It is our job here at Steve and the Tank to report the (sporting) news. In two weeks we will be making the news. Both Steve and Tom (the Tank) will be leaving for a trek to Mt. Everest Base Camp. The Tank leaves next week and I leave two week from today and we all meet in Kathmandu on Sept 3rd. For the entire month of September we will be blogging the experience right here. (No Internet at Base Camp? No problem, we are going to phone in the the post to Jack via sat phone and he will post for us.)

I have been planning this trip for a year with the Sherpas and our schedule looks like this. We should have Internet access in Kathmandu and in Namche Bizarre so we can also post some photos. Below is our proposed schedules, we hope that we can have enough bandwidth (and sat phone coverage) to blog. Stay tuned!

Sept 5: Fly to Lukla. Lukla (9,000’) to Phakding (9,500’) Overnight at Phakding

Sept 6: Phakding (9,500’) to Namche Bizarre (11,500’) Overnight in Namche

Sept 7: Acclimation day in Namche Bizarre (11,500’) Overnight in Namche

Sept 8: Namche (11,500’) to Pangboche (12,700’) Overnight at Pangboche

Sept 9: Pangboche (12,700’) to Pheriche (14,000’) Overnight in Pheriche

Sept 10: Acclimation day in Pheriche (14,000’) Overnight in Pheriche

Sept 11: Pheriche (14,000’) to Loboche (16,000’) Overnight in Loboche

Sept 12: Loboche (16,000’) to Gorak Shep (16,800’) Overnight in Gorak Shep

Sept 13: Visit Everest Base Camp (17,400’).  Overnight in Gorak Shep

Sept 14: Summit Kala Pattar (18,700’) Gorak Shep (16,800’) to Loboche (16,000’) Overnight in Loboche

Sept 15: Loboche (16,000’) to Kumjum (12,500’) Overnight in Kumjum

Sept 16: Kumjum (12,500’) to Namche (11,500’) Overnight in Namche

Sept 17: Namche (11,500’) to Lukla (9,000’)

Sept 18: Fly to Katmandu (weather permitting) Overnight at Katmandu

Mountain Climbing

Monday, August 18, 2008 12:36:45 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Fifty-five years ago Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay reached the top of Mt. Everest, the first to do so. Tenzing died in 1986, today we lost Sir Edmund. 

The sports and adventure world lost a great hero, not only did Sir Edmund blaze the trail for the rest of us up Everest, but he was a great role model, he gave back to the people of Nepal, over and over again. I have visited a school in Kumdum Hillary build and he has made a major impact in the lives of those in Nepal. When his wife was killed in Nepal in a plane crash, Hillary build a new runway. The world was better off with Sir Edmund.

We have lost a great man, take the time to read his story here.

Both Steve and the Tank will be headed out to Everest this September, so we will be sure to remember the man who made it possible.

Posted by Steve in New York

Mountain Climbing

Friday, January 11, 2008 10:49:25 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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On Saturday I set out with six friends to attempt the Presidential Traverse in the White Mountains in New Hampshire. The traverse or Prezzie Traverse is a one day hike of about 21 miles and has you summit 9 peaks, most at about 5,000 feet, with an 8,500 elevation gain (and loss) over the day. It starts down on the Dolly Copp road and hikes up the pine link trail to summit Mt. Madison (5366), and then walk along the ridge that will take you over Mt. Adams (5799), then over Mt. Jefferson (5716), Mt. Clay (5583, to be renamed Mt. Reagan?), Mt. Washington (6288), Mt. Monroe (5372), Mt. Franklin (5001), Mt. Eisenhower (4750), and Mt. Pierce (4312).

The Team

Norm-the open source geek

Donna-the trail nazi

Ned & Laura, the ones on a mission

Walter-the saint

Rob-the machine

Warm Up

The trip this weekend took me through 7 states total, or 14% of all 50 states. The states were: New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine. On Thursday I drove up with Norm and Donna and Norm took a ride up  Mt. Ascutney in Vermont on his bike while Donna and I hiked out to a hang glider launch pad. On Friday while waiting for the entire team to show up (Walter had to fly in from San Francisco), Norm, Donna, and I hooked up with Ian from Business School and went kayaking down the Androscoggin River-18 miles from a dam in New Hampshire to Bethel Maine. It was a great time despite the harsh sunburn I was foolish to acquire.

The Prezzie Traverse

On Friday we all go to bed by 10pm since we are to get up at 2am to be on the trail by 3am. We get to the trailhead on time and after an attempt to take a "before" photo went array, we get started with our headlamps on. The fun starts right away, we trek right up a hill to gain about 4200 feet in 3.8 miles. We make the whole way to the ridge and then watch the sunrise and attack Mt. Madison. We are all very strong and make it over the mountain and down to the Mt. Madison hut around 7:30am. We all go in and refill our water bottles and take a break. I notice that there are a disproportionate amount of super hot hiker babes in the hut and comment that I want to stay longer. The group calls me a wimp and tells me to move on. (But Norm and Ned agree with me about the pretty girls in the hut.)

So we trek over to Mt. Adams. The sun is shining and the mountain, while steep is an awesome sight. There is huge amount of rock to climb over and you really have to scramble (a lot a 4.0 level scramble). The summit is awesome and you can see Mt. Madison and Mt. Jefferson (our next target).

