The world's fifth-highest at 27,765 feet (8,463 meters), Makalu saw multiple successes this season. Still, on Monday, May 9, 2022, Adrian Ballinger , co-founder of Alpenglow, texted me, "I summited today with Dorji Sonam and Pasang Sona (Alpenglow Sherpa). We fixed to the summit from where rope fixing ended by French couloir. And….I skied Makalu!!!!!! I just got back to ABC. First on top for the season. Alpenglow pride" He walks through the climb, discussing how the Sherpas fixed the summit rope...
May 27, 2022•52 min
This Everest season is like a runny nose that won't stop. You blow hard, wipe it clean, and all of a sudden, there it goes again. Just as I thought base camp was empty, as well as the other 8000ers, people keep showing up at the South Col and summiting. I guess with winds so calm (relatively - there are still those moments) that leaders are demonstrating great patience and trust in the weather forecasters to let the route clear out before taking their peeps higher. And that's how it's supposed t...
May 22, 2022•13 min
While we watch summit after summit on Everest 2022, I reached out to my long-time friend, mentor, and climbing partner, Jim Davidson, to take a trip down memory lane and talk about our Everest experiences. We talk training, preparation, and being on Everest during the tragic 2015 earthquake, and of course, my summit in 2011 and Jim's in 2017. It's a fun, fast-paced conversation that I know you will enjoy. Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything
May 14, 2022•1 hr 6 min
This is a special Podcast and YouTube interview with Tim Bogdanov, 37, who was rescued from Annapurna last month. He tells a chilling tale of getting lost and multiple mistakes he made during his no Os climb. Tim has summits of Manaslu and Dhaulagiri plus over 30 6,000-meters peaks around the world. His style is to climb alone and without supplemental oxygen. He summited Annapurna on April 28 alongside an Indian team that was climbing independently. Also on the summit, that day was Italian Alpin...
May 09, 2022•45 min
It was a busy week in the Himalayas with summits on multiple 8000ers, including Everest. On the Nepal side of the mountain, Kami Rita Sherpa led the rope team to the summit and at the same time extended his summit record to 26. Sadly, there were two more deaths of the season, one on Kangchenchunga and another on Everest. Still, thus far 2022 is a low-drama season. With the good weather emerging, the summit trolls will now allow everyone to make their attempts. Big Picture 2022 is turning out to ...
May 08, 2022•19 min
With both sides of Everest seeing significant activity, let's pause and talk to three world-class weather experts about the current situation and what they see in store for May. Also, I ask them to predict the first day for a member to summit Everest. The historical weather pattern on Everest has been a calm April, a rough beginning of May before calming again starting around May 15 for about two weeks. In this Podcast with Michael Fagen of Everest Weather, Chris Tomer of Tomer Weather Solutions...
May 05, 2022•22 min
It's May Day on Everest and some teams are having a party, while others are focused on their acclimatization schedule, and some now eying the summit. But everyone needs to wait for the fixed ropes. The upper mountain may have some moderate winds that may delay the rope team. We saw summits on a few 8000ers but the conditions remain iffy. Still, thus far 2022 is a low-drama season. Big Picture With so many climbers high on Everest, the news is scarce due to a lack of comms. Teams are doing their ...
May 01, 2022•21 min
As we enter the last week of April, the climbing on Everest is in the full program. Climbers are all over the lower mountain from EBC to Camps 1 and 2. Sherpas are incredibly busy stocking camps. Meanwhile, on the other 8000ers, progress was stalled by weather, but still climbing underway on some others. All in all, it's a low-drama year thus far. Big Picture As of April 24, 2022, the Ministry of Tourism has issued 876 total climbing permits, with 302 for Everest, including 72 female climbers, o...
Apr 24, 2022•34 min
Everest used to take a minimum of two months home to home. In 2019 Roxxane Vogel did it in two weeks. So what's changed and what's a reasonable time today? You can see the blog post with more details at https://www.alanarnette.com/blog/2022/04/19/everest-2022-how-fast-can-you-climb-everest/ Climb On Alan Memories are Everything
Apr 20, 2022•17 min
Activity is strong at Everest Base Camp, with more still on the trek. The permits increased as expected this past week and will top out fairly soon. They still lag behind last year by over 100 for Everest. The fixed lines are now to Camp 2 in the Western Cwm, ready for more teams to arrive at EBC this week. We saw the first 8000er deaths of the 2022 Spring season this past week. #everest2022 Big Picture As of April 15, 2022, the Ministry of Tourism has issued 738 total climbing permits thus far,...
