"As a climber goes up even higher in altitude, into the so-called death zone, the dangerously thin air above 26,000 feet, there is so little oxygen available that the body makes a desperate decision: it cuts off the digestive system. The body can no longer afford to direct oxygen to the stomach to help digest food because that would divert what precious little oxygen is available away from the brain. The body will retch back up anything the climber tries to eat, even if it’s as small as an M&M."
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Excerpt from
To the Last Breath: A Journey of Going to Extremes
posted by Brandon Blatcher
on Aug 7, 2012 -
39 comments
Sadly, a great and little known columnist from Salida, Colorado, has just
passed away.
His work remains online. His small-town values were the best of small-town values. His political views were well-considered, but not always doctrinaire. Check out his
final column for an example of his wit and common sense. I will miss him immensely. (Another Denver columnist I love just checked out - of work, not life, and not voluntarily - Tina Griego:
this is her goodbye column.) Our newspaper grows thinner and shriller.
posted by kozad
on Jun 4, 2012 -
12 comments
Nothing to do this coming week? Head over to
Galax, Virginia to catch the
Old Fiddler's Convention, a mountain music festival & competition that has been ongoing since 1935.
Galax, located on Virigina's
Crooked Road is in the heart of Virginia's musical heritage trail, a
well mapped excursion that takes you way off the interstate's beaten path to experience old time Appalachian music in some of the most beautiful settings in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
If you take the trail outside Galax, make sure you stop at the
Floyd Country Store for daily (and nightly) jams inside the store, much like the Fiddler's convention's campgrounds' awesome
impromptu jams
posted by priested
on Aug 6, 2011 -
14 comments
In 2006, Joss Naylor ran 50 miles up and down seventy
Lake District fells, ascending more than 25,000 feet in 21 hours. Not his best performance, but to be fair, he was 70 at the time.
Cumbrian shepherd Joss Naylor (warning: Youtube link; Cumbrian accent, impossibly adorable sheepdog) is one of the greatest British athletes most people have never heard of, and perhaps the greatest competitor ever in a sport most people have never heard of either: fell-running.
[more inside]
posted by reynir
on Nov 20, 2010 -
25 comments
The New Road. A photo essay by Rob Amberg on the building of I-26 through Madison County in the mountains of North Carolina.
via
posted by 1f2frfbf
on Feb 3, 2009 -
10 comments
Beneath the Antarctica lies a hidden mountain range known as the
Gamburtsevs. The mountains are at least 4km beneath the ice and present a puzzle for scientists who are unable to explain what the mountains are doing there.
[more inside]
posted by panboi
on Oct 14, 2008 -
59 comments
More than 16,000 photos related to the USGS from the years 1868 through 1992 are now available online where they may be easily searched, viewed, and downloaded free of charge.
These are old stereo pairs, sites drowned by dams, geologists and surveyers in horse drawn wagons, petroglyphs, national parks, Mount St. Helens, John Wesley
Powell, hoodoos, arches, ruins, mines...
posted by the Real Dan
on Apr 14, 2005 -
16 comments
Mountain Voices. 'This website presents interviews with over 300 people who live in mountain and highland regions round the world. Their testimonies offer a personal perspective on change and development.'
posted by plep
on Apr 10, 2005 -
2 comments
It's just after mid-May and that means one thing:
it's summit time on Everest. Current reports are mostly good with only
a broken leg and attempted rescue reported so far. If you've ever followed Everest, you'll certainly know about
the 1996 disaster, the
stories that surrounded it, and the constant death toll (4 out of every 100 that attempt the climb will die trying). There are
a lot of teams going up this year, including a team with the
youngest american to ever peak and an attempt from the oldest (who was also the guy that first climbed all
seven summits). Yesterday and today look like the big summit attempt days, with the north side route having the best luck (though it has the more difficult route). Should be interesting to watch over the next few days, especially to see if the british climber with the broken leg will survive.
posted by mathowie
on May 21, 2003 -
27 comments
'Kilimanjaro in 5 Days' is a fun article I saw in 'The Charlotte Observer' when I was back east for Christmas. Mainly, it's fun for me because I climbed it myself, back in november 92, along the same route. The climbing costs are here. Anybody else been and want to comment on this article (or not been and want to comment)?
posted by Sean Meade
on Jan 1, 2001 -
7 comments
