Latest Adventure : March 2010

Once again, Marty Schmidt, our Oasis Sun SPF30 and Rhino Repair ambassador, is heading for the mountains. This time to climb Makalu together with Chris Warner. They are attemping to open a new route on it's South Face. In true Marty Schmidt style, they will be doing it with NO SHERPAS and NO BOTTLED OXYGEN.

Makalu is the 5th highest mountain in the world and the last time a new route was completed on the 'Great Black' was in 1997. Follow Marty's progress here:

Tuesday 8th June 2010 - 12th and final despatch from Makalu, Nepal

"Namaste to all from KTM city, Nepal. This is it, the last dispatch for our Makalu season. What a season it was, very different from Everest's own world that it creates, Makalu and the other 8000'ers still have the remoteness, beauty, tranquillity, strength, boldness, sheer excitement and aloneness... we can still be connected to this world with these other 8000 meter mountains... thank the spirits above for this.

Not sure of the exact numbers but Makalu had around 10 summits this pre-monsoon season (Everest had over 360 summits spread over a few days). No comparison at all, we still need to be mountaineers to climb these other mountains, as well as for climbing Everest if you take away the sherpas doing all the hard work and so much O2 being used, almost right out of camp 2, 6400 meters to the summit and back. I don't use sherpas or O2 on these climbs except sometimes for my clients, like Clif last season on Cho Oyu when we decided to use O2 on the last 2 final days for the summit for safety reasons, to keep his hands and feet warm and knowing that he needed a boost at 71 years of age, the oldest N American to have summited an 8000 meter mountain... he is smiling down upon us with his accomplishment. I am dedicating this Makalu summit to my good, long time client and friend, Clif Maloney.

But 95% of the time I am without O2 and 100% of the time without sherpa support. This is a way of doing it and yet not all can do it this way and need some O2/sherpa help. But on Everest it is out of hand and one day again there is going to be a major problem like our 1996 disaster! I am heading to Everest in 2011, the North Ridge with Tom Cooney, where I will be without O2, having an extra bottle just in case and Tom possibly being on it from high camp to the summit, but no sherpas, just Tom and I and Mt Everest. To bring back real mountaineering is my goal with my clients, partners and friends. Like the first 5 people who summited all the 14 meter mountains... they summited them on their own and without O2. Now these days you have many needing to use O2 and sherpa support... a very different way of climbing.

Our Makalu season had some great times and successes and also some problems towards the end. For me, on the 15 May, after heading back up the south glacier to retrieve all the gear and camps from Chris' and my climbs on the south face, doing this in 4 days, I started up towards the BC of the North side, 5700 meters. Taking 4 hours and getting to know the American team of Chris, Eric, Robby and Brad along the way, I prepared to leave in the morning for camp 2 at 6700 meters. On the 17th of May I left for the Makalu La, taking 3.5 hours and reaching 7400 meters. I wanted to continue since the weather was turning into one of the most beautiful, calm days we have had this season, but my down gear and heavier gloves were down at camp 2 and my planning was not spot on for a summit bid. I went back to camp 2 that night, taking just 1.5 hours to get there from the La. I woke up to a cracker day, no wind, blue sky and the feeling of summits happening around the world was in the air. But I knew better and I was not prepared to summit last night or this beautiful early morning. I was at peace and climbed down to BC for some rest.

The weather window was starting to happen for us again. Charlie Gabl mentioned that the window looks to be coming through for the 21st-24th-25th May. He was quiet close and most of the summits on Everest were on the 22 and 23rd. I decided to head up for a quick ascent with Brad Johnson from Colorado. We left on the 20th from BC, camp 2 to the La on the 21st May and then we departed our camp on the La at 0330 hours. Climbing the slanting rock ramps to the right of the normal route got us to the seracs and pounching the trail ourselves we made it to 8150 meters by 1230 hours. It looked to be an OK day but it was getting late and timing is everything on an 8000 meter summit day. We looked at each other and decided it was not worth toes or a open bivy upon returning from the summit. Good decision Brad, we are safe and sound now. We turned and made it back to the La by 1800 hours. A great day out!

At this moment Brad decided to head down in the morning and I decided to head back up. This time making a higher camp at 7700 meters, next to a nice looking serac I saw along the way with Brad. Making it there in a few hours I prepared for my summit morning/day. I got up at 2300 hours, got out the door after brewing up for a few hours by 0100 hours. Upon my first hour of climbing, I noticed the full moon on the horizon, I thought great, the weather is improving since it was snowing for the past few hours and I am going to have a nice summit day. But that moon started to dance around like it was pulled by a string and it ended up being one of the Ukrainian's headlamps who summited their new route on the south face/west pillar the night before... they reached the top at night and could not reverse their route so decided to descend the North Face, they knew I was climbing that day and had my camp up high on the North Face, because Giannina was in radio contact with their BC. I got the first sorted out with water and getting him on track towards my camp for him to use and rest in. Then an hour later I ran into the second Ukrainian, seeing his hands were ungloved and frostbitten, I asked if he had more gloves... we dug into his pack and found mittens, got them on, gave him a lot of hot water to drink and got him on his way towards my camp at 7700 meters. Before we separated he told me that there was one more of his comrades, somewhere up there! I took off looking for him. From 8100 meters I looked up towards the French Couloir and saw a rock in the middle of the snow. As I got closer this rock turned into the third Ukrainian. He was sitting on his pack, arms crossed, head down and not moving. The death zone was so real at this very moment... I got to him, slapped him awake, got him up, got dex into him, gave him the last of my hot water, took his pack, put a short rope on him and lead him down 300 meters to his safety and towards my camp. He was able to walk on his own to my tent.

I was still able to turn and head towards the summit. It was 0900 hours by the time I got back to the start of the hard climb with the French Couloir in front of me. All this time it was snowing, about a half meter of snow fell during the past 12 hours. It was the unconsolidated type of snow that covers all the rock holds and makes life a bit more challenging above 8000 meters. Working hard through this section I got to the summit ridge and still had to deal with poor visibility and not so good snow conditions. The long summit ridge traverse worked for me and as I was climbing around the false summit pyramid the clouds started to open up and it kept clearing as I climbed towards the last few steps onto the summit, it was 1500 hours. What a magical moment, seeing the world open up all it's beauty in a few minutes. I gave a lot of thanks to the Spirits at this very Now Moment.

