Todd Carmichael: King of the Antarctic–The Adventurist Interview Part II

Editors Note:  On December 21, 2008 at 6:04 pm, Todd Carmichael became the first American to go solo, unaided, and unsupported to The South Pole.  His adventure would also break the World Speed Record set by Hannah McKeand in 2006.  Before Todd’s historic expedition began, I had the opportunity to interview him about his upcoming adventure.  (You can read that interview here.)  Todd’s time of 39 days, 7 hours, and 49 minutes is quite remarkable pending the circumstances that Todd was fighting through.  Upon his successful completion and a month of recovery time, it is my pleasure to have the opportunity to interview Todd about his historic expedition, finally reaching the Pole in record time, his future, and what exactly was going on in those final two days that communication with Todd was lost.  Much of this interview will surprise many of you for it’s candidness, but anyone who knows him, knows that Todd can only be one way–real.  I hope you enjoy.

Todd, the last time we spoke you were preparing to embark on an expedition to the South Pole. You seemed confident and focused on the adventure at hand. It looks like that confidence and focus payed huge dividends. You are now the first American to go solo and unsupported to the South Pole. You also broke Hannah McKeand’s world speed record for a solo and unsupported expedition. First off, congratulations, and secondly, have you had time to put this all in perspective?

I think I have, but it’s hard to say. This one was so very important to me and the “title” means so much that I’m having a rough time realizing that it is done and that I managed to capture it. What I do know is that friends and family still have a way to go. You see, there was a lot that went on that I wasn’t sharing during the expedition, from coughing up blood the last 10 days to an avalanche of drama that happened the last two days after my communications and navigation systems went down. Now that they know the whole story they have blocked it out I think.

Looking back on this expedition, you ran into some problems right off the bat. The bindings on both skis decided to let go. This unfortunate event may be looked upon as being a key to your future speed record. To my knowledge, nobody has ever WALKED to the South Pole on foot. Do you think that this allowed you to move faster, or do you think your timing suffered by not having the skis?

Aside from some blue ice early on, trekking 690 miles in ski boots is a lot like racing in the Tour de France with your Mom’s three speed - complete with faux wicker basket and thumb bell. Then there is the challenge of not letting it all get you down - even though you’re slugging out an additional 4-5 hours per day on the slim hope you won’t be crushed at the 88th onward, home of the deep powder surface. Overall – I strongly recommend skis if you are serious about making it in one piece, or at all.

Once you got on track, decided to ditch the skis, and make some progress, some interesting things started to happen. You ran into the Shackleton Centenary Expedition, whom allowed you to hold Sir Ernest Shackleton’s original compass. Hannah McKeand and her father contacted you and wished you well on your record run. Looking back at the history and the things that were lining up, when did you sense that history was in the making and that you had a definite shot at obtaining the unthinkable?

It’s hard to say WHEN that moment came, because I was still unbelieving when I finally arrived at the pole. Having said that I do remember when I set my sights on it, at day twelve some 45 miles behind pace and on foot. I did the math and it occurred to me that if I stretched my work day by some 4-5 more hours, I could conceivably do it, if if if and a lot more ifs. Strangely I decided right then to look at it in terms of HAVING IT, that it was indeed mine and that I simply had to fight to keep it. That is how I began to think that 12th day, with Hanna far in the distance. This made me bite down hard into the task and go into this hyper focus mode, so much so I hardly recognized the guy I had become.

Towards the end of your expedition, going into those final two days, contact was lost. Some of us worried that something was wrong. We now know that you decided not to worry about logistics and focused on a major final push. Can you take us back to those final two days, elaborate a little on what was going on, and clue us in to those final moments?

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Avalanche Kills 10 On Turkey’s Mt. Zigana

A Turkish mountaineering club has been devastated by the deaths of 10 members following an avalanche on Turkey’s Mt. Zigana.  Seventeen members of the hiking and mountaineering club were swept more than 1,600 feet down the 7,200 foot Mt. Zigana.  Seven members were successfully rescued by authorities and villagers, with ten perishing during the avalanche.

