It is an honour to announce my participation in the True Patriot Love "March to the Top" expedition this October. True Patriot Love www.truepatriotlovefoundation.com was created to honour and support members of the Canadian military and their families. The March to the Top expedition will pair 15 wounded and ill Canadian soldiers with 15 civilian business leaders. Each civilian will be paying for the total cost of their partner soldier to participate in the expedition, and raising awareness and funds for the much needed work funded by True Patriot Love. These men and women have risked it all and sacrificed their chances for a “normal” quality of life, all in an attempt to defend democracy and pursue world peace. It is the least we can do to support them in their hour of need.

This team of climbers will trek to Everest base camp and then embark on a summit attempt on Island Peak. Amputations, burns, gunshot wounds and post traumatic stress disorder that they have endured in battle will add to the grueling challenges that they will face on the mountain.

My role will be as the Captain of the civilian team. Based on my previous mountaineering experience and my team building skills, I will endeavour to assist in the formation of this team, and to do my best to help each team member to stand on the summit of Island Peak. I will be blogging daily while on the expedition and you can follow along right here on this blog.

Joining us will be a documentary team from the CBC who will be filming the expedition. The documentary will be aired on CBC in January of 2013. The goal is to raise awareness of the challenges our soldiers face when returning from combat and peace keeping missions around the world www.cbc.ca/marchtothetop.

Part of my mission for this expedition is to raise funds for True Patriot Love. Please go to www.expeditionhimalayas.ca or contact me directly to learn more about this expedition and to make a donation as part of my goal to raise $10,000.00.

This is a sensitive topic but, in my opinion, I would have to say yes. You may have noticed that this has been a common thread through all of my blog postings. I have told many stories of how inexperience creates issues on Everest.

Inexperienced climbers have a very narrow working window. When situations crop up that are outside of this window they are at a loss as to what to do. They can experiment and try to figure it out. But is Everest really the place for experimentation? This often ends in disaster, or requires the assistance of others. In my opinion, relying on the assistance of others as a back-up plan amounts to recklessly endangering your life and the lives of others. Is it fair that one climber loses his or her life, becomes injured or misses a summit bid just to rescue an inexperienced climber who should not have been there in the first place? As I have stated many times, I feel that every person on Everest should be experienced enough that they can be self-reliant in all but the most extreme circumstances. Yes, people will always get into trouble for various reasons. But, if you are experienced, when you do need help, it is often as a last resort.

The next question is what counts as experience for Everest. Once again, I can only state my opinion.

Climbing Everest requires such a variety of skills that it is impossible to learn them all when you arrive at the mountain. There may be a few specialized things that are unique to Everest, but everything else must be well-practiced ahead of time. For instance, I had never used oxygen before I went to Everest and it took me about an hour to adjust to it. When I first put on the mask, I was expecting a miracle, but this was unrealistic. With this "miracle" in mind, I pushed harder than I should have and I paid the price quickly. Out of breath, I ripped the mask off my face and vomited in the snow. Lesson learned. Once I got the hang of it, I loved it.

The required skills on Everest stem from every facet of climbing; rock, ice, big mountain, and aid. Therefore, I feel that each climber should be proficient in each of these disciplines before embarking on a climb of Everest. You do not need to be able to climb at a 5.13 level and lead an A4 pitch, but you should be a technically skilled climber. (If you do not know what 5.13 and A4 refer to, then you should likely not be going to Everest.) Many people may think these standards too high, but this is what I believe.

The use of technical skills needs to be so automatic that you can do them in an exhausted, sleep-deprived, calorie-deprived, hypoxic, wind-blasted, white-out, frozen-to-the-core state. This is the reality of climbing Everest and all big mountains. If you are not up to the task, bad things can happen. I believe that you need to prepare for the worst possible conditions and if you can survive them you are good to go. We all hope for perfect sunny, windless days, and it is amazing when we get them, but it is not smart to count on them.

The photo is of the Lhotse Face in a wind storm. It was extremely cold and the wind was fierce. Driving snow bit into any exposed skin. It became difficult to do anything. These were the conditions on my descent from Camp 3 after an acclimatization rotation. Because I had been in these situations many times before, it was well within my ability to handle. I actually thought it was fun and that it added excitement to an otherwise long slog of a climb. Others were not enjoying it so much. It took me about 1 hour to descend the face. Others took up to six hours. When I looked up the face from the bottom it was like a war zone. Climbers were hunkered down for protection, climbers were fumbling with gear, people were stumbling and making desperate moves on the ropes, and guides were working their butts off to get people down. Many, many climbers got frostbite that day. As I have said, Everest is not the place to learn how to deal with adverse situations.

