Skydive Everest - Climbed and Skydived

Bagged Peak 9

2008-11-23T09:44:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was a great day for a trek up Peak 9. I wrote a trip report and you can find it right here.

Attack on Mt Massive!

2008-11-13T15:27:00.001-07:00

Attack on Mt Massive!

You don't really attack a mountain, you have to sneak up on them. Last weekend it was Mt Massives turn, read all about it in the trip report:

1st landing since 1992

2008-11-05T11:49:00.001-07:00

1st landing since 1992
Originally uploaded by scoutwonderworld

This is the first Porter landing since 1992 at the airstrip.

Quick trip to the Korner

2008-11-01T16:54:00.001-06:00

I put some crazy gu stuff in my bike tires last night, Stans it is called. This was prompted by a 25 mile ride on Friday where I suffered TWO flat tires. The marketing website has a video where the guy rips into the tubes with a knife, right, we shall see.

I threw down a quick trip to Farmers Korner to check it out, what an awesome day for a quick ride. I managed to destroy my Garmins ability to upload, I must of just used it all up, that's going to cost some money. I had to map this one manually....

Blogging from Google Docs

2008-11-01T14:38:00.001-06:00

Ah wow, this is awesome. Last weekend I struggled SO hard to get a blog entry together with a bunch of photos. Using the Mac editor in blogger.com is just crap. So I downloaded a tool for the Mac that synced with blogger.com really well, except for photos. I had to connect to an FTP server to get the photos up and honestly it was a real pain, it pretty much ruined my dinner with complaints of "I thought the Mac was supposed to be easy...AAARRRGGG".

Now, Google Docs has saved me twice today. The first was finally getting around to installing Google Gears so that I can manage documents offline, cool, that saved me an Office license fee. Now I have discovered that I can create a full document with photos and then instantly post it. Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant, and here is a photo to prove it. Thank you Google, I wish I could afford your stock.

See that there, the Royal Yak Farm, where I landed. Couldn't do that again if I tried.

In The Press

2008-10-27T21:03:00.007-06:00

My 15 minutes of fame came and went, awesome. I pulled together the top links of my exploit(s).

Channel Five coverage of the FOG!

My local in Breck, the Summit Daily

My hometown paper, article #1 - before the jump

Grantham Journal, article #2 - After the jump

Peak 8 Summit

2008-10-25T18:34:00.001-06:00

There are layoffs at work, 9% of folks will be looking for a new job next week. Ah, you know, take a look around, look at this wonderful state we are in. I thought I would save a few bucks today and just head up the side of a mountain, doesn't cost a penny, just sweat.

We set off up 4 o'clock only to be greeted by big and mean snow blows, boy are those things noisy!

Above Vista Haus there is a steep pitch, it has turned me around on skins more than once, but if you just stick at it then it is all downhill, well, sort of.

We made the T-Bar warming hut in decent time, and at this point I dropped the suggestion that “we might as well push on to the summit, eh?”.

We had some great views up there, Copper Mountain was just a spit away. I found out why Lake Chutes is called as such, turns out there are lakes at the bottom of them.

We trekked back via the 6 Chair warming hut. Someone was nice enough to leave it open for us to enjoy our sandwiches.

On a side note, I feel like a walking science gathering tool these days. I have a Garmin GPS to gather all waypoint data, a Digital camera and a SPOT GPS Beacon. All perform vital functions.

The Gamin GPS allows me to upload to MotionBased a review the work I did, without that I can’t justify calories. We covered 7 miles and had an altitude gain of 3,215ft. Apparently the wind was 35mph, I can tell you it pushed 50mph on the ridge! I need a new gadget to measure wind speed...dammit....well, really it is kind of fun, a walking weather station.

Peak 8 Summit | Day Hike | Breckenridge, Summit, Colorado, United States | MotionBased Dashboard

The camera takes photos of course, and when merged with the GPS the Flickr website shows us on a map where they came from:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/9802602@N06/map?&fLat=39.4677&fLon=-106.0975&zl=3&map_type=hyb&order_by=recent

And then the SPOT, well that tell folks every 10 minutes where we are, and in an emergency I can call for 911!

Find Simon

One more photo to wrap it all up.

Photo Time

2008-10-13T14:48:00.004-06:00

I am uploading photos in no particular order, it was just getting silly having them sit around on my laptop when I could share them with the world!

After arriving in Lukla we trekked for 2 days to Namche, the main town area in the Kumbu region. The town is set into a natural horseshoe in the mountain, this protects it from the wind and snow but also makes for a cool photo.

Just walking around the town you have to remember to look up now and again, and always without fail there will be some summit popping up on the horizon waiting to say "hello, that's right, we are badass".

A short trek up to a hill overlooking Namche gives the first glimpse of Everest, seen here on the left in the background with Lohtse dominating the main part of the picture. The camera doesn't capture this as well as you could imagine, just listen for the gasp of people seeing this view for the first time.

Before the week was out we will of trekked much of the way down this valley to Everest, and it isn't flat....not one bit.

Everest View Slideshow

Here come the photos

2008-10-10T09:17:00.003-06:00

As we get closer to home the internet connection just gets faster and faster! Finally decent photos from the trip are getting into our Flickr account and it is time for me to start introducing some of them.

Our first port of call that filled our Camera was Kathmandu. I have said it before but I will say it again, this place was just medieval.

We have an album from a day of walking around the city. The photos are full of color and life and somehow don't capture the age and claustrophobic feeling of these streets. It felt to me like the stories I read of old time London where you could shake the hand of the person who lived opposite you by reaching out of the window. There were dogs everywhere, shit flowing from overhead drains into the streets and peddlers everywhere. But, at the same time there was just an honest appreciation for the absolute simple things in life, family, fellow man and basic prayer.

Check out the whole album here - Kathmandu

Trekking!

2008-10-10T02:23:00.003-06:00

Trekking, tabbing, walking, hiking....whatever you call it we did a bunch of it. I got to merge to the GPS data today for period from Lukla to Pheriche to Namche. Total elevation gain of over 17,000ft over 40 miles with a high point of just under 15,000ft.

Samui

2008-10-09T05:32:00.006-06:00

We landed at Samui airport a couple of nights ago. We left Nepal to head to Bangkok and then got straight on a flight to Koh Samui for some beach time.

I heard this morning that a Yeti airlines Twin Otter crashed on approach to Lukla airport this morning. That really blows for the folks there. Lukla airport is by no means an easy place to land, pilots have just one shot as best I can tell. The Otter is an awesome plane for that airport and although the angle of the runway looks crazy it actually helps slow the planes down in record time. My thoughts are with the families of folks in that plane, that is just how it rolls som

etimes.

We rented a moped today for the pricey sum of 10 bucks. I was amused at how the Gas is served up, in used Rum bottles. By the way, I think a moped is more dangerous than a skydive.

Thanks to Buddha we survived and caught a great sunset.

Mission Accomplished!

2008-10-06T08:49:00.002-06:00

Sometimes it felt like it really just might not come together, but after many miles of trekking and a lot of time at the airstrip preparing for the jump it finally all came together today!

