The Adventurist: A Call to All Outdoor Writers and Photographers!

I have just put the finishing touches on a new “Submit & Contact” Page here at The Adventurist.  I am hoping that this new feature will be accepted and used by all of my great readers.

This page goes into detail about a few things I am looking for here at The Adventurist–and ways you might be able to get involved.

Do you love Adventure Writing or perhaps Great Outdoors Photography?–Help me share your incredible talents with a much bigger audience!

Head on Over to the “Submit & Contact” Page, found on a tab right up above this article, and Share your Adventures with the World!

Also, if you are looking to put me to work, there is info there as well….

Cheers-

J. Alan Hendricks, Editor

Everest 2007 Update: Summits and Death on Everest

Everyone knew that lastnight was going to be as busy or busier than the night before on the world’s highest mountain.  Here is a rundown to get everyone up to date on the happenings on Mt. Everest lastnight.

Sadly, Three People Have Died

It is being widely reported that there were a few deaths on Everest lastnight.  Two Koreans and a Japanese climber perished.  Here is what is known at this time:

The Koreans–Ho Hee-Joon, 37, as well as Lee Hyun-Jo, 35, both perished from a rockfall incident.  The two climbers were well respected in the climbing community and had many accomplishments under their belts.  They were both members of Park Young-Seok’s Expedition. Ho Hee-Joon had successfully summited 10 of the world’s 14 8,000 meter peaks and was making an attempt at his 11th, Everest.  The two were climbing from the Southwest Face and the accident occured between 7,700 and 8,300 meters.  At this time it is not known if the two were ascending or descending.

The third climber to perish lastnight on Everest was a 62 year old Japanese climber that died just a few meters from the summit upon his descent.

Yoshitomi Okura, had successfully summited Everest but died while trying to descend.  A sherpa tried to help him out but it was to late.  Mr. Okura was a member of the Tokyo based Adventure Guides Co. and he had successfully climbed Cho Oyu in 2003 and was making his 3rd attempt on Everest.

Many people lastnight were mentioning that there had been reports of death and perhaps a high-altitude rescue in progress.  At this time, with the names being released, I can confirm the three deaths.  The rescue attempt that many were noticing from below, could very well have been from one of these incidents.

Alan Arnette, is also reporting two more incidents-One involving a Japanese Girl on the North Side and the other a Czech climber.  I have not been able to confirm either of these at this time.

With so many people heading to the summit at once, news of this nature is not unusual.  In the coming days, I am sure more facts will be coming out related to these accidents.

The Adventurist gives it’s condolences to the family, friends, and associates of these fallen climbers and our prayers are with you tonight.

Now on to the good news..

SUMMITS GALORE!!

The night began rather quickly lastnight with teams on the North and South both looking for their summit pushes.

SuperSherpas and Mountain Madness teamed up to place all of each teams members at the summit from the South.  Apa, from SuperSherpas, claimed his 17th Everest summit breaking his own world record for most Everest summits ever.  Lhakpa Gelu, his partner, claimed his 13th successful summit of Everest.

Following this news came the news that fellow Sherpa, Tashi Tenzing, had made a successful summit as well along with his client.  This is reportedly Tashi’s last time on Everest.  Tashi Tenzing is Tenzing Norgay’s grandson, the man who first stepped upon the summit of Everest with Sir Edmund Hillary.

So the night began very historical in nature..

Other teams to summit included a team of Philipine Women, who were the only other team besides David Tait to traverse Everest this season and go from one side to the other…they also became the first women to ever do so.  Great Job ladies.

Other climbers of note to summit:

Andy Pizzarro of Learning Without Limits as well as Andy van der Velde from South Africa.

Overall there were roughly another 50 summits coming from the North as well as 27 coming from the South.  In the coming days more will be said about this courageous night.