My apprenticeship came over years of climbing. I have intentionally gone out in horrific conditions just to learn how I would react physically, mentally and emotionally. This way I learned my limitations. Anyone going to Everest should know their limitations and have a realistic understanding of what they need to know in order to be safe and successful on Everest. For me, this took about 20 years of climbing. Some can do it much faster, but this was my comfort zone.

The government of Nepal does not set the standards, and many guiding companies do not set standards either. So it is left up to each individual to decide if they have the experience and skills necessary for Everest. Everest is not just a ride at Disney in Florida. It is a big, bad and dangerous mountain. Play safe!

I am not a scientist and I can only share my observations, insights and experiences on this topic. Based on what I have seen in the mountains, I would have to say yes, climate change is having a negative impact on safety in the mountains. After all, most mountains are simply large piles of rock held together by ice. When this ice melts, the force of gravity takes over and the mountain starts to shed its “skin”.

This year on Everest was reported as a “crazy weather” year. Most years on Everest can be described as such, but this year seemed to be even crazier than usual. The winter of 2012 was a dry one for the Everest region and the mountain saw very little snow. The warm temperatures of spring arrived earlier than normal and as the first teams were arriving at base camp in early March they could tell this was going to be an odd year. Odd on Everest is usually not a good thing.

“Dry” is how it was described. There was a lack of snow at base camp and this caused concern for what the conditions would be like higher on the mountain. The temperatures were also much warmer than usual, and this was causing a rapid melting of what snow and ice there was.

The implications of this on Everest are many. For starters, climbers must negotiate their way through the Khumbu Ice Fall, a labyrinth of towering ice blocks, to make their way to Camp 1. This maze of broken ice is extremely unstable at the best of times and has claimed many a life. As this mass of snow and ice slides off Mt Everest, large blocks dislodge, tumble and crash. If a climber happens to be in the ice fall when one of these behemoth blocks of ice decides to fall over, the end result is unavoidably tragic.

The Khumbu Ice Fall is one of the scariest sections on Everest to climb and yet it is unavoidable when climbing from Nepal. Climbers will pass through this section of the mountain 6-12 times and the Sherpa climbers will pass through it almost daily as they transport loads to the upper camps on the mountain.

To safeguard passage through the ice fall, climbers depart base camp in the middle of the night when temperatures are at their coldest. The theory is that the freezing temperatures will help “bond” the blocks in place. As the sun warms the air later in the day, these bonds start to melt and the ice fall becomes very unstable and a veritable mouse-trap maze.

As the first Sherpa and climbers were making their way through the ice fall this season they noticed that this year was different. The ice fall had an even more unstable and menacing personality than normal. Ice block collapses were common, and the constant movement in the ice fall made the route ever-changing and treacherous. The Sherpas were scared; and when the Sherpas get scared, the climbers take notice. Discussions began about the viability of safely climbing Everest this season.

Although the snowfall had been low, avalanches were still a great threat. Avalanches in the mountains can come from two main sources. The first is an unstable buildup of snow on a moderately sloping face. When the bond between the snow layers breaks the avalanche roars down the mountain. The second source is from what is called hanging seracs. These are massive blocks of glacial ice that cling to the side of the mountain. At some point gravity always wins this tug of war and the blocks fall with devastating force. Once again, warm temperatures cause the foundations of these seracs to weaken and eventually to fail. The Ice Fall and Camp 1 are surrounded by huge, imposing walls covered with avalanche potential.

Traditionally, climbers have been most afraid of the West shoulder of Everest. They have slowly migrated Camp 1 away from this and closer to what was considered the relative safety of the steep face of Nuptse. This year, the odds were against the climbers and a massive avalanche roared off Nuptse and steamrolled into Camp 1 destroying tents and injuring several climbers.

Meanwhile above Camp 2, the Lhotse face was firing rock and ice missiles at unsuspecting climbers. The Lhotse face has long been feared by climbers, but is usually stable from a rock fall and avalanche standpoint. This year the snow was not there to act as a bonding agent. As the jet stream parked its self over the mountain, ferocious winds began to dislodge rocks at frequent intervals. Anyone who ventured onto the face was playing Russian roulette and many climbers lost. Nobody was killed, but bones were broken and stitches were sewn.