I did a test jump a few days ago from 16,000ft and it went better than I could of hoped. I jumped with Dean and Leigh and I would say our test load was the best of all of them! All stand up landings all on target.

Today I was manifested on Load 3 with Carrie, Chris and Derek(JM). We got off the ground sometime after 9am. The morning weather had been great with no real hints of the clouds from the previous days. As we took off there was a high cloud layer but nothing serious.

On the way to altitude we flew past Everest 3 times! That things is just HUGE! The landscape of the Himalaya at 29,000ft is just hard to describe, the tallest and most jaggerdy peaks I could ever imagine, like a martian landscape of some sort.

I was first out and before I exited I got a great eyeball on Namche, the river fork and roughly where the airstrip was. We were too high to see detail but the clouds were patchy.

Freefall lasted 62 seconds, I did a bunch of 360's and checked out everything many times. Peaks, peaks and more peaks, but about this time I noticed things were getting more cloudy. I opened around 5,000ft and had a great visual on Namche and got to where the airstrip was, then things started getting very cloudy!

I lost all my bearing in the clouds and kept waiting to breakthrough the layer, at 2500ft I realized things were just a tad off plan and the airstrip was no longer the only place to land. I kept close to a couple of the other canopies but at 1500ft I decided to go it alone. At an altimeter reading of 700ft I started to spot land but boy was it a lot closer than 700! I spotted through a haze a little grass area, like an oasis. Lucky for me I made a decent decision and went for a landing there.

I slid is in between some tree to be greeted by 4 local folks giving me a very funny look. Some fella had just come out of a low cloud and landed in a Yak field with full oxygen gear on!

Sherpas ran up to me within a few minutes and it turned out that the clouds had come up from the valley within just seconds of us leaving the plane and the visibility was very low. The plane had to go and land at Lukla. 2 folks had got to the landing zone with just feet to spare. I, it turned out had landed at the Royal Yak Farm, pretty much the ONLY field like area in the entire upper region.

The worst injury on the load was a bust up ankle and for once not on me. What excitement!

The afternoon was spent waiting for the clouds to clear before jumping on a chopper to Lukla and then a Twin Otter to Kathmandu! Off to Thailand tomorrow for a few days recovery.

Simon

A plane, my kingdom for a plane

2008-10-02T01:41:00.004-06:00

The last 5 days we spent trekking up to 15,000ft and then back down again! It was truly amazing, photos opportunities galor. It was kind of tiring to get up every morning with the sun and spend all day trekking but it made for a decent nights sleep, even at this altitude. I am going to have to write my notes up later because now we are in Skydiving mode!

The plan actually arrived in Nepal a few days ago but due to paper work and tests it was delayed in getting to us by a few days. I kind of wish folks had sent it out here a few days earlier in anticipation of delays. Either way it landed here this morning at around 10am and boy was it a sight! Nothing has landed on this strip since 1992 and the WHOLE town came out to watch. Within a few minutes of the Porter landing a Russian Helicopter landed and then a Bell chopper, making for a very busy little runway, it kind of looked like an aircraft carrier, what with the end of the runway just falling off to nowhere.

The staff need to make some jumps to see how the gear holds up, right now it is a bit cloudy so we will just have to see how the weather goes. Right now everything is in place to make this work.

I have been told that a film crew from Channel 5 is following us in the second party and is making live broadcasts, that is in addition to the camera crews we have. Honestly these guys can get in your face with a camera at exactly the wrong time after climbing a very big and slow hill!

Channel 5 News

I noticed I have over 500 emails in my gmail, at this speed and cost most of them are just going to have to wait!

I need to go work some Karma on the weather, out for now!

Namche

2008-09-26T04:11:00.003-06:00

This will be a short one, firstly because the internet access in Namche is a tad slow and expensive but secondly because this place just makes it hard to come up with words.

We flew into Lukla aiport two days ago. By airport I mean short landing strip about the same length as the Denver airport width, and that ain't a joke! It is cleverly built on a hill so planes coming in get quick braking and planes going out get a running start. It was funded by Sir Edmund Hilary, in fact a lot of things here were funded by him, airports, schools, lodges, he did good work in the region, the people are happy. The people her are actually very happy and very content. It seems that they start the day chilseling and building in Namche, carrying rocks around and repairing trail. I honestly think they do it for amusement. The market here looks like an REI store, only cheaper with better service.

I get ahead of myself. We flew into Lukla and treked to a village which name I will have to look up on a map with a full trip report. Treking seems to be a word used for walking around this region, it isn't hiking and it certainly isn't climbing, but it is unique. (By the way, this keyboard doesn't work great, hence the letters missing now and again). Anyways, you trek from village to village at an amazinly slow pace. If you watch the Yaks (which there are many) then it makes sense, you just plod along. Yak's are very humerous beings, much more fun to watch than mules on the Grand Canyon.

Yesterday we made it into Namche, a market village at 12,500ft. It isn't any where near as busy as I expected which is just great. The lodge is honestly 5 star for this region, a nice bed and a shower, really amazing.

This morning we trekked to the Everest View Hotel, which really is just a little lodge. That is right next to the airstrip we will be using. Turns out, by thw way, that an plane hasn't landed here since 1992. It was built back then to bring tourists straight to the newly built Everest View, only within weeks a toursit keeled oved and died, due to the massive lack of altitude acclimitzation.

OK, again I digress, here is there real point, right there, just about 10 miles away is Lohtse and Everest, no joke. Not a poster or a photo but the real deal, the top of the earth. How can I explain that? I have photos to upload but I won't ever be able to describe the shivers that I still have going down my spine.

Our guide, Serina, was kind enough to point out all of the mountains on a map whilst telling us of her summit success in 2006, making her the 11th British female to succeed. Right here in this village we are surrounded by the true climbing heros with the most amazing stories, talk about a fire side story.

Tomorrow we head to the DZ for the start of many breifings. It looks like the DZ crew are a good day behind schedule after suffering from alitude issues and weather delays.

Signing out.

( by the way, that is a stock photo because I didn't upload ours yet, funny thing is the mountains look the same only the sky was bluer and the valley greener for us.)

Into the Jungle

2008-09-22T21:56:00.002-06:00

I am thinking that this will be my last post before we head out trekking in the morning. Last night was the team meeting at a bar called Rum Doodle. This was the first time everyone got to meet, a group of people brought together by a common goal that is kind of indescribable. There were a surprising number of cameras there, a couple of folks have brought their own camera crews to document the trip and some region journalists are also here. We met some really fascinating people and I think as the trip goes on we will learn and share some great stories, we will certainly be creating one.

It sounds like some of the kit got held up yesterday because the flight to Lukla got turned around. I guess that could be the start of some weather delays, who knows what the future holds but either way we are planning on making a serious start in the morning. Off for a briefing now. Cheerio.

Coming to Nepal

2008-09-21T22:03:00.005-06:00

Without really planning it I think we had a bit of a lucky approach into Nepal as far as cultural stepping stones go. We spent 24 hours in Thailand, partly to check out Bangkok, partly to take a break from airplane seats and partly, it turns out to take culture shock into more manageable bites. I remember in thinking in the Taxi driving us to our hotel that we were not in Colorado any more. Unfinished buildings, families with no shoes, dogs wandering the streets. Nothing really shocking but certainly a massive awareness of being in a different place.

