Words from Wik

Sharing my Experiences

Friday, March 19, 2010

I’m on Twitter

TwitterI just recently signed up for Twitter, if you want to follow me on it you can find me under wik2010, or you can see my updates at http://twitter.com/wik2010. I think it just might be my best way to keep people updated with what’s going on on Everest. As long as I am able to have some kind of internet or SMS connection while on Everest (and apparently there is cell service at least in base camp), I will try and update what I’m up to with Twitter. So check there first if you want to know what I’m up to!

That’s all you really need to know. But I’m also going to say a few words about Twitter. As long as I have known about it I thought it was one of the stupidest things on the internet. I had no idea why it was becoming popular! And I don’t think I am quite convinced yet, but I can see some potential in it. I think for everyday people it’s not that much use, if what people are sharing is what they’re up to. But for people like celebrities or artists or athletes or anybody that has fans, I can see how hearing from your star and knowing what they’re up to can make people think they’re that much closer. And without having to stalk them.

My reason for using Twitter is to capture those instantaneous emotions as I’m going through the ups and downs both literally and emotionally. It would be good to be able to stop for a water break, whip out my phone, and tell you how much I hate my life at that particular moment. We’ll see how good the connectivity is, but that’s the idea. Usually by the time I get a chance to sit down, rest, and compose my thoughts on paper or blog entry, I have averaged out some of those emotions, and it doesn’t come across in quite the same way.

So keep your eyes on that, hopefully it will be of some use. One week until I leave for Everest, emotions are a mix of many, including excitement and nervousness!

posted by Wiktor at 11:52  

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

I made another video

CIRA contest logoI made a little video clip that I posted on youtube to enter a contest; this contest was organized by the the people who run .ca domains. It was meant to answer the question: how does your .ca domain benefit you? So I took that as an opportunity to show off my worldpeak.ca site, maybe I can get the word out a little better and get some traffic to the site, maybe leading to some donations! Anyways, have a look at it if you want, I show some footage from my Cho Oyu climb along with some new footage of what I’m doing to train for Everest. I thought the video was not too bad, but when I look at it on a new day I realize it is still pretty amateurish, but oh well!

Link

We’ll see if it makes it to the final round, but either way I hope it can generate some interest. 9 days to Everest, and Happy St. Patrick’s Day to everyone!

posted by Wiktor at 21:29  

Friday, March 12, 2010

North vs. South

I will be attempting to climb Mt. Everest via the southern col route, or southeast ridge route, which is in the country of Nepal. The other main route is the northeast col route, via the northeast ridge, which lies in Tibet (or China). You’ll generally hear people talk about them as either the North route and Chinese side, or South route and Nepali side. There are of course other ways up the mountain, you can go up whichever way you like, but if you’re not going up either of these two routes it’s because you want more of a challenge.

Everest Routes as seen from space

The first step in climbing Everest is deciding you want to go. The second step is deciding which route you want to take. I just thought I would go over some of the pros and cons of each side, and why I chose the side I did. Know that this is based on what I have heard and read (and I have asked a lot of questions about this of our leader Arnold, who has climbed on both sides), but obviously I haven’t yet been on either route.

Getting to the base camp on the North side means driving in. A while back when the Chinese were trying to put some of their own people to the top they made a road that goes all the way into base camp, and then paved it to put the Olympic torch onto the summit. Getting to base camp on the south means hiking in through the Khumbu Valley, which is supposed to be a very beautiful hike in, and worth the trip by itself just to hike into base camp. This takes about 10 days because of the need to stop and take rest days to acclimatize to the altitude. The Nepalis have made a national park of this area so roads are not going to be constructed anytime soon.

The North side is generally considered colder, as it sees less sun, whereas the South side can get decently warm when the sun is out. It’s a major consideration for some, especially those more susceptible to getting cold in their extremities.

