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7 Summits Gear Review

Climbing 8 big mountains in 11 months required many things but proper gear was a must. In this post, I will review what I used, what worked, what didn’t;  taking it a layer at a time. To review, I did 8 climbs with 7 summits in 11 months. They were: Vinson (Antarctica), Aconcagua (South America), Everest (Asia), Denali to 17K when stopped by weather (North America), Elbrus-North (Europe), Kilimanjaro (Africa), Carstensz Pyramid (Oceania), Kosciuszko (Oceania). I will refer to the mountains as coldest: (Vinson, Denali and Everest) and warmest (Kilimanjaro, Carstensz and Kosciuszko) with Aconcagua and Elbrus in the middle. continue reading

 
Final Trip Reports: Carstensz Pyramid and Kosciuszko

What a way to wrap up phase 1 of the  7 Summits Climbs for Alzheimer’s: Memories are Everything project. Carstensz Pyramid had everything I expected and Kosciuszko was the perfect last climb. Carstensz Pyramid Carstensz was what an adventure should be. It had drama, uncertainty, an element of danger and of course for a climber – a summit. I knew as I boarded the plane for the flight to Indonesia that this would be the most difficult climb both technically and logistically. What I didn’t expect was that labor issues at the local mine near Carstensz would be the culprit. continue reading

 
Kosciuszko Summit: Brief Recap

It may have been the lowest, but it was certainly worth the effort. Mount Kosciuszko was easy and fun plus a wonderful way to end my current 7 Summits Climb for Alzheimer’s: Memories are Everything project. Only three days after summiting Carstensz Pyramid, I flew to Sydney and then drove to the ski resort village of Thredbo. I found a great place to stay and looked out my window to see a cloud covered mountain side. More than one climber had told me that Kozzy presented a challenge in difficult weather conditions. But when I woke up, I was greeted continue reading

 
Summit: Audio Dispatch from Kosciuszko

This is the latest audio dispatch live from Kosciuszko; the eighth of Alan’s 7 Summits climbs. These climbs are to raise Alzheimer’s awareness and $1M for research. Please donate today. Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything

 
Last but not least, Kosciuszko

I am now in Australia after our successful summit of Carstensz Pyramid. I survived the leeches, 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 continue reading

 
Carstensz Summit Brief Recap

Carstensz Pyramid was without a doubt the most exotic, logistically complicated and, from a pure climbing perspective, rewarding of all the 7 Summits. In my usual approach, I will post a full trip report, FAQ and photo/video gallery but for now, some highlights of our summit day. As I previously posted, strikes at the huge local gold mine created massive uncertainty with our flights to Carstensz base camp (BC) resulting in having to charter several helicopter flights to avoid the 6 day trek across the Paupu jungles. But we were here to climb, not trek, so the entire team was continue reading

 
Summit: Audio Dispatch from Carstensz Pyramid

This is the latest audio dispatch live from Carstensz Pyramid; the seventh of Alan's 7 Summits climbs. These climbs are to raise Alzheimer's awareness and $1M for research. Please donate today. Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything

 
Carstensz Summit Push in 10 hours

We leave our summit push for Carstensz Pyramid in about 10 hours, leaving camp around 1 AM local time. It should take between 8 to 12 hours roundtrip.Attached is a picture of Carstensz’s face we are climbing. The route is to the right gaining the ridge…

 
Carstensz: Commit to the Goal

Our Indonesia adventure continues. We were supposed to fly out today from Timika on the southern coast of Papua to Suagpa north of Carstensz, but a snag in the logistics foiled this plan. Before I go on, a bit of background. Adjacent to Carstensz is one of the largest gold and copper mines in the world. It is the primary employer in this area and around 9,000 of the 12,000 workers went on strike on September 15 for higher wages. They make about US$2 to $3 a day, according to some press reports I have seen, and want $43. The continue reading

Oct 172011
 
Welcome to Sagapa

We achieved major progress today and are now in the village of Bilogai in the area of Sugapa. We received notice that the airplan had left another airport to pick us up in Timika about 7 this morning so we hustled to the airport with no drama. There we…

 
Inguinity, Papua style!

OK, progress – Papau style! With the local issues, fuel has become the major problem in reaching the base camp of Carstensz Pyramid. But, impressively, our local team has been working on several solutions. So as it stands right now, subject to change, we will fly out of Timika tomorrow, Tuesday, to Sugapa where we will catch a helicopter to base camp. This involves an additional air drop of multiple fuel barrels in order to refuel the helicopter for the three trips it will take to get us and our gear there. Conveniently, Sugapa is also the starting point if continue reading

 
The Carstensz Adventure Begins!

Well it didn’t take long for the adventure part of Carstensz Pyramid to begin. I finally made it to the southern mining town of Timika today, Sunday, after leaving home on Wednesday spending almost all of the time flying or in airports. My journey took me from Denver to Los Angles to Bangkok; then directly to the Bali airport of Denpasar where I met up with the rest of the Mountain Trip team and our leader, Scott Woolums who was passing on one delay after another to us – all part of the “flexibility” required on a trip like this. continue reading

 
The Leeches of Carstensz Pyramid

If that title and picture didn’t get your attention, I don’t know will! . I leave for the next climb of the 7 Summits Climb for Alzheimer’s: Memories are Everything in mid October. This will be the 7th climb, but to be precise, I will actually climb one more, Kosciuszko in Australia immediately after Carstensz; why? Check out this post to see why I am climbing all 8 of the 7 Summits! OK, so what’s up with the leeches? Carstensz is located in Indonesia’s New Guinea in the province of Papua formally named Irian Jaya. New Guinea is the world’s continue reading

