Boldering Forums

Any of you shit-talkers ever do any significant treks or (gasp) mountaineering? My sis leaves tomorrow for Everest.

We had always planned on making this trip together (my father went to base camp 20 years ago) but being painfully/gainfully employed and in desperate need of a second hip replacement, made it essentially impossible for me. She - being not so gainfully employed - and in the best shape of her life (multiple marathons under her belt) figured now was her best chance.

Best of luck sis!

i did the cathedral traverse in the tetons, teewinot, mt owen, and the grand. horrible experience, 22 hours of hiking. brutal. good luck to your sis.

asdf

i ran up mt st helens. discovery- though there may be one top of a mountain, there are many bottoms. a slight deviation on the way down, sliding fast, can end you up far far from where you started.

mountain tops are not made for human beings- unlike a boulder field, it is not a very liveable, hang out type of spot.

come home safe sister.

I can't really see the point of summiting Everest. Is spending heaps of money to get guided up with oxygen really an achievement?

Can't say I see any real appeal in that kind of stuff. My grandfather, who is the reason I started climbing in the first place, was big into Mts and did that kind of shit, but I have no desire to experience "The Mountains." Ya know? I'd rather just pull on rocks with at least the safety of a stable environment (ie no cravasses, avalanches, or extreme choss). But safe climbing and best of luck to your sister. Clearly a once in a lifetime tirp, with or without the summit.

yeah I'm not into that shit either. I think it's a combination of the whole potential for death factor and stories my friends used to tell me after their winter and spring break mountaineering trips (helicopters being called in, how you just scream as your fingers thaw out from frostbite, etc) that only confirms my total lack of desire to bother. That said, your sister sounds pretty rad, despite being related to you. Best of luck to her!!!

being shepherded up a mountain whilst gulping tanks of oxygen is hardly an achievement... If a fatass Dick Bass can do it anybody can.

Spend that money helping people instead of contributing to the desecration of the worlds tallest hill.

Climbing v5 is harder.

slim wrote:
Climbing v5 is harder.

I can neither confirm nor deny this, but it is an interesting hypothesis. I feel like I would find even moving at 8000 meters impossible without serious training. As a fatass would find climbing v5. Who climbs v5 anyway? Isn't it just v4+ and v13?

slim wrote:being shepherded up a mountain whilst gulping tanks of oxygen is hardly an achievement... If a fatass Dick Bass can do it anybody can.

Spend that money helping people instead of contributing to the desecration of the worlds tallest hill.

Climbing v5 is harder.

First - she is not on a summit trip. She is hiking/trekking from Lukla to basecamp. 19k'+ It is still probably more physically taxing than anything you have ever done in your life.

Second - she, I, my family spend far more than our fair share of our hard earned money and valuable time "helping people", our wonderful president is now making sure we spend even more. If we as a family have decided to spend some of that money to have meet people, learn first hand about cultures and ways of life, and see thing that few ever get the opportunity to - why not? The experience of a month in Nepal is worth every penny being spent.

Third - she has.

niceporch wrote:u r so weaksause compared to your sister.

lolz.

duh - I know you can empathize.

I see mountaineering as something I'd get into--like aid climbing--when my fingers stop working. That said, I hope that day never comes--not because of the mountains, but because I really like rock climbing.

Regardless, it sounds like a cool trip, worthy of the time and money.

You original post makes it seem like she is going to make a summit bid.

If she's just hiking to base camp then hell yeah that sounds like a good time. I'm more referencing the type of people who pay 25 grand to be guided up to the summit whilst dumping all their garbage and spent oxygen tubes on the slopes because they are too weak to carry it with them or return to clean it up. Have you seen pictures of the horrendous garbage problem at and around basecamp as well as the upper slopes?

we did the annapurna circuit back in 2000. best three weeks out of a world trip that lasted over a year.

we also flew back into jomsom and attempted Dhampus Peak, but the Scottish lad with us got hit by the altitude pretty bad so we retreated.

invalid slab dabbery

valleys and canyons are vastly to superior to peaks. peaks are for.. peak baggers!

done whitney and some other 14-ers a bunch. 29k feet is a more commitment that i c-c-c-an c-c-c-c-conceive. i heard it costs like $50 million to climb that thing now.

Anything taller than 18 feet is just wasted stone.

actionhero wrote:Anything taller than 18 feet is just wasted stone.

lowballer

stupid hikers. top of west has enough to challenge me for years to come. why go any higher?

burn