Two Articles on Lance on the Eve of the Tour

The Tour de France gets underway tomorrow with an individual time trial through Monaco that will serve as the prologue to the race. Sunday, the riders will head out onto the road for the first real leg of the race, a mostly flat stage 187km (116 miles) that will favor the sprinters. In preparation for the start of the big race, I have a pair of articles on Lance Armstrong that give us an inside look at the seven time Tour winner's comebacks, one after he defeated cancer and another taking place now.

The first interview is from Outside and it looks back to a time when Lance was just another rider in the Peloton. The young American upstart had beaten cancer, but had not yet proven himself on the world's stage, and while he was an inspiration for his efforts just to get back on the bike, cycling fans had no idea what kind of rider he really was. The article goes through each phase of the first Tour that Lance won, giving insights into what he was thinking at the time, and his approach the various stages. When he emerged on the Champs Elysees in the Yellow Jersey, it was an amazing triumph on many levels, but it was just the start of things to come.

Men's Journal brings us the second interview, which focuses more on Lance's most recent comeback at the age of 37. The article gives us a glimpse at his training and preparation, as well as the the reasons he's riding once again. The author also notes his love for Twitter and how his "tweets" have helped him to lose his "robot" reputation and show Lance in a different light.

Both are excellent stories and should put you in the mood for the start of the Tour tomorrow. It's going to be a wide open race in my opinion, with some great riders pressing for the Yellow Jersey. Can the 37 year old with a three year layoff hang with the young guns over the next three weeks? We're about to find out.

UNESCO Adds 13 World Heritage Sites

I posted about this over at Gadling this morning, but thought it would be of interest here as well. The World Heritage Committee, which is part of UNESCO, has closed it's 33rd annual convention, adding 13 new places to it's famous list, and taking the unusual step to drop one of the sites completely.

Amongst the 13 new sites added to the list are the Dolomite Mountains in Northern Italy, Mount Wutai in China, and the Tower of Hercules in Spain. Each of the locations are cited for offering universal value of a natural or cultural nature. With these additions, the complete list of World Heritage Sites come to 890 and you can read about each of the new ones in the official press release.

The one location that was dropped was the Dresden Elbe Valley in Germany. The Committee expressed concern about changes to the natural habitat there due to the building of a new four-lane bridge through the area. When the plan was first announced a few years back, UNESCO put the site on it's Danger List, but when construction went ahead anyway, they were forced to drop the Valley altogether.

Three sites were added to that same Danger List this year. They include the Belize Barrier Reef Reserve System in Belize, the Los Katios National Park in Columbia, and the Historical Monuments of Mtskheta. In the case of the Barrier Reef, the fear is of over development so close to the water, while the other two locations were added to bring awareness to their preservation processes.

With the list growing to 890, we all have some new places to add to our "must visit" lists. Any traveler would do well to start their plans with these World Heritage Sites, and I've been fortunate enough to visit several of them, and they have all been worth the trip.

Snow Kayaking Looks Like A Blast!!

Check out this video of a couple of crazy German dudes hitting the slopes in their kayaks! Yes, you read that right. Kayaks! They're blazing down the mountain, paddle and all, and catching some serious air in the process. I also happen to love the shot of them on the chairlift! It's refreshing to see these guys enjoying themselves while the rest of the kayak world is looking for a bigger waterfall to drop over.

Thanks to the always awesome Wend Blog for this one.

Cliffhanger Outdoor Event Returns to Sheffield July 11th & 12th

Cliffhanger, one of the top outdoor events in Europe, and the U.K.'s biggest adventure festival, returns to Sheffield on the weekend of July 11th and 12th. With more than 100 exhibitors and dozens of events, Cliffhanger has become a major event, attracting more than 15,000 visitors last year, and 2009 looks to be even bigger and better.

Attendees this year can expect a wide range of activities, including demonstrations and instruction in rock climbing, kayaking, mountain biking, orienteering and more. There will also be an assault course to challenge anyone feeling up to it, 11 climbing walls, plenty of food stands and bargain shops for gear, rides for the kids, and even live music throughout the weekend. Cliffhanger will once again serve as the venue for the British Boulder Championships, in which more than 200 boulderers will competing for top honors. This year they've added an adventure race and a unique orienteering competition on mountain bikes.

