K2, the second-highest peak in the world, has remained relatively free of the commercial circus common on Mount Everest, but this year the number of climbers ballooned. Thus far in 2022, some 200 people reached the 28,251-foot summit, including a record-setting 145 people on a single day. Prior to this year, only about 300 people had summited the mountain, ever. This week we saw reports of another Everest-like occurrence on the mountain: heaps of trash.

A few days ago Nimsdai Foundation posted at camp two (21,980’). As dramatic strings play in the background, the camera pans across the steep snow slope to reveal dozens of flattened and shredded tents, ropes, pickets, and oxygen canisters. Nirmal Purja, who famously set the speed record for the world’s 14 highest peaks, led a team on the mountain this season and reported that he almost threw up from the smell. Among the refuse left behind is human waste, which doesn’t decompose at altitude and creates serious health risks, since climbers need to melt snow for drinking water.

“The rubbish on K2 at camp two was so bad this year,” Nims posted. “Rotting food and human waste, old tents, and ropes cascading down the mountainside.” American climber Sarah Strattan. “Camps one and two on K2 are disgusting. Waste from past and present expeditions has piled up everywhere
and you camp right on top of it,” she wrote.

The issue of trash on the world’s highest peaks isn’t new. Everest often gets referred to as the world’s highest landfill, and șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű has reported on the trash (and bodies) piling up every year. But the issue has historically been associated more strongly with Everest, in large part because of the huge crowds. The recent video was particularly jarring because K2 is climbed by far fewer people, because it is more technical and dangerous. Prior to this year, for every four climbers attempting the peak, one would die.
In response to the uproar following his by-then viral trash video, Purja added that the litter shouldn’t necessarily be perceived as malice. “If a climber is ill or struggling, they need to get down the mountains [sic] asap—they may die if they stay to pick up their gear,” . “Obviously, those climbers that can bring down rubbish, 100 percent should.”

But that explanation can’t account for the entirety of the problem. Eric Gilbertson, an independent climber who summited without using supplemental oxygen, compared the situation to nearby Broad Peak in a post on : “I was surprised how much trash was in this camp given that the camps on Broad were generally clean. Both peaks had a similar number of climbers registered for permits and [camp one and camp two] on Broad were also small. The only difference I can think of is K2 has almost exclusively guided groups while Broad had a high percentage of independent groups. Perhaps independent groups clean up after themselves better and don’t leave old tents on the mountain? I’m not sure.”

Gilbertson might be onto something with that analysis. Adrian Ballinger, a professional climber, IFMGA guide, and owner of Alpenglow Expeditions, which leads trips on peaks from Everest to Aconcagua, weighed in: “I think the problem is inexperienced people led by inexperienced high-altitude workers led by inexperienced or unethical expedition leaders.”

In order to offer expedition climbs to clients at a lower price, some operators will opt not to hire Sherpa or high-altitude workers to pack out trash and gear. “Companies have told me that the reason they don’t bring things like tents down, is they can buy new tents from China that are cheaper than paying Sherpa to go up and do extra rotations and bring their equipment down,” Ballinger says.

Once that trash is on the mountain for a season of melt-freeze cycles, it becomes embedded into the ice and is incredibly difficult to chop out and remove.

As the waste problems have increased, so too have removal efforts. In 2019, cleanup crews hauled some 24,000 pounds of trash off of Mount Everest. Purja is currently raising money to pay for a team of Sherpa to deep clean both Everest and K2 by removing trash and old, dangerous ropes.

But while cleanup expeditions are productive, the culture of climbing these peaks has to shift in order to effect meaningful change. Ballinger ran a clean-up on Ama Dablam in 2010, but felt that it actually gave companies permission to do less. “Until we change the culture, a cleanup expedition just encourages poor behavior,” says Ballinger. Two years after the big clean, the trash problem on Ama Dablam was worse than it had ever been before.

Ballinger believes that the movement toward a better mountain experience has to come from the operators, and that clients have to demand it. Many companies, both local and Western operators, pay their support staff to clean up their expedition’s trash. By choosing to climb with these outfitters, prospective clients can support these ethical practices with their wallets.

“If you’re leaving an 8,000-meter peak as a client feeling a little dirty inside about what might have happened on your trip, whether that’s frostbite on your Sherpa or the fact that you left all your poop at camp two—who wants that?” says Ballinger. “None of us are going to be proud of climbing these peaks anymore.”

The post Look at All This Garbage on K2 appeared first on șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Online.

On July 21 at 10:45 P.M. Pakistan time, five climbers stood on the summit of 28,251-foot K2. They were the first mountaineers to reach the peak’s top during the 2022 summer climbing season, after spending more than 24 hours battling their way to the summit. For Pasdawa Sherpa, Chhiring Namgyal Sherpa, Siddhi Ghising, Dorjee Gyelzen Sherpa, and Rinji Sherpa, turning around wasn’t an option, as hundreds of climbers further down on the mountain were relying on their work. This team of elite high-altitude workers from Nepal had fixed a series of ropes that would be later used by climbers waiting in cramped tents at Camp 4.

By the time the rope fixers began their descent, a horde of climbers was already working its way towards the summit, leading to what was to become the most crowded day on the peak.

One of the climbers ascending the mountain was Nepali guide Mingma Gyalge Sherpa, better known as Mingma G, who captured a video on Instagram that was quickly circulated around the globe. The video showed dozens of climbers waiting in a so-called “conga line” on the mountain’s infamous bottleneck couloir at 26,900 feet.

