The final dot: 2008 Lhotse-Everest traverse by Kazakh National Team "It would be the next step, perhaps a thing for the next generation," said Kammerlander. This spring, a 'true' Lhotse-Everest traverse with no repetition of waypoints will be attempted - by no other than the Kazakh National Team coached by Ervand Tikhonovich Iljinsky.
2008 climbing season kick-off: Everest and Himalaya expedition list is up! Yes it's that time of the year again! The first edition of the brand new 2008 Everest and Himalaya list of expeditions went up last week. 60 expeditions were listed in the final update on April 4 last year. This year already 53 expeditions are scheduled on Everest up until now. On the other 8000ers this spring only about 20 expeditions are up at present.
Winter Broad Peak: Summit push Friday, aborted Sunday The climbers made it to C2 but high winds sent them back to BC once again. "Next weekend we'll try again," says Simone.
It's an iPhone? It's an iPAQ? It's...an 8000+ solid-state laptop! ASUS, the fastest and cheapest of the solids is presently offered with a Linux OS leaving many satellite driver question marks. Team HumanEdgeTech set out to give this diamond-in-the rough a sharp expedition cut.
Valery Rozov: First Cerro Torre BASE jump from just below top - second attempt next week Valery jumped Cerro on Monday, 9 am local time. The point of jump was located a bit below the "Compressor" route traverse. The flight lasted 1 minute and 20 seconds with an altitude difference of about 1450 meters. Valery said he opened a bit higher than planned, was caught by a gust and flew and and down for 15 minutes in the last 200 meters before finally and fortunately hitting ground. Due to bad weather and falling ice the team didn't reach the summit and will therefore make a second attempt during a forecasted weather window March 3-5, to see if conditions have improved and whether it would be possible to jump from the top. "Otherwise, the previous point will become the only possible to make a jump on this route," the team reported.
Himalaya list of expeditions update: Edurne, Gerlinde, the Coelho's and more Word arrived that Everest is a no-go for the Coelhos this year. As for the girls on the 14,8000ers list: Gerlinde will return to Dhaulagiri this spring, while Ralf will try Makalu. Edurne will also attempt Dhaulagiri, teaming up with Ivan Vallejo (on his 14th!) and a bunch of Al Filo Spaniards. Juanito Oiarzabal is going to Makalu, together with Basque climbers, sharing permit and work on the mountain with Carlos Soria´s team. Katja Staartjes will go to Shishapangma with an independent team of 5 Dutch climbers.
Flagstaff Mountain Film Festival coming up: 'Grizzly Man’ at Antarctica, Corruption on Water, Peace on Everest The 6th Annual Flagstaff Mountain Film Festival kicks off Thursday March 6th and lasts through Sunday March 9th. The program is made up over 40 films from 10 countries.
8000 metres to live for: Simone Moro's new book details all routes Moro's new book is beautiful because it's Italian and special because it's a tribute to his passion rather than the market - Simone has researched and marked out all the existing routes on the 8000+ walls. Jammed with photos and also 80 pages describing the exploration history of all the 8000 meter peaks the book is due to launch about mid March.
Makalu winter update: Nives back in Italy, Luca and Romano still in Nepal Nives was transferred to Italy on February 18, where she was received by a small group of friends. Nives had a surgery the very next day; all went well and the female mountaineer is now at home with friends and relatives, recovering in a hurry. Luca and Romano remain in Nepal organizing transportation of the expedition gear back to Italy and are expected in the country within the week.
Fidel Castro spoils Canadian Everest documentary: March 27th next airtime for The Climb THE CLIMB, a documentary about the Canadian 1982 expedition was scheduled to air on the CBC's Doc Zone on February 28th but has now been postponed. "In light of recent events, CBC has decided to air a documentary about former leader Fidel Castro." The new airdate for The Climb is Thursday, March 27th at 9:00pm on CBC’s Doc Zone .
Kari Kobler denies client’s accusations Kobler stated he would never rush his customers, included an email from another set of clients vouching for him and said that he has new guidelines for evaluating clients in upcoming expeditions.
Hibbert en route at last: 1400 miles across Greenland British Alex Hibbert, 21, and George Bullard, 19, plan a new route without guides and support on Greenland. The expedition starts late March from the coast near Kulusuk and the men will haul their 330 lb sleds for over three months.
Earl de Blonville’s 2008 Greenland environment camp update: Project grows Earl's Arctic Climate Change Expedition 2008 has changed name and the program is stretched over two years. "We have received official endorsement from two governments and are talking with a third. The budget is now around AUD$ 6 million. This will be raised by 12 companies each sponsoring a team at $500k each."
North pole update: Closing in Friday an update arrived showing that the skiers have reached the last degree. News from 'the other side' of the ice is that Hannah MacKeand has reached northern Canada and is en route to Iqualit and Resolute for her solo attempt next month.
Erden Erduc update: Hostage at Sea The good news is he won't be affected by the northern cyclone there. The bad news... "by now, we all know that I am not rowing to Australia," Erden reports. "I can stay at sea another 108 days, with 5 meals to spare," Erden calculated. "Now, my guess to Hong Kong or Shanghai is about 3700nm. Can I avoid all the land hazards, and not be trapped in the currents in the meantime? I don't know."
Expedition Amazonas interview The team members dropped out one by one, until only Mark and Nathan were left. In a 3 part interview with ExWeb, Mark recalled the highs and lows of the mighty Amazon expedition. Mark swears his next trip will be a lightweight, open country trek - through Omo Valley in Ethiopia. The tribes, with an AK-47 on their backs, stealing cattle, killing and kidnapping each other will prove a nice change of scenery to cocaine warlords.