Happy New Year cheers from Peru!

Enjoying some hotsprings, cheers to the Inca deity Apu Ausangate, and a party on the Ausangate Trek & Climb in Peru. Don't try this at home. We hope you enjoy a healthy, adventure-filled, and prosperous 2010- cheers!

Mount Baker in all it's winter glory!

It's only six months until our first Baker climb of the New Year! Until then check out our ski descent of Baker and other options. Got to love this place we call home! Hope you can join us in 2010.

Happy New Year from the Mountain Madness team!

Success on Cotopaxi!

Summit crater

The summit!

Next up - Chimborazo!

Amber wrote in today to tell us that 10 of the Ecuador Mountaineering School climbers, plus guides made the summit of Coto. They had great conditions, but it was very cold, they tagged the summit and headed right down- nice job to all! They are now resting at the Hacienda La Cienega.

Cotopaxi was done right after their climb of Cayambe, which was a bit more difficult than usual with some large crevasses to climb around. As Amber, Ossy's wife, reports,"The crevasses were 'Gigantic' according to my always under-exagerating hubby. The route required lots of extra work, but after nearly 14 hours all climbers made it back- safe and sound to the refuge.
Well, that's it for now."

Some of the group now heads home and the remainder continue on to Chimborazo, the highest peak in Ecuador! Stay tuned.

Ecuador School Team Summits Cayambe; Aconcagua Team to attempt summit on the 27th

Ossy skyped in to say nine reached the summit of Cayambe- the first objective of our mountaineering school in Ecuador-(pictured above). Meanwhile, Alejo called in on the sat phone to say he and Shawn are poised to reach Aconcagua, the highest peak in South America, on the 27th. Stay tuned for more details!

Antarctic Christmas Greeting from MM guide Thai Verzone

Feliz Navidades from Thai,

Well, I'm back on the ice and in yet another new and amazing place with icebergs, penguins, seals, whales, piercing mountains and yet never-ending ice. Yesterday, 5 glaciologist and I flew on a British Dash 7 (a 4 prop antarctic shuttle plane) down to the Antartic Penisula from Punta Arenas Chile. We landed on the most southerly Antarctic Research station which can land wheeled planes on a ice free runway . It is called Rothera Station, which is a British base with about 80 summer inhabitants. We'll be based here for the next few days arranging the cargo that I had sent down in 4 shipping containers from Chile about a month ago. If the weather holds, which it hasn't and is notoriously horrific where we will be putting our camp, we will start the series of flights to put in our ice core drilling camp. It will take about 12 flights in to put our camp gear, drill equipment, geodesic dome, about 8 fuel drums and 6 antarctic campers on a pear tree to place our field camp right at the source of the Larsen B iceshelf. Once we are there, we will build quite an extensive camp, then build a drill rig with a 20 foot geodesic dome, and start core sampling down to about 1500 feet one meter at a time which will take up to 45 days. Whewwww, it's going to be a lot of work for sure...

Our whole expedition is quite international. Besides being based in southern Chile and at a British research station, our pilots are Canadian, our two drillers are Russian (classic stoic Russians), we have one Italian grad student, our head glaciologist is Americano, and Felix Andean glaciologist from the Cordillera Blanca de Peru. My job is titled as the camp manager, which is essentially do what it takes to get the research team and their science equipment to Antarctica, build a solid and safe camp, support them during the drilling process, and get everyone back safely and timely. For the most part I am organizing the logistics with the direction and help of an entire logistical support staff based in our headquarters in Denver and off the research vessel, the Nathaniel B Palmer via irridium sat phones. The logistics are quite dynamic from coordinating 4 shipping containers sent via icebreaker and to the camp via 15 twin otter shuttles to making sure zippers work on all the sleeping bags and everyone has a fork to eat with. I'm also a bit of living insurance to deal with any safety and medical issues that may arise, which my hope is all preventative work.

