American Alpine Club Hands Out $12k To Fund Climbs

The American Alpine Club has announced the winners of the 2012 Lyman Spitzer Cutting Edge Awards, which are given annually to small teams making first ascents or other challenging climbs on some of the toughest mountains on the planet. This year, the bold climbers who have earned this recognition seem keenly focused on objectives in Pakistan and China.

The winners each receive grants to help fund their expeditions, and the 2012 honorees certainly have some ambitious plans. The list includes the following:

• Stan Price & Rusty Willis the storied, oft-tried North Ridge of Latok 1.
• Hayden Kennedy & Kyle Dempster for K7 and the Ogre II.
• Graham Zimmerman, Scott Bennett, and Blake Herrington for Tahu Rutum, a stunning 6,651m tower in the Karakoram.
• David Gottlieb & Chad Kellogg for China’s unclimbed Karjiang (7,221m), the 3rd highest unclimbed peak in the world.

 In total, $12,000 was given to these four teams, which Paul Gagner, the chair of the Lyman Spitzer Cutting Edge Award committee, called the best he has seen in the years that he has held that position.

Each of those is indeed an ambitious challenge, but those are also some excellent and highly skilled climbers on that list as well. It'll be interesting to follow their progress later in the year, when the Karakoram climbing season gets going.

Congratulations to all the winners and good luck on your projects.

Walking Home From Mongolia: A Month In!

Way back in August, I told you about the Walking Home From Mongolia expedition, which would put adventurers Rob Lilwall and Leon McCarron on a 5000km (3106 mile) journey from Mongolia to Hong Kong, in the dead of winter no less. The plan was to travel both on foot and by kayak, and the entire trip was expected to take roughly six months. The boys hit the trail exactly one month ago today, and have been making excellent progress since.

Their journey began in the village of Sainshand back on November 14th, when Rob and Leon started their march into the Gobi Desert. Ahead of them was more than 200km (124 miles) of one of the harshest environments on the planet, and when the began, over night temperatures were hovering around the -18ºC/0ºF range. The plan was to hike across the Gobi, then cross the Chinese border at a city named Datong. From there, they would follow a stretch of the Great Wall for another 200km, continuing their slow, methodical walk south. On November 24th, the duo crossed the border after just 12 days of hiking. It turned out that the actual distance was closer to 250km (155 miles), but they managed to cover it at a good pace none the less. Temperatures got even colder however, reaching -30ºC/-22ºF at times, and knocking their comm units out of commission until things warmed up a bit.

Two days ago, Rob and Leon reached the town of Chahar Youyi Houqi, where they report that they are now entering a more heavily populated area of China, and they are encountering settlements with more regularity. Leon notes that many of them are ghost towns, so their interaction with the people there remains scarce. Still, they are seeing a definite change in the landscapes and are their brushes with modern life.

The weather, as you would expect at this time of year, remains quite cold and there is plenty of snow falling around them. Keep in mind however, that winter doesn't officially begin until next week, which means there are some very long and cold months ahead before they reach Hong Kong. If they are dealing with snow and sub-zero temperatures already, it is probably only going to get worse moving forward.

Follow Rob and Leon's adventure on their website and Facebook page for further updates and images from the field.

Video: Jeb Corliss Flies Wingsuit Through A Cave

This past weekend, BASE jumper Jeb Corliss was in China where he leapt from a hovering helicopter then used his wingsuit to successfully navigate his way through a large cave, and then eventually land safely on the other side. When I first heard about this last week, I wondered about the logistics of the flight, which you can examine for yourself in the video below. The cave was bigger than I expected, but this was still a pretty crazy stunt.

My guess is now we'll see people in wingsuits trying to thread the needle through increasingly smaller caves, as they attempt to one up each other. Crazy stuff.

CheapTents Interview: Adventurer Leon McCarron

The gang over at CheapTents.com have posted another one of their excellent interviews today, this time with adventurer Leon McCarron. If that name sounds familiar to you, it may be because he is one of the two men who are planning to walk from Mongolia to Hong Kong, a journey of 3500km (2175 miles) that will commence in November.

