K2 Update: Summit Bids Aborted!

K2Climb.net is reporting this morning that summit bids on K2 have been aborted due to continued bad weather. The combined team of Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner, Ralf Dujmovits, David Göttler and Daniel Bartsch were attempting the Cesen Route, but abandoned their climb due to heavy fog on the mountain.

Teams on the Abruzzi Spur also abandoned their attempt as well, with the thick fog preventing them from even moving up to Camp 4. All the teams have retreated to BC this morning, with the hopes of waiting for another weather window soon. At this time, there doesn't seem to be a solid estimate as to when that window will come.

Several teams will have to now decide if they intend to stay and wait for a better attempt at the summit or if they will pack it in, and head home. The Karakorum season will begin to wind down soon, and with uncertain weather on K2, it's difficult to know when or even if, another opportunity will come.

California Dreamin'...

I'm off to L.A. for a couple of days. Updates will be a bit sporadic, but I hope to be able to make updates from my hotel room. After all, I'm attending a blogger event, they ought have Internet access for us, right? ;)

Everest Highway On Hold

Remember all the hype going around a month or so back about that Chinese proposal to build a highway leading up to Everest Base Camp? You know, the one that a number of bloggers in an up roar because it would make the drive to BC easier? Well, turns out it might be much ado about nothing.

According to this article from Yahoo News environmental experts want to conduct a study of the impact of such a road on the surrounding area before they give approval for it to be built. There have been some concerns about what traffic on that road might do to the fragile glaciers in the region that have already retreated due to global warming. The $20 million project was also meant to showcase the Olympic Torch, which will go to the summit of Everest next year, on it's way to Beijing for the 2008 Summer Games.

This is an important gesture on the part of the Chinese. After all, they have not exactly been the most concerned nation when it comes to environmental issues. Recently they even surpassed the U.S. for the largest carbon footprint, and it's not often you see a developing nation slow it's economy due to concerns about the environment. Personally, I never saw the highway becoming some sort of gridlocked traffic jam to begin with. I thought it would make access to BC much easier for those climbing the mountain, but didn't see Chinese families heading out for a Sunday drive, with dad asking "Who wants to drive up to 17,060 feet!" Keep the tourists off the road, require a permit to be on it, and everything will be fine.

Now we can begin the countdown until someone will bribe the environmental experts into letting the project move ahead. Shortly after that happens, ExWeb will reveal that it was Russell Brice behind the whole scheme all along.

Thanks to The Outdoor Weblog for this one.

The Planet Ice Project Goes To Everest

I've posted about The Planet Ice Project in the past. It's the two year long project created by writer and photographer James Martin, who is traveling to remote regions all over the Planet to measure the effects of global warming on the snow and ice of those regions. He's already visited Antarctica, then moved on to the Mountains of the Moon, and Kilimanjaro as part of the study.

The latest stop on his adventure is Mount Everest where he is told about the retreating glaciers and the thinning of the ice in the Khumbu Icefall. This entry into his journals, which are hosted at GreatOutdoors.com is more about the journey to Everest Base Camp than it is about the project itself. He's saving his finding for the book he'll inevitably write when the project is done. But still, it offers a nice glimpse into the trek to Everest, along trails bounded by mountains, through small villages, and staying in tea houses along the way. You'll likely want to pack your backpack and head out on that trail yourself after reading this. My word of advice is to wait until the Monsoon passes however.

K2 Summit Bids Begin Tonight!

K2Climb.net is reporting that teams are hoping to make their summit bids tonight on K2. Several teams spent the last few days making their way up to Camp 3 and 4 with an eye on going up today. However, the latest weather reports say that it is foggy and snowy above C3, which could make things difficult. The plan is for the teams in C4 to being their climb at 10 PM local time tonight.

Highlights of the teams making their bids include Gerlinde and Ralf joining forces with American and Italian climbers for a joint summit bid. The teams have moved up both the Abruzzi Spur and the Cesen Route in order to combine their efforts. Gerlinde and Ralf have already topped out on Broad Peak this seasons as well. Austrian Gerfried Goeschl is amongst the climbers on this All-Star team and he has recently summitted BP too.

Hopefully the weather window will open tonight, and the teams will have a clear shot to the summit. K2 can have some notoriously bad weather conditions and even experienced climbers are ill advised to go up that mountain in poor weather. WIth any luck though, we'll be hearing reports tomorrow about another round of successful summits.

Primal Quest News

I caught a couple of interesting items regarding Primal Quest today while I was reading the Yak Blog over at CheckPointZero.com. As I noted last week, we're still nearly a year away from the race, but the new leadership for PQ seems intent on building buzz and keeping the race at the fore front of the adventure racing community.

The first thing of note is that they have expanded the field from 75 teams to 90, due to the incredible demand to participate in the event. When they opened registration a few weeks back, they were sold out in a matter of hours, even at the newly raised entry fee rates. You'll also notice that the first 79 teams have been announced on the PQ website. First on the list? Team Nike of course!

The other interesting nugget comes from an article in the Billings Gazette which speculates that Montana may be the host state for next year's race. PQ CEO Don Mann is set to meet with State officials to discuss bring the expedition length race to Big Sky Country early next week. Of course, we're still probably months away from an official announcement of the location, but it's interesting to see where they might be headed, and what possible locations and challenges will await the teams.

Expanding the number of teams in the event demonstrates how popular PQ has become. In recent years it's been the Super Bowl of Adventure Racing, and the new management team are hoping to keep it that way. Lets just hope it gets back on track to continue having a race every year. As for holding it in Montana, I think that sounds like a great idea. There are plenty of interesting place there to hold an exciting race, and to my knowledge there has never been a major adventure race held in that state. There is tons of untapped potential there. I can't wait to see what those crazy course designers will come up with.

Vote For The Rest of Everest

The Rest of Everst, my favorite video podcast, has received the incredible honor of being nominated for "Best Video Podcast" over at PodcastAwards.com. Regular readers of my blog are well aware of the show I'm sure, and this is a well deserved nomination. I would encourage everyone to head over to the Podcast Awards website and vote for the show. Voting began on Saturday (July 28th) and will run through August 11th, and you are allowed to vote once per day during that time period.

For those who haven't yet started the journey that is The Rest of Everest, I would strongly urge you to give it a shot. The show begins with Episode 0 and is now up to Episode 53. Along the way you'll get a chance to see what a true expedition experience on Everest is all about, beginning with buying supplies at the local Walmart, departing for Kathmandu, arriving in Base Camp, and then continuing all the way up to the summit and back down again. It's an excellent introduction to high altitude mountaineering, and the logistics, planning, and all around efforts that go into an expedition of this magnitude.

Huge congratulations to Producer Jon Miller for this nomination. It's well deserved. You've got my vote Jon. Everyday until the 11th. ;)

Michael Reardon Memorial Set For August 18th

The Adventurist sends word that there will be a memorial held for climber Michael Reardon on August 18th at Malibu Creek State Park, near Los Angeles, California. It will be a day to celebrate Michael, his accomplishments, and his love for life.

As I'm sure you remember, Michael was killed recently in a freak accident while climbing in Ireland. After descending a 600 foot cliff, he stopped to pose for photographs on a small rock outcropping just above the crushing waves the ocean. One of those waves swept over him, knocking him off the rocks and pulling him out to sea.

Jason, over at the Adventurist, has done a great job following the story from the moment it was announced, and his site has become a central point for the climbing community to share their thoughts and memories on Michael. The Memorial Service will be a chance for everyone to do that once more, this time in person, and lend some support to Michael's family. Everyone is encouraged to attend the event, and remember Michael for the person he was, as a climber, husband, father, and more.

Tour 2007 - Contador Conquers Paris!

The 20th, and final stage, of the 2007 Tour de France ended on the Champs-Elysees today, crowning a new champion and ending three weeks of racing, controversy, and scandal.

