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2008 K2 Disaster
The 2008 K2 disaster occurred on 1 August 2008, when 11 mountaineers from international expeditions died on K2, the second- highest mountain on Earth. Three others were seriously injured. The series of deaths, over the course of the Friday ascent and Saturday descent, was the worst single accident in the history of K2 mountaineering. Some of the specific details remain uncertain, with different plausible scenarios having been given about different climbers' timing and actions, and different versions reported later via survivors' eyewitness accounts or via radio communications of climbers who died (sometimes minutes) later in the course of events on K2 that day. The main problem was reported to be an ice avalanche which occurred at an area known as "the Bottleneck". This destroyed many of the climbers' rope lines leaving them unable to descend. However, two climbers died on the way up to the summit prior to the avalanche. Among the dead were climbers and support crew from France ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mountaineering
Mountaineering, mountain climbing, or alpinism is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas that have become mountain sports, sports in their own right. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, and bouldering are also considered variants of mountaineering by some, but are part of a wide group of mountain sports. Unlike most sports, mountaineering lacks widely applied formal rules, regulations, and governance; mountaineers adhere to a large variety of techniques and philosophies (including grade (climbing), grading and climbing guidebook, guidebooks) when climbing mountains. Numerous local alpine clubs support mountaineers by hosting resources and social activities. A federation of alpine clubs, the International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation (UIAA), is the International Olympic Committee-recognized world organization for mountaineering and climbing. T ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alberto Zerain
Alberto Zerain Berasategi (20 August 1961 – 24 June 2017) was a Spanish mountaineer. He is best known as a solo alpinist and the first person to summit K2 during the 2008 K2 disaster on 1 August. Zerain summited the mountain solo from Camp III and successfully descended before the series of events that led to the deaths of 11 climbers on 2 August 2008. In his lifetime, he climbed at least 7 eight-thousanders. Alberto Zerain died on 24 June 2017 on Nanga Parbat with his climbing partner, , while on an expedition. The 2008 K2 Disaster During the 2008 K2 Disaster, Alberto Zerain was on a solo expedition. Zerain lacked the resources that other expeditions had. In order to secure a place on the mountain, he made a deal with a Sirdar (organizer of porters). He agreed to work as a porter to earn his keep. In return, he was given a site for his tent. He worked hard side by side with native mountain workers. Over the course of the expedition, he earned the respect of the locals, who ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Geographic Adventure (magazine)
''National Geographic Adventure'' was a magazine started in 1999 by the National Geographic Society in the United States. The first issue was published in Spring 1999. Regular publication of the magazine ended in December 2009, and the name was reused for a biannual newsstand publication. The last issue was December 2009/January 2010. Features The magazine covered adventure travel, environmental issues, natural science, and other topics related to the outdoors. It focused on adventure travel and included: ;Regular features *"First In", that featured recent adventure travel news *"Gear", that featured experts' recommendations of good gear that would improve ones' vacation experience *"Living It" that featured ''Adventure'' tips, ways to avoid danger, ways to help, etc. *"Next Weekend", that featured good weekend trips from all across the U.S. *"Where Next", that featured vacation destinations across the world ;Adventurer of the Year Annually, a slate of adventurers were named '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bivouac Shelter
A bivouac shelter or bivvy (alternately ''bivy'', ''bivi'', ''bivvi'') is any of a variety of improvised camp site or shelter that is usually of a temporary nature, used especially by soldiers or people engaged in backpacking, bikepacking, scouting or mountain climbing. It may often refer to sleeping in the open with a bivouac sack, but it may also refer to a shelter constructed of natural materials like a structure of branches to form a frame, which is then covered with leaves, ferns and similar material for waterproofing and duff (leaf litter) for insulation. Modern bivouacs often involve the use of one- or two-person tents but may also be without tents or full cover. In modern mountaineering the nature of the bivouac shelter will depend on the level of preparedness, in particular whether existing camping and outdoor gear may be incorporated into the shelter. Etymology The word ''bivouac'' is French and ultimately derives from an 18th-century Swiss German usage of ''Beiwacht ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Free Soloing
Free solo climbing, or free soloing, is a form of rock climbing where the climber (or ''free soloist'') climbs solo (or alone) without ropes or other protective equipment, using only their climbing shoes and their climbing chalk. Free soloing is the most dangerous form of climbing, and, unlike bouldering, free soloists climb above safe heights, where a fall can be fatal. Though many climbers have free soloed climbing grades they are very comfortable on, only a tiny group free solo regularly, and at grades closer to the limit of their abilities. Some climbers' profiles have been increased by free soloing (e.g. Alex Honnold and John Bachar), but others question the ethics of this, and whether the risks they are undertaking should be encouraged and commercially rewarded. "Free solo" was originally a term of climber slang, but after the popularity of the 2018 Oscar-winning film ''Free Solo'', Merriam-Webster added the word to their English dictionary in September 2019. In additi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Death Zone
