Economics Week: Globalization

It's kind of a big deal. Patagonia, one of the foremost leaders in sustainable production, created a webpage called the Footprint Chronicles, to detail the manufacturing of their products. If a company is open and willing to talk about their production line, what are the other companies that are not open and willing to share their production doing?

It is no secret that people in the United States are paid far more than our counterparts in Asia. Several times more in some cases. While the prices are also greatly elevated in this country, the fact remains the salary is high. Regarding low prices, while I was in Pakistan our High Altitude Porter asked me how much my Old Navy jeans cost and I said, "Not much, about $25." He was appalled because in Skardu nearly identical jeans would sell for $5-6.

With the recent union "event" here in Wisconsin the question has been asked "What direction are we headed?" The unions in this country have made huge strides against child labor, hours of work per week, bathroom breaks, and especially factory safety conditions. While most of those problems are behind us, what future battles are ahead that we do not know or understand? In other countries it is well known that working conditions, wages, hours, and child labor are relatively common. The United States has gotten where it is because about 100 years ago unions wanted to avoid getting killed at work. The unions may be a little more complicated now but the point remains the same, better working conditions and a larger share of the benefits.  Millions of people in Asia and other less developed parts of the world build products for US consumers and do not enjoy the standard of living that we enjoy.

I feel that ultimately, for the better, with the aid of mass instant communication the standard of living across the world will on average increase, although that may mean a decrease for us in the developed world. That being said in recent history the wealth of the richest has increased while the wealth of the "poor" has stayed the same. In short, we are moving closer to serfdom than away from it, but we are doing it with better sanitation, electricity, more education, infrastructure, and the ability to own more than in the past. More than one college drop-out is on the Forbes 400 list that probably employs highly educated doctors. The point of all this is that, now everyone can click on that list and see. There is no doubt about how well a few people are doing. The world can not hide from knowing about the richest and their follies or the poorest and their plight. Communication is not going fast yet, it is only accelerating.

By the way, it's April Fools Day, watch out.

More Scary than Fun

Every time I start my computer it shows a picture of me holding two of my ice axes in front of K2. K2 is a scary looking mountain. My favorite mountain is Longs Peak in Colorado. It's over 14,000 feet and there is no really easy way to get up it and there are dozens of very hard ways to try and get up it. Also, it is a pretty stable place to be, at least in the summer. There are no crevasses or hanging glaciers.

Within the whole mountaineering/climbing realm there is a lot of fear. People who say they are not afraid of heights are lying or they really are crazy. Everyone is a little afraid. It's that fear that keeps people safe. It's that fear that gives us an adrenaline rush and keeps us coming back. A lot of people are addicted to this sport because of the fear.

However, everyone has a limit. Now for many people that limit is not yet realized and/or beyond the limit of everyone else in the world in his or her particular endeavor. Most people know they have crossed the limit when it becomes more scary than fun. That person does not enjoy the experience at all and can even be paralyzed by fear.

The saying is, "it doesn't have to be fun to be fun." Many of the best memories are made when some amount of suffering is happening. Many of my favorite days in the mountains are the days when I spent a lot of time afraid, cold, wet, hungry, tired, and wondering if I could actually finish what I set out to do.

In the outdoors I listen to my gut instinct. Many times I have turned around for the reason of me just not feeling comfortable with what I would have to do next. It is the point when the next step is scary and the perceived risk is higher than the potential reward. Fear is a nice thing to have in small amounts every now and then but there is a limit. There is a limit where life is more scary than fun. Turn around my friend and pick a new route.

Create Pomogranate Demand

Create demand for pomogranate so that the prices go up. Why? Well first of all they are good for you with antioxidants and citric acid. It is, according to webmd, the best juice you can drink.

The more important and time sensitive reason, and more important than your health, is that they grow pomogranates in Afghanistan. Why is it important to support Afghanistan pomogranate farmers? Because otherwise they would grow poppies and make heroin.

