After intense emotional therapy, I can now share the following story with you. 

Training for a marathon has its share of obstacles and I encountered a unique situation a couple of months ago.

I was finishing up my workout and heard the manager say through the locker room entrance that he was locking up soon.  I looked at my watch and it read 8:59 pm. OK, the gym closes at 9 pm and I am almost done.  I finished packing my clothes.  As I exited the locker-room to walk up the stairs to leave the gym, an alarm bell started ringing very LOUDLY!

What's happening?  I am trying to leave the gym NOT break into it.  I looked around and didn't see anyone.  The lights were out.  I went to the front door and saw that it was locked.  Did the manager forget about me?  The alarm continued to ring as I unlocked the front door to LEAVE the gym.  I saw a doorman in the building next door and asked him if he saw anyone leave. He replied no as the alarm continued to ring.  We tried to figure out what to do and I asked him to watch my gym bag as I went back inside and checked both locker rooms.  Being a gentleman, I of course knocked on the Ladies Room door and asked if anyone was there.  No one answered and then I checked back upstairs and there was no one there.  I didn't know what to do as I wanted to go to watch KAL, a Roma (Gypsy) band, at 9:30 pm and wanted to grab something to eat.  I conferred with the doorman and asked him to watch the building as I went over to Ray's Pizza to grab something to eat.  (He didn't want anything to eat.).  I went back to the gym and the doorman didn't see anyone.  I tipped him a few bucks and asked him to watch the building until the gym opened in the morning.  The show must go on and I was running late to Joe's Pub right around the corner.

The concert was good and I enjoyed the rest of the evening.

When I went to the gym the next weekend (as I normally workout at the downtown gym during the week), the manager was very apologetic as my motion from leaving the locker-room activated the alarm.  After the alarm went off, he was alerted on his beeper.  He called his colleague who lived nearby and turned off the alarm around 9:40 pm.  He apologized again and gave me some complimentary vitamin waters as endorsed by Mets star third baseman David Wright.  I won't name the vitamin water until they advertise with us. 

Posted by The Tank in NY.

MLB | Running

Tuesday, November 28, 2006 11:47:00 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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When the Tank suggested I go see the TriNations rugby final, since I was going to be in Sydney that day, it seemed like a good idea, although I was somewhat surprised that I was still able to get a ticket less than a week before the game - although I was later told by several people that Rugby League (which is a different game than rugby union, which is what Americans generally think of as rugby) isn't that popular in Sydney, and the stadium wasn't full to capacity (although attendance was over 27,000 people), apparently there has been some discussion of moving the Tri Nations games from Sydney to another part of Australia where the game is more popular, so I may have seen one of the last Tri Nations games in Sydney

- there were tons of Kiwis and Aussies in the crowd, seemed to be almost 50-50, but the vibe was more of a friendly rivalry (i.e. Mets-Yankees) than a real hatred between the sides -

Kiwi Daniel had explained that rugby league is a cross between American football and traditional rugby - Daniel also recommended that I root for the Kiwis, which didn't strike me as such a good idea, given that it was Aussie turf - I was planning on taking Peter's recommendation that I "root for the ref," but it seemed like the one thing that both the Aussie and the Kiwi fans could agree on was hating the ref, so I decided that total neutrality was probably the route to go (especially since I was surrounded by vocal fans of both teams) - the fans really had gone all out, there was even one set of Kiwi fans a few rows over from me that had gone all out with afro wigs and black face and body paint (which didn't seem to bother anyone, can't quite imagine anyone doing that in the states somehow . . . although the overall impression was more of a member of Kiss than anything else . . .

