daily photo 

Youth ascent of Mt. Elbrus 

The Ukrainian Mountaineering and Climbing Federation invites young mountaineers aged 16 – 30 years to join their ascent of Mt Elbrus, summer 2008.

To invite young mountaineers  from all countries to an international joint ascent of Mt Elbrus is a yearly tradition of the The Ukrainian Mountaineering and Climbing Federation. This year the event will last 11 days, from the 7th –  17th of July.  At 5642m, Mt Elbrus is the highest peak in Europe and is situated in the Central Caucasus, Kabardino-Balcaria region, Russia. 

To get an idea of what the expedition week will be like, you can read the report and see a photo gallery from last year's Mt Elbrus ascent.

"The ascent is not technically difficult in summer, so participants must not have deep knowledge or wide experience in using mountaineering techniques. However low temperature, severe winds and possible bad weather demand courage and strong will power from the climbers," says expedition leader Alexander Zaidler. The group will do  acclimatization training  before the final ascent. The ascent is part of the Global Youth Summit.

some didactic videos  

 

RESOURCE

learning without limits 

 

Manuel Pizarro
Founder and co-leader of Climb High Expeditions, was born in Valparaiso, Chile. His first language is Spanish and after immigrating to Canada in 1973, he learned to speak French and English as well. As a young man, “Manny” joined The Royal Canadian Air Cadets. It was in this environment that he learned his first skills as an outdoors enthusiast. Paramilitary requirements of being a pilot in this organization equipped him with reliable, essential, and practical experience with summer and winter survival skills.
In 1985, Manny started his climbing career on the smooth slopes of Mount Washington, New Hampshire. During these years, he merged his paramilitary knowledge with his ski mountaineering skills. His experience as an extreme alpine skier and ice climber gave him the confidence to challenge Mt. Aconcagua in Argentina. It was during this expedition that he met Jim Albert and both men became fast friends. Jim and Manny reached the summit on January 20th and 21st, 1995. Manny has since logged two more climbs to Aconcagua and is soon returning for a fourth time with clients from Montréal, Québec.
In 1998, Manny reached the summit of Surya Peak in Nepal (17,800 ft). He also participated in several high altitude treks in the Everest region, where he familiarized himself with the Base Camp and Kala Pattar Peak (18,445 ft). During this trip, Manny was commended for his assistance in retrieving the body of fellow climber Luther Jerstad who was part of the 1963 “All American Expedition” to Mt. Everest. Mr. Jerstad unfortunately passed away from heart failure during the trek to Everest Base Camp accompanied by his grandson. Dr. Cameron Bangs, a leading expert in frostbite research, was present during the ordeal and personally thanked Manny for his efforts.
Throughout the last decade, Manny has been leading expeditionary teams to some of the tallest mountains in the world. In 2000, he reached the summit of Mt. McKinley in Alaska (20,320 ft). In April of 2002, he reached the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa (19,450 ft). Altogether, he has logged over five thousand hours of expedition style climbing experience in several parts of the world.
With Manny and Jimmy, safety comes first. As they matured as humans and climbers, they began to see and feel the amazing parallels between climbing mountains and life itself. Although these endeavours are extremely demanding on the body and mind, Manny truly believes that they teach human beings the true meaning of determination, perseverance, teamwork, and conflict resolution, and above all, the value of learning from our mistakes. Painful lessons have taught them that to reach a state of glory, we must sometimes fall from grace, rebuild, and start all over again. And at times, Mother Nature was relentless with Manny and his teammates forcing them to retreat from their summit bids as the only way to survive. We embark on these projects because we love climbing and because we truly believe that our expeditions help people look beyond the limitations of their distinctive challenge, be it physical, mental, or educational. We aim to evoke imagination, courage and, perseverance in our clients. While it is true that we want to quench our own thirst for personal adventure, we also want others to benefit from our dreams in realizing their own.

 

 

: Mallory and Irvine The Final Chapter 2005 

This is about whether or not George Mallory reached the summit of Mt Everest.

Last year, we looked for evidence of Sandy Irvine above 8400 meters. This year these climbers/expeditions will look for evidence of George Mallory above the Second Step of Mt Everest.

Finding "proof" that George Mallory reached the Summit of Everest will be almost impossible, unless an object could be found on the summit. That seems extremely remote since we now have 2249 summits and counting. The naysayers will always say he could have turned around a few steps away from the top. If objects are found above the Second Step, or in the Couloir, the question of whether Mallory reached the summit of Mt Everest will be greater.

As most of you know, the mountaineering community has no official source of records. Summits are recorded in general without proof. In some cases climbers have been given credit for summits they did not achieve. Today, the burden of proof is usually to show someone did not summit. In George Mallory's case the burden of proof will be on evidence; evidence we believe, that needs to be found high on Everest, not in the form of a picture from a camera that Sandy may or may not have been carrying. Several Everest Summiters, believe George Mallory summited Mt Everest, but a belief is not evidence.

In 2006 EverestNews.com will again embark upon our own journey to the mountain. In many ways, 2005 will be a reconnaissance expedition for the 2006 expeditions. We fully expect this to be a long and hard journey. We are committed to exploring high on Everest for the next two years. Why plan ahead? Because these expeditions take time and significant funding.

The spirit of our expeditions are rooted in historical curiosity. They are born out of a sense of honor and respect to those who have ventured before us. Our objectives are to re-construct the final events and attempt to learn if the summit was gained.

We will attempt to treat the subject with the utmost respect. We won't be perfect, but we will try very hard. We will again go very quietly and very slowly.

We will stay focused and small. We need to stay on task, without complex agendas. No reporters, no cameramen, no interviews on the mountain. Our names are not important. This is not about us. We feel each and everyone one of the climbers we are supporting this spring are doing this for "the cause", not for their own personal gain.

There are many theories about what happened on that fateful day of June 8th, 1924. Ours is unique, who knows if it is right. No one owns his mystery, except George and Sandy. This mystery is not about anyone else. These two men gave not their money, but their lives for the quest to summit Mt Everest.

We believe the "truth" about what happened to George and Sandy has progressed far in the last year. We would like to thank many for their encouragement. The costs of the expeditions are significant. EverestNews.com and EverestGear.com are helping to support  these M&I expeditions in 2005 and 2006. Other Sponsors are welcomed and encouraged to help!

To those who want to search and have other theories, we encourage them to concentrate on their theories and to get their checkbooks out of their pockets too and return to Everest.

We ask for your prayers for the climbers as the journey begins. Prayers for their health, safety, and the freedom to make the expedition a complete success.

 

We return to Mount Everest in search of an answer