Alberto Contador rode into Paris wearing the Yellow Jersey, and the traditionally ceremonial ride of the final stage was respected by his closest rivals, conceding the day to the Spaniard. When it was over, the 24 year old Tour rookie stood atop the podium, celebrating his first win in cycling's premiere event. On the podium with him was Cadel Evans of Australia in second place, just 23 seconds behind, and American Levi Leipheimer took third, 31 seconds behind Contador. It was the closest podium in the history of the Tour. It was also the first win by a Spaniard since the great Miguel Indurain reeled off five victories, the last of which came in 1995.

Today's stage was another flat and fast course with the final points up for grabs for the sprinters. The stage win went to Daniele Bennati of Italy, who dashed to the finish line, out racing several other top sprinters to claim the victory. Contador was safely back in the Peloton, protected by his Discovery Channel teammates, whose job today was to ensure that the Tour leader arrived to the finish line without incident.

Contador also claimed the White Jersey, which goes to the best young rider in the Tour. The Green Jersey for the top sprinter went to Tom Boonen of Belgium and the Polka Dot Jersey for the King of the Mountain was won by Juan Mauricio Soler Hernandez of Columbia, who is also a rookie, and at the age of 24 served notice to the world of cycling that he could be a force to reckon with in the years to come.

Tour 2007: Stage 19 - Contador Rides To Paris In Yellow!!

The 19th Stage of the Tour de France was an individual time trial that had Tour leader Alberto Contador of Spain dueling it out on the course with Australian Cadel Evans and American Levi Leipheimer for the right to ride onto the Champs-Élysées wearing the Yellow Jersey.

The course was 35 miles in length, mostly flat, and fast. There was a light sprinkling of rain to keep things interesting, and Evans and Leipheimer were not about to let Contator take the Tour without a fight. Going into the day the Spaniard held a 1:50 lead over Evan and 2:49 lead over the American.

Levi went out fast and furious, blowing away all the previous times and taking the stage win, but when the dust settled, Contator still held a 23 second lead over the Australian and 31 seconds over Leipheimer. It looks like, barring any unforeseen accidents, that Contador will ride to Paris on Sunday and claim his first Tour win.

Sunday's ride traditionally is a time for the sprinters to collect the last points in the competition for the Green Jersey, while the rider in Yellow finishes up in a mostly ceremonial ride to the finish line. Unless Contador crashes, or someone breaks tradition and forces a breakaway, it appears that he'll be the 2007 Tour Champion.

Discovery Team co-owner Lance Armstrong was on hand to watch todays proceedings and will be there tomorrow to watch his rider cruise into Paris. The mood of the Tour is a bit subdued following the doping scandals that have dogged it this year. Hopefully tomorrow we can focus on crowning a new champ and celebrating the event as a whole rather than controversies of the past three weeks. On Sunday, let's celebrate the Tour. On Monday, lets go to work on fixing cycling.

Tour 2007: Stage 18 - Hail Casar!

Sandy Casar of France, made the host country very happy today, by claiming the win in the 18th stage of The Tour de France. Along the way he managed to crash, by hitting a spectator's dog no less, but got back on the bike, and held off a furious charge at the end to claim his first ever stage victory on the Tour. He was followed closely by Axel Merckx, son of cycling legend Eddie Merckx, of Belgium and Laurent Lefevre also of France.

Alberto Contador of Spain continues to be the over all leader in the General Classification, and will head into tomorrow's individual time trial wearing the Yellow Jersey. His nearest competitor, Cadel Evans of Australia, gained 3 seconds today as the Peloton split into two groups near the end. Evans is 1 minute, 50 seconds back, while American rider Levi Leipheimer remains in third, 2 minutes, 49 seconds off the pace.

The time trial tomorrow will run 35 miles from Cognac to Angouleme and will be some of the fiercest racing yet. The top three riders all relatively close, and a poor day on the bike or a bad fall could make or break someone's Tour. By tomorrow this time, we should know the winner of this year's race, as Sunday's ride into Paris, and onto the Champs- Elysees is generally ceremonial in nature, and considered a victory lap for the Yellow Jersey.

Perhaps the biggest news of the day is that no one has tested positive for a banned substance and subsequently kicked out of the Tour. I think that might be some kind of record.

The Scoop On Mike Kloser

Primal Quest may still be nearly a year away (333 days actually, but who's counting?) but that doesn't mean that the pre-race hype can't begin early. It seems that the PQ staff wants to give us reasons to visit their website regularly, providing updates and insights into the race and adventure racing in general.

Today they've posted a new article entitled The Scoop: Mike Kloser which is a very nice profile of one of the greatest adventure racer to ever lace up trail running shoes. Kloser is the captain of Team Nike, the adventure racing goliath that has a penchant for dominating nearly any race they enter. How good is Kloser? Check out this list of accomplishments quoted from the article:

4 time Adventure Racing World Champion, World Mountain Bike Champion, World Long Distance Orienteering Champion, 3 time Eco-Challenge Champion, 4 time Primal Quest Champion, Multi National Adventure Racing Series Champion, National Winter Triathlon Champion, 8 time Steamboat Pentathlon Champion, 3 time Teva Games Champion, 2 time Iditabike Champion, Mt. Taylor Quadrathlon Champion, Moab 24 Hour Champion, 3 time Elk Mountain Traverse Champion, Ultra 100 Mountain Bike Champion, 2 time America’s Uphill Champion, Dearborn Mogul Skiing Champion, Jackson Hole Open Mogul Skiing Champion, Inducted into Mountain Bike Hall of Fame, Everest Award Winner, Competitor Magazine Adventure Athlete of the Year.

PQ CEO Don Mann calls Kloser "the most intense and toughest guy" he's ever met, and that's saying something coming from a guy like Mann. The article also reveals that Kloser broke a finger during a training run leading up to the Adventure Racing World Championship in Scotland a few months back. But instead of dropping out of the race due to the compound fracture, he competed with "Two screws, reattached tendons and a bandage" holding everything in place. How did Nike do? Well, they still won of course!

I have a lot of respect for Mike, and not just because we come from the same hometown. He's been a very tough competitor in mountain biking and adventure racing for years, and he doesn't seem to be slowing down now. We'll have to wait 333 days to see if Nike can win their fifth straight Primal Quest, but one thing is for sure. They won't go down without a fight.

Thanks to Check Point Zero for the heads up on this one.

Recovering Markus

Here's a story that is both sad, and inspirational at the same time. It's the story of the Welt der Berge Expedition in which Georg Kronthaler and a team of dedicated climbers went to Broad Peak to reclaim the body of Georg's brother, Markus, who died on the mountain last year. Both The Adventurist and the Everest Is Ours Blog have posted on the story already, and done a good job of noting it, but I felt it was worth a mention as well.

You can read a detailed account of the expedition at The Alpinist, which tells the story of how one brother risked life and limb, on a very challenging climb, to reclaim the body of the other brother, who perished on a mountain doing the thing he loved. When it is all said and done, this will be the highest-altitude body recovery mission ever, as Markus perished near the summit ridge on BP at about 8047m.

Everest Is Ours updated today with news that "It is done" and that Markus is off the mountain at long last, and that the entire team will return home to Munich on August 15th.

I can't speak for everyone, but I would love to read a book about this expedition. I'm sure we could all get caught up in the story of one brother setting out to find the other, with an entire family holding their collective breath. An amazing story and an amazing effort by everyone involved.

Special thanks to Alan Arnette for reminding me about this story!

Introducing The EarthRoamer XV-JP

Check out this new go anywhere SUV dubbed the EarthRoamer XV-JP. It's a heavily modified Jeep Rubicon designed for extended expeditions into remote areas. Well, at least remote areas that you can drive to.

The vehicle features an "XV-JP Loftop", which is a sleeping area which pops out of the top of the truck, and comes equipped with a furnace to keep you warm and an electric fan to cool you down. You'll also find an 80 watt solar-panel to power the refrigerator, and an on board 25 gallon filtered water tank. A 10 gallon "gray" water tank, outside hot and cold showers (Cold for the nights your significant other won't let you in the Loftop!) and a 4.5 gallon inside toilet. Oh, and lets not forget the Queen Size bed!

