#ExploreMore #SkratchTheSummit#LifeisBetterOutside #AlwaysinCharge#ThermaResting #ColdisCool #ThinkSnow#onthehorizon

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#ExploreMore #SkratchTheSummit#LifeisBetterOutside #AlwaysinCharge#ThermaResting #ColdisCool #ThinkSnow#onthehorizon
Got left out in the cold? Well, today that's a good thing. Because it's#IcePhoto Wednesday that very special day of the week where you get to help make cold, cool by sharing your snow and ice pictures. Mine? Ryan at our 'advanced base camp' near Jobou Ri in the Rolwaling valley of Nepal. Yours? #ExploreMore
Included with all our gear, I have been hauling a drone through our trek in the Rolwaling and to our current base camp and this morning finally found an opportunity to fly it. I was a little nervous flying it at nearly 16,000 feet but it performed flawlessly and I'm pretty sure I captured some stunning shots of the surrounding peaks. Realistically, it would be much easier to climb without having aerial footage of this area or updating my website or Facebook for that matter, but my mission has been, and will always continue to be, connecting people to the last great frozen places left on the planet. While you may never come to the Rolwaling (I hope you do) that doesn't mean it isn't important to understand this place as it exists right now. I can't wait to share all the pictures and video with you. We are breakfast quickly then packed all our climbing gear, camping equipment and food for three days. Once again, our packs were overflowing with gear: Two fifty meter climbing ropes, four MSR pickets, cams, carabiners and quickdraws, crampons, two ice axes, climbing helmet... And the list goes on and on. Luckily, we were able to walk without crampons on the glacier as the surface was sun cupped and tacky. This also saved us the ankle breaking proposition of hiking up the lateral moraine and dealing once again with the millions of Himilayan rocks. From our base camp, we can see Thakar Go East but Jabo Ri is tucked behind another peak. Therefore, we needed to establish an advanced base camp to better assess our potential routes (as neither of these peaks have previously been climbed). We chose to ignore the high serius clouds for the time being as we were hoping to set up camp and then do some preliminary scouting. We made good time on the glacier and we marveled at the undulating surface and serpentine drainages. There was no need to carry water as we crossed many glacial 'streams' and small melt water pools. Like so many other places that I have been to in the past few years, we see the tell tale signs of disappearing ice. The Drolambao glacier is clearly retreating. At one spot, we see a huge hole, easily one hundred feet across and walk closer to investigate. A beautiful blue lake spans the entire gap just 30 feet below the surface of the glacier. We are sweating and tired but still need to level a tent platform on the moraine. This entails moving large rocks and shoveling gravel to fill the gaps. It takes nearly 30 minutes. For a while, we are hopeful that we can scout the route up Jabo Ri but the clouds roll in quickly and the mountain disappears as a few snowflakes start falling. There will be no climbing today. We debate briefly what to do next. Wait out the weather at our current position or retreat to base camp and have the luxury of our Therm-A-Rest chairs. Had we not seen the tell tale signs of a front moving in, we might have stayed. Still it is a gamble of time and energy. Walking back down to our base camp uses more of both. As the weather deteriorates, we stash our climbing gear in our small MSR tent and head back down the glacier. Up and down, just like a Yo Yo. By the time we reach our base camp, it is sleeting and we realize we have made the right choice. I was able to get a quick call out through my Iridium Go to my mom today as it is her birthday. Happy Birthday mom! Thanks for all your support over the years! For those of you interested in helping the people of Nepal, we are partnering with the DZI foundation in their efforts to help rebuild schools in Nepal. To learn more about the DZI foundation and how you can donate, please visit www.dzi.org. For those of you interested in following our route through the Rolwaling, I am tracking through my DeLorme inReach and you can check out my website or my DeLorme map share page for a more detailed look.