In the interview Leon discusses a previous cycling adventure, during which he rode more than 22,500km (14,000 miles) from New York to Hong Kong, passing through a number of countries along the way. He also gives insights into the inspirations for going on these adventurers, and his favorite pieces of gear as well. Perhaps most of interest however, is his thoughts on the upcoming Mongolia to Hong Kong expedition, how he is preparing for it, and what he expects that trek to be like. As someone who has cycled more than hiked (and paddled) he thinks it could be a real struggle at first.

Leon also happens to be a filmmaker, and he has used that skill on his previous cycling journeys, so I would expect we'll see some interesting videos from Mongolia and China once he and his traveling companion, Rob Lilwall, hit the road in a few months.

Running The Silk Road Update: Finish Line Reached!

After 150 days of running, and 10,000km (6214 miles), Kevin Lin and Bai Bin have reached the finish line of their epic run along the historical Silk Road. The two men completed their expedition in the Chinese city of Xi'an last Friday, ending their journey in one of the most well known destinations along the ancient trade route.

Kevin and Bai Bin first hit the road back on April 20th of this year, and proceeded to run across Turkey, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, and into the Xinjian, Gansu, and Shannxi provinces of China. Along the way they've faced bad weather, including snowstorms, sandstorms, and extreme heat in the final days of their run. The expedition has taken its psychological and physical toll on them, sending them to the hospital in Iran and ongoing issues with shin splints and gastroenteritis.

This amazing journey was sponsored by The Home Expedition, a non-profit that is dedicated to promoting sustainable, environmentally friendly, options for people and places that don't always have the resources they need. For instance, this run was undertaken to help bring awareness for the severe shortage of clean drinking water in the countries that the Silk Road passes through.

Congratulations to Kevin, Bai Bin and the entire THE organization for reaching their goal and completing this expedition. This was an unbelievably challenging undertaking, and having finished it by averaging more than 66km (41 miles) per day of running, is very impressive. I hope you're all home safe and sound now, with your feet comfortably propped up.

Earthquake Shakes The Himalaya

A strong 6.9-magnatude earthquake hit the Himalaya last night, causing damage, injuries, and even deaths across India, Nepal, and Tibet. News reports indicate that 50 fatalities have already been counted, although that number is expected to rise as more information is collected.

The earthquake's epicenter was located in India's Sikkim state, which falls along the border of Nepal and Tibet. The rumblings were felt as far away as Bangladesh and Kathmandu, where residents scrambled to exit homes and other buildings.

Due to the remote nature of this part of the world, it could take some time before an accurate estimate of the true damage is known. Landslides are also reported across the region, which is making it difficult to get supplies and aid into the mountainous areas, where authorities expect the death toll and damage to buildings and infrastructure to only climb. Cell service is reportedly down in parts of Tibet where the quake as taken out fragile radio towers.

To make matters worse, after two after shocks have followed in the wake of the original quake. They measured 6.1 and 5.3 on the Richter scale and there are fears that another major quake could strike before the rubble from the initial disaster can be cleared.

Hopefully the climbers who are currently in the Himalaya are all safe and haven't been caught up in any of the rock slides. I'm sure we'll be hearing some harrowing tales from those teams shortly, but lets keep our fingers crossed that they are all okay.

Having visited the region, I know how fragile the infrastructure can be there. The homes that the people of the Himalaya live in are not designed to withstand a natural disaster such as this one. Hopefully the death toll doesn't continue to rise and the people in the region will remain safe in the days ahead.

Karakoram 2011: Ralf And Gerlinde Talk K2 On Video

The 2011 Karakoram season is now a fading memory, but even though the rest of us have just begun to move on, Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner and Ralf Dujmovits have only now just returned home to Germany following a long trek out from K2 Base Camp and flights home from China.

As you probably recall, Gerlinde and three teammates became the first team to summit K2 in three years and in the process she became the first woman to summit all fourteen 8000 meter peaks without the use of supplemental oxygen. It was a very long, hard, climb for everyone involved, but in the end, their patience was rewarded with the opportunity to stand on top.