. ) -

on the way to the bus to the match, Aussie Dan gave me a quick rundown on the main rules of the game - each side gets six "tackles" (the same thing as downs in American football, but with the action not stopping between tackles) before the ball changes possession (unless intercepted), although, like in American football, no team actually gets to the sixth tackle, they "do something stupid" before that point (I mentioned Hail Mary passes, and Dan agreed that was the general idea) - Dan also told me that the defending team would try to hold down the player as long as possible so that the defensive players had as much time as possible to get into position before the ball started moving again (which helped explain why the player who had been tackled struggled so hard to get back to his feet as quickly as possible) -

the first sign when I arrived at the stadium that I was no longer in New York was the truck taking bets on the game just outside of the stadium (I considered it, but decided that I didn't know enough about which team was favored to tell if the odds were good or not) - I made my way into the stadium and to my seat, which ended up being three rows off the field, pretty amazing to be able to see the players up close, they really are amazing athletes, quite strong but also very fast - and the game moves amazingly quickly, quite different from American football with the constant starts and stops -

and then I made a big mistake - I was running a bit late, so I went right to my seat, which was dead center in the middle of a row of 25 and I didn't realize that there are no beer vendors (Steve would have been out of a job) like at American stadiums, so I would have to make all those people get up again to get a beer - in the interest of international relations, I decided to hold off on the beer run for a while - anyway, the game was about to start, the players came out to fireworks at the goal lines, both national anthems were sung and then the Kiwis did the haka - game on -

the Aussies score a goal (kicked in) for the first two points, then they score the first try (touchdown, worth 4 points) and convert the try (extra point, or in this case two points) - the Kiwis also kick in a goal for two points, then they score a try and convert it while I'm on a beer run (I finally couldn't hold out any longer, especially after the tip from the guy sitting next to me to walk over a few aisles for shorter beer lines) - there were separate beer and food "queues" (lines), huge queues at all the beer vendors and no one at all at the food vendors, guess some stereotypes are accurate - at the half, Aussies 10, Kiwis 6 -

the second half started, and the Kiwis scored another try, unfortunately they missed the conversion, so the score was tied at 10 - then the Aussies scored a goal on a penalty to go up by two, but the Kiwis also scored a goal on a penalty, score tied at 12-12 - in the very last seconds of regular time, the Aussies had a great run, and it looks like they may have scored a try, but on review of the video replay (which is a great idea, in case any MLB officials are reading this . . . . ), its ruled a knock forward, no try, and we're into a 5 minute first OT - at the end of 5 minutes, no score, so the announcer says that the clock will now run until either side scores (I guess it isn't very common to need more than one overtime, since the fans next to me had been wondering what would happen after the first overtime) -

but the second OT doesn't last long, the Aussies have a breakaway run and score a try about a minute and a half into it, game over, Aussies win, the crowd goes wild (well, half the crowd anyway . . . . ) - I decide to try to get ahead of the crowd and skip the awarding of the trophy, but as I walk away from the stadium I hear the strains of "we are the champions" (some things seem to be relatively universal in sports . . .

) - overall an amazing experience and one that was a good talking point in the wineries in the Hunter Valley on Sunday and Monday –

Posted by Linda, Live! From the TriNations Rugby Final in Sydney.

Live! | Rugby

Monday, November 27, 2006 7:56:26 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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The above paragraph will probably drive the Tank into Bellevue because Division I-A Football doesn't have a playoff like every other sport on the planet, collegiate or professional. The Tank needs closure. A means to help my fragile mental state is a playoff of the top four teams, i.e. #1 versus #4 and #2 versus #3 in the first round and then the winners of those two games meet for the B(C)S Championship.

College Football

Friday, November 24, 2006 11:47:58 AM (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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While taping interviews for Saturday's "Immortality Bowl", former Michigan Head Coach and Ohio State Assistant Coach Bo Schembechler passed onto the Coaches Corner of Heaven on Friday morning.  Coach Schembechler passed while doing what he loved -- talking and being college football.  Instead of seeing his doctor on his regular appointment on Thursday, Coach Schembechler addressed the Michigan players one last time before they left for Columbus since he was not well enough to travel.

He is respected so much that the pro-Ohio State punk band, "The Dead Schembechlers", will disband after Friday's "Hate Michigan" concert and donate proceeds to a charity the Schembechler Family names.