The hike over to Mt. Jefferson is a slog, I'm starting to get tired already and the bottom of my feet hurt from the downhill on the rock. I complain but Norm tells me to stop being a "Ned". I am also at the back of the bus at this point, but everyone gracefully waits for me. I get up Mt. Jefferson and there is a 15 foot hill at the top to the true summit. I drop my poles and pack (at Norm's suggestion) and trek up and down (and pee on top). When I get down Norm keeps telling me that I did not do the "real hike" since I left my pack for that 15 foot ascent. I tell him to screw himself and claim "entrapment" and he says that he is not a cop, but I say he is the trail cop. I am starting to get lightheaded and even more slow as we approach Mt. Clay.

The hike up Mt. Clay was pretty easy, and I shout out many Reaganisms on the way up for sport. Once were are down there is one thing left before a nice break, Mt. Washington.

Mt. Washington

I tried to climb Mt. Washington a few years ago on Memorial Day. I had to turn back about 1000 feet from the summit due to a white out. Snow in late May, go figure. The world's worst weather has been recorded on top of Mt. Washington and it is the highest peak in the Northeast. There is a cog railway that takes tourists up to the top and Norm jokes when I tell him I may quit at Washington that my ride down is the cog rail. I say that the cog railway is for wimps (a direct jab at Ned and Laura who took it down last year when they were finished for the day.)

Norm has to visit the men's room (a la natural) and I stay behind and we summit together. We see a sign saying that the summit is 1.1 miles and we know it is about 1300 feet gain. Ug. After about 20 minutes of hiking we hit a sign that says .9 miles. We say that THEY LIE! The summit seems to be getting further away as we climb. It starts to rain. The cog rail comes by and blows tons of black smoke at us, mocking us. (Later I learn that you are suppose to moon the tourists on the train, I wish I knew this custom beforehand-now I know for next time.)

We reach the summit around 1pm and Donna is waiting for us on the top, she climbed Mt. Washington earlier that day and was going to do the rest of the day with us. Norm and I go straight to the summit and then to the tourist observatory and restaurant where the gang is waiting for us. Technically we summited first since they went straight to the observatory to get out of the cold and rain.

At this point I was still very lightheaded but knowing my body well I knew I was not dehydrated or sick. (Later I would determine it was the sunburn, since I had the same feelings on Sunday and Monday when I woke up.) I considered walking down Washington with Donna but she wanted to hike a little longer and since I was fine muscle and cardio wise I figured what the heck, so after a chili lunch on top of Mt. Washington I walked down to the Lake of the Clouds hut with the team. Norm promised "no more rocks" and that the southern traverse is "just like the Catskills." He lies.

The Rest of the Peaks

I was slow but the view was awesome upon arrival. It compares to the Italian alps. Donna and I decided to trek down to another path to bail out early but eventually decided to truck on. We went around Mt. Monroe (a shitty president) while the rest of the team went over the top and we waited for them at the bottom. Then we moved on to Mt. Franklin and I was going so slow that Donna was enticing me with snickers bars to move faster. We caught up with the team and later on circled around Mt. Eisenhower while they went to the top and then we all went up Mt. Pierce together. From there it was about 3+ miles to the car but it took us 2.5 hours to get there, finishing up at 9pm, coming out in the dark in headlamps. We treated ourselves to McDonalds (only thing really open) after we got the cars.

Would I do it Again?

Having completed the entire Presidential Traverse and 6 out of the 9 peaks (technically I did not get to the top of Pierce, there was a little run up and run down that I skipped) it was a hell of an accomplishment. In total it was an 18 hour, 21 mile hike. I felt ok the next day, just a little stiffness in my quads. That said, I see no reason to do it all in one day except for pure ego.

I have had other long days, days that were necessary: summiting Mt. Rainier was an 18 hour day-but there is no other way. Climbing the Western Breach on Mt. Kilimanjaro was about a 10 hour day and there is really no other way either. The slog over Kala Pattar into Everest Base Camp was another 12+ hour day, but there is no other paths to take.

So would I do it again?  Honestly after about 12 hours I was not having fun and after about 16 hours I just wanted it to be over. I see no reason to do it all in one day. The only reason to do it in one day is pure ego and at the end of the day shouldn't you enjoy it more? (Also if I tell my friend's I did the Prezzie Traverse, they would say, is that in Washington DC?)

I would do it again, but I would do it over 3 days and that is my advice to anyone. Take the time and enjoy it. The the Presidential Traverse has 3 huts you can stay at. Start where we did (but at a reasonable hour, like 9am) and hike to Madison hut, that will take you about 7 hours. Then stay overnight there (bring earplugs) and then trek to the Lake of the Clouds hut the next day, that will take you about 8-9 hours. Spend the night there and then do the rest of the southerns all in one day, about 7 hours or so.

Was I really left for dead? No, my friends may have talked me into moving on when I was not feeling that well, but it was my call to move on. But I did have fun telling them every hour or so that I was left for dead.

Posted by Steve in New York.

Mountain Climbing

Monday, July 30, 2007 1:40:28 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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This is part III of a three part interview with mountain climber Garry Porter. Part I is here and Part II is here.

