Remote/Dangerous Travel Day At Gadling

Travel blog Gadling.com, for which I contribute on a regular basis, is having another theme day today, this time focused on the very broad subject of remote or dangerous travel. As a result, most of the stories on the site are about adventure travel to some degree, with articles on a number of different topics.

My own contribution to the topic is an article on the Nanda Devi Sanctuary in India. This remote corner of the Himalaya is definitely a unique and interesting place that is legendary for both its challenges and beauty. The Sanctuary itself is ringed in by a wall of mountains, the shortest of which is 19,700 feet in height. That wall prevented outside intruders from reaching the interior of the region until 1934, when British explorers Eric Shipton and H.W. Tillman finally found a way in. Once inside, they also gained access to Nanda Devi herself, the 25,643 foot tall mountain named after a Hindu goddess. That mountain is also considered one of the most beautiful in the world, haunting the dreams of mountaineers everywhere.

Some other stories appearing at Gadling today include a great story with six tips for traveling in the dangerous city of Mogadishu. There is also a story on dressing for extreme travel, which will probably seem like old hat to most of you, but still has some good tips to think about. For the ladies, there is a guide for packing for adventure travel, with a few more articles in the queue that will be going up later in the afternoon.

Adventure travelers should hopefully find some good things on Gadling today, and everyday. It's one of the best travel sites on the Internet, and I'm happy to be associated with them.

Himalaya Spring 2009 Update: Tragedy in the Himalaya

When I set out for Australia, the climbing season was winding down, and there wasn't much to report any more. The teams had pretty much made their attempts across the entire range, and all-in-all, it was a pretty successful season. The monsoon also seemed to be settling in, which is usually brings down the curtain for the spring as well. Unfortunately, I came home to find that there was sad news to report, and that not everyone was finished in the Himalaya.

As most of you no doubt know by now, Micah Dash, Jonathan Copp and Wade Johnson, three American climbers, were working a route on the remote Chinese peak of E Gongga, a 6818 meter (22,368 feet) peak located in Western Sichuan. When the trio failed to catch their June 3rd flight home, red flags were immediately sent up, and search parties began combing the region. There was still hope that the climbers would be found alive, but stranded on the mountain. Those hopes were dashed over the weekend, when Copp's body was found in an avalanche. Johnson's body has also now been discovered, leaving little doubt to what has happened. There has already been an outpouring of support from the climbing community, but let me add my thoughts and sympathies to the friends and families of these three men.

Meanwhile, on Everest, there was one more team making a summit bid from the North Side, despite the fact that the weather conditions were less than stellar, and even the Sherpas were refusing to go up the mountain. But today we have word that Canadian climber Gabriel Filippi has called off his attempt on the mountain, and has returned to BC. He'll be packing up and heading home now. Better luck next time Gabriel!

One other expedition I wanted to follow up on was the Polish team climbing Nanda Devi. When I set out for Oz, the team was making a summit bid, and while in transit, I was never able to really find out what happened until I returned home. Turns out, they were forced back due to bad weather, and then elected to give up their climb altogether as well. The monsoon seemed to show up a bit early this year, then slammed the weather windows shut, closing things down very quickly. It is a shame that the team never had a true chance at the summit. Nanda Devi is widely considered one of the most beautiful mountains in the world, and this climb was to commemorate the first ascent from 75 years ago.

That about wraps it up for the Himalaya. Now the attention will shift to Pakistan, and the Karakorum climbing season. Teams are already en route to the remote regions there, including Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner, who has her sights set firmly on K2. Lets hope it is a safer season on that mountain, and the entire range, than it was in 2008.

Himalaya Spring 2009 Update: Summit Push is On for Nanda Devi!

The storm is still raging around Everest, with more than a meter of snow hitting South Side BC yesterday. Most of the teams on that side of the mountain have already evacuated, and are returning to Kathmandu, but in other parts of the Himalaya, there are still some on going climbs.