“Many of the climbers were expected to go to the summit on 20 and 21 July but there was no route fixed to the summit until 21 July at night so everyone made the summit push for July 22, that made the traffic jam,” Mingma G said in a WhatsApp message.

The scene marked a historic moment for K2, long called the “savage mountain” in climbing circles. In previous decades, K2 was off-limits to all but the most seasoned mountaineers due to its extreme danger and steepness. Now, K2 has exploded in popularity, driven by a generation of paying clients that seek a greater challenge than Mount Everest, and a coterie of expedition operators who specialize in getting climbers to the top—regardless of the dangers found along the way.

By the end of the day on July 22, well over 100 climbers had reached K2’s summit, which is notorious for brutal weather and a high fatality rate. In the ensuing days, this number continued to rise. As of Thursday morning, 145 climbers have notched the summit since July 21, a figure that has added 30 percent more total summits to the mountain’s tally since it was first climbed nearly 70 years ago. Prior to the historic day, just 302 people had stood on the summit.

But this bonanza on the mountains produced the cringe-worthy moment on the bottleneck, and other scenes of crowding.

“I never thought this would happen on K2,” said Himalayan Database director and mountaineer, Bili Bierling, when she saw Mingma G’s video.

The bottleneck is notorious for danger. In February, 2021 it claimed the lives of three elite mountaineers: Muhammad Ali Sadpara, John Snorri, and Juan Pablo Mohr. The deaths sent shockwaves through the mountaineering community. In the video, the line of climbers stood below a soaring wall of seracs that are known to send tons of ice crashing down the mountain at irregular intervals. The video also echoes a viral photoÌęshared by Nirmal ‘Nims’ Purja in 2019 of an overcrowded Everest summit ridge. While in Purja’s photo the climbers are stacked on an open ridge and surrounded by blue skies, on K2 the traffic jam was positioned directly beneath the dangerous seracs.

The video generated more than 200 comments, and a simmering debate about the mountain’s popularity this year. “K2 is not Everest—it cannot be commercialized like this. What a pity,” read one comment on the video.

Pemba Sherpa, the founder of 8K Expeditions, a leading Nepali outfitter, told șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍűÌęthat the increase in climbers this year was due to multiple dynamics, among them pent-up demand that occurred during the pandemic.

“So many people are on the way to climb 14 peaks,” Pemba said. “And so many people were stopped because of COVID and the financial downturn. Now, in 2022…. people are coming to K2.”

Pemba estimated there to be more than 200 total permits for the mountain this year. But he downplayed the danger caused by the crowding on the mountain. The conga line at the bottleneck was a large group that had been traveling together, and not a queue of disparate teams trying to reach the top.

“Two hundred people on a mountain of that size will get spread out,” he said. “The issue is when everyone wants to climb on the same day.”

When asked about his video, Mingma G echoed Pemba’s sentiment, saying that his company has seen a steady increase in interest for guiding on K2 in recent years. “Since 2017, we have seen summits every year on K2. It wasn’t like this previously,” he said. “And COVID-19 also increased the number of climbers on K2.”

Thanks to a patch of unusually stable weather in the Karakoram, summits on K2 have continued throughout the week. Notable ascents include Pasdawa Sherpa who, as part of the rope fixing team, became the fastest person to summit the five tallest peaks on the planet.

Norwegian climber Kristin Harila notched the eighth peak on her quest to climb all 14 peaks over 8,000 meters in six months and to draw attention to the role of women in high-altitude mountaineering. To prove her point, three women summited without the use of supplemental oxygen—Grace Teng from Taiwan, Andorran climber Stefi Troguet, and He Jing from China.

Huge crowds may be the norm on some of the world’s highest peaks this year. Thanks to a recent report by German archivist Eberhard Jurgalski on his blog 8000ers.com, that offered convincing evidence that the vast majority of recent ascents of Manaslu (26,781 feet) were, in fact, a few meters below the actual summit, operators in Nepal are expecting aÌę wave of climbers to return to the mountain this fall. Sources told șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű that they expect to see several hundred climbers on that peak later this fall.

“For my company alone, we have 50 clients already signed up.” said Pemba Sherpa. “Everyone is coming to repeat Manaslu.”

The post There Are Conga Lines and Huge Crowds on K2 Now appeared first on șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Online.

On Friday, Mount Everest saw its first summits of 2021, along with a new record: Kami Rita Sherpa summited for the 25th time, breaking his own record for most ascents. He was leading a rope-fixing team of 11 Sherpas, the NepaleseÌęguide company Seven Summit Treks.

Kami Rita, 52, is from the Himalayan village of Thame and first summited Everest in 1994 at 24 years old. He has summited four other 8,000-meter peaks—K2, Lhotse, Manaslu, and Cho Oyu—for a record 33 summits of 8,000-meter peaks in his lifetime, according to the Himalayan Database. He’s expected to log one more Everest summit this season while leading commercial climbers, a double-summit-season feat he’s accomplished on five other occasions.