S&TT: HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU CLIMBED MT. RAINIER?  I think I’ve climbed Rainier on a variety of routes 18 or 20 times and have summated 13 or 14 times. It is a gorgeous mountain but not one to be taken lightly. When conditions are right, it’s a straightforward ascent and descent. But the Northwest weather can move in quickly and things get messy in a hurry, even to experienced climbers. Rainier has more active glaciers than any mountain the continental U.S. and can thus be very treacherous. On a normal summit day, you are going to be crossing numerous open crevasses either by snow bridges or jumping. Jumping over gaping crevasses at 13,000 is not easy because trying to run up to the crevasse, time your leap and land on the other side with plastic boots and crampons and a pack on is not easy. Ask Steve and his buddy Kevin what they think. So I tell people that climbing Rainier should be taken very very seriously and you need to come physically prepared and trained in self arresting on ice and moving as a team roped together.

S&TT: WE CLIMBED RAINER AGAIN ALONG WITH KEVIN (FROM EVEREST BASE CAMP.) WILL YOU CLIMB MT. RAINIER WITH STEVE AGAIN?

Would I climb with Steve again? Sure, as long as he gets his shit together and quits whining. No, that’s a joke. I don’t know what Steve has told everybody about our summit of Rainier but it was a great experience for me. I knew Steve would be physically fit for the climb and he was. Yes, he whines a little, but I consider that one of his “charming” traits and one that I can easily ignore. I think I only had to tell him once that just because he talks louder and faster than me, it doesn’t mean that he knows more. And yes, we had some equipment difficulties early on summit morning because Steve had not check fitted his crampons to his boots ahead of time and I guess I got a little pissie at that point because I’m pretty driven once I am on the mountain. But the delay afforded us an experience that I have never seen on all my trips to Rainier. The Northern Lights were out and gave us a dazzling display around 1:00 am. I would never have seen if it wasn’t for our delay in climbing. So, it all worked out great.

One other thing Steve. Next time climbing Rainier, it will be easier for you, I guarantee it. You now know the level of effort required to ascend AND descend the mountain. You can now appreciate the level of agony that it takes to summit and get down and most important, you mentally know that you can do it. It’s kind of like running your second marathon. You’ve done it before and you know what to expect. It takes the mental uncertainty out of the equation so that you can joy enjoy the experience. Steve, let me know when you are ready.

S&TT: IF YOU REMEMBER WE ONLY SAW THE NORTHERN LIGHTS BECAUSE WE WERE LATE COMING OUT OF THE CAMP, SO YOU OWE ME. ALSO I INSISTED THEY WERE THE AURORA AND YOU SAID AT FIRST "NO NO THAT IS SEATTLE CITY LIGHTS!" :) AND YES I AM READY. ANYWAY,  DOES YOUR WIFE WORRY WHEN YOU ARE AWAY CLIMBING A MOUNTAIN? Nadine, my wife of 40 plus years is the greatest person ever. I do not know how she handles the stress of my mountain climbing but she does. It’s one of those things we don’t talk about. She is my strongest supporter for my climbing. . In fact, it was my wife who suggested I attempt Everest after I had turned down an earlier offer to go. Her rationale was straightforward; I clearly had the necessary prerequisite climbing experience, a group was forming with people who I knew and who knew me and as she said, “there’s a reason men older that you don’t climb Everest, so if you are ever going to do it, now would be a good time”. I think that was her gentle way of saying that I’m an old fart and not getting any younger. Two days later, I committed to the climb. Her only requirement is that I enjoy what I am doing and that I am selective in who I climb with. I know she worries but I have shown her in the past that I will turn back when conditions are not right, and this adds to her confidence in my decision making when “summit fever” is at its peak. I honestly don’t know how she deals with the stress. I guess she trusts me to know when to say when, she knows I go prepared physically and mentally for the climbing challenge and the rest is up to the gods. I love her dearly.

S&TT: HOW DO YOU TRAIN FOR MOUNTAIN CLIMBING? I’m an engineer by education and training and so my physical training preparation to get ready is very structured. Some would say I over train, some would say that I’m just anal retentive about my training, but I know it works for me. So my physical preparation means that my progress has to be quantitative and measurable. When I start plotting performance curves, then I know I have gone too far. That means that in weigh training, what I did this Monday compared to what I did last Monday has to show an improvement either in reps or weight. And so it goes. I routinely work out at a gym three days a week and mountain bike or snow shoe or run long races on the weekend so that I stay in range of any climbing opportunity. So depending on the planned climb, I start 3-6 months in advance and start cranking it up. I shift from running to more time spent with a pack on my back. My gym time consists of an hour plus on a treadmill or stair master with a 60 pound pack and 5 pound ankle weights. I don’t start there but gradually add weight until I’m carrying the load comfortably. I then do an hour of upper body weight training as well. I use to work up to 110 pounds in my pack plus ankle weights but it was pointed out to me that other than bragging rights, it was not good training for Everest. The old adage of making your training routine match what you are training for was never truer and I would not normally carry 110 pounds on a mountain. What was more important was to get a load slightly higher than I would normally carry but crank the intensity up to simulate what I will be doing on the mountain. So it’s a 60 pound pack but get the cardio heart rate to 85-90% of max heart rate and hold it there for an hour because that’s what you will need to perform at on the mountain. So I do this 4 times a week and then go do something long on the weekend to exercise a different set of muscles. Since Mt. Rainier is in my backyard, I’ll do a day hike from Paradise Lodge at 5,000 feet to camp Muir at 10,000 feet with a 60 pound pack and keep pushing the time required. I usually fill gallon water jugs to carry up and then either dump them at camp Muir or give the water to other climbers. (Thought about carrying beer up and selling it but I guess that’s against park rules but I could see a budding market for it at camp Muir.) Anyway, I try to come down light so that I can put snow shoes on and partially run down. Before I left for Everest, I did back to back half marathons and then my best 10K the Sunday before I got on the airplane. Mentally, I have to be able to tell myself that I have prepared as hard as I physically can and the summit success is now up to conditions that I have no control over. It’s a mental thing for me.

