Trailer For High Altitude Mountaineering Film Cold

What's it like to climb Gasherbrum II, the 8035 meter (26,362 ft) Pakistani peak in February? Apparently it is Cold. That is exactly the feeling you get from the trailer below, which is for a film that chronicles that very climb, undertaken by the likes of Corey Richards, Simon Moro and Denis Urubko. The film looks to be one to keep an eye on, as it seems to have captured both the beauty and the agony of high altitude mountaineering. Beautiful stuff.



COLD - TRAILER from Anson Fogel on Vimeo.

60 Minutes Serves Up Three Cups of Controversy

Considering the subject matter of this blog, I'm sure that most of you are familiar with Greg Mortenson and his wildly popular book Three Cups of Tea. For those of you who don't know his story, Mortenson was climbing in the Karakoram a number of years back, and after getting lost there, he wandered into a remote village, where the people treated him kindly, offered aid, and got him back on his feet. He was so touched by their generosity, that he vowed to return the favor by building them a school. He would later launch the Central Asia Institute to help fund that project, and dozens of similar ones throughout Pakistan, Afghanistan, and beyond.

Mortenson rose to international fame thanks to his book, which has been a source of inspiration to many who have read it. In that book he shares a number of miraculous and amazing stories about his experiences in the Himalaya and the people he met there. Three Cups of Tea would go on to be a bestseller and generate plenty of attention and funds for Mortenson's charitable works.

It turns out however, that he may not be exactly telling us the whole truth. Over the weekend, the long-running CBS television series 60 Minutes ran an expose on Mortenson with fellow author Jon Krakauer, who wrote Into Thin Air, offering up some thoughts. You can watch the whole segment on YouTube by clicking here, embedding has been disabled unfortunately. In a nutshell, Krakauer, and others, say that Mortenson has embellished some of the details of his story to make them sound more dramatic and impressive. That some of the things he claims happened to him in his books are, at best, stretches of the truth, and at worst, outright fabrications. There are even some indications that the funds that are raised by CAI are not being spent properly and that the organization lacks transparency in how it operates. There are even some questions as to the number of schools that have been built. We do know that Mortenson and his team have indeed built schools in Central Asia, but it seems the number could be exaggerated.

These revelations have caused some disillusionment throughout the adventure community, with many people wondering what the real story is. In the interview, even Krakauer acknowledges that Mortenson has done great things in Pakistan and Afghanistan, but wonders if he puts it all in jeopardy with his exaggerations of the truth and potentially shady handling of funding. It also doesn't help that Mortenson refused to be interviewed for the segment, and at one point is caught on camera looking like a deer in the headlights.

Yesterday, ExWeb weighed in on the topic, posting this story that comes out in defense of Mortenson and takes a few shots at Krakauer in the process. UpaDowna also posted some thoughts on the story, which you can read by clicking here.

So? What are your thoughts on this brewing controversy? Do you buy Mortenson's tale? Krakauer says "It's a beautiful story. And it's a lie." Others in the interview seem to take the same stance, seeming to indicate that Mortenson has, at the very least, taken some liberties with the truth. Does that change the way you feel about him in any way? After all, he has still done a lot of good in those poor Central Asian nations.

For me personally, I still respect Mortenson for the great work that he continues to do in Pakistan and beyond. But I have to question is motivations for stretching the truth the way he has, not to mention the way he seems to be earning quite a bit of money off of the Central Asian Institute. A non-profit, charitable organization should be more up front and forth-coming with how they use the funds that we donate to them, and at the moment, that doesn't seem to be the case. Still, in the end, the organization doe a lot of good, and I hope that doesn't get lost amidst the tall tales.

Update: Mortenson has granted an interview to Outside Online in which he addresses the issues presented by 60 Minutes. Read that interview here.

