The Seven Summits

What are the seven summits? The seven summits simply put are the highest mountain on each continent.

As of March 2010 there had been only 275 people that have made all seven summits I believe I can give this list a run.

Let’s review the list:

1. Kosciusko - Australia
2. Carstensz Pyramid - Indonesia
3. Elbrus - Russia
4. Kilimanjaro - Tanzania
5. Mt McKinley - USA
6. Aconcagua - Argentina
7. Everest – Nepal

Let’s break the list down:

There are just 7
I have done #4
I have done other climbs as hard or harder then the first three
That leaves three I was planning on doing McKinley anyway and to do McKinley I need to climb Aconcagua.
So by my logic that will only leave one Everest

When you think all time and the whole world, 275 is a very small number of people a very select club, I want in.

Life in the blink of an eye

The phone rings at 2 am nothing good happens at 2 am, you wake up and your son is not in yet you know it is only 11:45 and he said he would be home at 12. You worry that is what you do. The youngest goes to prom for the first time and when he comes home he goes to bed and you do not hear him walk in so you spas out only to find him sleeping in his bed as he should be. Why do we worry because we love them and we know that bad things happen to good people for no reason.

A friend’s twenty two year old daughter passed away this morning for what reason none that I can tell. She went to the Sugar Land concert at the State Fair and the stage collapsed on her and her friend. We all go to concerts with no thought of anything other than lets have a good time, not that tragedy may strike.

So I worry some times with reason and some times for no reason simply because I know everything can go away in the blink of an eye.

RIP Jennifer Haskell
God be with your family

H.A.F.

High Altitude Flatchulance who knew I needed a name to fart at 15000 feet and higher but that is the correct term. At or around 15000 feet the farting started Eric then Mark then Eric then Mark and so on for a day and a half. Eric said it is called HAF haha I just call it another day in the life of Mark but Haf makes it sound so proper and with a title to boot.

So some where around 3am and more than half way to the top of Kilimanjaro I start firing off bombs only for one of the girls to hit me in the head and yell quit! Well since I was not about to stop I immediately went to the blame game so upon the next rear exposition I let out an accusatory “Thomas.” This happened to be the name of one of the porters and for the last four days all of them had been quite but mix in a little fart humor and wahla we have an instant international ice breaker everyone loves a fart joke and the Tanzanians are no different. For the next three days everyone blamed Thomas for anything that remotely resembled a fart! This was funny stuff all night you would hear Swahili spoken followed by a “THOMAS!” and then laughter.

I believe my calling may be as an ambassador! When in a serious negotiation with another country and talks break down I will simply go to the “pull my finger” card.

No hill for a climber

How do you eat an Elephant? Easy, one bite at a time! Mt. Kilimanjaro is the highest mountain in Africa and fourth highest of the Seven Summits. Its highest point, Uhuru Peak, rises to an altitude of 19,341 ft. It claims a fifty percent rate of successful summits and upon first sight you are taken back by its size mainly because from sea level you can’t see the top or no where near it just a big mass rising out of the ground.

I have wanted to climb her for several years when asked why the truth is there are several answers: Hemmingway, accomplishment, bragging rights, the beauty, the feeling of success, it is part of Africa so many answers maybe just because its there.

The first day is a nice little walk in the park from The Machame Gate to Machame Camp 10,000 feet. This is a long hike the first 10000 feet is not steep but a long constant climb through the rain forest and you will be tired, soaked in sweat and dogging red ants the size of quarters that bite.

Day two is a climb to 12000 feet and out of the rain forest where you will see the mountains full size for the first time I believe my thought was holy shit that’s big.

The third day is cool on one hand and a bit of a mind screw on the other. The cool part is we climb The Barancco Wall which is intimidating as it is a wall straight up of 14500 feet which is a great accomplishment a lot of climbers fail here. Now the mind games we drop back down to 13000 feet this makes no since to me I took this height and do not want to surrender 1500 feet back but my opinion was not asked for it is just part of the acclimatization process Bull Shit, Bull Shit, Bull Shit. Tonight we will sleep at Karanga Valley.

Day four is climbing to High Camp 15000 feet, each night has taken a bite out of our guides or climbers be it mountain sickness, tired, sore what ever today was my day in the bag honestly I believe my issues were allergy related the mountain is dirt and I am tired of breathing it and maybe a little dehydration for a bonus probably due to me not wanting to drink on this day.

Summit day starts at midnight and will go till five pm; the good news is I feel great; the bad news will hit me at 18000 feet.

There is only three of us plus our guides Carolyn had health issues on day two and seems to have recovered, I refuse to admit anything other than I feel great, but Julie has clearly slowed down and I am worried about her. At about 16000 feet our guide cuts her loose from us telling her to take a porter and her time. This mentally affects me I don’t want to see anybody miss and as we climb on we see other climbers that were moving faster than us are now coming back down unsuccessful this plants seeds of discouragement in your mind. At 18000 feet my eyes shut on there own and I fog over only for a step but WTF Mark? I move on only for it to happen again this time I do a mental check stop shake myself and tell myself to get a grip NOW! Which I do thank goodness no more issues and at 18500 feet I actually catch a second wind.

Ninety percent of everyone that does not make the top fails with in 1000 feet of the summit. I never understood this how you can be this close to your goal and miss till we got there and then it becomes obvious the last 1000 feet is vertical and on loose rock which takes about three hours to climb. Julie has managed to hang on and even hits Stella Point the top roughly 18900 feet. We have already headed on to the Summit what we do not know at this moment is Julie is being carried off the mountain she as succumb to mountain sickness. At 19000 feet just 341 feet from the summit Carolyn is down to half steps and I am barking at her that she is going to make it and yes she does as well as I 19341 feet the highest point in Africa and once again without notice tears start to run down my face just as my last summit it is truly an awesome feeling to accomplish this goal.

We take pictures, high fives, let out a few screams and like Rainer I write on the top of the mountain Mark Loves Nancy. It is about time to head down when we get a very special treat Eric our guide pulls out a satellite phone from his bag since there are only two of us and tells us to make a quick call home. What a moment to call Nancy a share this time with her met everything to me!

End of story right? Nope now we have to climb all the way down this will take two days but our spirits are up and we get reunited with Julie at camp where she has now fully recovered.

La La Salama
Good Night in Swahili

Hey God I See You