S&TT: HOW MUCH DOES IT COST TO CLIMB EVEREST? HOW DO YOU RAISE MONEY? DOES YOUR WIFE THINK YOU ARE CRAZY? How much does it cost….too much. An insane AMOUNT. Throw the logic out the window AMOUNT. Do not attempt to rationalize the cost AMOUNT. Forget that Mercedes convertible that you have always dreamt about AMOUNT. Realistically, there is not an easy way for me to raise funds. I wrote to AARP and the major pharmaceutical companies that sell “geriatric” drugs but got no response. Let’s face it; I’m an old man with no major disabilities and thus no sex appeal for sponsors. But I am always open to any ideas from the readers on raising funds for the next trip.

My cost was $60,000 plus a lot of borrowed gear from good friends and Everest base camp trekkers and some modest contributions from a few fellow climbers. But then it’s an experience of a life time and you can’t put a price on that. When my wife suggested that I climb Everest, one of my instant concerns was how we were going to pay for it. Her only answer was, “you’ll figure a way, you always do”. When I retired, I spent a lot of time calculating and recalculating our financial situation to feel comfortable that we would have enough money to last. A $60,000 trip up Everest was not in the calculations. So I refinanced our house. Sorry kids. You will someday inherit a house with a mortgage on it but you will always be able to say, “Oh that was Dad’s Everest trip”.

S&TT: WHAT IS YOUR OPINION OF THE DAVID SHARP STORY? It’s obviously a tragedy that happened on a mountain that is prone to tragedies. But, I believe it has to be put into perspective. People die tragic deaths every second of the day. Some at work, some on their way to work, some at home in the comfort of their family. Some people stop to help at accidents, some look and keep moving because they have other more important commitments. This is not to trivialize what happened on the mountain, and I hate to see it happen, but it tragedies happen, mountain or no mountain. The David Sharp accident got a lot of publicity because it was Everest and because maybe it showed some of the worst sides of what we have become as a society. If there is a positive side, David Sharp died doing what he loved to do, which is more that what most people will get. From what I have read, this was his third trip to Everest so he was not a novice and clearly knew what risks Everest entailed. Knowing that, he chose to climb without oxygen, without a radio and without a climbing partner, all of which raised his risk level. Could other climbers have done more for him, certainly. Could they have saved him, I don’t know and second string arm chair quarterbacking by the press certainly doesn’t help the situation either.

I’ll offer a long story, short version of a similar experience of mine. A Denali guide friend told me that they had a group of climbers on Denali, who on summit day got caught in a tremendous blizzard and were trapped somewhere on the mountain and out of contact. After 24 hours, they had to call the spouses/significant other of all the climbers and inform them that they had lost contact with the group and things didn’t look to good for them. He says, to a person, the spouse’s first question was whether they had summated or not. It was as if that fact would make their death acceptable. They all survived the storm but the story has always stuck in my mind of the significance of dieing doing what we love to do. David Sharp summated Everest on his third try. You decide.

S&TT: DO YOU AGREE WITH SIR EDMUND HILLARY AND KRAKAUER THAT THE SHARP TRAGEDY IS THE RESULT OF COMMERCIALIZATION OF EVEREST? I don’t think so in David Sharp’s case. I do, however, think that is the case in a lot of other accidents on Everest. I believe there are way too many people on Everest who do not belong there because they have not earned the right to be there. This will probably piss some of the readers off, but I don’t care. Because someone can fork over the $60,000 or higher to complete their personal resumes of their exciting life, does not in my mind entitle them to attempt climbing Mt.Everest. With no climbing experience, no significant training but just with big bucks they endanger themselves but also a lot of other good climbers when they get in trouble. You combine that with climbing outfits who are also relatively inexperienced about Everest and you have a sure fire recipe for disaster. Even for the Boston marathon, you have to qualify against a standard. Why would we expect nothing less to climb Everest?

S&TT: ANY ADVICE FOR YOUNG FOLKS READING THIS WHO MAY WANT TO CLIMB ONE DAY? If you want to do it, DO IT, but go prepared. Train seriously and get the prerequisite climbing in before you head for a big mountain. That means get experience on lesser mountains to know what you are getting into. Research your guides like your life depended on it. Pick good fellow climbers that you enjoy being with and who you can stand for long extended periods of time in adverse conditions and who you can share in the thrill of the summit or the agony of defeat. Oh yes, get good life insurance before the insurance companies find out that you climb. Enjoy life and the experience.

S&TT: GREAT INTERVIEW GARRY, THANKS FOR YOUR TIME! HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Interviews | Mountain Climbing

Wednesday, November 22, 2006 9:13:34 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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This is part II of a three part interview with mountain climber Garry Porter. Part I is here.

