EpicTV

Brand New Mountain Festival Comes to Cham

michelle — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 16:47:47 +0000

Announcing the First Annual Chamonix Mountain Festival

This is an open invitation to climbers, skiers and all mountain enthusiasts to the Chamonix Mountain Festival. This gathering, organised by mountaineers for mountaineers, will take place during the first week of June in the iconic valley of Chamonix Mont-Blanc.

Everybody is welcome in this truly international event. Whether you come solo, with a group or with a partner, whether you are an experienced Alpine climber or not, you will have a chance to enjoy some stunning Alpine classics and/or ski touring routes.

Arc’teryx, DMM, Blue Ice, Idris Skis, Valandre and other top-of-the-range brands will be providing equipment to test and the days out will be accompanied by a great line up of talks and screenings.

We’re not going to reveal too much just yet, but to whet your whistle, look for the new award-winning feature documentary film Petit Dru – The Disintegrating Mountain with guest Andy Parkin, and a lecture on the first ascent of the Mazeno Ridge of Nanga Parbat by the 2013 Piolets d’Or awarded Sandy Allan.

Where: Chamonix Mont-Blanc, French Alps

When: 1st – 8th June 2013

With the event including accommodation in a beautiful historic building in the very centre of Chamonix, great French food, a mini information centre providing assistance on conditions and route choice and, most importantly, fellow mountaineers from all over the world, you may as well start prepping a list of your dream ascents now.

€60 per day includes accommodation, food – full board, everyday lift pass, info on conditions, gear testing, lectures, films, etc. There is no age limit and no climbing grade limit!

To find more information and register, visit: http://www.chamonixmountainfestival.com

And while you are at it, you can also follow our updates on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ChamonixMountainFestival

and of course Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChamMountFest

Register by the end of today, April 30th, and be automatically entered for a raffle for one of 5 paragliding tandem flights!

See you there…

Everest News: Angry Sherpa Mob Attacks Alpinists Ueli Steck, Simone Moro and Jon Griffith

Trey Cook — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 23:40:06 +0000

Tempers flared on Mt Everest as an angry mob of Sherpas attacked a team of western alpinists and reportedly threatened to kill them. Team member Simone Moro issued the following statement:

At around 8 am on April 27, 2013 Simone Moro, Ueli Steck and Jonathan Griffith left Camp 2 to reach a tent at around 7200m (lower Camp 3) on the Lhotse Face of Mount Everest. A team of high altitude sherpas were ‘fixing’ the Lhotse face and the climbers were asked to not touch the fixed ropes they were establishing. As such the trio climbed about 50m away and to the side of the Sherpa team to avoid disturbing them in their work.

It should be noted that all three climbers have extensive climbing experience all over the world and were very aware of the work being carried out by the Sherpas and the respect given to them for it. [Ed: This can be seen in this video interview with Ueli Steck before he left for Everest where he talks about needing to safeguard the livelihood of the Nepalese people].

When the three climbers reached the height of their already established tent, they traversed across the snow and were forced to step over the lines of the Sherpas to reach their tent about 20 meters to the side. The climbers chose to step across the lines at a belay stance where 4 other sherpas were attached to the ice face whilst their lead climber continued to fix the line above. Stepping over the lines does not interfere in any way with the work being carried out. The climbers were soloing and not using ropes so there was no rope tangling either. In addition by passing beneath the lead climber no ice or snow could be knocked down on him.

Jonathan Griffith was in the lead at this point and after crossing the rope and traversing another 15 meters on a snow ramp Ueli Steck followed. At the point where Ueli Steck stepped over the rope the lead climber noticed the climbers below and began shouting and banging the ice with his axe erratically. Still shouting down at the climbers, he fixed his rope and abseiled down to the belay stance. As Ueli was soloing and therefore not attached to a rope it was natural that he should hold his hands up to take the impact of the force arriving on him from the lead climber abseiling right on to him. This prompted the lead climber to accuse Ueli Steck of ‘touching him’. In between hitting the ice with all his force and screaming at Ueli Steck ‘why you touch me’ he said that they had kicked ice down on them and injured a Sherpa. Seeing as the trio were climbing a completely independent line and entirely on snow this is highly unlikely.

Ueli Steck tried to help calm the situation by offering to help fix the lines up to Camp 3 but this only made matters worse. Simone Moro then joined the team and the lead climber turned on him wielding his ice axe in his direction. Simone swore at the lead climber as is the natural reaction when faced with this aggression. No amount of talking would calm the lead Sherpa down and as a final act of defiance he ordered his whole team of 17 Sherpas off the Lhotse Face and back to Camp 2. There was no reason to descend off the mountain because of the three climbers. They had not touched or interfered with the Sherpa’s work. To help smooth things over Ueli Steck fixed a further 260m of rope to Camp 3.

