That’s 5 of 7 summits completed!!!
It’s done!!! On 26 July 2013, I reached the summit of the Carstensz Pyramid, the highest point in Oceania at 4884m. That makes 5 of the 7 summits completed with only Mt Vinson (Antarctica) and Everest to go. After a grueling 8 day trek through dense and muddy jungle to reach base camp, we made a 15 hour summit attack that ended in success for all 7 climbers. With the combined trek out, it took a totally of 15 days of pure mental grit living in a muddy tent without showers, wa
More Exploring in the Dark: The Lava Tube @ Mount St Helens
Little did I know, but Mount Saint Helens isn’t just famous for its massive eruption in 1980. It also houses the longest known lava tube in North America. At over 2 miles in length, the lava tube at Ape Caves is a massive underground, pitch dark tunnel that is easily accessible, large in diameter and fun to explore. Unlike my other spelunking experience, this cave is easily navigated (all you can go is forward) and wide open. There is no crawling around on stomachs or tight s
Floating Above the Snow: Your Guide to Snowshoes Part 1
Snowshoeing, a classic Canadian pastime; is a great way to explore the winter outdoors, stay in shape, and most importantly: have fun. There is something special about hearing crunch of the snow underneath your feet with every step and just taking in the vastness of the backcountry during a good snowshoe. The role of the snowshoe is to increase the surface area of your feet, thereby distributing your weight over a wider space and allowing you to “float” on the snow. Much like
No Giving Up – No Regrets: What an amazing year it’s been!
I’ve been reflecting a bit on what’s happened over the last 12 months (Sept 2011 – 2012) and I’m happy to say that I gave it everything I had. Most people who know me well, know that I’m able to “make time” in order to get things done but there really isn’t any big secret. All it takes is really good time management, efficiency, and a willingness to never give up no matter how hard things may get. Here’s a couple highlights from the last 365 days. Full time student – Part tim
Climbing Denali Part 1
After a little bit of a blog hiatus and much needed body recovery time, I’m back and ready to start talking a little bit about the trip up Denali, the highest mountain in North America. Overall, it was long, tiring and cold but I’m definitely happy to have had the chance to climb such a challenging mountain with an experienced group of guys. Because jamming the entire expedition into 1 post would be way too much, I’ve decided to break it up over the next couple blog posts. I
Snowshoeing in the Backcountry – Garibaldi Provincial Park
Last week I was fortunate enough to get some more outdoors time in the backcountry at Garibaldi Provincial Park. Bruce and I headed out on what turned out to be a 22 km snowshoe in the South Western corner of the park known the Diamond Head Area. 5.5 hrs later we had finished our round trip to Elfin Lakes and back, exhausted but happy. This isn’t the same type of snowshoeing experience that I hear so many people undertake at the local mountains or resorts. Unlike snowshoeing
Jumping out of a perfectly good airplane: Skydiving
After trying bungee in December, it’s time to get back to my freefalling roots and back into skydiving. Although the season hasn’t started yet I’d thought I’d talk about it a bit and maybe get some of you interested by the time the season starts sometime in February. I’ll probably get a couple jumps in this year and hopefully have some more stuff to show you. First off, what do I do? I’ve got my solo certification which allows me to jump alone at any dropzone in Canada. I hav
