…read more on Annapurna.
Due to a personal emergency, I had to abruptly depart Annapurna for home. I am currently back in the USA and will not be joining Ueli Steck for our scheduled Everest ascent this month, but wish him the very best on his attempt. He is currently in base camp, so be sure to follow his… Read More
Picture this: It’s nighttime. You’re caught in a whiteout blizzard, perched high on a ledge in the Himalayan mountains. Avalanches are coming down all around, destroying and burying tents. The way up or down is too dangerous- there’s nowhere to go. People are huddling in the dark, while others run back and forth to dig… Read More
In just 24 hours, the international group of climbers attempting Annapurna endured 3 separate avalanche events, and somehow survived them all. I left Camp 2 on the crisp, early morning of April 18th to ascend the German ridge and set up Camp 3. I was the first to leave camp that morning, and began the… Read More
(Friday 4/20/12 10:30am NPT) Don phoned to say that he was back down in Camp 2 after just coming from two nights stay in Camp 3. The weather conditions for the past couple of days have not been good, so he has decided to head back down to base camp today. He mentioned that there… Read More
(8:30 PM NPT) Phone Dispatch from Don: “At Camp 2 now for the night. Heading up to Camp 3 at 6800m in morning of 4/18/12 for a few days acclimatization. Winds high on the mountain are rather precarious right now, so will make a decision to go further as the weather unfolds.”
(Click on all pictures to enlarge) I was hoping to go to Camp 3 at least once to acclimatize before a summit push, so I started up alone from Camp 2 last Tuesday morning until I got about 200 meters from the upper north wall proper. A few Sherpa’s had fixed the ridge up to… Read More
There are 12 people sharing our climbing permit, a varied group hailing from Spain, Mexico, Switzerland, Iran, Turkey, China, the USA, and me: the Canadian. Most of the other climbers have hired Sherpa’s to fix rope, guide, and carry gear and oxygen- and the entire group seems to know each other from prior expeditions. There… Read More
