7 January 2013

Hseven where we have been and where we are going

Here is a testament to the guys and girls that support Hseven and who have taken our kit far and wide since our inception. From the Amazon basin & the frozen plains of Iceland to the heights of Africa and the palyground of the Alps, we are getting our name out there, and there is more to come.

We have lined up for 2013, a trans America trip on, on/off road motor bikes in August by Dee & Peter Campbell, a local team going out to the Caribbean this February, young Matt Collier off to Everest BAse camp and a very strong possibility of a particularly harsh & brutal 100 mile Desert Marathon by my good friend Greg Pretorious. Another mountain for me, conquering of Djebel Toubkal in Morocco with a bunch of newbies, I am keen to initiate into mountaineering !!

What a fully packed year. Look out for our 'Adventure series' by all these adventurers. More on this soon.

              Countries                   People    Year
Switzerland - Magic forrestSam Johnson & Rob Hutton    2011
France - ChamonixStewart King, Dan Maudhub, Alistair Campbell    2012
Iceland - ReykyavikRoss & Elva Mundell    2012
Germany - SkiingChloe Pattison    2012
Scotland - Old man of HoySam Johnson    2012
Canada - TorontoStacey Wilson    2012
Israel - JerusalemMark Biddlecomb    2012
Wales - BreconsStewart King & Dan Maudhub    2012
England - SnowdonJonathan Lockwood    2012
Peru - Machupichu & Amazon Mark & Carrie Ruddock    2012
Sicily - ClimbingKyle Rance    2012
Italy - Grand ParadisoStewart King, Dan Maudhub, Alistair Campbell    2012
Everest Base CampMatt Collier    2013
Trans America on motor bikesPeter & Dee Campbell    2013
CarribeanTBC    2013
Namibia - 100 mile desert raceGreg Pretorious -TBC    2013
Morocco - Djebel ToubkalHseven Team    2013

Wath this space during 2013, you will be amazed at the conquering of dreams by Hseven people !!
Are you one ?




6 January 2013

2013 What does it hold for the Hseven TEAM

Welcome to 2013 from the Hseven team. We are really looking forward to all this year has to offer. We have taken some bold behind the scenes steps to esure 2013 is a full exciting year. Our strengths are more focussed and we are already building good relationships internationally with gear manufacturers to improve our offereing. Our current clothing line will condense some, to esure we are getting the right products out to the right customers.

Better sure footed and strong than over stretch yourself and be too thin and ineffective !!!

It promises to be a year of good solid growth and exposure, not just for us, but hopefully for all of you who faithfully follow Hseven.

We aim to get your stories and pictures out there too this year on our blog and I am sure there will be some prizes on offer aswell in due course.

Thanks to all our loyal supporters and here is to a brilliant 2013 as we all grow together in enjoying what we love most .. climbing mountaineering adventure and of course gear gear gear !!!

Many thanks
The Hseven team

27 November 2012

Kyle - Zippys Traverse

Well done to Kyle who got his prize. He has been adamant as long as I have known him to get his own route. Kyle is just going from strength to strength. Moving to Sheffield, although a tough life changing move, has just seen him shine with his climbing.  Keep it up mate !!



28 October 2012

Alpine Equipment Video

FromCanada - Equipment for a night out. Gear manufacturers are dufferent bu t the basics are the basics.A guide runs us through the standard kit used for Alpine adventures. It is amazing how little you can get away with when you actually know what you are doing.



Enjoy

12 October 2012

Alpine adventures - Rethinking equipment

It has taken me the sum total of about 12 years to get to visiting Chamonix in France. The epi centre and home of Alpinism and Alpine climbing. Mont Blanc was the objective but it was not to be. Italy and Grsand Paradiso at 4061m was to be the prize and my first 4000der. It proved to be the perfect Intro Peak for our trip. This African born boy is used to the slog of days and days out in the mountains. The novelty of being out on the mountains and then back in time for a hot bath dinner and a comfy bed did take some getting used to!!!




 
 
 Rethinking equipment
I have experienced most types of weather short of hurricanes. My mind set has always been one of carry as much as you can and think you will need. Now I realise most of the Alpine climbing world already knows this, but think of this article as one for the uninitiated.

Gone are heavy goretex layers, thick mid layer fleeces and haevy down jackets. I had all of these and ran hot for most of the time including our summit ascent. I had an Hseven soft shell jacket I was itching to try out in the dry but cold days, but never got up the courage. I nused what I knew. Winter Helly Hansin base layer (superb), 1/4 mzip mid weight Hseven Fleece fleece mid layer (Fine when no wind) and shell and Goretex TNF Summit jacket (Just to heavy and cumbersome. It aslo wetted out in about an hour going up Mer de Glace. It was a long thoroughly wet first day going through our crampon drills and ice axe work.