Apr 17, 2022•38 min
Activity is picking up with climbers getting closer to Everest Base Camp, plus many more have arrived in Kathmandu. The permits have increased as expected this past week but lag behind last year. Teams will arrive at EBC this upcoming week. We saw the first 8000er summits of the 2022 Spring season this past week. The Khumbu has changed dramatically over the past couple of decades. The teahouses have improved over the ones with poorly ventilated, dark, and cold rooms. Today, the newer ones have l...
Apr 10, 2022•28 min
Jenn Drummond doesn't let much stop her from achieving her goals. Having all of her climbing gear not show up for a climb was a mere inconvenience for this 41-year-old mother of seven children. Jenn is on a mission to be the first female climber to summit the so-called Second Seven Summits. We are all familiar with the first seven, and around 500 people have accomplished that goal. Still, only a handful have completed the 2nd, and no females. I met Jenn via my Summit Coach consulting business al...
Apr 08, 2022•37 min
I caught up with Garrett Madison, founder of Madison Mountaineering from Nepal's Namache Bazaar while on his way to Everest Base Camp. He describes #Everest2022 as looking more like a normal season. He has 12 members with three guides plus two private parties of a guide with their client. We also talk about climbing the so-called Second Seven Summits.
Apr 07, 2022•15 min
Teams continue to arrive in Kathmandu from afar. Many are proudly posting pictures of receiving their Everest climbing permits, but as of today, the pace is way off what we saw only a few years ago or even last year. In this post, I talk about the first time I thought about climbing Everest, back in 2002. Big Picture By early April 2021 Nepal had issued 222 permits for 23 teams, but this year that number is 138 on 16 teams. It looks like Everest will get somewhat of a respite this season with le...
Apr 06, 2022•10 min
Now that we are in April, the trekking and climbing season will get serious. Many teams have already arrived and are trekking. Several teams are acclimatizing on their 8000-meter peaks while the Icefall Doctors are constructing the route through the Khumbu Icefall to Camp 2. Soon it will be time to climb! \ In this podcast, I discuss teams arriving but go into detail on the time our climbers arrive in Kathmandu, flying to Lukla, the start of the trek to Everest Base Camp. I hope you enjoy it. Cl...
Apr 03, 2022•26 min
Welcome to Alan Arnette's first Everest 2022 Podcast. I introduce the season with an overview of how many people might be climbing this year, the impact of COVID and the Russian invasion of Ukraine on the number of foreign climbers, and more. I hope you enjoy it. #everest2022 Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything
Mar 27, 2022•19 min
Every person who climbs Everest is unique. So, of course, that person feels special, but some stand out. Take Kuntal Joisher, for example. He has summited Everest from the Tibet and Nepal sides, plus Lhotse, and completed many other amazing adventures like the Northern Icecap in Chile. But what makes Kuntal stand out is his dedication to a vegan lifestyle that goes all the way to shunning any item that uses animal products - including using a full synthetic climbing suit. We discuss how he got t...
Feb 25, 2022•50 min
With the Everest 2022 season just around the corner, it appears the Tibet side will be closed and continued uncertainty about the wisdom of climbing on the Nepal side. There are questions as to whether operators should run their programs at all. Many are moving forward but a few are not. I discuss the situation with Adrian Ballinger, founder of Alpenglow Expeditions who has canceled his expedition from the Tibet side this spring. We also talk about his plans for a no O's, ski descent on Makalu. ...
Feb 09, 2022•46 min
2022 will be my 19th season of all-things Everest: 14 times providing coverage, another four seasons of actually climbing on Everest, and two years attempting Lhotse. I did similar coverage for the 2004 , 2005 , 2006 , 2007 , 2009 , 2010, 2012 , 2013 , 2014 , 2015, 2016, 2017 , 2018 , 2019 and 2021 seasons. In 2020, I did a fictitious Virtual Everest series available as an e-Book...
Feb 01, 2022•37 min•Season 2Ep. 1
I caught up with British climber, Rebecca 'Becks' Ferry to discuss her amazing 2021 where she climbed on six 8000-meter mountains. This British mother of five children ages 12 to 18, had limited high altitude experience before with summits of Island Peak and Ama Dablam, but deep inside she wanted to try the hard ones. Along with British Professional Mountain Guide, Jon Gupta, they started with Everest and Lhotse as a "warm-up' for K2 but overall climbed on six peaks reaching the main summits of ...