The next good weather window, I'm hoping to coordinate a reconnaissance flight with just three of us to put in one load. We will also look for a cargo depot which was put near our camp about two weeks ago, which is likely buried in snow. This cargo depot also has a snow machine which I hope we can get running and start moving some of that cargo from that location about 4km away from where the glaciologist have decided to put the drill site. After that initial recon, we will fly back to Rothera before we get stuck out.

This location as I am learning more and more is one of the best places in the world if you want high winds, lots of snow, and significant days of white out conditions.... hooray for us. But it will also be an amazing project as the ice core samples will give us possibly ten to twenty thousand years of climate records which will help us understand more about climate change, and particularly what happened to the Larsen B Iceshelf which had a spectacular collapse in 2002. The Larsen B became a known 'hot spot' for global warming and has attracted a lot of international scientific attention. What was particularly of high interest was the rate in which the Larsen Ice shelf collapse, an area of the size of Rhode island disintegrated over only a 3 week period. Our drill team is part of a larger multi-national effort called LARISSA, organized over the last 2 years to study the Larsen B Iceshelf.

Here's a quick description of our project called LARISSA:
"The Ice Core Drilling Team will travel to Antarctica to study the Larsen Ice Shelf system as part of the Larsen Ice Shelf System, Antarctica (LARISSA) Project. LARISSA is an NSF-funded project that will examine the biology, glaciology, geology, and oceanography of the Larsen Ice Shelf system. Since the 1970s, a number of Antarctic ice shelves have broken up. In 2002, a huge section of the Larsen Ice Shelf disintegrated in the largest such event ever recorded. This had a major impact on the region, in all aspects of the Earth system. The LARISSA project researchers hope to gain insight into the factors that lead to ice shelf collapse, as well as the environmental impact of such break-up events, which may become more frequent as climate change progresses." - Press release

Here's a web site with more info:
http://www.hamilton.edu/news/exp/LARISSA/index.html


Merry Xmas and hope your winter season goes well.


Cheers from Antarctica

Thai

Aconcagua Trip Dispatch

We’re happy to report that we’ve heard great things from our team on Aconcagua! Guide Alejo Lazzati and clients Shawn Dawson and John O’Beirne called from Plaza de Mulas to say that they’re having a wonderful experience on South America’s highest peak. After some questions about inclement weather, they’re hoping that the clear skies hold for their push to Camp Canada (also known as Camp 1).

It’s an especially exciting trip for Shawn Dawson, who is climbing the Seven Summits to raise money and awareness for charity. Being Canadian, he’s hoping to start the summit push on Boxing Day! Check out his organization, Dream Mountains (www.dreammountains.com) for more information on his quest.

Bolivia's melting glaciers

The glaciers of Illimani- Bolivia's Cordillera Real.

Photo by Pablo Puruncajas.

Here's an interesting article about the glaciers in Bolivia: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/14/science/earth/14bolivia.html?_r=1&emc=eta1

Get em while you can. Our Bolivia Mountaineering School already has two departures confirmed in May and July. This is a great trip that concludes with an ascent over 21,000 feet to the summit of Illimani and lots of time on the glaciers!

Free Avalanche Awareness Clinic Dec. 16th

click here for more info

BEAT the beat down!

By Mark Gunlogson

Ok, 8-12+ hours a day at work with commute, kids; if you have them, driving to ballet practice/sleep deprivation/money..,/making dinner/reading/tucking in/etc.., and for all of us the other day to day dealings- this constitutes the BEAT DOWN. However much we're rewarded by these efforts in other ways, who does not feel this pressure? But, after watching a week plus days in the Cascades of very cold temps and minimal snow cover, and the perfect set-up for the elusive, at best ephemeral, ice climbing opportunities here, I just could not take it anymore.

There is ALWAYS work to do- it will never go away. Be it work, taking care of kids, looking for work...,

Set it aside- if only for a few hours.

