Some Gear

Only five days now,

Just to give you an idea of what it takes to stay warm in some of the coldest temperatures on Earth, here are some pictures of some very important pieces of equipment I'll be using. My sleeping bag is absolutely enormous and is rated to -40 degrees. As long as I'm in there I won't need to worry about how cold it is. With such a warm bag comes the downside of its weight at around 5lbs but I'll gladly carry that 5lbs knowing that it means I'll be warm every night.

(All the pictures on this blog enlarge if you click on them)

One of my biggest supporters, my Uncle Tom and I. This suit is filled to the seams with down feathers and it's what I'll be wearing on my summit day. For the lower parts of the mountain it will be overkill and too warm, but above 8000 meters it is a necessity. My boots are super insulated and I can't imagine how cold it would have to be for my feet to get cold inside those boots. There is an inner boot that fits inside the outer boot and an integrated gaiter to keep snow and ice from getting inside the boot. My ice axe is my life line in the case of a fall. Using a technique called "self arrest", a climber who has fallen and is sliding down a snowy or icy slope can use the ice axe to stop or at least slow their fall.

Keeping Contact:

I will be able to update my blog while I am at basecamp. I will try to post at least 2 messages per week about my experiences and life on the mountain. I encourage anyone who has any questions to post them as comments under my latest blog posts. I personally will not be able to answer them due to the high cost of using the internet but my friend and Everest veteran Walid Abuhaidar will be checking the blog and answering any questions that are asked. He has climbed the same route I am attempting and has a ton of mountaineering experience. Ex. How cold is it at High Camp?, Where is the North Col?, What are some tricks used to stay warm? Whatever you can think of.

Please check out this link for the story of Walid's climb-

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19251398&BRD=1721&PAG=461&dept_id=72139&rfi=6

Here is Walid (right) and his climbing partner Conan Harrod at the North Col on Everest in 2003.

Hey everybody,

April 2nd is fast approaching and I'm pumped to be headed out soon. I'm excited, anxious and nervous but ready for the experience of a lifetime. My fitness level is peaking and I feel great physically and mentally. Still picking up some last second gear and all that good stuff. Check out these links for more information on my team and the route I'll be climbing-


http://www.adventurepeaks.com/news/everestnews2010.html These are the members of my climbing team. There are quite a few more people than I originally thought but that's a good thing considering we'll be together for 70 days and it will be really cool to get to know everybody. I think I'm the youngest on the team but there are a few other guys in the lower 20's so it will be nice having some people my age.

http://www.alanarnette.com/news/2010/03/09/comparing-the-routes-of-everest/#utm_source=arnette_everest&utm_medium=arnette_everest&utm_campaign=arnette_everest

This article is written by accomplished mountaineer Alan Arnette. It discusses the history as well as the differences and the pros and cons of the two most popular routes on Everest, the South Col and the Northeast Ridge. I'll be climbing the Northeast Ridge route.

For those who don't know me (and those that do) I'd like to tell you a little about myself and how I came to be where I am today. I'll be 20 years old on March 31st and I was born and raised in Red Hook, NY. I love my hometown and was lucky to be raised in such a great place.

Growing up I tried just about every sport possible but in high school I focused on my two favorites, football and wrestling. The time I spent playing high school sports is without a doubt the best times of my life. I was lucky enough to be on some of the best sports teams at Red Hook High School. This is where I forged friendships, developed my work ethic, and challenged myself to achieve my goals and ambitions. I am a very competitive and driven person so sports came naturally to me. I had plans to wrestle in college, but fractured vertebrae in my neck and lower back have left me unable to compete at the level I know I am capable of competing. I poured my heart and soul into my athletics and my family, coaches, and teammates can attest to that. I have no regrets about the way things turned out. In the near future I hope to be coaching at the high school level.

During the Spring and Summer when there wasn't a practice to be at, I filled my time casting a line anywhere I could. Fishing has always been my favorite past time and I could spend hours a day, 7 days a week fishing. I would probably go fishing even if I knew I wouldn't catch anything. It's relaxing and exciting at the same time- you never know what you're gonna get. In the past few years I have come to love fishing for striped bass in the Hudson River. They run up the Hudson at the end of Spring and last May I landed my first one. Unfortunately I'll be missing out on most of the season due to my trip but hopefully there will be some stragglers hanging behind.