After walking the old part of Kathmandu yesterday I just think if I had been directly immersed there instead of being "introduced" via a few other places that acted as stepping stones then maybe I would of just ran back to my room to wait for a flight home! Wow this place is something else. The streets date back to before any real period of time can really be described by me. The original part of Kathmandu is from before Christ, much of it really became set in stone around 750AD and I think we walked around some places that didn't really change much since then. The wobbly streets, often better described as a network of alleys, remind me of what I had read about old London, tall buildings so close to each other that you can reach over and shake the hand of the person in the opposite house. There are statues everywhere but they are not all clean and preserved, they just blend in with whatever building has been erected around it. Taking a football to the face every now and again. Only these statues date back to the 1500 and 1600s! Many of the temples was passed were last restored in the 17th century!

We went a good mile or two south from Thamel. I was armed with my trusty GPS and honestly I think I would be lost for days in this city without it, you just can't get your bearings, and if you drop your guard for a second you just loose them right there and then, gone. The GPS struggled actually because the streets make for a man made narrow canyon, not getting great signals. But it worked well, I we needed it when we started to come across blockades and a strike of locals against riot police. I don't know how serious they were, we read in the paper about a little riot the day before, I think they would prefer not to hurt tourists but it is best not to be in the cross fire. I kicked the Gamin into action and made a b-line back to the Kathmandu Guest House.

Kathmandu is a NOISY and stressful place. Street peddlers, trekking salesmen, honking horns, there is no order. At first it is kind of cool, but then it just wears on you. Luckily their are small gardens and rooftop gardens that are the perfect getaway. We ducked into the garden for some lunch, tea, beers. Ah, chaos going on right outside the wall, but not in here.

It is hot here, hot and humid, seems we are in a rainforest or jungle of some sort, so the best thing to do during the lunch hours is eat, drink, rest and even catch a nap. We had heard about a place called "Monkey Temple" that we wanted to visit. So after a restful lunch we grabbed a rickshaw and headed in a direction that turned out to be West. The buildings quickly started to think out, exposing wondrous views of the lavish tree covered peaks around us. A chance to breath some! We spotted some very nice looking properties, not sure who would live in them, based on the rest of the city I would assume royalty!

Monkey Temple was atop 350+ stairs, the kind of stairs that you can easily topple back off from. And, on the journey up the stairs you are accompanied by...monkeys. These little guys just hang around the area in the trees, same as pigeons in Trafalgar Square.

I got some of the GPS track uploaded to MotionBased form the Rickshaw trip and the hike! The GPS I am using is not designed to work perfectly with Motionbased so the track gets chunked into pieces, I bet I can figure out a way to merge it at some point. It makes me laugh that Google Maps gives such a clear depiction of the streets, because they sure aren't that obvious when you are on them!

The view of the valley form this summit was magical, again photos are available for your enjoyment.

Some things come to mind here, now and again. You know how kids in the US can be sent to "camp" if they are troubled, basically spoiled and bitchy, I think they should just be sent here. A dose of reality here would both scare a US kid but also maybe arm them with some knowledge and tools for making themselves and then their neighborhood a better place. We saw a crowd gathered around a little man who had hot knifes and old plastic buckets. He was using strips from old plastic bowls and buckets to repair a crack in a locals cracked bucket. Something we would throw away from instead a useable skill and even a form of entertainment. I think things worked like this in our country once, where shoes, clothes and buckets were repaired instead of being replaced. It is just amazing, these guys reuse everything, most of us should be ashamed.

Tomorrow we pack our bags and move to the Yak and Yati to meet up with the rest of the expedition group.

No alarm clocks here

2008-09-20T18:44:00.002-06:00

We arrived in Kathmandu yesterday lunch. By the way, I have seen Kathmandu spelled many ways, so I guess they are all right, just like my spelling, if you know what I mean then it is spelled right.

I bet this country doesn't have a single alarm clock, not a digital one away. The day begins when the cockerels start their music, and in this city when the car drivers start their honking. The cars and bikes drive in small alleys, roads to them, so as they approach a junction, which includes doorways or anything that someone could appear out of, they honk...honk...honk. It isn't in anger, it is just a form of communication.

I wrote some words up on the last couple of days but they are on the laptop, and I am using a computer which has a German version of windows and a keyboard with stuck on letters. No big deal, the diary entries will just have to come in a different order.

I watched the sun rise from the top of the hotel. I didn't really see it rise because it is cloudy, but I know it was there. We appear to be in a valley of some sort, a lush valley. And in this valley a lot of people seem to of decided to live together. I can't explain the streets or buildings here in words, it would be like trying to describe what a bad steak tastes like, photos will have to tell this story. Most folks I know couldn't handle this. We got off the plane into a MASS of people and was whisked away in a beater, on the road we past many cows, dogs and monkeys. You know those scenes in Life of Brian from the markets? That is like this place, nuff said.

I did get an email from Mum, seems I made the news back home in Grantham!

Grantham Journal

There is exploring to be done, so out for now!

Landing in Hong Kong

2008-09-19T08:06:00.000-06:00

3 hours on United from Denver to LA. 15 hours on Cathay Pacific from LA to Hong Kong. I think 3 hours on Cathay Pacific from Hong Kong to Bangkok, but my memory is weak from this part of the trip, it was just a case of following airport signs to get to a gate number on a boarding pass. The flights were in no way painful, but you certainly don't keep your brain heaviliy stimulated during the flight, the survial trick on a 15 hour flight is to keep it as non-active as possible, you really don't want to think too much about what is going on around you. The entertainment system rocked, 100+ movies on demand. I make a different kind of movie selection on a 15 hour flight than I would when going to Blockbuster for a night in at home. On a flight I want something that is going to make me laugh whilst at the same time putting me to sleep. There is nothing more satisfying than chuckling to a movie in an airline seats and making those around you twist their neck to see what you are watching. The job has been well done when the chuckles alone convince a fellow passenger to changes channels to your movie.

We got into Bangkok airport at around noon on what I think was Friday. A good sign that the trip is going well, you just don't know what day it is and have no care to know. A reminder of Denver airport really, a newly designed set of functional gates with a material of sorts covering it. I am sure that was Bangkok airport and not Hong Kong, really I am. Hong Kong might of had some material domes as well, but Bangkok did for sure! Immigration and customs was easy, but on exiting customs we were bombarded with tour company and taxi's. I had been warned about this so we pressed on well past the taxi representatives. I knew that there would be better options elsewhere. After passing a second and third layer of taxi selling folks I negotiated a cool 500 baht (15 USD) for a ride to a hotel that I thought was within 15 minutes. Nobody knew for sure where our 20USD a night hotel was but they figured it out.

Airports are never good indicators of the country you have arrived in. You have to step off the "International Airport" to start to know a place. If I were to count airport stopovers as countries visited then my world travels would sound impressive, but I would know nothing at all about that country. Stepping off from Bangkok airport was of course a great example of this, within minutes we were imerse in a culture driving on the left side of the road, traffic lights with countdown counters to tell drivers when the next change was coming and small pickups with large toppers in use on bus routes. We weren't in Colorado anymore.