Don’t Think it is Over though

We have just crossed the 100 summits mark on Everest this season, but as EverestNews reminds us, last year there were around 480 successful summits.  They are also speculating that there could be anywhere from 1-200 more summits coming in the next two days.

The deaths reported on Everest lastnight, anywhere from 3-5 depending on the sources, will put the total of deaths on Everest at roughly half of what they were last season at 11.  If you will remember, Dawa Sherpa perished earlier this season and up until lastnight night had been the only confirmed death on Everest.

As far as the two Koreans who died, sources are saying that their bodies will be brought back down for proper burial, so there will be some activity in that direction in the coming days.

For everyone that summited lastnight:  CONGRATULATIONS!  and for all the ones to come: GOOD LUCK< The World is watching!

Sir Edmund Hillary: Your Thoughts, Your Prayers

It is being widely reported today that Sir Edmund Hillary has been injured in a fall.  Sir Hillary was the first person, along with his climbing sherpa Tenzing Norgay, to summit Mt. Everest.  It has been noted that Hillary is not suffering “Life-Threatening” injuries and that his progress is going well.

Hillary is 87 years old and has recently taken up walking with a cane.  It is also being reported that Sir Edmund Hillary has been suffering from High Altitude Sickness for a number of years now.

In due respect for what Sir Edmund Hillary has come to mean and represent in the climbing community, I thought that it would be a good time for all of my loyal readers here at The Adventurist to wish Sir Edmund Hillary the best.  Today we keep you in all of our thoughts and prayers! 

You, the reader, may post your thoughts, prayers, and good wishes upon Sir Edmund Hillary here, as we all come together to wish him a fast recovery

The Complete Coverage! Everest 2007!

The Complete Coverage!  Everest 2007!  Click here!

As many of you might know, a couple of months back I mentioned that I would be setting up a Page on The Adventurist for the Everest 2007 Climbing season.

This page will be similar to the page covering the Mt. Hood Tragedy I covered in 2006 offering up all the links and stories as we publish them in one easily located space.

What this does is it allows all of my loyal readers an easier way to follow along with the Everest 2007 season as it happens, as well as lets you keep track of what HAS happened up to the latest story.  At the top of this site, you will now see a headline that reads “The Complete Coverage!  Everest 2007!  Click Here!”, by clicking this, you will now have access to every story concerning the 2007 Everest Climbing season.

I hope you enjoy this convenient way of staying on track with the happenings on Everest this season.  It is really shaping up to be a great season with many stories breaking daily.  You will now find them all here!

How many Expeditions to Everest in 2007?

A visitor stopped by and posed this question:  “How many people will be climbing this year?”

As most of you will probably know there has been a great debate raging over whether or not there is getting to be to many people trying to scale Everest.  Well, here are a few numbers for you:

As I have it right now, there are going to be 32 teams trying to ascend this year..as far as a team is concerned, it can consist of 0ne person or well over twenty or more. 

David Tait is going by himself, as is Gavin Bates…but then you have HIMEX or the 7 Summits team that are well equipped with over 20..so at this point it would really be hard to put up an exact number. 

Take in to account all of the Sherpa people that are involved with each climb and team, plus that some people going will presumably have to turn back due to sickness at basecamp or above, and you can see where I am coming from…

Last year there were 410 summitters, and 11 deaths.  The ratio of summits per deaths has risen substantially over the last few years..it use to be one in four would die trying…now it is more like 1 in 10 as an average.

The reason why there seems to be a lot of deaths as of late could very well correspond with the number of climbers attempting to summit, all within about a two week period.

The race will be on once again this year with HIMEX leading the way and laying the ropes, as they usually do, and setting the climbing schedule for most of the teams.

The camps are being set and stocked as we speak, teams are arriving in Kathmandu and the surrounding areas by the day–and before long there will be a full blitz to basecamp.

Hopefully this year will be a safe climbing season–but going on statistics alone–it might be interesting to see how this season compares to last year and whether or not any slight changes will be made if a climber does go down on the mountain.