S&TT: DESCRIBE THE SUMMIT DAY: We wanted to be moving by midnight and so it was a 10:00 pm wake up call after 4 hours of trying to sleep. Inside our tent, with 3 of us, it was a minus 20 degrees and you know it’s colder outside. You can hear the sherpas moving about and the adrenaline rush is on. I have laid awake for the last four hours going over details in my head of what to bring and what to leave behind, even though I have gone thru the same mental discussions many nights before. I remember distinctly that my climbing partner, David Burger, is sleeping soundly while I am lying awake worrying. Sort of pissed me off, because he had taken a light sleeping pill and I had not. Go figure, he’s sleeping and resting and I’m thinking. I’m also asking myself whether I believe that I have the energy left to make this summit attempt and return safely and with all my digits intact. Questions, questions and questions to mentally answer and then it’s time to start getting ready to go. Since I slept in my down suit and on a low flow of oxygen, getting ready inside the tent doesn’t seem to take long but actually it took nearly an hour to finish packing and putting my boots on. Total food consumption on the climb from camp 3 to camp 4 and leaving at midnight was probably a granola bar and a cup of hot water. Not much for a summit attempt, but it’s what I could get down.

Outside the tent, it’s bitter cold but fortunately not much wind and already the sherpas are moving up the mountain thru the triangular face of Everest. Since I was the oldest in the group, my strategy was that I didn’t need to lead or be first or second or third, but that mentally I had to stay up with the group and that was very important to me. Don’t lag behind or fall back but stay with the group. And so I did and actually felt pretty good. The sherpas in front of me would take about 10 steps in succession and then stop and breathe heavily over their ice axes. Since we are not roped together, I used my old fashion rest step technique and would take a step, take 5 or six breathes, take another step and so on. I usually reached the sherpas while they were still trying to catch their breath, so I could stop and wait for them to move again. Above me, the sherpas were fixing rope on portions of the steeper slopes and so you clip into them or when you can, you look for older fixed rope from previous climbs. Because of the fixed ropes, there is a natural separation in time between the climbers and I was content to be in the rear as long as I stayed close to the group. And so we climbed. No one to talk to, and pretty focused on the next step and the next step and so on. Our guide had said we had a minimum ascent rate that we had to achieve or we were moving too slowly and the first benchmark was being at the balcony by 7:00 am which is roughly 2000 feet above camp 4. I arrived there at 5:30 am and I know others had been there already a half hour or longer. Time to change oxygen bottles, drink a little water, eat a granola bar and keep moving. At this point, I remember telling myself that we are really going to make it. We are way earlier than our guide’s time line, I’m feeling OK and maintaining the pace I want. Yippee, but then I cautioned myself not to get too cocky. But it sure seemed like we had a good shot at the summit. It is still incredibly dark and cold, but my feet and hands seem OK and we’re headed to the summit of Everest which is only another 1,000 feet above us. By $100 new high tech. gloves are frozen and makes it difficult to grip my ice axe and so I switch to some old O.R. mittens and wore them the rest of the time. So much for the high tech solution. But conditions are changing and the wind starts picking up. The sun finally arrives and you feel a little warmer because of it, but the wind is gusting stronger all the time. It’s now 7:30 am, we are standing on the South Summit at 28,600 feet and it’s blowing so hard you can’t hear anyone speak, even when you remove your oxygen mask. But we are on the second highest summit in the world with 400 feet of elevation to go to the highest summit in the world. One of our climbers and the sherpas are in a notch below the South Summit trying to clear a blue climbing rope that is frozen in the snow and which we need to cross over the final summit ridge. It’s not far across the ridge, but it’s a knife edge with a 8,000 foot drop on one side and a 5,000 foot drop on the other. The Hillary step is plainly visible as is the final summit approach to Everest but without a fixed line; it will be very risky to proceed. Our guide is on the radio talking to base camp about the weather conditions and around 8:00 am, he makes the call to turn around. And so the decision is made and we turn around. Hindsight being what it is, it was the right decision at the time, because the 40 mph winds at the South Summit were 100 mph winds at the South Col. When we returned to the camp 4 in the early afternoon, our tents were destroyed and there was no place to recover other than keep heading down the mountain. That’s another story for another time.

 S&TT: DESCRIBE WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE NEAR THE TOP OF EVEREST. So much has been written by people much more articulate than me, that it’s hard to add many more words, but I will give you my impression. In a single word, it was unbelievably AWESOME. I think the sunrise started somewhere around 6:00 am and the sheer darkness gave way to shapes and figures and more important the horizon. As we continued to slowly climb higher, I could see the surrounding mountains come out of the dawn and could only think that “damn, we are a long way up” as everything was below us. I thought I could see the slight curvature of the earth but that may not be an accurate statement. Even though I had a camera tucked into an inside pocket of my down suit, I never took it out to capture the moment. Max burn rate on our oxygen bottle was 4 liters per minute and I had deliberately set mine for below 3 liters per minute so as to conserve oxygen and still be able to crank it up if I felt I needed it. By the way, oxygen does not “enhance” your performance on the mountain. It’s not the Viagra of mountain climbing. It merely helps your toes and hands stay warm and hopefully your brain to think clearer. But what the heck, you’re here on Everest, so you’ve already demonstrated that you don’t normally think too clear, but it is nice that maybe you won’t freeze any digits. So it was plant the ice axe, take one step, take 4-5 breathes, look for the next step, plant the ice axe and so on. This is a long way of saying that I had plenty of time to reach into my down suit and snap a picture during those 5 breathes, but I didn’t. Could not have captured the grandeur of the mountains anyway. I remember watching the climbers and sherpas in front of me and knowing that there was only one way to go and that was up. And then everyone was stopped at a relatively flat area and I knew we were at the South Summit and only 400 feet in elevation gain to the summit. Never been more alive than in that moment. Oops, did I forget to mention that the wind was screaming like a banshee?