Took some photo, left my foot prints and I started to descend back down. All alone on the summit are moments that I will treasure forever. Like when I was on the North Ridge of K2 in 2000, it was the 7th of Sept, going for the summit, no one on the south side or the north side, only me on K2, making it to the summit ridge at 8450 meters, the winds kicked into my face, body and mind at 100+ mph and this told me that I had a 50/50 chance of survival. Makalu was a bit more tame this time.

Overall picture: great adventure, no major issues with my body, a grand summit day and great times with so many good people. This is what 8000 meter expeditions are all about. Yes, there were some bad times, huge ego trips, selfishness, too many individuals, frostbite and unfortunately even a death with Haris from Greece. I am not going to go into this situation since I have very strong feelings and thoughts about what happened to Haris and his team and leadership! I Will need to see you in person, eye to eye to have this talk... maybe in the future and if you're keen to adventure into the 8000 meter realm with me just write me an email or give me a call and we can head off to the mountains for some real mountaineering experiences and with plenty of wonderful talks during our storm bound tent days... for true, clear and simple communication is the only way to work on this earth.

All the very best from Kathmandu Valley, Nepal for this season 2010. Now Giannina and I are off to Pakistan to guide Gasherbrum 1 and 2 with Tim Burns from Dallas, Texas, USA. We will be in touch in the same way during this journey in Pakistan.

See you all soon again back home in New Zealand and or on the mountain paths.
Cheers, Marty Schmidt, MSIG.

Sunday 30th May 2010 - 11th despatch from Makalu, Nepal

"Hello Daan, hello all of Macpac and everyone following this wonderful Makalu expedition and letting you know that I'm safe and sound down in the BC of the British. The British team has been very hospitable to us.

As I said before I summited on 3 o'clock on the 24th of May and it was an amazing expedition in a sense that it was challenging all the way until the very last step onto Makalu, the 5th highest mountain. The clouds opened up and allowed me to see the views of Everest and Lhotse, the highest and the 4th highest mountains and just all of Nepal... just gorgeous bliss, what a sight to see and what a platform to see the world. It's almost literally flying like a space ship.

I got down safely with bad snow conditions and high wind started picking up as the clouds disappeared. It allowed me to get down to my high camp luckily and that's where one of the Ukrainian climbers I helped down was resting, recuperation and I was able to get some Dex into him, which is one of the drugs for altitude, and get him down the next day. And then it took us all of the next day to trek all the way back down of the La... around the glaciers back down to ABC. From there I met Ron and we hired a porter and got our equipment down. So I was able to get all my gear off the mountain in one swoop on my own, with a little bit of help from ABC down to BC.

OK, thanks NZ and I believe I'm the 3rd kiwi to summit Makalu now. Rob Hall was the first and Guy Cotter was the second, I'm not sure I have to find out from Elizabeth Hawley if there's any other Kiwis that summited... there probably is but it doesn't matter. An amazing experience and that's what life's all about.

Thanks Macpac and Daan for writing all this out and to all the followers that enjoyed listening and watching my step, each step as I traveled up on Makalu.

OK much love from Nepal, bye! Marty"

Wednesday 26th May 2010 - 10th despatch from Makalu, Nepal

"Hello Daan, hello Macpac, hello everyone following this incredible journey on Makalu.

Some good news! I Summited at 3 o'clock on the 24th of May...
An incredible route to the summit of Makalu, there's not one easy way up... four major ridges... (inaudible) the normal French route is quite challenging... (inaudible)...
I went solo to the top.

Just have very low batteries so... (inaudible)...

... and back down safely...
Took the last day and a half to get down to ABC and now heading down to our BC. Actually the porters already packed up and gone and Giannina is waiting for me down at the British BC.
So all good on this end of the world and looking forward to catching up with you with more emails and better voice dialogue. Tell everyone at Macpac hello for me and hope to see you all one of these days and much love from Makalu, Nepal.

I'll be in better contact when I get down lower and have better battery strength. All the best from Makalu and thanks for joining me on this journey.

(inaudible)... before this one was Chris and I'll call him as soon as I can and make sure he's fine.
So until we talk again all the best and much love from Makalu, Nepal.
Bye bye, Marty"

Sunday 23rd May 2010 - 9th despatch from Makalu, Nepal

Received the following txt message from Marty this morning:

"Hi Daan, Macpac and all that follow us on Makalu. Went for the summit today, 9 hours from the Makalu La to 300m from the top, bad weather stopped us. Going again in 2 days."

Saturday 22nd May 2010 - 8th despatch from Makalu, Nepal

"Hello everybody,

It's Marty, Camp 2 at 6,700m on Makalu. Took off from ABC and made it up here in under 4... feeling good.

We have a game plan. I hooked up with a man named Brad Johnson from the United States and we're gonna head off on a variation of the normal French route... we're going to try the Messner variation which stays up high above the Makalu La... (inaudible)... So it'll be a bit more mixed climbing, a bit more fun climbing and goes back to the true summit of Makalu. So that's gonna be... not tomorrow, tomorrow we're going up over the Makalu La, trying to get a bivy in at 7,6 7,7 7,800m and then the next day, on the 22nd of May we'll try for the summit.

We'll let you know how it goes tomorrow, I'll do another quick dispatch. Hope everyone is enjoying following us and I hope Chris, who's reading this probably from home... all the best and I'll call you as soon as I get to the summit and back down where Giannina is down at BC. Our porters are coming in on the 23rd so I might just miss them and Giannina will move over to the Hillary BC and hang out there until I get back possibly with the British expedition (inaudible)...

(inaudible)

It looks like we still have high winds the next couple of days, but we're able to get a chance to summit on the 22nd or the 23rd. On the 24th we have precipitation coming in, but that's also a possibility.

We're looking at the jetstream just shifting a little bit allowing the monsoon to start rolling in... that's the window in the Himalayas we need to climb 8,000m peaks so we're doing pretty good... a good position the next couple of days. I'll let you know how tomorrow goes, how we're feeling on our pre-sumit day. It's quite exciting!

