Edward Norton - no not my father, although his name is Edward Norton, too, and, also not Teddy Norton of Everest 1924 fame, although he, too, was Edward Norton - the amazing actor and even-more amazing social entrepreneur with his website Crowdrise, has just released a new video, featured on AOL, showcasing the need for water worldwide and Water For People's current "Donate to Drink" campaign.
It's a great video, hitting the point, and making a strong call to action. And, I was honored that most of the images in the video are images I took in Rwanda last month for our Challenge21 expedition to the Rwenzori.
Check out the video, and let me know what you think!
Alfred Gregory is not exactly a household name, but his work in 1953 was seen by millions around the world. In that year, he was the photographer for the historic expedition which, on May 29, 1953, saw Edmund Hillary and Tenzin Norgay reach the summit of Everest.
Gregory sadly passed away in February, 2010, leaving behind amazing photographic work stored in a large, fireproof box. That work - Alfred Gregory: From Everest to Blackpool - is now on display at Webbs Auction House and Gallery in Auckland, New Zealand, with much of it up for sale at auction as well.
Along with Everest, Gregory also photographed the Rwenzori Mountains and other areas around the world.
Check out some of the images online at Webbs Auction House and Gallery or, if you're in the area, check it out in person and let us know how it was!
It's not easy to find many new climbs in Colorado, especially fairly easy, long, alpine routes. But, I think my friend Ben Marshall and I did just that a week ago.
Two years back, on a spring climb of Torreys Peak, I saw some ice formed down low in a couloir system off McClellan Mountain, which rises due east of the Grays & Torreys trailhead. I made a mental note to check it out sometime in late winter, and finally did so with Ben.
Our day started leisurely at the roadhead in Bakerville. A couple of miles skiing up the access road got us to the Grays & Torreys trailhead at 11,280 feet, with the base of the couloir east and up about 200 feet.
The ice turned out to be short, but sweet: about 50 feet or so of WI 3+. And, from there, we found about 1,200 feet of 30-50° snow and ice to the top of McClellan. We made various detours out of the obvious couloir to hit some steeper terrain and climb some beautiful, easy Fifth Class rock...and to avoid postholing in the deep pockets of snow in the couloir.
Descent from the route was made via a prominent drainage due south of our route. Given the relatively dry winter in the Front Range peaks, and the high winds we've had this spring, the descent gully was completely dry - thus, we had a 1300 foot slope of nasty scree rather than the hoped-for snowy romp I had seen two years earlier.
While the ice was not as long as we had hoped, and the descent a bit less than fun, Ben and I had a great day. Over the years, I've decided to choose my climbing companions carefully; as time gets shorter and days get busier, I want to spend my limited time in the hills with climbers who are motivated by the same desires, goals, and outcomes as I.
Ben is one of the strongest climbers - and general athletes - I know. He effortlessly glides up the hardest routes. But, more importantly, for Ben the mountains are a source of energy, of passion, of curiousity. On our climb last week, our discussions ranged - between panting breaths - from the metaphysical elements of climbing mountains, to politics and religion, medicine, geology, and philosophy.
The climb was exactly as it should be: a craggy excuse to push one's mind and body, to be humbled and grounded by the enormous forces of nature, and to have a good time.
The day was possibly a first ascent, but definitely time well spent.
Wow...Lots of images, taken on my first trip to Everest, and many I had all but forgotten as they gathered dust in my filing cabinets. As I sifted through the thousands of images, I came upon a shot I took on May 17, 1999, from above Mushroom Rock. It shows the view of the Second Step as Conrad Anker attempted to free climb it, belayed by Dave Hahn.
The image shows a neat perspective, rarely seen, of the Second Step, and why I think the question of whether or not George Mallory could have free climbed it in 1924 is something of a red herring.
Well, to my point here, the photo I just re-discovered from 1999 pretty clearly
shows that had Dave Hahn moved upward to the top of the snow bench and given Conrad Anker a courte-achelle, Conrad would have been able to reach the easier rock of the upper Second Step and probably pull over the top. As noted previously, that's exactly what Qu Yinhua did on the Chinese expedition in 1960. And, I believe, it is likely what George Mallory and Andrew Irvine did on June 8, 1924.
While free climbing the Second Step is an amazing, impressive feat, it's perhaps not relevant to the question of Mallory and Irvine's attempt on the summit in 1924.
But, the sketch above (enhanced slightly by me to show the peaks better) clearly shows a view of Ama Dablam on the right, with what looks to be the South Face of Lhotse & Nuptse far in the distance. It seems like the sketch shows a view near Namche Bazaar, as shown in my photo below. If so, Hooker certainly made it further into the interior of Nepal than anyone I know of at that time.
So, I took a few moments to make some notations on the high-res image from GeoEye, listing the prominent routes (Northeast & Southeast Ridges) as well as some of the other notable features. This is by no means comprehensive, but might give a bit more perspective on the image posted initially.
I first met Bob Poole in South Africa while covering the 2003 Global Extremes series for the Outdoor Life Network. A great guy and a great cinematographer, he regaled us during the trip with his stories of growing up in Kenya and pursuing a life of shooting the highest-end wildlife documentaries.
I had the opportunity to work with Bob again last year covering a First Ascent expedition and shoot in Ecuador, where he told me stories from his latest work, National Geographic's Great Migrations.
According to the website, Great Migrations "is a seven-part global television event that takes viewers around the world on the arduous journeys millions of animals undertake to ensure the survival of their species. Shot from land and air, in trees and cliff-blinds, on ice floes and underwater, Great Migrations tells the formidable, powerful stories of many of the planet's species and their movements, while revealing new scientific discoveries with breathtaking high-definition clarity."
Check out the trailer below, and I think you'll see that they're not exaggerating. So, tune into National Geographic on November 7 and watch the world's animals "move as millions and survive as one".
In 1903, Sir Francis Younghusband led an expedition into Tibet during the latter part of the famed Great Game era. It was not a gentle expedition, and while the ultimate goal of establishing British ties to Lhasa before the Russians was accomplished, it came at a high cost to Tibetans in many savage battles along the way.
Co-leading the expedition with Younghusband was John Claude White, the Political Officer for Sikkim. Throughout the expedition, White snapped off many photographs
of still-forbidden Tibet, documenting the people and places of this far-off land. The images were later passed on to Lieut. William Pyt Bennett, who passed them on to his heirs; they remained in Bennett's family for over a century.
Just a few weeks ago, they re-emerged on the auction block at Bonhams...and sold for an amazing £38,400, or $60,400!
While I, nor presumably most of you, won't ever have a chance to see these images from a Tibet now long gone, you can fortunately see some of them online; I've put together what I could find in an album, below.
But, be sure to see the links below for more info on these amazing, rare images of Tibet over 100 years ago!
If you want to read more about this collection, here are some related links:
While perhaps not as well known as some of his contemporaries from the famed Harvard 5, Bradford Washburn had a climbing and photography career that spanned 6 decades and charted new ground in various arenas.
So revolutionary in the art of landscape photography, Washburn's work even caught the eye and mouth of Ansel Adams, who wrote: "Bradford Washburn is one of the very few people who have combined spectacular experience in the wilderness with equally spectacular achievements in the world of civilization. One never knows what next to expect from this roving genius of mind and mountains."
The Boston Museum of Science - of which Washburn was the founder - currently has a special exhibit entitled Bradford Washburn: The Man Behind the Lens. On display are his famed K-22 camera and some of his hand-drawn maps, as well as a host of other memorabilia from his rich life.
So, if you're in the Boston area, be sure to visit the Museum of Science and learn more about Washburn.