Last week I reported that the Polish Nanda Devi Team was preparing to make their summit bid, but unfortunately poor weather over the weekend put a premature halt to that attempt. But the team waited out the storm, and the weather window opened up on Monday, allowing them to begin their final push at last. According to the team's website, Jarek Woćko and Daniel Cieszyński are in the midst of their summit bid now, having set off from 6900m two nights ago. That means, that we could have news of a successful summit at any time. What a way to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the first ascent on this beautiful mountain.

On the North Side of Everest it is being reported by both ExWeb and Alan Arnette that teams that were stranded in C1 yesterday are now back in base camp, and waiting to see if they'll get another crack at the summit. One team isn't waiting around though, as the Serbian team is already heading up, with an eye on topping out tomorrow. They figure it's better to battle the snow than the crowds I guess.

Finally, sad news from the Lhotse-Everest Traverse team, who were trying to make one last valiant attempt at achieving their very ambitious goals when the storm hit the region. The weather was too much, and the elected to give up on their bid to make the first successful traverse from the summit of Lhotse to Everest. On their descent, tragedy struck however, as Kazakh climber Sergei Samoilov was lost. Details are still a bit sketchy at this point, and I'm sure we'll hear more about this in the days ahead, but for now, my thoughts are with Sergei's friends and family.

Himalaya Spring 2009 Update: Action on the Other Summits!

While all eyes are trained on Everest, and the teams making their push, the rest of the Himalaya has seen plenty of action as well, including summits on other mountains over the weekend.

Lets start on Kangchenjunga, where Edurne Pasaban topped out over the weekend, earning her 12th 8000m peak in the process. That puts her, at least momentarily, in the lead to become the first woman to nab all of those mountains, but Italian Nives Meroi is also on the mountain, and should summit in the next few days as well, giving her her 12th peaks of the 8-thousnders as well. And, lets not forget Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner, who is in C3 on Lhotse, and looking for her 12th in the next few days too. If all goes according to plan, they should all have just two mountains left after the spring season.

On other mountains in the range we're told that high winds have had an impact. On Manaslu for instance, teams were forced to stay in C3, although a weather window is expected to open tomorrow, clearing the way for the summit. The team attempting the West Pillar of Makalu were also forced back due to high winds as well. This was their second attempt, and they'd like to make a third, if time and weather permits. The Spanish team on Cho Oyu is also calling it quits after another failed attempt. They went as high as C2, but high winds prevented them from going higher. They're now going home, a bit disappointed.

The Lhotse-Everest Traverse team, who left C4 last Friday, turned back from the summit and returned to BC, but are preparing to go up again. Apparently weather turned for the worse as the afternoon wore on, and they felt it best to go down and wait for a new opportunity. When they make their next attempt, they'll find fixed ropes almost to the summit, courtesy of the other Kazakh team they were climbing with.

The Polish Team on Nanda Devi continues to work away on the mountain as well. They're into their third week now, and have shared some great photos from BC, ABC, and further up the mountain itself. The team hopes to complete their summit push soon, and the weather is reportedly very good.

Finally, the Ski The Himalaya team has posted an excellent account of their first descent of Baruntse. You may recall that last week I posted that the team had turned back just below the summit and skied down the mountain for the first time. They promised more details and they delivered. Ben Clark's dispatches are always fun to read, and this one doesn't disappoint either. The team is hoping to make one more push to the summit before coming home as well.

Himalaya Spring 2009 Update: Weather Window Closed on Everest

As you know doubt have heard by now, the predicted weather window on Everest slammed shut over the weekend, with high winds and cold temperatures hitting the upper slopes of the mountain. A number of teams were preparing to make their summit bids late last week, with an eye on reaching the top tomorrow, but as of now they are all off the mountain, and safely back in Base Camp, eagerly watching the weather reports, and wondering when they'll get another crack at it.

The First Ascent Team details what is happening in their latest video, available below. They talk a bit about their disappointment and frustration with being in BC when they'd rather be climbing, but they understand as well as anyone the need to be safe. They also reveal that their weather sources say that the next weather window is shaping up to begin around the 17th of the month, which is next Sunday, so for now, they'll make that their target.