The route itself is considered easier on the North side up to camp 4, where you sleep before summit day, but above camp 4 there are three technical sections (known by their imaginative names as the First, Second, and Third Steps) that catch a lot of people unprepared. This then creates the opportunity for people with limited technical competence to get quite high, then have trouble on the toughest sections, on the toughest day, and create traffic jams for everyone else. On the South the route apparently gets a bit more involved early on, and while it also has it’s technical section on summit day called the Hillary Step that can cause traffic jams, if you’ve gotten there already you have a decent chance of making it over without causing too many problems for others.

Then there’s the location of Camp 4, the highest camp before the summit. On the North side it’s at 8300m, which is the highest camp on earth! This means you have to spend a night at this altitude before trying for the summit. On the south side the camp is a little lower at 8000m, where you still need to sleep on oxygen, but it’s that much lower. However, that also means that you have 850m to climb to the summit from the South, and only 550m from the North; therefore summit day takes significantly longer from the South, but as stated above it is technically not as involved.

Another consideration is the famed Khumbu Ice Fall on the South, where you have to cross large bottomless crevasses via ladders strapped together end to end. It is the most dangerous part of the ascent via either side, and it’s for this reason alone that some people choose to climb from the North. The problem is that the ice fall is continuously moving, and while navigating through it there are chances that pieces will break off, onto people or break ladders that people are on. To me it’s the kind of risk you can do almost nothing about (other than avoid it by going the North route), as it becomes a lottery for who might or might not be affected.

Khumbu Icefall, Photograph by Olaf Rieck

One last difference is price. The Northern route is generally cheaper. This is because of logistics and getting people and supplies to base camp is done all by car. On the South, people and supplies are first flown from Kathmandu to Lukla, then people hike and supplies are taken by Yak to base camp. All this takes time and money. There might be a slight difference in permit price too, but I am not exactly sure.

So why did I choose the South side? Several reasons. I have heard such good things about the hike to base camp through the Khumbu Valley that I wanted to experience that myself. Getting to base camp from the North involves a drive that I have already done, as it’s almost the exact same approach as getting to Cho Oyu base camp. Another reason is that I would like if the people that are climbing around me on summit day have earned their place, and are not going to be caught off guard by the technical sections and cause traffic jams.

But the main reason is a difference that I only slightly touched on above, and that’s the attitude of the countries in which these two approaches lie. China made a road. Nepal made a national park. China has been known to limit access across the border when things in Tibet start heating up. If I can help it I will put my money into the country that is doing things the way I support, and not politically oppressing the region I am climbing in. But that’s a whole other story that I won’t get into.

So, what side would you choose? 🙂

posted by Wiktor at 11:39  

Thursday, March 11, 2010

What are the odds I’ll die on Everest?

I thought I would answer a question that might be on some people’s minds. I have been asked this question several times, and while mostly people say it jokingly, not expecting a real answer, I realize that it is a legitimate question. And I realize they do mean it, as “a lot of truth is said in jest”. Believe it or not, such a question does not bother me; I realize that what I’m going to do is potentially dangerous, and I have accepted whatever that risk may be. But I also know that it’s not that great of a risk.

The easiest way to answer that question is to check Wikipedia’s article “Eight-thousander”, which lists all 14 of the world’s peaks above 8000m, and gives some stats on them. Taking a quick look at Everest shows that since 1990, the death rate has been 4.4%. So, that means there’s more than 95% chance that I’ll be coming back, right? 🙂 That’s pretty good odds!

But actually it’s not quite that easy. Those numbers are out of date (Everest now has over 4500 summits by over 2800 different people), plus, for lack of data, they take the death rate as Deaths/Successful Summit, rather than Deaths/Attempt. Luckily, there is a database out there that is more up to date and more complete, it’s called the Himalayan Database, and it’s the archives of Elizabeth Hawley, a journalist that traveled to Kathmandu in 1960 and decided to stay there for good!