Hop skip and a jump

2008-09-18T17:44:00.001-06:00

So far so good but we are only half way there! A couple of long ass flights got us to Hong Kong. I got a smile on my face when we took off from Denver, anything I forgot to pack would just have to be dealt with. I always figure that if I have my passport and a credit card I can handle things, in this case some cash will help out as well.

LAX kind of wiped the smile off my face, no signs or nothing to get you around the airport, I have had more luck in airports that had nothing written in English, at least the little pictures normally help out. Oh well, all part of the adventure. I was thinking that Cathay Pacific wasn't as roomy as I remembered, then it dawned on me that in the past I hadn't flown Economy with them! Ha, it was all fine.

Hong Kong, signing out, next stop Bangkok.

Here we go!

2008-09-17T10:57:00.003-06:00

The day of departure is finally upon us. Only now am I starting to get really excited. Tonight we leave Denver bound for Nepal via LA, Hong Kong and Bangkok. Bags are packed, not taking a whole lot really because I have to carry the whole load on my back, no need for too many pairs of underwear.

It is so laid back now

2008-09-02T16:31:00.002-06:00

Going to the drop zone has new meaning to me now. Up until last weekend it was to get a job done, bang 'em out. Don't get me wrong, it is fun, but when you do 4 loads and then force a couple more just to make numbers it gets tiring. No more, this weekend I did just 3 laid back wingsuit jumps on Todd's Firebird-R. Good fun, really.

Off to Houston next weekend, where I plan to get another pushpin in my DZ map.

My work here is done

2008-08-26T09:14:00.001-06:00

There were a lot of goals to accomplish over the summer to even position myself for the Everest Skydive, the most critical being to get 200 skydives. This weekend I logged jumped 200, that's that, 132 jumps since I signed up for this adventure and I finally have the minimum requirement! Can't stop there though, right behind 200 came 201!

What was special about jump 200? I will tell you, I did it on a wing suit and it was like the very first jump I ever did. New equipment means new education, new procedures and new fears. I was nervous and excited. It all worked out great and I am addicted to yet another piece of equipment!

North CA Tour

2008-08-14T13:14:00.003-06:00

I had a most excellent adventure this last weekend. I was due in San Fransisco for business and decided to fly there early for the weekend. Got into San Francisco airport Friday afternoon and rented a car with aims of heading to Davis, CA for a sunset load at Sky Dance Skydive. Well, this was 4pm when I left the airport and I got a solid dose of traffic of the infamous 101!

Not to worry, I get a motel to stay at in Woodland, CA that offered a skydiver discount. Next morning bright and early to Sky Dance. There I filled in the mandatory waiver and was promptly drafted into a scrambles event. We have no such organizing where I come from but I was game on for it. I got drawn into a rookie team, we performed 4 jumps and came in top of the rookie division, winning $15 a piece, does that mean I need to turn pro?

There is a great container cafe called Docs at Sky Dance and Chef Doc put on a great dinner. Team Kaleidoscope let me sleep in their team room after dinner.

I hit the road the next morning heading to Lodi, I heard there was a drop zone of sorts there. Only an hour away from Davis but a very different flavor of a drop zone. I thought I had stept back in time somewhat. The hangar was full of 70's looking couches with old posters and parachutes all over the place. I went to manifest to fill in my paper work but was instead just asked for my log book by a skinny fella with long white hair. Just from his first words I knew this guy had some serious energy! He introduced himself as Bill and I recalled that a guy named Bill ran this place. Now, I had a late night and an early morning, I wanted to get my head on, but Bill had none of it, "Are you RW or Freefly?", "erm...belly today"...."ok, ok, Bill needs to find some RW folks". Before i knew it I was doing 5 way with some splendid folks. Spiders, retro things. Our final move was a star, left 360, star, backroll, star, right 360, star, backroll! We expected to be in the basement but we did it well enough to be ready for a second rotation, which nobody had expected!
Lodi is a magical place, magic people, motivated DZO, bizarre vehicles. Oh heck, did I mention that I got 4 jump tickets to 14k for 60 bucks? No joke, no joke at all. I had so much cash left over that I happily paid for my pack jobs. 80 bucks for a day of jumping without lifting a finger to pack, amazing.

Late afternoon I decided to head back to the hotel. I wanted to see Byron but was too beat to jump, so I promised myself that I would just go and get photos. They jump a PAC there, same as Davis, I knew this plane would make light work of just one more jump. Manifest was backed up but they made room for a visitor and I did a high pull. Pulled at 10k for a spectacular view of the bay and the Golden Gate Bridge.

I want to come back to this part of the world soon. Three hospitable drop zones within an hour of each other.

Quandary and Skydiving!

2008-08-06T09:34:00.003-06:00

This past weekend was just splendid. We spent Friday night in Breckenridge, and boy was it a nice change from the 100 heat of Breckenridge! Bright and early Saturday morning we made for the summit of Quandary. My goal was to get to the top without stopping, just slow and steady. Glad to report that the mission was a success.

I played with both my GPS and Camera, the new geotagging that I am addicted to. I now go on exercise just so I can geek around with the GPS and photo results. This link shows the map of Quandary and the exact locations that I took the photos. No manual effort on my part, just a merge of GPS data with the photo.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/repcool/map?&fLat=39.3939&fLon=-106.0915&zl=4&map_type=hyb

Onto Sunday, got to the DZ right at noon and had 2 jumps polished off by 1300h! The weather moved in and shut us down for a few hours. I however got an interesting story out of that. I was on load 13 for a hop and pop. The winds were calm. I get out at 4000, once under canopy it starts to rain, almost out of nowhere. I quickly determine that the winds have picked up so I hold right over the peas flying straight down, funny feeling but nothing serious. My first landing was great, but I shouldn't of flared, that sent my right back up for another landing! The load came back down and I was the only one to jump, so I manifest on the next load and I am on load 13 again! I got to jump the same load twice, once as a hop n pop and once to altitude. Amusing, to me.

Introducing.....

2008-07-25T22:52:00.004-06:00

The Grand Canyon is a magnetic place. You spend time there, get covered in dirt, sweat every ounce of water out of your body and swear never to go back ever again. I have been through that cycle 5 times now, crossing the Canyon 7 times. It is time to plan yet another trip! Scheduled for May 2009 as an exclusive guided crossing. No expense will be spared on luxury for on the rims, but there just isn't a way to provide luxury for the crossing. We will however be benefiting from the gifts of our highly motivating guides! Only 6 spots for this trip priced at $2900.

At 28,200ft nobody can here you smile, but you are

2008-07-22T23:47:00.006-06:00

Skydive Everest is only partly about the trip to Nepal. Half of this journey is the training. When I signed up at the end of last year it was like signing up to run a marathon when you are only running 2 miles a few times a week, if that. But you set yourself a plan and one day you are doing an 18 mile long run and you realize "hey, I can pull this off now, I just need to not screw up". That's how I feel after this last weekend. I am almost at 200 jumps, I have crossed the Grand Canyon, spent time in an altitude chamber, dialed in my landings and now I have jumped with full HALO gear from 28,000ft.....twice. It isn't time to relax, but I sure as heck can feel decent about my progress.
Caught a flight last Friday down to Gulfport, MS....to catch a car to Lumberton, MS. The first dropzone in a dry county I have visited, the home of Gold Coast Skydivers. What a friendly bunch of folks that is. I did a couple of solo belly and high pulls to get comfortable with the DZ prior to my planned HALO attempts on Sunday. I caught some flack about jumping alone from the locals and ended up on a Speed Star, love em.

