5 Silver Linings from the Global Shutdown
We hope everyone is hanging in there alright. Whether you have an essential job or you are sheltering-in-place, life feels a little different for all of us right now. We know times are tough, so we thought it would be fun to share a couple of small silver linings that are coming out of the global shutdown. In our Alpenglow world, we have loved seeing the productive ways folks are coping with the situation and the creative ways they are making opportunities for themselves. Humans are incredibly and infinitely resourceful! Check it out:
#5: China Commits to Cleanup a Nearly Empty Everest
We’ve all heard about the awful trash problem on popular 8000-meter peaks in the Himalaya. This season though, China is using the downtime in a positive way by assigning clean up crews to work on three 8000m peaks. The China Tibet Mountaineering Association along with the China Tibet Mountaineering Team and a local expedition organizer are joining forces to remove trash from Everest, Cho Oyu, and Shishapangma.
#4: Topo Builds At-Home Exercise Lab
With an unscheduled break from guiding in the Himalaya this spring, Topo has committed his time to fine-tuning his training. By wearing a Hypoxico mask while exercising in a
controlled environment, he’s able to closely monitor his stats. Topo is seeing that a small change in his pace has a large effect on his heart rate and oxygen saturation over time. By making micro-adjustments, he’s dialing in his most efficient energy output. At the start of his experiment, he took a blood test and he’ll take another next week to measure his stats and see what has changed.
#3: Adrian Expands Pilot Skills to Enable Future Remote Travel
Without Everest logistics to worry about, Adrian is focusing his time on flight training. He’s been a basic private pilot for the past 2 years but wants to further his training so he “can fly not only in perfect blue ski weather but also fly in clouds, in instrument weather.” Adrian has a goal of being able to use his 1972 Cessna for transportation so that he can independently access more remote zones. He’s studying each day to get through the ground school component and planning to complete the flight test in one quick shot as soon as shelter-in-place lifts.
#2: Tahoe Via Gets a New Route
With the office in Squaw Valley shuttered, the Alpenglow team is reallocating our time to building the new “Loophole” route on the Tahoe Via. Today, Thursday 4/30, is the first day of the season that our build & inspection team is out on the route. We are starting to reinstall cable on the existing routes and beginning our annual safety inspections. Before we can open for the summer season, the team will check all the hardware and the rock to make sure there is no winter damage that needs to be repaired.
#1: More Time to Plan Dream Expeditions
We can honestly say that all this sitting around has only reinforced our passion to travel and climb internationally. While it looks like we’re slated to stay near home through this summer, our anticipation for getting back into the high peaks of the world is palpable. Right now we’re planning to kick things off with a Cho Oyu Rapid Ascent, an Ecuador Climbing School and a Chilean Backcountry Ski Adventure all in September.
More Flexible Cancellation policies
For those of you that are looking to the future and planning expeditions with Alpenglow, we want to assure you that we’ve got your back. We completely reworked our domestic and international cancellation policies to be way more flexible in light of the uncertainty of the global situation. Thank you to everyone who is committed to dreaming big during a dynamic time, we’re here for you. Stay safe and we can’t wait to climb with you!
BOOK A HALF DAY VIA ADVENTURE
For more information about Via Ferrata at Squaw Valley or Rock Climbing at Donner Summit, or any of our other international expeditions, check out our website. For any questions call our office at 877-873-5376 or send us an email info@alpenglowexpeditions.