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Greetings!
28 July 2007
We’ve not produced a newsletter since March so there’s a lot of news and upcoming trips to report. This is primarily an indication of how much has been going on here at AC and the fact that I snuck out of the office for another Everest ascent this year and have managed to find (perfectly reasonable) reasons to avoid serious work ever since! Whilst I can recommend to everyone the benefits of long absences from the desk, I can also sympathize with those of you who suffer the plight of the full plate (in tray) when you finally get dragged back!
One of the best things about making it back in to work is reading the correspondence from people who have been out having the time of their lives on one of our various adventures. It is very fulfilling to hear from them and to know that our guides and staff have been putting their heart and soul into making everyone’s experience as good as it can be. Now I’ve just got to finish this newsletter and then I think I’ll be off skiing.
See ya on the slopes, Guy
Everest 2007 Expedition
The AC 2007 Everest expedition was a resounding success which saw us summit on two consecutive days in perfect weather. Mike Roberts summited with Cedric Hayden at 5am(!) on May 20th along with a small Sherpa team led by Lhakpa Dorje Sherpa. For Cedric this became the final feather in his Grand Slam cap having completed all the Seven Summits as well as the 2 Poles. The following day Guy Cotter, Mark Sedon and Luis Benitez led a group of five expedition members to the summit arriving at the respectable hour of 7.15am. Summit climbers were Andrea Moore (NZ/UK), Chris Burrows (USA), Sebastian Glorie (Belguim), Baxter Gillespie (USA), David Arnett (USA). Special mention must go to team member Chuck McGibbon who called it a day at the south summit thereby making an ascent of the world's second highest mountain! The group was ably supported by our Sherpa team with Passang Tenzing at the helm as Climbing Sirdar. The daily dispatches (some with video clips) are online at Everest 2007.
Everest 2008 bookings are strong already so please register for this trip soon if you intend joining.
We also had a lively group of 12 trekkers visit Everest Base Camp and spend the night with us there in early April. This again will be a unique factor on our Everest Base Camp Trek 2008.
Dramatic price increases in Tibet next year!
The Chinese have decided to raise prices for services and permits next year in Tibet by over 50% - 150%! This will dramatically increase costs on expeditions across the board and like all operators we will have to increase our prices accordingly. We will be posting those prices in the next few weeks. We do still have some spaces on our 2007 Cho Oyu expedition running 30 August to 7 October, so perhaps this is the year to go after all! If you do want to join then please get in contact NOW.
NEW ZEALAND WINTER UPDATE
Ice
Our ice climbing courses have started for the 2007 season and the reports coming out are that the ice is FAT due to very cold conditions that even froze the pipes at my house! Paul Rogers is again our lead guide on the ice climbing courses and there is little doubt that with his considerable knowledge and humorous approach that this would have to be the most complete ice climbing instruction programme in the country. There’s still a little time to join the last course if you are very quick or grab a couple of friends and book in for a private ice climbing extravaganza!
Ski touring
There is nothing like the freedom of being able to ski tour in the high mountains enjoying large tracts of virgin snow and no one else in sight. New Zealand sports some superb glaciated terrain that is accessible and pristine. However there are skills that must be learned to move about in this terrain safely and our Ski & Snowboard Mountaineering Courses delivers a myriad of learning that is mandatory knowledge prior to skiing the big shots! Our seasoned IFMGA guides are again running a series of courses or private trips from August through October, so enquire now for a position. Dates for set courses are as follows or get in contact with dates that suit you and we can quote a private course or touring journey.
SMC 1 August 13-17,
SMC 2 August 27-31,
SMC 3 September 10-14
SMC 4 September 24-30 !! Longer 7 day course !!
Chance of a lifetime- Ed Hillary personal signature
The New Zealand Alpine Club (NZAC) are offering a small group of individuals a unique opportunity to receive a personalized signature from Sir Edmund Hillary (on a photograph of your choice) that you can keep as a souvenir from one of the world's greatest achievers. The purpose of this venture is to help raise funds for the upgrading and redevelopment of its flagship mountain facility, Unwin Lodge, in the area where a young Ed Hillary climbed his first peak. Unwin Lodge is the main climbing base for mountaineers at Aoraki/Mt Cook National Park in New Zealand’s Southern Alps, providing climbers from all over the world accommodation when they come to climb here. Interested people would send a photo via digital means that would be printed and then signed by Sir Ed before getting framed and couriered to you. The cost for this opportunity is US$5000 and the funds are going to a very worthy cause – the pursuit of mountain recreation for many generations to come.