With the ropes fixed from Base CampÌęto the peak, commercial teams quickly followed. Yesterday,Ìęthe five-member Bahrain Royal Guard became the first non-Sherpa group to summit this year, a team that included Prince Sheikh Mohammed Hamad Mohammed Al KhalifaÌęČčČÔ»ć 19-year-old Shehroze Kashif, theÌęyoungest Pakistani to summit Everest. Kenton Cool, an English mountaineer,Ìęset a UK record of 15 Everest summits, tying him with American Dave Hahn for most non-Sherpa summits.

With continued good weather, more of the over 300 climbers waiting in Base Camp are expected toÌęsummit this week. This yearÌęNepal issued a record 408 permits to foreigners, but many have left due to the coronavirus. Last weekÌęthe reported that there were 17 hospitalized COVID patients in Kathmandu whose cases originated atÌęBase Camp, but the true number of cases in the region resulting from the Base Camp outbreak is likely much higher.

The spread of COVID in the Everest climbing community has slowed in the past ten days, with no new cases reported at Base Camp. Meanwhile, on Dhaulagiri, another 8,000-meterÌęHimalayan peak, over 25 people have been evacuated after testing positive for the virus.

At the end of last week,Ìęthe Nepalese government closed the airport to all flights but two a day to India, stranding many visitors. However, theÌęgovernmentÌęalso announced that itÌęwould try to facilitate climbers’ departures from Nepal. It continues to deny that the virus has infected climbers on Everest and asking that the media not “publish stories without verification as it could terrorize the mountaineers as well as their family members.” Meanwhile, reported today that relief groups in Nepal are asking climbers to donate their used oxygen cylinders to help fill gaps created by medical supply shortages as the nationÌęgrapples with surging COVID cases.Ìę

The post Kami Rita Sherpa Just Broke His Own Everest Record appeared first on șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Online.

People are drawn to the mountains for all kinds of reasons—the desire to challenge themselves physically or emotionally, a hunger for risk or perhaps solitude, the need for a sense of accomplishment. But for some, the appeal is both deeper and far more complicated. So it is with Sequoia Schmidt, whose father and brother died on K2, the world’s second-tallest and most dangerous peak. That tragedy ultimately propelled her into the mountains herself—to, as she says, “find my soul.” In this episode from our friends at the Strangers podcast, we take a remarkable journey with Sequoia, one unlike any other climbing story we’ve ever heard.

This episode is brought to you by Belize, one of the world’s great adventure destinations and a country that’s created a comprehensive and common sense COVID-19 safety system for travelers. Learn more about how you can safely experience the wonder of Belize atÌę

The post A Desperate Need for the Mountains appeared first on șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Online.

In the winter of 1987Ìęto 1988, 13 Polish climbers, seven Canadians, and four Britons attempted to make the first winter summit of K2, the world’s second-highest mountain. The 28,251-foot peak is steeper, more technical, and deadlier than Everest, earning it the nickname “The Savage Mountain.”ÌęTheÌęteam quickly established the low camps, but progress stalled as the climbers went higher. The expedition had only ten days of good weather during the effort. After three months, they canceled the entire outing. Over the next three decades, five more winter expeditions—made up of some of the hardiest mountaineers in the world—similarly failed. The mountain was too cold, there was too much wind and snow, and it was just too difficult and dangerous to get to the top. After every other 8,000-meter peak had been climbed in winter, K2 sat alone, one of the last big prizes in mountaineering.Ìę

Until now. At 5ÌęP.M. local timeÌęon Saturday, January 16, a team of ten Sherpas and Nepalis stood on K2’s summit, located on the border between Pakistan and China. While most first summits have a name attached to the feat—likeÌęSir Edmund Hillary on Everest—this group credited the team, rather thanÌęan individual, with the first ascent. They sang the Nepali national anthem on the summit in celebration.

The team, led byÌęÌęČčČÔ»ć , took advantage of a short weather window when the wind died down to below ten miles per hour—a level of calm unheard of for K2 during the summer, much less the winter. Also on the team were Gelje Sherpa, Mingma David Sherpa, Mingma Tenzi Sherpa, Dawa Temba Sherpa, Pem Chhiri Sherpa, Kilu Pemba Sherpa, Dawa Tenjing Sherpa, and Sona Sherpa. They have safely descended to Camp 3 and will return to base camp on Sunday.

Historically, Polish, Russian, and Italian climbers have dominated winter attempts on the 8,000-meter mountains, so this all-Nepali team was motivated not only to summit but to make a statement that Nepali and Sherpa climbers are among the best in the world.ÌęBefore leaving Nepal for Pakistan, Mingma Gyalje Sherpa, who owns the guiding company Imagine Nepal, that the climb wasÌęfor a nation and their mountaineering pride.Ìę“For all the other 8,000ers summits in winter, no Sherpa was with them, so this is an opportunity for Sherpa to demonstrate their strength,” he said.Ìę“Besides alpinists, all the climbers take help from Sherpa to fulfill their dreams of 8,000-meterÌępeaks. I have helped several foreign climbers to get to the summit of different 8,000ers. I was a little surprised to see no Sherpa on aÌęwinter first ascent. So this climb is for all the Sherpa community who are so known because of our friends and clients from different foreign countries.”

