New Pics for The Grossglockner Climb

Hey guys, we just beefed up our Grossglockner Climb page with a few new fancy pics. Check out the Climbing Grossglockner page on our website. Better yet, check out the mountain for real.

Grossglockner is Austria’s highest peak at 3797 meters and is probably the most-climbed mountain. If you want a good climb in the summer and avoid crowds, try climbing on a weekday. Otherwise, start out from the hut as early as possible. That way you’ll only run into traffic jams on the way down. If you’re a gnarly climber and can handle UIAA III-IV ridges with scary drops, go for the Stüdlgrat variant.

Mt. Elbrus Climbing – Some Questionmarks Arise

…but nonetheless, we are optimistic!

Approaching Elbrus summit with the lower, eastern summit in the background

It’s been written at several places that Islamic terrorists killed foreigners and exploded bombs at ski resorts near Mt Elbrus. The area is currently closed for climbing.

That’s bad news for the thousands who want to climb the peak every year. Like us. We have a fun and very successful Mt Elbrus climb every year. It’s set to take off early July. We may postpone it to August, however. We really hope the Russian secret service will be able to clean out the area and make it safe again. It’s really a question of prestiege for them as well, since the 2014 Winter Olympics are set to take place in nearby Sochi.

Let’s hope for things to settle very very soon! Needless to say, we’ll keep you updated.

Top 4 Reasons You Fail to Climb the Peak of Your Dreams – Part I

Approaching the summit of Rysy in the High-Tatras

To kick things off for the new year, the boys and girls at ClimbBigMountains.com have decided to compile a list of some observations from the past 5 years. On what? Why people we know have failed to reach their desired summits. We’ll leave out the obvious ones, like bad weather because you can help that with a little planning. The list has a few surprising items and tips on how to overcome them…  Here is part 1 with a very much overlooked reason: More »

Ice Climbing in Chamonix, Scotland and Elsewhere

I’m really in the mood for ice climbing now. It’s always like this in the fall. You know, rocks are always wet from rains, snow is a few more weeks off… But it’s always the ice I yearn for the most.

I was drooling over the Petzl movie below, just yesterday. It features – along with funny French dudes – speedclimbing sensation Ueli Steck doing their things on Ben Nevis:

Scottish Icetrip – English from Petzl-sport on Vimeo.

OK, this is mixed climbing, which is even more fun.
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Funky Drytooling in Downtown Zurich

Miss the ice and your tools after a fun season? No need to worry, just be creative. Head on downtown like these guys and gals did and take your ice axe along. If you want to add more excitement, you can try drytooling on public buildings and get chased by security. (Just kidding.)

Enjoy and be inspired:

Grossglockner Stüdlgrat Video

Awesome video shot on and above the Stüdl ridge of Grossglockner (3797 m) Austria’s highest peak. More and more people visit this magnificent peak from the UK and Italy as well. Even though its height doesn’t match up with the Western Alps’ 4000ers, a Grossglockner climb is a spanking cool experience.

Deadly Everest Icefall

Just lost a fellow countryman of mine on the icefall on Everest Norh Col. Chunks of ice breaking off at 7000 meters – this kind of stuff is unpredictable on routes like Everest’s North Col. Nothing you can do about them, other than avoiding routes with high objective danger. It’s a sad, sad day, a huge loss for the climbing community. Konyi leaves behind a wife, 2 daughters and a beautiful life of 54 years.

Under an avalanche for 17 hours. How the heck is it possible?

It was all over the news. But, after reading several sources, the pieces just didn’t fit together. With good air supply and proper clothing, it is possible to survive something like this, but it’s the details around the rescue that just made things fuzzy and no one has been able to give me proper explanation on what probably happened, until I saw the video interview with the victim at the hospital.

I think it may have been a bit of the usual media overhype, or rather, confusion – without their malevolence – in the articles. I had been personally affected by such “typing errors” on several occasions before. Here is what I didn’t get: More »

Avalanche shovels – which ones are useless?

I don’t get it. Who was it that came up with the idea of making avalanche shovels out of plastic? Have they ever seen an avalanche from up close? I don’t dare asking whether they have tested these shovels at all…

How fast will this thing break?

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Video with mountaineering sensation Denis Urubko

Hey, I got a chance to catch up with arguably one of the most successful high mountain climbers on the planet. I picked his brain on climbing training, sponosorhip and many other things… Check out the conversation:

Denis Urubko interview from ClimbBigMountains on Vimeo.

So who is this guy?
Denis Urubko of Kazahstan has climbed 16 8000 meter peaks. He became a hero when summiting the last Himalayan peak to be unclimbed in winter: this February, Simone Moro and Denis summited Makalu. Later, in May, Denis climbed a new route on Cho Oyu to complete his last 8000 meter peak, becoming only the 15th in the world to do so and the 9th to absolve all 14 without the use of supplementary oxygen. Denis is only 36 years old.

After having sat through an exciting 2 hour presentation of his, I got the impression that not only is Denis an exceptional mountaineer, but also a great person. Thanks again for the interview, Denis!