Before you rush out to buy one of these babies however, you should know that it'll set you back between $200k and $230k. All of that money will help you enjoy the outdoors more, or so the marketing information would have you believe. Not exactly what I would call roughing it though.

Thanks to The Piton for this one.

Update: Always astute reader Carl has pointed out that the XV-JP costs only $100k. When I was checking out the pricing I inadvertently clicked on the larger, more expensive XV-LT model. So anyone who was considering the XV-JP model at the price I was quoting earlier, good news! Now you can afford two!

K2 Update: Bold Summit Bids To Come!

Conditions on K2 have not been great this week, with a blizzard hitting the mountain, and causing many teams to retreat to BC to wait for their next weather window. But according to MountEverest.net, the Russians on the West Face of K2 have established Camp 5 and are still on track to make a summit bid. The team is currently waiting out the storm in C3 and hope they can continue the climb by this weekend.

The report also says that the Kazakh team of Maxut Zhumayev, Vassily Pivtsov and Serguey Bogomolov has been fixing ropes on the North West Ridge and is now up to 6400m, despite the poor conditions. They reported snow, wind, fog, and poor visibility at altitude, all of which has hampered their progress. Last year, this same team lost four Russian teammates to avalanche while attempting the Abruzzi Spur.

Polish climber Piotr Morawski and Slovaks Dodo Kopold and Peter Hamor continue the long trek to K2 Base Camp. They reported that they had reached Paiju, and hoped to be in BC by the weekend. Fresh from their acclimatization climb on Nanga Parbat, in which they summitted, these experienced climbers intend to go alpine style up a new route on the West Face. Another Kazakh climber, Denis Urubko, will attempt something similar. He, and his team, have just finished their acclimatization on Khan Tengri, and will now head to K2 to attempt a new route on the North Face.

Remaining the spirit of opening new routes, the word is that Russian team from Krasnoyarsk managed to open two new routes on the Trango Towers. Now they are moving on to their first 8000m mountain setting their sites on Broad Peak.

Even though the Karakorum season is rapidly slipping by, it seems we still have some bold summits yet to come.

Rock Climbing On Pitcairn Island

Pitcairn Island has two unique distinctions. First, it's considered one of the more remote settlements on the Planet, and two, the inhabitants of the island are mostly direct descendants of the mutineers of The Bounty, a British ship that was taken by it's crew back in 1789, and then proceeded to Pitcairn to start a new life.

The island is well known for it's very rocky approach. Something that has both protected, and isolated the inhabitants for years. But with just 47 people still living on Pitcairn, the settlement there has begun to look for new ways to encourage visitors and tourism, something it hasn't done in the past. One of the things they are hoping to promote is the towering rock spires, most of which have never been climbed before.

National Geographic Adventure has posted this really great article written by Dave Stevenson. who scouts out locations for The North Face for climbing expeditions. Dave was joined by climbers Greg Child, Kevin Thaw, and Jimmy Chin, who all made the trip to Pitcairn to scope out the climbing scene.

To give you an idea of how remote the place is, someone wanting to visit Pitcairn would have to fly to Tahiti first, then on to the Gambiers, a group of small islands that are part of French Polynesia. After that, it's a two day sail, following in the wake of The Bounty itself. If you're interested in making the trek yourself, this hand adventure guide should get you started.

Tour 2007: Stage 17 - The Show Must Go On

Despite the tumultuous past few days, the race goes on at the Tour de France. Stage 17 lacked the drama and star power o the previous stages, but was a chance for the sprinters to shine in this 117-mile ride from Pau to Castelsarrasin that featured rolling hills as opposed to the grueling mountains that have dominated the past week in the Alps and Pyrenees.

In the end, it was Daniele Bennati of Italy who took the stage win, with a dash to the finish line, allowing him to stay ahead of Markus Fothen of Germany and Martin Elmiger of Switzerland, who finished second and third respectively. It was Bennati's first ever Tour stage win, and he completed the ride in 4 hours, 14 minutes, and 4 seconds.

The real story of the day however is that Spaniard Alberto Contador is now in the Yellow Jersey following the dismissal of Michael Rasmussen last night by his Rabobank team. Contador now has a 1 minute 53 second lead over Cadel Evans of Australia, and Levi Leipheimer of the United States, is third, 2:49 back. Leipheimer and Contador are teammates on Team Discovery Channel.

Conspiracy theorists will likely have a story to grab on to should Contador go on to claim the Tour victory. International Cycling Union President Patrick McQuaid was quoted earlier in the week as saying that Rasmussen winning the Tour wasn't good for the sport, in part due to the cloud of controversy over his skipped drug tests, but also because it would be better for a younger rider to win. Rasmussen at 33 was not as marketable, nor did he seem like the future of the Tour. Contador is 24 and fits the bill for what McQuaid was suggesting.

Tomorrow will be another mostly flat and fast stage, but Saturday's individual time trial should be exciting and fun to watch. The top three riders are within striking distance of one another, but they are also excellent time trialists, so it could come down to a crucial mistake, how they are physically feeling, or a crash.

What a crazy Tour it has been this year.

Death on Mount Blanc

Tragedy has struck Mount Blanc. The BBC is reporting that four climbers have died on the mountain due to exposure. Authorities say that they lost their way near the snow capped peak, and were ill equipped to handle the cold weather.

One climber has been identified as 30 year old Mark Emerson of the U.K. , who was accompanied by three female climbers from New Zealand, France and Chile. The four were found at 13,572 feet where they were stranded due to high winds and heavy snows. One report estimates the winds were as high as 74 mph. Caught at altitude, without proper gear, and exhausted from their climb, the four climbers couldn't escape the inclement weather, as they carried no tent. The weather also prevented a rescue helicopter from reaching them as well.

The Adventurist is also reporting that five other climbers had to be rescued from the mountain after being caught out in the weather near the summit, in a similar fashion.

The freaky weather in Europe has certainly been strange of late. In the U.K., continued rain has caused flooding in many area. Meanwhile, on the continent itself, there are areas suffering through sweltering heat, while in the Alps, severe cold and snow is taking lives of climbers July. Strange days indeed.

Tour 2007 - Rasmussen Out of the Tour!!!

ESPN.com is reporting that Tour de France leader Michael Rasmussen has been yanked from the race. Rasmussen was sent home by his Rabobank team for violating team rules and the mandate allegedly came down from the team's sponsor.

Rasmussen, who won today's stage, and has been in Yellow since July 15th, has been dogged by stories the past few day that he skipped two mandatory drug tests. He called it "an administrative error" and had he missed a third test, he would have been suspended as if he had tested positive. The specter of this news has hung over the Tour since it was announced.

In the 104 year history of the Tour, only one other rider has been expelled while leading the race. Belgian rider Michel Pollentier was sent packing in 1978 for trying to avoid the mandatory drug test following his win on the legendary Alpe d'Huez. He was later caught with an intricate system designed to fool doping tests and was in possession of someone else's urine.

With Rasmussen out, Alberto Contador of Spain now assumes the Yellow Jersey. He'll hold a two minute lead over Cadel Evans of Australia going into a crucial individual time trial on Saturday. American Levi Leipheimer sits in third and is now in a great position for a podium finish. Barring any disasters, these three men are likely to stand on the podium in Paris, but in which order is yet to be determined.

This news is another blow to cycling's premiere event. The Tour has been rocked with controversy this year, with a number of riders testing positive for various failed doping tests. Yesterday, one of the sport's biggest stars, Alexandre Vinokourov, was tossed out, with his whole team resigning, for an illegal blood transfusion.

One thing is clear. Despite the fact that sport has taken strides to clean up it's image and make it harder for riders to use performance enhancing substances, it obviously still has a very long way to go. At every turn, it seems someone else is failing a test, and the top riders all seem to be suspect. I enjoy cycling and have followed the tour for years. It's just sad that such a great and compelling sport, has become a punchline.