Indications of interest in this once in a lifetime fundraising offer can be made by emailing Ollie Clifton, NZAC Executive Officer at fundraisingoffer@alpineclub.org.nz
Vinson 1 FULL
Our November Vinson trip is full and we have only a couple of places left on our late December climb. Aspiring Vinson climbers should be aware that most companies will take a ratio of 1 guide for every 5 climbers where our policy is 1:4. We make this concession specifically to provide our expedition members a greater safety margin and higher degree of support. Whilst we would prefer the higher yield rendered by a higher ratio our guiding standards are such that we are not willing to relinquish safety for profits. This was aptly illustrated by a situation last season when AC guides Guy Cotter and Paul Aubrey were involved in a rescue of an over committed guide from another organization who very nearly had his entire team perish in a storm high on the mountain.
For the 2007/2008 season, Mike Roberts is leading both our Vinson expeditions.
MERA PEAK trip report
The 2007 Mera Peak climbers set off from Kathmandu in early April to begin the culturally diverse and fascinating trek to the highest trekking peak in Nepal. Whilst sporadic bad weather dogged several teams the interminable Paul Rogers guided the team to the summit of the 6189m peak. Here he celebrated the success of arriving at the place that has the world's best views, with team members Sam Sutherland and Les Sandy of Australia and Roger James and Gregg Brown of New Zealand.
In 2008 we have two expeditions planned for Mera Peak - March 31 to April 22 and September 18 to October 10.
ELBRUS on at present
The first New Zealand Guided Ascents trip for 2007 was a resounding success with all 7 members reaching the summit on 21 July. Well done to the entire team for their fine effort! Summiters were Susan Gulcher & Reginald Willis from South Africa, Kim Jensen from Denmark, Bill Kerr, Mark Milewski & Patrick McCaney from the USA, and Steven Webber from the UK.
The trip provided its challenges with bad weather initially, then an unscheduled approach utilising horses to carry loads to the Barrels hut as the cable car had broken down. But in the true spirit of expeditions everywhere, the team rallied and summited in fine style. The trip was more than just a slog in the hills though, with the journey initiating in St Petersburg, there was a lot of cultural inertaction, and finishing in Moscow. These comments were those of AC guide Luis Benitez after the group met on the first day;
“Most were so inspired today, that a few have even chosen to take in a ballet tonight at the historic theatre. How many
One team member was quick to send us the following feedback on her return home;
"I am delighted and thrilled to have met Adventure Consultants - I think you and your
'family' run a company of excellence and I thank you all for contributing to this
ol' duck getting to the top of one of her dreams!!!! I long for the next expedition.........."
Elbrus Trip # 2 is running at the moment and we anticipate the summit window to be around August 4 so keep an eye on the dispatches to follow their progress. A small sub-group from the team are then carrying on to climb Mont Blanc with guide Mark Sedon.
American Alpine Institute Northern Hemisphere update
After a wonderfully successful spring season of joint AAI/AC expeditions on Denali (48 to the summit), the guides and administrative staff at AAI are now enjoying near-perfect summer climbing conditions in the Washington Cascades, California Sierra, European Alps, and Bolivia. The second AAI/AC Bolivia Expedition of the year is underway and, after having great success in the Condoriri Valley, is now poised at Illimani High Camp ready to climb to the 21,201-foot summit. We still have a few spots remaining on our last Bolivia Expedition, starting August 25 with an acclimatization trek over an Inca road through the Cordillera Real, then moving on to Condoriri, Huayna Potosi, and 21,201-foot Illimani for skills practice and a series of world-class ascents.
The Cascades in Washington State are offering us long, sunny days and excellent conditions on the many hundreds of glaciers and thousands of rock routes in the range. We have been running our award-winning 6-day basic mountaineering course, Alpinism 1, each week since the beginning of May, and will continue through the end of September. This course is a must for those who want to learn techniques for safe climbing on glaciated terrain. In the Sierra, a low snow year created an early rock climbing season, and we’ve been climbing Mt. Whitney (the tallest mountain in the US excluding Alaska) every week. We have also been running technical leadership courses in both the Sierra and the Cascades - these courses range from 9 to 12, 24, and 36 days, and teach participants to lead their own technical climbs on rock, snow, and ice.
Looking ahead, we have already started to book climbers on several of our AAI/AC fall and winter trips. Starting in November, we’ll be climbing the volcanoes of Ecuador, traversing the Patagonian Ice Cap, and making first ascents in the remote Hengduan Range of China’s Sichuan Province. Spots are open on all these expeditions. For the sun-seekers, we start our rock climbing program in Red Rock Canyon, Nevada, beginning on September 1st and will run regular 1 to 5-day climbing trips here through May.
We wish all climbers a great rest of the summer (or winter for those in the southern Hemisphere!) and hope to see you in the mountains soon!
- The staff and guides of the American Alpine Institute
Adventure News May 2002
