I had a feeling something might have been going wrong… Here’s breaking news of what happened on Andrew Lock’s climb of Tibet’s Shishapangma. His ultimate climb on his quest to summit all the worlds fourteen 8000+ meter peaks was almost his last.
The full press release follows:
MOUNTAINEER, Andrew Lock, became the first Australian to summit all 14 of the world’s highest peaks when he stood atop Tibet’s Mt Shishapangma on Friday night but his elation was short-lived when his descent was delayed by a storm and he was forced to spend the night huddled on an icy shelf at 7600m fearing for his life. (more…)
This amazing video posted on You Tube documents the frightening ordeal of skier Chris Cardello who’s helmet cam captured what he surely thought were the final moments of his life.
Fortunately Chris was wearing a Black Diamond AvaLung which saved his life. To quote Black Diamond directly:
The Black Diamond AvaLung allows you to breathe fresh air directly from the snowpack, buying you precious time during a rescue. Rebreathing exhaled air when youre buried causes suffocation because the air becomes oversaturated with carbon dioxide and depleted of oxygen. The AvaLung diverts the exhausted air away from your fresh-air intake zone, considerably extending the time your partners have to conduct a successful recovery.
The footage, shot in Haines Alaska, shows Chris’s own eye view of him dropping in on a steep piste which quickly gives way beneath him. We follow him down the slope as he eventually comes to rest buried under many feet of snow. You can hear the AvaLung working as he struggles for breath whilst rescue crew above work furiously to free him.
When you hear Chris’s deep distress under the snow it’s sobering to think that some of the final moments in this video must go some way towards representing what it’s really like for those avelanche victims who don’t make it.
Andrew Lock is, at this moment, making final preparations to summit Tibet’s Shishapangma. It’s the 14th and final step of his quest to become the first Australian to climb all 14 of the worlds 8000 meter plus peaks - also know to climbers as ‘Eight Thousanders’. (more…)
In August 2008 I decided to head out into the mountains with no particular plan and see where i ended up. Pretty soon into the trip I decided to try an ascent of Mt Wellington up an unexplored ridge and cliff face before being turned back by slippery rock conditions.
Australian John Kazanas, who will be attempting to climb Everest in April / May 2010, has recently launched his new website reachyoureverest.com with help from Remote Adventurer.
The website features details some great info on the 2010 expedition plus a eye opening rundown of John’s grueling training schedule. He intends to update the site live from Everest throughout the expedition
RemoteAdventurer.com is a proud sponsor of Reach Your Everest
I head off for some telemark skiing on Mt Stirling.View the gallery or even better check out the slide show.
I experienced some very icy conditions on the summit and, on the same weekend, Minister Tim Holding slid off Mt Feathertop only to be rescued some time later after an extensive search. I can see how it happened. Up there on Stirling trying to walk around without crampons I took a few little slips myself but was lucky. Plus I had the right gear and knew what to do in case of a fall.
As a mountaineer half your life in the mountains is spent taking measures designed to prevent a fall. But on those occasions when one happens the “self arrest” can quickly become your last line of defence. Here are some excerpts from a gallery post where I demonstrate the self arrest maneuver near Caroline Hut in New Zealand.