective and candid reporting. That has not changed however the site has evolved over the years so let’s take a brief look back before we look forward. All of my 16+ big climbs including Denali, Aconcagua and the 3 to Everest had extensive coverage that included live dispatches, gear lists, an FAQ page plus an extensive collection of pictures presented in a gallery format with a sideshow presentation. Every Colorado 14er summit has it’s own page – 52 at this point.

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