Other than this first dismally wet day, all the rest were perfect Alpine days. I was itching to try my Helly base with a long sleeve 100% polyester 1/4 zip wicking top and the soft shell jacket I had. The main reason I chickened out was the wind, the soft shell had no hood. I used a fleece lined beanie that I know excatly to use for heat regulation. It was however not wind proof. I am not keen on your typical windproof waterproof fleece lined mountain cap is that they get to hot. (Personal prefrence). A soft shell hood to pull over when pertinent would have ben perfect. WIndproof fleece that the other guys used also worked well, but again no hoods. The cold also meant an external shell layer.

Knowing how your body operates with your layers is absolutely crucial as any Pro alpinist would tell you, but hey we all need to start somewhere. I will get a trip in to snowdon in December to test out my layers and of course just get some ice and snow time in ..if there is any !!!

The other kit:

Crampons - Grivel G12 Crampomatics  superb but make sure they are sharp. I hired some and was  notnto impressed on real 60 Degree ice slopes. My climbing partner had brand new ones and stuck like glue. Having you own is definately the way to go.

Boots - La sportive Nepal extremes - fantastic, they were comfortable and perfect all round.  I used walking poles all the time (So did our guides). For total comfort I used sorbothane insoles. Well cuishoned and absorbent. Highly recommended. Also help keep warmth in at higher altitude.

Axe -  I used a Grivel Nepal ice axe but frustratingly short for me at 50cm (again hired)

Harness - Dmm alpine bod - Ok but there are many other better and more comfortable harnesses out there. We were told by our trip organisersat Icicle Mountaonering to only take one screwgate carabiner, one sling and one prussik chord. Never again will I ever be with out at least 2 screw gates. The guides were less than pleased by this. One would not have been any good for more technical endeavours if I had fallen into the loads and lodas of crevasses we walked over.

Helmet - Petzl elios. Good comfy but w did not use it alot. OIt was mostly a pain having to get in and out of our bags with this constabtly in the way.

Alpine backpack - Hseven 40 Litre perfect in every respect. A good amount of in and out and it was imperative that you pack your pack wisely giving real thought to what you will be using when. The real mind set change was carrying so little. It doid not fewel right but by the end of the week it felt normal and we were checking every gram almost. - Thoroughly knowing your layers and kit made this possible.

Bladders and Bottles - We were told not to bring camelback bladders as they would freeze. Perhaps I take things to literally or am just really out of practise but I could have kicked myself for not taking mine. I consumed a huge amount of water on the summit day and actually ran out. I did use the sigg bottles for the colder climbs but you save yourself a lot of time using the bladder. Not to metion keeping hydrated continuously with out having to slow your posse down by stopping for water.

Try try try all your kit on, spend as much time using it as possible and be totally familiar with it. Granted walking around in crampons on your boots is not the easiest thing here in the Uk when there is no snow. Be confident in being able to put your crampons on and take them off. Do this repeatedly and make sure they fit 100%. Some of my team memebers wetre incredibly frustrated time and again when their crampons came off. My colleagues were completely lost the first day they were told to put thewir crampons on. It bcame very frustrating for them and eventually the guides who needed to get on with the programme.

Softshell mountain trousers (Simond) were excellent. I had not used these before. They were perfect and kept me dry and warm, but with the side vents, also kept me cool. They had braces which were somewhat of a challenge on the morning of our summit at 04:30 am when I needed to take a dump. I thnik I was more frustrated that I did not think about it than the actual task.

Gloves - I used the old trusty seal skin. My hands get very warm so I did not need anything other than these. I did however have liner gloves and some Mountain hardware conduit Mountian gloves for if it really got hairy. I would still have carried all these regardless of weight.

Socks - Summit and proper snow and glacoer das I used 4 season high altitude mountaineering socks and my feet never felt the cold once. 3 seaon socks did the trick for the lower and warmer days. My feet do feel the cold so Iwas not taking any chance.

Glasses - Cat 4 high altitude are a must. We had goggles but the weather (even with a total white out and high winds whilst in Italy) dd not really nesessitate the use of them. A good pair of glasses that wrap aroound really well are just the ticket. One of our party used normal Oakley sunglasses which he claims were ok as well. I was rreally supprised how intense the snow was, pretty much all of the time.

