High Winds Stop Summits Push on K2; Broad Peak Summit
Teams knew this was a risky chess move to try and summit K2 during a narrow weather window, and they lost this bet. July 14th was predicted to have acceptable winds on the summit of K2 but as is normal in the Karakoram and especially K2, the weather changed dramatically causing everyone to quickly descend back to base camp. So the good news is those climbers have […]
Summits Pushes Begin on K2 and the Karakorum
After a normal short period of high winds and heavy snow in the Karakorum, the weather forecast calls for acceptable conditions this week thus teams are moving up their mountains towards the summit today. And, to be sure, it will be crowded on K2 with 60 climbers reported to be going for the summit on July 14th. The crowds are not from the […]
K2 and Karakorum Mid-Season Update
Climbing teams are scattered all across the Karakoram this early July seeking to summit the five 8000ers located in Pakistan. Most are progressing well with several nights already spent at the lower to mid level camps around 7, 000 meters as they acclimatize to the higher altitudes. A few climbers, five reported thus far, have abandoned their climbs due […]
Summit Fraud on Everest?
How can a climber get a summit certificate and not summit? Well apparently all that is needed is a current summit photo and basic skills with Photoshop. Before I get into this year’s post-season controversy, let’s get this out of the way – climbers cheat, cyclists cheat, baseball/football/basketball/soccer players and even entire countries cheat in […]
Can a Vegan Summit Everest?
Can diet be an indicator of success on Everest? This past year, the tragic death and subsequent focus on Maria (Marissa) Strydom’s desire to ‘prove vegans can do anything” created a tremendous amount of headlines around diet for climbers and in many cases lead to shameful ridicule of her beliefs and practices. Meanwhile other climbers claiming to be […]
A Father’s Day Memory – Climbing, Alzheimer’s and Regrets
I walked over to my Dad, sitting in ‘his’ chair in the home where my brother and I were raised from the 1950s. Mom sat quietly in ‘her’ chair across the living room. Ken sat on the couch. I got on my knees to make direct eye contact with him. “Dad, you know Mom is […]
A Personal Letter to Everest 2016, and 2017, Summiteers
“I want to climb Everest, but there is so much negative press about it. I don’t want to add to the problems.”, she added with genuine concern as I was having coffee this week with two 20 something aspiring climbers. Her statement got my attention. On one hand, I admired her ethics, on the other, damn it, […]
Why K2 Will Never Become Everest
Update 25 July 2016 :no K2 summits in 2016 due to weather and snow conditions. With 112 permits issued for K2 the summer of 2016, the press will soon go wild with articles saying “K2 is the New Everest.” Never mind the fact that in the year ever, K2 saw about 50 summits and in a “normal” […]
The Climber’s Depression Abyss
Christine, 84 years young came up to me after a recent talk I gave on my K2 summit in 2014, both a success and an epic. “I don’t understand.” She said shaking her head in a bit of disapproval. I simply replied “I understand that you don’t understand.” With that, I expect only a handful of […]
Everest 2016: Season Summary – A Normal Season
Everest 2016 was a success by many measures. Climbers achieved life long dreams and a country got a break. It was a ‘normal’ season with around 600 summits but sadly there were five deaths plus one on Lhotse. However in stark contrast to the previous four years on Everest, 2016 lacked large scale tragedy or extreme drama. If ever a […]