It is not simply that simple. However the effort has already been started and apparently it is backed by many of the tribal leadership. Afghanistan is still a very tribal run country. In this country we would use words like war lord or head of the family business to describe these people. The truth is they are both the captains of industry and the political leaders of that country. So if they are convinced that growing pomogranates is better than poppies then you can bet that their famlies or tribes will grow pomogranates.

This article is a synopsis of an NPR interview I heard while driving across western Nebraska. For more information visit: www.pom354.com

SPF 100+

Sun Protection Factor 100+. In other words, you won't get a sunburn.

When I was shopping around for sunscreen to take to Pakistan I wanted the highest, most protective stuff out there. At 26,000 feet there is a lot less air in the way blocking the sun's UV rays. I went looking for zinc oxide. That white paste that you see on lifeguards noses in movies. Well, it's a pretty difficult thing to find. When I finally found some it was a 5% solution and had an SPF of like 45. On the same shelf at Walgreens was a new line of Neutrogena products called Ultra Sheer. At the most protective they had a tube of SPF 100+ which only debuted in 2009.

After asking the pharmacist it turns out that SPF is a measured factor. So zinc oxide or not SPF 50 protects from the sun more than SPF 20 no matter what the ingredients are. So I bought the SPF 100+.

I must say I have been nothing but pleased. Every part of my skin I have covered in that stuff has stayed sunburn free. I haven't even gotten red after wearing it. However, SPF measures only UVB rays and not UVA rays which still cause cancer and aging. So staying out forever just because you aren't getting red does not mean you are not getting cancer, it means you are less likely to get cancer.

Every time I whip it out I feel like it's a gag. Nobody else ever has anything over SPF 50. I feel like a walking science experiment. Fortunately, it doesn't stay white once you rub it in. It's just like any other sunscreen I have ever used, except it lasts a long time. I have never applied it twice in one day.

Technology. What will we think of, improve, invent, change, or create next?

The Past is History

I am specifically referring to my summer in Pakistan. The sharp memories are beginning to fade and the reality of living so close to danger is not keeping me awake at night. It is interesting how something that is the most memorable crazy thing I have ever done begins to be less of a novelty as time passes.

Over there I was more or less in constant fear. On the glacier it was falling in a hidden crevasse and getting hurt or killed. On the mountain it was avalanches, rock fall, fixed lines failing, blizzards, falling, not enough oxygen, not enough water, and cold temperature. On the jeep rides it was falling off the road. In the cities it was terrorism.

When I returned I went to Colorado for a few days and went running and climbing a lot. I was numb somewhat. I wasn't feeling pain or fear like I had always before. Some of that has lasted but it is not the same. I will be forever changed by my trip this summer but it will not always be the sharp knife in my emotions that is once was.

Is it a pain threshold?

Pakistan changed me. I've said it before. It is like I have a mental glaze that comes sometimes and allows me to easily do things I would have considered hard only six months ago. For example I mapped out and ran a 3:02:55 marathon yesterday with over 1900 feet of up and down and it was not hard. I just unofficially qualified for the boston marathon on a moderately hilly course by 8 minutes without really trying.

How can I better describe this feeling? It is pleasure. It is kind of like being numb, not just my legs but in my head as well. My legs were a little tight the last six miles but I could still feel that they were hurting a little. It's like my brain said to my body, "Nobody cares if you are tired. This isn't hard."

Here is my theory: In Pakistan every mountain climber that died this summer was more experienced than I am. Now because I only made it to 7000 meters and felt pretty good I feel that up at 8000 meters it must be exponentially harder because people die so frequently. Let me connect that a little better. If I felt good at 7000 meter I would guess more experienced people would feel better at 7000 meter and if they died at 8000 meters than it must just be crazy hard to get that high and come back. So I guess my definition of hard is something like a 19 hour day from 7000 to 8000 and back. A three hour run pales in comparison. Additionally, making these eight or six hour hikes between camps while you are never moving terribly fast you are continually breathing hard and somewhat tired. So again what is a three hour run in shorts and singlet compared to a six hour hike when you can hardly breathe and your fingers are freezing at 22,000 feet?

