Fossil's Solo Flight

John Deaton in his ultralight plane!

The Haute Route as a Prelude

I am starting to view the March Haute Route adventure as an exciting warmup for a life-long dream of climbing the Matterhorn in winter. My original goal decades ago was - is - the Schmidt North Face route, it may be out of my range however, so let's do the Hornli Ridge instead! (One thing for sure, we will not see this queue in March ... click on the photograph to enlarge the image.)

Adirondack Bouldering Controversy

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ORIGINAL ARTICLE IN THE ADIRONDACK EXPLORER.

NCS CRAG CHECKLIST

Dave just completed a checklist so you can keep track of your progress ... Climb them all and get a commemorative T-shirt. (When you get to the half-way point you get a commemorative soft iron - military surplus - pink piton!)

Blast from the Past

I was tidying up the Fossil Cabin the other day, and restrung Lewy's
Tibetan prayer flags from his Pumori trip. It is hard to believe he
left us seven years ago, it seems like just yesterday we were in the
Palisades ... I have searched and I have fewer pictures of him than I
thought. What an inspiration he was, and what fun we had.

Laps on the Crag

It has been amost three weeks from my return from Peru. To tell the
truth I have been tired, worn out, and unmotivated to train. I have
gone through desultory boulder, yoga, and light aerobic sessions, but
there has been no zest. Today I grabbed the pack, rigged the soloist,
and cranked off some easy 5.6 laps ... A couple in my mountain boots.
It is time to start training for the loppet, Canadian Ski Marathon,
and the Haute Route.

50-60 Year Old Fossils Take Heart

As you can see from this graph, there has been an upsurge in climbing in the Himalayas by old farts like us. Of course, it is probable that two reasons for this have nothing to do with our prowess or athleticism ... more disposable income, and the rise of guided ascents. Still in all, it offers hope that maybe we do not have to wait until our next lifetime before we do a route in the fabled Himalayas. (As always, click on the image to enlarge the photograph.)

ClLICK HERE TO ACCESS THIS FASCINATING STATISTICAL ANALYSIS OF HIMALAYAN CLIMBING.

Bouldering at Owl's Head

Lucy filmed this short video segment, although I picked the music! The filming was hampered by her dog Toby who kept wanting to play.

In Manhattan?

"The Race to the the End of the Earth" exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History is a must. With many artifacts from the Scott Polar Institute this exhibit sheds light - as the enclosed NY Times article declares - on why one succeeded and the other won our affection. (Of course, I have long been a huge fan of polar exploration, and I remember Dickie being flummoxed when I told him we had to hitchhike to Cambridge in 1972 so I could see Scott's diary.)


CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE ARTICLE ABOUT THIS EXHIBIT WHICH RUNS UNTIL JANUARY 2, 2011.

Owl's Head Hike

Lucy took her dog Toby for this short hike on a gorgeous day. For a short hike this has one of the best Adirondack views as well as good climbing and bouldering.

New Discoveries About The Iceman

Researchers have new information about the 5,300 old mummy that was found buried in the Italian Alps over a decade ago ... The current thought is that he may have had a ceremonial burial after he died.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE.

Asian Glaciers Retreating

A recent report by the USGS indicates that this shrinking of Himalayan glaciers may cause flooding and crop failure.

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE ARTICLE.

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

My copy of "The Boys of Everest," is making the rounds of the Fossils - a good thing as its a fantastic book - however I have come to realize that it may be years before I get it back. So, I order a used copy from Amazon.com for $1.89, as I am on this Everest binge having consumed "Paths of Glory" and the book "The Wildest Dream," and scheming to get to a big city so I can see the documentary as well. The quote below is from the frontispiece, and my guess is that you think: a) its profound, b) its bullshit, or c) you spend most days with uncontrollable drool and have not had a real thought in years.

THOSE WHO TRAVEL TO MOUNTAINTOPS
ARE HALF IN LOVE WITH THEMSELVES,
AND HALF IN LOVE WITH OBLIVION.

Robert Macfarlane

Ski Mountaineering

As you enjoy these last bits of summer, know that here in Lake Placid the first frosts are only days away, and there have been years when I have been nordic skiing on a golf course before Columbus Day ... start thinking about the Haute Route ... this Powderwhore Production, their 6th telemark ski movie "TeleVision" will help you get in the mood.