So all the best in NZ and everybody around the world who's following us. looking forward to our next dispatch.

Much love from Nepal.
Namaste"

Thursday 20th May 2010 - 7th despatch from Makalu, Nepal

"Hello Daan, this is Marty at the base of... actually at Camp 2... 6,700m on the North side of Makalu.

I know it's been a long time so greetings to everyone who's following this expedition, still on Makalu. Chris is back home safe and sound, so very grateful for that, and I continued up the North side of the mountain on my own and there's several people around but right now I'm all by myself at Camp 2 at 6,700m. I went up yesterday for about a 5 hour jaunt up to 7,400m which is called the Makalu La, which is really almost like a mountain on top of a mountain. You gotta climb the Makalu La and then you have another big stretch of 3-4 hours of glacier travel and then it ramps up to the French route which goes into the East ridge and then onto the summit and that's where we are right now... actually where I am... by myself.

I checked out the route and it looks really good. I wanted to get a feel for the North side before I attempted it. It's a long way up on that glacier and I wanna make sure it's safe and sound and it feels good. The weather was actually gorgeous yesterday and is gorgeous today... weather reports were supposed to be 100 kmph winds, but they weren't very accurate, just like this whole season has not been very accurate with weather reports. So you have to do what you can with what you have... and that's what we have. And it feels good.

Right now I'm feeling very strong. I felt the mountain out and now I can go down to ABC which is 5,700m, rest for a day and then turn around and come back up pick up my tent, my bivy gear and come right through Camp 2 onto the Makalu La at 7,400m in one day and then keep forging up the glacier finding a safe easy path for myself to the base of the East ridge and then the second day and hopefully the weather is good, what they say is there's not going to be strong winds so that's what I'm counting on... (inaudible)

(inaudible)

We'll talk to you in a few more days from now. So thinking of you all, thanks for following us."

Wednesday 12th May 2010 - 6th despatch from Makalu, Nepal

"Namaste and greetings from Makalu BC, I am right now at the Ukrain BC using their laptop and Thurya sat phone system since our wonderful setup just hit a hard time and wanted to rest a bit. To begin with, we are sorry it has been so long since my last response to you all who have been following this adventure from day one with interest.

I’ll make this short since I have 10 Ukrainians watching me type this dispatch with awareness and intent to know what the heck I am writing about. These people have nothing but kindness and goodness deep within their bones. Such good people all around us, from these folks to the British across the valley to the true Nepalese oldest man of this Barun valley living in his stone hut from Feb-Nov each year, only travelling down valley for the harsh winter days, he is amazing and wonderful to be next to, to have grand talks about life, about his 50 or so Yaks that he owns which makes him the richest man in this Valley which means so much to these local people, which all have deep respect for each individual, Namaste….meaning I honor in you the lotus flower in which you honor in me.

The sun is shining, the warmth in the air sooths our minds and bodies as we sit around this amazing group of young and old men from the old eastern block nation. So much national pride comes from each person, just like the pride from the British that we experienced the other day when Chris and I were on our summit bid…..leaving our BC on the 2nd of May…..reading from our weather reports that the 3rd-7th of May would be good weather  above 8000 meters…making us think that we would be ready for our summit on the 6th and return down the other side of the mountain on the 7th May before the wicked storms come on the 8th-11th May. Well other things happen….like they can do in the 8000 meter realm. For one thing, the altitude above 7000 meters never cleared or became a welcoming friend to us. The weather reports were not accurate or even close to what they said the weather would be. Just like those fish finders in the great oceans letting you know exactly where the big ones are………my faith is not restored with these future thoughts since the first day I arrived on K2 in 1992. I do respect the forecasts in New Zealand….when they say a southernly is coming we know it will hit us on Aoraki, same with the northwesters, we can count on these reports, but for the Himalayas…….very hard to figure out and trust.

The other misfortune……while climbing tour high point above 7000 meters….Chris came down with an ailment that might have done much damage to his wonderful, powerful and mighty body……at the same time his mind was thinking of the best movement for his life. We phoned around the world and talked to different doctors and came to a conclusion while sitting in our tent at the SE ridge Col camp, which lead us to the only direction we could travel. Our own route down the south glacier back to our 2 camps was out of the question, since it snow around half a meter which means over meter in the built up areas making this route deathly dangerous. Our only way down was with the Britist route….to the toe of the SE ridge. This route has British history from the beginning with Doug Scott attempts in the 1980 and 1984 trying to climb the full length. The British Military team has tried this route now 3 times, in 2004, 08 and now again this year 2010. Amazing route…….I could not say this before a few days ago when Chris and I did our own rescue, with the full help of 4 British military wonderful men….Dick, Phil, Pat and Matt….thank you for your help upon this day. We needed 9 full hours to get to the British BC, leaving at 11:30 and arriving at our safe place at 8:30pm. During this whole day we were helping Chris get down to a life saving altitude……Chris and I concluded with the doctoers that he had four things that could prevent him from living….the first being the most important….PE, not the high altitude sickness but PE as in pulmanary embelisism, which means a blood clot that could become loose and give him hours of life to live….Art Gilky experience in 1953 K2 expeditioin. We did not know which way this will go so we made no daught about it, we had to leave right away knowing that the Fishtail helicopter was not coming for him that day…..this was organizing by our Global Rescue company and with Iswari, our trust worthy agent in KTM, Himalayan Guides. We are out of hear is what we told each other when we hung up the sat phone. The other things that it could have been was walking numonina, a flu and or upper chest infection. All these being not good and possibly deadly above 7000 meters.

So now, as I am writing to you all, Chris is safe and sound in KTM getting treated for what ever has been happening to him. Thank you to everone involved and who helped with this rescue, thankyou.

With our wonderful team from day one of this expedition, we have decided to make new plan. Ashley and Theo are wanting to head back to their home land, so we arranged for them to travel home, leaving on the 10th May with Ram. They are so excited and happy to be heading home. Great job to the both of them for all their help with the filming and editing. Thanks. Ram will be heading back to our BC. During this time I will be heading back up our route to collect all the camps and gear that we left behind leaving nothing behind us. Then around the 14th-21st May, Giannina and I will be trekking to the North side of Makalu where I will be attempting a 1 or 2 day ascent of the 1955 Normal route.