Immediately after their return home, Gerlinde and Ralf appeared on a German talk show to discuss their epic climb. The result was a 15+ minute long segment during which they talk about the challenges of climbing K2, what it was like on that mountain, and much much more.  You'll find the video below, and while it is in German, it has been close captioned in English. Simply hit the "CC" button to get an English translation.

London2London Update: Sarah's In China And Headed Towards The Sea

It has been nearly five months since Sarah Outen set out on her London2London via The World expedition, so we're long over due for an update on her progress. As you might recall, London2London is an attempt to circumnavigate the planet completely under human power, and considering Sarah has already rowed across the Indian Ocean, she knows a thing or two about human-powered adventures.

When she began her journey, Sarah started in London, and paddled down the River Thames, and across the English Channel, making landfall in France. After that, she jumped on her bike and started along ride across Europe and Asia. She's made great progress however, and she's already into China and making her way towards the Pacific Coast, where she'll eventually kayak to Japan, and then row across the North Pacific, eventually arriving in Vancouver.

As you can imagine, it has been a very busy and eventful five months for Sarah, with lots of adventures on her route. Although she has been joined by a few others along the way, she's currently riding alone, somewhere in eastern China. She's well ahead of schedule however, and is likely to take some down time for awhile after this epic ride, as she doesn't expect to start rowing the Pacific until the spring of 2012. In a recent blog post however, she did show off her new boat, the Gulliver, which she'll use in that crossing.

Below you'll find a great video of Sarah riding in China which will give you a sense of what it is like for her on the road day in and day out. The video was shot back in July, but shows her taking on a rather long and tough climb on her bike that is built more for strength than speed.

Stay tuned for more updates from Sarah as she nears the end of her first stage and gets ready to hit the water.

Karakoram 2011: International Team Safely Off K2

The squad of international climbers who successfully climbed K2 earlier this week are now safely down the mountain and making their way to Base Camp. According to a dispatch posted on Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner's website, Ralf Dujmovits and Tommy Henrich climbed up to their "Deposit Camp" today to meet Gerlinde, and her compatriots Maxut Zumayev, Vassiliy Pivtsov, and Darek Zaluski. The six teammates then continued down the mountain to BC, and eventually the Chinese Base Camp, where a team of porters were waiting to load the remaining gear on camels for the trek out. That trek will begin tomorrow, and the entire team will soon be back in civilization once again.

According to Max, the four summiteers didn't truly celebrate their achievement until they were officially back down the mountain. As most mountaineers will tell you, the summit is only half-way to the finish line, and K2 is a particularly treacherous peak on the descent as well as the climb. Fortunately, the team reached Base Camp without any real problems, and they are now resting up and preparing for the journey home.

Max also noted that he and Vassiliy received a call from the Prime Minister of Kazakhstan, Karim Masimov, to personally congratulate them, but they were still on the mountain at the time. Ralf took the call and passed on the sentiments to the two Kazakh climbers.

Now that everyone is down and safe, I want to send one more round of congratulations to the team. They worked hard and were very patient, and in the end their persistence paid off, and they were able to climb the toughest mountain in the world. It is an amazing accomplishment and they've earned every bit of rest and relaxation that they've got coming to them. Well done!

Running The Silk Road

While we're on the subject of amazing long distance runs today, reader Yihui from Singapore dropped me a note this morning to let me know about a fantastic expedition that I hadn't heard about before. It consists of a team of runners, led by Kevin Lin, who set out in April to run the length of the Silk Road. Now, four months later, they're closing in on the finish line at last.

The expedition got underway in Istanbul, Turkey back in the spring and the runners have been traveling east through Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and China ever since. The plan is to end in the ancient city of Xi'an on September 16th, although since there have been few updates to their online journal since June, it is difficult to know exactly how close they are to reaching that goal. They do continue to upload photos however, and their galleries indicate that they are in China and well on their way to the final destination.

The entire run was created and organized by The Home Expedition, an organization that looks to motivate and inspire more privileged groups of people to work together to create sustainable, long term alternatives for assisting under privileged people and regions. During this expedition, THE has been raising funds to assist other NGO's who are struggling with the problem of providing clean drinking water in the region that they have been running through. This is the THE's first expedition, but they have several others planned for the near future, during which they hope to continue to inspire others into action.