Climbing and Descending Gasherbrum II In Winter

Back on February 2nd, Denis Urubko, Simone Moro, and Cory Richards completed the first winter summit of Gasherbrum II, the 13th tallest mountain on the planet at 8035 meters (26,363 ft). It was the first successful winter ascent of any of the 8000 meter peaks in the Karakoram range as well, and a spectacular accomplishment to say the least.

The trio has posted a number of video dispatches to the North Face Journal, a blog that covers athletes sponsored by the gear manufacturer. Amongst those dispatches are the two videos below, one of which shows the amazing ascent to the summit and the other is of the equally treacherous descent, during which they were beset by avalanches. Both videos are beautifully shot, which is amazing in and of itself, and both are excellent examples of what high altitude mountaineering is all about.

GII Winter Expedition | Dispatch # 4 | The way up to the summit from story.teller on Vimeo.

GII Winter Expedition | Dispatch # 5 | The long way down from story.teller on Vimeo.

Climbers Make First Winter Ascent of Gasherbrum II

Another major event in the world of mountaineering went down while I was away in Africa, as climbers Simone Moro, Denis Urubko and Cory Richards completed the first winter ascent of Gasherbrum II, the 13th highest peak in the world.

The team had been working the mountain for several weeks, but once prepared, they completed the climb in just three days. The trio finished their summit push on February 2nd, reaching the top of the 8035 meter (26,363 ft) mountain. While climbing any Himalayan peak in the winter is always a challenge, the descent wasn't all that easy either. The three men faced increasingly bad weather on the descent and according to the Outside Blog, the team was also hit by an avalanche on the way down, but managed to escape without any serious injuries. They returned to Base Camp last Friday, February 4th, bringing an end to a very successful expedition.

This winter ascent marks the first time that any of the five 8000 meter peaks located in Pakistan's Karaoram range has been climbed during the winter. GII is considered the easiest of those mountains to scale, with the other four, which includes Gasherbrum I and K2, ramping up significantly in challenge.

Congrats to Simone, Denis, and Cory on a job well done. Conquering any major peak in the winter is a significant accomplishment, but knocking off an 8-thousander in the coldest month of the year is impressive indeed. Well done chaps!

Polartec Announces Recipients of 2011 Challenge Grants

Polartec, the company behind the fabrics that keep us warm and dry while playing in inclement weather, has announced the recipients of their 20th annual Polartec Challenge Grants. The awards are generally awarded to small, innovative, and daring expeditions in need of funding to realize their goals. This year, there were four winners.

Amongst the recipients for 2011 is climber Mike Libecki who plans to make several first ascents above the Arctic Circle. Libecki will catch a lift aboard a Russian Icebreaker, than travel like a polar explorer on skis and rubber raft, across 50 miles of open ice, to reach his eventual climbing destination. Look for this expedition to get underway this spring.

The second grant was awarded to Jon Turk, Tyler Bradt and Erik Boomer, who will attempt the first circumnavigation of Ellesmere Island, one of the most remote pieces of land on the planet, falling not far from the North Pole. The team will be covering more than 1400 miles through treacherous pack ice in kayaks and on skis. This will be another spring time adventure that should be quite interesting to follow.

The third grant goes to an all-female team of climbers who have set a goal for themselves to make the first ascent on an unnamed peak in the Karakoram along the border of India and Pakistan. The team consists of top climbers and guides Janet Bergman,  Zoe Hart and Kirsten Kremer, who will be making an ascent of a mountain that is 6135 meters (20,128 ft) in height. The expedition will most likely take place this summer, when the Karakoram season is in full swing, and will be a daring alpine style ascent.

The final grant was actually awarded last year, but due to an injury to climber Kelly Cordes, it has to be postponed until 2011. Cordes, and his climbing partner Kyle Dempster, will be headed to Charakusa Valley in Pakistan, where they'll have their choice of a number of unclimbed faces. Of particular interest is a 6200 meter (20,341 ft) spire near K7 that has yet to be conquered. No dates are set for this expedition, but considering the destination, this is probably a summer adventure as well.

Congrats to the winners. These are some interesting and exciting expeditions.