Mingma Gyalje Sherpa is an IFMGA/UIAGM certified mountain guide who began his mountaineering career in 2006 with an attempt on MountÌęManaslu. Today, he has 22 summits on 8,000-meter peaks. Then there’s Nirmal Purja Pun Magar. Purja, who goes by Nims, is well known in the mountaineering world. He made a name for himself in 2020 by summiting all 14 of the 8,000-meter peaks in a blazing fast six months and six days. (The previous record was seven years, 11 months, and 14 days,Ìęset by Jerzy KukuczkaÌęin 1987.) Nims used supplemental oxygen on all but one of theÌę14Ìęsummits. He has over 20 summits of 8,000-meter peaks. Nims and Mingma Gyalje Sherpa are the only people with both summer and winter ascents of K2.Ìę

So how did this Nepali nationalÌęteam accomplish what so many other world-class expeditionsÌęcould not? My opinionÌęis that they worked as a unified group to get the camps and the fixed lines in early, and then got lucky with the weather, especially on the summit push. With wind chills at a frigid minus 80 degreesÌęFahrenheit, there were enough days to acclimatize and establish the camps, and then on summit day, the windchill was more manageable at minus 40Ìędegrees Fahrenheit.ÌęAlso, they were able to stay healthy and avoid the objective dangers of avalanches and rockfall. The ten-person crew—which had more than 100 combined summits of 8,000-meter peaks—created a strong support team, using supplemental oxygen to break trail and put in the fixed safety lines.Ìę

In addition to the team of Nepalis and Sherpas, a large commercial group made up of more than 50 people is also on the mountain, far more than in years past. There are many on the commercial team who lack winter 8,000-meter experience. However, several are world-class climbers, including Italian . Controversial American polar explorer Colin O’BradyÌęis also on the commercial team permit. The remaining climbers currently at K2 base camp will wait for the next weather window, expected later in January.

Despite the historic success of this expedition, K2 alsoÌęoffered a reminder ofÌęwhy it is one of the most treacherous mountains in the world. While the Nepali and Sherpa team was pushing for the summit, Spanish climber Sergi Mingote fell while returning to base camp after a successful acclimation rotation.ÌęHeÌędied from his injuries.Ìę

The post A Nepali Team Just Made the First Winter Ascent of K2 appeared first on șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Online.

Last year, mountaineers and Ìęreached the top ofÌęthe world’s second-highest peakÌęwithout supplemental oxygen. , a film from , chronicles what it took to make that happen.

The post Summiting K2 Without Supplemental Oxygen appeared first on șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Online.

In early May 2017, I walked out of the small airport in Ljubljana, Slovenia, carrying two giant duffels and a ski bag. An orange Land Rover pulled up to the curb. Out climbed Davorin “Davo” ÌęKarničar, the only man to ski Mount Everest from top to bottom. We’d never met, but Karničar shook my hand and smiled like we were old friends. His biceps and chest bulged out of his T-shirt.Ìę

A few minutes later, we began the short drive to Jezersko, the 600-person farming village where Karničar had lived all his life—and where he died Monday, September 16, in a tree-felling accident at age 56. (Jeff Mechura, president of Elan USA, Karničar’s longtime ski sponsor, confirmed his cause of death on Tuesday.)ÌęWe snaked along the Kokra River, clear and pure, talking as we went. His English wasn’tÌęgreat—“expedition English,” he called it—but his cheerful spirit made up for it.Ìę

An unlikely turn of events had brought us together: one month earlier, having heard Karničar was preparing to attempt the first full ski descent of 28,251-foot K2, I emailed him requesting an interview. He wrote back a few hours later with what he called “a proposition.” Instead of doing the interview by phone, he could fly to Colorado, where I live at 10,200 feet, and we could ski together. He’dÌęget some high-altitude training, and I’dÌęget my interview. “What do you think about this?” he asked.Ìę

I was elated, of course. He bought a ticket for the first of May. I was to pick him up at the Denver airport at midnight. A few hours before I left, I received an email from his wife, Petra. Davo had been stopped in Istanbul due to President Trump’sÌęrecently enacted travel ban and sent back to Slovenia—denied entry to the U.S. because he’dÌęskied in Iran a few years before. Aside from the disappointment and wondering what would happen to the story, there was also a bigger problem. In advance of his visit, Karničar had ordered eight expedition tents and eight sleeping bags and had them shipped to my house, since they weren’t available in Europe. The only way to get them to Slovenia in time for his imminent departure to Pakistan was for me to deliver them in person. I could see his stress ease when he picked me up in Ljubljana and saw that the gear had made it, too.Ìę

Karničar was old school. He never sought nor cared about the attention he garnered from skiing the world’sÌębiggest mountains. But you could argue there was not a more accomplished ski mountaineer on earth, even if few people outside Slovenia—a nation smaller than New Jersey—knew who he was. He made first descents on two of the 14 8,000-meter peaks—Annapurna, in 1995, with his brother Drejc; and Everest, in October 2000, alone—and skied parts of five other 8,000ers, as well as treacherous lines in the Andes and Alps. His first attempt on K2, which ended when his skis blew away in a storm high on the mountain, took place in 1993. He was also the first to make uninterrupted ski descents of the Seven Summits, completing his quest in November 2006.Ìę

Everest marked his pinnacle but also took its toll. During his first attempt, from the north side in 1996—which he aborted at 8,300 meters when the deadly storm chronicled in Into Thin Air blew in—Karničar lost two fingers to frostbite. In 2000, he slid 25 vertical feet down the snow-covered Hillary Step before narrowly arresting his speed. His 12,000-foot, oxygen-free descent was livestreamed by a Slovenian telecommunications company, turning him into a celebrity back home. But when I asked how many people watched, he scoffed: “I don’t care about this. Before and after the expedition, I was concentrating only on my work.”