The mountaineering club was in the midst of their annual winter sports celebration at a local Mt. Zigana resort.  The celebration is used to draw in skiers to a small resort near the Black Sea

We were walking and before we realized what was going on, the avalanche came on us,” Ural Ayar, one of the survivors, told NTV television by telephone. “The snow dragged our friends along and unfortunately they were buried.”

Mountain rescue teams used dogs in trying to find the trapped members, but called off the search once the sun went down.  You can find the full report here.

The names of those involved in this incident have not been released.  With that being said, I need to make a personal complaint to the Associated Press for publishing photographs of the dead victims lying in the snow.  The families of those involved should not be subjected to the photographs before they are notified of their loved one’s situation.  Come on.  Have some humility guys!

Let’s keep all of them in our thoughts and prayers today.

Why Is Mt. Hood America’s Deadliest Peak?

Two recent accidents on Mt. Hood have many questioning whether Oregon’s high-profile mountain may be America’s most dangerous peak to climb.  The experienced climber’s perspective of Mt. Hood has always been one of a decent challenge, but under good circumstances, one of the easier alpine peaks to summit.  Hundreds (and probably thousands) climb Mt. Hood every year.  Most of these people have a great time and summit without a problem.  Deaths on Mt. Hood are quite rare given the amount of people who climb it and how popular this peak has become over the past 10 years.  So is Mt. Hood really that dangerous, or has it just been the victim of the media giving it a bad reputation?

Over the course of 25 years, 36 deaths have been recorded on Mt. Hood.  Much of these deaths are attributed to only a few factors.  The first would be weather.  Winds can typically reach 100 mph and storms from the Pacific have a tendancy to sweep in without warning.  The three deaths from December of 2006 are attributed to just such a storm.  All three climbers perished after getting stuck in a fast moving storm that blocked rescuers from being able to locate them early in the search.

The most recent death on Hood is attributed to falling ice.  Brooke Colvin was recently hit by falling ice while climbing with her husband.  The impact forced Brooke to fall more than 400 feet.  She and her husband were climbing in an area known as “The Pearly Gates”.  The same area where another fall took place just a week prior.  The Pearly Gates is a gully feature found along the trail of one of Mt. Hood’s easiest routes.  It also happens to be the single-most deadliest area on Mt. Hood.

How could something be considered the ‘easies’ and ‘deadliest’ at the same time?

This goes to our third factor and the one that Backbacker Magazine blogger Ted Alverez recently took up on Backpacker’s ‘The Pulse‘ blog.  Inexperience.  People do not come to Mt. Hood with an abundance of mountain climbing experience.  It has become so accessable in recent years that many people looking for a thrill on a big peak have heard that this is one of the easiest to climb.  They don’t mind giving it a shot.  These same people usually show up and think Mt. Hood is going to be a walk in the park.  Many of them lack any sort of equipment and very little experience.  If something goes wrong, generally it goes wrong in a big way.

Not every climber is inexperienced on Mt. Hood.  The three climbers involved in the accident in 2006 had much experience and were using Mt. Hood as a training course before a planned trip to Mt. Everest.  What they lacked was the proper equipment for sitting out a storm.  They thought it was going to be an easy up-down, then back home trip,  that would take only a few hours.  Mt. Hood had other plans.

No peak is safe to climb.  There may be some that are easier than others, but all peaks are dangerous and should be respected with safety in mind.  Yes, they are beautiful.  They offer a nice challenge to those looking for such.  You should know exactly what you are up against, what kind of weather you MIGHT run into, then plan your trip accordingly.  Mt. Hood, like any peak, can be a dangerous place to get stuck.  Know your limits and know your peak.

Indiana Doctor Scales Last Of The Seven Summits

This news report is coming from WTHI TV from Terre Haute, Indiana.  You can read the accompanying article here.

Less than 200 people have summitted all seven of the Seven Summits.  I find it interesting that Dr. Gregory Konrath’s objective has recieved very little press in Indiana (my home state).  As far as I know, this is the only report I have seen in regards to Dr. Konrath and his Seven Summits bid.  It is also very cool that he decided to save the easiest for last, and summit with his son.  His son is already planning on joining his father as a future Seven Summits climber.  With Mt. Kosciuszko out of the way, that leaves six more (including Everest).  That could be a big goal for a 10 year old.