Keeping Your Feet Healthy On Your Adventures

Whether you're heading out on a trail for a day hike, planning to run an adventure race, or through hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, there is only one way to have a great time on the trail, and that's to make sure your feet are happy. Today's Daily Dose over at TheGearJunkie.com is dedicated to taking care of your feet.

The article is designed for adventure racers and ultramarathoners, athletes who abuse their feet on a regular basis. However, I think there is a lot of good advice for all of us who head out to trails on a regular basis, and abuse our feet in our own way. You'll find some good tips for avoiding blisters, selecting proper socks, and of course, it wouldn't be the Gear Junkie without some unique socks. Finally, it's also about picking out some good shoes. Shoes that are comfortable, fit right, and are appropriate to the sport or activity.

As I said, the article certainly is slanted towards adventure racing and ultra-runners, but there is still some good advice in there. Not the least of which, is take care of your feet on the trail, mountain, or road, and the rest of your adventure will go much more smoothly.

Rookie Wins Badwater In Record Time

I mentioned a few days back that the Badwater Ultramarathon was underway, and by now most of the competitors have jogged, walked, limped, or crawled their way across the finish line. This year's race was won by Valmir Nunes a 43 year old runner from Brazil who was competing in his first Badwater. Nunes left a lasting impression on the other racers though, as he shattered the two year old Badwater record of 24 hours, 36 minutes, and 8 seconds set by Scott Jurek in 2005. The new record stands at 22 hours, 51 minutes, and 29 seconds. That's averaging nearly six miles per hour for almost 23 hours straight. Very impressive.

The women's field was full of tough runners as well, and this year's winner had to dig deep to claim her first Batwater championship. Lisa Bliss, 39, of Spokane, Washington, ran the course in a time of 34 hours, 33 minutes, and 40 seconds. Halfway through the race however, Lisa was unsure if she would even be able to finish, let alone win. She developed some bad blisters, but was able to continue running, and eventually passed her rivals on the way up Mt. Whitney.

This was the 30th running of the Badwater Ultra, and the 20th as an organized sporting event. The annual race begins in Badwater, Death Valley and ends 135 miles later on Mt. Whitney. Along the way, the runners must suffer through incredibly hot temperatures, and endure more than 13,000 feet of elevation gain. It is considered to be one of the toughest ultra's on the Planet.

You can read race reports here.

As for Lisa Smith-Batchen that crazy woman going for the "Badwater Double". The latest post on her blog says she has started the ascent on Mt. Whitney, so she should being to approach the finish line soon. Well, it would be the finish line for any other mere mortal. For Lisa it's the "Half-way Line" as she'll turn around and run back to Badwater. Yep. 135 miles back. Told you she was crazy! ;)

Polar Update: Ulrich and Ousland Reach Cape Flora!

It seems odd to be posting on an "Arctic Update" at the end of July, but here we go none the less. ThePoles.com is reporting that Thomas Ulrich and Børge Ousland have completed their epic quest retrace the trail taken by Norwegian explorers Fridtjof Nansen and Hjalmar Johansen from the North Pole to Cape Flora on the Siberian Coast. The trek took them 85 days, starting at the North Pole, making their way across ice fields, open water, reaching Siberia's Frans Josef Land, and continuing South from there.

Yesterday, the two legendary arctic explorers, Ulrich and Ousland, reached the point that the other two legends, Nansen and Johansen, first spotted another living person after months out on the ice. Upon reaching Cape Flora, the latter team knew they would be rescued at long last. As for Thomas and Børge, they'll now take a much need, and self imposed, rest while they wait for the Athene, a sailboat that will arrive on August 10th to retrieve them. The pair aren't quite done yet however, as upon arriving at the northern post portion of Norway, they intend to trek on foot to Oslo.

Congratulations to these two incredible Polar explorers on a job well done. I think we can finally close the book on this year's North Pole expeditions.

Tour 2007: Stage 16 - Rasmussen Leaves Pyrenees In Yellow!

Today was Stage 16 of the Tour de France and as the last day in the mountains, it lived up the hype as the race leaders dueled to the very end. This stage ran from Orthez to Gourette and up the Col d’Aubisque. It covered more than 135 miles, and ended with a long, beyond category climb, designed to separate the contenders from the pretenders.

The long climbs on this stage challenged riders all day, and an early break away was reeled back in by a chase group that contained all the racers at the top of the standings, including Michael Rasmussen, of Denmark, who wears the Yellow Jersey, Alberto Contador of Spain, Australia's Cadel Evans, and Levi Leipheimer from the United States. All four men pushed themselves to the limit, but in the end Rasmussen proved to tough to over come, and he crossed the finish line alone to claim the stage victory. Leipheimer, who staged a dramatic comeback, claimed second 26 seconds back, while Contador rode in third, 35 seconds behind the leader.

Rasmussen now leaves the Pyrenees in Yellow, with two flat, fast stages to come. Thursday and Friday will favor the sprinters, who will try to wrack up points towards the Green Jersey, currently held by Belgian Tom Boonen. Saturday's individual time trial will decide this year's winner, as Rasmussen has struggled in that discipline in the past, while his closest competitors, Contador, Evans, and Leipheimer are all strong time trialists. With the mountains now behind us, it does appear that Rasmussen will give up his Polka Dot Jersey to Soler Hernandez, of Columbia, who will reign as the new King of the Mountain. Herandez is racing in his first Tour and has put on quite a show in the mountains. Especially for a guy who hadn't ridden a bike until the age of 17.

Of course, it wouldn't be a day on the Tour without yet more controversy. Word has come out that Italian Cristian Moreni of the Team Cofidis has tested positive for elevated levels of Testosterone, adding another black eye to the event which has had it's fair share once again this year. There was also a bit of a protest from some of the riders at the start of the race, as about half of them elected to not start the race as scheduled. Instead, they hung back as a silent protest against the recent, and continued doping scandals. This caused a 13 minute delay to the proceedings. Today's stage also wandered near the disputed Basque region of Northern Spain, and a small explosive device was detonated along side the course, with reports of Basque separatists being responsible. Just another crazy, wacky day on Le Tour I suppose.

The next two days will probably be rather boring. The leaders will hang on each other's wheel and not allow anyone to get too far out in front. Saturday should prove great to watch however, as the top four duke it out. Honestly though, I think Contador is the only one who has a chance to catch Rasmussen unless he has another terrible time trial like he did two years ago.

Five Weeks To Shisha Pangma For Alan Arnette!

I've mentioned Alan Arnette and his Road Back To Everest a number of times in recent months. Alan intends to return to Everest in the Spring of 2008, climbing to raise money and awareness for Alzheimer's Disease.

In preparation for his return to Everest, Alan has begun a series of climbs designed to prepare him for the challenge of summitting the highest mountain on Earth. He kicked off that preparation last month with a climb on Denali, but was forced back at 17,000 feet when he became extremely ill. His next climb won't be any easier either, as he intends to summit Shisha Pangma in October. In just five weeks Alan will leave for Kathmandu and begin the long, arduous climb up the 14th tallest peak in the World.

Since returning from Denali however, Alan hasn't been relaxing on his laurels. He's topped out on six 14,000 foot mountains in his home state of Colorado, and in the month since his return home, he's had time to reflect on the lessons of Denali.

When Alan became sick on the mountain, it wasn't due to food poisoning or altitude, which has been a bit perplexing for this very experienced climber. But he's feeling strong, and looking forward to getting back on his Road Back To Everest.

If you would like to donate to Alan's cause and show your support for his efforts click here.

Tour 2007 - Vino! Say it Isn't So!!

It's a rest day on The Tour de France and yet we still have a doping controversy to talk about. According to this report over at ESPN.com, Alexandre Vinokourov, one of the sport's premiere riders, has tested positive for a banned blood transfusion, a procedure that can be used to mask the use of performance enhancing drugs.