He could come across as standoffish, but it masked his tender simplicity. When Karničar finished the Seven Summits, a month after Jackson Hole-based ski mountaineer finished her own pursuit of the same goal, some Slovenians urged him to contest DesLauriers’Ìęclaim of being first, since she took two days to ski Everest and did not make a full ski descent. “People tell me, ‘Davo, you must make an explanation, you must tell her this is not true,’” he said. “I don’t need that. I’m happy!”

And he was. A father of seven (including three grown kids from his first marriage) and grandfather of two, Karničar was rooted by his family. “Children are the greatest gift,” he told me. He had four under the age of 16 when I visited. Eva, 10, was riding her bike one-handed in the driveway. Izidor, 15, had just come home from skiing Mt. Elbrus, the highest peak in Europe, with Davo. Ten-month-old Martin, the youngest, climbed into the dishwasher as we spoke. Davo, standing in the same kitchen where he was born, couldn’t help but beam at his son’s curiosity.

A framed photograph hung on his wall: Karničar, a proud Catholic, meeting the Pope with the Elan skis he used on Everest (he held the same ski sponsor for 44 years). A stuffed marten and stuffed fox rested on the floor, below various pelts and a dozen mounted skulls from game he’dÌęeither killed or found in avalanche debris. When I brought up K2 and how Karničar's looming attempt was affecting their family, Izidor chimed in. “I’m not scared, because I trust him,” the boy said in English, one of three languages he’s fluent in, along with Russian and Slovenian. Karničar got up and hugged his son, who was already taller than his five-foot-eight dad.Ìę

The next morning, Karničar drove me and a photographer up a stunning alpine valley to his favorite trailhead. We hiked up a steep, exposed trail to the Čeơka Koča, or Czech Hut, which his father managed for 40 years. We talked about his brother, Luka, who died in a training accident with the Slovenian mountain rescue team, of which Davo was also a member; and about his best friend and longtime expedition partner, Franc Oderlap, who was killed by icefall on Manaslu, the world’s eighth tallest mountain, as Karničar watched in 2009.

He was hardened by those and other tragedies, but the hut calmed him. Before he became a mountaineer, he spent eight years competing for Yugoslavia’s national alpine ski team, training on the slopes above the hut. (He later worked as a serviceman for Norway’s World Cup racers in the early ’90s). As we switched from sneakers to ski boots, Martin’s voice chirped from Karničar's phone—“Dada, dada”—whenever someone called. We started skinning into a dense fog. Karničar's trademark yodel echoed off the cirque above us.

After an hour, the fog lifted to reveal massive rock walls caked in snow and ice. Karničar continued alone up a ramp and onto one of the walls, stopping on a hanging snowfield and transitioning from crampons to skis. I met him halfway down his descent, and we skied to the hut on perfect spring snow.Ìę

Back at the trailhead, we shook hands and hugged in honor of a memorable day in the mountains. “Sometimes,” Karničar said with a twinkle in his eye, “when I’m really happy, I drink one beer.” So we drove back down the valley, past the chalet that he and Petra bought a few years earlier, where he hoped to open a ski-mountaineering school and lodge. We stopped at a restaurant on a lake and sat by the window, looking up at verdant pastures and towering peaks—his version of heaven.
Ìę

The post Remembering Davo Karničar, an Underappreciated Legend appeared first on șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Online.

AlexÌęHonnold

Climber on top of the world

He was already the poster boy of adventure sports coming into 2018, thanks to his free-solo climbs—alone, with no ropes—of massive rock walls. Over the past half-dozen years, his calm embrace of extraordinary risk has garnered a steady flow of mainstream media coverage (, , ) and attracted big-ticket sponsors (BMW, Citibank, Squarespace) while leaving elite climbers dumbfounded. All that was before the October release of , a film that marks the end of his transformation from an unknown dirt bag living in a van to a bonafide superstar who, well, still lives in a van, at least for most of the year.

Back in June, Honnold reminded us that he does know how to use a rope when he teamed up with Tommy Caldwell, of Dawn Wall fame, to break climbing’s equivalent of the two-hour marathon barrier. Honnold and Caldwell sprinted up the storied Nose route on El Capitan in an astonishing 1:58, more than 20 minutes faster than the previous best time. When I spoke to Honnold shortly after they reached the top, he described the record as “totally adequate”—which is exactly the kind of shrugging diffidence we’ve come to expect from the guy. He’s been in the spotlight for almost a decade but rarely says anything that would help us truly understand him. “I separate me the human from me the public persona,” he says. “I’ve had success with that.”

He did, that is, until Free Solo. The 97-minute biopic chronicles his mind-bending 2017 ascent of the 3,000-foot Freerider route on El Capitan. Codirected by husband-wife team Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, whose previous project, 2015’s , was on most short lists for an Oscar documentary nomination, the film offers the first truly penetrating look at Honnold. We see him climbing like a machine, but also losing his nerve and bailing from an earlier attempt of Freerider, and expressing his feelings for his girlfriend, Sanni McCandless. Free Solo, he explains, captures him as accurately as a movie can. “It’s basically me,” he says.

