American climber Ed Viesturs has climbed 13 of the world’s 14 8,000 meter mountains. No American has ever knocked them all off. Why? I’m not sure. Yes, it’s really, really hard. But this dude just knocked off the Grand Slam, which means he has climed all 14 8,000ers AND walked to both geographic poles. So, while we should honor Viesturs as he goes at Annapurna for the third time, let’s not overhype it (that will come later, judging from the nmber of photo and film types who are with Viesturs). Anyhow, Viesturs and his gang are in Base Camp, and you can follow the expedition here. Here’s a report that reminds us that Annapurna–statistically the most dangerous mountain to climb according to Explorer’s Web, killing 2 climbers for every 5 that summit–doesn’t give a damn who the climbers are and whether they are on the verge of a milestone:
Ed Viesturs, Veikka Gustafsson, Jimmy Chin and David Breashears left their own warm bags at base camp to climb roughly 3,000 feet up to Camp 1 to drop a load of gear. By 10 a.m., they had reached Camp 1, scoped their route to the summit and turned back down toward base camp. Ed wanted to head back before the sun started to bake the peak.
At high altitudes, the sun’s energy pierces through a reduced atmosphere to reach to the earth, thus making solar rays exponentially more powerful. This radiant heat combined with the reflective property of snow crystals turns the peak into a veritable sauna. What happens to snow and layers of ice when you put them into a sauna? In large enough quantities, such as in glaciers, ice and snow calve off to create mammoth avalanches. As the sun’s rays gain strength, the probability of severe avalanche activity increases. The high odds for avalanche are one of Annapurna’s signature “objective hazards,” as most of the climbing route faces east, thus allowing the sun’s early rays to heat the snow surface. Typically, when clouds shroud the peak after noon, things cool down.
By midmorning, the sun had warmed a lower glacier to its breaking point. At 11:15 a.m., we heard a series of cracks. Standing on the crest of a grassy plateau, we watched a severe avalanche thunder downhill 1,000 feet to where Ed and Veikka were crossing the glacier on their way back to base camp. They tore across the expanse to hide behind a conical mound of snow for protection. “Sprinting at 15,000 feet in hard plastic boots is pretty difficult,” Ed remarked as he walked into base camp shortly afterward.
I’m getting nervous…
Very Close Viesturs: “Hmmm. If I knock Annapurna off, what the hell am I going to do to stay busy…?”
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