The IMG Team was actually attempting to reach the summit earlier today, and according to Alan Arnette, they climbed above the Yellow Band before bad weather turned them back. The IMG dispatches say the team returned to C2 safely and were descending back to BC to rest.

The Peak Freaks report that it is snowing on Everest today, but in a glass half-full approach, they also see that as a good thing. Snow will allow them to create steps on the Lhotse Face, making the climb safer, as they've mostly been dealing with ice up until now. They also speculate that the Monsoon may have come early, although that seems highly unlikely. They are probably just experiencing some typical precipitation that has been long overdue.

The Adventure Consultants Team is back in BC as well, but they're returning from the opposite direction of most others. While some teams were planning their early summit bids, the AC squad went down valley to Pheriche for a little rest. They've returned to base camp now, and are waiting and watching along with everyone else.

As a side note on Everest, anyone else think that David Tait is laughing and relaxing right about now? You may recall that David climbed up the mountain behind the five Sherpas who finished setting the fixed ropes last week, and claimed the first summit of the season fro a westerner. He came down in one piece and is now done for the year, while the rest of the poor schmucks sit in BC waiting and watching. For all we know, David' back in Kathmandu, kicking it at the Rumdoodle, a frost beer in hand, and laughing at the others.

Moving away from Everest for a moment, we have some updates from other expeditions in the region. Over on Nanda Devi, the Polish Team has established their base camp and are now scouting the mountain for the best approach. It has been several days since their last dispatch however, and it is quite possible that they have established a couple of high camps by now as well.

Finally, our friends on the Ski The Himalaya Team continue to make progress on Baruntse continue to make progress as well. They are now above 21,500 feet, with Camp 3 firmly established, following a very long technical climb. The team is hoping to complete this new route to the 23,390 foot summit before stepping into their skis and gliding back down the mountain. If all goes as planned, they could be making their summit bid later this week.

Polish Expedition Heads to Nanda Devi East

To commemorate the first ascent of Nanda Devi East, which occurred 70 years ago this year, a team of young Polish climbers is headed to the mountain, focused on reaching the summit along the same route that was first used back in 1939.

The ten man team is already in India, and according to the latest news on their website, they have set out from Delhi and are now en route to base camp. If everything has gone according to plan, they should have hired the 50 porters they'll need to carry their gear, and are now moving up to 4300m where they will establish BC. They should be settling in there sometime this weekend.

Nanda Devi is the tallest mountain in the Garhwal Himalaya, and the second tallest peak in all of India. It consists of two distinct summits, with the main peak reaching 7816m with the secondary summit, known as Nanda Devi East, topping out 7434m. The entire massif is surrounded by a ring of challenging and tall Himalayan peaks, which helps to make the region, known as the Nanda Devi Sanctuary, almost inaccessible. The mountain is also viewed as sacred to the Hindi people, as it is named after one of their goddesses. Many consider it to be the one of the most beautiful mountains in the world.

The climbing team hopes to top out sometime in early June, using the time between now and then to establish their camps, fix their lines, and acclimatize on the mountain. This should be another excellent expedition to follow and watch. Nanda Devi is far from the crowds and commotion of Everest and some of the other 8000m peaks. In fact, it is one of the more remote mountains on the planet, and it isn't climbed all that often. Good luck to the team.

Himalaya Update: Summits on Ama Dablam!

It was a busy weekend for the Field Touring Alpine Team who managed to put six climbers on the summit of Ama Dablam on Saturday, amidst windy, but otherwise good, climbing conditions. The team will now move on to Lobuche to attempt a "Himalayan Trilogy" that includes Island Peak, the mountain the team used for acclimatization last week. Lobuche is a 6119m (20,075 feet) mountain in the same region.

The latest dispatch from the Mountain Madness Team is from last week, where they report a summit bid on Thursday, but were turned back 1200 feet from their goal thanks to poor weather, including high winds. The dispatch makes it seem like they gave it all on that push and were intending to head home afterwards, but there is no information about whether or not they did indeed leave BC following the attempt or gave it another go over the weekend as well.

