Confirmed: Lhakpa Gelu Sherpa Going For Mt. Rainier Speed Ascent Record On Saturday

Nepalese mega-mountaineer, Lhakpa Gelu Sherpa, 13-time Mt. Everest climber and former world record holder for fastest ascent to Everest (10Hours, 56 minutes, and 46 seconds) will attempt to break the present world record for fastest ascent to Mt. Rainier on Saturday, August 16 by climbing the mountain in just four 4 hours.

The previous unofficial record is held by Justine Merle, who climbed the mountain and returned to Paradise, WA in just 4 hours, 49 minutes, and 35 seconds. Lhakpa Sherpa, who is 41 years old, will begin his journey to become the fastest human being to ever scale Mt. Rainier, which stands at 14,411 feet, at 5 AM sharp. A press conference and victory celebration is scheduled for 9 AM at Paradise, on the south slope of the mountain. Sherpa, who lives in Sandy, Utah with his wife and three children, is a Goodwill Ambassador to MorePeace Corps, an effort to double the Peace Corps.

Asked why he is doing this, a soft-spoken Sherpa said, “I am doing this for the children of my country, Nepal. I never had a chance to study in my village – I started climbing at a very young age. I want to raise $50,000 so that the students at Mera Elementary School in my village in Solukhumbu can get a new school. I am not an educated man, but if I can help even onechild in my country, that is all that matters.”

Lhakpa, who has also scaled the famed Ama Dablam mountain, is not the only one in his family to scale Everest. In fact, Sherpa’s family holds the World record for the most ascents by a single family: thirty. Sherpa’s olderbrother tragically died in 1991 during an ascent to the top of Annapurna

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Mt. Rainier: The Battle For The Quickest Ascent Heats Up, More Climbers Join The Challenge

Liam O’Sullivan’s recent claim of a new speed-ascent climb up Mt. Rainier is sparking some very intriguing interest.  Liam O’Sullivan recently claimed the fastest time of 4 hours, 46 minutes, and 29 seconds.  This bested the previous Mt. Rainier speed-ascent record by 3 minutes, previously held by Justin Merle.  Merle’s attempt came earlier in July.

Liam O’Sullivan’s attempt at the ‘unofficial’ record has drawn much interest around the climbing community, and has even sparked a bit of controversy as you can read through any of my previous posts concerning these speed climbs.  Besides the interest and controversy it looks like there are a series of other climbers lining up to take a shot at O’Sullivan’s recent record.  One attempt could come as early as Saturday.

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Liam O’Sullivan Claims New Speed Ascent Record On Mt. Rainier

Liam O’Sullivan is claiming that a new speed ascent record on Mt. Rainier has been achieved.  This comes less than one month after Justin Merle claimed the same record in which many have disputed.  The dispute is centered on the idea that none of these attempts are official.  They lack the proper witnesses to put them in the record books.  None the less, the Mount Rainer Climbing blog is mentioning Liam’s latest attempt and giving him a final time of 4 hours, 46 minutes, and 29 seconds.  This time would beat Merle’s previous ‘unofficial’ record by a mere three minutes.

Liam O’Sullivan, much like Justin Merle, is also a mountain guide for IMG (International Mountain Guides).  Liam recently claimed his 100th successful summit of Mt. Rainier.

Once again, I am not mentioning Liam O’Sullivan’s latest claims to spark controversy, but I do think a mention is warranted.  After I originally posted about Justin Merle claiming a new record, a big discusion ensued as to why this may not be the case.  The argument surrounds the legalities of these records, as they are not being noted as ‘official’ or recognized as such.  In order for that to happen, there has to be witnesses.  Since O’Sullivan is a guide with IMG, much like Justin Merle, he should know that in order for this to be quantified he must have official proof from Mt. Rainier authorities.  Since this is not being mentioned on the Mount Rainier Climbing blog, my guess is that this record will not stand either.

Another argument surrounding the sudden popularity of the speed ascent on Mt. Rainier is that these claims may simply be being used to draw attention to the likes of IMG and offer them up some free publicity.  If that is the case, then perhaps these attempts should quit getting the attention that they have, until a speed ascent record is atempted with the monitoring officials offering up some proof that they are, indeed, justified.

Liam O’Sullivan is still going to be congratulated for his 100th ascent of Mt. Rainier this month.  He joins a select group of climbers and guides to achieve this feat and should be commended on that effort.