In mountaineering, the death zone refers to altitudes above which the pressure of oxygen is insufficient to sustain human life for an extended time span. This point is generally considered to be , where atmospheric pressure is less than . The concept was conceived in 1953 by Edouard Wyss-Dunant, a Swiss doctor, who called it the lethal zone. All 14 peaks above 8000 m (the "eight-thousanders") in the death zone are located in the Himalaya and Karakoram regions of Asia. Many deaths in high-altitude mountaineering have been caused by the effects of the death zone, either directly by the loss of vital functions or indirectly by poor decisions made under stress (e.g., not turning back in deteriorating conditions, or misreading the climbing route), or physical weakening leading to accidents (e.g., falls). An extended stay above without supplementary oxygen will result in deterioration of bodily functions and death. Physiological background The human body has optimal endurance be ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Summit (2012 Film)
''The Summit'' is a 2012 documentary film about the 2008 K2 disaster, directed by Nick Ryan. It combines documentary footage with dramatized recreations of the events of the K2 disaster, during which – on the way to and from the summit of one of the most dangerous mountains in the world – 11 climbers died during a short time span. Reconstructions were filmed on the North face of the Eiger and on the Jungfraujoch glacier in Switzerland in March 2011. Pemba Gyalje Sherpa was present for the reconstructions along with Pasang Lama, Tshring Lama, and Chhiring Dorje Sherpa, all of whom were on K2 in August 2008 during the events. Footage from the various teams was used and includes Hoselito Bite, Ger McDonnell, Wilco van Rooijen, Cecilie Skog, Fredrik Sträng, and Alberto Zerain. The film premiered at the 2012 London Film Festival. Reception On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, of critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of . Metacritic, which uses a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rolf Bae
Rolf Bae (9 January 1975 – 1 August 2008) was a Norwegian Arctic adventurer and mountaineer. Bae operated an adventure company called Fram, specializing in Arctic and Antarctic travel and survival courses. He died during an ascent of K2 in 2008. Biography In 2000/2001, Bae crossed Antarctica with fellow explorer Eirik Sønneland, completing what was then the world's longest ski journey, 3800 km long, taking 105 days to complete; the record was beaten by Rune Gjeldnes in 2006. On 27 December 2005, he arrived at the South Pole, after skiing from the ice shelf, and on 24 April 2006, he reached the North Pole unsupported, both expeditions together with Cecilie Skog, the first woman to complete the Explorers Grand Slam. In 2008, Bae together with Stein-Ivar Gravdal, Bjarte Bø and Sigurd Felde reached the top of Great Trango Tower (6286 m) in Karakoram, Pakistan, via the "Norwegian Buttress" (VII 5.10+ A4). The team spent 27 days ascending and 30 hours descending the pe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Self-arrest
The self-arrest is a climbing technique mostly used in mountaineering and alpine climbing where a climber who has fallen and is sliding uncontrollably down a snow or ice-covered slope 'arrests' their fall by themselves by using their ice axe and their crampons. There are many ways to self-arrest depending on the climber's body position while falling (e.g. falling head-first and/or falling on their back etc.,) but they mostly involve the climber quickly digging the pick of their ice axe into the slope (with the adze of the axe at their shoulder and the axe held at either end diagonally across their body), rolling over onto their stomach so that they can use their full body weight to push down harder on the pick, and simultaneously digging the front-points of their crampons into the slope. Practicing the 'self-arrest' is a core skill set for mountaineers in snow and ice-covered terrain. On steeper ground such as in couloirs (particularly ice-covered), and on glaciers where a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Abseiling
Abseiling ( ; ), also known as rappelling ( ; ), is the controlled descent of a steep slope, such as a rock face, by moving down a rope. When abseiling, the person descending controls their own movement down a static or fixed rope, in contrast to Belaying, lowering off, in which the rope attached to the person descending is paid out by their belayer. Description The technique is used by Climbing, climbers, mountaineers, Caving, cavers, Canyoning, canyoners, search and rescue and rope access technicians to descend cliffs or slopes when they are too steep or dangerous to descend without protection. Many climbers use this technique to protect established Anchor (climbing), anchors from damage. Rope access technicians also use this as a method to access difficult-to-reach areas from above for various industrial applications like maintenance, construction, inspection and welding. To descend safely, abseilers use a variety of techniques to increase the friction on the rope to t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fredrik Sträng
Fredrik Sträng (born March 25, 1977) is a Swedish mountaineer, adventurer and documentary film, documentary film maker. Climbing career In 2003, Sträng participated in the Swedish Dhaulagiri expedition which consisted of six Swedes altogether (Joakim Ahlin, Magnus Flock, Martin Emanuelsson, Fredrik Jönsson, Hans Bornefalk and Sträng). Sträng reached the summit, together with Kami Sherpa, who was also part of the expedition. In 2005, in a commercial expedition led by Ryan Waters, with six climbers and six high-altitude porters, Sträng attempted to climb Mount Everest via the northeast ridge. He turned back only 240 m from the summit because the oxygen did not work and because of an outbreak of a throat infection. During the autumn of 2005, Sträng climbed to the central peak of Shishapangma at an altitude of 8013 m. During the spring of 2006, in another commercial expedition guided by Scott Woolums and Jamie McGuinness, Sträng climbed Mount Everest. He used oxygen startin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cecilie Skog
Cecilie Skog (born August 9, 1974) is a Norwegian adventurer who was the first Norwegian woman to summit K2 mountain in 2008 and in 2010 she made the first unassisted trek across Antarctica. Life Skog studied and worked as a nurse, but since summiting Mount Everest in 2004, she has worked as a professional adventurer, guide and lecturer. In August 2008, she climbed K2. Her husband, Rolf Bae, who had been climbing with her on K2, perished during the descent, as did ten other mountaineers. In a close call at the so-called Bottleneck, a Serbian climber, Dren Mandić, unhooked himself and lost balance, bumping into Skog and falling 100 metres to his death. In January 2010, she finished the first unassisted and unsupported crossing of Antarctica. Together with Ryan Waters, she took 70 days, from November 13, 2009 to January 21, 2010, to complete the more than 1800 km long journey across the Antarctic continent. Summits * Mont Blanc 4807 m, 1996 * Aconcagua, 6962 m (South Am ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