Himalayan Database

Anyways, depending on what time range you pick, the values of course differ, but if you take the last 20 years like Wikipedia does (1990-2009), or the last ten years (2000 – 2009), the death rate on Everest per person that showed up to climb above base camp is in the 1.5% range. For example, in 2009 there were 5 fatalities, a German, a Czech, a Chinese man, and two Nepali Sherpas. And there was almost 400 people with permits to climb above base camp.

I would like to think those odds are reasonable. I don’t have any stats for what is the likelihood someone will die in a car accident, or from a certain disease, so it’s hard to compare. But I definitely don’t feel that my life is at stake with every step I take. At the same time, on Everest there are no guarantees. A bad year with weather might mean more people don’t come home; good weather might mean more make the summit. Although the odds are in everyone’s favor, someone has to make up that 1.5%. Is that acceptable? That becomes a personal decision for everyone… And what about other effects, such as losing digits due to frostbite?

Anyways, that’s all I’ll dwell on this topic. It’s not something I focus on, but it is something I am aware of, and I think most people would be surprised at how good those odds are. Obviously the most newsworthy trips up Everest are the ones where someone doesn’t come home, so that’s what people tend to hear and that’s what they tend to associate with the mountain.

posted by Wiktor at 8:11  

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Inspiration from Olympians

The Winter Olympics that were held in Vancouver this year came and went, and for most Canadians it was an enjoyable experience (as for many other countries). For me also, however I took some special inspiration from the event and the athletes in particular. I have been training for almost 5 months for my Everest trip, and it has come with it’s emotional highs and lows. I have learned what it means to sacrifice some things in life to achieve something that most people don’t strive for. And so when I think about how Olympic athletes train their entire lives, or at least years upon years of such sacrifice, to get their one chance at competitive glory, their time to show what they can do, I have nothing but the utmost respect for them. And I realize how my training does not even compare, though for me it’s all I can do. And luckily my sport is not a competitive one, I do not have to train to be the best in the world, just good enough. So I just wanted to say, good job athletes, thanks for the show, and thanks for inspiring me to stay focused on what I need to do!
Vancouver 2010

posted by Wiktor at 11:17  

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

My Road to Everest

“Wow, you’re climbing Everest? You must be a really experienced mountain climber then!” That’s what I hear from people when I tell them what I’m doing this spring. I will admit I don’t think that’s quite the case, so I thought I’d share a bit of background that has brought me to this point.

Unlike some people, I never had any childhood dreams to go climb the tallest peaks in the world. However, I seem to remember quite well moments in my childhood when topics of the tallest mountains in the world came up: in the 90’s some show discussing the controversy between which mountain is taller, K2 or Everest; 90’s again, a fellow boy scout saying how he’s going to go to Everest base camp with his dad one day, and how K2 is actually harder to climb than Everest, which he might try as well. In 1998 (Grade 10) my high school religion teacher Dave Rodney gave us a slide show on his trip to Everest, he didn’t attempt the summit as he was in charge of base camp communications. He would summit another year and come back in my Grade 12 year to give another presentation with pictures from the top this time.

Chilling on Mount Fisher's Summit with FriendsNone of these things ever meant that much to me, spoke to me, inspired me to go climb. I never really got into wall climbing or anything like that; though I did seem to like climbing trees as a kid! During University I would just go do some hiking in the mountains with friends, some skiing in the winter, the thing most young people do growing up in Calgary. The hardest “climbs” I did were really just scrambles of (the now relatively easy) Mt. Yamnuska and Mt. Fisher. But it was enough to make me think I knew what I was doing in the mountains.

Ben NevisAfter University I got a job, and not long after starting in Calgary they sent me on an assignment to Aberdeen, Scotland. Some Scots are quite outdoorsy people, they’re really into hiking, and for some reason I thought to myself, “I’ve done some decent hiking in Canada, I’m gonna go and try the best that Scotland has to offer!” (That one little thought would take me further than I ever though possible.) Knowing I had been as high as 2846m on Mt. Fisher, I thought I would give Scotland’s tallest mountain a go, Ben Nevis at 1344m. (By this time my blog was in full swing, so you can have a blast from the past and read my quick entry about Ben Nevis here.)

