Have you been on Mont Blanc? Have you had a good and calm night, or you were „suffering” under the bench? If you go to a mountain, you have to forget about your comfy bed. Is it really obligate? If you have been up there or you just planning, probably you know the actualities. No room, uncomfortable night, in turn you should get some rest, before your summit day. Certainly, there are other ways to solve this problem. Really? Any idea?

The old Gouter-hut

I have a few. You can climb outside of the season. In late September, but rather in October. If you are a bit lucky, the nice weather holds on, and you pay less too. The trip could be even better, when you climb with your three friend, not with 124 „aliens”. Sounds good. What do you think?

The new hut, above 3800m

 An other option if you wait until the new hut opens. Actually, it’s rather a mountain hotel. The guys are working hard, maybe you can sleep there in this year. Officialy it has room for 120 climbers, but as far as I know the conditions, 200 will sleep there.:) It’s as eco-friendly, as possible, everything will be recycled. Water used for cooking and washing will be redirected into the toilets and „vica versa.” No, I’m just kidding. So honestly, it’s really a good thing, it’s a „self-supporing buliding.” Solar panels, wind turbines, biomass energy – as you can see 6 million (euros) is a nice lump sum. Don’t have to worry, it has a great panoramic view, and hopefully a few people can sleep more than 10 minutes, before the summit-day.

Are you plannig to sleep up here?

Not a space station, it's the new hut

Our forthcoming post is about two young adventurers and their odyssey in Bosnia. It may sounds like a cock and bull story, but it’s telling the truth and that makes it gripping. The curtain rises on a flat afternoon, when the two decided to go and „disover” the Balkans. Both were mountain maniacs, and hunger for the real tough adventures. But not everything turned out as they had planned.

…we have started off the Balkan. Our aim was Bosnia’s highest peak Mount Maglic and the sorrounding wild nature. We knew almost nothing about these mountains, but that’s why it was so exciting. We had real and serious experience in mountaineering, from previous and similar peaks, so I can tell – without being pompous – that we were prepared for this mountain.
We have spent the nights on the mountain, next to a deserted hut, in a tent. The first morning we have decided to climb up to the top, and we planned and packed for one day. Therfore we had all the equipments for a wintery day, but not for a night or an other day. The terrain wasn’t easy, we got deep mud and soft wet snow  intermittently. Thanks to that we have reached the foggy summit relatively late, but at the highest point of BOSNIA, we „had to” shoot some pictures with the huge flag of SERBIA(!). For the descent we chose a shorter track, which leads to a wide woodsman path.
Here and there we could follow the red star signs painted on the rocks, but the fog and the deep slippery snow was a real pain in the ass. After a few minutes of descent, suddenly I’ve slipped off and in the next moment I was slediging as quick as lightning towards a big and sharp rock.
It was only about 2-3 seconds, but I had the feeling, that I have got time to consider my next „steps”. I pushed my ice axe with all my bodyweight downwards to the deep and loose snow, but it couldn’t stop me. On a sudden, I have felt a blunt hit on my boots, so I know the rock held me. I was lucky.
It was growing dark, but we could followed the track in the light of our headlamps. After a few minutes the track ended in a serried mountain pine forest. We have tried to get around, but it was dense. We considered our chances, and finally we decided to stay for the night, we thought it’s the best, because we could lost each other, or someone could get hurt. So we have stucked in the mountain, about 2000m high, and the temperature was somewher at the freezing-point. For the next 12 hours our only hope was an isolation-emergency blanket, in the icecold rain. Every two hours was a piece of heaven, when we could afford a cup of hot tea..(ok, it was only hot water). Nothing but the wind was missing from the story.
The high quility gore-tex jackets and pants also gave up in the heavy rain, so bit by bit our bodies started to cool down. In the dark night we were thinking, how could we survive in this situtation.. My friend was telling a story, about a mountaineer who has stucked in the Andes, without any food, but he survived, he got out with his broken leg. That story gave me strength, but we daren’t sleep, beacuse we thought, we wouldn’t wake up again. Shakily we were waiting in the rain, under a mountain pine. We knew that, it’s unnecessary to call anybody, beacuse there is no mountain rescue team in the country.
At the same time I have realized that, we are only three of us. My freind and me, against the wild cruel mountain. The night was long and cold, we were swapping the stories, and thinking about our loved ones. If you spend a night on a mountain and you don’t sleep a minute, you will know how fantastic is to hear the first bird’s voice at dawn. That feeling filled us up, to countinue our way back to the camp. Since then I remember to almost every second, every move from that night. I will never forget the miserable moments with the wet stove, which didn’t want to flame up, the  „timetable” for the food and the drink, the last match-stick and the nylon shopping bag – which was our bed for that night.
Thinking back I also remember – very slowly but – the night was gone, and we knew that we survied, and it’s all right now. We have packed all the stuff and we walked back to our camp in a few hours. We were hardly distressed, so we slept a few hours. It was unexpressed, but we knew that 25th of October is our second birthday. Since then we celberate it every year, and we are still climbing mountains.
I can tell you, my first meeting with Mount Maglic was a bit acerbic, but also unforgettable, and on the way back home, I have confessed to myself, I have fallen in love with this place, and I’ll be back in one day.