Vinokourov was amongst the pre-race favorites, but a crash in stage 5 hampered his performance, and caused him struggle in the Alps, where he gave up time to race leader Michael Rasmussen. A fantastic performance in last Saturday's individual time trial put him back within striking distance however, but he followed it up with an abysmal day in the Pyrenees on Sunday where he gave up more than 29 minutes of time, effectively ending his chances at winning the Tour. Yesterday however, he bounced back with an amazing ride to claim a stage win, and finishing more than 5 minutes ahead of the Yellow Jersey.

Following today's news, Vino's Astana team has pulled out of the Tour while they review their options. For his part, Vinokourov denies any doping or attempting to cover it up. I'm sure we'll see a number of appeals and accusations back and fourth between Vinokourav, his team, and the doping authorities before this is all decided. The one most hurt by this pull-out by Astana is Andreas Kloden, who stood in 5th place heading into tomorrows stage, an while he likely couldn't win the the Tour, he may have had a shot at a podium finish.

This is another blow for a sport that continues to have issues with doping and one scandal after another. A cloud of doubt surrounds Rasmussen due the fact that he skipped two mandatory drug tests, calling into question how clean of a rider he is. Should he ride into Paris, still wearing the Yellow Jersey, there could be a major controversy surrounding the Tour winner for a second year in a row.

Update: If you would like to know more about how blood doping works, and the benefits it provides to cyclists, check out this article over at VeloNews.com. It's a well written piece that explains the topic very well.

I mentioned above that the transfusions that Vino was using were likely used to mask his use of performance enhancing drugs, but as this article points out, it's more about increasing the red blood cell count for higher performance.

Thanks to UltraRob for passing this article my way.

Karakorum Update: No Word From Stefano

K2Climb.net is reporting that there are low spirits on K2, while teams have begun to desert the Gasherbrums, following a very trying weekend on both mountains.

K2 Base Camp has a shadow over it these days, as they have still not heard any word on Stefano Zavka. Stefano was climbing as part of the Italian Mountain Freedom Team when he summitted last Friday, but the bad weather on the descent made it difficult to see, and it's unclear if he ever returned to C4 as was previously thought. The pervading feeling is that the became lost above C4 and never actually made it to camp at all. Meanwhile, American climber Don Bowie, a member of the Shared Summits Team is safely back at ABC after slowly making his way down the mountain on a bum leg. Staying on K2, we're also hearing the the Polish/Slovak team, led by Dodo Kopold, is currently en route to the mountain after a successful acclimatization climb on Nanga Parbat.

Over on the Gasherbrums, hopes are fading fast for a new weather window opening any time soon. Some teams have left BC altogether and are heading home, as forecasts call for more snow in the days ahead. I'm sure the tragic avalanche of last week has also left an impression the teams, making some wary of climbing higher on the mountain. On GII, five members of the Project Himalaya Team have called off their climb, as has the entire the Catalan team, as has Kari Kobler's Team and the FTA Team. Alex Gavin has been left alone on the mountain, as his climbing partner has called it quits too. The story is much the same on GI, where Italian Mario Merelli says "It's just us now".

GII Avalanche Debrief

MountEverest.net has posted a debrief from GII regarding the avalanche that took place there last week. The Amical Gasherbrum team was moving up the mountain, and was caught between C2 and C3 by a massive avalanche that, in the end, claimed the lives of two climbers, and injured several others.

The debrief gives first hand accounts by other teams that jumped in to help immediately. They tell a tale of heroism and camaraderie on the mountain, and how a beautiful day of climbing turned tragic in a split second. A number of teams abandoned their own plans for summit bids to come to the aid of the buried climbers, and several of them were dug out and rescued within minutes.

Injured climbers were later air lifted out of C1, but not until a rescue attempted was aborted at C2, and General Pervez Musharraf, the President of Pakistan, personally ordered two helicopters to conduct the rescue. One of the climbers, Hiro Takeuchi of Japan, had to wait 36 hours before being plucked from the mountain.

The current theory as to what caused the avalanche is that a team climbing higher on the mountain was digging out a fixed line that was buried beneath the snow, and it created a slab avalanche. The story just underscores the delicate nature of climbing on these more dangerous peaks, and how someone's actions up high, can have devastating consequences lower on the mountain.

MiniCat: The Sailboat That Fits Under Your Bed!

Check out this very cool sailboat that can be disassembled in a matter of minutes, stuffed back into it's carrying bag, and thrown in the trunk of your car. The manufacturer claims that it can be assembled in less than 30 minutes, and is light enough to carry to edge of the water without the use of a vehicle. (Although, to be fair, it does sill weigh close to 90 pounds.)

The MiniCat consists of two inflatable floats, several sails, aluminum rods and an alloy mast, a rudder, keel fin and a trampoline, all of which can be put together without tools to create this small, agile sailing vessel for day trips on your favorite body of water. It can hold two people and some gear, with a maximum weight of about 530 pounds. The little vessel is only available in Europe for the moment though, and will set you back $4900. A small price to pay for a future America's Cup Champion I'm sure.

Thanks Gizmodo!

Tour 2007: Stage 15 - Pyrrhic Victory

Alexandre Vinokourov pulled off an impressive and improbably victory in todays Tour de France finishing alone and more than five and half minutes in front of the Yellow Jersey. It was a bold, gutsy stage win for the pre-race favorite, but a little too little and a little too late after cracking on the slopes of the Pyrenees yesterday and giving up nearly 29 minutes to the leaders.

Michael Rasmussen remains the Tour leader, after battling off attacks from Alberto Contador, the rider who sits in second, two minutes, 23 second back. Contador will continue to test Rasmussen on Wednesday, the final mountain stage, before attempting to wrest the Yellow Jersey off his back on Saturday in the final individual time trial. Tomorrow is a rest day before tackling the 136 mile stage from Orthez to Gourette, up the Col d’Aubisque. The stage is considered the most demanding of all stages this year.

The dark clouds over the sport of cycling grayed a little more today, as Pat McQuaid, President of the UCI, the governing body for International Cycling, commented that a Tour win by Rasmussen would be bad for the sport. His comments were in regards to the Danish rider skipping two scheduled drug tests earlier this year, casting a cloud of doubt as to how clean he is. Back to back Tour champions with suspicions of doping would certainly not help cycling premier event.

The Badwater Ultra Begins Today!

Celebrating it's 20th anniversary as an official race, and 30th over all running, the Badwater Ultramarathon gets underway today in Death Valley. The race will pit 90 competitors from all over the World in what is billed as "The World's Toughest Foot Race".

The course runs from Badwater, Death Valley, which is located at 280 feet below sea level, to the Mt. Whitney Portals at 8360 feet. Along the way, the runners will cross three mountain ranges, with more than 13,000 feet in elevation gain. It will take two and a half days for most of the competitors to complete the course, which is a 135 miles in length. During the day, temperatures can reach a scorching 130 degrees.

The field of competitors is filled with some supreme athletes, including our friend Dean Karnazes, who won the event back in 2004. This is a non-stop race, and is very demanding on all the runners, and is a true test for even the best of the endurance athletes.

Of course, it wouldn't be an endurance event without someone trying to top the crowd. Check out Lisa Smith-Batchen's blog as she attempts the "Badwater Double". What' that you ask? Well, Lisa decided that doing the Badwater once wasn't enough ,so while her fellow racers are celebrating at the finish line, happy to be alive, she'll turn around and run back to where the event started. Their is a fine line between genius and insanity. ;)

Oh, and thanks to Matt Hart's Coaching Endurance Blog for the head's up on Lisa. I've always enjoyed Matt's blog in the past and use to link to it regularly when it was a part of Mountain Zone, but it seems MZ has gone dark again. Thankfully, Matt has continued his blog at the new address so we can keep up to date on everything going on in the world of endurance sports.

Hmm... So Let Me Get This Straight... Bear Grylls Might Be A Fake?!?!

I've posted some stories recently regarding Bear Grylls paragliding record and whether or not he actually flew higher than Everest. (We'll leave the "over" Everest part out of the debate) Those posts have spurred a number of comments about Bear and his "made for TV" exploits, with several regular readers questioning some of the things the guy has done, and comparing what he does on his TV show Man vs. Wild to what Les Stroud does on Survivor Man.