You can checkout a full schedule of events on the Cliffhanger website, which also has the latest news about additions to the adventure festival. There are also directions on how to get to Millhouses Park by road or rail, and a complete list of exhibitors that will be on hand for the event.

Looks like another great outdoor festival with some fun activities for everyone.

Update: In an effort to more inclusive, I wanted to point out, as Shane has noted in the comments section, that there will be some Parkour/Free Running demonstrations going on at Cliffhanger all weekend as well. The local Sheffield group will be bouncing off trees, walls, fences, buildings, and just about anything else they can use to shop off their abilities. If you're not familiar with Parkour, you're in for a treat, and my failure to mention them earlier wasn't an intentional slight. I'm way jealous of your abilities Shane, and wish I could keep up! ;)

Outside Interviews Tour Divide Winner

A couple of days back I posted that this year's Tour Divide mountain bike race had been won by Matthew Lee, who managed to complete the 2745 mile course from Banff to the Mexican border in a little less than 18 days. Today, Outside Online has an interview with Lee, in which he talks about what it was like out on the course.

In the interview, Matthew discusses such topics as what a typical day is for him out on the trail when racing, his thoughts on going ultralight in the Tour Divide (remember, racers are self sufficient in this Tour), and after completing six consecutive TD's, where doubt enters his mind while riding. He also mentions that while riding he didn't notice any aches and pains in his body, but once he stopped, all of the effort caught up with him and he was now feeling the effects of nearly three weeks out on the trail.

Matt does touch upon the cold, wet weather that plagued the early portions of the race, and shares what food he missed the most while riding. (Asian!) He also offers a new way to lube your chain (canola oil?) and thoughts on his most memorable day of the race.

Excellent interview with fun and interesting insights on what it's like on the Tour Divide. Good read for anyone following the event.

Make Your Epic Cycling Adventure a Reality!

I wrote about this over at Gadling this morning as well, but definitely worth repeating here too. The crazy adventure-minded folks who organize and run the Tour d"Afrique every year have come up with a new concept in adventure travel that is amazingly cool. The new venture is dubbed DreamTours and it's designed to take whatever epic bike adventure you can come up with, and make it a reality.

In a nutshell, the DreamTours team challenges you to come up with an idea for a great expedition that you want to do on a bike. It could be anything, like cycling across Costa Rica or riding from Paris to Beijing. The point is to dream big and come up with something that is very cool.

From there, you'll logon to the DreamTours website and post your idea. Other cycling and mountain biking enthusiasts can then evaluate your idea, weighing in with thoughts on how feasible it is, sharing their own experiences, and rating your tour. The site, in a sense, becomes cycling community, for everyone to discuss bike adventures for anywhere on the planet.

Now, here's the really cool part. If you get enough people interested in your adventure, and they commit to joining you, the DramTours team will take over and handle all the logistics of making that adventure a reality. They'll organize the ride, and do all the planning, so all you, and those who have signed up to join you, have to is travel to the starting point, and hop on the bike. Best of all, if the trip fills up, you get to go for free! And if you happen to be feeling magnanimous, you can choose to pay for your trip, but spread the discount across everyone on the tour.

Sounds like a pretty cool concept to me, and I hope it catches on. It's a model that can easily be applied to other types of adventure travel as well. So the question is, what should the first ever Adventure Blog bike adventure be?

Karakorum 2009: Bad Weather Everywhere!

It's been nearly a week since I posted any updates on what is happening in the Karakorum, but for the most part, aside from more teams arriving, the biggest news it the bad weather that is making it rough on the climbers at the moment.

Last week I reported that Elisabeth Revol , Antoine Girard, and Ludovic Giambasi were making a weekend run at the summit of Broad Peak. Unfortunately bad weather turned them back for the second time, and they are now back in BC resting up, and waiting for the weather to pass. The commercial teams on the mountain, such as Field Touring Alpine, have begun fixing ropes, and have established C2, but their latest updates indicate that heavy snow and high winds continue to buffet the mountain. Progress has been steady so far though, and if the weather breaks as expected, they'll push all the way up to C3, and are eyeing a summit bid in about 10 days time.