In order to cover the entire 10500+km (6524 mile) Silk Road in the time frame that they've outlined, the team has to average 70km (43 miles) per day for 150 days and under a variety of weather conditions. The entire expedition is being documented, so hopefully we'll get some great video from this adventure. I'd love to see some of the places they've visited along the way.

Karakoram 2011: K2 Team Descending To Camp 1

With their successful summit of K2 now behind them, the team of Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner, Maxut Zumayev, Vassiliy Pivtsov and Darek Zaluski have been working hard to get back down the mountain safely. Today, they hope to descend as far as Camp 1, then finish their descent tomorrow, and start the long trek back home.

After a very long day of climbing yesterday, Gerlinde and Darek were able to make their way back to Camp 4, where they spent the night. Max and Vassiliy stayed in an intermediate camp above C4, but all four climbers headed down early this morning. According to their latest dispatches, they regrouped in Camp 3, where Gerlinde was waiting with  hot soup on the stove. After a brief rest there, they continued the descent, with the ultimate goal of reaching C1.

Tomorrow, they'll clean up all of their gear in Camp 1, then make their way down to their Base Camp, where Ralf Dujmovits and Tommy Henrich are already waiting and have most of their gear packed. From there, they'll spend another 3.5 hours descending to the Chinese Base Camp, where a team of porters are waiting with camels to help pack the gear back out to civilization. If all goes according to plan, they should be off the mountain and on their way home by Friday at the latest.

The descent is still a treacherous one, but they have passed the most demanding sections now and should arrive in Camp 1 today without too many problems. The worst of the climb is behind them, and it won't be long until they can get some real rest.

Karakoram 2011: Final K2 Summit Bid Is Underway!

It has been a long season on K2 already, with many ups and downs along the way. But today, the climbers on the North Side of the mountain began their final climb, reaching Camp 1, as they make one last attempt on the summit this year.

According to an update posted to Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner's site, the entire international team met for breakfast this morning and discussed their plans. Apparently after resting for a few days in the Chinese Base Camp, they are now more than ready to go back up. The weather reports look solid for the next few days, and they have moved up to C1 today, with an eye on reaching the summit by Sunday, August 21st.

According to Maxut Zhumayev, the weather should continue to get better as the week goes along, with the best window opening up on the weekend. Between now and then however, plenty of snow is expected on the higher elevations, which could make breaking trail to Camp 4 particularly challenging. Apparently the Kazakh climbers were able to work out their visa extensions as well, as Max and the rest of the crew are part of this summit push. He sent in a dispatch from Camp 1, informing us that they were all safely at their destination, and despite lots of snow, they intend to move up to C2 tomorrow and evaluate their situation from there. If the weather holds, and conditions are good, they'll keep moving up.

There has been no word from the K2's South Side as to whether or not Fabrizio Zangrilli and Kinga Baranowska will make another bid of their own. They've been in BC longer than anyone, and it appeared that they would be running low on supplies and time by the middle of this week, but if the weather looks good for them too, they may have it in them to give it one more go.

Stay tuned. This weekend will be the decisive days in the mountains for these climbers who have been extremely pa

Adventurers Plan To Walk From Mongolia To Hong Kong

Two adventurers are preparing for an epic expedition that will have them traveling on foot and by kayak from Ulaanbaator, Mongolia to Hong Kong, China. The journey will cover more than 3500km, and because it wasn't challenging enough on its own, they've decided to do it during the winter.

In November of this year, Rob Lilwall and Leon McCarron will set out on a self supported expedition that begins in Outer Mongolia and travels south through the Gobi Desert. From there, they'll cross into China and follow the Great Wall to the Yellow River. Once they arrive at the river, they'll use inflatable kayaks, which they'll carry in their backpacks, to paddle to the city of Xi An, a city whose history dates back more than 3100 years. From there, they'll get back on land and finish their expedition with a trek through the mountains of central China, before ultimately reaching the finish line in Hong Kong. If all goes as planned, that should happen sometime in March of 2012.

The journey will be chronicled and eventually turned into a television series for National Geographic, but will also serve as a vehicle to raise funds for the Viva organization, a non-profit charity that works to provide educational opportunities for underprivileged children across the globe.

