Category: alpine

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Kilimanjaro climbing video

It’s the world’s highest free-standing mountain, one of the seven summits and the highest peak in Africa. While a host of celebrities gear up to set foot on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro for Comic Relief, TRAIL magazine – the UK’s best-selling hill-walking magazine – has just got home from the mountain.

Click PLAY or watch the promo video for the climb on YouTube.


official website of TRAIL and Country Walking magazines – Live for the Outdoors

To see a 6min highlights clip of Day 1 and Day 2 of the Machame Route, click through to The Adventure Blog.

best hike – Kilimanjaro information page

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climbing Island Peak, Nepal

intights from March 2008. Some nice trekking footage. Great music.

Compilation of short video clips and some stills taken on Trek from Lukla to Gokyo, over the Cho-La, to Gorak Shep, Everest base camp, then with an Ascent of Island Peak (Imja Tse). Includes additional photos/footage of Kathmandu and flight to/from Lukla.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube. (8min)

The rest of this Aussie travel blog posts are well worth a browse.

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top 10 treks in the World

As chosen (and marketed) by Adventure Center.


Mont Blanc Highlights

Kilimanjaro Climb – Rongai Route

Toubkal & the High Atlas

Everest Base Camp and Kala Patar

The Inca Trail

Walking the Great Wall

Ladakh: the Markha Valley

Ethiopia: The Simien Mountains

Torres del Paine Trek

Bhutan – The Snowman Trek

Not a bad list.

We’d replace the Inca Trail with one of the better treks in the Andes.

For details – Adventure Center

Personally, I’m looking at trekking Ladakh … independently. I can’t afford these tour prices. My budget is $40/day.

Ladakh: The Markha Valley
15 Days – from $2367

A classic trek in ‘Little Tibet’, combining stunning mountain panoramas and barren hillsides with pretty villages and lush meadows

Isolated for many months of the year by snow, Ladakh remains one of the best places to experience the unique culture of the High Himalaya. Crossing the Ganda La we follow the Markha River, climbing through gorges, barley and mustard fields and picturesque Ladakhi villages. We hope to spot blue sheep and Ibex scrambling over the rocky slopes, with the stark peaks of the Stok, Matho and Zanskar ranges towering above.From the high-altitude yak pastures we have time to explore some of the surrounding peaks, and from the top of the highest pass, the Gongmaru La (5200m) we can enjoy incredible views of the Karakorum, the Himalaya and into Tibet. We end the trek with a spectacular walk down a gorge to Hemis, the largest and most famous of the Ladakhi monasteries.

Exodus

markha-river

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7 trekkers die in the mountains


Himalayas?

Andes?

Nope. The UK.

Icy conditions in the fell country lead to seven trekker deaths on Wales’ Mt. Snowdon and the English Peak and Lake Districts.

Terrible.

I had no idea that winter walking in the United Kingdom was so dangerous.

tents-mt-snowdon

The lesson here? Easy is all about conditions. When the slopes and trails are wet, or muddy, or icy, or the lightning’s flying and the wind’s howling, your easy hike just turned into a big deal. Whenever you go into the woods in winter, never scrimp on safety and travel equipment like poles, crampons, axes, skis, snowshoes, gaiters, goggles, bivy gear and clothing.

You have two choices out there: If you’re ready for the conditions, have fun. If you’re not, turn around. It’s a simple decision, but one that people often have a hard time making. If you let desire pull you onward when you’re not prepared….well, you can learn from the examples above, or learn it on your own. Always do your suffering vicariously.

Hike safe. – Steve Howe

Backpacker – Danger in the British Isles

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7800mi backpacking the Andes

Deia Schlosberg & Gregg Treinish were named Adventurers of the Year by one of the National Geographic magazines.

Congratulations.

did-itTwo years. 7,800 miles. No roads. That was how Deia Schlosberg, 28, and Gregg Treinish, 26, vowed to trek the length of the Andes. They had no idea what they were getting into. Beginning in Papallacta, Ecuador, the two Montana-based wilderness educators cobbled together a route of llama tracks, old Inca roads, and forgotten trade paths down the spine of the world’s longest mountain range. It was an Andes few outsiders had seen before. For good reason: “We were lost the entire time,” Treinish says. “Every time we wanted to quit, we were so far in the middle of nowhere that it wasn’t even an option.” …

National Geographic Adventure – Trekking the forgotten Andes

As I write I’m listening to their audio interview on Wend magazine.