The Yellow Band is an outcropping of rock just above Camp 3 and must be traversed on the way to Camp 4. Beyond that, there is another rock band that guards the way to the South Summit. Snow and ice are much easier to climb while wearing crampons than rock. Ascending these rock sections with crampons on is comparable to walking across a marble floor with metal golf spikes on. Your traction is limited at best. Due to the low snow these sections would be more difficult than usual.

All of these issues can be chalked up to climate change, and they were weighing heavily on the minds of the climbers. One expedition leader who was supporting a large group of over 100 climbers and Sherpa made the bold move to pull the plug and cancel the all his expeditions on Everest, Lhotse and Nuptse. This was an unheard of move and it shook the community. Some agreed and some did not, but ultimately the decision was made in the face of danger with an extreme concern for safety.

Additionally there is photographic evidence that shows the retreat of the great glaciers of Everest and mountains around the world. There is no doubt in my mind that the climate is changing and that it is having dangerous consequences in the mountains.

Absolutely, I would say there is. There is much more crowding on the Nepal side than the Tibet side, but both have crowding issues. The challenge is that, at least where Nepal is concerned, Everest brings in a huge amount of revenue for the country. Nepal is one of the poorest countries in Asia and the average per capita income is less than $500. Everest attracts climbers and trekkers to the country. As far as the climbers, go each person is required to pay $10,000 for their climbing permit. But the value of Everest to the country does not end there. Each climber then spends thousands of dollars on food, accommodation, transportation, porters, climbing Sherpas and a myriad of other things. Everest is immensely important to the economy of Nepal and I do not see limits to the number of climbers any time soon.

Based on this understanding, it is in Nepal’s best interest to sell as many permits as possible. The more people, the more money. The Ministry of Tourism is not really concerned with crowding issues, mountain logistics, or even the competency of the climbers. They leave this to the guiding companies and the various outfitters that run trips on the mountain.

In an open market economy I think there is very little that can be done to curb the number of people going to the mountain. Even if some guiding companies limit the number of climbers per team, and many do, there will always more guides who want into this very lucrative game.

As I have stated in previous postings, inexperienced climbers add to the congestion. Inexperienced climbers tend to move more slowly than experienced ones, and they slow down even more when a technical situation is encountered. Everest is a huge mountain and can accommodate a large number of people, but there are bottlenecks on the way to the summit. When one person in the line slows down, everyone behind them must slow down just, as happens in any traffic jam.

Something that many people may not know, and that adds greatly to the crowding issue on Everest is that there are at least as many, if not more, Sherpas than climbers on the mountain. The old days of the self-reliant climbing teams doing their share of the load carrying are long gone, at least on Everest. Each team employs dozens of Sherpa’s to help with the chores on the mountain. If teams were able to handle more of this themselves they would not require as many Sherpa’s and the overall number of people on the mountain would be significantly reduced.

The double-edged sword here is that working on the mountain is a very important employment opportunity for the people of the Everest region. Without it, many families would be worse off. It would also mean that many of the people climbing Everest today (and I may even be in this group) would not be able to be successful.

Ultimately I am not in a position to say what the right number of people on the mountain is. I have no idea on that. But I can say that those who are there need to be accountable for their personal role in the crowding. If people ensure that they have the required skills, experience and fitness before they go to the mountain, this would alleviate some of the traffic jam issues. Also, if individual climbers would take accountability to step out of the line and to even turn back when moving too slowly, this congestion would be reduced and lives might be spared.

One alternative to reducing the numbers climbing at any one time is to look at climbing in different seasons. Everest has been climbed in all four seasons, but there are advantages and disadvantages to each season. The winter is extremely cold and very few climbers have the ability to work in these conditions. The summer brings the monsoon with heavy snows and rain and this presents many safety issues. The fall climbing season is post-monsoon and usually presents deep snow conditions, avalanche hazards, and temperatures trending colder as the winter approaches. The spring season, the pre-monsoon season as it is called, has proven statistically to be the safest and the most successful and therefore this will attract the highest number of people.

There is never going to be a perfect solution to the crowds on Everest and I do not see limitations or qualifications being required by Nepal. It is up to everyone involved to be personally accountable for their role in the crowding and to take steps to reduce the impact this is having on safety on the mountain.