Park Young-Seok Seeking New Route up Everest’s Dangerous SW Face

ExplorersWeb is reporting some breaking news that Korean climber Park Young-Seok will be attempting to break a new route up Mt. Everest’s SW Face. 

Just two weeks ago, Young-Seok was evacuated in an attempt to cross the Bering Straight–but now he already has his eyes set on Everest.

The Dangerous SW Face has only been summitted a total of 15 times, with four others tragically dying in their attempt. 

Park will be leading a six-member team up the SW Face in commemoration of the 30th Anniversary of Korea’s first Everest summit.

Park is a world famous climber–having completed the first true Adventure Grandslam–he has summited all 14 -8,000 meter peaks…has traversed to both the North and South Poles, as well as completing the 7 Summits challenge.

This will be Park’s second ascent of Everest.

Southpole.com Hijacked?

Once in awhile I like to go through and check out some of the very nice links found here on The Adventurist.  As I was cruising around, I clicked on “Southpole.com” only to be pleasantly surprised with a site called “SpaceWeather.com” popping up.

Now I am not sure what is going on…Southpole.com was a very nice site and I hate to see it gone, but now I have another question.  Why would SpaceWeather, with a very nice site of their own, use the domain name of “Southpole.com”?

Upon typing in Spaceweather.com in my address bar, it is nice to know that it does direct you to Spaceweather.com.–

Here are the thoughts–Southpole.com probably didn’t pay for the domain name or sold it to Spaceweather.com.  Spaceweather realized that there would be many “hits” on that name and kept it as such…no redirect.

To make a long and confusing observation halfway short, I will be missing Southpole.com, and must now remove it from my blogroll as Spaceweather is not an “Adventure” site.

I guess their is a first for everything…

Got an Adventure to Tell? Tell Your Story Here!

Once in awhile I like to open up a post to let you, my readers, have a voice….I want to know YOUR Personal Adventure Story.  This is your chance to let the world know how cool you are and at the same time, maybe it will influence others to go out there and live that Adventure they have been dreaming about!

You may post ANY adventure, not just climbing…I am looking for hiking, kayaking, extreme sports, hunting, fishing,…anything outdoors that you had a great time doing and discovering… Read more

The Laneo Phenom

Editor’s Note:  I came across Laneo through another site–actually the reason I “clicked” was because of the very unique look of their ads…and since I run an “Adventure” website, well it was natural for me to check out what it was about.  Folks, this is a great company trying to do something for this World.  There is no money involved–I do not support advertising on this site–but, to me, this is not advertising as they are not selling a product.  This is one way you can help change the world without spending a dime!  Something that I think all of us have an issue with is making sure that this planet is around for quite a few more generations, and by joining this site and placing an “ad”, you too can be a part of making a difference. Now about the company. Read more

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Unarmed on Everest 2007

Norwegian Climber Cato Pedersen is planning his first attempt to summit Everest in this years upcoming climbing season–Pedersen has already climbed the likes of Cho Oyu and been on an Expedition to the South Pole–all while having no arms.

The upcoming “Everest Unarmed 2007″ Expedition will be a celebration of the achievements that Cato has made all while being disabled.

Cato lost his left and half of his right arm in a high-voltage accident in 1973 at the age of 12,  but that has never slowed him down.  Cato has previously won 11 gold medals in the disabled Olympics–1980-1984-1988..He has traversed to the South Pole in 1994 while pulling a 240 lb sled–and just last year, taught himself to climb a rope.

Everest will be the third peak that Cato has attempted, with a successful climb of Cho Oyu last year. 

His team consisting of fellow Norwegians will attempt the North Col Route.  He will be arriving in Katmandu on April 1 to begin his Expedition.

The Adventurist would like to wish him and his team the best of luck in achieving success.

You may find Cato Pederson’s personal website here, but be forwarned–it is in Norwegian.

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