By the time the climbers descended back to Camp 2 some 100 Sherpas had grouped together and attacked the three climbers. They became instantly aggressive and not only punched and kicked the climbers, but threw many rocks as well. A small group of Westerners acted as a buffer between the out of control mob and the climbers, and they owe their lives to these brave and selfless people. Nevertheless all three climbers were attacked as well as many of the Westerners who were trying to calm the situation down. The climbers were told that by that night one of them would be dead and the other two they would see to later. After about 50 minutes the crowd had calmed down and the climbers, who had been pushed away and told to hide, had regrouped and were told that if they weren’t gone in one hour that they would all be killed.

Happier times at Camp 2

The climbers packed the bare essentials and made a circuitous route back down to the base of Mount Everest in heavily crevassed terrain with no rope on, feeling that given the current situation this was the safest place to be.

The Sherpas said that the reason they attacked the climbers was because they had knocked ice down on a Sherpa below. As it stands no Sherpa has come forward to show any injury. Furthermore on an ice face getting hit by chunks of ice is a very natural occurrence. The climbers believe that the lead Sherpa was tired and cold and felt that his pride had been damaged as the three climbers were moving unroped and much faster to the side of him. Whatever the reason may be, there is no reason to instigate vigilante rule and to try and kill three visiting climbers.

The Nepalese authorities have taken the matter very seriously as have commercial teams on the mountain. At the moment the 3 ring leaders have been taken off the mountain and the Police, Ministry of Tourism and the head of the Sherpa Association are investigating.

The three climbers would like to extend a huge thank you to all those who saved their lives at Camp 2 and to those who are now taking over the investigation.”

- In this video watch Ueli Steck and Simone Moro discuss their plans to climb Everest without oxygen prior to their trip.

- Just before leaving for Everest, Ueli Steck gave us this intervew where he talks about climbing the world’s highest mountain without oxygen, and the importance of leaving Everest ‘open’ to all climbers in order to protect the livelihoods of the Nepalese people.

- Prior to leaving for Everest, Simone Moro talks about climbing Everest.

- Ueli Steck and Simone Moro report from Base Camp on Everest.

- Stay tuned to EpicTV for further info.

Puja ceremony at Base Camp.

Slater Eleven – Teaser for New Documentary on 11x ASP World Champion Kelly Slater

Trey Cook — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 14:51:00 +0000

Slater Eleven is a documentary filmed by Maxim Mladenov at Slater’s house on the North Shore of Oahu on December 19, 2012. In the interview he talks about his amazing career over the past 20 years and what his thoughts are on the future.

Slater Eleven will be released end of May 2013.

Everest Without Oxygen 2013: Ueli Steck & Simone Moro Tag West Shoulder

Trey Cook — Fri, 26 Apr 2013 08:52:33 +0000

Puja at Base Camp

World class alpinists Ueli Steck and Simone Moro , along with noted climbing photographer Jon Griffith, are on Mt Everest to climb it by a ‘different’ route without oxygen. They preferred not to talk about the exact route until the team were able to get to the mountain and assess the conditions. In this dispatch, the team talks about moving from Camp 2 up to the West Shoulder, so it seems clear that earlier rumors about a new route on the Southeast Face were incorrect. In the following dispatch, Ueli Steck talks about the team’s progress.

Everest Basecamp – April 26

We got some snow the last couple of days and Simone and myself are really happy about that. We need more snow for the approach to the West Shoulder so it works out well. When I went to 7500m to the Shoulder one week ago it was quite icy. Going up is not a big deal but coming back down again you have to be very careful on your front points. Anyway this problem should be solved now! It is now time for the second rotation.

Jonathan also spent two nights at Camp 2 which means we are now all more or less on the same page. Finally the team gets together!

The team at Camp 2

We are in a good position and that makes us quite relaxed. The weather looks perfect for the next week at least - this is what we need. The snow is good for us but it is also dangerous. This is the reason why we are taking our time; so the snow can settle first. After that, the plan is for sure to go and sleep two nights on the West Shoulder at 7500m. I am very motivated for the conditions. It looks much better than before as the recent snowfall has stuck nicely to the ice so we are keen to head up there!

The last few days have been very important for me and Simone. We needed a good rest after pushing ourselves quite hard in the beginning to take advantage of the good weather. Then when the snow fell, we had a good reason to relax. I feel now that we are ready.

Simone and I had a really good run together. We headed down valley and did some training. It was a good feeling because we were able to move fast again. First we started quite slow to warm up for the first 20 minutes. After that we switched to high intensity for 20 km and 900 vertical meters. After a run like this you feel different. You feel like your body still can move fast.