As we all know this was a deadly season on Everest with 11 people losing their lives. I think it is time we re-think our approach to climbing the tallest and one of the most dangerous mountains on the planet. It is not my place to tell others what to do, but perhaps my insights, gained over 25 years of climbing, can help to save a life in the future.

So, the question: Can Everest be guided safely? The simple answer in my opinion is no. Guiding implies a professional leading the way and helping a novice climber accomplish what they otherwise could not. Above 7,000m and, especially, above 8,000m a guide’s capacity to assist is greatly reduced. According to the standards set by many worldwide guiding associations, guides can no longer meet the requirements of their jobs at these altitudes.

Another question is: Can Everest be professionally led safely? To this I would say yes. A professionally-led expedition provides a leader to help organize the expedition and to be available for counsel on decisions, but the individual climbers need to be self-sufficient on the mountain. They need to be competent at all the skills required and must be able to do them without assistance.Therefore, I believe that guiding companies that offer such expeditions to inexperienced climbers are putting people’s safety on the line.

When I was on Everest in 2008, I was walking behind a climber in the ice-fall. This climber was connected to the fixed line, as were we all. Every 50m or so there is an anchor and the tether connecting the climber to the fixed line must be moved over the anchor and clipped to the other side. This is accomplished with what is called a lobster claw and is quite straightforward. The climber ahead of me had a guide walking right beside him. Every time the climber reached an anchor point the climber would raise his hands above his head and the guide would transfer his lobster claws for him. I could not believe my eyes. Did this climber actually have so little experience they could not be relied upon to transfer their lobster claws safely? I shuttered to think what might happen higher up on the mountain when things got complicated or if some type of an emergency situation cropped up.

I doubt that this climber made it very high, but it was wrong of that guide to take him on the mountain in the first place, and wrong for that climber to even think he should be there to begin with. As I heard Pat Morrow say just the other day (Pat is the second climber in the world to climb the 7 summits), “People pluck this dream of climbing Everest off a shelf and they have absolutely no understanding of what it entails”. As a society, we have become accustomed to buying whatever we want and being told that anything is possible if we just want it badly enough. We have lost sight of reality.

I feel that climbers should earn their right to go to Everest. They should pay their dues on mountain after mountain, building up the requisite skills. After learning on several 5,000m, 6,000m and 7,000m peaks, they can try a smaller 8,000m peak. If by that point they feel they are up to the challenge of Everest, go for it. But, buying their way onto a trip of this magnitude and relying disproportionately on others to execute tactical decision-making and satisfy the physical requirements, puts them and others at grave risk.

Can you climb Everest without oxygen?

The answer to this question is yes, but not for most people. Everest was first climbed without bottled oxygen on May 8, 1978 by Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler. Up until that point, scientists thought it would be guaranteed death to go to those heights without supplemental oxygen. And it would be for most of us. The ability to climb to the summit of Mt Everest without bottled oxygen is mostly genetic. Obviously you need to be supremely fit, but you also need to have the genetic ability to do so. Without this, it does not matter how fit you are, you will not make it and you stand a strong change in dying in the process. This is not something you can test for in a doctor’s office; there is no blood test or MRI that will tell you and lineage alone does not guarantee it. The only way to know is to learn by experience.

The best strategy if you want to attempt this is to climb to higher and higher summits over a period of years. Not only will you gain the technical expertise required, but you will also learn how your body responds to the thin air. Similar to muscle memory, your body learns every time you go to altitude and it can make the adjustments slightly easier the next time. However, even this is not a sure-fire way to know. And even if you have never had any altitude issues before, it could crop up at any time without warning notice. Many highly experienced and strong climbers have died from altitude related illness when they had never experienced issues in the past.

Even the Sherpas need bottled oxygen. They are stronger than the average westerner and their bodies have adapted to living at altitude over the centuries, but they are not immune to altitude-related illness. A Sherpa climber will die from altitude almost every year, and this is partially because they work very hard and carry such heavy loads while on the mountain. Above 8,000m almost everyone, including the Sherpas, are wearing an oxygen mask and carrying oxygen in their packs.

The standard system on Everest is Poisk which is a Russian system that combines a lightweight aluminum and Kevlar oxygen bottle, a flow regulator and a mask. This system has not really changed or been improved in decades. There are a few other systems out there and one of the biggest changes in recent years is a new British mask called the “Top Out”. It uses the Poisk bottle and regulator, but adds in a more efficient mask design that delivers a greater percentage of usable oxygen to the lungs.