Mt. Hood Accident Claims Life Of Female Climber

A Female climber has been killed on Mt. Hood.  Brooke Colvin, who was climbing with her husband, was hit by ice, forcing her to fall more than 400 feet.  Her husband was able to climb down to her, but said that she died instantly.  The latest accident on Mt. Hood has authorities putting out warnings to climbers in the area.  The focus is on the warm temperatures that have made the ice and snow very unstable in the region.  A rescue effort was conducted on Saturday (which I covered here), and today’s death makes the warning all the more plausible.

From the Associated Press:

Strovink said Stavn saw his 31-year-old wife hit by falling ice and thrown down the mountain. Strovink said Stavn was able to get to her, but she died instantly. Rescuers were trying to recover the body.

Stavn was able to get back down to Timberline Lodge from the area of the accident, known as the Pearly Gates.

This accident occured in the same area as Saturday’s.  There have been 36 deaths reported on Mt. Hood in the past 25 years.  Let’s keep those involved in our thoughts and prayers.

Alpinist Magazine: The Return

Alpinist Magazine was abruptly shut down a couple of months ago due to financial issues.  The magazine has been looked upon as a high-class climbing icon over the couse of the last few years.  It seems many people were reading it, but not a lot were buying.  You can attribute this to libraries, friends passing it around, etc.  The magazine carried a premium cost, but for that price you got a magazine that had very little in the way of advertising.  They were supported solely on subscriptions and financial backing.

With the advent of Alpinist Magazine closing, it soon became apparent that things weren’t going to get better.  The assets were soon put up for auction.  Luckily, a publisher has stepped in and bought all the rights to the Alpinist name, magazine, website, and film festival, and is promising to try to keep things as normal as possible.  Does this mean that it will still be published without the advertising and still represent the finest in outdoor photography and articles?  Onl;y time will tell, but at least Alpinist will be around for awhile longer.

Dougald MacDonald recently published the Press Release concerning the future of Alpinist magazine.

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Amazing: Ueli Steck Solos Matterhorn’s North Face in Under Two Hours

Ueli Steck has scaled the North Face of The Matterhorn in 1 hour and 56 minutes.  Over the past year, Steck has been pushing the boundaries of speed climbing and ascents.  Steck took the Schmidt Route up the Matterhorn and topped it in a time of just under two hours.  Three weeks prior to this amazing climb, Steck put up a time of two hours, 21 minutes on the North Face of Grandes Jorasses.  Prior to that, Ueli Steck had scaled the North Face of The Eiger in two hours and 47 minutes.  These are some incredible climbs on some of the tougher routes in the world.

Climbing.com’s Dougald MacDonald has the full report.  UKClimbing.com has some video of Ueli’s amazing Matterhorn summit.  I am still waiting to see what Ueli will post on the Hardwear Sessions blog.  I am hoping we will get a full report within the next day.  This is still some amazing stuff that Ueli is accomplishing.  he is putting up some very fast times.  It will be interesting to see if others will attempt to knock these times down even further.

Is Speed Climbing the wave of the future?  There is definitely starting to be some interest drawn for these types of climbs.  They definitely add a new competitive aspect to climbing, but I am guessing that the danger level also rises with such an attempt.  Your thoughts?

Everest 2009: News and Notes

The Everest publicity machine is starting to churn.  We are still a few months away from the start of the 2009 Spring climbing season on Mt. Everest, but Everest is already getting some feature headlines in the media.  Here’s a rundown of some of the latest headlines:

Wendy Booker will be attempting to conquer the last leg of her Seven Summits quest this Spring.  Wendy’s story is quite remarkable in that she has conquered the previous six peaks AFTER she was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.  If she tops out on Everest, this will make her the first person to ever do so with MS, as well as the first person to conquer the Seven Summits with the disease.  She will be climbing with Mountain Link, an Everest guide service out of Bend, Oregon, with logistics and planning done by Robert Link.  Wendy will be climbing with her long-time climbing partner, Brooke Barnes, who has been along for three of Wendy’s six summits enroute to the famed Seventh.  You can read the complete article as found on KOMONews.com.

