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!

Thursday, March 22, 2012

2 weeks to go!

Two weeks from today I'll be on my way to California to tackle Mt Whitney!

The mountain officially "opened" today, with IMG's first group heading up. They reported clear skies, comfortable temperatures, and great climbing conditions. I'm in the last group going up and between now and then 5 additional groups will make summit attempts. The Mountaineers Route has it's best climbing conditions typically in late March and early April. The other route up the mountain will remain open through the spring and summer. The team is expecting some heavy snow tonight and tomorrow, which will be great for the upper part of the mountain.

Training continues to go well and I'm peaking at the right time. With all the hard cardio, I've lost 12 pounds since January 7th and I'm easily maintaining a 140-150 heart rate for one continuous hour. I have two more long hikes left and this Saturday's will be carrying 60 pounds for 9 miles. We wont have distances that long on the climb, but will have heavy packs the first 2 days.

Next week Ill start going through my gear and getting everything organized to pack. The advantage of having been on 6 expeditions is I have all the gear now so there's no last minute scrambling for expensive items. Furthermore, since the trip is essentially 3 days, I may be able to get everything in one big bag since I only need one set of clothes and all my technical gear.

Ok, thats all for now. Ill fire out an update during Saturday's hike.

ZJ
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