Most climbers will have five 4-litre oxygen bottles that they will use from Camp 3 and up. Running at full flow, the tank will last about 6 hours. Running at minimum flow, it can last 12-14 hours. Most people will run it at around mid-flow and this will allow them to climb efficiently and to not run out of oxygen.

Using oxygen does not make it feel like you are at sea level, but the general consensus is that it makes it feel like you are about 3000-feet lower in altitude. One of the dangers of using oxygen on Everest and other 8000m peaks is that it allows you to push beyond what your body could do without the oxygen. If your system fails, your regulator freezes or you run out of oxygen, all of which has happened on Everest, you are in big trouble. Instantly, your body acts as if it has been propelled 3000-feet higher and things go bad very quickly. If this happens to you, you will be extremely lucky to survive.

When I was climbing Everest there was only one person (that I am aware of) to summit without the use of supplemental oxygen. I spoke to him at the top of the Hillary Step. I was going down from the summit and he was going up. We had a quick chat and he seemed to be doing well. His lips were a little blue, but most people’s are at that height. He was a very experienced climber and had climbed other 8,000m peaks successfully without oxygen. I continued down and he continued up. When I woke the next morning at Camp 4 and stepped outside my tent, I saw him laying dead and wrapped in a tarp.

Somewhere on the descent he had run into trouble. After reaching the summit his body had started to shut down, as often happens. He had no resources left to combat the rapid deterioration of his body and he collapsed. I was not there so I do not know exactly what happened, but I heard that some Sherpa’s did put him on oxygen, but by that point it was too late and he died of heart failure.

Based on my personal experience, I do not think that I could ever climb Everest without the use of supplemental oxygen and I will never try. Some people feel this is cheating and an unfair and un-pure way to climb. But that is a whole different topic.

Going to Everest does seem a little crazy to some people. And, since I’ve gone there, I guess that would place me ... and many others I know ... in that category too. To me, crazy is not really the right word, as that implies reckless abandonment. I see climbing Everest as a calculated risk. Our lives are full of risk and we are better for it. The key is to take a smart risk.

I can only speculate as to why others go to Everest, and I will do so based on people I have spoken with. But I can also share my personal motivations for going.

I am a very goal motivated person. Without an immediate goal to focus on, it is all too easy for me to lose my drive and to flounder. My mind dulls and my body weakens. With a goal, I have the passion and drive to meet each day head on. My focus sharpens. I pay attention to my fitness. The benefits spill into my overall health and my life in general.

In everything I do, I want to be good. Don’t we all? In a study around what creates “drive”, Dan Pink found that the opportunity for “Mastery” is critical for having a motivated and fulfilling fife. Mastery is simply the desire to get better at something. For me this “something” is climbing.

I was a climber from a very young age and, as I grew, I began to test myself on bigger and bigger challenges. I started with local rock and ice climbs and then moved further afield to find bigger and more challenging climb’s in the US, Mexico and South America. I then moved onto mountaineering in what seemed to me as a natural progression. Looking for bigger and bigger challenges I finally set my sights on Everest.

Now that I am done climbing the 7 summits (the highest point on each of the 7 continents) I am still not done. Climbing was not just part of a check list or a “bucket list” for me. It is a way of life and it feeds me every day. I intend to continue to climb as long as I can, expecting that my objectives will change as time marches on.

I also see climbing as a way to explore new worlds and people. Climbing has taken me to places few people will ever go and I have had experiences that have made me a better person. Life is short and I believe that everyone should make the most of their life. I have chosen to do that via climbing.

So, if this is why I go, I can only assume that there are others like me out there. There are others for whom climbing Everest is just part of a check list. They are “peak baggers”, not climbers. Climbing is not the only activity to draw attention this way, but it is one of the more powerful magnets. These people often enter into the game for a short while and then move on. This is a reasonable proposition as this is how we learn if this is the right thing for us. They key is to enter at a place relative to your experience level. Starting with Everest is just not a smart move.

Ultimately, I think we all need some form of passion in our lives. Climbing is mine. What is yours?