Mt. Rainier Speed Ascent Record: Some History, Some Insight, And A Whole Bunch Of Controversy

I posted an article yesterday about Justin Merle’s recent speed ascent of Mt. Rainier. I have not noticed this story in the press, even though from what I have seen, this is being listed as an ‘unofficial’ speed climbing record on Mt. Rainier. I did mention that once I posted the article, it could gather a bit more attention in the world and perhaps we could all find out more of what is going on and why this is currently listed as ‘unofficial’.

It didn’t take readers long to start chiming in on this issue. One particular tip came to my email box today that seemed to explain quite a bit. I am not big on posting anonymous tips for the fact that you never really know who is sending it your way-is it a competitor? I don’t really know who it is.

On that basis, I have decided to post this anonymous message. For one, it is very detailed and offers up a huge amount of information, both on Justin Merle, as well as the history of the Mt. Rainier Speed Ascent record. It also goes in to some detail about how records are actually recorded on Mt. Rainier and the process that climbers have went through to get an official climbing record. I think that all of you will agree that his information is worthy of a post, even though the author of this information is not yet known. Enjoy the read, enjoy the controversy, and then let me know your thoughts through the comments section.

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New Speed Ascent Record On Mt. Rainier? Justin Merle Puts Up Quick Time

Speed ascents seem to be the all the rage in mountain climbing. Over the course of the past year, El Capitan has played host to one of the most publicized competitions going on in the world of Mountain climbing. The Huber brothers and Hans Florine with Yuri Hirayama have battled it out to have the quickest ascent time on one of the world’s toughest rock faces, The Nose. This record has changed hands a total of four times in the past couple of years, with each new record being set by mere minutes.

Another speed ascent record has recently come to light, but probably hasn’t received the Press that it should. One of the reasons is that the time has not been posted as ‘official’.

On July 11th, 2008 IMG (International Mountain Guides) guide and mountaineer Justin Merle set an ascent time of 4 hours, 45 minutes, and 35 seconds. His time, if quantified, could be a new ascent record on Mt. Rainier. The previous record was put up in 2004 when Chad Kellogg rose to the occasion with a time of 4 hours, 59 minutes, and 1 second. Both of these are very quick times, but both are also unofficial records.

The records have to be verified by an official at Camp Muir and the summit. That is something quite hard to do when no one else is around.

Justin Merle is no stranger to Mt. Rainier. In his personal climbing, as well as guiding clients for IMG, Merle has topped out on Mt. Rainier a total of 106 times, and quite possibly more. He knew that if he managed to go after a speed ascent record, that he would need the proof to back it up-even if no officials were around. The proof is in his photos.

From Justin’s trip report on the Mount Rainier Climbing blog:

I timed myself on my Suunto watch, and also used the logbook funtion to record the ascent/descent. The only “proof” I have of the times are a couple of before and after photos of the watch, and video taken with the same camera, before and after (I left the camera in a stuffsack at the trailhead). I did sign the register, and saw a lone climber on Columbia Crest, but did not speak with him.

Should it be enough to warrant Justin the ‘official’ record?

Here’s my thought:  If someone wants to put officials at base camp and the summit in order to record an ‘official’ climbing record, then those personnel should be available at all times.  The times are plainly recorded on the watch, you can see them here, and Justin also has a video record both before, on top, and after his climb.  That should be enough proof to land him the record.  Most of the time, as these things go, Justin will probably not be recorded as the ‘official’ record holder in the Mt. Rainier climbing books.  With very little press coverage, or questions being asked, this might become one of those issues where he is known for the record in climbing circles, but no where else.  Luckily, I found this story.  Now the questions can begin to be asked–

What are your thoughts?

Photo: Justin Merle, from Mount Rainier Climbing blog

Summit Report: Mt. Rainier 06/21/08 Bryan Estes

Bryan Estes has been a regular reader of The Adventurist for quite some time.  This past weekend Bryan and a few friends had the opportunity to venture to Mt. Rainier.  The summit wasn’t the overall goal, but if the team found a window they were going to go for it.  Luckily, Bryan decided to share this adventure with all of us and has allowed me to post this trip report.

While on Mt. Rainier, Bryan and his teammates had the opportunity to take quite a few photos.  You can tell by looking at the images that the weather decided to make a slight turn, but Bryan and his team did manage to make the summit, although not in the most perfect of conditions.  Some cool photos and a nice report of the day’s events follow:

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Mt. Rainier Hikers Rescued!

The two hikers trapped on Mt. Rainier have been rescued!  I mentioned the ongoing rescue efforts in a post yesterday, but hadn’t come across an update till now.

It all began on Monday night when three hikers became disoriented at high-altitude on Mt. Rainier.  The hikers were in the process of traversing the Muir Snowfield when they were hit with a late season blizzard.  One of the climbers ended up dying during the ordeal, while two others had become trapped high on the peak.