Meanwhile, ExWeb is reporting in their Monday Himalaya Wrap-Up that Japanese climbers Kazuya Hiraide and Kei Taniguchi have opened a new route in the Garhwal Himalaya on Mount Kamet, the second highest peak in the region at 7756m.

Apparently, the route was completed two months ago, and includes difficulties up to A5 on ice, and M5+ on mixed terrain. The route now bears the name "The Samurai Direct", and is said to be over 1800m in length. Hiraide and Taniguchi spent a month scouting the face and acclimatizing before going up in alpine style over a seven day period.

The Garhwal Himalaya region is found in northeast India, where that country meets Nepal and Tibet. Although it doesn't get as much attention as some of the more high profile climbing regions, the Garhwal HImalaya does contain more than 100 peaks of more than 20,000 feet in height, with Nanda Devi being the most prominent amongst them.

Eye At The Top of the World Coming To the Big Screen?

Pete Takeda's book An Eye At The Top of The World has reportedly be optioned for a movie, and will be coming to the big screen soon, according to this story over at RockandIce.com. Producers Steve Schwartz, Paula Mae Schwartz and Nick Wechsler have purchased the rights to the true story and intend to make it into a fictional film.

The book, which I reviewed back in May of 2007, deals with a CIA plot back in the 60's to install a nuclear powered listening device on Nanda Devi in a remote region of India. The device was suppose to watch the burgeoning Chinese nuclear program and watch for test of their atom bombs. After months of extensive training, a climbing team went up the mountain carrying the device, but near the top, bad weather set in, so rather than carrying the heavy device back down the mountain, they elected to lash it to a rock, and return in the spring to complete the mission.

When the team returned several months later, they discovered that an avalanche had swept the device off the mountain, and it was never seen again. Presumably it was deposited thousands of feet below in a glacier. Over time, the area was closed off, and rumors arose that the mountain was radioactive. The nuclear power plant had more than four pounds of plutonium in it, enough to poison everyone on the planet, and the theory is that it was broken open on the glacier, and may be moving towards Ganges River, home to millions of people.

The book is excellent, very compelling, and scary all at the same time. A movie of this story as the potential to be great as well. Obviously it's in the very early stages, no casting yet, and a long way to go before it hits the theaters. Think of it as a James Bond goes climbing story, and you have an idea of what to expect.

Polish Mountaineering Film Missing For 69 Years, Found!

Wow! Talk about a really cool and interesting story. Check out this article over at PolskieRadio.pl.

It seems that a mountaineering film, of a Polish expedition to Nanda Devi East that has been missing for 69 years has been recently found in the archives of the British Film Institute in London. A mountain climber and filmmaker named Anna T. Pietraszek found the film, with the help of London-based film producer Anna Naszyńska, after a long and exhausting search. To make things even more interesting, the film is said to be in "excellent condition, and the fact that it was shot on 35mm bodes well for it's quality.

The Polish expedition set out for Nanda Devi East back in 1939. Two of the climbers, Jakub Bujak and Janusz Klarner, actually reached the summit at 7434m, claiming the first ascent, while their two teammates, Adam Karpinski and Stefan Bernadzikiewicz, perished in an avalanche on the way up. Bernadzikiewicz was the one shooting the film, so there is not footage of the summit. The camera and film was recovered from the avalanche after the fact. The footage is said to offer some amazing panoramic shots of the surrounding area. Considering that man mountaineers consider Nanda Devi to be amongst the most beautiful mountains in the World, the images could be quite remarkable indeed. Pietraszek and Naszyńska say they intend to make a documentary about the climb and will use some of the footage in their film.

I simply think it's amazing that a film missing for nearly 70 years can be found like this, and in great condition no less. I have the impression that the British Film Institute's archive is like that giant warehouse at the end of Raider's of the Lost Ark where the U.S. Government wheeled off the Ark, never to be seen again. Do they have a huge store house of films like this one just sitting around waiting to be discovered? Is that the premise of the new Indiana Jones film? Indiana Jones and the Lost Film Reels?