Communication from one of the most remote areas of the Earth is sometimes sketchy. We haven't heard from Scott, but here is an update from his teammate Ryan Waters: 

23 Nov, 11 - 20:01     
78.4941S,85.7390W
"Hello from high camp! A long day of awesome climbing up the headwall and a cool route up the col to high camp. We just had a big dinner of Real Turmat meals and a big hot drink. We can see forever up here. Looking back to the West we see the Nimitz Glacier sprawling below with small peaks poking out from a thin cloud layer.

We are going for the summit tomorrow. Planning to leave around 9 am when the sun is on the route. It is a long day up 3600 feet to the summit so we must hit the sack." (Ryan Waters, Mountain Professionals)

Exploring Punta Arenas ...

Another day in Punta Arenas is another day closer to flying to Antarctica. The Norwegian South Pole team was put on notice to be ready for a call to the Airport Friday morning between 6am and 9am. This means we are next and will most likely fly Saturday morning and then hopefully immediately to Vinson with no delay.

Today was cool, grey and windy, but what else is new in Punta Arenas. There was not a lot to do today. I sat around in the hotel and worked on my book for a while. Yes, I am working on a book and have been doing so for around three years. I think writing a book is an even bigger mountain to climb than Everest.

Around 11:30 I decided to go for a run. I figured that perhaps I should try to maintain some fitness while I am here, plus it would be a good way to explore the city. I put on my trail shoes, my smelly socks, my fancy new Lu Lu Lemon shorts that I got for my birthday before I left, my Sherpa shirt, by running hat and my iPod and I was off. I ran down the main street to the water and turned right. The smell of ocean was strong in my nostrils as I sucked in air.

The waterfront is similar to the waterfront of most port cities. There is a combination of industrial, manufacturing, shipping, residential and park lands. One great feature is a dedicated bike path and a separate walking/running path so that there is no mix of cars, people, and bikes. I ran past the Dreams Hotel and Casino. This is where the cruise ships come in and is the finest, and most expensive, accommodation in the city. After that I ran past the shipping docks that were full of containers, forklifts, cranes and for some reason thousands of bundles of rusted wire. Past the shipping docks it turned residential with nice, but not huge homes.

All the nicer homes in the city have tall concrete walls with spikes on top surrounding them and a large gate across the driveway. ADT security signs are everywhere and every store, even the grocery store, has security guards with bullet-proof vests. This makes me think that the city has a high crime rate, but I have seen no evidence of this and feel totally safe. The people I meet on the street are friendly, not overly so, but not distant at all.

Past the residential area the land opened up with a few large ocean-side parks. They are not quite as fancy and lush as the parks we might have back home, but they are nice and attract the locals for walking and beach exploring. The water is cold so there is no swimming, but there are plenty of shells to gather and a lot of beach glass as well.

One park was an exercise park and they have all these metal machines for people to use. I sat on and tried out all of the apparatus as I went by; partly out of curiosity and party because it was a good excuse to stop running for a few minutes. One machine was like an elliptical, and one was like a leg press, another was similar to a shoulder press. Basically it was every exercise contained on a Nautilus machine and set into a stand-alone machine. There were even a few machines that mimicked the exercise gimmicks advertised on late night TV. I half expected Susanne Somers to be there running fitness classes.

Moving on I passed another shipping yard and came to what appeared to be a graveyard for old ships. These were not little ships, but huge tankers and cargo ships. Five or six of them were run aground and looked like they had been there for quite some time. One huge cargo ship was easily 300-feet long and presented a massive hole in its side. Another was even longer and had four tall masts that once upon a time would have held sails. All the ships were extremely rusty and had been stripped of everything of value and that could be re-used on other ships.

As I walked the beach looking at the ships I began to notice all the shells, the pretty rocks, and the beach glass passing by my feet. I walked up and down the beach for a while collecting the nicest specimens and enjoying the view of the ocean. Eventually it was time to start my return run.

On the way back I picked up a friend to run with me. She was beautiful, in great shape, very friendly, and had gorgeous blond hair. She was also a dog. Punta Arenas has over 11,000 wild dogs and one had chosen to spend some time with me. She ran right beside me like we had been doing it for years. Every minute or so she would look up to make sure I was still there and that she was right at my side. It was fun to run with a partner for a while, but she was not much of a conversationalist.