This stuff is serious. As they say, "this ain't no normal skydive". You add some extra, complex, critical equipment to the mix. A bailout bottle, mask, helmet and O2 fittings. All the hoses and fittings sure make you need to ta

ke your time in an emergency. Then you have to land with an extra 20lbs of weight.

It took right about 45 minutes for the Otter to climb to 28,200. Got up to 20k pretty quickly but things slow down form there. You have to get out of the plane quickly, so you just don't get to think about things much but getting out, it is THEN that you get the view! And then...you get the view.....about a minute later you get the view....then you go to pull and check your altitude....ah, at 19000....lets check out the view some more passing next to clouds for 3000ft.....you get the view for over another minute! Eventually the sight pic

ture and altimeter add up and it is time to pull. You pass through temperature layers where you feel things get warmer. You pass through pressure layers where your brain hurts from pressure, and then it releases. It is something else.

Truly a Skydive to remember and very hard to describe.

Kevin Holbrook was just an awesome guy running an admirable operation. You can just tell that this guy has seen a lot. Now I need to get them up to Colorado to get the Rockies in the backdrop!

Take your medicine!

2008-07-17T11:37:00.002-06:00

We went to a global medical place last night. It is their job to stick big needles in you that will incapacitate your arm for a fews days! Anywhere in the world that requires 4 shots and a course of tablets to visit must be an adventure!

Eloy

2008-07-14T09:52:00.002-06:00

I heard stories of a place they called Eloy. A golden oasis in a desert said to make for a skydivers dreams. I put me geocaching skills to use and hunted for the magical city and found it! OK, Dwight kind of knew where to look, roughly.

Turns out that going to the desert in July is pretty much a terrible idea if you want to do 10 jumps a day. If however you want a mellow time of things and a chance to get to know some folks when they aren't running ragged then July might be the best time. I got to jump and be in the presence of some amazingly devoted athletes in this sport and their wisdom just rubs off, you have no choice but to learn.

The plane ride how was delayed so I took the opportunity to put together some footage filmed by my personal cameraman.

Press Release - July 2008

2008-07-09T15:50:00.002-06:00

EVEREST SKYDIVE UPDATE

RELEASE DATE: 08-07-08

THE FINAL COUNTDOWN is underway to the world’s first Everest Skydive with the planning process on schedule and equipment soon to arrive at High & Wild HQ in the UK.

The management team has now been finalised and project director Nigel Gifford OBE is delighted to welcome world champion skydivers Omar Alhegelan and Greg Gasson, along with Tom Noonan, Tandem Director for Strong Enterprises, the company selected by Everest Skydive to supply their Dual Hawk Tandem System. Tom will be a tandem master, Omar will be a jumpmaster and video cameraman dispatching skydivers and tandem jumpers and Greg will be videoing the skydivers’ descents.

The new team members join Andy Elson, aeronaut, cosmonaut and specialist in high altitude life support systems, Dave Wood, responsible for the overall safety of parachuting operations, Ryan Jackson, a trauma doctor in aviation medicine, Ben Wood – jump master and aerial photographer and Ryan Duke, ground communications and acclimatization supervisor.

Nigel says: “Since the first recce in May 2007 and the recent evaluation of the DZ in May 2008, headed up by Dave Wood, all the preparations are now falling into place. The delivery of the oxygen systems is happening at the end of July, the parachuting equipment is due for delivery in August and everything will be shipped to Kathmandu on September 6.

“I am delighted with the progress being made and with the addition of Tom Noonan, Greg Gasson and Omar Alhegelan to the management team – world-class skydivers of enormous experience who will add to that of Dave Wood, director of parachute operations and safety.”

In May, Nigel and Dave were part of the team that checked the performance of the solo canopies at the DZ at Syangboche, Nepal, successfully completing two sub-terminal openings and two terminal openings from 17,500ft. Further checks will be made on the tandem canopies, in Switzerland in August, including a series of high altitude tandem jumps. The rigs used will have bigger parachutes than the systems used by the military for similar jumps to ensure landings are easy.

Dave says: “When we’re out there, the solo jumpers will do a familiarisation jump from 5-6000ft above the DZ to get them used to the oxygen systems, how they feel and how much you can see. Everyone will be able to try out the systems on the ground. No-one will jump unless the conditions are good and everyone will receive a full and comprehensive briefing.

“I’ve been to 26,500ft with oxygen and full military equipment. I’ve also been to 25,000ft with a military tandem system. The Everest Skydivers are going to experience something completely different from anything they’ve done before.

“When they step outside that aircraft into freefall the first thing they’ll see is five of the world’s biggest mountains. There will be no other skydive like it in the world and they’ll be able to see that awesome scenery very, very clearly because we’re going to make sure the jumping is only undertaken when the weather conditions are perfect.”

The DZ at Syangboche is a 352 metre long grass landing strip which is 29 metres wide at its narrowest point and 50 metres at its widest. It will be specially prepared during the weeks before the trip to ensure all ruts, lumps and bumps are taken care of as this is also where the Pilatus Porter, operated by Swiss Boogie and flown by pilots Ruedi Isenschmid and Henri Schurch, will perform a downhill takeoff prior to the jump - an experience in itself!

Dave says: “Providing we’re not getting a curl-over effect from the wind coming up the valley over the airfield the wind conditions will be considered at the time. I’m not going to put absolute limits on it but we’ll be looking for light winds between 5-8 knots and we’ll judge the safety on the basis of people’s experience and the conditions. The aim is to give everybody the best opportunity to perform to their ability.”

Working with Nigel on the Hazard Analysis Risk Management Plan for Everest Skydive is retired Wing Commander Phil Harrall. An ex-MoD regulator with 34 years experience as a navigator in the Fleet Air Arm, and a further four years with the Royal Air Force, he has developed safety management systems for the military and safety cases for military applications. He recently completed a safety case for the Red Arrows. He also worked with Nigel on the risk management plan for GKN Mission Everest, where paramotors were flown to high altitude in the Everest region.

Nigel says: “I absolutely love putting people in situations where they can achieve their own ambitions and goals. It can change people’s lives.”

Further information will be released at the end of August.

High & Wild
Compass House,
Rowden's Road,
Wells,
Somerset,
BA5 1TU
Tel: +44 (0)1749 671777
Fax: +44 (0)1749 670888
www.highandwild.co.uk
Email: adventures@highandwild.co.uk

Geo'ing

2008-07-07T22:54:00.004-06:00

What fun I had this week with Geo-stuffing. Geo-tagging and Geo-caching. Whilst in the shower after a 60 mile bike ride on Saturday I decided it would be genius if I could take my GPS track and merge it with my photos taken during the same time. After a few minutes on the internet it turned out that someone already had this idea, Geotagging. So, I got to work only to find that I had no photos and GPS tracks that overlapped....