 S&TT: ANY REGRETS FOR TURNING BACK? I say that I have no regrets, but that’s a lie. I think about the decision frequently and although I know that at the time is was absolutely the right one and I’m alive to prove it, there is part of me that wishes we could have continued. But we had no more rope to fix lines to cross the summit ridge, the wind was at least 40-45 mph and it would have been very very risky. That and the fact that our camp 4 had been destroyed due to the same high winds while we were heading to the summit could have spelled disaster for us had we not turned back at the South Summit at 28,600. But everything else was so right for the summit attempt. We were there early in the morning, everyone felt pretty good, including me and I had no doubt that I had sufficient energy left to summit and get safely back to camp 4 to recover. I can still see the summit and Hilary Step ahead of us in my mind and know we could have made it except for the wind. Such is climbing.

 S&TT: ARE YOU GOING TO TRY AGAIN? Hopefully, yes. There are 4 of us, all who have been on Everest before, that are seriously considering an Everest attempt in the spring of 2007 from the Tibet side. We’re still working out the details like the cost and logistics but I think two of us are pretty well committed and the other two are as well. We just need to firm it up and put some money on the line. For me, cost is a major issue and that is partially why we are choosing the North ridge of Everest. That plus it will be a different side of Everest for the whole group.

S&TT: BESIDES EVEREST, WHAT WAS YOUR HARDEST CLIMB? It was probably Agoncagua in Argentina. It’s a tad less than 23,000 feet and not a terribly difficult or technical climb but it’s one of the Seven Summits. The last 1000 feet is in a rock/ scree field that is horrible. One step up and two steps sliding down. It was miserable climbing and at an elevation than I had not experienced before. I just plain ran out of gas on the ascent and only thru sheer will or stubbornness and a patient guide did I make the summit. But then I had nothing left to go down. Physically, my left leg just gave out. There was nothing that I could do other than pick myself up and keep going down. I obviously made it, but it was a long long day. On a positive note, it really helped me focus my training if I wanted to continue climbing big mountains.

S&TT: MOST DANGEROUS CLIMB? Other than Everest, it was Denali (Mt. McKinley) in Alaska. We chose to do what is called the traverse route where you go up the standard West Buttress route but rather than summit and return the way you came, we carried everything up and over and came down the Muldrow glacier. It was absolutely thrilling. It took our group two attempts to finally summit, but then we headed down the other side of the mountain via Karstens ridge. Karstens ridge is a steep narrow ridge with sheer drop offs on both sides. We then had to descend miles of the Muldrow glacier which had hidden crevasses everywhere and then trek across 25 miles of tundra with grizzle bear signs everywhere. And to finish the climb we had to cross 4 rivers, the biggest being the mighty McKinley river. It was one exciting challenge after the other, and the summit of Denali was just part of it. We had a world class guide, a great group and of course, the spectacular Alaska Mountain range. Would I do it again, you bet.

S&TT: EASIEST CLIMB? From my bedroom to the bathroom

Tomorrow more climbing stories, including a summit of Mt. Rainer, the costs of climbing and some thoughts on David Sharp.

Interviews | Mountain Climbing

Tuesday, November 21, 2006 7:28:44 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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Steve and the Tank caught up with Garry Porter, a mountain climber from the Seattle, Washington area. Steve met Garry at Mt. Everest Base camp in the fall of 2003 when Garry was attempting to summit the tallest mountain in the world. Garry lives on a small farm in Washington. His hobbies are mountain climbing (duh!), mountain biking, sailing, running and restoration of old cars. Married to Nadine Porter for 42 years. Two children, a daughter Danette and a son Christopher. Four grandchildren, 2 boys and 2 girls. Retired from Boeing after 34 years as an executive responsible for the NATO AWACS program. Masters degree in engineering from Air Force Institute of Technology, undergraduate degree from University of Nebraska. Climbing experiences: Multiple summits on Mt. Rainier, summits on Aconcagua (Argentina), Mt. McKinley/Denali (Alaska), Cotopaxi (Ecuador), Island Peak (Nepal), Cho Oyu (Tibet), Huayana Potosi, Alpamayo, and Illimani (Bolivia), Ama Dablam and Loboche (Nepal), and Ishinca, Urus, Tocllaraju, Chopicalqui, Ausangate (Peru).

This is the first of a three part interview.

