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.

Longs Peak is my Favorite Mountain

For anyone that has ever tried to climb Longs or even just looked at it they realize it is an impressive mountain. (Although when I saw it last week after staring at K2 for a month I laughed at how small it looked from Estes Park.) There is no easy route. The class 3 Keyhole route is so slick that your hands just slip off and your shoes don't stick. I don't like the Keyhole now that I've gone down it three times. It's too much of a risk. The east face of Longs is where all the fun is at. The Diamond is this 1500 foot face that is nearly vertical, and overhanging in places. While this is a shorter big wall there is no route on it easier than 5.10a. There are however routes to the south of the Diamond that are low fifth class, with lots of exposure so they are great training climbs as well as culminations of training as well. That is one thing that is so great about climbing is that each route teaches something and each route is an accomplishment.

For more information about this great mountain:
Mountain Project has mostly hard technical climbs.
Summitpost has mostly the easier technical routes and the scrambles.

The Diamond from the base of Lambs Slide.


I have attempted Longs six times:
North Face (5.4) June 2004: backed off due to steep rock, inexperience, and lack of equipment
Keyhole (3) June 2006: eight hours round trip solo sumitting at 6 AM
Kiener's (5.4) July 2008: ended up doing Alexander's Chimney with the M4 finish wearing just boots and we had frozen hands from the waterfall, turned back at broadway
Casual Route (5.10a) August 2008: I planned ahead so much for this climb it went really well, except for summitting at 5:30 PM, 20:15 it remains my longest day to date in the mountains
Kiener's (5.4) August 2009: solo attempt turned around just below broadway due to wind and clouds, it started raining when I got to the trailhead
Kiener's (5.4) August 2009: success after doing two of the wrong pitches that felt like a 5.8 and a 5.6 and summitting at 4:15 PM

Fear and Relaxing in Pakistan

Pakistan is a scary place. At least it was for me and I am pretty sure that after this experience traveling in any third world country will be less stressful.

It started in Islamabad. I was terrified that everyone was a terrorist because so many people wear shalwar chamises and having never seen someone in person wear one before it took a few days to get used to it. Finally I realized that a shalwar chamise is the only thing everyone wears and most people were very friendly. Then there was the the two day bus ride to Skardu. Twice I saw anti-American and Israeli graffiti and we saw a tank and passed close to the Swat valley. Additionally, the whole time we're above the Indus river which is utterly terrifying and we're flying around these corners without guard rails 500 feet above the river. There was no way I could sleep. My face was glued to the window the whole time my side of the bus was closest to the river. Then in Skardu I had a 15 minute walk back to the hotel once alone. It was broad daylight but still I just felt like ma car would drive up and I would get pushed into the back seat and wake up chained in the corner of a dark room. That's ridiculous because Skardu is quite safe but it was what I was thinking.

Then when you're on the glacier there is always a fear that you will fall into a crevasse or slip on the ice and just scrape yourself up. Crossing little streams jumping from one piece of ice to another is not fun. The past few days when I was in Rocky Mountain National Park crossing streams on dirt and rocks and wood was a piece of cake compared to crossing a glacier. That fear also pales to the fear on the mountain. There is always something to fear on the hill. On the fixed lines there is the fear that the four people jugging up a 200 meter section will pull the one piton holding it in out of the rock or that the braided Korean rope rubbing over another rock will just break. While soloing I couldn't help but think that a fall of any sort would result in a quick return to base camp. It was easy soloing but it was still scary because the result of a fall would be bad. At camp after having a headache I was always scared that I didn't drink enough and would get HACE in the middle of the night or something. Then there was the danger of avalanches because we headed up several slopes that had some recent snow and once between camp one and two I was sure that there was going to be an avalanche so I pulled the fixed ropes out of the snow for 200 meters by myself. Then there was always the constant threat of bad weather. Good weather consisted of 30 mph winds and clouds above 7500 meters. Our team had several windy nights on the mountain where the fear of flying off the ridge was real. We never had a tent buckle or fly away but when the tent is flapping like crazy in even 30 mph winds you just don't know what's going to happen. At base camp we sat around and listened to the avalanches every few minutes while we played cards ignoring all but the loudest cracks and booms after the first week. Even there at base camp there was a fear that something bad would happen. Base camps have been wiped out and dozens killed by avalanches. There was the fear that something would happen on the mountain and we wouldn't be able to climb any more and our gear we had left up there would all be lost.