...and then onto Geocaching. I did this a few years ago in Summit county, but it seemed like a good excuse to find some caches in Denver. I loaded a few up and took Marley and Mer out for a little walk. We found a couple and after 20 minutes on the computer I merged everything together to produce my latest masterpiece...

be sure to click on the pins to see the photos. This was all done by magic, the GPS told the photos where to go.

View Larger Map

More time on the Pedals!

2008-07-05T23:30:00.005-06:00

David and Dave dragged me up Vail pass today from Breck. I swore that I was going to stay at the top and hang out for them to return from Vail, but they tricked me into going down to East Vail. What a slog of a climb to come back, but honestly it was a lot of fun and I earned myself a few ice cream sandwiches.

Meanwhile, I got bored and played around with Google Earth looking at what I think is the landscape between the Airstrip (DZ) and the surrounding Himalya, including Everest, I think it is that big one peeking over the top...you know, the biggest one. My job is to get a photo similar to this!

Pedal, Pedal, Pedal

2008-06-27T15:37:00.001-06:00

I did exactly the same route as this time last Friday, only this time the boys put the HURT on me. THEY kicked it up a couple of gears and left me in the dust more than once. Sometimes they played with me by letting me catch up and then dumping on me, bastards. I feel like I reeled it in towards the end though, they spent themselves early.....

87 days and counting!

2008-06-22T10:33:00.002-06:00

In 87 days we will be getting on a jet plane for Nepal....via Los Angeles, Hong Kong, Bangkok.

One of the reasons I signed up for this trip was for the journey of the training. Next month it is taking me to Eloy, AZ for 3 days of jumping at the worlds biggest drop zone. The weekend after that it is taking me down to Gold Coast Skydiving in MS for a couple of HALO jumps! I just needed an excuse for all this.

I jumped a new-to-me Sabre 210 this weekend a few times, a big square canopy which is a lot more similar to the Navigator I plane to use than my current Spectre. Made for VERY different landings than I am used to, slow and soft! Nice. The landings around here this weekend were running about 7,000ft.

87 days of training left. Last week was crammed, yoga, BCOR, a couple of road bike sessions and even a couple of runs. I should probably be dead right now.

Priscilla hiked up a 14'er (Sherman) for a little bit of exercise. I went to 14k+ 7 times....only I did it in a plane. :-) Well, they weren't ALL to altitude...a few trust Hop n' Pops.

This is my ride on Friday:

And Pia's hike up Mt Sherman:

These guys are NUTZ!!!

2008-06-12T15:26:00.002-06:00

The folks at High and Wild took a trip to Everest over May to test out some equipment for the jump, rather them than me! Seems like they put some evidence down on film. A few more months and I should be able to get my own eyes on this view. Enjoy.

Another Canyon Bites the Dust

2008-06-10T10:14:00.003-06:00

I have my feet up in front of the TV after completing another crossing of the Grand Canyon. I have now crossed it 7 times without a stop over, 5 times South to North. Twice with Priscilla, who by the way did a kick ass job!

Betsy and David took off from our group to muddle along at their pace, a much faster pace. That left Pia, Autumn, Brett and myself to keep each other company for our crossing.

We dropped in on Bright Angel at 2am Friday morning. I had forgotten why I didn't go that way any more, it is longer and much rockier! 5 hours later and we were at Phantom Ranch, by far the slowest approach to the ranch I have ever made. South Kaibab would of been no more than 4 hours ever at the slower pace.

Phantom to Cottonwood was uneventful and covered in 3 hours, that's pretty much on the money for a leisurely pace. That put us into the campground at 11am.

I gave us an hour at Cottonwood because one way or another we were in for a hot afternoon, climbing out in the early afternoon is by no means ideal, or even close!

It was a good couple of hours to the bridge, not a pleasant time. Priscilla was suffering from the heat for sure, but set a good pace by not pushing it. I wasn't quite sure how I felt, pleasure and suffering are sometimes hard to tell apart. I did catch a little alone time and for a good minute or two I felt good enough to consider a return trip, then I came to my senses, remebered the bed we had paid for on the North side and the company, return trip? No way!

We all slowed but made it to the bridge. After splitting into 2 groups we set off on the final slog, to the summit! There is only one way to get out, and that is to keep moving. Pia was managing barely a shuffle, but you know what, it works! We came out right at 1800, right on the predicted time.

Autumn and Brett were about 20 minutes behind, and I do believe were happy to get out. Brett looked the same way I did the first time I crossed, that must just be the way the canyon treats

your virgin trip! Nothing a bit of pizza and coke won't cure. After the heat of the afternoon a dose of sodium helped him get water into those thirsty cells!

Awesome job to all, including me!

Betsy crossed in 7.5 hours, David went back to return on the South just within 36 hours, we crossed in 16 hours. You can do this challenge fast or slow, but it hurts at least the same either way!

We are already planning a larger group trip of 2009, this beast just won't let go of her grip. Wicked Adventure Tours is going to make it real for a group of 8 select hikers.

I was lucky to of invested some morning and evenings at BCOR, the bust ass boot camp workouts got my legs seriously in shape for the climbs and my mind in shape for the pain.

As always, there is a motion based for this, to prove I was there.

Ranger Repton

What's it feel like on top of the world with no O2?

2008-06-02T19:32:00.003-06:00

Lucky for me there is an altitude chamber just down the road in Colorado Springs. I took a day course there today that covers various flight issues related to awareness, fatigue, night vision and altitude! We spent about 90 minutes in a chamber and took a flight to 25,000ft where we then took off the 100% O2 to see what the effects of hypoxia are. I was kind of tingly but didn't have any serious affects before getting the O2 back on, I am sure I wouldn't of lasted too long!

The biggest thing I learned? How to deal with the mask. We were spending 30 minutes breathing 100% O2 to prepare for the flight and I got an itch on the end of my nose. I couldn't scratch it so it just got worse and worse and worse. All mind games, last I heard an itch can't kill you.

Proud to be an American

2008-06-01T16:31:00.002-06:00

I moved to America in 1995, from London to Houston, Texas. I figured I would just put in a couple of years and then be on my merry way to somewhere else, didn't really plan on it and I certainly didn't spend much time thinking about it.

Now 13 years later I am really here to stay. On Wednesday I was part of the biggest naturalization ceremony ever held in Colorado, 1300 people. I love this country, it let me evolve into the person I was supposed to be. I am not convinced I would of come to much if I had stayed home, but the people in this land make it something unique, and I wanted part of that. I get to vote as well....

This is what it looks like, when the pie comes

2008-05-28T15:01:00.002-06:00

It is an honor and a privilege to be pie'd by friends.

Beer & Pie

2008-05-19T16:22:00.005-06:00

There is a long standing tradition in Skydiving that you must buy beer for everyone when you do a first or a major achievement. I had to buy some beer this weekend because I did my first Night Jumps and I reached 100 entries in my log book! That also gained me a big, fat cream pie on the head!

The night jumps were just amazing. Both relaxing and thrilling at the same time. Your attention is focused a lot more to the present, the plane ride was quiet and relaxed, my landings were spot on. I think having a smaller target makes you a lot more accurate, you just can't get lazy.