All three hikers were experienced in climbing, with two of them successfully topping out on Rainier’s summit last year.  The group included two males and a female.  All three are from the Bellevue, Washington area.

From the Rescue Report today:

An Army Chinook helicopter rescued the man and woman at about 6:15 a.m. from Camp Muir, a staging area for climbers about 10,000 feet up the 14,410-foot volcano. Both were suffering from frostbite and hypothermia and taken by air to hospitals, said Kevin Bacher, a spokesman for Mount Rainier National Park.

The three apparently built a snow shelter at about 9,500 feet. The weather prevented an immediate rescue attempt after their call, Bacher said. The other male hiker left the married couple and battled through heavy snow to reach Camp Muir at 7:15 a.m. Tuesday and was able to direct rescuers to the other hikers near Anvil Rock, a large outcropping at the edge of the Muir snowfield.

The others were brought to a shelter at Camp Muir about an hour later, but the woman’s husband was unconscious and later died, Bacher said. He suffered from hypothermia and frostbite.

The helicopter from Fort Lewis took the survivors to Madigan Hospital at the Army base near Tacoma for treatment or transport to another hospital. Madigan spokeswoman Hyliejan Pressey said the two had frostbite but were walking and talking, and would be transferred to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle for further treatment.

To read more, Click HERE

Unfortunately, the lady’s husband died.  This marked the first death on Mt. Rainier since December of last year when another dayhiker, Kirk Reiser, got caught up in an avalanche while snowshoeing.  Two of the three is better than none at all.   We know how these things can go, but let’s not forget that the lost hiker has a family and friends who are now suffering for their loss.  Let’s keep them in our thoughts.

It is mentioned that on Mt. Rainier that Day hikers are not required to check in at the Warden’s office.  With the last two fatal incidents coming from Day Hikers, perhaps it is time to change this policy.  Also, one has to wonder if anything would have been different if they were carrying something like the SPOT Satellite Messenger.  In this case, it probably would not have done much good.  Weather became the leading factor in the rescue attempt and hampered authorities from reaching them sooner.

Death on Mt. Rainier, Rescue of Two Others Underway–

Three people planning an early summer day hike on Mt. Rainier were surprised by a sudden snowstorm yesterday.  One of the hikers, whose name has not been released, is said to have died while two others are currently awaiting rescue.

The three climbers, who are all said to be in their thirties, are from bellevue, Washington.  Two in the group, which had two males and one female, had successfully summited Mt. Rainier, previously.  The group became stuck after traversing across the Muir snowfield when a sudden snowstorm disabled them from returning.

The two climbers who have survived, are still sitting at 10,000 Ft. awaiting rescue.  Weather yesterday evening prevented rescue helicopters from getting close, but new efforts were to be made today.  The two climbers are said to be suffering from hypothermia and frostbite, but are currently being taken care of at Camp Muir.

Authorities are hoping to be able to reach the stranded hikers as soon as the weather clears.  Mt. Rainier received two feet of fresh snow with 5 foot drifts in some areas.

For more on this story, head on over to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Robert Link Claims 300th Summit of Mt. Rainier

Baseball is famous for it’s ‘clubs’.  You have the 3,000 hit club, the 3,000 strike-out club, and the 40-40.  Mountain climbing has a small club of it’s own.

Robert Link of Bend, Oregon has just claimed his 300th summit on Mt. Rainier.  Robert has been a guide on Rainier for quite some time.  He owns his own guiding company, Mountain Link Guides, as well as working Mt. Rainier expeditions for Alpine Ascents.

Link first summited Rainier when he was 12 years old and 26 years later he can now lay claim to his 300th summit of the famed mountain.

Robert Link is not alone in this famed club though.  As a matter of fact, he is the seventh member of the 300 summit club, as well as the second person from Bend, Oregon to claim the title.

Link has averaged 12 Rainier summits a year, since 1981, when he first began guiding on the famed mountain.  Link has also managed to fit in successful summits of Mt. Everest and Denali in his spare time, as well as becoming the 5th American to summit Kangchenjunga, the world’s third highest peak.

Robert is currently at Mt. Rainier now, going for number 301.  So how does he stack up with the other members of the 300 summit club?  Here are the stats for all seven members of the famed club:

• George Dunn–490 summits
• Phil Ershler–430 summits
• Craig Van Hoy –357 summits
• Brent Okita–342 summts
• Paul Maier–333 summits
• Jason Edwards–304
• Robert Link–300

You can tell that Robert has quite a ways to go to catch Seattle’s George Dunn at 490 summits.