Despite having his real self finally exposed, Honnold still struggles to explain how he’s navigated his wild journey. Which is why, after asking him to share some of the lessons he’s learned along the way, we had the people who know him best add some illuminating commentary. —Matt Skenazy

“The first time I tried to solo Freerider, I climbed up partway and then backed off. I was up there and it felt really scary. I didn’t want to be there. With soloing, it’s important to listen to those signals and then act on them. If I’m not having a good time, there’s no real reason to be doing it.”

“When Alex began the process of documenting his climb for Free Solo, I found it pretty disconcerting. He’d be lying to himself if he said he didn’t like the glory and attention that comes from being the world’s boldest climber, and my concern was that having a camera crew around would muddy his judgment. In the end, I made peace with the fact that this was the magnum opus of his whole weird art-slash-career.” —Cedar Wright, climbing partner

“My mom taught me how to drive. One day when I was stressed in traffic, she said, ‘If you’re ever really worried, you can just park. Just stop and get out. People will go around.’ That’s a great life lesson: you can always just stop.”

“There was this time when we were both young and I had my license but Alex didn’t, and I was letting him drive to practice. He made a right-hand turn too sharply, and the minivan went up on the curb. We were about to hit a telephone pole. Alex very calmly stopped and let the rest of the traffic go by. Mom would have been proud.” —Stasia Honnold, sister

“[Laughs] Alex never parks. And where did he come up with this? It’s probably something his mom wrote in her new memoir, so it’s fresh in his mind. Alex borrows material like this a lot. But he doesn’t follow his mom’s advice. Alex never stops.” —Josh McCoy, climbing partner

“When I’m soloing, I’m not thinking about anything. I’m physically executing a plan. It’s like asking a gymnast what they’re thinking about while they’re doing a routine.”

“Obviously, Alex can do this really well. But he doesn’t understand why others can’t.” —Tommy Caldwell, climbing partner

“There’s a quote that I like: ‘Being a professional means doing the things you love to do on the days you don’t feel like doing them.’ Sometimes you train even though you’re not motivated, because you’re like, Well, I’ll be better if I actually put in the hours.”

“Alex has a deep innate drive. He feels the need to keep achieving in climbing, or he faces depression.” —McCoy

“I’m pretty particular about always putting things in the same pockets, or the same pouches in backpacks. Everything goes in its place. My luggage is always packed the same way, and I always wear the same clothes for travel. You’ve got to keep things orderly so your ship is sailing smoothly.”

“You should see him with my phone. He constantly wants to adjust my updates, erase old voice mail, delete extra alarms. It’s like he’s in a neurotic-tendencies candy shop.” —Sanni McCandless, girlfriend

“I don’t like running, and I almost never run. But I was in Telluride, Colorado, this summer when a friend texted me to say that Robert Redford wanted to meet me and I had 20 minutes to get there. I was like, Holy shit! So I sprinted a mile or so across town. As I was running I thought, this is why you always maintain some basic fitness. It was sort of the modern-day equivalent of being chased by a lion.”

“Alex is a bit of a celebrity dork. Have you seen all those selfies with Jared Leto?” —Wright

“It’s not about controlling your fear. It’s about broadening your comfort zone. You need to systematically expose yourself to something until it’s not scary.”

“After he did 60 Minutes,ÌęAlex had to learn to speak in public, which was ten times more terrifying for him than climbing without a rope. But he’s learned to be quite charming.” —Wright

Des Linden

American woman who broke through at Boston

łąŸ±ČÔ»ć±đČÔ’s historic win at the 2018 Boston Marathon continued a pattern of success for American women distance runners. As the numbers below suggest, an even more exciting future is very likely on the way. —Will Cockrell

Four American women among the favorites before this year’s marathon: Linden, Shalane Flanagan, Jordan Hasay, and Molly Huddle. “It would have been really heartbreaking if we didn’t win,” says Linden. “That was just about the best squad we could have put on the line.”

Seven American women who placed in the top eight finishers at Boston. “That depth has been building for a while,” says Linden. “From the 800-meters runners on up, we’re seeing a lot of success right now.”

Thirty-three years since the last American woman, Lisa Larsen Rainsberger, won Boston. “Lisa was thrilled,” says Linden.“She’d been hoping someone would do it soon.”

Fourty-six years that women have been allowed to compete in the Boston Marathon. (Eight entered and finished the 1972 race.) “You always think about history with Boston,” says Linden. “You feel like you’re running in those amazing women’s footsteps.”

Six seconds Linden waited for Flanagan to take a bathroom break roughly halfway through the Boston course. “I knew it was important to help her get back with the lead pack” says Linden. “The more Americans we had with us, the better our odds.”

Tommy Caldwell

That other guy on El Cap

When Alex Honnold decided to grab back the climbing speed record for the infamous Nose route on Yosemite’s El Capitan this summer, he figured the best way to guarantee success was to get his good friend Tommy Caldwell to join him. This despite the fact that Caldwell had never set a speed record. “When Tommy commits to do something, it happens,” explains Honnold.

Caldwell is among the best and most dedicated big-wall climbers in history. He spent seven years almost entirely focused on completing the first free ascent—using ropes and anchors for safety only—of El Capitan’s Dawn Wall, which he completed with Kevin ­Jorgeson in early 2015. Their effort earned a shout-out from President Obama and is the subject of the other big climbing film released this fall, The Dawn Wall, by Sender Films.