Swiss strategy to control climate change

THIS IS NO JOKE!

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL ARTICLE.

Running the Jackrabbit Trail

Haley Johnson - member of the US Biathlon Team - wrote an entertaining blog entry about the famed Jackrabbit Johannsen, as well as writing about an over-distance workout she did on the trail named for him. Fossil alpinists may be more familiar with this as an approach trail to some of the best ice climbing in America.

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS HER BLOG.

Climate Change

Video: Andean Trip 2010

Perseid Meteor Showers ... Very Cool

Joshua Tree Under the Milky Way from Henry Jun Wah Lee on Vimeo.

La Nina ... A snowy winter coming up!

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THIS ARTICLE

Crystal Crag

I bumped into this picture online and it brought back such fond memories. About a decade ago Mark and I did this spectacular route in Mammoth, California. The 5.7 ridge was about four or five pitches long, and the vein of pure white quartz was amazing.

Crevasse rescue

This short and instructive video, is sub-titled, "Ratchet Rescue." Having come from the land of big crevasses in the Andes, knowing that a guide lost his life because the clients couldn't help extricate him, and knowing that I am heading to the Haute Route next March ... you can never know enough about crevasse rescue.

Adirondack Fatality

CLICK TO READ THE ARTICLE ABOUT THIS RECENT ROCK CLIMBING ACCIDENT.

Espresso Lessons: from the rock warrior's way

CLICK ON THIS LINK TO READ THE BOOK REVIEW IN THE ALPINIST.

Important rock climbing trends

CLICK ON THE IMAGE TO ENLARGE THE GRAPH.

Cragging

At the end of the day I went up to the NCS crag with a Treetops
counselor. I did a total of five laps on "One Taste," and "Too Late
Dave." Both routes are in the 5.5-5.6 range.

Lucy Riding on the Farm

This summer Lucy has done a lot of reading, cooking, hiking, some rock climbing, but mostly she has enjoyed time with her pony "Birch."

Gear for the Haute Route

CLICK TO ACCESS A COMPREHENSIVE ARTICLE.

No doubt with summer almost behind us, you are starting to turn your attention - in a serious way - to the training and planning for this ski adventure of a lifetime. Cosley and Houston have guided the Haute Route for well over a decade, and their advice is spot on ... take a look.

Sunset on Fairhope Farm

Doing a little reading at the cabin ... Wonderful view of Pitchoff and
Cascade.

Cordillera Drawing

QUOTE OF THE WEEK

`There is no doubt that all his life he enjoyed taking risks, or perhaps it would be fairer to say doing things with a small margin of safety.'

biographer David Pye about George Mallory

Summer Reading

If you are climbing in the Andes you need to peruse Foreign Policy magazine's summer reading list for Latin America.

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE ARTICLE.

What to do for a 60th birthday?

It's still 23 months away, but I find myself thinking, so what should I set my sights on? Of course, partners are the critically important piece, and so I need to start laying the groundwork. My mind runs naturally to three or four possibilities: Alaska (west ridge of Hunter), Cordillera Blanca (west face of Tocllaraju), Chamonix (Frendo Spur or some ice in the Argentiere valley), or the Sierras (traverse of the sawtooths). In the next 23 months I will occasionally mull it over with some pictures attached, the ones above are from Chamonix, and they feature two places I have already been ... The Chere couloir and the Col de la Brenva.

From the climbing coach website ...

As this talented UK climber, and tell it like it is blogger says ... Here are five ways to "stay as crap as possible at climbing." This is a website well worth googling (or just accessing from my favorites in the right-hand margin), and I will feature links to specific articles occasionally from my blog. AS ALWAYS TO ENLARGE THE IMAGE JUST CLICK ON THE PHOTOGRAPH.

Shikashika

CLICK TO ACCESS THIS ARTICLE.


This is an eye-opening 17 minute video tale of a Peruvian family’s demanding business. The entire family treks up the Andes to collect enormous blocks of ice, which they haul back down and sell at the Sunday market. Think about that as you sip on your cold soda at the theater. 