The time is running out now for this email and for our time on Makalu where I want to finish this dispatch to you all lovely people who are following us with this climb and for Yuri to have his computer back.

I will let you all know via Daan at Macpac how this next part of the journey will turn out for Giannina and I.

Sending you all our best from the Makalu BC area where we hope that you all will come visit with us on one of the most beautiful treks in the world.

Namaste from Nepal and we’ll be in touch always. Much love and light, cheers, Marty and Giannina."

Thursday 29th April 2010 - Latest dispatch from Makalu, Nepal to Stephanie & Ian Kimpton of Oasis Beauty NZ

"Hello Steph and Ian, greetings from this magical world of Nepal and from the base of one of the most beautiful mountains in the world....Makalu south face.

Hope all is going well and that you are warm, healthy and full of love and light. What better way is there to be?????

Sending good thoughts to you both. Hope you are following our progress on www.sharedsummits.com - good videos and pics. We all have been using the magical Oasis Sun and our skin is doing so well in this intense sun environment of the 8000 meter realm. I feel good with your Oasis Sun lip balms as well, keeping them covered with your balms allows me not to worry about my lips all day. Thanks for being with us.

So for now, we are in BC for another 2 days...write to us......and then off for our summit bid. So please hold down the fort in NZ and be happy with life, feeding the pigs and smelling the roses.

Much love to you both always......cheers, Marty and Gianinna."

"Greetings from our Makalu BC, having the most beautiful views of the Himalayans surrounding us each day as we wake up to the glacier river sounds and the Nepalese native birds chirping outside our tent before our morning tea arrives from Ram and Junger, our sidar and cook. All is going well with our climb. It is very difficult to change our route from a new one to the Japanese 1970 SE route and then dropping into the East Cwm, the highest Cwm in the world and up to the East Ridge, Korean route, towards the summit. We are now above the 7,000 meter level on the SE ridge, fixing lines and working hard with the very cold temps and extreme high winds, but we are making it with each step. Next round will get us above the 7,500 meter mark where we will descend the small couloir into the Eastern Cwm. The next round, which will be around the middle of May, will be our summit bid. We are right now planning to climb with our bivy gear from the South Col all the way to the summit, with the the plans to traverse Makalu, which means to descend the original 1955 French Route, down the North Face to Makalu La and on into the normal ABC, which is than only a day walk away from our BC. After some rest, we will then conclude our expedition by heading back up the southern glacier to our ABC and mid camp to retrieve all our gear off of Makalu, keeping her clean and free from us human beings.

But for now we are only mid way through our expedition. Chris and I are feeling strong and happy with the way things are going. We love this land and its people, being a part of their daily life style is very special for us, especially during this time of living on our earth. We have rolled up over 60 years of mountaineering in Nepal in our minds, bodies and hearts; now is the time to enjoy the past years with blending in the present and future times, so that we become more respectful with what we have as of this moment. This is what climbing in the Himalayans is all about for us, to be present and real.

We climbed down yesterday from our high camp at 6,600 meters, the winds and cold were too much to hang up there for any longer. During our last radio call down to BC, we heard that the Ukraine Team, who are on their SW face route, had the 4th highest minister of Ukraine arriving by helicopter into their BC for half an hour to support the National Climbing team members. This world is very different from the Nepalese men and women who live in this area, they're looking up in the sky, seeing this huge Russian build helicopter flying on the horizon, landing only meters away from their stone hut homes, to deliver one person from a foreign land for only minutes of saying hello to fellow country men and then departing back to a world that the natives only see when reading magazines. Our Sidar Ram, was able to order 4 fresh chickens, a kilo of fresh apples, 2 kilos of carrots and tomatoes for our BC evening feast. We ended up paying for most of the Ministers helicopter expenses, but man does that fresh food make a difference. Yes, we are not from Nepal and we do bring many different ways of living to this land, some being good and some not being so good, but for the people who have the true love of sharing the riches of good living, not being based on money, fame and ego... these people bring the Nepalese people a chance to grow more open to the rest of the world, getting more educated, experiencing the ability to work over seas, creating more work within Nepal, blending western ways with eastern ways... this is what true living is all about and we all can be doing this together no matter where we are living on this earth.

Like for Chris and I right now, climbing this very big mountain, we have come together to share the highest meaning of friendship and partnership. We are living together everyday, building each other up to accomplish a major goal of summiting Makalu. But more than this, the real lessons learned from this calling of climbing Makalu, the real experiences that are being learned, like not having a disowned ego, not being self centered, not only thinking of the past, not being present, not helping with the full picture and not making that extra effort to see where the other person is coming from, being aware of all this is being present and this calling to be real is what we are here for.

Thanks so much for wanting to follow our small team climbing this very big mountain. We enjoy sharing with you our highs, lows and day to day living on Makalu.

Good thoughts to all, till the next dispatch our best.
Cheers, Marty and Giannina."

Wednesday 9th April 2010 - 4th dispatch from Makalu, Nepal

"Hello Everyone following our Makalu climb.

I tried to send out a Sat Phone call the other day during our trek into BC, I believe some words got out to Daan, but I know that it was broken up.

We have a system set up now at BC to get some dispatches out. We all know that it is important to be in touch and let all know what we are up to on this beautiful mountain of Makalu, The Black One.

With my broken dispatch I wanted to get across the beauty of this Makalu/Barun National Park. Shipton made it through to the Barun River valley in 1952, then came the Americans in 1954 with the French making the first ascent in 1955 of the North Face. Trekkers and climbers have been enjoying this area ever since. Our trek in brought us through the dry, dusty, red earth land of Num, then turning into the moist, lush tropical land of Seduwa and on into the flowering Rhododendrons before and after the roughed Shipton La. Descending into the Barun Valley the terrain changed to Yosemite Valley, Baffin Island type walls of granite, laced with vertical ice runs, with 6,000 meter mountains high above. All this brought us to Makalu South BC, the original camp sites for the early expeditions. For us, we need our BC to be more near our South Face route. So we moved one more day across the valley to the base of the south face.