Eventually I turned up away from the water and my partner decided not to join me on this last leg of my run. I ran up the second main street which moves towards the city centre square at a slight upwards slope. Just like the other main street this one has two lanes of traffic separated by a large boulevard in the middle. This boulevard is full of walking paths, sculpted trees, monuments, statues and busts of famous people. This presents a contrast in times as this was obviously once a rich, proud and special place, but today much of it is in disrepair, and graffiti covers many of the monuments.

Close to the top of the hill I turned right and followed yet another once beautiful boulevard back towards the direction of my hotel. Just over an hour later I returned to my hotel. Although I was not overly excited about going for a run when I first set out, I am glad that I did it. I saw parts of the city that I would not have seen otherwise, and I did feel good from the exercise as well.

The rest of the day was relatively uneventful. Ron, Ryan , one of Ryan’s friends Eric (he is guiding the Emperor Penguin trips in Antarctica and has skied to the North and South Poles as well as climbed Everest – there are a lot of over achievers down here) and I went for a drink at the Shackelton bar which is in a famous hotel used by Shackelton and his team when planning his two South Pole Expeditions. After that we went back to the pizza jazz bar where we had dinner the other night.

After dinner Ron and I explored the main square and I took some photos of the architecture and the craft sellers. We also got a glimpse into the youth culture as they hung out on their BMX bikes and skate boards in the square. One interesting fact about life in Punta Arenas is that a very large percentage of the population, kids included, smoke. There are no smoking by-laws and the restaurants are thick with smoke. It is difficult for a non-smoker like me to adjust to. I have not had to deal with smoke while I ate dinner for a very long time (at least not in North America anyway).

We then wandered slowly back to our hotel and retired for the night. All in all not a bad day. Nothing that exciting, but still good. Every day is a good day.

Summit Life! Scott Out.

November 16
Today is the day we were supposed to fly to Antarctica. But alas we are still here in Punta Arenas along with countless others who are also waiting. Some are more patient than others, but this decision is beyond our control.

In the morning we had a team meeting to decide what to do with our time. After some back –and-forth we decided to look into renting a car and driving to Torres del Paine. The drive of 398km we figured would take us about 6 hours. We would stay the night, hike for a day and return the next day. Translated into English the Torres del Paine are the Towers of Pain and have earned their name for inflicting just that on its visitors. It is a spectacularly beautiful and rugged area comprised of crystal blue glacier fed lakes and piercingly tall and sharp granite spires. Hiking and climbing opportunities are abundant along with kayaking, fly fishing and mountain biking.

Just as Ryan left the hotel to investigate the rental car options one of the other teams got a call from ALE telling them the first flight of equipment and crew would go out tonight and that if all went well their flight may be pushed up by 12 hours. If they got pushed up then there was a good chance we would also get pushed up. I ran out the door and called Ryan back. After a brief discussion we decided that it would not be a good idea to disappear for a few days with the flight situation in such an uncertain state.

Torres del Paine was now off the table, so we switched to a more local and less time consuming activity; penguins.

With the assistance of our hotel staff we arranged to go on a penguin tour to Monumento Natural Los Pinguinos located on Isle de Magdalena in the Strait of Magellan. The Strait of Magellan is named after Ferdinand Magellan who in the year 1520, while in the employ of Charles I of Spain, discovered this shortcut that connects the Atlantic to the Pacific . Although the Strait is a difficult navigational challenge due to numerous islands and unpredictable winds it is an important shortcut that allowed early sailors to avoid the extremely dangerous task of sailing around the horn at the bottom of South America.

The tour would cost us 35,0000pesos each (about $70). We were picked up by a crazy van driver at our hotel at 2:00 and escorted to the port with a group of other tourists and stranded Antarctica people. There we boarded a boat for the 2:30 trip to the island. The wind was low and the seas were calm making for a comfortable crossing to the island. Cormorants (a large sea bird) and Dolphins accompanied us on our short voyage.

As we chugged across the water the 210 acre island came into view. This island is the home to over 140,000 penguins. Yes, you read that right, it is not a typo. There are 140,000+ penguins living on this island. In the early years after the Straight was discovered sailors and fishermen would seek shelter from storms on this barren island and they would collect Penguin eggs and hunt the Penguins (not an overly challenging task) to provide food for their voyages.

The island is barren of trees and the only vegetation consists of short tough grass that the penguins use to line their nests. It is quite a desolate place. As we landed at a small dock, the island was alive with movement. Penguins were everywhere.

