HOW IT ALL GOT STARTED

Hello and thanks for visiting my climbing blog!

My name is Scott and I live in Atlanta, GA. I always had an interest in climbing mountains, but never really knew how to get started. In January of 2005, the company I was working for decided to open an office in Memphis and I volunteered to move and help get things kicked off. When I arrived in Memphis I only knew one person, whom I met a few years prior at a wedding, so I gave him a call. He agreed to meet me that evening, but couldn't stay out late because "...he was heading to Africa the next day." Upon meeting him that night, I learned he was leaving the next morning to try his hand at climbing Kilimanjaro.

The next morning, I was talking to my mother and telling her about the conversation from the previous night. During this conversation she asked me if I realized my Uncle Steve had been a climber for years. "No," I responded. She gave me his phone number and the following weekend I made a call to a relative I hadn't spoken to in years. Little did I know how much that call would change my life!

In the 6 years since, I've been to Africa (Tanzania & Kenya), Russia (Moscow & Mineral'Nye Vody), Mexico, Georgia (The country, not the state), and South America (Chile & Argentina), summitted Mt. Kilimanjaro, Mt. Elbrus, and Mt. Rainier, made two attempts at Cerro Aconcagua, an attempt at Ixta, made quick stops in London and Quito, Ecuador, met an endless number of extraordinary people, and developed a new relationship with my uncle.

The blog entries, pictures, and details below are my attempt to share my adventures with the rest of my friends and family. I hope you enjoy!

Sunday, December 5, 2010

Updates

34 days and counting!

Unfortunately, I forgot to post an update about the Pinnacle Mountain climb last week, but all went well. It was cool (45 degrees), windy, and rainy so perfect for gear testing. It took me 1 hour and 55 minutes to reach the 3,450 foot summit with a 45 pound pack on. The actual altitude gain was 2,200 feet and the trail was 4.2 miles each way. I did get a bit sore around the 7.5-8.0 mile mark so Ill use these last few weeks of training to lengthen my hikes to 10 miles each (the first 3 days on Aconcagua we will hike 10 miles each day). The last .7 miles on Pinnacle has an elevation gain of 600 feet, so the last push to the summit is good training for your cardio. Before I went to Aconcagua last time I ran the course to the summit in 1 hour and 33 minutes and this time I climbed it with a 45 pound pack in 1:55, so Im way ahead of where I was last time.

Despite taking every precaution not to get sick recently, I did come down with a pretty nasty cold this past week. I went to the doctor as soon as I felt it coming on to get some meds and I did feel a bit weaker in my heavy cardio session today. The good thing is, it was my best cardio session of the past 3 months (go figure), so I'm really confident I'm ready to go.

This week Ill start trudging through the gear list and making some final purchases. I have most of the gear but its always nice to have newer base layers before you leave because the old ones start to smell. Ill also be ordering my satellite phone to allow for any extra shipping time around the holidays.

The first groups on Aconcagua have reached camp one and so far the reports have been clear weather, which is good, but abnormally cold temperatures and high winds, which is not good. (It was -45 on the summit today).

Ill be posting updates more frequently as we get closer and I may be moving the blog to another site. Its not as aesthetically pleasing as this one, but it's travel software so anyone can enter their email address and it sends a notification when I post - as opposed to now where you only get the message if you are one of the 10 email addresses I selected.

Onward and upward...
SZ
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