So I think it is a mental change that I have gone through. I might have physically been capable of this for the last two years but my mind is now sugar coating the pain and it doesn't feel too bad. In fact it is that kind of good honest working tired pain.

What is next for me? Probably a six hour race in RI in two weeks where I want to win and break into the top 30 in the world for this year. I also want to PR in the half marathon in practice sometime soon as well. Oh and I'm leading an ice climbing trip in December.

Pakistan Video Sample: 10 of 10

Here is the last little bit of free video preview. I am still not done editing the full length film but I have a deadline of having something for the first WPI Outing Club meeting in B term in about two weeks. If you are in the area I'll announce when the meeting is and I suggest you come. It will be a food meeting with a movie probably around two hours long with so many things that I left out of this short series.

This video covers the day coming down from camp three, a visit to K2 base camp, and the trek out. I also put more effort into this short clip than any of the other clips. I tried to focus on the human aspect a little more. Ultimately it is about the humans and not the mountains.

Pakistan Video Sample: 9 of 10

Here it is, the one everyone has been waiting for, camp three at over 23,000 feet and 7000 meters! Keep in mind that This is all a sample. I have more footage that I will piece together to make my movie. In fact the movie has things which I prefer not to put on the internet as well as much higher quality. Additionally I have begun posting these videos on YouTube. One of my tent mates at camp three also posted his camp three video a few days ago. Watch it!

The Changes of Pakistan Two Months Later

When I first returned from Pakistan I was pumped up to go out and do life. I wanted to do everything immediately. Unfortunately that attitude has been changing, but not completely. Now I'll tell a few short stories to illustrate how my development is going.

When I discovered that I was going to be staying in school until December I realized I have to pace myself and I became in somewhat less of a rush to finish my thesis. Although I am still the first one in the office every morning and often the last to leave.

The week I got back from Pakistan my family went out to Colorado and I went running or climbing every day. I was turning in times on these routes which are very respectable. Think 4-5 mph. I felt that I had to run because time was short.

I have known for years that this fall was going to be when I started training for the olympic marathon trials in earnest. Well, I'm trying to go for 110 miles this week after only two weeks in my life over 100. Let me tell you it is not easy. The last six miles of my 15 mile run yesterday I imagined I was 4th in the olympic marathon trials with a pack of six close behind me. But I fell apart in the last mile and most of them beat me. This run reenergized me because if I am actually going to qualify for 2012 I have a long way to go.

When I got back to school I started working on my business plan but after many hours of work I soon worked on my thesis more and kind of left it hanging. I started working on it this week again, but some time is already lost.

Finally, when I returned I was happy to spend money because life is short and I like mochas. Now I am once again in debt and surviving on the free coffee in the copy room.

The moral of these stories is that I have calmed down and will not be yelling at my friends anytime soon. However, I still realize more than ever that life is short and I have to use every hour.

Pakistan Video Sample: 8 of 10

This movie snippet is titled Cabin Fever. After about five days of not climbing most people get restless. We were waiting around for our summit push on Broad Peak and actually avalanche watching. Imagine one step up from watching the grass grow and paint dry and one step down from watching a piece of paper get blown across the street. Then I put a little clip at the end with hair burgers because they were one of our favorite meals.

Sometimes it doesn't all make sense.

Pakistan Video Sample: 7 of 10

This is a sample of what a typical supper was like. Complete with jokes, mystery food, and discussing how to spell daal (or is it dahl or daahl?). Also, I have to say that there is a quote on there where my friend said, "Greatest Video of All Time", albeit sarcastically. Enjoy!

Pakistan Video Sample: 6 of 10

Ok this video was taken at 6600 meters about halfway between camp two and three. We had been heading from C2 to C3 on this acclimatization trip but it was not the best weather so we headed down soon after this was taken. I laughed about it at the time because I felt very safe then but watching it now makes me nervous. Once again this is a very authentic three minutes. There is a little swearing at the end beware.

