McKinley Climb Begins!!

I'm very excited to say the USAF 7 Summits Challenge has started it's ascent of the fourth mountain in our bid for the famed 'Seven Summits'- Alaska's Mt. McKinley!!

On the 28th of May, five active duty Air Force officers flew to Alaska. Most had never met before, but we've found that such a group of Airmen form into a very strong team immediately. There's no question this is the case with this group of people. Captain Mark Uberuaga, the trip leader, sent back an e-mail and picture just as the team left on a ski-plane for the base of the mountain. Here is the message from Mark:

The weather in Talkeetna has been great. Our team is looking really good and a few days of high pressure should give us a good chance of getting a good start at the climb. > > Tavis, Tim, Graydon, and Erin have just taken off and they should be arriving at Basecamp shortly. Andrew and I are going to be right behind them, We'll spend only a couple of hours there caching some gear and getting all rigged up, then we'll hit the trail and hopefully make it to our first camp sometime this evening.

Here is a picture of the team just before they departed from Talkeetna.

Updates after this will likely be few and far between, but I'll make sure any information I receive reaches this blog. The team procured a SAT-Phone, so they should be able to make occasional calls out to me and family members. If you receive any updates, please don't hesitate to e-mail them to USAF7Summits@gmail.com, so they can be added here. The gang will also use the SAT-Phone to try and coordinate a fly-by from an Air Force aircraft when they are on the summit of the mountain. We're hoping to see an amazing photo from that if it works out.

So, that's the news. It sounds very good to me. We have a strong group of people that all have great skills and personalities to bring to this team. Let's all keep them in our mind and keep spreading the word about this exciting challenge!

By the way- thanks to so many of you donating to our program, I predict we will raise around $20,000 for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation on this climb alone!! That will bring our total for the Challenge to nearly $40k! Thank you so very much, each of you truly make a difference.

--Capt Rob Marshall

Co-Founder, USAF 7 Summits

Denali 08

Everyone- Here is an E-mail from Mark, who will be leading this Denali expedition!! Please spread it out to anyone you think might be interested. Remember, if you are interested, please let us know ASAP by filling out the registration and sending it into Mark. Start talking to your bosses to get June free. I'll be working Permissive TDY so hopefully no one will have to use leave, but there's not guarantee. Talk to you all soon- Rob

Ok everybody - let's do this!

Rob and I have started making plans for our next climb to continue to push our AF team to the top of the 7 Summits! We are really excited to have set some dates to climb the highest mountain in North America -Mt McKinley! (Known to the natives and a lot of climbers as "Denali"). There are a lot of details to be worked out for us as a team, so we're jumping into it full swing early enough to make this a monster success.

Climb dates are as follows: May 28th: Fly to Anchorage, AK. May 29th: NPS Orientation/Gear Prep. May 30th: Fly on to Denali base camp with Hudson Air. June 28th: Schedule your flight home from Anchorage.

The climb usually doesn't take 30 days, but this extra time helps to increase our chances of success. The weather is often bad, and we need to be flexible enough to wait it out. If we finish early we change our tickets and get back whenever we can.

We are looking for climbers who are motivated, fun to be with and have experience with roped glacier mountaineering. Preferably everyone on the team will have had some expedition training-- in other words, they've climbed a mountain where it was necessary to set and move camp more than once and practiced crevasse rescue.

This climb, as with our others in the past, will be a fundraiser for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation. Our goal is for each climber to raise $7,000. $5,000 of this will go straight to the Fund and $2,000 will be for the climber to buy a flight to AK, our shuttle expenses, the climbing permit, the cost of our air taxi/bush pilot, food, and gear. We'll help you with pamphlets and fundraising ideas, but it will be up to each person who joins the climb to raise the $7k (this climb we'll be looking to corporations for help, so it shouldn't be hard to do at all!).

If you want to be part of the team go to http://www.nps.gov/dena/planyourvisit/registrationinfo.htm and read through the registration requirements. Read the National Park Service publication, Mountaineering - Denali National Park and Preserve, which covers search and rescue requirements, clean climbing requirements, high altitude medical problems, glacier hazards, and self-sufficiency. Then download the registration form, fill it out and mail it to me at: Mark Uberuaga, PSC Box 92, Kirtland AFB, NM 87117.

If you're not sure if you have enough of or the right experience, but you really want to go, don't judge yourself. Read the info, fill out the registration form and send it to us. We'll see what kind of interest we have and if and how we need to mitigate for less experience. Our team application is due to the park service by March 28th. I need your applications no later than March 15th, the sooner the better though, because there are a finite number of spots on the team!