What do you say, where did they make a bungle? What would you do in a situation like this? Were they well preapred for everything? Is it even possible to be prepared for everything in high mountains? Can you draw the lesson from the story?

We decided to call it off. No Elbrus this year. The situation is just too unreliable and the area may be closed when our July climb comes. So instead, we’ve been suggesting our clients to go to Iran’s highest peak, Damavand. Yeah, just go climb Damavand this year – it’s fantastic and it’s cheaper than Elbrus. It’s a bit easier due to there being less snow, less cold… despite Damavand having a slightly higher summit.

Why climb when you can ride Damavand? Nah, you can't really do that.

I swear there is NO photoshop involved in the above picture. The sky really is THAT blue. So, which do you think is a better ‘party’: Damavand or Elbrus?

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.

This is probably the shortest post on this blog, ever. Check out this stunning trek to a country with a very bad brand.

Fun jeep rides in Iranian mountains...

One of the most unrecognized high peak treks on the globe is Iran’s Mt. Damavand (5671 m). Just yesterday, we threw a really sweet Mt Damavand climb package on the website. We’re pretty good at doing Iran; Daniel, our mountain guide has been to and travelled accross the country on several occasions – mostly doing photography and guiding.

He’s really at home when it comes to Persian (that is…: Iranian) culture and customs. Here’s an extract from our website on what to look out for in Iran in terms of culture.  For starters, don’t refer to them as Arabs… They’re Persians, which is a different people.

There is no need to bring shorts – you shouldn’t wear them in this country. Bring a light, breezy pair of pants.

Local Customs which are Interesting and Should be Respected

You are visiting a country with a very special – and for Westerners, unusually strict – Islamic culture, conduct and customs. Here is what to keep in mind: long pants for gentlemen, scarf for ladies at all times, even on lower regions of the mountain. The scarf can be any color and material as long as it covers your hair. For you ladies, a long sleeve shirt is highly recommended to avoid ridiculed stares. Please respect these basic things.

Here are some other customs:

• Western women can talk to anyone and can shake hands with men as well. Wesetern gentlemen can only shake hands with Persian (Iranian) women, if she initiates. Men can flirt with women as long as they’re in a smaller group. However, private conversations are forbidden. As a basic rule, men shouldn’t touch Iranian women.
• It’s customary to reject favors and invitations three times. If you’re offered the favor for the fourth time, you should accept. Exceptions: tea and smaller favors.
• Money isn’t everything! If you’re shopping, do engage in the conversation with the shopkeeper about where you’re coming from etc. It’s rude to ask about the price right away.
• Iranians are very interested in the West, and in you. If you show them pics from home, give them postcards, and just chat with them, they’ll be enormously happy.
• When getting into a taxi, be sure to get crystal clear on the destination and the price. Otherwise, they’ll rip you off in the end.
• If you run into trouble, just start shouting. In no time, a crowd will form around you and they will take your side (and do justice to the other party) – Iranians love tourists. They are among the most hospitable people in the world.
• Bring a photocopy of your passport and visa with you to town. If a cop asks for your papers, give him the photocopy first – just in case they aren’t entirely friendly and benign, it’s better to keep the original passport on you and give him a photocopy instead.
• Alcohol and drugs are strictly forbidden in this country. Both are easy to obtain, but if you are found possessing or using them, you risk serious fines, jail and in extreme cases, a death penalty. We cannot take responsibility for you in this respect. Save the beers (and the joint) for celebrating your climb at home.

Food-drinks

The most popular food on the street is the sandwitch. This can be kebab, falafel. If you’re a hard core try-it-all, you have your pick of hot-dog, liver and brain-filled sandwitches. We haven’t yet dared try the latter.

You won’t be disappointed with local food. If your a veggie, it’s a bit more difficult, but you can get along fine. Forget alcohol and go for fruit shakes, among which – in our opinion – watermelon ice-shakes are the peak of fine gastronomy. There are all the Coke imiations, too: Farsi-Cola, Zamzam-Cola, Mecca-Cola. You’ll get to drink a bunch of tea, too. Bottled water can be purchased almost everywhere.

…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.

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:Reason #4: Failing to make it to the mountains

You shouldn’t overlook this, really. Many people have plans in life and as such, they have plans to climb mountains. But, we’re not always good enough at planning and making things happen. This means, you lose out on much of the fun you deserve.