In the Winter of my senior year I decided I wanted to take a trip up to Alaska. A week after graduating I packed my bags and headed for the Kenai Peninsula. There I spent a month hiking, camping, fishing and exploring. Up until now, it is still my favorite trip I have been on. When I returned back home I went to the dentist and after talking to Dr. Kristofik about my adventure, he grabbed a couple of pictures of his son-in-law, Walid Abuhaidar, climbing Mt. Everest. I immediately thought that was the coolest thing in the world and got Walid's contact info. One email later I had a full page response loaded with information on what climbing Everest involves. Totally hooked on the idea, Walid drew up a prospective plan for me to reach my new, lofty goal.

Having zero experience in mountaineering, my first step was to take a 3 day skills course on Mt. Washington in New Hampshire in December. I spent the prior 3 months preparing my legs for the physical stress they would be under and getting a good base fitness level for mountaineering. In New Hampshire I learned the basics- walking on ice/glaciers, winter camping, self-arresting and I got to take a trip to the top of Mt. Washington on the 3rd day. Just 3 days after returning home I boarded a plane for Mexico to attempt the 3rd highest mountain in North America-Pico de Orizaba. Mexico was a rough first international experience but I made the summit climbing solo.

I had to wait until Summer break for my next mountains which were in Ecuador. I climbed two peaks in Ecuador, one at 19,300 ft- Cotopaxi and the other at 20,500 ft- Chimborazo. Again I did both climbs solo and gained invaluable experience along the way. This past January I went to Argentina to climb Aconcagua, the highest peak in the world outside of Asia. I reached the summit with Kyle Beaird of Denver, Colorado. The summit sits at 22,841 ft, roughly 6000 vertical feet lower than the summit of Everest.

Climbing mountains allows me to stay active and satisfies my need for challenging myself. In an odd way I have come to love the suffering that it often involves. Planning to climb Everest two years ago was a lofty goal but I have worked extremely hard to gain the experience and physical and mental strength that will be required for my success.

I've created an account on Flickr.com to share pictures from my trips. Unfortunately they limit the amount of pictures I can upload so I had to pick and choose. If you're on Facebook you can add me and see a whole lot more. I also have video of my latest climb up on Facebook but I haven't figured out where else I can upload them yet. http://www.flickr.com/photos/maxomeara/

Hey Folks!

First off I'd like to thank you for visiting my blog and following my latest adventure. An attempt to climb Mt. Everest far exceeds the mental and physical challenges of all my prior trips and climbs combined but I am excited to ship off on April 2nd. I am thrilled that there are people out there who want to follow along and share in this experience.

I'd like to give a little background on the trip itself and what it entails. On April 2nd I will fly to Kathmandu, Nepal and arrive on the 4th. Here I will meet up with the team I'll be climbing with for the next 68 days. I am on the Adventure Peaks Ltd. North Ridge Expedition team which means my team and I will be attempting Everest from Tibet. I chose this company because a friend who got me started in mountaineering, Walid Abuhaidar, had used them for the same expedition in 2003 and highly recommended them. The North side of Everest is less popular than the South side and sees far fewer commercial expedition teams. Having less climbers on the route will help to lessen the chance for accidents occurring. The trade off is that the North Ridge route is generally accepted as being more technically difficult due to technical climbing above 8000 meters where the saturation of oxygen in the air is 1/3 of that at sea level. No matter the route, getting to the top of this mountain is no joke which is proven time and time again with countless deaths and accidents. Another attraction to the expedition I am on is that the climbers are far more responsible for their own safety and success than on fully guided climbs. There will be Sherpa support and comfortable Base Camp facilities provided, but because it is a non-guided expedition, up on the mountain the team must work together. If all goes as planned I will be flying back to the states the 10th of June.

For a climb to this altitude, it is necessary to spend many weeks acclimatizing to the low oxygen and air pressure levels. Traditionally there is a week long window of decent weather towards the end of May that is stable enough for climbers to try for the summit. The 6-7 weeks prior are spent moving to higher camps on the mountain and then returning to Advanced Base Camp and Base Camp to rest and recover at the lower altitudes (comparatively speaking). At 26,000 ft, acclimatization becomes impossible. This elevation is rightfully known as the death zone because the human body essentially starts to die. On the push to the summit, climbers usually arrive in the death zone in the late afternoon, try to rest until midnight and then at midnight make the final push to the summit and return before becoming incapacitated. Climbers who spend more than 24 hours in the death zone are at a high risk for developing Cerebral and Pulmonary Edema or succumbing to exhaustion. http://www.high-altitude-medicine.com/AMS-medical.html This website is a good source of information on the dangers of extreme altitudes.

The last of my gear is slowly showing up at my doorstep and I am getting more and more anxious. Keep checking back, I'll be posting pictures from my other climbs and keeping you updated before I ship off. Climb On!