Hypoxic euphoria after completing a 21-year quest...

There aren’t that many events in life that take over two decades to complete. Usain Bolt finishes a 100-meter dash in a mere 9.72 seconds. Two cells miraculously emerge into a newborn in a quick 9 months, after just a few hours in the making (“your mileage may vary”). Kepler established that the Earth orbits the sun in 12 months. High school, college and medical school take roughly four years apiece, while a full sunspot cycle takes a long 11 years. So it’s with some excitement and relief that my Colorado Grand Slam is now complete after 21 trips around the sun.

Luke (in red) and his buddies in Denver, on the way to summer camp

I’ve had the joy of sharing the high Colorado Rockies with dozens of friends over the years, some 14,000-foot peaks being easy lung busters and a few becoming quite epic challenges. This past week I took my son Luke and three of his buddies to summer camp in Colorado, and made the most of the dwell time by topping out on the final three mountains on the 59-peak list (those being North Massive, Conundrum and South Maroon Peak).

Nicky, Cindy, Scott, Bob and Don atop Mount Massive

Some great friends, including my best college buddy, fellow Everest climbers, mountain rescue team members and some NASA rocket scientists, joined me on my way to the finish line. My sincere thanks to Don, Bob, Nicky, Jaroslaw, Keith, Cindy, Alan, Steve and Tim — and my many other Mountain Compadres over the years. Here are some photo highlights of the trip, which involved over 16,000 feet of vertical in 4 days, crossing over 6 summits in excess of 14,000 feet:

Jaroslaw and Bob on the grassy slopes below (South) Massive Peak

Upper face of (South) Maroon Peak, with Tim, Steve and Scott barely visible on the traverse

Scott & Cindy finish their Grand Slams the very same day --- it just took me four times as long!

It was an exhilarating feeling to take those final steps to the top of (South) Maroon Peak outside of Aspen. The clouds were rushing around the summit, bathing the long, narrow and steep apex in an eerie light. My overachieving friend Cindy Howard, whom I’d gotten to know when I led an effort to rename a Colorado summit in honor of the Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-107) crew, joined me on top, completing her Grand Slam in just 5 years! [Columbia Point dedication link: http://silgro.com/ColumbiaPoint/index.htm] We took some happy hero shots on top, and thanks to good cell coverage and cool technology, I posted our photo together from the summit of #59. Congratulations, Cindy!

"The hills are alive with the sound of muzak..." (!)

I love these mountains too much to say that I’ll never return. I hope my next circuit around these peaks will be with my son, and hopefully it won’t take another 21 years to finish the list! I had my handy SPOT tracker with me, generating an electronic breadcrumb trail along the way (http://www.spotadventures.com/user/profile?user_id=42312) Nicky “Haus Frau” Messner (Everest summit in 2008) also posted a great Picasa album from the trip here: http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sredir?uname=HausFrauNicky&target=ALBUM&id=5500075723366428113&authkey=Gv1sRgCJOHk67w2t7gbQ&feat=email

My good friend Bob “BoBo” Lowry, who’s life motto is “Climb High, Don’t Die,” has a blog here:  www.boblowrys.blogspot.com

More general information about climbing Colorado’s 14ers can be found at: http://www.14ers.com/

 

 

Nearing summit as the sun slowly rises...

 

Jay Redman atop Mount Rainier

Jay isn’t the kind of guy who gives up easy, you see. Jason “Jay” Redman, a Navy Lieutenant and SEAL, was caught in a fierce firefight in Afghanistan. Separated from some of his team, Al-Qaeda gunfire ripped his face and left arm to pieces, and he very narrowly avoided becoming a fatality of war. Thinking of his faith and family in what might’ve become his final moments on Earth, he somehow held on. Forty-plus surgeries later, including 7 months with a tracheotomy breathing tube, he’s an inspiration to all wounded warriors. A large orange poster board that he displayed outside his room at Bethesda Naval Hospital says it all about Jay:

‘‘Attention to all who enter here. If you are coming into this room with sorrow or to feel sorry for my wounds, go elsewhere. The wounds I received I got in a job I love, doing it for people I love, supporting the freedom of a country I deeply love. I am incredibly tough and will make a full recovery. What is full? That is the absolute utmost physically my body has the ability to recover. Then I will push that about 20 percent further through sheer mental tenacity. This room you are about to enter is a room of fun, optimism, and intense rapid regrowth. If you are not prepared for that, go elsewhere.”

