Himalaya 2010 climbing season, Karakoram and Himalaya wrap-up /8/ – Week in Review.

Ice is breaking right under their feet; waves make their tiny vessels invisible to approaching monster ships; and mountain passes overloaded with snow stand in their way to killer mountains.

It’s all real, and covered live at ExWeb along with a global network of cyber media. Check out the stories, but also an interview with Sara at Montagna.org and an Everest technology check-list.

Annapurna heat is on: new names and dry conditions expected in peak’s most exciting season yet Edurne Pasaban, Oh Eun-Sun and Joao Garcia are already on their way to Annapurna, while a big number of teams are expected to follow. Snow conditions will be crucial for safety and success. Check out a weather outlook by MeteoExploration’s Javier Corripio.

Additions to the 2010 Annapurna gang Statistically it’s the most dangerous of them all and now Piotr Pustelnik is facing the peak for the sixth time. Slovak Peter Hamor will join him once again, after the duo lost their 3d “Pedro” Piotr Morawski, on Dhaula one year ago. Romanian Horia Colibasanu (with Iñaki Ochoa on Anna in 2008 until Swiss Ueli Steck replaced his watch) is coming as well to finish Iñaki’s (and his own) climb. Juanito Oiarzabal is expected as member in Carlos Pauner’s team and Polish Kinga Baranowska will try to turn Annapurna into her 7th 8000er. American Nick Rice has changed Kangchenjunga plans in order to join the stellar Anna crowd.

* see:

– Kinga Baranowska and Piotr Pustelnik new expedition – ANNAPURNA DREAM Expedition 2010.

– Annapurna Expedition 2010: ANNAPURNA DREAM – wyprawa Kingi Baranowskiej i Piotra Pustelnika.

China has closed the Tibetan border to climbers and tourists. Climbers in Kathmandu reported the Tibetan borders closed to foreign tourists. Re-opening dates are not confirmed, rumors point to April 10th for tourists – possibly slightly earlier for climbing expeditions. Although no official motivation has been published, a “Strike Hard” campaign launched by the Chinese government in advance of the Tibetan Uprising anniversary on March 10th may be the reason.

Mount Everest technology special: last minute check-list Everest climbers are packing their final gear before flying off to Kathmandu. Tech items usually end up last on the to-do list. To help out, last week ExWeb ran the most frequent questions posed to HumanEdgeTech in the past month.

ExWeb interview with Sara at Montagna.org: “We have to be curious, fast and good journalists” Who are the people behind the new adventure media? Turns out they are journalists with unusual insight in their field, burning with passion for their work. Born a stone’s throw from Ricardo Cassin’s house, Sara Sottocornola dumped an early career in fashionable Milan for a start-up company, Montagna.org, which rapidly grew into Italy’s biggest online mountain news source. ExWeb logged on for an interview with the woman behind the screen.

Geographic North Pole wrap-up: Better ice and a small northerly drift The Irish team was evacuated because of frostbite in temperatures ranging from minus 32 to minus 47°C. Dan fell through the ice, up to his waist in the water. Later in the week however the front skiers experienced a little bit better ice conditions and slow drifts to the north as predicted by the Canadian Ice Services.

Lake Baikal wrap-up: Both the Canadian and Czech teams had a battle in a windstorm, which slowed down progress and flattened the tents at night. Both teams were treated to broken ice piled up amidst the beauty along the shore line and at Olchon Island.

ExWeb interview with Dimitri Kieffer Dimitri Kieffer started his human power circumnavigation of the globe on Febr. 26, 2005 at Knik Lake, near Anchorage, Alaska. Since then he has completed approximately 2440 miles (3926 km). Now in a remote part of Russia, Dimitri talked to ExplorersWeb from Anadyr about taking a teammate but not a gun, and Russian affairs in general.

Atlantic Rowing Race update British James Croome & Oliver Back in their Pairs boat came second overall after solo rower Charlie Pitcher won the Race. Their time was 59 Days 16 Hours and 17 Minutes, achieving the much wanted sub 60-day crossing. Four French ladies were the first women to finish the Race.

Katie Spotz update: Tanker territory near Guyana “I would have a greater survival rate wrestling a shark than being in front of a freighter,” said 22-year old Katie Spotz as she entered tanker territory, bareley visible in the big waves. She is now closing to reach land aiming for Georgetown in Guyana.

Roger rowing hard in a too big boat Also Roger Haines had a close encounter with a cargo ship. “I was awoken at 01:10 by the AIS proximity alarm,” he dispatched over Contact. “This showed a 106 meter cargo ship, the Meita Maru, bound for Panama via my cabin by all accounts. This was another jump out on deck with life jacket on, collision flare in one hand, VHF radio in the other. After several attempts I finally got a response, albeit not in the formal radio procedure that I was following. Needless to say he made his course correction and finally passed 0.3nm from me, not a great safety margin.” Check in on Roger’s (often funny) dispatches; the lonely rower is having a hard time in a boat intended for 2 people.

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