Switching over to the Gasherbrums, a similar story is being told with snow and winds hitting the various peaks that make up that massif. Don Bowie reports that he, Bruce Normand, and David Falt set off last week to stash some gear at 7000m, but after spending the night in C1 and trying to climb higher on the mountain, they were turned back due to high winds causing "spindrift avalanches". They did console themselves with a bit of ice climbing on a face that was protected form the storm though.

The Altitude Junkies have checked in from G1 and G2 as well, and they report that they have both Camp 1 and 2 established, and they are just waiting out the weather as well. They hope it'll pass in the next few days and they can turn their eyes on the summit, in the mean time, they're finding it impossible to recharge their gadgets the past couple of days thanks to the complete lack of sunshine. The Jagged Globe team has just returned from C2 and are reporting "thigh-deep snow" and unstable condition on the upper portions of the mountain, which means it may be awhile before they can get a real crack at the summit.

Weather seems to be the issue on Nanga Parbat as well, where, according to ExWeb, Gerfried Göschl is acclimatizing on the normal Kinshoffer route, but fully intends to climb a new route when he makes his summit bid. Gerfried also reports that Korean climber Go Mi-Sun has arrived on the mountain, and simply passed on through BC on her way up to C2 where she stayed for the night to begin acclimatization. You may recall, she is the Korean climber that pulled off the Himalayan Hat Trick in the spring, and is looking to knock off three more 8000m peaks in the Karakorum this summer. She'll start on Nanga before heading to G1 and G2.

Finally, on K2 the Field Touring Alpine team is hoping to begin working the route once again on Friday, when winds are expected to die down and allow access to the mountain. So far, it seems that teams have established Camp 2, and are eager to get working on the route to C3, but for now, they sit and wait a storm that is blasting BC.

Hopefully the storms will clear soon, and these climbers can finally get going. But as a base of reference, last year the main summits on K2 didn't take place until the end of July. Still plenty of time.

Le Tour Begins Saturday, Outside has the Contenders!

One of my favorite sporting events of the year, the Tour de France, gets underway on Saturday when riders take to the road for the Tour's Prologue, which consists of an individual time trial through 15.5km (9.6 miles) of Monaco. That stage will no doubt favor the sprinters and the time trialists, while the real race will get underway on Sunday, with a 187km (116 mile) ride from Monaco to Brignoles that will mostly be flat and fast.

Over the course of the following three weeks, the real contenders will begin to emerge, starting most likely on the 10th of July when the Peloton enters the mountains for the first time, riding 224km (139 miles) through the Pyrenees, which will hit them with a sudden force. That first mountain stage includes a Category 1 climb and a Beyond Category finish at 2200m (7217 feet) that is amongst the highest finishes for any Tour stage ever.

So, who will begin to make their move at that point of the race? It's tough to say at this point, but Outside Online has posted a great article that takes a look at the top contenders in this year's Tour, minus Lance Armstrong. Outside calls this year's Tour field one of the deepest ever, and looking at this list, you'll know why.

The five riders that they figure are the best bets to be in Yellow on the Champs Elysees at the end of July include Alberto Contador (labeled the Man to Beat), Andy Schleck (the Upstart), Carlos Sastre (Defending Champ!), Levi Leipheimer (the Dark Horse), and Cadel Evans (Man on a Mission).

So what about Lance? Well, lets be honest it has been three years since he's ridden in the Tour, and he is 37 now. While it would be an amazing story to see him take another win, I personally think it's highly unlikely. On the other hand, I wouldn't bet against Lance very often, and he is still in tremendous shape and a great athlete. He's proven that his comeback isn't just a publicity stunt, as he has ridden well, despite suffering a broken collarbone several months back. Should he win an 8th Tour, I'll be the first one to admit I was wrong, and I'll be cheering him all the way.

Can't wait for the race to get underway in a few days time.