 

Kevin Ivory victorious on the summit of Mount Ranier --- Kev has my ice axe and flag in his left hand (flown during Space Shuttle mission STS-86, and taken to the summit of Everest with me in 2009)

 

 

Kevin Ivory, a Marine medic (Petty Officer Third Class) on his 3rd tour of duty in Iraq, was out on patrol in Fallujah when the Humvee he was driving ran directly over three Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs), launching him and his buddy Phil 10 feet in the air. Severely wounded by shrapnel blast, he found the strength to render aid to Phil, who’d lost his arm in the attack. Despite Kevin’s severe injuries, blood loss and shock, he managed to place and maintain a tourniquet on his buddy’s arm, drifting in and out of consciousness. When rescue crews found the pair, an unconscious Kevin still had a tight grip on Phil’s brachial artery, thereby saving his life. Although Kevin emphatically said he’d never climb a mountain like Rainier again (he mentioned Mauna Kea in Hawaii as an option — basically anyplace warm!), seeing him celebrate on the summit was a beautiful thing, and clearly a milestone event in his life. 

Celebration on the Summit: Mike Day (lower right), Kevin Ivory (center) and Bryan Stuart (far right); Scott, Bob and Erica also raising the flag...

21-year Navy SEAL veteran (Master Chief) Mike Day makes Rambo look like a male figure skater doing a Triple Salchow with a Half Gainer (or whatever it is those little guys do). Mike faced such overwhelming odds in an Al-Qaeda firefight in Fallujah it’s hard to fathom it, especially given the humility in which he recounts his fateful day. Riddled with bullets and presumed dead (he took 27 bullets in total, 16 to his body and 11 to his body armor), he somehow rallied and took down his four assailants. Had his valor been witnessed by two independent sources, as is required for the Congressional Medal of Honor, it is likely he’d have received our nation’s highest honor for valor in combat. Mike made it to the top in fine form, and apparently liked it well enough to want to take a friend and fellow wounded warrior (double lower extremity amputee) to climb Denali, an even colder and tougher destination. That’s just the kind of guy he is — as a retired SEAL, he works with a non-profit to help other wounded veterans get the services they need to transition back into civilian life.

Bryan Stuart, also a Navy SEAL, was hard hit by a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) during his first tour of duty, and has stoically fought  to recover strength and function following multiple injuries and other issues. An electronics and communications expert on the SEAL teams, he hopes to go back to college soon to pursue an electrical engineering degree as his wife completes medical school. SEALs are famously tough: Bryan never showed any weakness or suffering on the climb. Although a quiet individual by nature, I could tell by his proud smile that he was powerfully changed by the summit experience. What’s more, the experience left the entire team of guides and volunteers (including Micah, Bill, Curtis, Art, Ann, Erica, Heidi, Tim, Kegan, Walt, Bob and me) with a profound sense of awe — we most likely derived even greater uplift from the climb than the vets!

Please consider giving generously to Camp Patriot so they can help others — “Giving back to those who have given.” www.camppatriot.org

Image: An Astronaut Holds Apollo 11 Moon Rocks atop Everest with the Moon High Above

Image: Scott moments after arriving at the summit

Image: Scott Parazynski, The first Astronaut to Stand Atop Mt. Everest

Image: The airy summit ridge, as seen on the descent

Image: Banner honoring SPOT, our corporate sponsor

Image: Explorers Club Flag #114 (second year in a row on the summit)

Image: Space mission memorial “prayer flags”

Image: Sunrise on Everest

Image: Scott in his tent at Camp IV after returning from the summit

Scott Parazynski and his Sherpa Danuru are standing on the summit of Mt. Everest as of 6:15 pm EDT – 4 am Nepal time

Scott was at the south summit 8,750 m (28,700 ft) of Mt Everest at 2:35 am local time. Main summit is at 8,848 metres (29,029 ft).

8:26 pm Nepal time: Scott has just departed Camp IV and is headed for the summit of Mt. Everest ETA 5 am Nepal time/7 pm EDT – perhaps earlier.

Scott is using his SPOT Satellite Personal Tracker to check in. You can follow his progress all the way to the summit by checking his personal tracking page . Select “terrain” to see how close he is getting to the summit of Mt. Everest.

Scott Parazynski and Keith Cowing answer questions from students at the Challenger Learning Center of Manhattan about his attempt to climb Mt. Everest and his career as an astronaut.

As you can see from this SPOT update, Scott at Camp IV (South Col) at an elevation of 7,920 meters (26,000 ft). The summit is still a bit away at 8,848 meters (29,029 ft). Scott’s summit window still focuses on a 7-8 pm 19 May EDT / 5-6 am 20 May Local time summit. Scott is walking up to the jetstream. The rest of y’all need airplanes and rockets to do that. Dig it.

Scott is using his SPOT Satellite Personal Tracker to check in. You can follow his progress all the way to the summit by checking his personal tracking page . Select “terrain” to see how close he is getting to the summit of Mt. Everest.