MILESTONES

A short essay in Rock and Ice about the key milestones faced by climbers, and while we may not go through them in this sequence, and in some cases we may not experience them all ... You'll find critical stages of your life as a climber reflected here.

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE ARTICLE.

Lindsay Putnam

Former member of the US Nordic Ski Team, former NCS teacher and houseparents, as well as former TTW trip leader ... She is still doing long hard trips into the wilderness. I will long remember that she reeled off 32 diamond pushups at over 17,000' on the summit of Tunguarahua in Ecuador ... Needless to say she put me to shame on that day!

Lucy at the crag

Lucy tagged along with Larry's day camp ... A.K.A Summer Rox. She was
nailing all the easy (5.1-5.6) routes today. Here she is at the top of
"Perry's Corner."

New Info on Mallory and Irvine

With the body discovery a decade ago, the recent historical novel "The Paths of Glory," and the movie "The Wildest Dream" released last week, there is a great deal of interest in those early Mount Everest attempts. Recently unearthed meteorological data has some interesting lights to shed.

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE ARTICLE.

Andean Flute Street Musician

Just a short snippet of a very talented street musician in Huaraz. Enjoy.

Yanapaccha climbing accident

While we were in the Cordillera Blanca we were at the Refugio Peru (at the base of Pisco) when we heard about this fatality.

CLICK ON THIS LINK TO ACCESS THE NEWSPAPER ARTICLE ABOUT THE ACCIDENT.

Lucy on the climbing wall

I have a huge backlog of work on my desk but since I have been away
for two weeks I am trying NOT to hide out in my office. This afternoon
I spent an hour with junior campers at the crag, and then just prior
to dinner I belayed Lucy as she ran laps on our climbing wall.

Video tour of Ishinca Valley

Ishinca Valley Miscellany

Brian the stud!

15 Pitches, 9.5 hours car to car, Squamish Chief ... "You the Man."

(As always you may click on the image to enlarge the photograph.)

360 Degree Andean View

This short video (30 seconds) was shot from the summit of Nevado Pisco. On this spectacular summit day you can see: Huascaran, the Hunadoy massif, Artesonraju, Piramide, Chacaraju and many others.

Arriving at an Andean Hut

Huts - or a tent basecamp - in the Andes tends to be quite a bit
higher than I'm the Alps or Sierras. Often your first night in the
mountains, will be at the height of many summits. Indeed, our first
night at the Refugio Peru was spent sleeping at an elevaton almost as
high as Mount Blanc. Aside from the time and patience to acclimitize
safely, there are three main ingredients: 1) Vitamin I (ibuprofen), 2)
A pot-boiler, and 3) Coca tea.

Alpine Towns

For those of us that ski, rock and ice climb, trek, or do high-end
mountaineering, we rarely think of the infrastructure that supports
our passion. Huaraz is a remarkably clean mountai town, especially for
a "third world" country, and this picture shows the garbage truck on
collection day. Yet, like towns from Chamonix to Lake Placid, or
Zermatt to Lake Tahoe we face water issues, over development, and
competition from other industrial use that threaten the quality of the
mountain experience.

(As always you may click on the image to enlarge the photograph.)

Edward on Pisco

The climbing was never hard - a perfect warm up climb really - however
given it's position smack dab in the middle of the Cordillera Blanca,
the views never cease to amaze.

The Mountaineer

A friendly little shop in Keene Valley that supports NCS fully ... I
need to send Vinny this picture of their "flag" on the summit of
Pisco. (As always click on the photo to enlarge the image.)

More Ishinca Bouldering

Maybe next time in the Cordillera I will bring my rock shoes ... Here
I am using my mountaineering boots.

Not Quite Goldsworthy

However, an interesting and artistic stone arch viewing portal. I like
to think that some aspiring artist spent a day acclimitizing on the
mountain this way.

(As always you may click on the image to enlarge the photograph.)

Leaving the Cordillera Blanca

We had a few beers at the airport (I even had my first Big Mac in
three years), and then we slept on the floor for a few hours. After we
got above the usual Lima fog, we had some mice views of the Andes ...
My next tripay be with Lucy.

Sunset on Tocllaraju

As always you may click on the image to enlarge the photograph.