As Honnold sees it, perceptions of Caldwell have always been half right. “His reputation as a good guy and a pillar of the community is super well-founded,” he says. But the assumption that Caldwell is just another naturally talented athlete couldn’t be further from the truth. “He never had a gift and rested on it,” Honnold says. “Everything he’s done, he was willing to make it happen. I wish I had his work ethic.” —M.S.

Bianca Valenti

Barrier-busting big-wave surfer

Despite the fact that women have long been surfing the world’s biggest waves—Betty “Banzai” Depolito was charging Waimea Bay, the legendary break off Oahu’s North Shore, in the late seventies—they’ve been given few opportunities to compete in big-wave contests. The first women’s heat didn’t take place until 2010, at Oregon’s Nelscott Reef Big Wave Classic. Last fall, after years of struggling to get support from the male-dominated surf industry, Depolito created a women-only contest at Waimea called Queen of the Bay, though it was canceled when the waves never came.

To date, no woman has ever competed in an event at Maverick’s, the monster swell south of San Francisco, even though Sarah Gerhardt broke the gender barrier there back in 1999, just weeks before the first Maverick’s event. That’s about to change, following the persistence of and the , which she cofounded with three other pro women in 2016. That same year, the California Coastal Commission required the group behind the Maverick’s contest to include women in order to secure permitting. And CEWS then stepped in to ensure that the women’s purse matched the men’s.

“The organizers had told us, ‘Women aren’t ready’ or ‘It’s unsafe,’ or they’d say, ‘Yes, you can compete,’ but then nothing would happen,” Valenti says. “When we started using policy to try to make a change, things finally shifted.”

Six women, including Valenti and Gerhardt, were invited to compete in 2016. The event was canceled that winter (due to unrelated legal issues) and again earlier this year (due to lack of swell), but the weather window reopens this winter, and ten women are on the roster to be called if suitable waves arrive. Just as important, the contest is now part of the World Surf League, which Valenti is lobbying for a lot more changes.

“We still aren’t in every event, and we’re not getting pay equality,” Valenti says. “But this is a good first step.” —Megan Michelson

Naomi Osaka

Humble champion

Frequently overlooked in the controversy surrounding Serena Williams’s dispute with an umpire at the U.S. Open tennis final was the fact that when Osaka hoisted the trophy, she became the first Japanese player to win a Grand Slam event. It won’t be her last.

Kikkan Randall

Cancer-crushing Olympian

In May, three months after Randall teamed up with Jessie Diggins to capture the first ever Olympic medal, a gold, for women cross-country skiers, in Pyeongchang—Randall’s fifth Games and her first as a mother—the 35-year-old was diagnosed with Stage II breast cancer. She’s chosen to make her battle with the disease public and candid, sharing images and videos on social media and her blog in an effort to show people what the process is really like. “Strangely, this chemo experience is kind of like my athletic career,” Randall said in a video she posted in September. “I’ve got to get enough rest, I’ve got to eat right, I’ve got to hydrate—and I’ve got to not push myself too much.” —M.M.

AndrezjÌęBargiel

Skier who dropped K2

On July 22, Polish mountaineer Andrezj Bargiel became the first person to make a full ski descent of 28,251-foot K2, the second-highest peak on earth and one of the most dangerous. At least two of the handful of skiers who have attempted previous descents perished in the process. This year, the mountain’s notoriously wicked weather was milder than usual, boosting Bargiel’s odds. His drop took roughly eight hours, including one spent waiting out poor visibility at 26,000 feet. Bargiel, who had already skied down three of the world’s 8,000-meter peaks, was both elated and relieved when he finally made it to base camp. “To be honest, I’m glad that I won’t be coming here again,” he said. Drone video footage of his run went viral almost instantly, but few who saw it realized the long history behind the big moment. —W.C.

1970

Japanese climber Yuichiro Miura carves a few turns on Everest’s South Col. They are believed to be the first ski tracks made above 8,000 meters.

1982

Swiss extreme skier Sylvain Saudan makes it down Gasherbrum, likely completing the first full ski descent of an 8,000-meter mountain.

2000

Slovenian Davo Karnicar makes the first complete ski descent of Everest.

2001

Italian Hans Kammerlander starts skiing from K2’s summit, but after reportedly witnessing a climber fall to his death, he completes his descent in boots.

2009

Weather forces American Dave Watson to begin his planned K2 ski descent shy of the summit.

OrvilleÌęRogers

Centurion marathoner

World War II pilot-instructor Orville Rogers lived what many would consider an entire lifetime by age 50, when he discovered running. Now 100 years old, he continues to pound the pavement—and smash age-group records along the way. We asked him how we could follow his lead. —W.C.

“I only started running competitively about 11 years ago. I looked up the world records and I thought, Hey, maybe I can do that. And I did. I set new times in the 400 and 800 meters and slaughtered the mile ­record. I think I broke it by two minutes.”

“I follow all the scientific reports on exercise and longevity. I eat a good breakfast with lots of multicolored fruits. I like to get seven or eight hours of sleep a night, and I nap every afternoon, whether I want to or not. But I do eat a lean steak once a week, and I have an affinity for fried okra.”

“When I turned 100 at the end of last year, I entered five races and broke five records. There’s nobody in my age group anymore. If I’m still alive in five years, I’ll be in a new bracket!”

“I had to learn a lot on my own. My dad deserted my mother, my sister, and me when I was six. If I had taken a little bit of a different course in life, I could’ve gotten into drinking and drugs.”

“Exercise isn’t everything. I’ve had two bypass surgeries.”

“Above all else, I think my health and longevity have been because of my belief in God. It’s well established that believers live longer.”

“The records are great and all, but I run because I always feel better afterward.”

The post 2018’s Most Accomplished Athletes appeared first on șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Online.

Winter is coming, as they say, and with it the arrival ofÌęnew and improved mountain-shred essentials. We tested the best skis and snowboards on the market, and these came out on top.Ìę

Head Wild JoyÌę($750)

Best Women’s All-Mountain Frontside Skis

Head embraced the light-done-right style to produce a ski that’s feathery but not skittish. The company utilized high-tech materials like Koroyd and graphene, a metal made from a single layer of carbon atoms that’s ultralight and 200 times stronger than steel. When those ounce savers are built in with a traditional vertical wood core and sidewall construction, you end up with a ski that’s weighted more proportionally for most women yet still holds an edge at speed. Our testers were consistently blown away. “It’s light but substantial,” said one. “ offers great on-trail carving, but there’s enough girth for some off-piste exploring.” 139/90/118

Rossignol Experience 94 TiÌę($800)

Best All-Mountain Skis

Say hello to perhaps the most versatile all-mountain ski ever made. The is wide enough (94 millimeters at the waist) for most powder days, and the tapered tip and tail make it easy to turn off-trail. The central rail—a vertical strip of Titanal that runs nearly the length of the ski—both steadies the Experience on edge and boosts stability by limiting counter flexing. The effect is enhanced by new vibration dampeners in the tip. “Loaded with energy,” said a tester. “It begs to be pushed hard on-trail or off, but responds to slow speed changes of direction.” 132/94/122

KĂ€stle MX99Ìę($1,399)

Best UltrapremiumÌęSkis

doesn’t feature the world’s most radical shape or the latest superfibers, but it was a star of our test because of the unmatched build quality. Of course, a silver fir and beech core augmented with two sheets of Titanal and one layer of carbon—all laid out by hand—doesn’t come cheap. But the return on that investment is clear: this KĂ€stle is more durable and skis better. “Nimble yet stable,” said a tester. “The edge-to-edge transitions are fast enough that even at nearly 100 millimeters underfoot, you can have fun on groomers all day.” 135/99/120

Atomic Vantage 97 C WÌę($600)

Best Women’s All-Mountain Skis

With the new , Atomic again sought to make a powerful ski that weighs less but doesn’t chatter. To do it, the brand devised a new design—a poplar core sandwiched in carbon mesh—that reinforces the ski without weighing it down. On the hill, that translates to a silky ride with exceptional edge hold, so you don’t need to muscle the Vantage into cooperating. “It’s lightweight, which saves energy,” said a tester, “but it’s also crisp and solid, with limitless stability.” We’d ski the 97 daily in the Mountain West. 128.5/97/117.5

Fischer Ranger 102 FRÌę($699)

Best Powder Skis

Rangers are known for their lightweight and surfy feel, perfect for backcountry turns. This new model is all that, but features a hardier and damper vertical-sidewall-sandwich construction that adds power without sacrificing playfulness. At 102 millimeters underfoot, the is plenty fat for all but the deepest storm days. “It’s predictable at high speeds,” said one of our testers at Snowbird, Utah. “And just because you can throw it sideways to scrub speed doesn’t mean you can’t rail turns on icy snowÌętoo.” We’d ski it about 80 percent of the time off-trail in soft snow, but it’ll also make short work of chalky resort steeps. 136/102/126

Gnu KlassyÌę($470)

Best Women’s Directional Board

The compact, was designed by pro Kaitlyn Farrington, and testers were quick to call it one of the best carvers of the year. It combines a wide waist and stubby directional shape with rocker between the feet for hoverboard-like buoyancy, while camber toward the tip and tail offers ample grip in turns. All that lends it plenty of versatility: the Klassy handles choppy moguls and lays trenches in corduroy with aplomb.

Lib Tech T. Rice OrcaÌę($600)

Best Shortie Board

This , with a cutout tail and plenty of float, is designed for surfing steeps. But we appreciated the Orca’s ability to rip turns on groomersÌętoo: it’s astonishingly nimble edge to edge in spite of its wide shape, and serrated rails offer “professional masseuse-like grip,” according to one of our freeride testers.

K2 OverboardÌę($480)

Best Big-Gun Board

K2’s fat-nosed, pin-tailed Goliath is primed for charging hard. The 165-centimeter length has a relatively puny effective edge—the area of the board that comes into contact with the snow when turning. Still, the subsequently surprised testers with its ability to hammer powerful carves on hardpack and draw tight, graceful lines when needed. “Weird, in the right way,” said a tester of this smooth operator.

Nitro TeamÌę($500)

Best Directional-Twin Board

With serious pop potential and dependable edge hold, is a solid directional-twin shape that proved fun wherever we took it. All-mountain riders and park rats alike dug the snappy, reactive, semistiff wood core, as well as the high-density base, which allows you to quickly pick up speed for a few more miles per hour.

The post The Most Exciting Skis and Snowboards of 2019 appeared first on șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Online.

Polish ski mountaineerÌęÌęmade history on Sunday, July 22, by completing the first ski descent of K2, the world’s second tallest peak.Ìę

The post This Is the First Ski Descent of K2 appeared first on șÚÁÏłÔčÏÍű Online.