The solution’s easy. You have to put all your important goals in writing. This is something you might have heard before, but HOW you do it is just as important as doing it. So, along with your other possible new years’ resolutions, I want you to:

1. 1. take a piece of paper
2. 2. write down the top 8-10 goals for the year – personal, career and travel/climbing goals.
3. 3. next to each goal write down the answer to the following questions: 1) why is it important to me? 2) what is the biggest obstacle to this goal? 3) what/how do I need to change in order to reach this goal?
4. 4. stick this paper above or next to your computer monitor where you always see it
5. 5. cross off the goals you’ve achieved

By the way, when you dig deep enough on “what’s the biggest obstacle to this goal” – you’ll almost always boil things down to YOU being the obstacle. Or rather, you not having enough time/energy etc. to get the things done. Now, Uncle Dan has a solution for this one as well.

1. 1. make a checklist of all the things you need to get done for each desired goal
2. 2. go through the list and ask yourself: is this REALLY necessary? Cross off any items that don’t directly impact the result of the goal
3. 3. go through the list and ask yourself: who can do this for me?… I mean, you can outsource a huge portion of your life and have friends/family/a colleague/some stranger you hire do much of the things you don’t want to do but are necessary. Make a list of all the activities you can outsource. A convenient example: you really have to rake the leaves in the yard over the weekend. It takes half a day, so no climbing for you Mr, if you choose to do gardening on Saturday. Isn’t it worth it to pay 10 bucks to the kid down the street to do it for ya?

This may seem like a self-help blogpost, but hey, getting a few spare days each year to make the trip to the mountains really is a hard task. Just doing the simple process above can win you an extra vacation where you climb a really awesome peak. Not to mention attaining other goals of yours.

Can you relate to this, or is it just us!?

I’m really interested on your experience. Do you have a similar system? Please comment away and feel free to disagree too.

I’ll be back with Reason #3 in a few days.

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.

Of course, when it comes to Europe, the talk is normally about Chamonix- at least for most of us. Even our company can’t miss the opportunity and do a couple Chamonix Ice Climbing workshops this winter.

Hey, almost half the readers on this blog are from the US, so it ain’t fair that we always rave about Europe, right? Here is a good NG blogpost on a perhaps less well known US spot way up in Montana… in their Best American Adventures series.

Have fun and share with us here some of your favorite ice climbing locations and

There are only a handful of the 14 eight thousander mountains which are skiable almost all the way from top to bottom. Cho Oyu is one of them and it is also one of the “easier” 8000 meter mountains on Earth.

Of course, we have the “first ski descent of K2” and “skiing Everest” sorts of news… As many of us know, rock is unpleasant, if not impossible to ski on and these descents are only skied in a small proportion. The brave adventurers are often forced to unmount and tie the skis on their backpacks and rapell… But when we talk about skiing Cho Oyu, you’ll know that it’s real from top to bottom (not that Everest/K2 descents aren’t real – hands down for anyone who carves turns at those altitudes)… Cho Oyu can be tour skied almost all the way up and down.

Ski touring at such altitudes is pretty demanding as you can imagine – it’s actually tougher on your body to carve turns in deep snow or frozen firn, than it is to slowly inch your way in crampons on the ridge. Plus, on the ascent, you have all the mounting/unmounting to do which also takes a whole lot of steam.

Also, when you tourski way up there, you run into a whole lot of issues with gear. Especially footwear. High altitude climbing boots are pretty good already with insulation and keeping your feet dry, but the same cannot be said for ski touring boots. So you need overboots and those sorts of things. So it’s really a lot more complicated.

As you might imagine, the whole equipment issue ends up being a weight issue. When every gram counts, it’s a real pain in the ass to have to carry a 1.7-1.8 kg skiset on your back, heavy skiboots on your feet and the extra “gaiters on steroids” for protecting your feet. Not to mention the wind occasionally catching the skis every now and then.

But then, in deep snow when the slope isn’t too steep, you advance with less effort. You’re also a lot faster on the way down (unless you’re forced to rapell a lot and carry your skis) which adds a great deal of safety to the descent. What diminishes that presumed safety advantage is the condition that instead of going on in a group where you are near one another and can easily help, ski descents are more lonely. At this altitude, if the top guy takes a spill and the others have skied down a few hundred meters, it’s a real crappy situation if they have to climb back up to assist.

The whole reason I’m typing this post now is beacause on of our mountain guides, Laci Mécs is over on Cho Oyu right now, going for a ski descent, so I thought it’s a timely thing to share with you some of the issues we discussed before his departure. Wishing him and the rest of the team the best of luck and plenty of backwind for the descent… and wishing you a long ski touring season:

Dan Bergstein