WHY DO YOU THINK STEVE ASKED YOU TO WRITE FOR THE BLOG?   To be honest, I haven’t a clue.  I didn’t reach the final summit of Everest because we were turned back by high winds on our second attempt on Nov. 3, 2003.  But Steve and I trekked together to Everest base camp and the following year I took Steve and his friend Kevin to the summit of Mt. Rainier.  Maybe he thinks he owes me something.  So I guess my message is for those of you who read his blog, if summiting is your only criteria for “success” on Everest, then I’m not your boy.  So you just as well go watch reruns of Oprah.  However, if you want some reasonable information about Everest from someone who almost made it, then maybe I’ve got something to say.  But I also want to provide one overriding message.  I consider myself a pretty ordinary guy.  If I can do it, then anyone who trains, gets the prerequisite mountain climbing experience and has strong legs and lungs and a weak mind, has a reasonable chance at the highest mountain in the world.  As Steve will tell you, I am not a super jock kind of guy in size or strength, I’m relatively old by climbing standards (will be 65 in 2007) and I am of limited financial resources in that I am retired from the aerospace industry 7 years ago.  But I have spent the last 15 years gaining experience higher and higher on mountains, am in relatively good physical condition and am incredibly tenacious when it comes to sucking it up when you must in order to keep moving higher.  So with that short introduction, I will proceed to answer Steve and the Tank’s questions.

Steve and the Tank: Well we wanted you to write because you have a great story to tell! Anyway, let's start with an easy one. WHY DO YOU CLIMB MOUNTAINS? 

Where do you start to answer this question without sounding trite?  For me, the answer is not “because it’s there”.  For me, it’s a passion that has evolved and one of the major reasons I retired early. Mountain climbing exposes you to the most absolutely stunning environment in parts of the world that you would not normally get to experience.  It will expose you to different cultures, beliefs and religions (which always help me to put in perspective the over abundance that we enjoy (and take for granted) in our society).  It will also help you learn about yourself, what your limits are and how you respond to physical and mental challenges in an extremely hostile environment. 

S&TT: HOW DID YOU GET INTO MOUNTAIN CLIMBING?  From the time I was a kid in the Midwest, camping and backpacking was part of my life.  Living in the Northwest, with Mt. Rainier in my backyard, it was only natural to want to extend my love of the outdoors with mountain climbing.  When my son was growing up, we went on week long backpacking trips together, and when someone offered us a chance to join them on a climb of Mt. Rainier, we jumped at the opportunity.  My first mountain climbing experience was a summit of Mt. Rainier with my 14 year old son.  It was one of my proudest moments as a father. I was hooked on mountain climbing from then on.

S&TT: WHAT WAS GOING THRU YOUR MIND ON THOSE DAYS LEADING UP TO EVEREST BASE CAMP?  Trekking to base camp is a mixture of fun and anticipation of the struggle that lies ahead.  It’s a chance to enjoy the scenery, the people you met along the way and the rich thick atmosphere of lower elevations.  Good food, fun people to meet and share experiences and ideas, and the excitement of what lies ahead.  It’s also a time to get your mental and spiritual life in synch.  I don’t know why, but in the small mountain villages and ancient Buddhist monasteries I find  more spiritual connection than any church that I’ve ever been in. As part of the trek to base camp, we had a private meeting with Lama Geisha.  The lama is one of the most educated lamas in Nepal and spoke to us of the significance of our climb and said he would offer a prayer for us every day until he returned.  He also presented us a special small gift to be worn around our neck for good luck with the statement that we had to believe in order for us to be protected.  It was a really deep spiritual experience for me and our group and part of the mental preparation for what lies ahead.  Even Steve was unusually moved.  But the trek is mostly about playing, relaxing and enjoying life at its fullest.

S&TT: I WAS MOVED THAT DAY. I STILL HAVE THE STRING AROUND MY NECK 3 YEARS LATER. DESCRIBE BASE CAMP.   WHAT SUPPLIES DO YOU TAKE WITH YOU?  WHAT DID YOU LEAVE AT BASE CAMP?  Base camp on Everest is at 17,300 ft. elevation, and is essentially rock and scree on top of ice.  It is a moving glacier that creaks and groans and is constantly moving and changing.  It’s also an area where you hear avalanches crashing day and night.  It’s gray, cold and initially difficult to move around until you get acclimated to the elevation.  But it’s home for the next 60 plus days and it’s a luxury in comparison to what lies ahead.  It has a cook tent, a dining tent, a communication tent and an open shower tent.  You have your own tent so there is lots of room to get organized but since you are essentially sleeping on ice, the tent has to be moved periodically because your body heat is causing the ice to melt below your sleeping bag.  It’s also home to a lot of  trekkers that are visiting Everest base camp for the first time.  On good weather days, we could see 20-30 visitors to our camp each day.  Most respected that base camp was our home, others just walked in like they owned it.  I finally had to tell one trekker that I didn’t mind that he smoked in front of our dining tent if he didn’t mind if I farted in his face.  He got the message.  But base camp is a wonderful home for the time you are there. 

S&TT: DESCRIBE THE PROCESS OF ACCLIMATION.  Your body needs to get use to the effects of elevation gradually and this becomes more important the higher you climb.  So you use a technique called “climb high and sleep low”.  This means you carry gear higher on the mountain, leave it and then return to lower camp to sleep.  The next day, you climb to where you left your gear and spend the night or several nights there to acclimate.   Then you repeat this process to “leap frog” your way up the mountain.  Gradually your body acclimates to the higher elevations and what was once intolerable becomes acceptable to your body.  One other technique I use to acclimate is to climb using a “rest step” technique combined with what is called “pressure breathing” to help your body adjust to the lower air pressure of higher elevations.  By using the rest step technique you are trying to get your body into a rhythm that allows you to keep moving for hours, days, and weeks without burning out.  It’s not fast, but it’s consistent.  One thing that doesn’t get better is the loss of appetite and there is not much you can do about it.  If you are a runner, then you know that you burn about 1,000 calories per hour and probably more when you are climbing.  So, on a typical climbing day you may burn 8,000 or 10,000 calories and there is no way you are going to be able to eat enough to replace the calories, especially since your appetite decreases dramatically.  Consequently, you will experience a major weight loss on these longer expeditions.  I have lost as much as 28 pounds on climbing trips, which is significant because you know you are losing critical muscle mass and resultant strength and endurance.