No strangers to adventure, Brit Rob Lilwall once rode more than 48,000 kilometers on his bike, starting in Siberia and ending in London. Along the way he visited Tibet, Afghanistan, and a number of other out of the way places. Irishman Leon McCarron is a documentary cameraman who has worked on five continents and has put in a fair share of time on the bike as well. McCarron recently rode more than 23,000km from New York to Hong Kong while shooting footage of the people he met along the way.

Be sure to drop by their website at WalkingHomeFromMongolia.com for more information on their expedition and to follow along when they get started in a few months time. Good luck boys!

2011 Gobi March Begins This Weekend

This weekend is turning out to be a good one for endurance athletes. Not only do we have an exceptional adventure race in Colorado and the Western States 100 in California, halfway around the world another group of ultrarunners are preparing to set out on the 2011 edition of the Gobi March, a 250km (155 mile) trek through the Gobi Desert.

The annual race, which is part of the 4 Deserts series of ultramarathons, is set to be another grueling affair this year. Race officials were out on the course yesterday and reported that temperatures were around 42ºC (107ºF) and conditions are expected to remain warm after the race gets underway on Sunday.

At the moment, the competitors are all arriving at the Turpan Basin, a remote region of China that is known to be very dry and hot. This year's route will take them through Aydingkol Lake, which sits 155 meters (508 feet) below sea level and is the farthest point from any ocean on the planet. This year there are 152 athletes, from 30 countries, taking part in the Gobi March. Over the course of the six stages and seven days of racing, they'll be completely self supported while out on the course.

One of the competitors in the 2011 Gobi March is a friend of mine. His name is Wouter Kingma and he'll be taking part in his first ever ultra-event, although he has run plenty of marathons in the past. Wouter is a well known and respected professional photographer who has often attending these kinds of events in a official capacity to take photographs, but this time he'll be on the other side of the lens. He is running to raise money for the ABC Children's Aid Uganda, an organization that works hard to help children in Uganda who are orphaned due to AIDS/HIV or armed conflict.

I want to wish Wouter and all the competitors good luck in this fantastic event.

Karakoram 2011: A New Season Begins

With the 2011 Himalaya climbing season now officially in our rear view mirror, it is time for the world's top climbers to start focusing on the Karakoram and the challenges that come along with climbing in that range.

Stretching across Pakistan, India, and China, the Karakoram range contains some of the most challenging peaks on the planet. It is home to one of the highest concentrations of mountains found anywhere as well, which makes it a popular summer mountaineering destination, which is about the only time of the year that the weather is good enough to allow safe climbing. Amongst the coveted summits in the Karakoram are Broad Peak, Nanga Parbat, the Gasherbrums, and of course, the infamous K2.

ExWeb has an early season report posted that takes a look at some of the more interesting expeditions set to take place in the Karakoram this year. Amongst them are Christian Stangl, who returns to K2 seeking redemption after last year's debacle. You may recall that last year, Stangl fabricated a summit photo and made a false claim to having reached the top of the mountain. Hopefully he'll be able to top out this year, and put that whole affair behind him.

Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner is also heading to K2, although she'll be climbing from the North Side. Gerlinde has attempted K2 several times in the past, and so far the summit has remained elusive. She hopes to change that this year, and by doing so, complete her final 8000 meter peak.

It seems that there are a number of teams gearing up for Gasherbrums I and II, including Gerfried  Göschl, Kari Kobler, and Ueli Steck, who comes off the spring with two successful summits in the Himalaya, and a bit of a disappointment on Everest. In fact, it seems thats where the early climbers are headed first, as ExWeb reports that one of the Gasherbrum teams has already met in Skardu (Pakistan) and is preparing to begin the trek to Base Camp, while another is already en route. That second team has two female climbers,  Aleksandra "Ola" Dzik of Poland and Ukrainian Maria Khitrikova, who will attempt the first female double header of both GI and GII.

The Karakoram season is just gearing up, so expect lots of news from the region in the days ahead. The big question this year is whether or not someone will finally summit K2 again. It has been nearly three years since someone stood on top of that mountain.