Isle de Magdalena is home to the Magellanic Penguin (Spheniscus magellanicus) also known as the Burrow Penguin because they dig burrows in the ground where they live, lay their eggs and raise their young. They are a smaller penguin of about 2 feet tall and weighing about 144oz when fully grown. They have the classic penguin tuxedo look of black and white with bright brown and black eyes.

There is a narrow trail that rings part of the island and leads up to the old light house on the top which is now home to the island curator and a small museum. The trail is closed on both sides with wooden stakes and two lines of rope to create a small fence. Humans are not allowed to step off the trail, but the penguins dart back and forth at will.

As we slowly walked up the trail towards the light house the penguins went about their business like we were not even there. I think to the early sailors they would have been an extremely easy prey to hunt. Penguins return to this island in September as this is where they were born. They find a mate and will remain with that mate for life. The eggs are laid in October and are incubated for 40 days.

Penguins hung around in pairs and occasionally small groups. Frequently I observed penguins tugging at the tough short grass with their beaks trying to extract some insulation and padding for their nests. Others stood tall on their feet with their heads thrust to the sky and let out a series of hoots, brays and calls not unlike that of a wolf howling at the moon. I have no idea the reason for this display, but it was quite entertaining.

The walk to the light house took about an hour. Not because it is that far, but because I was walking very slow to take in the experience and to snap picture after picture. The return walk to the boat was a little faster, but there was always something new to see.

We spent about 1.5 hours on the island and then made our way back to the boat. The tide was going out so the gangplank was no longer usable so we had to climb over the side of the dock, step across some bumpers and into the boat. It was pretty simple for us climbers, but for the tourists it was a little more challenging. Eventually everyone was on board and we started to motor back to Punta Arenas. On the trip back they gave us wine and sandwiches and put on a movie "Walking Dead" about an American town that had been overrun with zombies. I did not watch.

We got back to town around 8:30pm. Ryan was meeting a friend and Ron and I went to the grocery store and bought a roast chicken, some fries, and an avocado for dinner. After dinner I made a skype call home and spoke with Susan and Amy and then I went off to bed.

As I have mentioned before, there is no heat in our hotel. Well there is heat, but they have not turned it on. It is cool in our room, but not too bad. Tonight when I opened the door to our room it was freezing cold. Somehow the window and the patio door had blown open and the room was the same temperature as the outside which was just above freezing. We left the door to the hall open for a while to try to warm it up, but there was not much else we could do.

All in all it was a good day. We did not fly and are now behind schedule, but I was able to experience the penguins which I would have not have done if all had gone as planned; the silver lining in the cloud.

Hi to Marg at Georgian Peaks and all the others who are following along.

Summit Life! Scott out.

Journey of a Lifetime!

"Men Wanted for hazardous journey. Low wages, bitter cold, long hours of complete darkness. Safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in event of success”

As the story is told, this was a employment advertisement put into the London newspaper looking for members for Ernest Shackelton’s Nimrod expedition to Antarctica. Apparently thousands of applications were received for what in print seems to be a rather bleak job. However, the enormous enthusiasm surrounding this ad reflected the human desire to explore, to adventure, and to push personal boundaries.

People often ask me why I climb. Why I spend my free time in cold and inhospitable locations. Why I put my life at risk. This is a difficult question to answer, but the basic response is because I love it. It makes me feel alive.

In mid November of this year I will join two friends in an attempt to climb Mt. Vinson, the tallest mountain in Antarctica. To date I have successfully summited the tallest mountain in 6 of our 7 continents. Climbing Mt. Vinson, providing that I make it to the top, will be my final summit of the “7 Summits.”

Before my departure, my blog’s will focus on my daily preparations, my gear, my thoughts, my family’s thoughts, my drivers, and much more. Once on the expedition I will do my best to send back daily blogs reporting on our progress and my personal thoughts and insights.

As a leadership and high performance team specialist I will also share my insights into this world and how some of my personal experiences can be used to better understand how to lead and build high performance teams.

My good friends at Adult Essentials (www.adultgummies.com) will be supporting me on this journey. Daily exercise and nutrition are a critical factor in success. The stronger I am, the greater my chance of success and the more I will enjoy the experience. My challenge however, is that like many of you, I Iead a very busy life. Between business and family commitments it is difficult to find time to train and I do not always eat as well as I should. This is where nutritional supplements come into play: to help me balance my dietary needs while finding time to train physically for this trip