The Magazine of the Society for Science, ScienceNews, has released an interesting article on air quality from the summit of Mt. Everest.  A group of climbers carried up some portable ozone monitors in 2005 and took some readings.  Many of us would think that the top of Mt. Everest would have some of the cleanest air in the world.  ScienceNews now has us believing differently.  Their study suggested that on May 18, 2005, the air on Mt. Everest registered 70 parts per billion of ozone concentration.  Just to compare what that means…if levels hit 75ppb in the United States, EPA air quality standards would be violated.  The article goes on to suggest that this air quality may be partly to blame for breathing issues near the top of Mt. Everest.   I should mention that May 18, 2005 represented the single largest concentration of ozone read on Mt. Everest during this study.  The other readings fell well below the 70ppb–which would still lead me to believe that ALTITUDE is the single biggest factor in judging why people have a hard time breathing on Everest.  Who am I to question a study, though.  You can read the full article by visiting ScienceNews.

Speaking of high altitude, MediLexicon has published an article about a recent study looking at the effects of high altitude and some of the symptoms that it can bring on.  This study was originally published in The Lancet Neurology and goes on the basis of some interesting finding by a group of climbers with the Caldwell Extreme Everest Expedition in 2007.  This study offers up little new information for my regular readers, but does look at the symptoms and explain that illnesses in high altitude may be detrimental to each individual climber.  Everyone reacts differently and has different symptoms.  You can read the full article by visiting MediLexicon.  Some of you may be interested to know that I covered some of the Caldwell Extreme Everest Expedition in 2007.  You can find the reports by checking out my Everest 2007 page.

Alan Arnette has returned with his annual look at the pricing of Everest expeditions in 2009.  His 2008 report was missed due to Alan’s own Everest Expedition, but he has returned to show us the big difference between guide companies.  The price of an Everest expedition in 2009 ranges from $21,000 to $65,000, with the median price being $40-$45,000.  The median price is about average.  The top end expeditions have went up a little over the past two years.  So what is attributed to the pricing differences?  There are many factors, including where the guiding company is from.  If you go with a guiding service from the United States, they have thousands of pounds of equipment to ship to Tibet or Nepal, depending on which side you are going up.  A more local guide service can cut out that pricing.  The key, as in most everything, is to not worry about the price.  Most would say that you get what you pay for.  Better guides, better service, and better treatment of the Sherpas are key in the higher prices.  If you pick a Russell Brice or Dave Hahn to be your guide, you pay more for the experience of the guides–a key factor when it comes to being successful.  Know your guides, know what is involved with the expedition, talk to people that have used the guide service, then lastly worry about price.  When it comes to Everest, research can definitely pay dividends.  You can read Alan’s full report on the prices of an Everest expedition by following this link.

If climbing Mt. Everest isn’t within your pocketbook this year, perhaps you would like to have the opportunity to venture to BaseCamp and check out the climbing life.  Basecamp treks have become quite popular on Everest, with many people just wanting to take a closer look at the world’s highest mountain.  While perusing the Mountaineering/Mountain Climbing/Alpine Trekking group on Facebook, I discovered an interesting post.  Joe Bonington is looking for people interested in venturing to Everest Basecamp with him and his father, Sir Chris Bonington.  Don’t know Chris?  Sir Chris Bonington is credited with the first British ascent of the Eiger’s North Wall (1962), the first to climb a major Himalayan wall when he led a successful expedition on the South Face of Annapurna (1968), then in 1975, Sir Chris Bonington finished one of the great Himalayan problems when he led the first team to conquer the South West Face of Mt. Everest.  This is Everest history and now you could have the chance to venture to Basecamp with one of the true legends of Alpine climbing.  I am in contact with Chris’ son, Joe, and should be getting more information on this trek in the days to come.  If you wuold like to contact Joe, yourself, you would have to sign up to Facebook, then find the Facebook group Mountaineering/Mountain Climbing/Alpine Climbing, then join.  His post will be found in the forum at the top of the page.  If you sign up for Facebook, be sure to look me up and add me to get even more updates and news as I make them available.