We didn't rest after finding a flat place to call BC. The next day we approached the beginning of our climb by using the 1954 route, we established our ABC at 5,410 meters after finding a route through the first ice tongue. Our BC is all set up now. Ram and Junger are doing a great job with setting up our kitchen, coms and dinning tents.

We had our first showers after 10 days on the trail. Feeling good now, with clear mornings, sun being warm with a cool breeze allowing us to rest, eat well and be happy with our little team. In the afternoons the storm clouds develop, taking away the warmth but helping us to get ready for the severe weather change when the real climbing begins.

Chris and I will head back up after our Puja ceremony. Our goal is to climb up to ABC with 5 days of food and gear towards the south face and the south col. With this recon we should be able to view the clear line that we want to climb to the 8000 meter high point on the Southeast Ridge. It will be thrilling to touch new rock and ice on this face that has no past human history. From the 8,000 meter mark, the route follows the Japanese route to the summit. We know that this part of the climb will be another huge crux, having a 100 meter rock step guarding the main summit of 8,485 meters. We can only prepare now for what we are adventuring into by positive thoughts, good energy between Chris and I as partners into the unknown place on this earth and sending out love to everyone who is interested in following us along this journey.

So for now, letting you know that we are healthy, happy and motivated to see what is around the next corner on Makalu.

I'll write again after our journey to the South Col. I know that Ashley, Theo and Giannina will be warm, safe and sound in BC while we are climbing. They will be sending out more dispatches as well.

Good thoughts to everyone from Makalu BC.
Cheers, Marty"

Wednesday 6th April 2010 - 3rd dispatch from Makalu, Nepal

"Hello everybody,

This is Marty, Chris, Theo, Ashley and Giannina on our trek into Makalu, Nepal. We're at the Barun Valley right now and we're on our 6th day of trekking and should get in to the lower Makalu Base Camp (not our Base Camp, but the original 1950's lower Base Camp) today and then we have another day to get to our Base Camp.

Just letting everybody know the weather is good for us, the people are good. Theo is going through some challenging times with altitude and distance, but he's hanging tough.

This valley is so gorgeous; a combination of Baffin Island and Yosemite..". [inaudible - connection broken]

Thursday 29th March 2010 - 2nd dispatch from Makalu, Nepal

"Hello and Namaste to all from Kathmandu.

All team mates showed up a few days ago, been busy organizing the final things and preparing for our departure in the morning for our 8 day trek into BC.

We are looking forward for this journey to begin, getting into the Himalayas to sooth our souls and brighten our imaginations.

What is happening with these dispatches will be enhanced via the web site that Chris and gang are creating: http://www.sharedsummits.com
We will write up our actions into this web site, not daily but often and we might double up on some of our wording when I write my dispatches to Daan at Macpac. No worries, it should all be good information and fun to follow us through out our days on Makalu.

Just to let you all know that we are safe and sound and happy to be living this very moment and wishing you the same.

All the very best from Kathmandu.
Cheers, Marty and Giannina"

Wednesday 24th March 2010 - 1st dispatch from Makalu, Nepal

"Namaste from Kathmandu, Nepal.

Here again and this time heading for Makalu, 5th highest mountain in the world bordering Nepal and China, Tibet with Chris Warner from the USA. This will be a climb that brings us together in a non-professional way, both being guides and yet not guiding. It is a private climb, going after a new line on the SW face, just us two with no Sherpas or O2, a real mountaineering experience. We are wanting to capture on film what it means for 2 people to come together and climb an 8,000 meter mountain, not having individual goals ahead of our team goal, which is to be ultimately safe, great communication, positive partnership, summit would be nice and to have fun. Something that the Himalayas are lacking.

These dispatches will be a bit different than the past ones in the way that I will not write everyday, will only put out 1-2 a week. Our Base Camp will have a set up to do this but we will only be back into BC a few times for me to write to my trusted contact person Daan at Macpac. So the thrill will be in the waiting just as much as hearing about our actions.

Right now Giannina and I are in Kathmandu, figuring out the food buying, gear packing, permits, logistics, etc. while waiting for Chris and team to arrive. Our whole team will be very busy with the days before we depart KTM, which is schedule now for the 28th March.

We'll start our 8 day trek on the 29th and hope to have BC set up by the end of the first week of April. From then on it is all about pushing our gear to high camps and checking on the best new line upon the huge SW face. A lot of unknown arenas to explore and we are looking forward to making this happen and sharing with you what we come up with.

This is a good start for what we are up to for the next 7-8 weeks. 

Good thoughts to you all, hoping you are well and looking forward to being in touch.

All the best, cheers,
Marty and Giannina

PS, Giannina will be in BC sharing her life with the mountains, with Ram our BC chef and with the shared summit team members who will be putting out more information as it happens. Small teams are wonderful."

“Hello Steph and team Oasis, greetings from the summit of Mt Rainier. We did it again, great summit day, all happy and smiling.  Off to Tibet now for Cho Oyu.  Giannina will be coming with me on Aconcagua in January. It will be an amazing summit for us together and we'll use your products everyday.  Sending all our best, cheers, Marty.”

Hello Steph and Ian. What a great gathering in Oxford...thank you so much for being you and making your products shine amongst the world leaders.

I have some of my Oasis products and looking forward to using them again on Mt Cook, and then 3 months in South America, on Aconcagua, Chimborazo, Cotopaxi, Torres del Paine, Machu Pichu, etc.....

Here is a photo from Cho Oyu, enjoy.

Wednesday 6th January 2010 - 1st despatch from Aconcagua, Argentina

Olla and greetings from Mendoza, Argentina. Our journey has begun.......

I am able to write this first dispatch from our Hotel Necochea base. Then from tomorrow onwards it will be Sat Phone calls, 1 to 2 minutes of updates.

Long flights from Christchurch to Mendoza, taking around 20 hours to do so, adjusting to the different time zones (16 hours behind New Zealand time), the heat... being 32ºC and above everyday, the beautiful, laid back city life style with siestas in the afternoon, work in the evening till 9 pm, family, friends gather for their eating out dinner and stroll around the famous parks between 10 pm and 2 am, back home for some rest, an espresso, postre and off to work till 1 pm before having their quiet time at home. This is their rhythm and one that I have been experiencing since 1986.