It is dark at night, the photos didn't come out so great....

13 jumps over the weekend to take me to a total of 103. It was sunny and hot, but rewarding.

I was frankly too tired to drink the beer....but at least I kept the tradition!

Pie is fun. <>

Tunnel Burbles

2008-05-15T10:18:00.001-06:00

I am switching from the 30 minutes tunnel league on Tuesday to the 60 minute league, yahoo! In honor of those I flew with before we did some belly burbles. I thought I was going to crash and burn on one of them towards the end but Rusty grabbed me and clearly saved my life. I smashed into Russ and life became shorter....turns out it isn't so bad.

5 Point Duck

2008-05-12T19:56:00.003-06:00

Had a great jumping weekend, on the whole. Saturday was winded out but I got 9 jumps in before Sunday night. Some really fun ones as well. A tube exit with Dwight and Tracie which went ALL OVER the place after we let the grips go. An awesome dive exit with Dwight and Justin, Point Break style. Of course a bunch of hop and pops to work on my landing, good flares but need better accuracy still. The most accomplished jump was with Josh, my tunnel coach. We put the belly skills to the test and the goal was an unlinked exit and the 5 points....on a rubber duck! Josh moved the duck 5 times and then I was to take take it from him and land with it. I got the last point right at 5k, broke and tracker....during the track I realized I had the duck in my right hand, my throwing hand...genius! I switched him into my mouth and pulled, both of us safe!

Jumper Away!

2008-05-06T08:46:00.002-06:00

This last weekend was most excellent. Friday was a "wind out" again but I am just kind of getting used to that. Both Saturday and Sunday were 4 jump days each. I would of preferred to of gotten 6 in each day but with the season still getting going I had some other commitments later in the day. The sun and company were smiling, and that is what makes life fun.

I wore my GPS on a couple of hop n pops, interesting. I might need a wingsuit in the future just to play with toys some more.

Catchphrase!?

2008-04-29T11:34:00.000-06:00

It's about this time in our expedition planning that Dwight and I need to get serious, and serious means....t-shirts! How can we raise awareness of our cool event without cool t-shirts? I mean, really. I am puzzled for a catchphrase\slogan\coolbeans to put on the shirt, if you have an idea then comment away. I kind of think I am too old to make play on the word 'high', but maybe not... :-)

Back in the air

2008-04-28T09:44:00.001-06:00

The weather on Sunday was just about perfect for jumping, not quite so perfect for landing for me but on the whole it was great. A no wind day made for some fast landings but that is just good practice. Managed to get my first 5 jumps of the year in and boy did they feel good!?!

Imperial Challenge

2008-04-20T16:05:00.003-06:00

I got my ass handed to me, but I consider it a success! Imperial Challenge 2008, came back from my DNF of 2007, but didn't compete with my time of 2006. What a great day. Bryan came out for the show and showed me how to do the bike leg. What kept me going? Well, I didn't want to let Priscilla down, and my lovely wife came out and cheered me on, how to I quit before death?

Thank goodness I wore my GPS so I can relive the pain. I bet if I drop 20lbs I can get up quicker!

Diggin' in the Tunnel

2008-04-16T13:30:00.002-06:00

This training is FUN! Last night was a bit of a breakthrough in the tunnel for me. Nothing special in the grand scheme of things but I found that I was performing without having to try quite so hard. I can only put that down to staying at it and going often. Josh was taking good care of me and helped me understand a few physical issues I hadn't even thought about, such as fall rate increasing in a turn due to change of body shape, and how to work with that. I wonder if you would even notice these things if it weren't for the size of the tunnel?

The other folks in the league turn out to be fun and supportive, that is what a lot of this is about really.

Fired!

2008-04-13T15:43:00.002-06:00

Well, I wasn't fired, but the Ski Instructor gig is over for the season. Last day was this weekend. Of course I am looking forward to a change over the summer and I am sure I will be looking forward to teaching again next year. It was just so darn rewarding. I worked only on the weekends as a rule, a few holidays as well. Lost count of the numbers of lessons or students I did, but for sure I know most of them were level 1's!

The other instructors were magic, the feeling of leaving the mountain at the end of the day, either sun beat or wind beat....unbeatable.

Soreness

2008-04-08T08:53:00.004-06:00

Oh lordy I got a working over last night. A key part of my cunning plan for Everest and the events leading up to it is my trusty boot camp, BCOR. I did BCOR in the Spring of 2006 and it sorted me out proper for the Imperial Challenge and running that year. Then I became such a master of my own fitness I quit going, because once you are in shape you just stay that way, right? Ooops, turns out that not putting on extra weight doesn't actually mean you are in shape. Last night I went back to BCOR to prove I was still fit for the game, I have been skiing all winter, ah, I almost puked, twice.

If I survive this then I might be able to hang with the porters.

Seasons Change

2008-04-05T21:05:00.002-06:00

This happens every year, right about this time I am frankly sick of the snow! Yep, it's the old adage, too much of a good thing! The snow knows I am bored of it and it's going to do it's duty and melt. We will both be ready for this relationship again in about 7-8 months.

It looks like I got in right about 50 ski days, most of those teaching. That is since Nov, so 6 months there abouts. I have to get in at least 100 jumps in the next 5 months. So, if I can manage the same number of days at the drop zone and do just 2 jumps each time I will nail it. Of course, if I am there I should be able to pack quickly enough for at least 3, at a push. I do remember what counted this year in skiing, it isn't the quantity but the quality, and let's face it that seems to go for most things in life, or it should, I have to remind myself that plenty.

They found a guy buried in the snow today in Breck that got lost going home from the pub in Feb. It seems to happen every year I am here, folks just wander off the path and don't turn up till the snow melts. It always reminds me of how fragile life is and how it should be lived. If you can die from exposure walking home from the pub then you might as well explore for the same risks. It turns out that life carries a risk of death.

Imperial Challenge

2008-03-19T21:57:00.002-06:00

4 weeks till Imperial Challenge 2008. That is a 7 mile bike from Breck town to Peak 8 base, uphill....then an ascent of Peak 8 on skins for me and a return trip on wobbly legs!

Thanks to Brian for finding this funky website video maker

Flight Training has Liftoff!

2008-03-19T10:29:00.002-06:00

The years flying has begun. After a few months on the wait list a new league opened up at the tunnel (www.SkyventureColorado.com). As luck would have it only two of us showed up to the first meet so we got to fly for 15 minutes each! It was a bit of a workout but the blast managed to blow away the cobwebs. It is hard mentally to commit to belly flight instead of having fun exploring back and sit, but I won't be sit flying in Nepal so I really need to stay focused. I must keep telling myself this!

Baldy Mountain

2008-03-17T16:58:00.002-06:00

Wow, we had an awesome hike up the west approach of Baldy Mountain Saturday. We put in only an hour skin climb but caught some awesome powder! Jeff showed us the way, in a not knowing all of the way kind of...way. Once we got on the trail he knew his stuff. The dog dill well to keep up on the way down.

Ski school was BUSY on Sunday. Not a big class at all but the training area was all about crowd control. The weather was great so I am glad folks were enjoying it.