… successfully completed the trek, after covering 56 degrees of the globe, trekking more than 7800 miles, we became the first two people to backpack the Andes Mountain Range, the first two to walk it through the mountains without relying on roads, and Deia became the first woman to have walked South America. …

finalmap

It was a struggle at many times. There are no fixed long distance trails.

across-the-andes

home page – Across the Andes

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View from 7 Highest Peaks

The Sierra Trading Post blog linked to a terrific photo article on the 7 Summit.

Only a select few have conquered the Seven Summits, a grueling challenge that involves climbing the highest peak of every continent. They’ve seen the spectacular mountain-top views firsthand, and now you get a chance to soak in the scenery too as we go on a whirlwind tour of images captured by these exceptional mountaineers. …

But first, an explanation: Because of conflicting continental border definitions, there are actually two lists of the Seven Summits; the first was created by Richard Bass and the second revised by Reinhold Messner shortly after. Without question, six of the seven peaks on each list match, although one is disputed: Bass chose Mount Kosciuszko (2,228 m) as the highest peak in Australia whereas Messner decided on the more challenging Carstensz Pyramid (4,884 m) in Indonesia as the top of Australia-New Guinea.

In any case, bravo to the 229 people who have completed all seven on either list …

Aconcagua
Aconcagua
Carstensz Pyramid
Carstensz Pyramid

Click through to see photos of all 8 Seven Summits: Environmental Graffiti – The View from the Seven Highest Peaks on Earth

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Best treks in Africa

Anouk Zijlma on About.com posted a terrific list of the Best Hikes and Treks in Africa.

… Africa’s most popular trekking destination is Mount Kilimanjaro, the highest mountain on the continent. Lesser known ranges like Uganda’s Rwenzori Mountains offer an incredible array of snow-capped peaks right next to the equator.

Other fantastic hikes in Africa that don’t necessarily involve great heights include the Wild Coast (South Africa) and the Fish River Canyon (Namibia). …

Others on the list:


Mount Kenya

Simien Mountains, Ethiopia

The Drakensberg, South Africa

Mount Meru, Tanzania

Mount Elgon, Uganda and Kenya

Mount Cameroon, Cameroon

Mulanje Mountain, Malawi

Click through for more information, links and recommended guides – About.com Best treks in Africa

Most foreign trekkers prefer to go with a guiding company to ensure their safety.

mountstanleyMt. Stanley – Sylwia Duda/Creative Commons

mulanjeMulanje Mountain, Malawi – larger original – flickr – fffriendly

Compare this About.com list with our own Best Hikes in Africa

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Rockies hiking pics – Lake O’Hara


Photographer Conny Ellison loves Lake O’Hara in the Canadian Rockies.

We agree it’s the most photogenic hiking area of all, the best place to take first time visitors to the region.

Check out a slideshow to see for yourself.

No doubt about it: Lake O’Hara is our most favourite place (“Happy Place”) on this planet. We have been very fortunate and been able to make a trip here at least once every year since 2002 (getting seats on the bus into O’Hara can be a bit of a hassle). Often there is too much snow on the alpine traverse and we have to “make do” with the Lake Oesa and Opabin trails. The highline is definitely our favourite trail though!

opabin-lake

woodrat

see the rest of the photos on Pbase – LAKE O’HARA

Our besthike Lake O’Hara information page.

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Torres del Paine Circuit trek, Chile


Hank Leukart posted a magazine quality essay on one of our top treks in the World, the Paine Circuit.

Adopted by Kiwis in Chilean Patagonia. How to hike the Torres del Paine Circuit on someone else’s family vacation

… The only thing standing between us and views of 270-square-kilometer Glaciar Grey was Paso John Garner, a steep and rocky pass through the Patagonian Andes Mountains. My brother Brian and I looked up nervously at the severe mountain crags and glacial ice surrounding us, and though we hadn’t been able to substantiate the rumors of a lost hiker’s death during a blizzard in the pass three days before, the gossip made us uneasy. We knew that some hikers had turned back, failing to conquer the pass due to dangerous weather. …

glaciar-grey

read the 3-part series article on Without Baggage

Especially if you want to find out why Hank decided to climb on to an iceberg.

hank

related posts – more Without Baggage trip reports

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backpacking the John Muir Trail

An entertaining 6min HD video by Pete Bell.

… an end to end hike of the JMT this past summer. It features 5 high school students from Chapel Hill, NC and their experience along the trail. We took 16 days at about 15 miles of hiking per day to hike all 220 miles from Yosemite Valley south to Mt. Whitney. We had one resupply at Vermilion Resort where the group cleaned out the small store there trying to stock up with 9 days of food.

It includes one bear encounter.

Vodpod videos no longer available.

BestHike JMT information page.