Mjollnir wrote:I may be interested in this. First, you'll need to qualify yourself as someone hardcore enough for me to climb with. As for me, I'm a member of a well respected mountaineering club and I haven't missed a tuesday at the rock gym in over a month. Furthermore, I once considered climbing Kilimanjaro. But nothing ever came of that.
I'll be expecting you to post some sort of climbing resume (be sure to include any clubs that you belong to). Of course, I'll need to approve of any additional team members (I simply refuse to climb with people who are not hardcore and/or do not belong to any well respected mountaineering/yacht clubs).

I would never find myself on a mountain with someone so self absorbed that he thinks his crap doesn’t stink. If I am setting up an expedition and you have the balls to ask me for a resume, I’d tell you to go F*** yourself. I would never allow myself to be on the other end of a rope with someone so arrogant as such… Expeditions are for TEAMS, not cocky singular jackasses.
$.02

DudeThatMustHurt wrote:

Mjollnir wrote:I may be interested in this. First, you'll need to qualify yourself as someone hardcore enough for me to climb with. As for me, I'm a member of a well respected mountaineering club and I haven't missed a tuesday at the rock gym in over a month. Furthermore, I once considered climbing Kilimanjaro. But nothing ever came of that.
I'll be expecting you to post some sort of climbing resume (be sure to include any clubs that you belong to). Of course, I'll need to approve of any additional team members (I simply refuse to climb with people who are not hardcore and/or do not belong to any well respected mountaineering/yacht clubs).

I would never find myself on a mountain with someone so self absorbed that he thinks his crap doesn’t stink. If I am setting up an expedition and you have the balls to ask me for a resume, I’d tell you to go F*** yourself. I would never allow myself to be on the other end of a rope with someone so arrogant as such… Expeditions are for TEAMS, not cocky singular jackasses.
$.02

$30,000....2 months of your time....a coctail of vacines....6-9 months of training....endless hours of thinking, wondering, reading and becomeing the mountain you are about to climb...knowing that there is a very real possability you will never come back......

.....small chance of success.

I think this entitles anyone to ask as many questions they want about any expedition. It is a very serious undertaking, and it must be treated seriously if the expedition members want any possability that they will succeed.

tauru007 wrote:What's you're impression of FTA? I've not heard good things about them.

It depends what you're looking for, I suppose. They're no Alpine Ascents or Adventure Consultants (those guys are fancy ) but FTA is good for the price, especially if you don't want a lot of handholding.

They put together a relatively strong team of independent climbers. (Notably I don't think FTA has ever had anyone die on any of their trips, which is sadly unusual.) I was happy to find myself at the top of the bottom half of climbers in terms of strength/skill. The same way you never want to have the most expensive house on the block, you don't want to be the strongest person in such a large group IMHO. However, if you're with their group (not just buying their support package) you shouldn't think of the leaders as guides. They are not, and not meant to be. They are mixed in terms of their background and ability.

I've never been to Pakistan so I'm sort of speaking out of my a** here (this is internet advice so you get what you pay for ), but I've heard they are solid there. Better organized with good connections. They did OK in Nepal even though they were new there.

.... so I wouldn't get bent out of shape by his resume demand. I mean saying "Once I considered climbing Kiliminjaro" was definitely tongue-in-cheek. And the club membership stuff was a hoot.

That said, I think that resumes are a fairly common practice when a trip organizer puts together a team of strangers. As I usually climb with friends, this has happened to me only three times - once for a K2 expedition (and that was just for the support team) many years ago, once for Cho Oyu, and once for Broad Peak (which I didn't do in order to do Cho Oyu).

yelp, it was just a joke. mjollnir and i were on ama dablam and denali together and we joked about how anal some people are about this. who would you think could summit everest? someone who has done all colorado 14ers or someone who has only been up 3 mountains (all guided)? well, you may be surprised but the guy who has only EVER summitted 3 mountains did climb everest! I don't know him, but he worked at my company and was flaunting his everest success. I wanted to ask him -- "so who wicked your stove? Oh, no stove? that wasn't an issue since the sherpas all took care of that?"

so what does that say about climbing resumes? they're good to have and to share... but i think climbing has become pretty mainstream these days that it's not that "intense" anymore. anyway... a philiosophical discussion that is better left for those days tent bound at high camp on some big mountain. "hey, so this is only your 4th mountain ever?"

the resume is good, but more important is the climbing experience -- how much time you've clocked in the mountains learning those skills to succeed.