104 Hikers Get Lost In China (Yes! 104!)

Someone getting lost in the wilderness is practically a daily occurrence it seems. Someone wanders off the trail, they get separated from their group, and the next thing you know, a massive search is underway trying to discover just where the directionally-challenged hiker ended up. It's not even all that uncommon for a pair of backpackers to get confused as to where they are at, but usually in larger groups, someone can determine their position and figure out how to find their way home.

This apparently wasn't the case for a group of climbers in China calling themselves the "Wind Runners". It seems that the group used the Internet to loosely organize an outing into a remote region on the border of "Huiyang Lovers’ Valley and Pingshan Moutain in the Longgang district. The group rented two busses and drove out to a site where they intended to go climbing, and eventually they got lost due to darkness according to this story from the the Shenzhen Post.

When the call came in for help, the local search and rescue team went into action, sending 230 people out to find the Wind Runners. It took them four hours to reach them and bring them safely back to civilization, and no one was hurt in the process. The SAR team had food and water waiting for the lost climbers.

So, let me get this straight. 104 "climbers" go out into the backcountry together, and no a single one of them thought to bring a headlamp? Really? Maybe we should introduce this hiking group to the ten essentials. Most of which they could pick up over at Backcountry.com, where coincidently enough I first read about this story on The Goat Blog. (Nice segue huh?)

Ripley Davenport Joins i2P as Inspirational Ambassador

British Adventurer Ripley Davenport has joined the impossible2Possible team as an Inspirational Ambassador according to the latest post on his website. impossible2Possible (i2P) is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to inspire young people to take an active role in protecting the planet through the use of adventure and education.

If i2P sounds familiar, it is because I wrote extensively about their expedition to the South Pole Quest expedition during the last Antarctic season. That team consisted of Ray Zahab, Kevin Vallely, and Richard Weber, who went on to set a speed record to the South Pole from Patriot Hills. The three men are also integral to i2P, with Vallely and Weber acting as advisors, and Zahab the founder of the organization. Check out the entire i2P team by clicking here.

The i2P website offers plenty of information about their ongoing efforts and includes educational materials for lesson plans, news on youth expeditions and leadership training camps, and background information on past and future expeditions, including their upcoming "World Expedition" set to get underway in August, and a North Pole journey scheduled for 2011.

As for Ripley, he is busy preparing for his trek across Mongolia in 2010, when he'll cover more than 1700 miles of Gobi Desert in what will be one of the longest solo and unassisted treks ever. You can follow Ripley's preparations and get the latest news on his preparation on his Mongolia 2010 website.

Adding Ripley to the i2P team seems like a great, natural fit. Congrats Ripley! And in case you missed it last week, be sure to check out this video of Ray Zahab discussing his journey to the South Pole. Really great stuff, and Ray is an excellent speaker.

Walking The Amazon Update: Danger Ahead!

A few weeks back I posted a story about Ed Stafford, a former British Army officer, who is in the middle of one of the most amazing expeditions I have ever heard of. Ed is 454 days into his expedition to walk across the Amazon Rainforest. (Yes, the entire rainforest!) If everything goes as planned, he expects to reach the mouth of the Amazon River, along the coast of Brazil, sometime next year.

The Walking the Amazon website is a great source of information about they journey, and definitely the best place to start when getting up to speed with what Ed and his team have been up to sine he set out in April of last year. But to get the real flavor of the expedition you need to be following the @amazonwalkers Twitter feed.

When I first learned about this crazy trek, I immediately became a "follower" of the Twitter feed, and it has been a fascinating ride ever since. I find myself waiting for Ed's updates, direct from the Amazon, each day, so I can find out what he's up to next. For instance, in today's "tweets" I learned that around July 7th he will have to wander away from the Amazon River to make a long crossing through the jungle itself. Ed doesn't say why he has to leave the river, but I suspect he is moving around large flooded areas or swamplands and sticking closer to higher ground.

His subsequent tweets give us an idea of what he and his guide are in for. Ed says:

"It will be 350 km and an estimated two full months until we hit the main river again. Dangers increase with distance from the river."

