80 more days...
New Address:
To help aid communication, I've set up an email address that should send mail to
the entire group. (condo@scholars.uni.edu) This is the first test of the list,
so hopefully I typed everybody's email addresses correctly. If any of you would
like to send a message to the group, please feel free to do so! This should help
aid in arranging things like transportation and non-climbing activities for the
trip. At the bottom of this message I'll also include a list of the group with
each individual's email address. Look it over and make sure it looks correct!
Transportation:
We discussed transportation at the meeting at Stinchfield's, but I don't think a
whole lot was finalized. Here's the best way I know to deal with this: If you
need a ride, speak up! Just say what day you want to leave Iowa and we'll go
from there. Also, it might not be a bad idea for those driving to announce their
plans as well. You might want to indicate how many empty seats you have - it
would be so environmentally kind of us to group together and use a near-minimum
number of vehicles.
Fitness:
As you may have noticed from above, we're down to 80 days until August 4th. If
you're still waiting to "hit your stride" you really shouldn't wait
any longer. Rick has informed me that last weekend Lynne "did the half
marathon in a breeze" and that he "survived" the full one. As for
myself, I'm getting close to setting a personal best on the UNI Dome stairs and
last night I took a 10-mile hike with a 40 pound pack. (And boy do I feel it
this morning...) Variety is good! Find activities that require a mix of strength
and stamina. Running is still excellent for overall conditioning, but I strongly
recommend getting comfortable with your boots and your pack (it doesn't have to
- no, wait - it shouldn't weigh anything close to 40 pounds) and spending
multiple hours on your feet. Even doing this once or twice a week could really
help your comfort level by the time we hit the first hill. My hike last night
took me about 3 hours, but I know that I'm just getting warmed up for the
Lincoln-Bross-Democrat trio or the 17-mile hike up and down Mt. Elbert.
Condos:
Here are a couple URLs for the condos we are renting: http://vrbo.com/vrbo/1439.htm
and http://vrbo.com/vrbo/2886.htm. Check them out!
Everest Update:
There are a lot of nervous, anxious people on Mt. Everest right now. Each May
the expeditions wait for the "summit window", a 2-3 day period of
clear weather and low winds. Usually that window would have opened by now, but
poor weather has made me wonder if there will be any window at all before the
monsoons hit and expeditions' permits expire. Until a couple days ago every
attempt had been stopped by deep snow and the lack of fixed ropes. One Sherpa,
Ang Dorje Sherpa, attempted the speed record (from base camp to summit in about
20 hours) but was turned back at the Hillary Step (the last major obstacle just
beneath the summit). However, Ang Dorje Sherpa was able to fix ropes up to the
Hillary Step, allowing other teams to think about moving up. Just within the
past two days the first successful summit attempts have been made - two Russian
climbers summitted from the north and a mixed group summitted from the south.
The weather still sounds questionable, but now it looks like many of the
expeditions will taking their shot. I know teams have learned from the
experience of the 1996 tragedy, where too many teams tried to summit at once,
but I've heard that cooperation between teams this year has been lacking and
this possible mass movement up the mountain in the next several days could
result in problems. Personally, even though I know how much effort, time, and
resources these people put into climbing Everest, I'd be happy if the weather
just stayed bad and most of the summit attempts were turned away. A year with
few successes could have its benefits for the mountaineering community. Even on
the 14ers there's something good (although disappointing) about not making it to
the summit on every try.
"Getting to the summit is optional. Getting back down is
mandatory." -Ed Viesturs
