Kickstarter Project: The Long Way to Everest

I generally get several emails a day from someone asking me to help promote their crowdfunding project. Most of them are of little interest to me, or those who read this blog. Some are simply asking others to help fund their travels, which I find somewhat distasteful. But occasionally I get an email about a project that I do find incredibly interesting and worth mentioning, which why I will post about some crowdfunding efforts from time to time. Take for example a new project from a budding filmmaker named Daniel Foutz who has come up with a unique idea for a documentary film that I think many would enjoy seeing.

Daniel calls his project The Long Way to Everest, and he has just launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund his idea. You see, as a child Daniel read books about Everest, and the mountain became a place that he fell in love with even though he had never seen it in person. That is something a lot of us can probably relate to. He often organized climbs with his friends back in his home country of the Philippines, and while they didn't come close to comparing to climbing the Himalaya, it spurred on a young man's imagination for adventure.

Now, Daniel would like to make the trek to Everest Base Camp himself so he can visit the place that he has read so much about. But unlike most trekkers who make that journey, he wants to skip the flight to Lukla and trek from a village called Jiri instead. You see, Jiri is the place where Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay – along with the rest of their climbing team – began the trek to Everest on the historic expedition that ultimately produced the first ascent of the mountain. The hike from Jiri adds quite a few kilometers and days to the journey, which Daniel believes will take about three weeks to complete.


Prior to the construction of the airport in Lukla, Jiri and other villages along the original route received an influx of visitors that brought money to the local economy there. But now, those villages are all but ignored. Daniel says that in 2011 more than 37,000 people visited the Everest region. Only about 400 of those passed along the route that begins in Jiri. The idea behind The Long Way to Everest project is to follow the old route to the mountain and explore how the villages along that section of the trek are faring these days.

While the focus of the trek is to make a documentary film about the original trekking route and the villages that are found along the route that Hillary and Norgay used, there is another intriguing element to the project as well. Daniel also intends to carry a geocache time capsule with him to Base Camp which will contain historical information about the mountain, mementos from the trek, and letters from supporters of his efforts. He intends to lock that cache when he hides it, but provide clues to the combination to that lock which will be scattered along the trekking route. The coordinates will be shared for geocachers to find later, and whoever collects the clues gets to unlock the capsule and discover what is inside.

Not only do I think this sounds like a very interest project, I also applaud Daniel for not asking for others to completely fund it for him. He has set a very modest goal for his Kickstarter campaign of just $500 CAD, which is roughly $400 US at the moment. He has nearly reached halfway to his goal with more than 20 days to go, so hopefully he'll be able to get the funding he needs to get his project off the ground.

As someone who has made the trek to Everest Base Camp himself, and had some first hand experience in the villages that fall along the route, I think a documentary of this type would be very interesting. Hopefully we'll all get a chance to see it in the future.

Will Gadd Makes First Ascent of Niagara Falls

Last week, acclaimed climber Will Gadd, along with Sarah Hueniken, made a daring first ascent of Niagara Falls, the massive waterfall that sits on the border of the U.S. and Canada in upstate New York. Gadd has hoped to keep his project secret and to reveal the accomplishment this week instead, but an inquisitive reporter spotted him scouting the route and broke the story early. The result has been a bit of a media frenzy over the accomplishment, which was no doubt spurred on by public interest in Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson's Dawn Wall ascent.

In an interview posted at National Geographic Adventure, Gadd says that while he has accomplished thousands of great ice climbs in his career, this one was special. While he did have the permission of the New York parks department to attempt the climb, Niagara has been off limits for a long time. That gave it a bit of a "forbidden fruit" element that he couldn't resist.

Gadd goes on to say that the idea for climbing the massive falls 51 meter (167 ft) falls came a year ago when the so-called "polar vortex" put much of the U.S. and Canada into a deep-freeze. The falls were frozen solid at that point, but knowing that it was illegal to make the climb, he decided to wait and go through the proper channels. Red Bull also approached him to sponsor the climb as well, which helped to open the doors.

In terms of the ice that he dealt with on the ascent, Gadd says that it was unlike anything else he'd every gone up before. Most of the time ice forms on a waterfall from the top down, but on Niagara it forms from the side. This is due to the amount of mist and spray that is generated from water plummeting over the top. The result of this unusual phenomenon is an uneven and irregular climbing surface that is very different from other ice climbs.

According to Gadd, Niagara offers "world-class ice climbing" but says he felt more pressure in getting the climb right in terms of doing it legally and safely than he did in actually completing the ascent. He sees this as an opportunity to potentially open the Niagara area for future climbs as well, and felt it was important to get it right for the climbing community.

The interview touches on a number of other topics as well, including the special gear that Will created to assist in the climb, why he is compelled to do "extreme" things, and why he isn't an adrenaline junkie. It is definitely a good read all around.

Congratulations to Will and Sarah on this impressive climb.