His next tweet explains more:

"The river is our evacuation route and our safety net. The river provides population to re-supply from. http://short.to/i1gy"

And if that wasn't scary enough, here were the next two tweets:

"We’ve calculated we can afford to carry enough food - rice, noodles, farine & sardines - to give each man 1,100 calories a day for a month."

"We can’t physically carry any more food than that and will supplement it with fresh fish, nuts and fruits that we can find in the forest."

He follows it up with yet more details, including the fact that if they can't find a community to trade with, or become sustainable on their own, then they will go hungry. He also points out that as the move deeper into the jungle, they'll be facing the larger, scarier Amazon creatures, and indigenous people that seldom see outsiders at all, each of which are a real threat to Ed and his crew. If they get injured in any way, extraction is a very difficult process.

This is real adventure happening on a daily basis. An expedition that we can follow as it unfolds thanks to the use of modern technology, and a good enough reason in and of itself to sign-up for Twitter. Really amazing stuff to follow, with some great insights, and humorous thoughts mixed in as well.

Tour Divide Update: Matthew Lee is into Antelope Wells!

The Tour Divide has crowned its 2009 winner with defending champion Matthew Lee reaching the finish line today at 9:45 AM local time. His official time was 17 days, 23 hours, and 45 minutes, which is an amazingly short time to ride the length of this course considering the difficulty of the terrain and the poor weather conditions that have plagued riders from the start. There was also an addition 34 mile extension added as well.

The race got underway back on the 12th of June with 42 riders setting out from Banff in Alberta, Canada with the intention of riding the entire 2745 miles along the Great Divide Mountain Bike Route, which finishes at the U.S.-Mexican Border in Antelope Wells, New Mexico. A number of riders have since dropped out of the race due to incredibly challenging conditions that included cold rain and lots of deep, thick mud.

When I first posted about the start of the race, I mentioned that it was estimated to that it would take roughly three weeks for racers to complete the route, and to do so they would need to be in the saddle an average of 16 hours per day. Clearly Lee was up to the challenge, as he averaged more than 150 miles per day in those gnarly conditions to reach the finish line. And what exactly did he win in his sixth successful finish of the race, and fifth overall win on the full route? Absolutely nothing! The Tour Divide has no entry fee and no prizes. It's done just for the challenge and the adventure. You've have to love that!

Congrats Matt!

Nepal To Cut Climbing Fees?

Ang Tshering Sherpa, head of the the Union of Asian Alpine Associations, is calling on Nepal to cut the fees on climbing permits in Nepal in order to make them more competitive with Tibet, according to this story from Reuters India. He claims that the exorbitant fees levied by the government are causing more climbers to go to Tibet, where permits are cheaper, and access to base camp is simpler.

The article says that since the end of the struggle with the Maoist rebels back in 2006, tourism has been on the rise in Nepal, for both climbers and trekkers alike. The fear is, however, that many of them will end up merely passing through on their way to Tibet, where they can get similar climbing and trekking opportunities for less money. For one person to climb Everest, the price of the permit alone is $25,000, but the cost drops as you add more climbers. For instance, with 7 climbers on the permit, it is just $70,000, bringing the cost down to just $10k per climber.

Of course, the past two seasons, Nepal hasn't had to worry about competition with Tibet, as uncertainty over access to the North Side of the mountain meant that most teams stayed in Nepal and climbed the South Side. That'll likely change in 2010, when it seems as if China is poised to ensure that the Tibetan side of the mountain is open to all. I would imagine that this has caused a number of climbing and trekking companies in Nepal to be a bit concerned, as they could potentially see their potential traffic cut in half, or worse.

Whether or not the government will make any changes to the costs of the permits remains to be seen. At the moment, that government is in a bit of a limbo again following the Maoists walking out in May. This has left things in disarray, while everyone struggles to gain some semblance of order. If I had to guess, I'd say I'd be surprised if there was a price cut for 2010, but I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Thanks to Himalman's blog for the tip on this story.

Ocean Rowing: Roz and Sarah Suffer on the High Seas

Our two favorite British rowers continue to pursue their goals on separate oceans, both making progress, but suffering in the process.