Pakistan Video Sample: 5 of 10

This is part of a radio communication between some of the climbers that were descending from camp three on Broad Peak to us at basecamp. When I actually put the movie together it will have subtitles at certain parts so you know what people are saying.

Additionally, for those that missed it yesterday I posted a nine minute trailer for my upcoming movie. I was going to show it at a meeting last night but we couldn't get the sound to work. I deleted it this morning because several parts I do not feel comfortable leaving posted for the whole world to see.

Also, today is the eighth anniversary of 9/11. Out of curiosity I wondered where the hijackers were from. It turns out that according to Wikipedia none of them were from Afghanistan or Pakistan. Just some food for thought.

Pakistan Video Sample: 4 of 10

Here is another video that is not good enough to make the full length feature film. This is authentic camp two. That's what it's really like up there. People don't move fast. This was the first time I made it to camp two at 6200 meters or 20,300 feet. Watch, enjoy, and remember that September 10th at WPI I will be showing a 5-10 minute trailer during the WPI Outing Club meeting. So come watch and join the Outing Club!

Bring on the Muslims!

After spending the summer in an Islamic country I have decided I would like to know more about this culture. Fortunately I have a friend at WPI from Pakistan and I just found out that the new guy that sits behind me in the office is from Saudi Arabia.

Why does Islamic culture interest me? Well, unfortunately 95% of what Americans know about Muslims comes from the news. The news is great but it only reports the major events of the world. If NBC covers the Islamic world as well as it does long distance running then we are going to have an education problem. We only end up hearing about bombings and oil sheiks and terrorists. The thing is: it's not like that even in Pakistan. I never had to dodge suicide bombers or anything like that. However, I should explain that a little bit more. On the way out when I stayed in Islamabad they gave us newspapers (in English) at the hotel every morning. I learned that Pakistan has far more bombings than we ever hear about. Most are directed at military road blocks or places where westerners gather like expensive restaurants. Some bombings are even directed at mosques. So it is dangerous.

They also have a slew of political problems. From education and safe drinking water to the bureaucracy and tribal conflicts that we often hear about. In that part of the world, families and tribes often carry more clout then official governments. The nations, or at least Pakistan, is divided roughly into valleys. I spent most of my summer in Baltistan, where they speak Balti, as well as Urdu and a little English. There are other locations as well such as Waziristan, which is a very dangerous place and is a breeding ground for terrorists due to the extreme levels of poverty and education. I learned from Three Cups of Tea that some of the Muslim teachers that are pressuring boys into terrorism can not even read. Teachers that can not read!

We happened to be in Pakistan on July 25th which is a Shi'a (Shiite, spellings vary by source) holy day. We were stuck in a traffic jam for a religious self flagellation ceremony. We were with one of our Ismaeli cook staff and he said that Ismaelis never did that kind of thing. They were very peaceful, despite the fact that I learned recently that Ismaeli is a form of Shi'a so it might have been a Twelvers holy day and not a general Shi'a holy day... I asked the man from Saudi Arabia about this and he said that most 99% of the people in Saudi Arabia and most of the people in Egypt were Sunni and they never did that either. Another holy thing that caught my eye was the issue of prayer five times a day. The loud speakers could be heard whenever you were in a large enough town but I never once noticed a change in the people on the street. I saw only a handful of people pray the whole seven weeks. There was never a rush to the nearest mosque when the loud speaker came on. People didn't rush to their homes and the street never emptied around prayer time. However, Friday morning is their weekly holy day and you could easily tell that most stores were closed and there was far fewer people on the streets than normal. The point is: "Muslims" are just like "Christians" and "Jews" when it comes to practicing their faith, most don't practice too hard.

There is also the issue of the women covering themselves up. Which is not a bad thing at all. The thing is that for seven weeks in Pakistan besides the woman at the hotel desk in Islamabad and the women at customs in the airport the only females I talked to were a pair of nine year old girls in Hushe (the middle of nowhere). It seemed in general that the women worked in the fields and took care of the children and the men walked around main street. So I don't understand the whole male/female relationships thing yet.