With little discussion, Ryan and I got out of then tent and started hearing water for breakfast. Our muscles are tired and there really wasn't much that needs to be said. Today's task: haul the rest of our gear up to the Drolambao Glacier at roughly 16,000 feet. We allowed ourselves to relax for a few minutes while the water heated when suddenly we heard a loud crack. A serac on an adjacent mountain had broken free unleashing a large avalanche. We watched for a few seconds as a 400 meter wide swath of snow and ice billowed down the mountain face - almost in slow motion. We knew we were safe as we were high above the run out but we gathered up any loose items laying around our camp and threw them in the tent. A minute later a cloud of spindrift engulfed us covering everything with a layer of light snow. A few minutes later we were eating our breakfast and enjoying the warmth of the sun. Our relaxation was short lived as we still needed to carry more loads up to the glacier. We debated if we should just throw everything into our Granite Gear duffles but we opted for packs instead. Over the past several months I've been working on a big mountain pack design that can also be used for pulling a sled (like on Denali). Mike and the team at Granite Gear listened to my design requirements and after a few samples and revisions the Rolwaling was born. Ryan and I have been hauling gear in the Granite Gear Rolwaling pack for the past 10 days but today the pack was definitely the hero. Stuffed to overflowing and very very heavy, the packs distributed the weight and managed the loads incredibly well. Two trips later, we had finally moved all our gear to the top of the glacier. 'Won't be missing this route,' Ryan commented after or third total round trip. Hiking up a 40 degree rocky slope with a 60 pound pack was hardly a Sunday cake walk, but the grueling climb did give us a chance to study the geology of the area a little better. At one point, there was a 20 foot swath of granite carved smooth by a prior glacier. Another huge chunk of iron, flakes of mica everywhere and even large slabs of green olivine. However, as beautiful as all these rocks were, we were more than a little happy to reach the ice again. Worn out, we still had to level an area for our MSR base camp tent which we set up in just a few minutes. We threw our gear inside, took a few pictures, ate dinner and talked briefly about our plan for tomorrow which went something like this: 'Let's make a decision in the morning.'
"Not everyone will understand your journey. That's OK. It's not their journey. It's yours. Embrace your freedom." — Kristen Butler #InReachLIfe | delormegps
#TenaciousTuesday: Today, I am honoring Apa Sherpa, nicknamed "Super Sherpa", a Nepalese Sherpa mountaineer who, jointly with Phurba Tashi, holds the record for reaching the summit of Mount Everest more times than any other person. As part of The Eco Everest Expedition 2011, Apa made his 21st Mount Everest summit in May 2011.
#ColdFact: #Nepal Month Edition: There are more than 15,000 glaciers in the Everest region.
#ColdCaption: Let's see your best line to go along with this picture. One caption (selected randomly) will receive a free pint from Ben & Jerry's
Nervous about meeting someone new? How about a little ICE BREAKER... It's #IcePhoto Wednesday - Help make cold, cool by posting your snow or ice pictures today! Mine? More #LastNorth Arctic Ocean amazingness. Yours?
Polar Gothic pose with my alter ego while presenting at the Outdoor Industry Association sustainability conference this morning in Salt Lake City for Outdoor Retailer. #ORShow
Happy Birthday, Colorado! On this day in 1876, Colorado became a state; we celebrate with a amazing photos from Handies Peak Wilderness Study Area - one of our favorites.
The scenic quality of the Handies Peak Wilderness Study Area in Colorado is outstanding due to the interaction of mountainous landforms; multi-colored rock strata; diverse vegetation; and vast, open vistas. Handies Peak itself rises 14,048 feet over the area and is the highest point of land managed by the Bureau of Land Management outside of Alaska. This WSA also hosts 12 other peaks that rise over 13,000 feet, three major canyons, numerous small drainages, glacial cirques and three alpine lakes. The landscape a variety of volcanic, glacial and Precambrian formations. A rock glacier formation is also located at the head of American Basin.
This is an area perfect for hiking, backpacking, camping, mountain climbing and photography. Guaranteed to inspire!
Photos by Bob Wick, Wilderness Specialist for BLM’s National Conservation Lands
Flashback Friday: Sunrise on Devil Track Lake during the 2004 John Beargrease Sled Dog Marathon (that's me and my team).
Monday #Outdoor #Stoke brought to you by the Outdoor Inspiration team at Yonder. Today's image: @crat1320 skimming at night!
See more on Yonder: http://bit.ly/Yonder2
#PartingShot: Wildflowers on the way up Gothic in Crested Butte brought to you by Mountain Safety Research.
It's #IcePhoto Wednesday! Help make cold cool, by posting your snow and ice pictures today. Mine? RDUB crossing an ice 'bridge' on the Arctic Ocean during#LastNorth! Yours?
Cold Fact: Blue ice occurs when snow falls on a glacier, is compressed, and becomes part of a glacier that winds its way toward a body of water. During its travels, air bubbles that are trapped in the ice are squeezed out, and the size of the ice crystals increases, making it clear.
In some areas, earthquakes have raised the blue ice above the ground and created formations much like large frozen waves. The blue color is sometimes wrongly attributed to Rayleigh scattering. Rather, ice is blue for the same reason water is blue: it is a result of an overtone of an oxygen-hydrogen (O-H) bond stretch in water which absorbs light at the red end of the visible spectrum. [Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_ice_(glacial)]
#ColdCaption - Let's see your best line to go along with this picture. One caption (selected randomly) will receive a free pint from Ben & Jerry's!