 
The last 2 Climbs (#7 and #8) of the 7 Summits Climb for Alzheimer's

It has been a busy year! Starting in November 2010 with Antarctica’s Mt. Vinson, I have now climbed 6 of the 7 Summits and have only two left. OK, before you accuse me of using ‘new’ math, let me explain why there are 8; 7 Summits. Back in 1981 a Texas oilman, Dick Bass, dreamed up the idea of climbing the highest peak on each of the earth’s continents. He looked at a map and  came up with 7: North and South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Antarctica and … um Australia. Off he went and by 1985, he had climbed continue reading

 
Kilimanjaro 2011 Final Trip Report

Glacier from Kili’s Summit Kilimanjaro was all I expected and much, much more. The climb itself was not the hardest but the descent was amongst the toughest when I twisted my ankle and had to be carried down from 15,000′. In my normal manner for all my climbs I have added a few pages to my site to document the expedition: Kilimanjaro 2011 Trip Report with videos Kilimanjaro FAQ Kilimanjaro and Serengeti Photo Gallery In spite of the last few hours of difficulty, the overall climb was good albeit a bit rainy and cloudy for over half of it. But continue reading

 
World Alzheimer's Day from Kilimanjaro

As I leave our climb of Kilimanjaro, I wanted to send this special message today, World Alzheimer’s Day, September 21st. November is national Alzheimer’s month for an urgent reason: Alzheimer’s is growing faster than we are making progress on a cure. When I first started the 7 Summits Climb for Alzheimer’s in December 2010, every 70 seconds a new case was diagnosed in the United States; today it is every 69 seconds. The cost of caring for an individual in a facility has also grown dramatically from the $5,000 a month required for my mother a few years ago to continue reading

 
Brief KIlimanjaro Summit Recap

While climbing Kilimanjaro was not the most difficult of my climbing life, getting down was perhaps in the top three! We made the summit is good time and style after leaving the Barafu Camp at 15,000′ around midnight. The climb to the summit crater rim was mostly in mild temperatures with clear skies and obviously in the dark. As the sun rose over Mawenzi, the adjacent excitement volcano and and part of the Kilimanjaro structure, we enjoyed almost perfect climbing conditions. The climb was on scree and dirt trails that switch backed endlessly reminding me of some of Colorado’s long continue reading

 
Summit: Audio Dispatch from Mt. Kilimanjaro

This is the latest audio dispatch live from Africa's Mt. Kilimanjaro; the sixth of Alan's 7 Summits climbs. These climbs are to raise Alzheimer's awareness and $1M for research. Please donate today. Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything

 
Leaving for Kilimanjaro summit in 9 hours!

Barafu Camp, 15020 feet; the last camp before the summit. The team pulled into camp in good style around 1:00.During a lunch of watermelon, oranges, grilled cheese sandwiches and soup; Eben reviewed the summit plan. We will wake up and have ‘breakfast’…

 
The Rains of Kilimanjaro

Yesterday ended with low clouds and today was full of rain. However we successfully climbed the Baranco Wall, 800 feet of moderate rock scrambling made even more difficult with wet, smooth surfaces. The entire team took this on as a challenge and performed extremely well With the lack of sun all my normal tools – Sat phone and portable computer have dead batteries. I am sending this from my iPhone!! We have EDGE service here at the Karanga Camp at 13,250′ So I sit on this wet rock with a heavy fog all around. I will keep this short to continue reading

 
Audio Dispatch from Mt. Kilimanjaro

This is the latest audio dispatch live from Africa's Mt. Kilimanjaro; the sixth of Alan's 7 Summits climbs. These climbs are to raise Alzheimer's awareness and $1M for research. Please donate today. Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything

 
Higher on Kilimanjaro

Day 2 on Kilimanjaro. We left the protection of the rain forest for the in-between land between trees and rock. The clouds played with us all day giving us a teasing glance at our ultimate goal.As the low clouds moved across the Shira Plateau, it becam…

 
Kilimanjaro's Rain Forest

We had a great day trekking to the Machame Camp on Kilimanjaro today.The day began with a quick breakfast then about an hour drive to the Machame Gate. The slow drizzle at the hotel had increased to a driving rain as we checked in with the park officia…

 
Pictures in the Moshi Market - maybe

Stepping off the jet at Kilimanjaro airport, it was dark. The night air was warm, a bit humid but not too much. We moved like a long eel towards the immigration officers. They checked our documents, took modern scans of our finger prints, for what reason I am still unclear, and most importantly took our valuable US crisp dollar bills. The usual anxiety of lost luggage went away as one by one each duffle or suitcase appeared on the carousel. Met by our IMG guide Eben, the team gathered outside the simple air terminal, exchanging names knowing we would forget continue reading

 
The Edges of Kilimanjaro

As I flew from Amsterdam to the Kilimanjaro airport, I looked out my window of the KLM 777 marveling at the stark contrast of the brown islands against the deep blue of the Aegean Sea. Edges. My (almost) next to the last climb of the 7 Summits Climb for Alzheimer’s: Memories are Everything had begun. I had met two of my teammates, Jeannie and Joe, at Schiphol as they journeyed from the US, now we were on the 8 hour flight to central Africa. I have now seen “edges” on almost all the continents. Sometimes easy transitions from one level continue reading

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