With summer winding down, I thought it was time for an update on the climbing season, my recent climbs and photography plus an exciting opportunity occurring this Sunday.
Fall Himalaya Season
September brings the Himalaya climbing season back into focus with expeditions to Cho Oyu, Shisha Pangma and more big Hills. But the red tape now required to climb in Tibet has caused many companies to stay in Nepal on mountains such as Manaslu and Ama Dablam. Teams have been surprised by new permit requirements, staffing requirements and travel restrictions to enter Tibet. All this resulted in just a few western teams on Cho Oyu and none on Shisha Pangma (yet) this year. Last year Cho saw over 20 expeditions and hundreds of climbers while I was over on a fairly crowded Shisha Pangma.
Olympic Torch on Everest Revisited
The Beijing Olympics came and went without any mention of the Olympic torch summit on Everest back in May. I found this surprising given all the problems it created for Everest climbers. It will be interesting to see how Everest shapes up next spring. Word has it the Chinese will close it completely or severely limit the number of north side climbers. They say it is being closed for ‘cleaning’. I am hosting a discussion of Everest 2009 on my Climbing Forum and will do my regular armchair coverage starting next year.
Colorado 14ers
Back here in Colorado, I have been climbing more of my 14ers. It has been a great summer of climbing with my regular partners Patrick and Robert. Thus far I have 11 new summits in 2008. I have now climbed 40 of the 54 official peaks. My favorites this year were the climbs of Crestone Needle and Wetterhorn Peak. All of the climbs have their own page with my trip report and pictures of the climb.
New Climbing Galleries
I have also been busy updating the pictures and videos on my website. Thus far there are new galleries for:
Everest
Cho Oyu
Shisha Pangma
Ama Dablam
Longs Peak
And a collection of my Favorite Shots
The new presentations have a nice slide show feature plus more detailed captions and descriptions. You can access all of these from my homepage.
National Alzheimer’s Day
Finally I want to bring your attention to National Alzheimer’s Day this Sunday, September 21 sponsored by the Alzheimer’s Association. They will be matching all donations up to $250,000 on a dollar for dollar basis. This is a great opportunity to make your year-end donation.
I am still climbing. In fact I will be doing some rock and snow/ice climbing over the next few days in Rocky Mountain National Park. Maybe we will get one more14er in before the heavy snows begin (we saw 2 feet one day in August in the Park!) and I still need to get my annual summit of Longs Peak completed.
I hope your autumn goes well and are living each day to the fullest.
Climb On!
Alan