ESPN Video on An Eye At The Top of the World

A few days back I mentioned that ESPN had done a piece on their Sunday Morning Sportcenter about the story behind the book An Eye at the Top of the World written by Pete Takeda. Today I managed to find the video in case you wanted to know more about the story, and see how ESPN handled it. So, without further ado... here it is!

ESPN Covers An Eye at the Top of the World

This morning I turned on Sports Center to get the latest update on Pre-Season NFL football and the PGA Championship. Imagine my surprise when they teased a mountaineering story that would be coming up later in the show. It's rare that ESPN ever covers mountaineering/climbing or most other non-mainstream sports for that matter. Of course, I decided to stick around and see what it was all about.

Turns out, it was a story covering the events detailed in the book An Eye at the Top of the World by Pete Takeda, which I reviewed a few months back. In a nutshell, the story is about an "all-star" group of climbers that the CIA put together in the 60's to climb Nanda Devi, a remote, and beautiful peak, in Northern India. The plan was for the team to place a listening device at the top of the mountain that would be used to monitor Chinese nuclear and ballistic missile tests.

When the team was turned back below the summit, they elected to leave the device, and it's nuclear powered battery, on the mountain, and strapped it to a rock ledge, with the intent of returning the following year to complete the mission. When they returned 8 months later, the device was gone, swept off the mountain by an avalanche, carrying four pounds of plutonium with it.

The ESPN segment on the story was actually well done. It handled the story very well and explained the principle characters and events in five minutes, about as well as can be expected. They also explained the mountaineering aspects well, and had some amazing shots of Nanda Devi on top of that. My only complaint on the segment as a whole is that it kind of glossed over the danger of that missing plutonium. They mentioned that it is obvioiusly radioactive and that the sherpas involved with the expedition are all likely dead, and that the climbers involved with the mission have suffered various health issues, but they didn't mention what would happen if that four pounds of radioactive material were to bust open and spill into the Ganges River, a vitally important resource in India, where hundreds of millions of people gather to make their home. Were that river to become contaminated, the loss of life could be unlike anything we've ever seen.

I'm not sure how often they'll play the segment, and it's likely it'll be for today only. Hopefully it'll show up on YouTube or elsewhere on the Internet, but if you get a chance to see it, overall it was interesting and well done.

Book Review: An Eye At The Top Of The World

I've posted on the book An Eye At The Top Of The World several times before, but I've finaly had a chance to sit down with the book, read it and organize my thoughts.

For those who haven't heard of the book before, it chronicles the tale of a secret CIA program organzied in the mid 1960's whose goal was to place a nuclear powered surveillance device on top of Nanda Devi, a 25,646 foot peak in Northern India. At the time, the Chinese nuclear and missile program was just getting underway, and both India and the United States were in a panic to know what the communist goverment of China was up to.

The scheme was hatched, like something out of a James Bond film, and a team of climbers were brought on to serve their country. They would practice on Denali with the ultimate goal of carrying the rather large spy device to the top of the mountain. Eventually, they would make an attempt at completing their mission, and reached high camp on Nanda Devi before being turned back by bad weather. Before they left however, they lashed the device to nearby rocks, with the intention of returning the following Spring to finish what they started.

When Spring came, they did return, but to their surprise, the device was missing. Over the course of the Winter, a massive avalanche swept away the device, and the rocks it was secured to, taking with it four pounds of plutonium. That's enough radioactive material to poison every living person on Earth, or create one hell of a bomb. The spy device was never recovered, and it now believed to be locked into a glacier at the base of Nanda Devi, where it is carried ever so slowly toward the source of Ganges River. If that River were to become polluted with the plutonium, it would be a disaster of epic proportions, unlike any thing every seen by man.

