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Approaching the summit from the northside of Everest

We’ve always done things a bit differently than most other guide services, and it all starts with Adrian Ballinger’s visionary Rapid Ascent™ approach to pre-acclimatizing for mountains across the world. Read on to see how our Mount Everest Rapid Ascent Expedition is different than other international mountain guide services.

While nearly all other mountain guide services continue to approach mountains the same way as has been done for decades, Adrian Ballinger knew there was another way. His main goal was to reduce the…

Mountain guides may be the most shoe-obsessed people on the planet. From rock shoes to 8,000m boots, every shoe has an ultra-specific purpose. In this interview, Adrian walks us through his favorite La Sportiva footwear for each climbing discipline. Have you ever wanted to take a peek inside Adrian’s closet? This is your chance!

“There are two reasons I really like this shoe for the 

The Everest Lightning Ascent: Two Weeks to the Top and Back with Alpenglow Expeditions – words by Roxanne Vogel

Moving up from base camp on the north side of Mt Everest

When I nervously called Adrian Ballinger in the autumn of 2017, I had no idea I’d eventually be working with his company, Alpenglow Expeditions, on the first ever 14-day summit of Mount Everest. Long before the whirlwind trip that occurred in May of this year, I had reached out to him about a different rapid ascent, a climb of the world’s highest volcano—…

As soon as Adrian returned from his successful #K2no02 mission, we caught up with him for an interview. We asked him all about pre-acclimatizing with Hypoxico and how the Rapid Ascent program plays into his climbing career.

Adrian: “The Hypoxico system allows us to pre-acclimatize at home which is an essential part of our Rapid Ascent and Lightning Ascent systems for climbing big mountains faster than we used to be able to.

Essentially you’re in a tent and the system takes oxygen out of the air and replaces…

In case you missed our #RoadtoEverest series last week, here’s the full rundown:

Everest summit on May 22, 2019 by Lightning Ascent team Roxanne, guide Lydia Bradey, Dorji Sherpa, and Mingma Sherpa.

1. While it feels like the Alpenglow Expeditions’ Everest 2019 teams wrapped up just last week,  Alpenglow is already thinking about Everest 2020. At Alpenglow, we spend nearly the entire year building our Mt. Everest team for the spring season. Many of our discussions with climbers will focus around whether they are “ready” for Mt. Everest. These conversations are really important. …

#ROADTOEVEREST

As part of our #roadtoeverest series, we have updated and relaunched this blog from our archives. The original post was written by Adrian Ballinger in 2012 and has been updated to be current.

Topo Mena, year after year, is the most psyched climber on the entire mountain.

Yesterday I wrote about what you should expect from your Mt. Everest guide service. Today’s blog is about you and what you can do to be ready to join an Everest expedition. Of course, there are many different ways to acquire…

As part of our #roadtoeverest series, we have updated and relaunched this blog from our archives. The original post was written by Adrian Ballinger in 2012 and has been updated to be current.

While it feels like the Alpenglow Expeditions’ Everest 2019 teams wrapped up only days ago, Alpenglow is already thinking about Everest 2020. At Alpenglow, we spend nearly the entire year building our Mt. Everest team for the spring season. Many of my discussions with climbers will focus around whether they are “ready”…

Lydia and Roxanne on the summit of Everest on May 22

Sherpa Pasang and Mingma

It’s been a long season on Everest. Jet stream winds that have lingered just north of the mountain have kept most teams on both the north and south side of the mountain hunkered down, patiently waiting for winds to subside so they can safely push for the summit. That window of relatively calm winds is upon us now and our teams have made their push to the summit and back.

All Sherpa and all members from all Alpenglow…

Nobody blew away… but some tents at North Col Camp sure did!

As of yesterday morning (US time), all of Alpenglow’s 2019 Everest Expeditions completed their North Col rotation, despite challenging weather. Currently, we have 19 climbers on the mountain in Tibet. Our solo Lightning Ascent team member Roxanne, whose objective is to climb Everest in 14 days door-to-door from the United States, is waiting patiently in the states for a clear weather window. All teams are eagerly watching the winds and keeping an eye out for a shift in weather. With gale force winds in the…

This year on Everest is unique for Alpenglow Expeditions and we’re leading four different teams up the tallest mountain in the world. Each team has a different goal, and ultimately a different style in their approach. For clarity moving forward we’ve named these team as follows:

Alpenglow’s Sherpa Team and a few of our guides prior to the puja ceremony at Advanced Base Camp.

The Rapid Ascent team on their way to base camp

Rapid Ascent Team
The Rapid Ascent team consists of 5 members, Caroline, Rob, Jim, Christina, and Kara. These strong climbers are…