My college football picks are normally games where both teams are ranked. I don't consider it fair to pick # 3 Florida over Division I-AA Western Carolina. However, for Steve's girlfriend Kathleen, I make the following exception: #9 Rutgers wins a tougher than expected game at unranked Cincinnati.  Cincy will want to upset the Scarlet Knights who upset Louisville the week before and become bowl eligible with a sixth win.  Though I am a fan of Big East rival Syracuse, I give Rutgers their due because of the amount of money they have sunk into their program.  Head Coach Schiano has done a good job of keeping New Jersey's best high school football talent home as well as recruiting out of state.  James Gandolfini is a Rutgers alumnus and I want to stay on his good side as I have been mistaken for looking like Tony Soprano by Dominican Luis as well as the "Boys from Brasil".  (On my trip to the Great Wall Marathon last year, the "Boys from Brasil" called me "Soprano" for my leadership skills through Mao's Mausoleum, more in my upcoming book.)

College Football | NFL

Saturday, November 18, 2006 12:42:25 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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(1) Game Match up: Ohio State has the experience advantage at quarterback with Heisman Trophy candidate Troy Smith though Michigan's Chad Henne has come into his own this year. Michigan is tough especially with the return of Mario Manningham who will look to make a big homecoming as he is from Ohio.  He doesn't have as many catches as Buckeye receiver and returner Ted Ginn Jr. but keeping Manningham from making the big catch is one of my keys to the game. Steve Breaston and Adrian Arrington need to keep the Ohio State secondary honest.  However, Ohio State's kicking game didn't convert an extra point and field goal last week against Northwestern.  I am certain they are working on it this week.

(2) Personal Academic Match up: I have had academic relationships with both schools, attending the Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research at the University of Michigan in the summer of 1993 and being accepted to graduate school in Eastern European Studies at the Ohio State University in 1994.  While at ICPSR, I met Professor Ronald Inglehart who is behind much of the polling research after each Presidential Election. Amazing for statistics geeks like me!  I did not go to Ohio State because funding in Eastern Europe had dried up as the countries in those areas, Czechoslovakia, the Soviet Union, and Yugoslavia were disintegrating and university teaching jobs and tenure were becoming harder to find.  Both Michigan and Ohio State are top academic institutions.

(3) Friends Toss-up: The game is even when it comes down to the fans as I have friends on both sides of the field.  Father figures like Detroit Dale attended Michigan and Columbus Craig lives in Columbus, Ohio.  I have already offered Craig "lots of beer and possibly a kidney to sell on eBay" if he comes across an extra ticket for me.  As for my contemporaries, I know former BGSU and European pro linebacker Vinnie Palko is from Ohio and rooting for the Buckeyes.  John Wood used to play for the Wolverines and John has the strongest handshake grip you will ever shake.  (John's dad Kim was a 28 year strength coach for the Cincinnati Bengals.)  Let's hope the sparks die down by the time of world martial artist champion Matt Furey's upcoming health seminar where the Tank is honored to be invited to talk about his Seven Marathon Continents (fourth from the bottom on the left) as well as Vinnie, John, and others will be speaking at Matt's seminar.

(4) Conclusion: I give Ohio State the edge because of (1) home field advantage and (2) The Dead Schembechlers will keep the joint jumping by playing inside the Horseshoe.  The Dead Schemblechers are a Columbus based punk band named after the former Michigan Coach Bo Schemblecher though they dress like former Ohio State Coach Woody Hayes.  (They are more conflicted than the Tank.)  The Dead Schembechlers sing songs like "Bomb Ann Arbor Now" and "Wolverine Destroyer" and are playing an all ages "Hate Michigan" show in Columbus the night before the game.  Rumors of former Michigan Coach Schembechler's demise are wrong as he is thankfully okay after a recent pace maker operation.  Get better soon Coach Schembechler!

College Football

Friday, November 17, 2006 12:55:50 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)
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