Category: Everest Popular Posts

Climbing News, Everest, Everest 2023 Coverage, Everest News, Everest Popular Posts, Interview

Podcast with Author, Journalist Billi Bierling of the Himalayan Database

Close followers of mountaineering know the Himalayan Database and Ms. Elizabeth Hawley. Who you may not know is Billi Bierling who worked with Ms. Hawley since 2004 and continues her work today along with a small team in Kathmandu and the US.

Billi, born in the Bavarian Alpine resort of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, is a well-traveled journalist working primarily for Swiss Humanitarian Aid as a communications expert. She also writes mountaineering articles for German and English-speaking magazines, translates or writes books and leads mountain treks and expeditions in Nepal and around the world. And she climbs mountains, big mountains including Everest, Lhotse, Makalu, Cho Oyu, Manaslu (fore summit) and Broad Peak – the latter three she summited without the help of supplemental oxygen.

Billi recently published a book, a memoir, Riding my Bike iN Kathmandu.

This in-depth podcast introduces us to Billi, her background in humanitarian work, her book and some of her climbs before discussing the changes we are seeing in the ever-commercialized world of mountaineering, especially in Nepal. Finally, we wrap up discussing the future of the Himalayan Database.

Grab a beverage or take a walk and please enjoy meeting Billi Bierling.

Climbing News, Everest, Everest 2023 Coverage, Everest News, Everest Popular Posts, Interview

Everest 2023: Interview with Garrett Madison from Everest Base Camp

The #Everest2023 season is taking shape as teams continue to acclimatize with rotations to Camps 1 and 2, with some tagging Camp 3 at 23,000 feet or 7,000 meters. In this interview with Garrett Madison, founder of Madison Mountaineering from Everest Base Camp, we discuss the record permits, his acclimatization strategy, addressing the human waste problem, the long route through the Icefall and their attempt to summit the difficult and highly technical Nuptse. #everest2023

Climbing News, Everest, Everest 2023 Coverage, Everest News, Everest Popular Posts

Everest 2023: Miracle Rescues on Annapurna

In what can only be described as a miracle, Anurag Maloo, 34, was found barely alive deep in a crevasse. He disappeared three days earlier. Polish climbers Adam Bielecki, and Mariusz Hatala descended into the crevasse and found him. He was flown to Pokhara and then to Kathmandu and is in critical condition. Bielecki was on Annapurna trying a different route when he heard of the situation. #everest2023

Climbing News, Everest, Everest 2023 Coverage, Everest News, Everest Popular Posts, Weekend Update

Everest 2023: Weekend Update April 2

The Everest spring season is starting slowly, at least on the Nepal side of the Hill. The Tibet side remains closed to foreigners. Multiple teams are trekking to Everest Base Camp – Nepal, aka EBC. Each weekend during the season, I’ll post a “Weekend Update” summarizing the main stories for the past week. #everest2023

I’ve always felt that if you are qualified and have earned the right to be on Everest, you should be applauded, regardless of your result. No matter what you read, Everest is not a walk-up; it hard, and people die. With that, let’s look at a few climbers with unique stories. #everest2022

Climbing News, Everest, Everest 2023 Coverage, Everest News, Everest Popular Posts

Everest 2023: First Steps in the Khumbu

As we approach April, activity is picking up in Nepal. Team after team has left Kathmandu, taking helicopters or fixed-wing aircraft to Namche or Lukla. There they will begin the trek to Everest Base Camp, Island Peak, or just in the Khumbu. It’s a special time. As I’ve said since 1997, if you ever get a chance to trek in Nepal, jump on it. It will change your life for the better. Let’s take a look at the first steps in the Khumbu.

#everest2023

Climbing News, Everest, Everest 2022 Coverage, Everest News, Everest Popular Posts, Interview

Video Interview Adventure Consultants Guy Cotter

Guy Cotter

If you follow mountaineering, Adventure Consultants is one of the names that evoke almost three decades of memories. Guy Cotter, who began running the company in the mid-1990s, has deftly led his team through years of climbs worldwide. But in 2010, COVID was too much, and Guy made the difficult decision to put AC into ‘hibernation.’ Now, in 2022, he is ready to resume operations, smaller, leaner, and with an increased focus on running high-quality expeditions with discerning clients.

In this interview, I talk with Guy about his decisions with AC over the past few years and where he wants to take the company. We also delve into this new world of climbers’ linking multiple 8000-meter peaks in a single season, the record crowds on K2, and the discussion in the mountaineering community around the validity of claiming summits, especially on the fourteen 8000-meter peaks.

Guy is uniquely qualified to discuss these topics. I hope you enjoy our chat.