While working in Aberdeen I was working on an offshore platform, which meant I was stranded on a welded piece of steel in the middle of the ocean for two weeks at a time, but would then have two weeks off between shifts. Those lonely days on the platform I spent planning my next trip, so I knew I was heading to Sweden next. And going to a country to try and climb their tallest mountain seemed like a better reason to head there than just to go, stay in some hostels, and do the typical touristy things. So, next on my mountain list was Kebnekaise, the tallest peak in Sweden at 2111m. I suggest you take another trip down my memory lane and read about it here, as you might notice that my hikes are starting to take on a pattern of me biting off more than I can chew, and already I am starting to compare my experiences to what I have heard about Everest.
Kebnekaise

GaldhopiggenAfter Sweden I was headed to Norway, and having been a little sketched out in climbing Kebnekaise solo before the mountain opened for the season, I joined a group that would climb Norway’s two tallest mountains, as well as one of their most famous ridge walks. No blog entry on this, as being more prepared this time and going with a group, the trip just wasn’t that epic, though it was not without it’s difficulties. That brought me to Galdhøpiggen, the top of Norway, 2469m above sea level.

(Note: Looking back at the posts I wrote back in those days is quite entertaining! It is funny to read what I was feeling and thinking a few years ago, and reminisce those days… It is encouragement for me to write as much as I am now, even if for no one else’s benefit, then for my own a few years down the road.)

Huayna PotosiMy work placement in Aberdeen was ending, and my next placement would be in Bolivia! Wonderful Bolivia, with some absolutely enormous mountains by any standards in their Andes. My goal while there was to climb up to 6000m, higher than anything I have ever attempted before. I managed to do that in climbing Huayna Potosi, at 6088m, also known as the “easiest 6000er in the world”. It was, and continues to be to this day, the hardest mountain I have ever climbed. All because I was just so unprepared for what to expect. I never did write about this in detail, but it was one of those things that I was sure would turn me off of mountain climbing forever. Luckily, my attitude of “what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger” won out in the end, and I continued climbing. But I still think that nothing I have climbed since then has had as big of an effect on me, and I wouldn’t be surprised if even Everest won’t stir those same emotions.

As my time in Bolivia was ending I wanted to do one last thing in the Andes, and that was to climb the tallest mountain in the Americas, and tallest outside the Himalayas, Argentina’s Aconcagua. Also known as a relatively “easy” mountain, I knew better than to think that way this time around. Climbing that brought me to 6962m; you can read about it here and follow the posts, as I wrote a number of them; or if you read just one, read this one, where I talk about the summit push.
Ryan and me on Aconcagua

I will admit that while we were still on Aconcagua, my sights were already set on Everest. I thought it might be cool to one day get a chance to climb the world’s tallest mountain. What I had learned in the last couple of mountains definitely made me think I might have a chance one day. I talked to our guide Ryan about that, and mentioned to him that summitclimb, the group I had signed up to climb with, assumes that Aconcagua is preparation enough to attempt Everest. He suggested otherwise, saying I should try another 8000er instead, specifically Cho Oyu. It was also on Aconcagua that I met people climbing for charity, and that planted the seeds that I am now hoping will bear fruit. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves…

Known as the “easiest 8000er”, Cho Oyu was my next step. Now you might see a trend in the mountains I have been attempting, that they’re all the easiest of their groups! But just as I learned on the “easiest 6000er”, those names are very misleading. At 8000 meters, I can tell you nothing is easy. Cho Oyu was my last test to see if I could have a chance on Everest, and to see if anything that happened there might dissuade me from climbing it. You know the results because, well, here I am. I wrote a bunch about Cho Oyu, if you’re interested here’s a link to the first post, and you can read all along to the last one.
Cho Oyu

So that brings us to Everest, and in about 18 days I will be on a plane, pushing my limit that much further. Thanks for everyone’s support and encouragement so far, I’ll be taking it all with me as high as I will get!

