Biological Brownies, Climber's Love, Bare attacks, Death on a 7 Summit, Drama Down Under
Biological Brownies
Jean Lafaille continues his assault on Makalu. He is climbing it solo, no Os and in the winter just to make it challenging! Of course keeping your body full of energy is often the key to making a big climbs and Lafaille is no different. While being held back by the weather he comments on his eating habits: "... Every three hours, Jean-Christophe tried to eat in order to compensate the lost of energy. He happily ate «Montagne Noire» dry salt meat, a great source of calories, and dry fruits biological brownies (about 30 rations empty sealed), a sweet treat." Hmm, maybe I will try "biological brownies" when I am in the Karakorum this summer. Maybe I will see more than the mountain!
Climber's love or Lover's climb?
Remember I mentioned the forum that Alpinist Magazine started a couple of months ago on their website. Well I visit it every few days too see what is new and if the premier climbing magazine has broken any new ground. Today I was not disappointed. Here is an excerpt for the latest thread "...I live in Grenoble, center French Alps and I am deadly passionate by mountains activities ... I am spending all my weekends in the mountains since the last 15 years... Here is the point : I am in love with a wonderful US girl for more than a year now ..." Well, they are certainly breaking new ground! Maybe they can syndicate their forum in Playboy?
Speaking of playing with bares
Borge Ousland is off on another adventure to the North Pole. He reports on his site of a close encounter. "... a polar bear! He broke the zipper with his foot trying to enter the tent, before turning around to explore their pulks." I think I would have lost my "pulk"!
Death on a 7 Summit
Aconcagua is know as one of the easier 7 Summits. You have all heard the spin: walk up, easy route, full services at base camp and more. But those who know, know better. It is a killer just like any other mountain. Aconcagua.com reports " ... Spanish mountaineer died today when just ten metres from the summit of the Aconcagua mountain, the highest peak in the Andes. 30 year old Borja Oviedo suffered a heart attack just short of the 6,962m high summit." This along with the three deaths on Kilimanjaro a few weeks ago should remind us all that there are no easy mountains.
Drama Down Under
The highest helicopter rescue ever in NZ took place on Mt. Cook over the weekend. A 23 year-old climber fell 1000' and was hanging unconscious on a ledge, according to news Scoop. Of course, Mt. Cook is New Zealand's highest mountain and very technical. While not too tall at 12,349, it is covered with glaciers and has very unpredictable weather. For a nice trip report visit Jason Halladay's trip report on SummitPost.com. Also take a look at his photos. They tell a great story.