Peter and Eva are from Europe, living in Norfolk, Virginia, USA at this time and wanted to experience the next step with their mountaineering adventures. So Aconcagua came up during one of our conversations giving them the motivation to train hard for 6 months and get some experience above 6,900 meters. Our goal is the Normal Route, taking in a 3 day approach trek to Plaza del Mules, starting at 2,500 meters and reaching BC at 4,300 meters. Our next goal is to take on the acclimatization, carries to Camp Canada, Nido de Condores, Berlin reaching 6,000 meters. We will carry our gear high and sleep low, climbing the mountain almost twice to prepare us for the summit day, 1,000 meters of altitude, reaching 6,962 meters. 

So this is our journey to the highest summit in South America. We look forward to sending our daily updates and for you to follow us along this path. 

Today, concluded all the food buying and packing. Good food, rest, all packed and ready to go leaves us excited to take the very first step in any adventure... one foot forward, mind clear, body prepared and spirits high.

Looking forward to being in touch with you all along the way.  Cheers, Marty

Thursday 7th January 2010 - 2nd despatch from Aconcagua, Argentina

Hello everyone. The second day in we’ve made it with transportation into Los Penitentes – at roughly 2,500m altitude. We took a nice long walk – 500m, 600m up for good acclimatisation and will get some good rest before we take off tomorrow for the park entrance.

So everything is clicking right along. Talk soon, Marty

Friday 8th January 2010 - 3rd despatch from Aconcagua, Argentina

Hi everybody. We made it up to Confluencia Camp (3,380m).

I only have roughly a minute to talk so just want to let everyone know we’re doing fine. We’ve made it to first camp, the temperature is 35ºC during the day and down to 0ºC at night. Tomorrow we’re off on a day walk to the South Face of Aconcagua and back again to Confluencia and then on to Plaza de Mulas (4,370m).

So letting everyone know we’re doing fine, everyone is feeling good, acclimatising and happy to be here.
Sending all the best to you guys and talk soon. Bye!

Saturday 9th January 2010 - 4th despatch from Aconcagua, Argentina

We took a good track up to the South Face and got up to about 4,000m. Peter did really well today. We’re looking at doing about a double distance tomorrow up to Plaza de Mulas (4,370m). So big day tomorrow, we get up at 6 AM and get out early before the true sun hits us. It gets hot during the day so we’re trying to move quickly… as fast as we can up to Plaza de Mulas.

So the biggest thing is we’re on target to get up to the face and see the upper mountain… looking forward to it!

So not much to say except everyone is doing fine and looking forward to Plaza de Mulas, our base camp. Talk soon.

Sunday 10th January 2010 - 5th despatch from Aconcagua, Argentina

Hello everyone who is following us, it's Marty and Giann... ah, I was going to say Giannina... we're missing you Giannina... it's Marty and Peter and Eva.

We made it up to Plaza at 4,300m and organised ourselves already for pushing a load up tomorrow. So yesterday it was really important for the whole team to camp a little bit lower and acclimatise. That's what we can do with customers and 1 to 2 ratios. It's just a great way of going up with special people.

Everyone is feeling good up here and Peter has got his strength back. Tomorrow is going to be a big day pushing up 500m to camp Canada and that's a big test for Eva and Peter. It's the height and getting it into their rhythm and understanding the altitude. We'll get back down to base camp to have some more good food... just had burrito's tonight... and more pasta and French toast, just to give you an idea of what we eat up here on the mountain. And fresh fruit I was able to get up here on the Mulas, so that really helps. When we launch off, we'll be away from our main base camp for about 7 days.

Everything is packed ready to go for tomorrow and tomorrow is all about acclimatisation. Everything is on track and we'll go ahead and will let you know how the day goes.

So wishing everyone all the best, thinking of everyone at home; family and friends. Much love from Aconcagua base camp, Plaza de Mulas.

Tuesday 12th Janaury 2010 - 6th despatch from Aconcagua, Argentina

Hello everybody following Peter, Eva and Marty on Aconcagua.

Everything is good. We had a great morning and clear skies again. It was windy and cold though as we took off for camp I. As you can hear the wind is still blowing in the background in this tent... I just finished up some cooking. Peter and Eva are in their tent sleeping away.

The climbing itself was a 6 - 6.5 hours round trip and elevation gain was a bit more than 500m... about 600m. Peter did really well going that high for that long and it's going to help him for summit pushes. And Eva is fantastic in the hills, good footwork and breath, she just loves it. It's great being with these guys and experiencing this mountain with them.

Looking forward to tomorrow which is a rest day so you probably won't hear from me and then the next day, on the 13th we'll go up again.

Wednesday 13th Janaury 2010 - 7th despatch from Aconcagua, Argentina

Hello everybody, it’s Peter and Eva and Marty on Aconcagua at Camp II… eh… pardon me at Camp I… I’m already dreaming about being at Camp II…

So we’re at 4,900m. We made it up here and all our gear is up and we’re heading off to Camp II tomorrow pushing a carry of equipment and food.

We also have two other people in our camp - we’re not staying at the original Canada Camp… it was getting too crowded. So we moved over to a more quite place that’s just us and in the next pad an American living in Sweden with another Swede, so it’s really nice to have them along… Duane and Peter and we’re keeping each other company and helping each other out along the way.

Peter and Eva are doing really well. They had consistent pace going up to Camp I, are happy and digesting good dinners… they’re in their sleeping bags… warm bags inside their warm tent. Everything is clicking for them, so nothing is an issue. Looking forward to tomorrow pushing our carry up to Camp II, that’s going to be roughly 5,500m… about 600m above us.