Pakistan Video Sample: 3 of 10

Here is the third video in the series. This is in the tent the morning after I spent the night at camp one (5650 meters or 18,500 feet). Some of the other members of our expedition were headed from base camp to camp two and were taking a break at camp one with us. (A note on resolution: I'm going to use 240x320 and 15 fps for all of the clips on my blog but the actual video I have is 480x640 and 30 fps so it's at least four times as good.)

Pakistan Changed me

Simply put, people died. People with more experience. People with husbands and wives and children.

How did that change me? Well, I am not going to sit around and wait for life to happen to me I'm chasing after it. Life is short. This weekend I did two unusual things for me. I asked a girl out and I yelled at one of my friends. I only ever ask a hand full of girls out but that's actually the second one in a week. Then it is very rare that I yell at someone. I think it's honestly been several years. It wasn't a screamfest but he's been complaining about the same issue for over two years and it's ridiculous.

78 people have died on K2. The next time you walk into a room that has 78 people imagine them all dying. Yes it has taken 55 years but there are some bad double digit accidents in that mountain's history. I have climbed on a number of mountains and routes where people have died.

I haven't figured out what "it" (pakistan, mountaineering, life, death, fear) all means yet. I'll let you know if I do.

Pakistan Video Sample: 2 of 10

Here is an 18 second video from the last piece of dirt before the Baltoro Glacier. (By the way, the glacier has been there for thousands of years and nothing could live in that stream.) The video quality is better this time too.

Mountaineering Deaths Summer of 2009

This was a pretty devastating summer for mountaineers and I'm not talking about people dying on Mt. Hood wearing jeans. First Pakistan: A very experienced skier died on K2 while skiing down from camp 2. Anyone with the experience to attempt skiing K2 or even climbing it has to be experienced. Next on Nanga Parbat a very experienced woman died with I think 11 8000 meter summits while she was descending. I believe a HAP also died on the same day. The fouth victim of the summer was on Broad Peak and she had four or five 8000 meter summits. Then most recently a Spanish mountaineer died on Latok II, which is not a walk up mountain. I believe him and his partner were trying to put up a first ascent. Elsewhere in Asia the season killed a number of other experienced people. Three American mountaineers died in an avalanche in China. I think they were trying to put up a first ascent. A very experienced Polish mountaineer died falling into a crevasse in Nepal. In the US a very experienced American rock climber died while free soloing in California and another very experienced climber died in Washington state just recently. In Europe Ricardo Cassin, a famous mountaineer, died at the age of 100 which doesn't sting as much as the people in their 20s and 30s that died this summer but none the less it's one less person that understands us.

I didn't know any of these people personally but I had heard of several of them. These were not weekend warriors these were people who climbed during the week and pushed the sport. There are things to learn from every accident but the major trend as I see it is that one mistake is enough. Just one mistake.

When I started climbing I was told of the risk and severity box. There are two perpendicular lines one with the label risk from high to low that something will go wrong and the other the severity of a accident from bearable to deadly. Everyone has to decide where they fit within the box. In high altitude mountaineering the chance that you will have some sort of accident is maybe only a few percent but for the most part if something goes wrong it goes really wrong. Free soloing is an extreme example. Once you're above 30 feet off the ground a fall = death. While you're hiking the Appalachian Trail the chance that you're going to hurt yourself is low and the consequences are a sprained ankle. Everyone has to decide their acceptable level of risk and you should not let anyone make the decision for you. This sport is definitely not for everyone.

Pakistan Video Sample 1 of 10

I'm going to show a new video clip here every week for the next ten weeks. Hopefully near the end of that time I will finish my edited movie and I will find a way for people to watch it. Here is a video clip that I will most likely not put in my movie but it is fairly interesting. The view is out the window of our bus as we drive into Skardu at the beginning of the expedition. I have eight hours of video and I'm aiming to make an hour film. Since I only have limited space on the Google server this video will only be available a limited time. I know the video quality is not that great, that's why you need to see my movie when it's finished.