| As a native of Washington
State my first summit in the North Cascades was on Sahale peak in
1984 at the age of 13. Since then I've pursued peaks in mountain
ranges all over the world including the: Alaska Range, Andes, Himalayas,
Coast Range, Rockies, Sierras, Tien Shan and the Pamirs. I'm an
avid alpine climber, and particularly enjoy climbing big walls and
moving fast in the mountains.
In the summer of 2003, I set the speed record on Denali
via the West Buttress. Following a successful trip to Alaska, I
flew to Kazakhstan to compete in the Festival
Khan Tengri 2003.
Broad Peak
K2 |
The
2004 summer climbing season has been adventurous! I have been
fortunate to have had the opportunity to climb in so many places
this year: the Alaska Range, the Cascades and the Karakoram.
Seattle locals and friends, Andereas Schmidt, Roger Strong and
I traveled to the Alaska Range this spring to attempt the Moonflower
Buttress on Mt. Hunter. Ultimately weather and route conditions
thwarted our attempts. However, between long storm sessions
with involved tent time, we managed to squeeze in some fine
Alaskan powder tele-sessions supplemented by the Kahiltna social
scene comprised of the other parties who were equally stymied
by the continuous snowfall. One exceptional consolation prize
was a stellar one day traverse of Mt. Francis via the beautiful
West ridge. Unfortunately a window never materialized for us
and we left southeast fork of the Kahiltna unfulfilled - this
year...
In May I left for Islamabad, Pakistan en-route to the Karakoram
and the Broad Peak / K2 base camp. While there Rory Stark (hailing
from Ancorage Alaska) and I reached the North Summit of Broad
Peak (8030m) without oxygen. Following the ascent we began an
ascent of the Abruzzi Ridge on K2 with a high point of Camp
2. Due to time constraints and weather concerns I left the Karakoram
in late July.
After a long and arduous trip home, I gratefully arrived back
in the Cascades! Still inspired by the great Karakoram, I ventured
out for a few laps on Rainier which ultimately lead to a new speed
record! The sub-five hour barrier!! 4 hrs. 59 min. 01
sec. round trip!!!
Check out the web site for the Broad Peak and K2 dispatches,
photos and MPEG clips. You can browse the latest news, reports
on previous speed climbs and upcoming events.
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