If you are heading to Everest in the Spring, either to climb or trek to Basecamp, get in touch with me.  I offer one of the top sites on the internet for news and publicity for Mt. Everest Expeditions.  If your looking for exposure for your adventure, I can offer interviews, dispatches, and updates as they happen to the media.  Get in touch and we can see what I can do for you.

2009 will mark my third year of covering the Mt. Everest climbing season.  In April, The Adventurist will go into full Everest mode, offering daily updates,interviews, and news on what is taking place on the world’s highest mountain.  If you are a fan, be sure to bookmark the site, or sign up for my Free Feedburner Email Updates.  If you have an interest in the return of Everest: Beyond the Limit, you may want to refrain from stopping by the site from April till June.  I report things as they happen and this often includes spoilers to one of Discovery Channel’s most popular series.  There.  You have my fair warning.  You can see my previous reporting from 2007 and 2008 by following the links.

4 Italian Climbers Die In Deadly Mt. Blanc Climbing Accident

Four Italian climbers have died after a tragic fall on Mt. Blanc.  All four climbers were said to be between 35 and 40 years-old and very experienced.  Their names have not been released to the public.  Stewart’s Climbing Blog on About.com is reporting that the four climbers fell 3,280 feet down the Aiguille du Midi.  Authorities located their bodies at the base and transported them to Chamonix for identification.

The latest accident on Mt. Blanc du Tacal follows the highly publicized death of British adventurer Rob Gauntlett and his partner, James Atkinson, the previous week.  At that time, it was being reported that six deaths had ocurred on Mt. Blanc in 2009.  The four Italian climbers will bring that total up to 10.  With 2009 just barely underway, it is hard to imagine that 10 people have died in at least four different  accidents on Mt. Blanc.  The death rate is so unusual that Stewart Greene ponders the question ‘Is Mt. Blanc The Most Dangerous Mountain In The World?“  Going on 2009 statistics, it could very well be.  The publicity of these deaths will probably make people think twice about heading there this time of year for their climbing adventures.  Let’s hope that this settles down a bit and gives the search and rescuers time to take a rest.

When more information is made public, I will make an update to this post.  If these guys were as experienced as the Press is putting on, we may just know who they are.  Let’s keep all four of these climber’s family and friends in our thoughts and prayers.

Former Mt Hood Hero Takes A Fall On Mt. Hood

OregonLive is reporting that a climbing accident that occured on Saturday involved a climber who helped in search and rescue efforts during  a tragic climbing accident seven years prior.  Michael Lemming, who is a volunteer with the Portland Mountain Rescue, took a fall on Saturday while ice climbing near the spot that the first accident occured.  That first accident resulted in three deaths and a crashed rescue helicopter.  Lemming was working to help rescue another climber when the chopper crashed near where he was working.

Seven years later, Michael Lemming would need the same support that he had offered in that first rescue.  Luckily, Michael is still alive and currently in a hospital near Mt. Hood.  His fall occured near a feature called ‘The Pearly Gates.” (Kind of cryptic)  He says that ice gave way under him resulting in his fall.  The same rescue efforts that Michael usually takes part in, probably helped save his own life.  He mentioned that he finally had the chance to witness the amazing jobs that people like himself do on a daily basis.

To read the full story of this interesting rescue, I suggest you check out OregonLive.

The accident that occured seven years ago is still widely searched for information.  Nine climbers would fall into a crevasse.  One pulled down by the other, till all nine had fell.  Three climbers died.  During the Search and Rescue efforts, one of the main helicopters providing support would crash into Mt. Hood.  Stories of this accident still widely circulate among the climbing community and those who took part in the rescue.  Luckily, Michael’s rescue had a better outcome and he will live to tell his interesting story.  It is nice to see a good outcome in the news.  The injuries sustained by Michael Lemming have not been reported, but it is known that he is talking to the media about his experiences and says that he hopes to rejoin the Portland Mountain Rescue volunteers after he recuperates.

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