Insulation jacket - I had a down jacket that i took on the higher altitude days and the summit day. We did not have to use them. Having climbed Kili I still had the mindset of super cold and loads of layers. Knowing what I know now, more efficient layers (knowing my layers) and a lighter fiber type jacket would have had the same  effect as a much bulkier and haevy down jacket.

                                                           What would I change ?

Not much actually. A lighter alpine waterproof, a softshell hooded jacket and a lighter fiber jacket instead of the down. A water camelback bladder and knowing my layers better. I intend to do more of this so will get the equipmetn and be sure I know it intimately. If this is a once off for you, hire the kit but be aware of the things I have mentioned.

Be maticulous with your packing and arranging your kit. You will actually be supprised how little you need if you have have all your ducks in a row and are well versed with your kit.

I picked up the Mountaineering bug again and look forward to Snowdon in December, Toubkal in May and all things being equal Conquering the Blanc round July and then Aconcagua for some real expedition training in 2014 Jan. The seven Summits sits on the outer rims of my thinking but that is real serious stuff and real costly.... Hey, what is there to lose ?

                                            

7 June 2012

Ueli Steck on Everest


Ueli Steck and Everest: the ascent of a great alpinist

04.06.2012 by Planetmountain

The report of Swiss alpinist Ueli Steck who on 18 May 2012 reached the summit of Everest along with Tenji Sherpa. We have published the account in its entirety as this provides insight into the crowds present during this pre-monsoon season, the job of the Sherpa and what it means to climb the world's highest mountain without the use of supplementary oxygen. Even for an absolute ace alpinist such as Ueli Steck.

Mount Everest is the highest point on earth. Nowhere is the air thinner. It's the third Pole. Climbing the highest mountain in the world had always played in the back of my mind.

Nevertheless I was scared. This mountain is literally cannibalised from the commercial point of view. A great business has developed there, and business is done mainly with clients who try to summit Everest with the use of supplementary oxygen via a route prepared with fixed ropes. To date 142 ascents have been registered without the use of supplementary oxygen and considering the nearly 6000 ascents in total, this really is a rather small percentage.

Ever since Loretan and Troillet, no other Swiss climber has made it to the top of Everest and back down to base camp without the use of supplementary oxygen. This fascinated me. Many strong alpinists have needed diverse attempts to reach the summit and have done so without making use of this magnificent bottled doping.

I received an interesting statistic from the USA which studied the role of oxygen during these sort of ascents. The result is impressive: if you use 2 litres of oxygen per minute while resting it's as if you're at base camp. Put in other words: it's as if you're at an altitude of 5300 meters. If your body is under strain, then the result is slightly less extreme. But if you observe that on summit day most use 4 litres per minute of this English air – as the Sherpa used to call this oxygen – then it pretty much confirms Reinhold Messner's statement: it's as if you climb a 6000er. To be more precise: a mountain 6500 meters high.

All of this has little to do with Everest itself which is 8848 meters high. This means that 2348m are missing from the equation. I became impressively aware of this during acclimatisation. Austrian Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner, who in summiting K2 in August 2011 became the third woman to climb all 14 8000ers and who was the first to do so without using oxygen, warmly recommended I spend at least one night on the South Col. "Otherwise you'll expose yourself too much and it'll get too dangerous to summit Everest" she told me. I did as told. I'd always intended to sleep at the South Col anyway, but camping at almost 8000 metres is incredibly uncomfortable. Forget all images of romantic camp fires...

The first night you don’t really sleep at all. It's more about waiting until the next morning comes for you to descend. But you have to get through this and you need determination. If you use supplementary oxygen you don’t need to do any of this. Many alpinists have merely slept at 6400 metres before their summit bid. After this their acclimatisation is completed. Sometimes I've thought about what would happen if the oxygen runs out. You're not acclimatised and reality catches up very quickly indeed. The air is thin and this leads to a catastrophe which almost always ends in death!

But this shouldn't bother me too much. It's everyone's personal decision about how they wish to climb Everest. For me an ascent with supplementary oxygen was never an option, right from the outset it was clear that I wanted to stand on the summit for real, without any false air.

In 2011 thing's didn't quite work out during my Everest ascent. I reached 8700 metres on the Tibetan side of the mountain and had to quit my summit attempt. I was simply too cold, the risk of losing my toes was too great. Another characteristic about high altitudes is that blood thickens considerably and circulation to the extremities is very poor. You can counteract this by trying to drink as much as possible and by acclimatising properly so that your body gets used to this new situation. But my experience showed me that the chosen summit day wasn't the right one. The 25/25 rule had been confirmed. Wind on the summit shouldn't be higher than 25 km/h and the temperature not lower than -25° Celsius.