Nov 01, 2021•58 min
I caught up with British climbing Guide, Jon Gupta of Mountain Expeditions to discuss his amazing 2021 where he guided mostly one client, fellow Brit Rebecca 'Becks' Ferry on six 8000-meter mountains. He also climbed a 7000er with a friend and is now on Ama Dablam. Overall he climbed (time the discussion starts in the video) Everest (Summit) at 19:50 Lhotse (Summit) at 22:00 Makalu (reached 7500m) K2 (Summit) at 25:05 Pobeda (reached 7200m) Manaslu (Fore Summit ~8160m) at 40:00 Dhaulagiri (reach...
Oct 20, 2021•52 min
It was an honor to do this video interview with three of the nine members, seven male, and two female, of the Full Circle Everest team. They hope to make history as the first Black climbing team to attempt to summit Everest. As of late 2021, there have been 10,184 summits but only eight Black climbers have stood on the top. According to the Himalayan Database, South African Sibusiso Vilane became the first Black to summit on May 26, 2003, and returned in 2005 to summit from the Tibet side, both ...
Sep 21, 2021•44 min
I caught up with German Alpinist Jost Kobusch , who now lives in Chamonix, France to discuss his upcoming winter, no O's, solo attempt of Everest's West Ridge. This exact style and the route had never been attempted or accomplished. In 2019, Jost tagged his high point at 7,329-meters/23,750-feet. He said before starting the expedition, he would be pleased to tag 8,000-meters so he got close. This time he is again targeting 8,000-meters and I hope he reaches the summit. We cover a range of topics...
Sep 09, 2021•41 min
In this episode I close out the summer climbing season in Pakistan's Karakorum area. Also I discuss what we can expect in the world of mountaineering over the next several months. The summer Karakorum season is over, well, I think so. There are always a few surprises. The 48 summits on K2 were close but not a record. 2018 saw a record with 62 total summits, followed by 2004 with an estimated 51. This season saw two deaths, one on a new route on K2 and one on Broad Peak. Overall there were around...
Aug 04, 2021•19 min
Garrett Madison, founder of Madison Mountaineering has now summited K2 three times. Only one other person has more. This is his sixth expedition to K2 making him the most experienced western operator to run regular trips to the Northern Terrorities of Pakistan. He was the leader for the 21 person team who submitted on July 28, 2018, at approximately 6:07 AM PKT (local time) We discussed his team summit plus the latest on finding the bodies of the 3 missing winter climbers. And an update on the W...
Jul 30, 2021•18 min•Season 2Ep. 7
In this Podcast I cover the recent events in Pakistan's Northern Territories on K2, Broad Peak and Gasherbrum I & II. Heavy snowfall and high winds have delayed progress on K2 but there have been summits on Gasherbrum II and Broad Peak along with the death of Mr. Kim Hong-Bin, 57. The bodies of winter K2 climbers Pakistani Ali Sadpara, Icelander John Snorri, and Chilean Juan Pablo Mohr Prieto who went missing were found between the Bottleneck and High Camp. Over 50 climbers are expected to s...
Jul 26, 2021•20 min•Season 2Ep. 6
Garrett Madison, founder of Madison Mountaineering is one of the few people on the planet to have summited K2 twice. He's hoping to get his third this 2021 summer. This is his sixth expedition to K2 making him the most experienced western operator to run regular trips to the Northern Terrorities of Pakistan. With the new 4G Cell tower in Concordia, Garret took the hour walk from K2 Base Camp to Broad Peak Base Camp to talk with me over Zoom about his expedition. We discussed their rotations to C...
Jul 15, 2021•23 min•Season 2Ep. 6
The 2021 summer climbing season in Pakistan's Kararum Range is heating up as we approach mid-way through the season. Teams are making great progress with Camps set as high as 7,000-meters, C3 on K2 and Broad Peak. Also, we already have summits on Gasherbrum II by a French team who skied down. Then there was a guide who paraglided off Broad Peak around 6600-meters. So lots of activities I discuss in this episode plus I talk through the climb on K2 from Base Camp to Advanced base Camp, then Camp 1...
Jul 12, 2021•22 min•Season 2Ep. 4
The summer season has begun in Pakistan's Karakoram range with climbers on K2, Broad Peak, Gasherbrum I/II, and Nanga Parbat. The ropes have already reached C1 on K2 and climbers have slept at C1 on both Broad and GI. Due to some mixed signals from Pakistan authorities, many operators canceled their climbs this summer making for a relatively low number on the peaks a bit less than 200 across all five with K2 having the most at 88. Climb On! Alan Memories are Everything www.alanarnette.com...
Jun 28, 2021•17 min
The 2021 climbing season on North America's highest peak, Denali, is nearing the end. I take a look at some "fun facts" and how this season has progressed.
Jun 23, 2021•25 min•Season 2Ep. 2