We'll start with Sarah Outen, who I haven't checked in on in a few weeks. She's still out on the Indian Ocean, and steadily making her way to her final destination on Mauritius, where she'll become the first woman, and youngest person, to row across that body of water.

Sarah has now been out on the water for 90 days, and the past few have been interesting to say the least. Yesterday, she wrote in her blog that she would like to see some sharks out on the high seas, and while she still hasn't had that happen, she did have a couple of whales stop by for a visit today. A few days back she also marked a milestone of sorts, passing the 80º East mark, and edging ever closer to dry land.

It hasn't been all sunshine, whales, and landmarks however. On Thursday, Sarah was facing some of the roughest, most dangerous seas she has experienced yet, the worst of which rolled her little row boat, the Serendipity, and sent her flying overboard. Luckily, she was still roped to the boat via lifeline, but in order to get back onboard, she had to unhook herself, untangle it from the gate for the oars, and scramble back on board. Scary stuff to be sure. But Sarah took it all in stride and remains upbeat, despite suffering a broken oar, sprained wrist, and the loss of a couple of seat cushions, which my have the longest lasting effect on her journey. She is safe though, feeling well, and making outstanding progress at the moment.

Switching over to the Pacific, Roz Savage is more than 1150 miles into the second stage of her trans-Pacific row. She completed the first leg last year, going solo from San Francisco to Hawaii. This year, she'll be completing the leg from Hawaii to Tuvalu, with an eye on finishing the journey next year, ending in Australia. When she's done, Roz will be the first woman to row solo across the Pacific, covering some 7000+ miles in the process.

Life hasn't been a bed or roses for this British rower either. When she isn't dealing with choppy seas, she's rowing naked in the rain. And if that wasn't bad enough, she's also been attacked by flying squid, which inexplicably flew from the water onto the boat. Today's wonderful blog post answers all the burning questions you've had about ocean rowing, including her "bucket and chuck it" method of going to the loo.

To keep tabs on Roz's progress, check out the Roz Tracker, which now has her at nearly 36 days at sea, and having rowed more than 494,000 times.

Western States 100 Results

As I mentioned last week, the Western States 100 ultramarathon was held over the weekend, in was was described as blistering heat. The temperature was said to be hovering around 104º in the middle of the day, when the runners were in the thick of the 100 mile course, which included dense forests and running through deep canyons.

The results from the race, which had an official cut-off time of 11 AM yesterday, are now posted on the Western States website, and you can check them out here. The overall winner was 33-year old American Hal Koerner, who completed the course in 16 hours, 24 minutes, and 55 seconds. That's an impressive time to cover a hundred miles, in high heat, and over difficult terrain no less. Second place went to Tsuyoshi Kaburagi of Japan, who was approximately 25 minutes behind the winner. Brit Jez Bragg claimed third place, another two and half minutes back. Anita Ortiz was the top female runner, crossing the finish line in 18 horus, 24 minutes, 17 seconds, and claiming the 9th spot over all.

Some very big names in the world of ultrarunning failed to complete the course due to the extremely hot conditions. Scott Jurek, one of the best endurance athletes in the world, holds the Western States course record, and has finished the event seven times, but was forced to withdraw at the 47.8 mile mark. Likewise, ultramarathon man Dean Karnazes also dropped, making it to the 62 mile mark before calling it a day. The fact that both of these ultra legends failed to finish should give you an indication of what it must have been like out on the course.

On the bright side, they can chalk it up to conditioning for next month's Badwater Ultra, set to go from July 13-15. That race covers a distance of 135 miles starting in Death Valley and running up Mt. Whitney. Yeah, running in Death Valley in July sounds like a great idea!

The Rest of Everest Bonus Episode: Another Teaser for the Trek!

The Rest of Everest continues to tease us this week with yet another video from the Everest Trek 2009 that show producer Jon Miller and professional photographer Chris Marquardt went on, along with ten other lucky hikers. The trek became the highest photography and videography workshop ever conducted, as the trekkers learned how to use their fancy cameras while proceeding up the Khumbu Valley.