Well, it seems we're not alone in questioning the guy. The London Times has posted this article which alleges that Bear took time off when not filming to stay in hotels and enjoyed such creature comforts as television and the Internet. But that's just the tip of the iceberg, as the article goes on to detail how things have been made a little easier for Bear in several of the programs, such the one where he was seen lassoing a "wild" horse, that was in fact a domesticated one left there for him.

Invariably, Bear and Les, and their two respective shows, have been compared to one another, but their approaches couldn't be more different. Bear takes a camera crew along with him on his outings, so he is never really alone, and he often does things that no normal person, stranded out in the wild should, or even could do. On the other hand, Les is dropped into the middle of nowhere completely by himself and has to carry his cameras along with him as he goes. He also tends to be more practical in his approach to survival.

The article notes that BBC Channel 4 has launched an investigation into the reports that the show has "deceived the public" in any way. Personally, I've defended Bear on a number of occasions because of his adventures that are well documented. The man climbed Everest at the age of 23, just two years after breaking his back. He's also a former SAS agent and has rowed across the Atlantic, and has explored the poles. He truly does have some impressive credentials. But the show has always had some questions surrounding it about what happened off camera, and what was edited for TV.

More fuel for the Bear vs. Les fan wars on the Internet I suppose.

Italian Climber Stefano Zavka Missing On K2!

K2Climb.net has posted a weekend update with the news that Sefano Zavka is missing on K2. The Italian climber summitted the mountain on Friday, and descended in bad weather, but hasn't been seen or heard from since. He was climbing on the Abruzzi Route, and was last seen above the Bottleneck.

Stefano's family has sent out word to the other teams on K2 to check C4 when they get the chance. The hope is that he is stuck at C4 due and doesn't have a radio to call in with, which is a very plausible scenario. On Friday evening Stefano was approaching camp, but couldn't find it in the poor weather. He radioed ahead to have a teammate light a lamp in the tent so he could find his way. It is believed that he made it to the tent, and could still be inside.

The rest of Stefano's team are all down safely at BC. Let's hope that Stefano will still join them.

Tour 2007 Weekend Update - The Rise and Fall of Alexandre Vinokourov

It's been an interesting weekend in The Tour with an individual time trial yesterday and the first stage of the Pyrenees today. Many of the riders have said all along that the race didn't properly get underway until now, and it looks like that may have been a prophetic statement.

The real story of the weekend begins with the rise and fall of Alexandre Vinokourov . One of the pre-race favorites, Vinokourov was expected to be on the podium in Paris. But a crash early in the race requiring multiple stitches in his legs, and severe bruising all over his body. He raced in obvious pain on some days, and couldn't hand with the race leader Michael Rasmussen in the Alps. But his hopes were renewed on Saturday when he raced an amazing time trial to put himself into striking distance of the Yellow Jersey. Heading into today, Vinokourov was 5 minutes, 10 seconds behind, giving him a ray of light.

But what a difference a day can make. Today, the Pyrenees loomed, and when the Tour moves into the Pyrenees, the pain begins. Today's stage was 122 miles in length, up two beyond category climbs, the last running nearly 10 miles up to the finish line. Vinokourov hung with the pack but in the end he cracked, dropping off the back of the leaders, and giving up nearly twenty-nine minutes to Rasmussen.

Meanwhile, at the front of the race, it was a duel of the climbers, with Rasmussen still in Yellow and battling off the other contenders right to the end, where he was nipped by Alberto Contador of Spain for the stage win. The move put Contador into second place in the overall standings and just 2 minutes 28 second behind the leader.

We have two more grueling days in the Pyrenees to come, one tomorrow, followed by a rest day on Tuesday, and the final mountain stage on Wednesday. As challenging as today's stage was, the two mountain stages ahead are even more so, and now with Contador hanging with Rasmussen in the mountain, it looks like we should have quite a duel between the climbers over the next few days.

For Rasmussen's part he can't afford to lose any time to his rivals in the mountain. As someone who struggles in time trials, if the gap is too small, he can easily be caught by the other riders next Saturday when the final individual time trial is held. The Danish rider held his own in the time trial yesterday, but the jury is out on whether or not he can repeat that performance.

As we head into the final week of the Tour, it appears that the top contenders are down to Rasmussen, Contador, Cadel Evans of Australia, with Levi Leipheimer of the U.S. and Andreas Kloden of Germany with outside shots. It should be a great race to watch, especially in the two remaining mountain stages.

Season 2 of Survivor Man Begins August 10th!

In light of recent discussion in the comment section, I thought I would point out that a new season of Survivor Man begins August 10th on The Discovery Channel.

It looks like Les is in for his usual suffering, with his first four locations being in the Kalahari Desert, The Amazon Rain Forest, Labrador, and the African Plains. Looks like they're going to kick things off in style, and since I know a number of you enjoy the show, I thought I'd pass on the word.

Looks like another fun season.

K2 Update: 17 Summits Today!

More news is coming in from K2Climb.net this evening with yet another update from K2. After only 4 total summits last year, there were 17 climbers on top today alone! It seems that conditions for climbing were good today, despite cold temperatures and high winds that turned more than one team back.

As of now the teams are making there way back into C4, tired, but very happy with their various successes. It seems the Russinas arrived back in Camp 4 only to find that their tent was no where in sight, so with no tent, and too exhausted to go down any further, the team dug snow cave and have now holed up and are sleeping in their makeshift shelter. All the teams hope to climb down to BC tomorrow for a proper rest and reflection.

Sad news from the mountain however, as the Korean K2 team reports that one of their Sherpa guides fell to his death near the Bottleneck today, striking the rocks below. Apparently he fell in the pre-dawn hours and dropped several hundred meters down the South Face. At this time, the Sherpa's name has not been revealed.

Once again, congratulations to all the K2 summiteers. You helped make today one of the more successful days ever on the mountain. Get some rest at C4 and get down safely to BC tomorrow. Job well done!

Tour 2007: Stage 12 - Rasmussen in Yellow and Hot Water

The 12 Stage of the Tour de France went off mostly without a hitch today, with the sprinters having a field day on the fast course from Montpellier to Castres. Belgian rider Tom Boonen flew across the finish line ahead of Erik Zabel of Germany and yesterday's stage winner Robert Hunter of South Africa. It was a classic sprinter's duel right down to the end.

This was Boonen's second stage win of this year's Tour, and he is firmly in control of the Green Jersey given to the top sprinter each year. Danish rider Michael Rasmussen held on to the Yellow Jersey for another day, finishing back in the pack with his closest rivals. He is also the leader in the Polka Dot Jersey for the king of the mountain as well.

However, not everything was cheery for the Tour Leader, as it was reported today that Rasmussen hasn't followed the rules set down by the International Cycling Federation that he he inform them of his whereabouts for drug testing purposes. Furthermore, he missed two mandatory meetings to be tested. A third miss would be considered the same as a positive test, and would result in a ban from the sport.

Even more disturbing are allegations that back in 2002 Rasussen asked an amateur mountain biker named Whitney Richards to carry a box containing biking shoes onto a plane, but when the box was opened it contained bags of a man-made blood substitute used to fool drug tests.

As a result of these missed tests, which Rasmussen calls an "administrative error", he is no longer allowed to ride with the Danish National Team. He's also quick to point out that he hasn't tested positive for any performance enhancing drugs ever. He claims that because he is the Tour leader, these stories are gaining more attention than they typically would.

At this point, it's difficult to know who to trust in this sport. There seem to be issues coming to light all the time, even though the sport is trying to clean up it's act. I know that this isn't the same as a positive test, and is far from it actually, but it's still curious that he could miss not one, but two tests. This is what he does for a living, and you would think this would be at the forefront of his mind. Especially after skipping one already. The other allegations are not unlike those that have dogged past Tour leaders and champions, such as Lance Armstrong who has has a number of similar claims made against him. The whole story just goes to underline how far the sport has to go yet.

Italians Open New Route on GII!

