December 15, 2005

Breath In, Breath Out, Breath In ...

What do you do for a story if you run a major climbing website and it is almost Christmas? Well, MountEverest.net is running a multi-part exposé on using supplemental oxygen. It is very educational as well as some might say inflammatory, but it is certainly thought provoking. If you have aspirations of climbing an 8000m Hill you need to read it.  I found it interesting since we have spent some time looking at the various oxygen delivery systems from our Broad Peak/K2 climb in June next year. We spoke with all the usual suspects mentioned in the exposé and concluded we will use the tried and true POSIX system. At the end of the day it not only your time, effort, money, hopes and dreams but also your life.

Speaking of breathing through the Nose..

As already widely reported by almost every climbing media outlet known to man (and woman), on October 17 Tommy Caldwell free climbed the Nose and Tommy’s free bid of El Capitan in less than 12 hours. This is significant because this is only the second time that the Nose has been free climbed in a day. Read more at the Outside Online site. The climb was rarely less than 5.10 which in layman's terms is vertical! This is serious rock climbing and an amazing feat!

A sport with an obituary page

One of my favorite questions about my passion for climbing was from a friend who noted that climbing is the only sport he knows of that in their magazine they have a regular obituary page. Well he is probably correct. So after letting my membership lapse, I recently renewed my American Alpine Club membership at the $75 a year level. There are a few reasons: 1) I like the fact a professional organization is fighting for climber rights 2) Their annual Accidents in North American Mountaineering is an excellent read to avoid being featured in one of those climbing magazines - in a bad way! And 3) their recent support for the victims of the Pakistan earthquake.

What's in your stocking?

With the annual season for getting and giving gifts upon us (notice how I avoided using the word Christmas! - how sad!), I edited my own gear page by adding a little Santa by the lower cost items that are easy to buy for the climber in your life. A great source for climbing books and such is Mountaineers Book. Merry Christmas!