View from Pumori over Nuptse

And now we are back at Base Camp. Above Camp 2 your body does not recover so you need to slow down and listen to your body. So now we are back in the high altitude game. We will see if the lower altitude training has paid off. But I am sure it is not stupid. It’s not new. Anatoly Bukreev was a strong advocate of this, and for sure we are not the first people to go through the Icefall without crampons, and in running shoes with spikes. Anatoly Bukreev did it in 1996 and he was using shoes made for the high jump! At that time everybody was making jokes about him, but that’s OK as we also accept that people will also joke about us!

The Khumbu Icefall

See the team’s first video report from Base Camp here

Follow all the latest dispatches from the NO2 Limits Expedition on EpicTV.com.

Simone Moro & Ueli Steck – Everest Without Oxygen 2013 – Base Camp

Trey Cook — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 15:03:04 +0000

www.epictv.com

World-class aplinists Simone Moro and Ueli Steck are attempting to climb what they describe as a ‘different’ route on Mt Everest without oxygen.

To follow the team’s progress, stay tuned to this channel.

Simone Moro, Ueli Steck

Nalle Hukkataival Repeats Bügeleisem (8b+), Said Belhaj Sends Supernova – EpicTV Climbing Daily

Trey Cook — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 13:11:30 +0000

After an epic battle, mostly against bad conditions and sickness, Nalle Hukkataival managed to climb Bügeleisem, the classic problem in Matatal, Austria which was put up by Klem Loskot more than a decade ago.  Unfortunately, he lost 6 climbing days of the trip due to fever and never had time to work on the sit start project, which I’ve heard is amazing. Perhaps more news about that at a later date. VIDEO: https://vimeo.com/63921461

Swedish climber Said Belhaj has done Supernova in Vadiello, in the Aragon region of northern Spain on his second go. This 9a is his 5th of the grade, and this is the fastest he has been able to do one. He’s been a professional climber for over 10 years, and is still improving. Said takes a spiritual approach to his climbing, and his blog is often interesting and not too grade focussed. More info on his blog:

http://www.said-belhaj.com/supernova/

Check back tomorrow for more Climbing Daily news.

Greg Minaar 2012 MTB Season Edit

Trey Cook — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 10:01:46 +0000

2012 UCI Downhill World Championship winner Greg Minaar is ready for mountain bike season. Are you?

Alex Puccio Wins Tierra Boulder Battle, Tom Randall Cracks It in Cadarese – EpicTV Climbing Daily

Trey Cook — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 13:26:03 +0000

Alex Puccio takes the title at the invitation-only Tierra Boulder Battle in Stockholm, Matilda Soderlund was 2nd. See the full video here https://vimeo.com/64187038

British crack specialist Tom Randall has visited Cadarese in Northern Italy, where he onsighted the 8a offwidth roof Turkey Crack, and reappointed the The Doors (8b). He’s possibly the first person to onsight Turkey Crack (first ascent by Sean Villanueva) and he’s the second Brit to climb The Doors after Hazel FIndlay’s send last year.

Visit Tom’s Blog here – http://tomrandallclimbing.wordpress.com/2013/04/12/italian-crack-paradise-cadarese-northern-italy/

Check back tomorrow for more EpicTV Climbing Daily.

Extreme Skier Giulia Monego Skis Big Lines in La Grave, France – Turns & Curves, Episode 2

Trey Cook — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 10:47:01 +0000

Extreme skier Giulia Monego heads to the backcountry paradise that is La Grave, France.

And to see the first episode of Giulia Monego’s Turns & Curves, click here.

EpicTV Short Film Festival – Over $50,000 in Prizes!

Trey Cook — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 08:50:11 +0000

Join the EpicTV Short Film Festival with over $50,000 USD in cash prizes.

The films with the most views bring home the bacon so don’t wait! Enter your short extreme sports film now and maximize your chances to win cold hard cash in the following categories:

- EpicTV Short Film 2013 award: $20 000
- EpicTV Biking Short Film 2013 award: $5 000
- EpicTV Surfing Short FIlm 2013 award: $5 000
- EpicTV Climbing Short Film 2013 award: $5 000
- EpicTV Adventure Short Film 2013 award: $5 000

In addition we’re giving a bonus to filmmakers who would like to premiere their short films during the EpicTV Short Film Festival.

- $250 USD for film premieres that reach 10,000 views in the first 30 days
- $250 USD for film premieres that reach 100,000 views before the finals
- $2000 USD for film premieres that reach 500,000 views before the finals

Find out all about the EpicTV Short Film Festival 2013 at http://festival.epictv.com and enter your short film masterpiece now!