Yes, I was just joking guys. On a serious note - I've climbed all over the planet with Tauru (also made "The Econoline Passage" with him) - the guy knows what it takes to be successful in the mountains while having fun doing it.

tauru007 wrote:I wanted to ask him -- "so who wicked your stove? Oh, no stove? that wasn't an issue since the sherpas all took care of that?"

This reminds be of a conversation we were having on Everest about a climber who torched his tent. One guy looked surprised and said he had NEVER, and would NEVER, light a stove in a tent or vestibule. I just thought - well, don't get too far from your sherpa, then, because I hear it gets pretty windy up there. Don't get me wrong. He was fast, strong climber and a hell of a nice guy, but I just can't imagine having never been in a situation where you had no choice but to cook inside??

Sophia - did we meet you on Ama Dablam? Appears you were there at the same time. We were climbing with Mosedale's group. (People say I look like a younger George Clooney and I've heard a lot of folks say that Tauru looks just like an Asian Brad Pitt).

I would have been the black girl which should be enough information to distinguish me from...well...pretty much everyone else in the Khumbu Valley.

Were you guys there after me (I summitted ~11/5)? I remember meeting some of Mosedale's sherpas on my way down, but that's it. There was a rumor about Clooney being on the mountain though...

Mjollnir wrote: People say I look like a younger George Clooney and I've heard a lot of folks say that Tauru looks just like an Asian Brad Pitt.

Yeah.... this should clear up any misconceptions about the joking nature of this forum....

Ha! Too funny, Sophia. I think I may have ran into you at AD base camp. Well, har-har ...some say I look like the debonair Asian version of Brad Pitt.. but I was often mistaken as a Tibetan sherpa in the Khumbu Valley. Comments like -- "Man, that sherpa is sure going slow and he's breathing really hard! I thought they're supposed to be good at altitude!" hahaha!

Sophia, funny about your conversation on everest! Oh well, as long as people are happy and living out there dreams, right? Safety first, then happiness second -- and if a sherpa can provide all of this, that's awesome!

tauru007 wrote:...but I was often mistaken as a Tibetan sherpa in the Khumbu Valley.

I'm half-Japanese and although most would agree it doesn't show, I am for some reason often mistaken as a native in South and SE Asia. Locals always think I'm from some region of the country that they inevitably have never visited (otherwise they'd know.) I was once was mistaken for a Thai prostitute. In Nepal, I was told I looked like someone from Nepal "but with better hair". I think it's so much more fun to have people wondering, unable to put you in a box until they at least speak to you.

good to see you on the forum sophiaclimbs

Oi,

Howya!

Mad keen to give these babies a shot. Would be tough though, for sure and the current snow conditions in the KK over the last 3 years have been crap, at best. Lots of trail breaking in thigh-high snow. Anyway, the GI/II double header has been on the top of my list for the last two years. I'm young (compared to all of ye, hee hee), a lung on legs and have a lot of exped experience (more than some, defo less than other, but sure...)
I know the FTA guys and was considering goig with them, although the DIY version sounds better. IMO, FTA would be a good option for BC support only and I can get y'all a discount on that. Just would like the chance with a bunch of people with experience. Problem with FTA is that you don't always need it and that has caused problems. Probably the same with all outfitters maybe, but dunno.
Off for a winter climb of Mont Blanc for my sins. will post a report on here soon, but send me more details if you have. I'm 100% committed and already (thank gawd) have the time off for it....
I like tea and cakes for tea and cak time

radson wrote:good to see you on the forum sophiaclimbs

HEY!!! Good to see you too. Didn't know you hung around with these shady characters.

Yes, I decided I should get out there and try to meet more climbers rather than just persist with the whining about it (as you have had the pleasure of hearing directly ).