Like I mentioned before the weather has come in, the summit is clouded in and we got a little bit of snow around us right now, so hopefully that’s going to blow out. If not, we’re still below the cloud layer and if high winds pick up, we might have to sit tight for a day or so…

I’m sitting in the tent, comfortable, just up at altitude again and enjoying it with Peter and Eva… great company and looking forward to tomorrow. It looks like we’re still on target for the 18th or the 19th to summit and we’ll just be in touch as we progress up. The weather seems to be OK, it’s just changing a little bit with the winds and the cloud base. Acclimatisation is going well and pace and all that so…

Looking forward at being in touch tomorrow and letting you know how our push to Camp II went… new sights and new vistas!

Thanks for joining us and we’ll talk to you tomorrow again.  All the best from Aconcagua.  Ciao

Thursday 14th Janaury 2010 - 8th despatch from Aconcagua, Argentina

Hello Giannina, hello everybody following Peter and Eva and me up on Aconcagua.

So this is a good day! We pushed up to Camp II and that’s at 5,500m… another 600m up. The weather was beautiful in the morning and then it clagged in and we had thunder and lightning and some snow all around. But the travel going up to Camp II was good in the sense that we got our rhythm together and got the equipment up to our second camp. It just allows us to get a little bit closer to our summit.

It’s not easy, but knowing it was never meant to be… it makes us reach deep down inside the soul for hard work. The mountains are hard. Sometimes it challenges the inner soul and that’s what it’s all about.

Peter and Eva, this is the highest they’ve ever been. They still got close to 1,400m to go from Camp II, so it really pulls together everything they’ve learned in the past, about themselves […inaudible…] as we get along… as we get to Camp III and then onto the summit push.

So they’re safe and sound, letting their family all know they’re enjoying themselves and there’s nothing but beauty all around so that’s why they’re doing it, that’s why they’re here. They’re living the now right now.

We’re all buckled in for a cold night and a lot of snow all around us now.  Talk soon

Friday 15th Janaury 2010 - 9th despatch from Aconcagua, Argentina

Welcome from Aconcagua to everybody who's following us.

At the moment we're up at Camp II and feeling good and have food in us and hot drinks... and you can hear the storm is roaring in the background. The storm is still on us and we're still getting some snow. The mornings are dawning OK and then it just brews up. So we might have to take off earlier than expected, but that's OK... we just buckle up and do that.

Eva is doing great and Peter is doing fantastic in a sense of being higher than they've ever been. It's not an easy mountain... a lot of people will say Aconcagua is easy because it's not technical... it's not technical [climbing], it's just a very technical mountain in a sense of weather and acclimatisation. It's the highest mountain outside the Himalayas and the highest point in the Western Hemisphere or so... that says a lot.

We're just finishing up the evening and today is the 15th of January and we're looking at trying to move up a carry up above Berlin. Right now we're at 5,500m and we'll try to get another 1,000m or roughly to about 600-700m above us... another 2,000 ft up. So yeah, looking forward letting you know about our progress the next couple of... well hopefully tomorrow.

My batteries are running out, I need some sunshine [...inaudible...] morning time to charge them up.

Hopefully you guys are enjoying our progress. We'll talk again tomorrow breaking our way up to the summit. All the best from Aconcagua, this is from Peter and Eva and Marty. Much love to all the family and friends and everybody.

Saturday 16th Janaury 2010 - 10th despatch from Aconcagua, Argentina

Hello Giannina, hello family and friends who are following Peter and Eva and myself on Aconcagua.

We’re at Camp II again. Pushed a carry up to Camp III and Peter and Eva did really well up to a certain point today and it was best for Peter to head back down just to rest and recuperate. We’ll go ahead tomorrow and head up to our high camp. This is what the big mountains are all about: to be able to go up and down and trying to find out where your physiology is and how you’re doing with your mental and with your strength. It’s all part of the big expeditions on big mountains.

So it’s really exciting that they’re progressing and getting higher and higher: this is the highest point they’ve ever been today. So tomorrow will be even higher and that’s the excitement. Family and friends who are following… it’s quite an endeavour to go on a big mountain and these guys are doing a great job.

I just found out that our Swede buddies – the native American and the original Swede – those guys’ stove busted out, so we’re helping them out and I’m brewing up water for them and cooking up their tea and I’ll do the same thing up at high camp to make sure they get a good summit bid. It’s very important that they get a chance to go for the summit and without a stove you just can’t make it. So a good lesson learned for them and more than happy to help them out.

Sending out a lot of good energy from this wonderful mountain and a great experience for everybody. Looking forward to the high camp and then the next day, if everything goes well, we’ll go for the summit.

So right now the weather is very good in the morning and it clags out in the afternoon, so we probably get an early start, cold… but we’ll be committed and focused and will make it happen.

All the best everybody, we’ll talk again tomorrow from high camp. Much love from Aconcagua.

Sunday 17th Janaury 2010 - 11th despatch from Aconcagua, Argentina

Hello everybody, today is the 17th.

We were gonna go up and push a load up to our camp, up to our high camp but unfortunately Peter isn’t feeling so good… so we decided to make a rest stop at Nido the Condores which is roughly at 5,500m and the camp would be another 500m above us and then on for the summit day.

This is what you have to do in the mountains, be flexible and not everyone works at the same time for summit day. We’re just looking at seeing hopefully he’ll get some strength back in the morning and he’ll get up to Berlin and then try for the summit bid. If not we’ll have to think of other alternatives and they basically will be safe and sound and we’ll make the best of it.

So this is a rest day, it’s a beautiful blue sky and a lot of snow still on the upper mountain and it looks very exciting to be able to get up to the summit.

So Eva is doing really good and if it comes down to it, Peter might be able to stay down at high camp and I’ll take Eva up to the summit. We’ll just see how that goes in the next day or so. We’ll let you know how we’ll get up tomorrow and it’s important to get people feeling good for the summit bid. So those are the choices we have in the mountains.

OK, not much more to say and we’ll go ahead and talk with you tomorrow hopefully from our high camp at around 6,000m.  All the best from Aconcagua, Cheers

Check out this image to get an idea of where Marty, Peter and Eva are at the moment: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e3/Aconcagua_route_1a.jpg

Monday 18th Janaury 2010 - 12th despatch from Aconcagua, Argentina

Hello everyone, it's Marty and Peter and Eva... it's the 18th of January,

Plans, like all expeditions... you know you have to take them for what they are and work with everybody's physiology, strength and mental and spiritual and emotional sides.