But what would alpinism be if you simply get up every mountain? It wouldn't be interesting. So this is why I was doubly motivated this year. And of course I had more experience stowed under my belt.

Tenji and I had already climbed up and down the mountain three times before we started our summit attempt. Tenji is a 21-year-old from Nepal whom I've known for several years and who has also worked for me in the past. Now he too wanted to summit Everest without using oxygen. I offered that we climb together. That he join me, but not as my Sherpa hauling up my equipment. No. I wanted us to climb Everest together, as partners. At first he found this situation difficult to deal with. That I make tea for him was unusual. But at a certain point he accepted this situation and we had a great time together. I mutated from Sir to Dai. From Master to brother.

I had studied the weather forecast intensively and I knew this was key. Tenji and I were acclimatised well, we'd already spent a night on the South Col at almost 8000 meters. Meteotest sent me a positive forecast for the 17th and 18th of May. For the 19th they'd forecast stronger winds and from 20 May onwards this would become critical. And then there was the other big problem.

The crowd of people. For us the number of alpinists on route at the same time as us represented a huge potential danger. We wouldn't be able to wait up there. We would suffer frostbite very quickly indeed. But we couldn't do anything about being on the route with the whole crowd of alpinists. Yet the solution proved simple. Since the fix ropes hadn't been fixed to the summit, the commercial expeditions couldn't make their bids. The so-called fixing teams comprised of 10 Sherpa had planned to leave on 18 May to install the fixed ropes up the summit. A lucky situation for us and, as it happened, also the warmest day forecast. We decided to summit with them.

On 16 May Tenji and I reached Camp 2 after 3.5 hours of easy going climbing. We spent a pleasant afternoon and a long night at Camp 2 at 6400 metres. The following day we weren't in a rush. Tenji and I waited for the sun to come out and then we enjoyed a hearty breakfast with toast, coffee and cornflakes. Tenji couldn't do without his Zampa, a flour batter knead into a mush. It's very nutritious but not usually found on my menu.

At around 8.30 am we were ready. In approximately 2.5 hours we reached Camp 3. Here, where we had spent the night a week beforehand, chaos reigned. Early that morning an ice avalanche had buried many tents. Ours too. Everything was buried under snow and ice. Luckily we hadn't planned on sleeping at Camp 3, we wouldn't have been here anymore… Miraculously only one Sherpa was injured and luckily no one else had been hurt. Most of the tents were ruined. Tenji and Dendi, who was also climbing with us, stopped. Dendi had to take some oxygen bottles from the tents and Tenji wanted to help him. But they first had to locate the bottles under the snow and ice, so I decided to continue on up to Camp 4 and pitch our tent before it started snowing again that afternoon.

I was hot on the Lhotse face. I was happy to have left my down suit in my backpack. Most alpinists ascend with their suits up to Camp 2 and I really don't understand why they choose to do so in this heat. So I reached the South Col comfortably and without over heating. I pitched our tent and immediately started to melt snow so that we could drink a lot. Tenji arrive late, at about 17:00. The weather was perfectly wind still and we felt as if it was very warm. At least, warmer than then last time up here.

We set our alarm clock for 23:00. But the beep wasn't needed to rip us out of our sleep. The Fixing team has already set off with a couple of alpinists from Chile. The clinking of gear and their chatting had woken us up. I began melting ice again. We drunk plenty of tea and coffee, ate bread and honey. We were ready at 00.30 am. We saw the lights up ahead of us. They had started 1.5 hours before us, yet we reached them in a quarter of an hour.

Immediately I thought about how long we'd be out on mountain. What would happen if they had to fix ropes after the Balcony? I calmed myself down and thought that going slowly would be a good idea as I'd have enough energy reserves for later. I enjoyed it. We reached the balcony as the new day dawned. The entire group stopped to eat and drink. I changed the batteries in my boots. The system is simply brilliant, I always had warm feet and hands. High altitude mountaineering isn't that bad after all…

After a short rest we moved on. Fixed ropes had to be installed from now on. The terrain isn't that steep, actually you could climb it without ropes. My special Leki stick, equipped with a kind of axe, proved to be an ideal tool here. Nevertheless I was nervous because of the speed, but I didn't overtake anyone. Overtaking the Sherpa while they were doing their job would have been disrespectful. And they did their job really well. Never before had I seen a Sherpa team working together so efficiently. I queued in line, just how things should be. And it was fun. We had to wait here and there and we even got the chance to chat. Tenji had dropped back but he then caught us up. We were the only ones who weren't hiding behind an oxygen mask. We received a lot of respect for this from the Sherpa. But I had just as much respect for them and what they were doing up there!

