Last but not least, Kosciuszko

I am now in Australia after our successful summit of Carstensz Pyramid. I survived the leeches, no cannibals and jungle to summit the 16, 023′ rock climb.

So on to Kosciuszko, the 8th and last climb of the 7 Summits Climb for Alzheimer’s: Memories are Everything. If you are confused as to why there are 8, 7 Summits, it is all explained in this post of a few weeks ago.

Some people would not bother with this one because it is “only” 7310 feet high, represents no technical challenge,  has a road (now closed) to the summit and is really a ski hill for Australians. But I want to summit it as bad as all the rest.

I just took this picture from my hotel room (yes no tents for this one!) and as you can see it is very cloudy as you go up the, ummm, chair lift. OK, I told you this one was not in the same league as the others.

However, one of my teammates on Everest often told the story that he was proud to have summited each of the 7 Summits on his first try, except for “Kozzy”. It seems a snowstorm created a zero visibility environment. Another teammate told me he became lost in a similar scenario! So I have some weather days built into my schedule! 🙂 but will go for it tomorrow, Thursday October 27.

Kozzy is almost equal distance between Sydney and Melbourne with the Australian capital of Canberra being the closest major city. I flew into Sydney and drove down to the Thredbo ski area today. I stopped at the park headquarter and was told I needed snowshoes and extreme weather gear but then as I bought my park pass from another person, I was told recent rains had made the trail just muddy. In any event, I will see for myself and perhaps snag the second highest peak, Townshend, as well. The entire area is very nice and I was extremely impressed as I drove in today with the beauty of the park.

Kozzy is popular with 100,000 people a year hiking it. It will be a bit nippy as the temps right now are in the 40’sF during the day and near freezing at night – a welcome change from the jungles of New Guinea!

By the way, if you are curious about  the ‘z’ in the spelling of Kosciuszko, it is silent. 🙂

I will make my traditional call from the summit and post trip reports and photo galleries as well. Kozzy may be the last climb during this year long project but it will not be short-changed.

Look for more posts on my 7 Summits campaign. I plan on reviewing some of my gear, travels, tips and memories. Also, we are looking at some type of speaking tour for 2012. Remember that the 7 Summits Climb for Alzheimer’s was not about the climb, it is about the cause. And yet, there may be more climbs!

Also, it is never too late to make a donation.

Climb On!
Alan
Memories are Everything