Everest 2023: Interview with Scott Lehmann and Shayna Unger, Deaf Climbers
Podcast: Scott Lehmann and Shayna Unger, are aiming to be the first American couple and, to their knowledge, the second and third deaf climbers to summit Mount Everest. Also, they are trying to become the first deaf couple to compete the Seven Summits. Both were born, as they say, profoundly deaf, meaning they had no hearing at all. They live in the Washington, D.C., area and are educators and mountaineers. They summited Denali, Aconcagua, Kilimanjaro, Ecuador’s Chimborazo and Cotopaxi, and Mont Blanc, plus Scott has all the US High Point.
A third-generation deaf person, Scott is an educator and a mountaineer. Given the lack of deaf representation in the outdoors and lack of communication access to outdoor education, the outdoors was not a big part of Scott’s life until he was 23 when he climbed a mountain for the first time. Shayna is a deaf woman, an educator and a mountaineer. Growing up, Shayna often went on camping trips with her deaf family in the 1990s, but they never did. They have full access to outdoor sports. It was not until college that Shayna started traveling and fell in love with climbing mountains.
PODCAST: with Jost Kobusch’s Solo, Winter 2023 Denali Summit
PODCAST: German Alpinist Jost Kobusch became only the third person to complete a solo winter Denali Summit successfully. He summited on Sunday, February 19, 2023, around 3:00 am. I caught up with him at his home in Chamonix, France, only a few weeks after his summit. Jost style is to climb alone during a season that few other people would choose. He climbs completely unsupported and often on the most difficult routes. On Denali, he summited via the Messner Couloir.
We cover route, gear, weather, what he learned, and his plans for another Everest West Ridge climb in late 2023. Jost is doing a several-part series on his Facebook page, including his clothing, footwear, handwear and face wear. Visit and follow to learn more about how he pulled this feat off. I think you’ll enjoy meeting this 30-year-old climber.
Everest 2023: Icefall Doctors leave for EBC, More Silly Rules
The #Everest2023 season is starting to take shape with guides establishing their base camp, the Icefall Doctors are on their way to EBC.
Podcast with Rebecca ‘Becks’ Ferry: Running from Makalu
Podcast: In 2021, British climber Rebecca ‘Becks’ Ferry had an amazing run on six 8000-meter mountains. This British mother of five children ages 12 to 18 is back in 2023 for Makalu but with a twist – no Os and will run back to Kathmandu from Makalu base camp!
How Much Does it Cost to Climb Mount Everest? – 2023 Edition
As we get closer to Everest 2023, I’ve updated my annual post of “How Much Does it Cost to Climb Mount Everest?” Prices have risen on both sides, and there is price parity on the Tibet and Nepal sides. Also, I look at some of the most expensive options – it’s shocking!
2022 in Review: The Year Climbing Changed
“It was the best of times and the worst of times.” With all respect to Mr. Charles Dickens, I’m talking about the 2022 climbing year, not the French Revolution in 1775. Oh my, what a year. Hundreds of new people tried out the sport, while old hands showed up after a couple of down years. Operators and countries generated much-needed revenue, and some people accomplished their lifetime dreams.
As I’ve written several times while covering the high-altitude mountaineering world, I believe history will consider 2022 as an inflection point in the evolution (or devolution) of mountaineering.
Opinion: An Open Letter to Mountaineering Policy Decision Makers
An open letter to Mountaineering Policy Decision Makers,
After each season, pictures emerge showing trash left by climbers and long queues of climbers seeking their time on the summit. The public demands changes to protect the mountains. The operators announce clean-up campaigns and ask for donations. Countries respond with new rules. However, history shows these new rules are ghosts and are often ignored. There is time before the 2023 season to make significant changes. Please use this time to save your mountains and the tourism industry.
Video Interview Adventure Consultants 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.
Should Everest Base Camp Be Moved?
The Nepal Ministry of Tourism is back to its old games of playing the mainstream press to make themselves look like credible custodians of Mount Everest. In this year’s spin, they floated, not announced, but said they were considering moving the current location of Everest Base Camp, EBC, a bit lower to be off the foot of the current Khumbu Icefall. They cited environmental reasons.
Video Interview Wilco Van Rooijen: No O’s Kanchenjunga 2022 Tough Decisions
We sometimes hear about a climber who has to make a tough decision as we follow mountaineering each season. Usually, it involves weather moving in that might jeopardize the team’s safety or rescuing a teammate. Well, this spring, my long-time friend, Wilco van Rooijen, 55, faced a difficult decision, but it involved staying true to his style.
The Dutch mountaineer cheated death in 2008 on K2, but we both lost a dear friend, Ger McDonnell, that year. Wilco, who always climbs without supplemental oxygen or Sherpa support, had summited K2, Everest, plus many technical climbs in the Alps. He had a sold attempt in 2018 on Kanchenjunga, the 3rd highest mountain at 8,586 m (28,169 ft), with his best friend and climbing partner, Cas van de Gevel.
This 2022 spring, they returned to Kanch for another try in their style. They had perfect weather day after day and had acclimatized on Meru Peak before arriving at Kanch’s base camp. They made one attempt but were going too slow behind a large group, and it was getting late in the day, so they returned to base camp. It was then that their expedition began to experience problems. The operator they had paid to provide base camp logistics told them they only had three days left as they were going. Cas developed health problems. Soon Wilco found himself high on Kanch with a climber he didn’t know and a very young and inexperienced Sherpa. Wilco faced a decision that would test his character and test his commitment to the style head sworn to honor.
It’s a fascinating interview where we talk about our Broad Peak experience, Wilco and Ger on K2 in 2008, and Wilco and Cas this year on Kanch. I take the opportunity to ask Wiclo his views on the changes we are seeing in the world of mountaineering of excessive use of oxygen, inexperienced clients with unqualified guides, helicopters, and more.
Climb On!
Alan
Memories are Everything