Posts Tagged ‘mountaineering’
Wednesday, November 2nd, 2011
Marek Klanowski is a badass. Among many things, he bicycled his way through the Russian Caucuses, culminating in a climb of Mt Elbrus (by number of deaths, Elbrus is one of the World’s deadliest mountains.) Marek Klonowski is a man of action and of many talents. Traveling, taking still images and shooting films is his passion, and climbing mountains, hitchhiking, cycling long distances and sailing is his way of traveling. Marek climbed in the Tatra Mountains, in the Dolomites in Italy, in the Kackar Mountains in Turkey, in the Caucasus Mountains, and in Alaska (first solo Denali traverse in history – from Wonder Lade to Base Camp). He traveled solo by bicycle from Poland to the Adriatic Sea (3000 km), around the Black Sea by bicycle (6700 km), and around the Baltic Sea with a 45 kg dog on his trailer (5600 km). He raced in the Olympic class 470, sailed to Svalbard twice, and has worked on the biggest sailing ship in the world. Last year he spent in Ireland working as an engineer…
So, yeah, Marek is ColdAvenger material. This year Talus is sponsoring Marek on his attempt at a winter ascent of Nanga Parbat in Pakistan. ColdAvenger will give him the edge as he attempts this never before completed feat. Check out the video from his attempt last year.
You can visit his website. It’s in Polish, but the amazing films require no translation…
Tags: asthma, balaclava, cold air, cold weather face mask, cold weather gear, coldavenger, ColdAvenger Expedition, mountain climbing, mountaineering, Stay Out Longer, winter gear
Posted in asthma, athlete, cold weather, expedition, mountain climbing, November 2011, Uncategorized | Comments Off
Tuesday, June 14th, 2011
ExplorersWeb.com’s put together a news roundup from the 2011 expedition spring season. The roundup includes updates from the Himalayas, the North Pole, and beyond, including the World Record of Altitude in Paragliding.
From the top of Everest to over the sea: World Record of Altitude in Paragliding One couldn’t fly, the other didn’t climb – together on Everest they broke the World Record of Altitude in Paragliding. Read More…
It also included this statement about Cold Avenger.
K2 rescuer about the Cold Avenger: “Should be part of an altitude prescription” The face mask not only unlocked ExWeb stories this Everest season but could also help you summit with proper use. “I believe use of the mask is in fact most important during the early acclimatization stages for high altitude climbing,” said Eric F. Meyer, M.D (K2, 2008). Read More…
Tags: coldavenger, ColdAvenger Expedition, ColdAvengerPro, expedition, Himalayas, mountain climbing, mountaineering, Stay Out Longer, Talus Outdoor Technologies
Posted in cold weather, mountain climbing, Uncategorized | Comments Off
Sunday, May 29th, 2011
“Summit, summit, summit…” was the subject line of ColdAvenger athlete Blair Falahey’s latest e-mail. He did it! After all of the planning and preparation, Blair succeeded in his attempt to summit Kanchenjunga on May 20, 2011. At 8586 meters, it’s the world’s third highest mountain. He took some time to e-mail us with an update from base camp before continuing on to Kathmandu.
From Blair Falahey:
It is with great pleasure and enormous pride that I am happy to report that on May 20, 2011 at 8:36am I summited Kanchenjunga. I won’t go into too much detail and promise to write a dispatch in full detail once I am back in Kathmandu and the feeling returns to my numb fingers!
I will say this. It is without a doubt not only the hardest climb I have ever done in my life, but also the hardest thing I have ever attempted. Only after a 12+ hour summit push in freezing conditions did I finally set foot on Kanch’s amazingly beautiful summit. I can’t even begin to describe the views and I promise to send photos soon. Everest was fantastic, but does not even come close to Kanch in every way.
He signed off by mentioning that he is “very depleted (physically) and looking forward to a banana lassi and tandoori chicken pizza in Kathmandu.” Safe travels and congratulations Blair!
Tags: Blair Falahey, coldavenger, Kanchenjunga, mountain climbing, mountaineering, Talus Outdoor Tech, Talus Outdoor Technologies, winter gear
Posted in cold weather, mountain climbing, Uncategorized | Comments Off
Wednesday, October 20th, 2010
Cold Avenger athlete Chris Klinke was hoping to summit Cho Oyu this fall. But after several attempts and delays, the weather just wasn’t going to let that happen. While the strong winds and snow were a good test on his ColdAvenger face mask, the conditions proved to be too much for a safe summit. Chris writes about this last attempt on his blog:
I wish I could say that we went up the mountain and had success in reaching the top. We did not.
We went up to camp 1 in strong winds and low temps. Found one of our tent fly’s ripped to shreds. Had a long nigh of high winds. Woke up to still more wind and moved up to camp 2. By the time I arrived I felt like my face had been to one of those fancy spas where they sand blast the outer layer of skin off your face. We found both our tents standing but definiely the worse for wear. We rested and brewed up but the the winds did not die down. We made the decision to wait it out one more night. During the next day clouds built, snow came, and our constant companion the wind stayed with us. The big issue with wind is that the ambient temperature at the summit is -25 to -30f add a 25mph wind to that and it is bitter cold and high risk of frost bite.
At about 2pm we pulled the plug on the climb and came down figuring it was not going to be our season.
On any expedition, luck and timing play a huge role. Based on my estimate there were 3-4 days that Cho Oyu was summitable. Unfortunately we were not in a position to take advantage of any of those days. The team is in great spirits knowing that we did everything we could to reach the top.
This morning we woke to 4-6 inches of snow at ABC so it helps with our decision.
Thanks for all the support…Until next time.
For more on Chris visit his blog site here.
For more on the Cold Avenger face mask click here.
Tags: Cho Oyu, Cho Oyu Summit, Chris Klinke, Climbing Expedition, cold avenger, Cold Avenger Athlete, mountain climbing, mountaineering, Talus Outdoor Technologies
Posted in cold weather, expedition | Comments Off
Wednesday, December 16th, 2009
Leave No Trace Expeditions: Trips to the World’s Most Remote Mountains and the Mt. Logan 2010 Ski Expedition just announced the ColdAvenger as their gear pick of the trip!
Zoran Vasic, a very hard core individual, has an outstanding mountaineering resume that spans the globe. He began his career in
mountaineering in Bosnia in the 80′s. There he completed five years of training in rock climbing, mountaineering, winter and summer courses to then become a registered alpinist (badge #112) with the Alpine Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. For the next 12 years, Vasic climbed all over Europe in Serbia, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia, Herzegovina, Macedonia, Montenegro, Bulgaria, Poland, Slovakia and Italy. He moved to Canada in 1997 to immediately join the Alpine Club in Canada to then tackle peaks all across the northern territories. To say at the very least, this guy knows what he is talking about. So, the mention of the ColdAvenger as being helpful on his expedition is important, and being chosen for the Mt. Logan Expedition Gear Pick is huge!
Mt. Logan is gnarly. In the Yukon Territory, Alaska, it is ranked as the second highest peak in North America and is usually reached via helicopter. The main summit height of Mt. Logan is 5959 meters (19,551 ft) high and it boasts the largest base circumference of any mountain on Earth. Since Mt. Logan is close to the Gulf of Alaska it gets hit by severe storms with winds in the spring exceeding 160 km/hr with temperatures ranging from -40 to +80 F.
The ColdAvenger came in very handy for Zoran Vasic and his expedition crew on Mt. Logan. Thanks for the honor and we hope to keep up with you on the next adventure.
Stay Out Longer!
John B. Sullivan III aka ColdAvenger Pro
Tags: Alaska, coldavenger, Leave No Trace Expeditions, mountaineering, Mt. Logan, Zoran Vasic
Posted in cold weather, December 2009, mountain climbing, Uncategorized | Comments Off
Friday, September 18th, 2009
Congratulations to ColdAvenger customer Jim Steinshouer for his summit of Mt. McKinley in Denali this summer. And a “well done” to Jim’s wife, Ann, for buying him a ColdAvenger Expedition balaclava for his adventure. (She really did her homework, and found out that it was designed with help from world-renown mountaineer Ed Viesturs.) Jim, 51 years old, has climbed all of the highest points in the United States except Mount Borah in Idaho, which he will do next summer. When we heard Jim was headed to Denali, we also equipped him with some ColdAvenger patches and a summit flag. Great pictures!
Jim sent us a trip report, and here’s what he said about the ColdAvenger Expedition balaclava:
“I had no trouble breathing or with the cold at 20,230 feet. I felt the thickness of the material (as it relates to keeping a person warm) was appropriate and felt nice to the skin as well. The balaclava and my goggles protected my head and were very comfortable while the air was moist and warm as it came into my lungs.”
Thanks Jim, for the great feedback–and here’s to your ascent!
Stay Out Longer,
John B. Sullivan III aka: ColdAvenger Pro
Tags: balaclava, cold weather, ColdAvenger Expedition, Denali, Ed Viesturs, Mount McKinley, mountain climbing, mountaineering
Posted in mountain climbing, Recreational Health and Performance, September 2009 | Comments Off
Thursday, July 16th, 2009
Dr. Meyer and Chhiring with K2 in the background
You never know where or when you’ll make a friend for life. Talus sponsored athlete and technical adviser Dr. Eric Meyer and Sherpa Chhiring Dorje met on the slopes of Everest in 2004. Since then, they’ve been on many adventures together – both exhilarating and dangerous. Last summer, they were together on K2 for a Talus-sponsored expedition during the deadly avalanche that killed 11 climbers from other groups– one of the worst events in mountaineering history. Dr. Meyer helped treat survivors, while Chhiring risked his life to help a stranded Sherpa who had lost his ice axe climb down to safety.
In a recent article by John Meyer for The Denver Post, Chhiring and Meyer talk about their nightmarish experiences during the K2 disaster, and outline their dream project — a return to the world’s tallest mountain to attempt a mission that could rewrite history. They want to search for the body of Andrew “Sandy” Irvine on Everest’s North Face.
AP File Photo of George Leigh Mallory, left, and Andrew Irvine preparing at camp in June 1924 for their climb to the summit of Mount Everest. They died during the attempt.
Irvine was an Englishman who died on the mountain in 1924 while trying to reach the summit of Everest with his good friend, George Leigh Mallory. Conrad Anker discovered Mallory’s body in 1999, but the body of Irvine has never been found. Chhiring believes that he saw it while climbing the North face of Everest back in 1995, but had no idea who it could have been at the time. Some believe Irvine and Mallory may have actually reached the top and died on the descent. If Chhiring and Meyer find Irvine’s body, and his camera is intact, there may be evidence that could prove that Irvine and Mallory were the first to summit Everest, a full 29 years before Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, changing mountaineering history.
K2 2008
Re-writing history together – sounds like a fitting adventure for two good friends with a shared passion for the mountains.
Stay Out Longer,
John B. Sullivan III aka: ColdAvenger Pro
Tags: Conrad Anker, George Leigh Mallory, K2, mountaineering, Mt. Everest, Sherpa Chhiring Dorje, Sherpa Tenzing Norgay, Sir Edmund Hillary, Talus Outdoor Tech, The Denver Post
Posted in July 2009, mountain climbing | 1 Comment »
Thursday, July 2nd, 2009
Courtesy: Backpacker Blog
One of the top gear testers from one of our favorite magazines, BACKPACKER’s Steve Roy, recently returned from his latest adventure/gear thrashing session – climbing Mt. McKinley. It’s a brutal climb – more than 20,000’ – and more than twenty nights sleeping in a tent. It’s also dangerous – two very experienced climbers fell to their death at the same time Roy was on the mountain. Being mentally and physically prepared is paramount, as well as choosing gear you can rely on in the most punishing of scenarios. Here’s an excerpt from Roy talking about what it took to get ready for the climb:
“I trained really hard for several months, (but) unfortunately, I had a knee injury about a month prior to leaving, which left my cardiovascular fitness a little shy. This reared its ugly head on summit day, when the need for efficient oxygen exchange was paramount. I basically got through it with willpower and by drawing on my experience from other big mountains. Knowing when to push (like getting up past Denali Pass) and when to coast (like on the less steep terrain heading up to the Arch Deaconess Tower) helped a great deal.
As far as mental conditioning goes, I backpacked the AT in 1998. On more than one occasion, I spent several days stuck in my tent waiting for the rain to subside just long enough to make it to the next shelter or town so I could dry out. That experience really helped me cope at the high camps on Denali, when I was holed up in a tent or building snow walls for 3 days at a time waiting out storms.”
With room for only a few select pieces of gear, Roy chose the ColdAvenger Pro to make the trip with him. Here’s what he had to say about it:
“Though it looked like something out of Return of the Jedi, it turned out to be far superior to anything I saw other people using. It’s a warm, fuzzy-lined softshell face mask with a raised silicone/rubber piece that you breathe through. The rubber piece allows cold inhaled air to mix with warm exhaled air; not only did it keep my face warm and dry, it protected my airway from constant exposure to cold, dry air. Plus, I could breathe very heavily without fogging up my goggles.”
Courtesy: Backpacker Blog
Glad you made it back safely, Steve … and thanks for the kind words. Can’t wait to hear about your next adventure, and read all about the gear you used.
Stay Out for the Jedi,
John B. Sullivan III aka ColdAvenger Pro
Tags: adventure, Backpacker Magazine, climbing, ColdAvenger Pro, Denali, expedition, gear, mountaineering, Mt. McKinley
Posted in July 2009, mountain climbing | Comments Off
Monday, June 22nd, 2009
Win Me!
Summer is officially here and we’d like to thank our friends and followers for being such loyal pals this past winter and spring. We are giving away not one, not two, but three Talus ColdAvenger face masks through twitter. Entering is super easy and free.
@coldavengerpro
There are three ways to enter:
1.) Follow us on Twitter
2.) Sign up for our email newsletter
3.)Direct message us your craziest cold-weather adventure via Twitter
See, easy and free.
Who cares if it’s summertime? Yeah, we’re loving it, but we’re also thinking that the chilly fall and winter isn’t that far away. So if you’re like us, you’re probably planning your winter adventures already, and probably thinking about gear. The Talus ColdAvenger face mask is the perfect item to accompany you on that ski trip, backcountry snowshoe weekend, snowmobile adventure, elk hunt, mountaineering expedition or anything else in between. Anyone can enter, and everyone can find a good use for a ColdAvenger – have we told you to enter the contest yet? Do it for your airway and your pocketbook.
Stay Out Twitterier,
John B. Sullivan III aka ColdAvenger Pro and aka @coldavengerpro
Tags: coldavenger, hunting, mountaineering, skiing, snowmobile, snowshoe, twitter
Posted in June 2009 | Comments Off
Monday, June 8th, 2009
As you know, Talus athlete Ed Viesturs ascended Mount Everest a few weeks ago. And as it turns out, Mount Everest may be more than just a mountain to conquer.
Nearly one year ago, Everest served as a medical testing ground. Four British researchers climbed to the top, took their own blood samples, and what they found was truly groundbreaking. Their oxygen levels were the lowest ever recorded in live people; well below levels that would normally prove lethal on the ground. We first read about the study back in January in Popular Mechanics.
The Popular Mechanics article reports the study’s findings on how the average person at sea level has about 13-14 kilopascals (kPa) of oxygen in their bloodstream, but on the top of Mount Everest, the researchers measured their own blood oxygen level to be between 2.5 and 4 kPa, the lowest ever measured in live people. Normally, a person with 6 kPa of oxygen faces almost certain death. These findings dispute what doctors have known to be true about blood oxygen levels and could help doctors treat intensive care patients struggling with low levels of oxygen in their own bloodstream.
We wonder, what else does this tell us about blood oxygen levels? Can elite mountaineers like Talus athletes Dr. Eric Meyer and Ed Viesturs train their bodies to conserve oxygen and turn off other non-essential body functions while climbing?
Again, to read the article about the study, click here. And, if you just can’t learn enough, the complete findings of this study have also been published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
It’s so cool that scientific answers can be found 29,000 feet above sea level, on top of the tallest mountain in the world.
Stay out more Scientifically!
John B. Sullivan III aka ColdAvenger Pro
Tags: blood oxygen, Dr. Eric Meyer, Ed Viesturs, Mount Everest, mountaineering, Popular Mechanics
Posted in June 2009, mountain climbing | Comments Off