S&TT: WHAT ROLE DO GUIDES AND PORTERS PLAY? On major expeditions, for me, guides make the difference between success, failure and safety. They know the environment, the safe conditions for climbing and when to go and when to hold up. I believe it is absolutely stupid to consider a major climb without the use of qualified guides (unless you have some form of a death wish). I know people who attempt major mountains without a guide, and if all goes absolutely perfect, then they do OK. But things going absolutely perfect is not the real world on major mountains and having the experience and expertise of a guide becomes critical to the success of the trip. I like to think that if I take care of myself, have prepared for the climb to the absolute maximum of my ability, then I can let all the decision making be done by the experts. Saves a lot of mental wear and tear on the climb. As far as the sherpas are concerned, they are absolutely the hardest working, most gentle people that you will ever meet. They laugh, they are extremely playful and in a sense, very innocent. They do all the hard work of setting up camps, fixing rope, hauling all the heavy loads and then we, Westerners, claim all the glory of the summit. I can not say enough good things about them. The success of the trip is absolutely dependent on good sherpas.

Interviews | Mountain Climbing

Monday, November 20, 2006 10:06:12 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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On May 14 2006, David Sharp climbed to the summit of Mt. Everest, a superhuman feat. On top of the tallest mountain in the world at 29, 028’ (8,850 M) it must have been a thrill- the Himalayas are mesmerizing.

After taking in the summit and all its beauty, David started the long decent down to camp. Unfortunately he got hit with altitude sickness and on the way down at 28,500’ (8, 686 M) and was left behind for dead by his team (who officially declared him dead). Sharp then crawled under a rock overhang next to a dead Indian climber for shelter. Other teams were attempting to summit that day and forty other climbers near the summit walked right past him and let him die. Some passed him twice, once on the way up to the summit and once on the way down.

Double-amputee climber Mark Inglis made it up and down safely and when interviewed by the media told of Sharp’s story. At the exact same time another climber was left for dead by his team, Australian climber Lincoln Hall. Luckily Hall was found alive by some other climbers who selflessly gave up their own summit attempt and stayed with him until a party of 12 sherpas came to carry him down. (Hall did made it and is now ok.)

Hall lived and Sharp died. Hall was rescued by kind climbers and Sharp was passed by selfish climbers. The morality of Everest is under attack.

I say to all of those who judge the climbers who walked past Sharp on the mountain that day: you can only judge if you have been at altitude on a climb. I have been to Everest and lived and worked with the Sherpa for a month, they are the kindest and warmest people you can ever meet. If Sharp looked like he was alive and a rescue was possible, they would have done it. Several people did stop and help, two climbers even gave him some of their own oxygen, but they were confused and thought he was with another team, not stranded. Sharp was not responding clearly enough for them to think otherwise. Later on Sharp was laying down next to the dead Indian climber and was presumed dead. There is much confusion at altitude where the oxygen is thin. Hall was not in as bad of shape and was more responsive, was in a less confusing situation and made it.

Sir. Edmund Hillary and Jon Krakauer (of Into Thin Air fame) have loudly complained that tragedies like this are the result of the commercialization of Everest. This is not the commercialization of Everest, this is the popularity of Everest; people want to do Everest and it gets crowded. Statistically more people die on Everest in the 1960s when nobody was on the mountain than they do today when it is crowded. David Sharp most likely would have walked past himself. David Sharp would also most likely also have stopped to help Lincoln Hall.

Most professional climbers disagree with Hillary and Krakauer’s  criticism. But some "real" climbers now want to keep the "paying" climbers off the mountain. Let me tell you, every "paying" climber I met was an amazing person who was in amazing shape with lots of experience. Anyone who trains, has some experience, and is willing to pay for an expedition should be allowed on the mountain. They just have to understand the risks that they could end up like David Sharp. I am sure that David Sharp knew and understood those risks. I don’t think we should condemn the people on the mountain that day.

Lastly, I have climbed several mountains, been at high altitude, have even been to Everest (not to the top) and some of my friends have asked me: “What if I was on a summit push that day, what would I do?” 

I would have given some spare oxygen to Sharp if I though he was alive (and if I had some spare oxygen) and moved on. I walked past a climber in very bad shape at about 14,000 feet on Mt. Rainer. I stopped and said "Are you all right dude?" He said "No, but I will be ok, I’ll be going down with my guide when he returns from the summit." At that point lacking any emergency equipment and oxygen myself, not to mention the severe pain I was in, I moved on. (He did make it down, I checked.)

Could this guy have been another David Sharp? The fact of the matter is this: people on the mountain have to make life or death decisions and sometimes the correct decision is to move on. The world may not want to hear that but that is the simple truth.

Posted by Steve, in New York.

Editors Note: Read what Garry Porter has to say about this in our interview here.

Mountain Climbing

Wednesday, August 09, 2006 7:11:43 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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