Everest - Summit Shot

Here is a shot of the summit of Everest from Advanced Base Camp taken with a telephoto. It was really, really windy and all of the expeditions that were on their summit push had retreated back to Advanced Base Camp. After taking this picture, I ducked into an expedition tent and had hot tea and Sunkist Fruit Snacks with some Sherpas.

Update

If you were expecting an accumulation of posts to begin this week, you're probably experiencing extreme disappointment, which has led to you either kicking your pets/children, regressing to binge drinking, or cutting off the blood flow to your head with a freezer bag. I'm writing to tell you that all is well and to not do anything that will involve getting your mug shot displayed on the local evening news. I do have some things that are almost ready, but I'm not quite ready to publish yet.

It isn't a time issue, really. This would normally be the point where I say, "Wow, I am soooooo busy and super cool that I can't quite get around to writing about how sweet Mount Everest was. See ya l8tr!" Instead, I'm going to be honest and say that writing about the trip has been bumming me out. My existence post-trip has pretty much settled into where I was pre-trip, and while it is a comfortable existence that I'm living, it isn't very inspiring. Writing about inspirations past is something that gets me a little heavy.

Anyway, I promise that this is just a short phase and that my cheese isn't sliding off my cracker. The stuff I have will knock your socks off, but I'd like to finish it without descending into pit of tears and frustration.

Pop Quiz for Readers

Guess what I am going to do this weekend?

A) Enter (and win) a bass fishing competition
B) Try out for the vacated Van Halen lead singer and/or bassist job
C) Destroy the moon
D) Extort $10 from Rick by posting college pics of him beating midgets with a wiffle-ball bat on my Flickr site
E) Steel $10.25 from Jonathan's coffee can
F) Use $20.25 net income to buy beer
F) Go climbing in the Sierras

Wait for it...

Wait for it...

Answer: I'm going to attempt to climb Mt. Humphreys (13,896 ft) this weekend. Obviously, the altitude is well under where I was two months ago at this time, but this is way more technical and far more frightening. This is the route to the summit:

I'm actually on tap to lead this route in the "trough" before the summit. The Class 4 part means "no fall zone." If you fall, you make a big owie. But, this is a well climbed route with huge jugs and big footholds to hold onto, plus I got on the wall in the climbing gym a few days ago, for the first time since I left for Everest, and flashed a couple of 5.10A's.

For those of you who don't know the climbing jargon, "flashed" means to complete a climbing route without falling or resting on the rope, but also having some knowledge of the route (aka, watching someone else climb it, or reading how someone else climbed it). 5.10A is the rating, which is much greater than 4. It goes like this: 4, 5, 5.1, 5.2, 5.3....5.10A - 5.10D, 5.11A - 5.11D...5.15.

Note--Only one person has ever done a 5.15*: Doug Heinz (not only am I a Liars Club Anonymous Member, I'm also the President; yeah, that's the ticket).

Anyway, we'll be bringing a rope to rappel down to make things easier and more fun, although carrying it in won't be.

We're going to take some video of us climbing this crux, so stay tuned for a little interlude in Everest/Tibet posting to enjoy a report from the glorious Sierras.

-----

*Chris Sharma is the only climber to climb 5.15. Since this is a imperfect metric, there is hotly contest debate as to whether other climbers have climbed "5.15." I mean, how can anyone judge it if they can't do it?

Update

Tired of clicking here only to see the same yak staring you down?

Me too. However, I can't be specific about it, but something major has happened in my work life that requires a few more hours of my time per day. Life continues to demonstrate that the only constant is change and I'm in the middle of working through these latest vicissitudes.

I do have time to educate you about something and to make a request. Do you see all these cool pictures I've been putting up on the main site here? They all reside on a cool little Web 2.0 application called Flickr. If you click on my pictures from this site, they will bring you to the original picture on Flickr.

Anyway, I'd like to share my Flickr site with all my pictures from Tibet/Nepal/Mount Everest on it. They aren't in order, they don't have any descriptions nor do they have any context. But, here they are, unabashed and unfiltered, for your pleasure:

My Flickr Site

If you see a picture there that you like, make a comment over there to let me know what you think and I'll do my best to work it into the main site. The comments and interactions that you make with me here on this site motivate me, but also provide helpful feedback on what is working for the readers and what isn't. Except Rick, but we just let him come here and talk anyway.

Believe it or not, I have a few thousand words written on a handful of new posts, but they need some further work, so be patient for just a little longer until I can devote the proper time required to make them presentable. I won't do my typically, flippant, typo-filled and carefree posting on these guys.

Thanks for continuing to stop by and you can expect some goodness soon.

Your hero,
Doug

Doin' It and Doin' It and Doin' It Well

Just when I conclude there isn't anyone reading this site anymore, some tough guy comes around and demands that I post more updates. How much I love thee, Jonathan, oh spur in my hiney.

Anyway, I have some goodness in the sauce pan, slowly simmering. As my mom did or didn't say when I was growing up, "Boy, you just have to patient. Dinner will be ready when it is ready. Get outta my hair and go play with your dolls!" Then I'd get hit with a spoon--that part I do remember!

So, in the meantime, here is a picture of a yak to tide you over:

...and that would also be Mount Everest in the background.