An Eye At The Top Of The World is written by Pete Takeda, an accomplished climber and writer who has written many articles for Rock and Ice Magazine, Backpacker and many more outdoor periodicals. Takeda begins the book by telling of the first time he personaly heard about this covert opration. It told around a camp fire, with climbing buddies, and in hushed tones. It was a myth in the climbing community that few knew anything about, and fewer still believed.

Taked himself dismissed the story until he was on a trip to India to climb a peak called the Sharksfin. While in a governmental office there, waiting to receiver a permit, he spotted a photo of Nanda Devi and was struck by the beauty of the mountain. While he was examining the photo, one of the officials in the office told him the name of the mountain, and told him it was off limits for climbing. Then, leaning close he whispered in a conspiratorial that the mountain was radioactive.

At that moment, the story told around the camp fire came flooding back to him. Perhaps there was more to it than just a myth after all, and Takeda made it his mission to find out more about this story. He bagan researching the background, finding out the princple players, the circumstances of the climb, and the theories of what happened to the device. He began to think about writing a book on the subject, and planning his own expedition to the region to investigate the story further.

This book is the result of those plans and investigations. It is a mix of styles, being equal parts history, biography, travel journal, and guide to India. He mixes in nuclear physics and climbing in the same book and does an admirable job of blending it together. Takeda sprinkles the book with insights into his own background growing up and learning to climb. He gives a history lesson on the Cold War and the events that led to this daring mission to the top of Nanda Devi. He goes into detail of his own expedition to the region, which reads like a travel journal, and is it's own adventure, and he gives wonderful advice for traveling in India, making it feel much like a travelogue at times.

Each of these distinct styles come together very well to tell the story. Takeda does a nice job of balancing these parts, and the book never bogs down in the process. He weaves all the elements together in a style that is compelling to read, and each of the individual threads are spun together in fine fashion.

An Eye At The Top Of The World is more than just a climbing book. It's a slice of history and an adventure tale that seems like it should have been written by Ian Fleming or Tom Clancy. I recommend the book for anyone looking for a good old fashioned tale of adventure. An adventure made even more that will have you reminding yourself throughout the book that it is non-fiction. The old adage that "truth is stranger than fiction" has never been more true. Or more fun to read.

More on The Eye at the Top of the World

SNewsNet.com posted a podcast interview with Pete Takeda, the author of the book. The interview dates back to January of this year, but is still interesting for those of us who are still discovering the story.

The text on the page gives another brief introduction to the story and then has the audio file available to listen to directly in your browser, or if you'd prefer to listen on your iPod you can also download it.

I've also been alerted that I'll be receiving a copy of the book to review, so hopefully after Kili I will have that available as well. In the meantime watch for a couple of other book reviews coming very soon.

Thanks for the link Jon!

Espionage in the Himalaya

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer is running a very cool story about a man named Robert Schaller who was a doctor, and a climber, who was contracted by the CIA to plant a nuclear powered surveillance device on Nanda Devi, a peak in the Himalaya.

The device was suppose to keep monitor Chinese missile tests and keep an eye on it's burgeoning nuclear program. Schaller entered into a series of covert operations and training missions to support the CIA's mission, and often left friends and family behind to pursue James Bond style espionage activities. However, when the team was finally suppose to complete it's mission by putting the device on the summit of Nanda Devi, they were turned back by a blizzard. They made the choice of leaving the device at Camp 4, lashed to rocks, with the thought of returning in the Spring to complete there task. Only one problem. When they returned in the Spring, the device was missing, carried away be an avalanche.

Since that time, the government has been very hush-hush about the activities in the area, but climbers have reported that the mountain is radioactive. The theory is that the device is now bured in a glacier, which is slowly destroying the plutonium core that powers it.

The whole tale can be read in the book The Eye at the Top of the World by Pete Takeda. Sounds like a fascinating read. I may have to add this to my list of books.

Thanks to The Piton for this one.

Update: Regular reader Carl sent me this link to a very cool YouTube video on the book The Eye at the Top of the World This story gets more and more interesting. Thanks for sharing Carl! I appreciate it! Check it out here: