Climbing: November 2009 Archives

Yesterday GearJunkie published an interview with attorney and blogger Sara Lingafelter (RockClimberGirl.com), who just returned from the Nepal-Tibet border, where she attempted to climb Mount Pumori. The most remarkable part: she’d never climbed more than 10,000 feet before.

“There were two ‘hardest things’ for me. One was sitting at base camp, listening to the guys up on the mountain on the radio say their goodnights, and then listening to avalanches and rock falls all night (Nuptse was really active while we were up there). I worried until I heard the “all clear” in the morning. Most of us had really vivid, usually terrible, dreams while we were at altitude.”

Calum Macintyre, a 16-year-old Scot, has become the youngest person to reach the top of Ama Dablam in the Himalayas. His dad credits cross-country skiing and mountain biking with helping his son build the strength to ascend the highly technical mountain. “Calum said: ‘I am delighted to have reached the summit. The last 50 metres or so will stay with me always. The climb was a massive physical challenge for me with exposed and difficult climbing. There were times when I did not think I was going to make it but I pushed on and finally reached the summit with fantastic views of Everest and many other peaks.’” David Ross in the Scotland Herald.