Peter took a good rest yesterday, felt better today but only to be able to get the strength to be able to go down, off this big mountain. So instead of going up to the higher camp and try for the summit... he just does not have it in him.
It was really a group decision to stay together. Eva was doing very... IS doing very well and she could have easily made it higher of course and possibly summit with me, but she's really is a group player and want to stay with Peter and that's admirable. So we're all coming down as a big team, all three of us.

So the goal now is to get off this mountain and so we're fully loaded and from Nido de Condores all the way down to Plaza de Mulas is a big, big descent. Carry all of our rubbish, we're very eco-friendly and so we take everything off the mountain, don't leave anything on the mountain.

It's really a joy see them coming down... I'm on the slope right now and they're about a 100m above me and taking their time... slow and steady and the main goal is to get home without any major issues and they're doing a good job.

So we're about 500, 600m above Plaza, I can look down on it right now. The weather actually... we talked to a lot of teams... our Swede buddies - the native American and the authentic Swede - they turned around... this morning tried an attempt  with the 'Viento Blanco' which is the 'White Winds'... turned them around, it was just too cold and we saw that from a distance.
A lot of teams have turned around because of frostbite and it's just too cold and that's all part of the big mountain experience... gotta hang in there and know how to work through those challenging times. There are people summiting and a lot of people turning around... so that's Aconcagua for you.

We're also helping an Australian woman down named Nicci and her husband is going up trying to make the summit tomorrow. I guess we'll get them all down to Plaza de Mulas and regroup and we'll take out tomorrow, which will be the 19th... we'll try to walk all the way out to Puente del Inca.

So yeah, that's our expedition... right now letting everyone know we're safe and sound, we made a wise decision to come down and do a final dispatch probably in the next couple of days. We did not make the summit but for good reasons.

Much love from Aconcagua, Argentina.

Tuesday 19th Janaury 2010 - 13th despatch from Aconcagua, Argentina

[Today’s dispatch came through very patchy – Sat phone breaking up and a lot of noise from the wind too, some bits were inaudible].

Hello this is Marty and Peter and Eva,

This is our last day trekking out. The last time I called we made it down off our camp at Nido de Condores at 5,500m to Plaza de Mulas, which is 4,300m and it was really good that we got down. Peter was stronger with every step down, which was great because he was acclimatised there…   [Sat phone breaks up]

Back from last night, a good gathering…   [Sat phone breaks up]

Last night a good gathering, good talks, everyone is happy and high and ready to get going on the trek out and that’s what today is all about. Woke up with good ol’ eggs and bread, some bacon… and away we went.

So it’s roughly a 20 mile trek out all the way out to the road head…    […inaudible…]

So nice to see the history, it’s an amazing trip. That’s really what Peter and Eva came for and they’re leaving with good partings.

[…inaudible…] Peter and Eva are safe and sound, ready to head to Mendoza… we’ll probably get there by tomorrow by bus. And then we’ll do a final dispatch through Email. Thank you Daan and Macpac for all your support and to all the other sponsors, Suunto, MSR and all the good stuff.

Another journey on this planet. A couple of weeks in the high mountains always brings amazing insight and the joy of living. So get out there and venture and make it happen for yourselves and the others.

All the best from Aconcagua and we’ll talk in a couple of days from Mendoza. I’ll do a final dispatch to let everyone know we’re on the plane.

Much love and a lot of respect to this mountain and to all who followed us on this journey. Ciao from Aconcagua

Thursday 21st Janaury 2010 - Final despatch from Aconcagua, Argentina

Hello Giannina, family and friends, greetings from Mendoza, Argentina. Peter, Eva and I are safe and sound back from the mountain and preparing to head home to our loved ones.

I want to first thank Daan and the Macpac team for the support with the dispatches, gear, good mountain energy and huge future thoughts. You are all fantastic, thank you. Also a big thank you to all my other sponsors La Sportiva, Suunto, MSR stoves, Annies, The Coffee Workshop, R&R Sports, Oakley, Oasis Sun, Keen, PowerBar, Iridium Sat Phone, Asus computers.

I also want to mention that I am sorry if all these dispatches came to you and you didn´t want them to. Please write to me This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  and I will take your address off the master Sat Phone list so that the next time I am in the hills, you won´t be bothered.

I am very pleased how this expedition turned out. From the first day of thinking of adventuring on Aconcagua with Eva and Peter, our minds were becoming one. From training daily our bodies, with our minds preparing for the cold, high winds and long climbing days, to leaving our family and friends and co workers behind us to allow our venturous calling within to guide us on an experience of a life time. All this leads to becoming more aware of our selves on this earth. Some mentioned that mountains are beautiful but they do not need to be climbed. This is so true in many ways, like the Nepalese and Tibetan people would never have climbed their sacred mountains before the western influence came through their lands and offered them a way of making a different living. They use to sit in front of their Mother Goddess of the Earth, praying and meditating for all human kind, still doing this but yet being allowed to climb upon her shoulders from time to time to see different views of life. I feel that we have the opportunities these days to adventure on the ridges, faces, aretes, of these famous, sacred mountains to bring into our hearts and souls lessons about our own selves, about our other partners ways, about being holy at all times while climbing, paying respects towards everything, to become better human beings on this earth. 

This is what happened to Peter and Eva, and it happens to me each time I head out in the hills. The insight gained each time we adventure into the mountain brings us closer to who we are and what we are meant to do, finding our calling and just doing it, helping others along the way and becoming real Human Beings.

So, right now we are back on the pavement of the city of Mendoza, learned so much about others and ourselves, eating well, resting, enjoying the sights and sounds of other cultures and preparing our gear and ourselves for our journey homeward in a few days time.

This dispatch is our last from the Aconcagua expedition of Jan 2010. We three want to thank you for following us, it is a new experience for many of you to be apart of our daily climb of a big mountain. We hope that you enjoyed it and get motivated yourselves to head out in the mountains and find yourself more from the experiences that the mountains offer you. Each time is new and enriching and filled with life.

So for now, Peter, Eva and I say to you all good-bye from Argentina and see you soon in the mountains.  Cheers, Marty.