This week's episode comes courtesy of Chris, whose Tips From The Top Floor photography podcast ranks among the best on the Internet. The video is a bit shorter than the one Jon gave us last week, but still offers up spectacular views from the Himalaya and a nice taste of what the group experienced in Nepal.

If you caught last week's episode, this teaser from Chris offers a bit of a different perspective. The sound bites from the other trekkers were interesting and fun, although they looked at exhausted from the flights to Nepal. The rest of the shots are a nice overview of the trek itself, starting on the streets of Kathmandu, then on to Lukla, and finally out to the Khumbu Valley itself.

Clearly between The Rest of Everest and Tips From The Top Floor, this trek will be well covered. Fans of both shows are in for a treat. You can find the Rest of Everest in iTunes by clicking here, and TFTTF here.

The Commercialization of K2

Outside Online has posted a story that appears in the magazine's July issue entitled The Everest Circus Moves to K2, in which author Sam Moulton predicts that the world's second highest mountain is destined to become the next Everest, overrun with "record seekers, guided rich guys, and unqualified yahoos".

The story points to climbers such as Fredrik Ericsson, who is on the mountain at the moment with the intention of becoming the first man to ski down its slopes. The article was written back in May, and well before Ericsson lost climbing partner Michele Fait in a ski accident descending from C2 earlier this week.

The other element that leads Outside to believe that things are changing on K2 is that mountaineer Fabrizio Zangrilli is currently leading 10 paying clients up the mountain it was is being viewed by many as possibly the first full blown commercial expedition on the most dangerous mountain on the planet. A number of other top guiding companies are no doubt watching the progress, while planning their own climbs for next year.

But, the message from Outside isn't one of condemnation. Quite the opposite actually as they say that we should just accept that this is a fact of life in the mountaineering community. Big, challenging, scary mountains attract those people with lots of money who want to climb them. And due to that fact, people will probably die. But it isn't like they don't know the risks.

So what do you think? Should we just accept that K2 is going to be a commercial mountain moving forward? Is there anything we can do about it anyway? I think it is inevitable, and although it has always been the Mountaineers Mountain, traffic on its slopes will definitely increase in the next few years, although I seriously doubt it'll ever get to the levels of Everest.

Adventurer Ray Zahab Talks About Journey to the South Pole

Here's a great video of adventurer Ray Zahab, who we all followed earlier this year, along with South Pole Quest teammates Keven Vallely, and Richard Weber, as they set a new speed record to the Pole. In the video, Ray shares some of his experiences out on the ice, along with a great message on setting and accomplishing goals. Really good stuff, and I highly recommend you give it a look.

Western States 100 Begins Tomorrow!

Another big endurance race gets underway tomorrow, when the Western States 100 returns following a year off in 2008. The race is amongst the longest running ultramarathons in the world, and covers 100 miles through the mountains of California, kicking off from Squaw Valley and proceeding to Auburn, with some grueling altitude gains and leg straining descents along the way.

The race has been one of the premiere endurance challenges for long distance runners since it began back in 1977. Last year the race had to be cancelled due to fears over forest fires and smoke in the air. Naturally, the runners were very disappointed, as you can imagine the amount of time, effort, and discipline required to prepare for an event such as this one. You can bet that many of those same athletes are back this year, and ready to go.

Runners will set off tomorrow at 5 AM from the floor of Squaw Valley, which is located at 6200 feet. From there, they'll go up to Emigrant Pass at 8750 feet, gaining 2550 feet in the first 4.5 miles of the race. The course then runs west along an old trail used by miners and prospectors back in the 1850's that remains very remote and scenic. Along the way, they'll climb another 15,540 feet and descent more than 22,970 feet before reaching the finish line. They'll have until 11 AM on Sunday morning to finish to be considered on the official leaderboard and gain an award.

The Western States is one of the most legendary races amongst ultrarunners anywhere on the planet, and it's good to see it back this year. Good luck to all the runners and enjoy the trail.