As I watched the week whittle itself away as I diligently went through the weekly beat down I had to finally say- enough!! The world keeps spinning. Get out there, even if you think you can't! Turns out even a few hours in the open air and moving your body does wonders! Here's my mantra for 2010: BEAT the beat down! It all started with a quick trip up Mount Snoqualmie, a not so earth shattering ascent, but a short hit getting out and some fresh air!

Summit of Ama Dablam

This is a summit photo from this fall's successful Ama expedition. Mark Payne joined us in fall 2008, but did not reach the summit due to poor conditions. His tenacity paid off this time! As he wrote in an email, "Here is the summit photo I have waited a year for............" Congrats to Mark and the team!

Summit of Antisana and Cotopaxi reached!

Cotopaxi top; taking a break on Antisana bottom photo

Latest installment from Ecuador from Amber:

Saturday morning, Nov. 28th at 8:40 am, After 7 hours and forty minutes of climbing the direct route up the western face of Antisana, Oswaldo, Hunter and Andy reached the summit of Antisana. The conitions were perfect: hard packed snow, clear skies with high clouds which protected our boys a bit from sunburn, and ice bridges which carried them safely from one side of the crevasses to the other.

It was a long day: 11 hours climbing in total. The thouroughly exhausted guys arrived back in the late afternoon to Rumiloma where their baths had been drawn, the hot water bottles were tucked under the down comforters at the ends of their beds, and the waiters were ready to deliver room service. Way to rough it guys...

They snuggled in for a well deserved rest and we dont expect to see them until the afternoon.
Another fabulous summit for the Mountain Madness team. Congratulations guys!!! Next up Cotopaxi.

At 6:40 Nov. 30th Ossy, Andy and Hunter succesfully summitted Cotopaxi after an astonishingly rapid assent of 4 hours and 40 minutes. The weather was perfect and they made an equally speedy descent in just over an hour and a half. After Antisana, I suppose they were in perfect shape to tackle the worlds highest active volcano. The group decided against attempting Chimborazo this time, after reports of severely icy conditions. They opted instead for Cotopaxi.

After the unsuccesful attempt on Illiniza Sur - it appears that the guys were not anxious to tackle black-ice again so soon. They obviously made the right choice as they had ideal weather and conditions on Cotopaxi and were treated to spectacular views of its crater and the other mountains along the avenue of the volcanoes. Perhaps they were choosing which to climb on their next trip to Ecuador?

They are heading back to Quito and Rumiloma for a celebration dinner complete with a few bottles of our best Chilean wine and another sumptuous meal cooked up by our chef-cita. Tomorrow its off to the bullfights. Just another day in the life of a mountain madness adventurer here on the Equator...

Icy conditions on Illiniza. Antisana next up.

Saturday November 28- - Update - - "Ecuador's next Top Climbers"

Good morning all,

The three guys, Hunter, Andy and Ossy, made an attempt on Illiniza Sur in the early hours of Thanksgiving Thursday. After more than 6 hours of front-pointing and very slow progress up a very icy, and technically challenging glacier, Ossy turned the group around before the sun had a chance to warm things up too much. As the sun rises higher in the Equatorial sky, the ever-present danger of rockfall on this mountain increases. The glacier warms up and stones of all sizes are released from its icy grasp and tumble down the mountain. You definitely don't want to be in their path... Hence, Illiniza in such icy conditions isn't ideal. It was a beautiful morning and Hunter as well as Andy were in good form as they descended. They spent the rest of Thursday relaxing in a cozy little hacienda. Not a turkey in sight, not to mention all the trimmings, but, rumor has it, there was a nice spit-roasted guinea pig on offer...

Yesterday afternoon the group headed to Antisana- the most beautiful Ecuadorian mountain of all according to Ossy. Owing to its' location, and the fact that the entire mountain is privately owned, Antisana is one of the most seldom climbed Ecuadorian Volcanoes. How lucky these three -to be the only humans for miles attempting to summit the guides' favorite mountain. They made camp in the shadow of Antisana and prepared for an early morning assault today, Saturday. The climbers are all strong, and the conditions appear to be favorable. Stay tuned....