posted by Wiktor at 11:34  

Friday, February 12, 2010

Go read Into Thin Air

Into Thin AirFor the last little while I have been reading the book “Into Thin Air” by Jon Krakauer, and I suggest you have a read of it. If you want to read about a real-life adventure, or if you want to learn more about climbing in general and high altitude in particular, or some of the history of Mt. Everest, you will find it all there. It’s a good book for everyone, as it assumes you know very little about the world of mountains and climbing them. Many people I have spoken with that have very little interest in mountains and climbing really enjoyed the book; it gives a very good description of what it’s like to climb in these high mountains, things I explain to people when I show them my photos and share my experiences. So if you have a read of this book you will know at least some of what I’m going through when I am on my trip this spring.

I thought it was a very good book, well written and a well told story. It’s not quite as epic as “Touching the Void” by Joe Simpson (read that one after if you want, it’s one of my favourite books ever), but good nonetheless. However, read “Into Thin Air” with a grain of salt, as there is some controversy over some of the things in that book, mainly the author’s guesses at people’s motivations for their actions. An entire book was written to tell the tale of that disaster from another point of view and question some of what Jon wrote, so just keep that in mind.

Let me know if you want to borrow my copy of the book. I will share some quotes to get you interested:

But at times I wondered if I had not come a long way only to find that what I really sought was something I had left behind.
– Quote taken from Hornbein, “Everest, The West Ridge”

Everest has always been a magnet for kooks, publicity seekers, hopeless romantics, and others with a shaky hold on reality.

The fact that a climber has paid a large sum of money to join a guided expedition does not, by itself, mean that he or she is unfit to be on the mountain.

People who don’t climb mountains – the great majority of humankind, that is to say – tend to assume that the sport is a reckless, Dionysian pursuit of ever escalating thrills. … At least in the case of Everest … the ratio of misery to pleasure was greater by an order of magnitude than any other mountain I’d been on; I quickly came to understand that climbing Everest was primarily about enduring pain. And in subjecting ourselves to week after week of toil, tedium, and suffering, it struck me that most of us were probably seeking, above all else, something like a state of grace.

“If client cannot climb Everest without big help from guide,” Boukreev told me, “this client should not be on Everest. Otherwise there can be big problems up high.”

Mountaineering tends to draw men and women not easily deflected from their goals. By this late stage in the expedition we had all been subjected to levels of misery and peril that would have sent more balanced individuals packing for home long ago. To get this far one had to have an uncommonly obdurate personality.
Unfortunately, the sort of individual who is programmed to ignore personal distress and keep pushing for the top is frequently programmed to disregards signs of grave and imminent danger as well.

Bottled oxygen does not make the top of Everest feel like sea level. … 29,000 feet with gas felt like approximately 26,000 feet without gas.

Not only during the ascent but also during the descent my willpower is dulled. The longer I climb the less important the goal seems to me, the more indifferent I become to myself. My attention has diminished, my memory is weakened. My mental fatigue is now greater than the bodily. It is so pleasant to sit doing nothing – and therefore so dangerous. Death through exhaustion is – like death through freezing – a pleasant one.
– Quote taken from Reinhold Messner, “The Crystal Horizon”

posted by Wiktor at 4:27  

Thursday, February 4, 2010

50 Days to Everest

In 50 days I will be on a flight leaving Calgary in what you can call the official start of my trip up Everest. I have just a few loose ends to tie up but most things are starting to fall into place. I have sent in my final payment for the trip; if you check the summitclimb.com website you will see that the cost of climbing Everest from Nepal is $27,750 USD (and prices are going up next year). I have also paid for 5 oxygen bottles valued at $510 each (they are cheaper if you buy them in Kathmandu, but that $510 includes transport by Yak then porters then Sherpas up the mountain to the high camps where we’ll actually need the stuff). I’ll leave you guys to add that all up.