Yet another update from K2Climb.net today, this time though the focus moves from K2 over to the Gasherbrums, where the Italians have opened a new route, becoming the first team to summit via the North Face.

The team has climbed alpine style for the past three days to make it to the top. They followed the North Spur, improvising as they went, and as of 8 PM local time, they became the first team to complete a route on the North Face. Karl Unterkircher and Daniele Bernasconi were the first two to reach the summit, and their teammate Michele Compagnoni was still making his way up when the report was filed. We haven't received confirmation yet if he managed to summit or not.

Meanwhile, the Spanish Team on GII is attempting the Eastern side of the same face, and are currently at C2 at 6600m. If all goes well they may make a dash at the summit this weekend or early next week.

K2: Summits At Last!

They've been a long time coming this season, but at long last teams are summitting on K2! K2Climb.net has all the latest info, starting with this story about the Russian Kuban Team which topped out via the Abruzzi Route at 3:30 PM local time. Nikolay Kadoshnikov, Victor Afanasyev, Aleksander Eliseev, and Roman Gubanov were the four climbers on the team that became the first to reach the top of K2 this season. They left C4 at around 1 AM this morning, and after 14 hours of climbing, finally reached the summit.

K2 is notoriously stingy when it comes to allowing climbers to it's summit. Last year, only four climbers managed the feat, and in 2002, 2003, and 2005 no one made it up. But this year looks to be different, as word is coming in that still more climbers have summitted. Americans Chris Warner and Bruce Normand, followed shortly there after by Don Bowie, of the Shared Summits Team were amongst the others who managed to make it. It also appears that members of the Korean team on the Abruzzi Spur have also summitted. Libor Uher of the Czech K2/Broad Peak Team topped out in solo fashion along the Cesen Route as well. Simply a remarkable feat. We also have word that Josef Lukas skied the slopes of K2 from about 6200m all the way down to BC, in my mind a crazy feat! ;)

Many of the climbers were still making their way back down from the summit when the reports came in. Lets keep our fingers crossed that they arrive back safe and sound. As many you probably already know, K2 is extremely unforgiving on the descent, and the summit is only half-way home.

Congrats to all the summiteers on a job well done! Now finish the job and get down safe!

Update On The Bear Grylls Everest Paraglider Flight

ExWeb continues to examine Bear Grylls claims of having flown his paraglider higher than Everest. Back in May, the British Adventurer claimed to have flown his gas powered paraglider all the way up to 29,500 feet, saying that he flew higher than Everest and could see no other mountains around him at the time. Everyone took the story and ran with it, most noting that Bear's claims needed to be independently verified for the record flight to be confirmed.

Several weeks past, and ExWeb posted an article challenging the claim that Bear flew over Everest. The article noted that no climbers on the mountain saw him, nor could his claims of even being near Everest be confirmed. The mystery deepened when we found out that Bear's altimeter froze up during the flight, and his altitude could not be confirmed from that point on. Bear countered that he never claimed to have flown "over" Everest, only "above" Everest. Something The Adventurist noted a week ago.

Today, ExWeb received an e-mail from Nigel Gifford at the UK High & Wild Group who says that he put together Bear's initial flight permit, and that the plan all along was to not fly over Everest, but to go above it in height. He notes that Bear was concerned about flying into Chinese airspace all along, and didn't want to take the risk of getting too close.

From there, ExWeb goes on to analyze how close Bear actually got, and how he determined that he was actually higher than Everest when his instruments were not functioning properly. The article doesn't really clear anything up, other than to understand Bear's initial flight plan and permit. We probably won't know for sure until we see the video form the flight, which is currently in the hands of a television production crew who are making a documentary out of it.

At this point, I'm just glad ExWeb could get through this article without taking a shot at the Altitude Everest Team and their Second Step claims. There was also no mention of Russell Brice either. Somebody call Guinness.

Tour 2007: Another Shadow On The Sport

Today was the 11th Stage of The Tour de France and while the race continues on the road, and the main contenders position themselves for the Pyrenees, another doping scandal has cast it's shadow over the event.

T-Mobile rider Patrik Sinkewitz test positive yesterday for elevated levels of testosterone, the same test that Floyd Landis failed last year. Apparently he test positive back in June, but the results are just coming out now. The news breaks just a few days after Sinkewitz dropped out of the race after hitting a spectator during Stage 8. He has also been suspended from his team while he ponders whether or not to request a "B" sample of the test.

Cycling has been trying to clean up it's image after a huge doping scandal broke in Spain last year on the eve of it's premier event, The Tour. A month later the sport was rocked again, when Tour winner Landis tested positive as well. This year, the governing body over international cycling proposed that the riders sign a pledge that they wouldn't dope, with heavy fines hitting those that did sign it and then tested positive. Clearly cycling still has a ways to go before it's completely clean.

Meanwhile, on the course today, Robert Hunter of South Africa became the first rider from that country to ever claim a stage victory on the tour. He was followed closely by former Yellow Jersey owner Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland and Murilo Fischer of Brazil, who came in third.

Today's 113 mile course was once again mostly flat and fast, favoring the sprinters who attempted to pile up points towards the Green Jersey. Danish rider Michael Rasmussen still wears the Yellow Jersey with a 2 minute 35 second advantage over Alejandro Valverde of Spain. Rasmussen is also the leader for the Polka Dot Jersey given to the best climber in the Tour. The former mountain bike world champion is the two time defending King of the Mountain.

Tomorrow's 12th stage will run 111 miles in length and will make it's way to the foothills of the Pyrenees. There will be climbs to test the stamina of these riders, but they'll be nothing like the ones that lay ahead. Saturday will be one of the two remaining individual time trials, and Sunday will bring the mountains. Look for the riders within striking distance to make their move to close the gap with Rasmussen during the time trial, as it is clearly the weakest portion of his riding skills.

GII Avalanche Update:

K2climb.net has posted an update on the avalanche on GII that buried several members of the Amical Team yesterday. Five people were struck by avalanche, four were buried and had to be rescued, and one of the climbers perished on the mountain.

Today comes word that one of the survivors is Japanese climber Hirotaka Takeuchi, who sent a message home to friends and family that he had survived. He was rescued on the mountain and helped down to BC where he was being treated for unspecified injuries.

Hiro said that the team was moving up to C3 when they were hit be the wave of snow. The avalanche carried them 300 meters down the mountain and swept them into the seracs, leaving them buried. He also confirms that one of the team members died, and that one is still missing. As of now, no other names have been released. The injured members of the team are expected to be airlifted to Skardu today to receive further treatment.

It should be noted that other teams on GII played a pivotal roll in rescuing the members of the Amical team and getting them off the mountain in one piece. They sprung into action as soon as they saw the team was in trouble and tirelessly and selflessly went to work getting them out of the snow. They should all be commended for their efforts.

Hardwear Sessions: Climbing Denali

I'm a big fan of Mountain Hardwear Gear. I think they make really great gear, that's tough, high quality, and functional. In fact, I took their Exposure II Parka with me to Kilimanjaro and was very happy with the way it performed.

It seems that the gang over at Mountain Hardwear have created their own blog which unsurprisingly has focuses on their gear, and it's use in adventures around the globe. Today, they have a very nice post entitled On Climbing Denali

The story is written by Bridger Root, a 17 year old climber, who is Mountain Hardwear's youngest sponsored athlete. Bridger recently traveled to Alaska with his father, climber Brick Root, to challenge the tallest mountain in North America. It seems they experienced some really great weather once they got to 14,000 feet and had a nice run up to the summit. All told, the entire trip took just 12 days, and they successfully summitted, so a happy ending all around.

On a side note, I sure wish I was a 17 year old athlete sponsored by Mountain Hardware. All kinds of great gear at your disposal. Testing new packs. Yep, that sounds sweet. I'm not bitter or anything.

2007 Backpack Round Up

TrailSpace.com has put together a very nice review of all the recently released backpacks from the major pack designers. It's a nice little comparison of what's new for the first half of the year and how the different packs stack up against one another.