Scott just completed a Gigapan panorama – we believe this billion-plus pixel image to be the highest Gigapan shot ever taken on Earth.

Looking back, Scott is now much higher than he got last year. Based on a radio chat with him a few minutes ago, he is fit, energetic, and determined to make a safe ascent to the summit. His story from last year puts this year’s ascent into perfect context:

22 May 2008: Summit so close, yet so far…

“Just the day before I’d awoken with low back spasms (something I’ve dealt with intermittently in the past), but I had still managed to climb the very steep Lhotse face between Camps II and III in a very respectable four and a half hours, cinching my climbing harness like a weight lifter’s belt. The night at Camp II had been hard, unable to find a comfortable position for my low back for more than a minute or two. I told myself to persevere, the summit was tantalizingly close — by morning all would be well, else I’d just “ignore” the stabbing pain and press on to the top.

My buddies Adam, Kami, Namgya, Bob and others at camp were as helpful as friends could ever be under the circumstances — getting ready to move up to Camp IV for our summit assault — placing a fresh oxygen cylinder in my backpack and installing the crampons on my boots (there was no way I’d have been able to reach them. With their encouragement I braced myself and led off up the steep slope towards the Yellow Band on a test run. Within 10 paces I did an about face and told my friends “I’m done,” averting my wet eyes from probably some of theirs. I knew that if I continued up with them I’d slow them dramatically, possibly compromising their summit success, and conceivably place them in a rescue situation (mine). After 59 days on this expedition, and a lifetime of dreaming about it, it was a painful but easy decision to turn away from the summit…”

Keith Cowing: Scott departed Everest Base Camp this morning around 4:30 am. He and his climbing partners are now at Camp II where they will spend the next day resting. He checked in this afternoon with his SPOT Personal Satellite Tracker. Current plans call for a summit around 5-6 am local time on 20 May (7-8 pm EDT 19 May).

Keith Cowing: Scott is on his way to the summit of Mt Everest. He departed IMG Base Camp just after 4 am local time this morning (7 May) with his Sherpa guide Danuru. The moon was out and the sky was crystal clear. ETA at the summit is 7-8 pm EDT 10 May (5-6 am 11 May Nepal time).

Update: At 12:14 Nepal time Scott radioed in to Base Camp that he had arrived at Camp II.

You’ve read about SPOT. You’ve seen SPOT run. You’ve seen SPOT sit. Now you’ll see SPOT, as in SPOTScott and SPOTDanuru, go to new heights: Camp III is situated at 24,000+ feet above sea level, just a vertical mile from Everest’s summit. The brochure that comes with a SPOT unit states it functions up to 21,000 feet above sea level, but we know it works wonders at Camp II — 21,500 feet — and its reception just keeps getting better and better the higher we go. The manufacturers picked that somewhat arbitrary number, not realizing how popular the device would become with mountaineers. Check out the map page in the coming days and follow along as we suffer our way up the Lhotse face…

Some people are list-makers, others just make mental notes and get things done. I tend to have a pretty strong memory, but when missing an item on a mental list could prove ugly, I put pen to paper and create a checklist. Today’s checklist* to prepare for Camp III is critical: forget my helmet or a spare pare of mittens and I’ve got to turn around and go home. I’ll be issued my “Top Out” mask today, and if all goes well with establishing Camp III in the next 4-5 days, I’ll don this oxygen system and take a “stroll” to about 25,000 feet and visit the Yellow Band. Very excited to make this second of (hopefully) three passes through the icefall. The summit season is just a few short weeks away!

The early warming trend here in the Khumbu is a bit alarming. I awoke this morning about 0600 and within an hour heard no less than 7 avalanches. There was another collapse in the “Popcorn” section of the icefall this morning, delaying the return of one of our climbers. Danuru and I, probably to be joined by Dawa and Raejean, will endeavor to pass the icefall quickly tomorrow morning — camp departure is slated for 0430 local time. We’ll spend a few hours resting at Camp I, and leave for Camp II around 1500, following the peak heating of the day.

Keith and Miles will be posting in my absence from EBC, including a few thoughts I’d previously written on gear and on Everest field science.

Climb on,
Scott

* While I work my checklist today, some of my fellow climbers have descended to Gorak Shep to view the world’s highest, Guiness Book of World Record-breaking cricket match. Although this sounds vaguely interesting, I’d derive about 5 minutes of entertainment value from it. As my very good friend Doug Wheelock would often say: “It’s like a hog looking at a wristwatch: he sees it, but he has absolutely no idea what it means…!”

Scott is heading up the Khumbu Icefall. Track him here via SPOT – pick the “satellite” view.