summitclimb

With all that money spent I thought I would take some time to reflect on my trip in the context of ‘commercial expeditions up Everest’. There are other expeditions that charge $65,000 or more for a similar experience, where does that difference come from? Well one big difference is that our trip with summitclimb is not considered a “guided” trip; there is a team leader but there are no guides that will be walking with us up the mountain. We are expected to know enough about mountaineering to make our own way up and down the mountain. That cost to pay IFMGA Certified guides a western salary and all their expenses adds up. Also, we have to carry a bit more of our own things. Some companies will place sleeping bags in the high camp tents, so people can arrive and have everything ready for sleeping; I will have to carry my own (surprisingly heavy) sleeping bag. Little things like that requires people employed to carry things up and down the mountain, which adds up quickly. There are other minor things too that add up.

I must say that from my experience it’s better to go on a non-guided trip such as this. It means the quality of people signing up is higher, and you’re expected to do more on your own, giving a better feeling of satisfaction at the end. Of course, there is a fine line before the support the group gives is not enough. Other companies charge even less, but give you even less. It may go unnoticed if everything goes according to plan, but if something goes wrong these groups seek help from the ones more prepared (because they are more financed). I think summitclimb finds a nice balance right where it should be in terms of support.

I guess the whole concept of the commercialization of Everest is a debatable one, but I would like to think that companies offering non-guided support are the ones doing it right, as long as they screen their applicants enough to make sure people are qualified to be on the mountain. Companies that rely on their guides to help people up the mountain are introducing people into circumstances where they cannot help themselves, and that’s where trouble can begin, for them and for everyone else on the mountain stuck because of a traffic jam or asked to help someone who should not be there.

Here’s to hoping that our group goes up and down the mountain with little fanfare or media attention, as that always follows people that get into trouble.

posted by Wiktor at 12:52  

Saturday, January 30, 2010

It’s starting to get to me…

The training I have been doing to get myself into shape for Everest is starting to weigh on me. Not sure exactly why but I am really starting to not like it. When I go to the gym I am tired of feeling pain and burn from the weights, and as I keep upping the weights that burn is not going away. I find I need to take longer breaks between sets, and mentally I’m just not into it as much. I’ll keep going for a while still, though I doubt I’ll reach my weight goal I specified in an earlier post; but no matter, that was just an arbitrary number anyways. Regardless I am glad I’m getting stronger and I can quite confidently say I am in the best shape of my life. And I definitely have an appreciation for those guys at the gym that are totally bulked up, not so much for what they achieve but for the dedication and discipline it takes to achieve it. Though I wonder if I could get as big with my current schedule if I was on steroids? Just a thought, not something I’ll ever find out.

Anyways, this mental challenge in my training I should take gladly, because it’s exactly these kinds of feelings that I will have on Everest. It will be a case of my body not wanting to do what I must convince my mind to do. However, two months of that on Everest will be more than enough and if I have to put up with it starting now I wonder how I’ll fare once on the mountain.

posted by Wiktor at 2:14  

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Calgarian to mount Everest for charity

Hi all, I’ve been meaning to update on some of the goings on of my preparation for Everest, unfortunately those very preparations have kept me busy enough that I find little time to compose my many thoughts and feelings as I prepare and go forward. I will take this opportunity to share that my endeavor has got it’s first media exposure, the Calgary Sun has an article online about my climb, and you can look for it in tomorrow’s paper. Check the link here:

http://www.calgarysun.com/news/alberta/2010/01/26/12620871.html

“The toughest thing is preparing to do things your body doesn’t want to do — it’s more of a mental challenge than physical one, if you’re physically prepared,” he said.

I wanted to also give an extra special thanks to the many people that have already donated to World Vision in support of my endeavor, thank you very much!

UPDATE: Just checked the print version, the article is at the top of page 17 with a nice big headline. Thanks Bill Kaufmann!

posted by Wiktor at 11:58  
« Previous PageNext Page »

Powered by WordPress