There are packs here for nearly every type of pursuit from day hikes, to week long excursions, adventure races, climbing, and more. I'm sure you'll find a new object of desire just by scrolling through the all the colorful choices. I'm personally in the market for a good 2-3 day pack and I"ve had my eye on the GoLite Lite-Speed Pack but the new Gregory Targhee looks interesting too.

So many choices...

Avalanche on Gasherbrum II!

K2Climb.net brings the scary news that an avalanche has struck a five-member group of the Amical Team climbing on Gasherbrum II. The report states that four climbers were buried, one of which was later rescued but died shortly there after. Other members sustained serious injuries, and a fourth climber remains missing at this time.

The avalanche hit the team above C2 at around 6700m. Two climbers from other teams left C2 to move up to help, and by the time they arrived, one of the Amical climbers had already freed himself. They then proceeded to rescue two of the other buried climbers, but a fourth was still buried on the mountain.

Other teams have since moved in to help. Searching for the missing climber, and lending aid to the injured and helping the Amical team to get back down the mountain. Some of those teams were making summit bids, but are now selflessly lending aid and working tirelessly where ever they can.

I'm sure we'll hear more about this story over the next few days. Lets keep our fingers crossed that the missing climber is found, and that those survivors recover well. Our thoughts are with the family of the climber that lost his life. At this time, no names have been released yet.

The Rest of Everest: Episode 53

The climb may be over for The Rest of Everest video podcast but that doesn't mean the story is at an end, as you'll see in the latest episode entitled Safe and Sound.

The highlight of this episode is listening to climber Ben Clark debrief Jon and the rest of the support team about the climb and what it was like to finally reach the summit. He talks about how cold it was in the tent the night before Summit Day, and then again on the way to the top. The weather on the way up wasn't all that cooperative either, as other teams were turning back from the Second Step that day as well. It's always interesting to listen to someone, who has just returned from their climb, sit back and reflect on seeing the culmination of their efforts pay off. This is one such opportunity and it shouldn't be missed.

One of the better stories is how Ben stopped cached some of his gear at the bottom of the Second Step to lighten his load to the summit. His intention was to reclaim the gear on the way down but on his return he found that someone had swiped his ice axe! It seems crazy that someone would pull such a stunt on Everest, but it happens, and more often then you might expect. But the story doesn't end there as it turns out the axe was returned to him nearly a year and a half later.

There will be no new episode next week, as Jon is off on a much deserved vacation. So sit tight, and we'll all get another epiosde in two weeks.

Self Adjusting Snowboarding Goggles

Check out these very cool snowboarding goggles from Uvex Sports. They're powered by a AAA battery, and have the ability to automatically switch between the dark lens for bright sunlight, and the high contrast lens for flat lighting conditions. They use liquid crystal technology to switch "instantly" between the two styles of lens allowing you to wear one pair of goggles on the slopes all day. The battery is said to last approximately 200 hours as well.

These high tech goggles will set you back $230 and are shipping in September, just in time for the impending Winter months. I'm interested in hearing how these work out, as I could see this technology possibly making it's way over to high mountaineering goggles as well. Interesting stuff.

K2: Here We Go!

K2Climb.net has posted an update from Pakistan with news of summit pushes getting underway on K2. The weather reports indicate that a weather window will open at the end of the week and may last through the weekend, so teams have started to move up and into position.

The Shared Summits Team has moved up to C2, but report that high winds and avalanches are still making the mountain a dangerous place to be right now. They described the conditions at C2 as "brutal" but hope to move up one camp per day until Thursday when they hope to make their summit bid. They aren't the only team moving up however, as word has it that two Korean teams and a Portuguese team are moving up the Abruzzi Spur, while an Italian team is attempting the Cesen route. If the weather window opens as expected, we should see some serious attempts at the summit in a few days time, but K2 is notoriously dangerous at the top, with avalanches being common place, so even though the weather may cooperate, it will still be plenty dangerous up there.

On Broad Peak, climber Dirk Grunnert was separated from his team and they feared for his safety, but thankfully he arrived in Base Camp yesterday, much to the relief of his friends, who were afraid that they would have to organize a search party once the weather improved. On Gasherbrum, Japanese climber Hiro Takeuchi has moved up to C2 and hopes to make his bid on GII tomorrow. And finally, the Chilean team already at C4 on Nanga Parbat have decided to wait for their countrymen from the other Chilean team on the mountain, to join them so they can all summit together. They hope to go up on Wednesday.

Seems like the rest of the week should be a busy one in the Karakorum. Lots of summits ahead. I just hope everyone climbs safely and gets back down in one piece. Especially the teams on K2 where things can get dicey in a hurry.

Tour 2007: Stage 9 - Beyond Category Climbs!

Stage 9 of The Tour de France was the last of the alpine stages, and you can bet there are some riders tonight who will be happy to put those mountains behind them. Today's stage was a mere 99 miles in length, but was marked with a Category 1 climb (the Col du Telegraphe) and two "Beyond Category" climbs that punished the riders and have nearly put an end to Alexandre Vinokourov's dreams of winning the race.

The winner of today's stage was Juan Mauricio Soler of Columbia. At 24 years of age, he is riding in his first Tour and claimed the solo victory today. Michael Rasmussen stayed in Yellow with a solid ride of his own, and as the pre-Tour favorites begin to fall away, the rider from Denmark is looking like a serious threat to claim the title himself. Ahead lies the Pyrenees, where he's sure to do well as the two time defending "King of the Mountain", but he'll have to over come poor performances in time trials, which have cost him in the past.

Vinokourov was one of those pre-race favorites, but he finished three and a half minutes back from the leaders today, and is now more than eight minutes behind the Yellow Jersey. Other Tour favorites include Alejandro Valverde, Cadel Evans, and Levi Leipmheimer, each of which is about three minutes back, but still with in striking distance. Valverde may be the strongest over all rider right now, and will likely make his move to the Pyrenees, which will offer a very different challenge than the Alps. And for the record, my pre-race pick Oscar Pereiro is now 6 minutes 36 seconds down to Rasmussen. His hopes are fading fast as well after giving up nearly four minutes today.

Tomorrow's stage gives way back to the sprinters. It runs 143 miles from Tallard to Marseille and should likely be a fast day for those who didn't burn all their energy in the Alps.

Nicki Branch Summits Denali

I haven't posted an update on Nicki Branch in awhile, but that doesn't mean she hasn't been staying busy herself. Turns out, she just summitted Denali a week or so back, making that her third of the Seven Summits.

Nicki's website sums up her philosophy for climbing the Seven Summits in a nutshell:

"Without a job after 26 years, losing her mother two months later and starting menopause, what's a woman to do? Attempt to Climb Mount Everest, of course!"

So, that's what she has set out to do, and as a warm-up, she's knocking off the other six mountains first. She got things underway on Kilimanjaro back in December, and has also topped out on Aconcagua in January. Next up, she intends to climb Elbrus in August.

Congratulations on topping out on Denali Nicki! And even heartier congratulations for picking a dream and going after it. Well done!

Rock Climber Michael Reardon Believed Dead

Both The Adventurist and The GoBlog are reporting that American rock climber Michael Reardon is missing and feared dead after a freak accident on Friday in which he was caught by a powerful wave, and swept out to see following a climb.

Reardon had just down-climbed a 600 foot face of the Fogher Cliffs on Valentia Island in Ireland when paused to have his picture taken by a photographer who was documenting the climb. Nearby, the Atlantic Ocean crashed against the rock faces. While perched on this ledge, triumphant in the moment, a large wave swept up, knocking him off his feet and sweeping him out to see in a matter of moments. He was last seen several hundred feet from shore.

Over the weekend, the Irish Coast Guard conducted an extensive search of the area, but found no sign of Reardon. He is believed to have been swept out to see by the powerful currents, and lost. You can read more of the story in this article at the Times Online.

My sincerest condolences go out to Michael's family, especially his wife wife Marci and their 13 year-old daughter Nikki, in these trying times. You have our thoughts and prayers.