{"id":31841,"date":"2018-10-18T03:17:55","date_gmt":"2018-10-18T09:17:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/?p=31841"},"modified":"2018-10-18T07:18:02","modified_gmt":"2018-10-18T13:18:02","slug":"island-peak-2018time-to-climb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/2018\/10\/18\/island-peak-2018time-to-climb\/","title":{"rendered":"Island Peak 2018:Time to Climb"},"content":{"rendered":"

Well time has come to stop posting and to start climbing! First I wish all a happy Dashain.<\/p>\n

Kami and I leave Tomorrow 19 Oct for Island Peak. The summit is on the ridge far behind the face as shown in the pictures.<\/p>\n

Today we did our final acclimatization hike to Chungkung Ri, about 17,700\u2019 more or less. We were rewarded with clear, sharp views of Cho Oyu, Pumori, Nuptse, Lhotse, Peak 38, Island Peak, Makalu and of course, Ama Dablam. they were stunning.<\/p>\n

The weather forecast hasn\u2019t changed a lot so we are expecting sub 0F wind chills and will be prepared for worse. If it\u2019s too bad, we will simply turn back. It\u2019s really that simple.<\/p>\n

The Plan<\/p>\n

The schedule is to hike to base camp after breakfast Friday. Take the afternoon to relax and go to bed early. We will leave BC around 1 or 2 am crossing a long rocky area until we reach Crampon Point, where we, umm well, we out on our crampons!<\/p>\n

Crossing the glacier in the dark, and coldest time of the climb will be mentally challenging. Finally we\u2019ll reach the base of the 2,000\u2019 head wall. This snow and ice covered hillside ranges from 10 to 45 degrees and has a fixed line for safety. I expect that we will not be alone!<\/p>\n

At the top of the head wall is the summit ridge which can be narrow in places and steep in others. At the end is the tippy top aka the summit around 20,320\u2019.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m looking forward to all of this climb but especially the head wall and summit ridge. The trip back retraces our steps. We are planning to return to Chungkung that same day.<\/p>\n

I won\u2019t have any cell or WiFi access but will have my satellite phone and will keep Diane update who will then update Facebook if you are interested in following. As always I\u2019ll do a complete report once it\u2019s all over. I plan on documenting the climb in detail with pictures and video.<\/p>\n

Finally, you know what this is all about and I\u2019m grateful for all your support thus far.<\/p>\n

Moving On?<\/p>\n

You know I was thinking about meeting a fellow climber years ago in Colorado. She had lost her mother to Alzheimer\u2019s a few years earlier. Her words still echo in my mind today.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I used to believe they would find a cure. I donated, advocated, did the walks, attended the rallies. But you know what? They will never solve this one. It\u2019s too hard. Too much unknown. I miss my mom but I moved on.\u201d<\/p>\n

We walked quietly for a while until I said \u201cI understand but I guess I\u2019m not ready to move on until we find a cure.\u201d She simply said \u201cGood for you. Don\u2019t give up like I have but I\u2019m tired.\u201d<\/p>\n

Strength from Believing<\/p>\n

That was in 2009, the year Ida died. I\u2019ve also gotten tired from time to time but then researchers find something significant. More funding becomes available from governments worldwide, I read another story of a family who went bankrupt caring for a loved one, a husband who refuses to put his wife into an institution, an Alzheimer\u2019s patient who suddenly opens her eyes and begins to sing along to her favorite church song. Holding Ida\u2019s hands as she struggled to name any of her nine siblings in a family picture, including herself.<\/p>\n

This is when the energy grows. We simply cannot give up. Not today, tomorrow not anytime. I am more confident that researchers will find a way to prevent, slow, stop or reverse Alzheimer\u2019s Disease and the related dementias plus other neurological disorders from Down Syndrome to ALS to others in my lifetime.<\/p>\n

At this point we don\u2019t need more ideas, we need to fund the best ones with the best people. And your donations during this Island Peak 2018 climb has helped tremendously. As I leave for the summit, I can only squeak out a simple thank you. Your support for this cause keeps me climbing. A cure will be found.<\/p>\n

Climb On!<\/p>\n

Alan<\/p>\n

Memories are Everything<\/p>\n

Please consider a donation at https:\/\/www.crowdrise.com\/o\/en\/campaign\/alan-arnette-climbing-the-world-to-end-alzheimers<\/p>\n

Island Peak with summit ridge in back. Route is on the right<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Ever present Ama Dablam from Chungkung Ri<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

<\/p>\n

Island Peak with summit ridge in back. Route is on the right <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Well time has come to stop posting and to start climbing! First I wish all a happy Dashain. Kami and I leave […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":31842,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[522],"tags":[523],"class_list":["post-31841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-island-peak-2018","tag-island-peak-2018"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/img_3079.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31841","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31841"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31841\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/31842"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31841"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31841"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.alanarnette.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31841"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}