Being Home
It was our last night in Kathmandu. Todd had jumped on a flight the day before and Daniel and I were out with Brett Jones, Director of Disaster Risk Reduction in Kathmandu for the US embassy. We had met her, her mother, and other embassy trekkers at Lobouche on our way back up to base camp after resting down low before our final summit push. Living in Kathmandu she knew places to go and had taken us to a little 2nd story patio bar in Thamel near the Kathmandu Guest House where we were staying. The space was tight and lively but the roof retracted giving an open feeling to the confined space. The bar was full of western trekkers, climbers, and expats – the usual scene we had been immersed in since flying back from Lukla. At one point in the evening...
Camp III: Knocking on Heaven’s Door
One hundred feet, you can walk it in a minute or two on a beach at sea level. Heck you could crawl one hundred feet in five minutes across the hot sand in warm, moist, thick air. But one hundred feet over 24,000 feet is a very significant number, as it is only one hundred feet that Camp III is from the fabled death zone, perched on a ledge at 24,500. Camp III on April 30th was our destination for the night where we were to sleep without the aid of supplementary O2 . Our day began as usual, cold (-24 Celsius) at 6:00 am. We shivered through a light breakfast and tried to warm up our hands so we could tie our boots and put on our climbing harnesses. Our Sherpa team left shortly after breakfast to establish camp ahead of us. We struck out just before 8:00 am. Our...
Back on Ice: Guinness Gully and Guinness Stout
At 5:00 am while driving out to Field, BC from Calgary, I mentioned to my climbing partner Jeff Dmytrowich: “One of the these weekend climbing trips I want to roll into it with lots of sleep instead of none from travelling the week prior.” So that was the start of a long day – I was already tired with ambitions to climb 5 pitches of vertical ice (Grade 4 and Grade 4 +) with a bit of a grinding slog between pitch 3 and 4. We parked at the trailhead, read the route description and began slogging our way up through trees on steep terrain until we found a trail. The route description indicated a 15 -20 minute approach, so at 35 minutes we knew something was wrong, but felt we must be going towards the climb or at least the upper pitches. The path...
Dealing With Old Pains
The week of training after a week on the road and a climbing weekend was not fun. On Monday morning the yoga hurt and the noon hour cardio was terrible. Fast forward to Tuesday – the morning and noon workouts were exercises in mental will more than body and the Tuesday night climbing session was a lack luster showing at best. By Wednesday things turned around and life goes on. A week later, just when I thought I was getting back into the swing of things, old friends started popping up. My tendons in my arms ached a couple of nights. Over a year ago from mixed climbing (climbing on rock to get to ice) I started to get tendonitis. Was the tendonitis coming back? I also noticed my right hamstring was tight and beginning to throb a bit, just a bit during some of...
Challenging New Years
Without a doubt, all of us have read at least one blog or article or watched one program about setting New Years Goals. I am not about to weigh in on the advice from the various pundits. But I will tell you what I have done and am in the process of doing. I gained weight during the holidays, I always do. I eat more (and not “good for you” more) and I train less; not an unexpected result. I feel sluggish after the holidays as a result of #1. I start back into the training at an easy pace. I pick a date to get back to a healthy diet, and usually I allow myself to keep cheating until January 1st (let’s be serious, with treats everywhere at home and at work it is hard to resist). I read a lot of workouts and climbing technique articles over the break...