Tunnel time on Tuesday, rockin'.

Grandma Repton and Grandpa Brice

2008-03-13T19:18:00.002-06:00

Grandma Repton passed away this week, by my math she was 97! Wowzers, what a ripe age to make it to. Went in her sleep, nice and peaceful like. I will pop over to England end of the month to visit with the family and say goodbye. It seems to me to be a really good reminder that regardless of how you live life you are going to die one day, period! So, lets live it up!

Grandpa Brice caught his last breath at 95 just last month, the beginning of Feb. Yet another reminder to keep on living whilst you can! That is some old folk I tell you, they lived strong times. My life is all in memory of those that have already gone before me.

Cash to Splash

2008-03-12T19:59:00.001-06:00

I just dropped $5000 on two tickets to Nepal! Ouch, but honestly it is exciting. If money isn't for exploring life then what the heck is the point of working???

Straight from Denver to Nepal and then back via Bangkok for a few days. Thanks to Airtreks.com for making it so easy.

Getting from A to B

2008-03-11T23:45:00.001-06:00

For sure one of the many things I need to tick off the checklist here is...getting to Nepal! Seems like we are going so far it would be nice to take advantage of the location. Priscilla doesn't do well with sea level and then back to altitude, she seems to adjust to the lack of altitude quickly! So, the goal is to get there quickly and then take the slow boat home. It looks like we will shoot over to Nepal and then wander back via Thailand.

View Larger Map

Training Skin

2008-03-11T22:43:00.002-06:00

I do swear it is such a pleasure to be able to train in Colorado. I remember reading about a couple of Canadians who trained for a summit attempt by putting on back packs and hitting the stair master. Well, that is great if it is all you can get, but I was lucky enough to get a skin up Peak 8 to the warming hut, just shy of the summit (closed trail). That puts it at about a 12,500ft workout, good for the lungs and good for the soul.

Touch the White Fence

2008-03-06T20:49:00.003-07:00

I just graduated a very valuable course at work, Corporate Athlete. It is designed by some folks in Florida called HPI, Human Performance Institute. I believe the history is something along the lines of helping Tennis players, then helping athletes and then realizing that folks in Corporate America are the ones that really need it!

There is a great story about "Touching the White Fence". A group of big, beefy linebackers are told to make their wage through a forest to a white fence, but watch out for the wild boars. On the way to the fence some dude in the bushes makes a pig noise and the football(American) players run like babies. A group of Navy Seals or something of that breed do the same...and get to the fence. The difference? Training. Our careers, family, nutrition, health all require the acceptance of training if we are going to make the most of what we have...and get to the white fence. It could be totally made up, but it sounds good to me.

Now I have an Ultimate Mission no less, for me that means doing more of the same and enjoying it more every time! Game on folks!

Wanderings

2008-03-06T20:19:00.004-07:00

I came across a fascinating article regrading high altitude gear used on a microlight expedition to Everest. Funny thing is I recognized a name in the narrative, Andy Elson. Turns out he is on our team as well, surround yourself with experts, that's the trick.

Microlight Everest

Drop Zone

2008-03-05T19:06:00.004-07:00

They say that this is the highest Drop Zone (Syangboche) in the world, well it will be once someone parachutes into it. I do think I saw think in the Bear Grylls show where they used para gliders over everest, but I don't think that counts as a "drop".

I am not sure if this is just a bad angle, but an off airport landing looks like you would get another few thousand feet of ride before you get to ground again! I heard a rumor that if I land off DZ then they send a Yak to pick me up. Not the Russian helicopter yak, the earth mammal kind.

Lesson Learned

2008-02-28T09:50:00.002-07:00

There are similar trips that have gone before and there are lessons to be learned.

I remember reading about this expedition pretty soon after it happened. Anything done for the first time is going to have a learning curve involved, that's why it hasn't been done before. That isn't an excuse for not applying common sense. It is always easier to say that as an observer. The truth is if you aren't there you don't know all the facts. Wha can I learn from this? Be prepared and stick to the plan. Assume shit will happen and have a backup.

Training in Colorado

2008-02-28T08:44:00.004-07:00

Colorado is such a great place to train for this mission. Mile Hi is just up the road and has some serious altitude landings, the field is right around 6000ft but with the summer sun the density altitude bumps it up closer to 9000ft. There is a wind tunnel close by to bust out some moves. Living at this altitude can't do any harm. Last but not least there is the Air Force Academy down in the springs and they offer Physiological Training which relates to the stresses of flight with altitude and cabin pressure loss. I managed to get signed up on a course, only 50 bucks for a day of invaluable experience.

Coincidences of life

2008-02-27T20:11:00.000-07:00

Today was a funny kind of day in the cosmic sense, the energy of life. I had put this trip into the back of my mind a little the last few months, only remembering now and again that I signed up for it. The last few days it has come to the front of my mind, time to focus the training and think about getting everything in order. On my bus ride to work I thought it would be good to setup my diary and maybe get a domain name, wouldn't it be cool if I could get SkydiveEverest.com? Yea, but that will be taken.

I got to work and search domains for skydiveeveeverest a was so surprised to find it, oh, under closer inspection it turns out I spelled it wrong, that explains it. So I try SkydiveEverest.com, huh, that is available, better get it right this minute before someone snags it! Nice.

Meanwhile I got an email from a communications writer that I work with, "yes, I would like to help you with your sponsors". Nice, things are falling into place and I am not even trying.

THEN....to top it off. Dwight gives me a call, he just spoke to a network tv\magazine and they would also like to talk to me, "is that ok?". Bring it on, now I am starting to have fun!

NASTAR Nationals!

2008-02-27T14:37:00.001-07:00

Amazing! I was taking the kids bomber class through the NASTAR course in January and I put in a run for myself and got a time. I just got an email from NASTAR inviting me to Nationals in Steamboat, I qualified to go and race against people from all over the country. What fun.

Simon, Congratulations! As you hopefully know by now, you qualified to race alongside Olympic gold medalists Phil Mahre & Debbie Armstrong, four-time Olympian AJ Kitt, skiing legend Billy Kidd and U.S. Champions Chad Fleischer and Kristina Koznick at the 2008 Nature Valley NASTAR National Championships in Steamboat, CO, March 13-16. And, we just heard this week that current U.S. Ski Team member Kaylin Richardson will join us in Steamboat to help set the pace!

Countdown

2008-02-27T09:43:00.000-07:00

When I first signed up for to Skydive Everest I couldn't sleep because I was scared of what I had committed to. Now I can't sleep because I am so excited. I have started my fitness and strength training with May in mind to start jumping. All my time is currently spent at Breckenridge as a Ski Instructor, that season ends in April and will my adventures will switch to Longmont!

Signed Up!

2007-11-01T10:16:00.000-06:00

Last November I was spending the Sunday night reading the forums on www.DropZone.com when an unusual ad banner popped up for Skydive Everest. I clicked on the link, as you do and found an adventure for the first group of skydivers to exit over Everest and land at a close by drop zone. Early the next day I had sent a deposit to the organizers in England for myself to jump and my wife, Pia to observe. What have I got myself into this time!