New Speed Record Set Crossing Indian Ocean

Sarah Outen continues her solo struggle across the Indian Ocean, but a new speed record has been set crossing that body of water by a team racing in the Indian Ocean Rowing Race.

According to TheOceans.net, part of the Explorers Web network, a team of six men and two women from the U.K., Belgium, and the U.S. managed to row 3,132 nautical miles in just 58 days, 15 hours, and 8 minutes. The journey got underway on April 28th from Geraldton, Western Australia and ended today when the team reached Mauritius. In the process, they broke a record that has stood for 38 years.

While this team is now home safe and sound, there are plenty of other racers still out on the water as part of the Indian Ocean Rowing race, which is the fist of its kind to be held in the Southern Hemisphere. More teams are expected to arrive within a few days, but solo and tandem racers could take another month and a half to reach the finish line. You can check out all the teams still out on the water by clicking here.

Congrats to the rowers on this very cool new record.

Wide World Interviews Arctic Explorer Ann Daniels

We followed her exploits, along with teammates Pen Hadow and Martin Hartley, as part of the Catlin Arctic Survey Team this past spring, and now Wide World has a good interview with Ann Daniels, in which she discusses the expedition, her day-to-day roll on the team, and why the team didn't end up reaching the poll, amongst other things.

You probably remember that the Catlin team set out from the Canadian side of the Arctic with the intention of heading to the North Pole, stopping to take measurements of the ice in order to judge the overall health of the icecap. The teams high tech scientific equipment was touted early on, as they were suppose to use ground penetrating radar to take their measurements. But Ann says that the radar didn't really work until they neared the end of the journey, which meant they had to take a lot of manual samples, using drills to pull out cores from the ice. This caused them to slow down greatly and in the end prevented them from completing the journey to 0º North.

Ann had been planning to make a solo journey to the Pole, but gave up the opportunity to join the survey team. She now says that she would consider going after that goal again in the future, but it won't be next year, as she'll be still wrapped up in the data from this year's survey, and won't have the time to prepare or to raise the funds she needs. To date, no woman has made that journey solo and unsupported.

Good interview and Ann is definitely an interesting person. I hope she gets to go after the solo expedition at some point.

Karakorum 2009: Preparations Underway on BP, K2, and Nanga Parbat

While the mountaineering world is still reeling over the death of Italian skier Michele Fait, teams continue their preparation for their upcoming climbs. Base camp on all the major Pakistani peaks now have teams in place, and the long, challenging work of fixing the lines and setting the camps has begun.

On K2, as you can imagine, the mood is a bit subdued with the passing of Michele. But the teams no that the best way to keep their minds off things is to stay busy, and with plenty of work to do, that's just what they are doing. The word is that teams are shuttling supplies up to C2 today, beginning their acclimatization process at the same time.

Meanwhile, on the Gasherbrums, Don Bowie reports that the team has been resting in BC, and watching a long line of porters bringing supplies up the valley. He says that the scuttlebut around BC is that as many as 13 teams could be climbing on multiple Gasherbrum peaks this summer, which could make for a crowded camp to say the least. Jagged Edge has a team looking to summit G2, and their latest update says that they've moved into the icefall, and their porters have already begun stocking C1 and will proceed to C2 within a few days time. Likewise, the Altitude Junkies are in BC, and held their Puja Ceremony a few days back. They're now ready to start their climb as well. They hope to top out on both G1 and G2.

Things are heating up on Nanga Parbat as well, where Gunther Unterberger and Gerfried Göschl are in the final stages of their acclimatization process. The duo will spend the night at Camp 1 today and if everything goes according to plan, they'll begin their summit bid in about 10 days time.

Finally, on Broad Peak, rope fixing is underway as well, although, as ExWeb reports, there are two teams already high on the mountain. Neither of those teams are using fixed lines however, so it has been left up to the commercial teams to place them. We do know that the team of Elisabeth Revol , Antoine Girard, and Ludovic Giambasi are in the midst of their summit bid at the moment, and are out of radio range, so hopefully everything is going well for them. We will likely not hear any news on the team until the weekend, summit or not. Good luck team!

More news from the range as it comes in.