The route to the summit was long and never-ending. Suddenly the pace didn't feel that slow any longer. I continued to look up but the South summit didn't get any closer. Finally the leader disappeared. This meant he'd reached the South Summit. Which meant we had a further 100 metres to go to reach the summit. From the South Summit you descend 20 metres and then the ridge leads to the main summit. I checked my watch. It was late. We'd get to the summit in the afternoon. The weather was still perfect, but what would happen if it changed? A storm was unlikely. The forecast was still good for the 19th , a bit windier but good nevertheless. But I trusted the Sherpa. They had been on summit so many times, they knew what they were doing. I knew from experience that I could descend fast. If I descended now from the South summit, I'd reach the South Col in 1.5 hours. I decided to take the risk and move on. A few clouds made their appearance, but this is normal, due to convections which form during the day. The crest continued on majestically. The summit didn't seem than much higher, the distance now seemed more horizontal than vertical.

I had to wait much longer at the Hillary Step. At least 40 minutes. I started to shiver. The absolute temperature wasn't too low, maybe -20°C. Nevertheless I shivered away and was happy when we finally moved on. I was almost a little disappointed by the famous Hillary Step. I had imaged it to be more impressive. And it is not even that steep.

Suddenly I got the feeling that everyone else was faster than me. I could hardly follow. “This can't be” I said to myself. Surely I couldn't be more tired than the others. From now on I had to fight. I convinced myself that reaching the summit was only a matter of determination. And I decided that I would reach the summit.

Tenji was somewhere behind us and I couldn't see him. But he would come. I concentrated on every step. Every step took me one step closer to the summit. But where was it? I really couldn't make anything out. I was totally focussed and I had finally accepted the fact that the others were faster than me. As long as I could keep up with the supplementary oxygen alpinists, then everything was OK. I could also think clearly and decided carefully. I checked my pace and my climbing: it was all under control. My lack of power had to be due to the altitude. I didn't feel exhausted. I was simply slow, terribly slow.

A final section led to the knife-edge ridge. Finally, on the left and almost at the same height, I managed to make out the summit. A bundle of prayer flags fluttered in the wind. And a few Sherpa were there already. There were no more fixed ropes, all you had to do was traverse across. I'd clipped my ski stick to my backpack before the Hillary Step One and one of the alpinists from Chile handed it to me. I finally had a tool in hand. It was afternoon already.

At 13.15 we reached the highest point in the world. Clouds had formed, the view was reduced. To the north I managed to make out Tibet with its dry plains. Makalu reared out from the clouds. My thoughts drifted to how exhausted I had been back then. All alone on the summit. Having no view now was no problem at all. I knew the panorama anyway. It all seemed familiar, I felt as if I knew precisely where I was. I managed to orientate myself, it seemed neither strange nor new! I took some summit photos with the Sherpa. Tenji was still out of sight, but I decided nevertheless to descend. The first were already on their way down.

How easy it was to descend. A completely new feeling! Although I was tired, now that we were descending, we were finally going forwards once again! I met Tenji shortly after the Hillary Step. I asked him if he was OK. I got the impression he was doing well. "Yes” he said “but very slow". I spoke some words of encouragement, told him the summit wasn't that far off and that this was normal without a mask! I saw his smile. I saw his determination and I realised that he too would reach the summit.

I continued on down and reached the South Col at 16:15. I almost failed to recognise Camp 4. In this short time span a small village had sprung up. Dendi, his daughter and the whole team with whom we had shared Base Camp together had made it up to the South Col. Tomorrow was going to be their summit day! I was happy to have made it.

But a mountain is only ever climbed when you're safely back in BC. I waited for Tenji at the South Col. He arrived three hours later. We had wanted to descend to Camp 2 but it was too late now. We stayed at Camp 4. That night another 150 alpinists set off on their way up to the summit. What a spectacle. Tenji and I spent another night at almost 8000 metres. We slept deeply, just like bears din hibernation.

The sun woke us up at 5.30 am. After breakfast I packed my equipment and descended. I yearned for Base Camp. Tenji slept a little longer. I reached Base Camp just in time for lunch. I had now climbed Everest.

At this point I want to thank all of you for having joined us, for your great support and encouragement during this expedition. And thanks for all the marvellous congratulations I received after this beautiful success. I now wish you a wonderful summer! See you soon.

  Ueli Steck