Next year Robert Link is setting his sights on K2 for a non-guided expedition to the top of the world’s most dangerous peak.

Sources:  The Bend Bulletin and The Tacoma News Tribune

The Next Big Thing: The Adventurist Teams Up With Adventure Sports Weekly

The old saying goes –when opportunity knocks, you had better answer the door.  Well, in a sense I have answered the door.  A couple of days ago Editor Wina Sturgeon from Adventure Sports Weekly contacted myself and was interested in discussing what I do here at The Adventurist.

After a lengthy discussion about our sites, our future goals, and what we are both looking to achieve, it became real evident that we have more than a little in common.

Adventure Sports Weekly is destined to not only be the first of it’s type on the Internet, but also a leader in the Adventure Sports industry.  Adventure Sports Weekly, the Brainchild of Editor Wina Sturgeon, who many of you might know through her extensive Olympic coverage for Sports Illustrated,  will be the first Online Magazine devoted solely to the Outdoor sporting world. 

I have been very open and straight-forward with all of you, my readers, about trying to put together the best site on the internet dealing with Adventure.  Keeping that in mind, we have decided in a sense to team-up.

Over the course of the next few days and weeks ahead The Adventurist and Adventure Sports Weekly will be sharing some content.  Their dedication to the sanctioned sports side of the outdoor world, IE..Mountain Bike Racing, BMX, Skateboarding, Climbing ect..will actually be bringing something to the table that I have desperately been wanting to add.  Adventure Sports Weekly offers top notch sporting news live from the field, allowing for exclusive coverage and content that just isn’t found anywhere else on the Internet.

I will also be working with Adventure Sports Weekly offering new articles, and maybe even a weekly column I have in the works in the world of Adventure.

This is a very exciting opportunity for myself personally.  I have dedicated myself to the Adventure world and writing.  With Adventure Sports Weekly I now have the opportunity to not only garner a bigger readership, but to also bring about a new direction….a bigger direction that hopefully will help build upon what I have already been able to do.

The adventure sporting field is getting ready to explode.  I have done this now for almost a year, and just about daily there are new sites emerging.  More coverage is being given in the media to these athletes that have pretty much remained under the table.  Just a couple of years ago, you would have never had the opportunity to see JEEP: King of the Mountain on a nationally televised program.  It is building.  It is growing.  More people are noticing and the money is slowly starting to come into these fantastic outdoors sports.

I am happy to say that I am very comfortable in knowing that I have aligned myself up with perhaps the leader in news coverage for these types of events.  Hopefully this relationship will flourish and all of us involved can bring even more exposure to the great athletes and sporting events throughout the years to come.

So what exactly does Adventure Sports Weekly bring to the table?

• It is ran by one of the top Sports Journalists in the world.  Editor Wina Sturgeon has written for Sports Illustrated and The New York Times, to only name two.  She has nearly 40 years of experience at being at the top of the game.  She knows how to do things, and do them right.
• Experience.  Being a leader in the sports writing industry, Wina Sturgeon brings her vast knowledge to a growing field.  She automatically brings  her credibility and dedication to an area that has been lacking in national coverage.
• National Coverage.  Simply put.
• Adventure Sports Weekly is currently the only publication of its kind on the Internet.  It is new with a very big potential in the future to not only lead the way, but to be THE way.
• Future.  Adventure Sports Weekly is currently developing a system to bring top-notch video coverage of these sporting events as they happen–this will make it not only the leader in the Adventure Sports industry, but will also raise the bar on what the internet can bring to you, the viewers.
• Credibility.  I have been straight-forward in telling all of you my eventual goals of writing in this industry full-time.  This gives me a great opportunity to work with some of the best people in the industry and hopefully build on what I have already been able to accomplish.  It is a fantastic opportunity and one that I never would have been able to do without all of the continued support and guidance from you, my readers.  So THANK-YOU very much!
• Oh yeah– and Lastly, Adventure Sports Weekly is FREE.  Can’t get much better than that.  All the great news coverage and articles are completely free to you the reader.  Eventually this will also include the great video coverage that is currently in developement.

I am hoping to recieve your continued support and that you will enjoy what the future has in store.  The Adventurist will still be covering everything it normally does…with a bonus of adding new content from time to time from some very special events.  Also, if you enjoy my writing, keep your eyes peeled to Adventure Sports Weekly, as I will be bringing some further exciting articles their way in the very near future.  Let’s all show Adventure Sports Weekly our support in what they are trying to achieve and welcome them in to The Adventurist family.

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