When I went down the mountain for the last time and got to base camp I finally relaxed. I no longer had to worry about falling, avalanches, rock fall, wind, snow, crevasses, ice, stream crossings, and the altitude. On the trek out I relaxed more and more as our elevation dropped and we started walking on solid ground for the first time in five weeks. On the jeep ride out I almost slept. Had it been dark I probably would have. We were still bouncing along dirt roads close to the edge of a road above a river with no guard rail but compared to everything that had happened to me in the preceding six weeks it was safe enough I could sleep. It was the same on the way out in Skardu and Islamabad I slept about 11 hours each night. If you really want to relax don't vacation on a mountain above a glacier, unless you like to relaxed after being scared sick for an extended period of time.



(The picture was taken on the hike out half way between Concordia and Ali camp. The rock is the size of a bus it was four feet off the ground on right and in the middle it was maybe 20 feet off the ground. We walked right beside it hoping the ice wouldn't melt in the 20 seconds it took to get around it.)

Back from Colorado

I had a fantastic last six days. I got to see the grandparents on both sides on the way out and back. Then I spent fours days hammering my body in Rocky Mountain National park. I spent the first day on Longs retreating from 12,500 feet due to weather, the second day I ran Chaquita (13,070) and Yipsilon (13,500) seven miles round trip in 2:43 running the flats and downhills, the third day I ran Flattop Mountain (12,400?) 8.8 miles 2,500 feet of elevation round trip in 2:02 then I went down to the glacier gorge trailhead and went up and back to Mills Lake to scout out glacier gorge. It was round about 16 miles 3,500 feet of elevation in only 4:30. Then Sunday Josh and I met up and climbed Kiener's on Longs Peak (14,200) and despite taking the harder route on two pitches and wasting an extra hour each time we did it car to car in 14:50. Next time I do that route it will definitely be under 12 hours.

Great trip four days, four summits, 48 miles, 13,000 feet of elevation gain and loss, and I got to hang out with a bunch of my friends from Colorado.

Famous people you've never heard of

There are a number of athletes I follow and scientists with multiple papers that I've read. Most of these runners, climbers and scientists my fellow runners, climbers and science students have never heard of much less the general public. Several times this summer I met climbers that are some of the rockstars of climbing. When I met Gerlinde I was so intimidated. Here is this woman that had climbed 12 8000 meter peaks without oxygen or high altitude porters and she was talking to me! Following these tiny sports is quite rewarding. In general people are very nice and positive. Everyone is trying to take the sport to another level. Fist fights do not break out in a marathon. While I am sad that mainstream media does not cover the greatest sports I am happy that these sports don't have the problems and inability to relate to normal people. Anyone can run a race or go on a hike and in a small way it's like what the professionals do. In fact, it's entirely possible to run into one of these famous people while they are practicing or even walking down the street. I doubt Derek Jeter and I will ever run into each other while out on a run.

So I'll keep my famous people even though most will never be millionaires or get the credit they deserve. Our hope is that the Internet and all of it's information will win more supporters to the little people. There are around a thousand NFL players but only a fraction as many (dozens) professional runners or climbers so it's also easier to follow the players. So go find your famous people.

My Pakistan Trip Report is Up!

It's posted on Summitpost. Read my tale here. Now there is a lot missing, and there aren't many pictures so I apologize in advance. If anyone has any questions just post a comment, preferably on my blog. 

Well, I'm off to Colorado for a few days to run up some 13 and 14,000 foot mountains then I will head back to Massachusetts and school. I imagine I'll be back in Worcester by the 14th. Maybe earlier.