Video: Autumn in the Dolomites

Italy's Dolomite Mountains always strike a dramatic, imposing figure. These strikingly beautiful peaks are amongst the most beautiful in the world, and this video captures them in all of their splendor during the colorful Italian autumn. If you need a short escape to the mountains, this video will certainly provide a nice respite. Enjoy the views along the way.

Autumn in the Dolomites from Cristina Limonta on Vimeo.

Video: EpicTV Presents the Best Climbs of 2014

2014 may be over, but that doesn't mean we can't still look back and reflect on some of the best accomplishments of the year that has passed. Our friends over at EpicTV have compiled a short video that highlights some of the best climbs of the year. It features some outstanding efforts on some very tough routes, with a highlight reel to show these impressive climbers doing their thing.

Video: Wingsuit Flight Over the Great Pyramids of Egypt

We have been overdue for a good wingsuit video, and this one arrives just in time. It features Cedric Dumont sailing above one of the greatest monuments ever built by man – the Great Pyramids of Egypt. The short video certainly gives us vantage point of those structures that we haven't seen before, as Dumont slowly tumbles to the Earth while the Pyramids only grow in size. Definitely a cool way to approach those amazing wonders.

Outside Shares Their Favorite Gear of Winter Outdoor Retailer Too

Last week I posted a link to the Gear Junkie's coverage of the Winter Outdoor Retailer gear show, in which he shared his favorite new gear that will be making its way to store shelves later this year. Now, Outside magazine has also posted their selections for the Gear of the Show, spotlighting 10 items that stood out with the editors.

Amongst the items that received "Gear of the Show" honors were The North Face's new Modulator ABS which has received a lot of press in the wake of its unveiling at the show. This safety device can convert any backpack into an avalanche airbag system, potentially saving your life while in the backcountry. This is counter to most other ABS devices which typically come built into a pack, requiring you to use a different sized backpack depending on your needs. The North Face now gives us a single option that is adjustable to any pack we want to carry on our adventures.

Also earning a spot on the list is a new waterproof, breathable jacket from a new company called Voormi, an incredibly warm down jacket from Columbia, and the new shoes from Under Armour that incorporate a sole that resembles a fat tire. That funky-looking footwear is also garnering a lot of attention as well. Other items include a couple of pair of ski and snowboard googles from Julbo and Abominable Labs, as well as a few other items designed with the skier in mind.

Since this was the Outdoor Retailer Winter Market, most of the items shown there were focused around winter sports. The Summer Market show is scheduled to take place in early August and will feature more general outdoor gear with a focus on hiking, backpacking, and so on. Neither show is particularly healthy for your pocketbook since they always introduce great gear that we just have to have.

Winter Climbs 2015: Russians in Camp 4 on Nanga Parbat

Last week I posted that the Russian team of Nickolay Totmjanin, Valery Shamalo, Serguey Kondrashkin and Victor Koval has launched a summit bid on Nanga Parbat, although it was unclear then where exactly they were on the mountain. Over the weekend we received new updates, courtesy of Russian Climb, that indicate that the men are now in Camp 4 and are waiting out a bad storm with the hope of pushing towards the top in the next few days.

According to their most recent updates, the team is sitting in C4 at 7150 meters (23,458 ft), which puts them about 975 meters (4000 ft) below the summit. That final push to the top will be a tough one even in good weather, but the latest dispatches also indicate that they are currently experiencing 100 km/h (62 mph) winds, along with a roaring blizzard and extreme cold. Those conditions are expect to persist through Tuesday, with a period of relative calm arriving shortly there after. Forecasts indicate that the winds will then drop to about 50 km/h (31 mph), which will still make things challenging. Visibility is also said to be almost zero at the moment as well, although that will certainly improve to a degree if the winds drop as expected.

If the weather does indeed improve over the next few days, the Russians could attempt to reach the summit later this week. They'll have to hurry though, as ExWeb indicates that the chances of success on Nanga go down after the first week of February due to a general deterioration of the weather and the onset of fatigue. Almost every previous winter expedition to the mountain had abandoned their attempts by the start of March, and 85% of those attempts reached their high point by February 10.

Over on the Diamir Face, the three teams that are attempting that route are all currently holding in Base Camp. Conditions are not any better on that side of the mountain, and the recent arrival of the Iranian squad, as well as Alex Txikon, means that they are just getting themselves established on the mountain. As the weather improves, those teams will start their acclimatization efforts.

Meanwhile, Italian climber Daniele Nardi is ready to go up, but is currently waiting for the winds to die down and the snow to settle. Apparently there is a high probability of avalanches at the moment, and until the recent snowfall settles it is too dangerous to proceed.

For now, it looks like the Russians are the team that is in the best position to complete the first winter ascent of Nanga. We'll just have to wait to see if they get the weather window they need to proceed up. Stay tuned for further updates soon.