Everest 2017: Climbers on the Move
Everest 2017 is officially underway. If you were on a flight from Kathmandu to Lukla over the past few days, you would have seen lean men and women with a backpack slung over their shoulder boarding the plane. If you could have looked in their minds, you would have seen visions of the summit of […]
Everest 2017: The Climb to the Summit Not Discussed
I occasionally read the Southeast Ridge route to the summit of Everest is called the “yellow brick road” or “paved” or something else suggesting that it is sidewalk-esq, easy, with no challenge and attainable by all. I suspect those who say, write and repeat those descriptions have never been close to Everest. And if they have summited, perhaps their […]
Everest 2017: Adventure Consultant’s Guy Cotter on ‘Fixing Everest’
As the guiding universe explodes with seemingly anybody and everybody jumping in, there are a handful of global companies that simply take care of business year in, year out and Adventure Consultants is one of the best. For close to two decades, Guy Cotter has been running the company with a strong philosophy of keeping it small and […]
Everest 2017: Weather Watch
Sherpas are already at Everest Base Camp on the Nepal side establishing camps. The Icefall Doctors have also arrived and will start building the route thru the Khumbu Icefall soon. But the big question is what kind of mountain conditions and weather will be in store for the 2017 season? This is perhaps more critical than in any […]
Everest 2017: Will Required use of GPS Make Everest Safer? – False Report
Update: The Himalayan Times’ Rajan Pokhrel says the report is false and the chief of Nepal’s tourism department, Durga Dutta Dhakal, was incorrect. News reports are indicating that Nepal will test using GPS trackers attached to Everest climbers to expedite rescue and prove summits. Will this work? Will it make any difference? Let’s take a look. Popularized […]
Everest 2017: After 14 Everest Expeditions, Why Altitude Junkies is Leaving?
Guide companies tend to come and go, especially on Everest, but there are a handful that have made a significant contribution to the industry and when they “go”, there is a good reason. I’ve known Phil Crampton since 2008 when he was instrumental in helping me recover from botched logistics on a Everest North side climb. We […]
Everest 2017: Why is the Khumbu Icefall so Dangerous?
Of all the sections on Everest, the Khumbu Icefall receives the most headlines for the danger. Why is it so dangerous? Does it deserve this reputation? What can climbers do about? Let’s take a look. A River of Ice that is Melting Everything starts with the Khumbu Glacier, a 10 mile/17km river of ice that begins high on […]
Everest 2017: Russell Brice “Old School” Prepares for Another Season
Russell Brice is a legend on Everest. He came to notoriety on the Discovery Channel’s “Everest Beyond the Limits” series about 10 years ago. But few people know that Russ is a world-class climber in his own right. Born in New Zealand in 1952, he now lives in London. He started climbing as a young boy in […]
Everest 2017: Why Does it Take so Long to Climb Everest?
Climbers are beginning to pack their duffle bags in preparation to leave for Kathmandu. But its early March and most people summit around May 19th, so whats the hurry? Good question. Let’s take a look at how long it takes to get to the top of the world. The new shiny penny in the world of […]
Alex Txikon’s Everest Winter Summit – OVER
Alex Txikon said going on would have been “suicide.” With a team of five Sherpas he reached Camp 2 on 7th March 2017 from the Nepal side of Everest. They felt the extreme cold and high winds with the same in the forecast for many days and called it quits. Txikon says he will return. Txikon deserves a lot […]