Look forward to hearing from you,
Mark Uberuaga

NEW 7 Summits E-mail Address

Folks, just b/c it's far easier, we're switching to a new e-mail:
 
USAF7Summits@gmail.com
 
When we're on the mountain, gmail loads much faster and therefore is more reliable and cheaper (darn sat phone costs!).  Please update accordingly.  This hotmail account will remain open, but won't get checked very often (that's no surprise, eh?!).
 
Thanks everyone!
 
Rob
 

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Nichelle in Everest Base Camp

Hey Seven Summiters! I just got back from an awesome trip to Nepal and the Mt Everest Base Camp! Another USAF officer and myself signed on with a Brittish expedition called Caudwell's Xtreme Everst. As part of their team we got to trek to the base camp and help out with the largest medical research expedition ever to visit Everest. If you'd like to read more about that expedition and the research, visit www.xtreme-everest.co.uk. The expedition took more than 200 volunteers to the base camp and put 10 doctors on the summit to study the effects of altitude and low oxygen levels on the body and how that might relate to ICU patients dealing with their own hypoxia issues. The research was truly fascinating and should produce some excellent medical advances! While on the trek to base camp we also had some great opportunities to do research for a future USAF 7 Summits Climb. We made some good contacts and got a first hand look at what base camp and the Khumbu Valley are like during prime climbing season. As well as taking note of some good places to stay on the way to base camp and other logistical tidbits, we also did some reasearch on what it takes to put together an expedition to the summit of Everest. Things like obtaining permits and organizing help from the Sherpas are just small examples of the hurdles that need to be crossed early. Forefront on our minds after returning from Nepal is the need for AF sponsorship in order to make the USAF 7 Summits expedition a success. Our "short" trek to the base camp and back required us to take 26 days of leave. Everyone we talked to returning from the summit had been in Nepal for at least 60 days. Obviously, leave will be an issue. Money will also be a huge factor. This year, a Nepalese permit for 4 people to climb the South Col route to the summit cost nearly $70,000. That's just the permit. Food and supplies will undoubtedly send that figure through the roof. Despite these challenges, we still firmly believe that the USAF 7 Summits can find a way to make an expedition to Mt Everest a success. We returned from Nepal eager to go back and help put our coworkers (or ourselves) to the summit! -Nichelle Brokering

Summer Update

Greetings USAF 7 Summits Challenge fans,

This is just a friendly hello from the team to all our supporters and to the general public!

As is the norm, life for all of us has been very busy, though sadly not from climbing more peaks. Currently the vast majority of the people involved in the 7 Summits Challenge are deployed around the world, actively engaged in the War on Terror, humanitarian operations, or other military related work. We're happy to say that everyone is doing very well and all remain happy and healthy. As the heat increases for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, our minds drift more and more towards the snow peaks of Mt. McKinley, the next peak we hope to tackle. The timeline still has us shooting for a Spring '08 ascent. Naturally we're all just hoping to find a break in our schedules to take on the fourth peak in our challenge! Keep your fingers crossed.

Also, some cool news: Nichelle Brokering (Kilimanjaro) and Jason Somers, both Air Force officers, headed up to Everest Base Camp, which sits on the rough and rocky Khumbu Glacier at 17,000ft in the Nepalese Himalaya. These two champs volunteered to take part in one of the largest high-altitude medical projects ever put together. The last time we heard from them they were leaving Namche Bazaar on their way up to base camp, though we expect to hear a full story from them any time now. Of course we'll post it here as soon as we find out!

Mark Uberuaga and Rob Marshall are considering a follow up attempt on Switzerland's Matterhorn after they had to abort their mid-winter attempt. There are no firm dates, but maybe in early September. As always, if you're interested in joining, let us know.

Finally, if you are in the Albuquerque area, Rob will be living there throughout the fall and winter and is looking to meet up with anyone that likes to tackle 14'ers, mountain bike, climb, or fly fish. Contact him at the e-mail below.

That's all we have going on for now. If you have any media/sponsorship contacts, fundraising ideas, or general comments, please don't hesitate to contact us at usaf7summits@hotmail.com!

PHOTOS & VIDEOS ONLINE!

Thanks to a 9 hour layover here in Santiago, Chile, I've been able to get a good chunk of photos online for all your viewing pleasure. CLICK HERE for the photos and a new window with a slideshow should appear. If it doesn't, the link is at the bottom of this blog entry. Please leave comments and let us know what you think of them! More pictures (from Heidi and Justin's cameras) will be added as we get them organized. It's 1730 over here and we still have 5 more hours until we board the red-eye flight back to Dallas. We sprung for the entrace fee to get into a VIP lounge... well worth it, as there is unlimited internet, quite seats to read in, and lots of food and drinks. We can't wait to get back to America. This has been a lot of fun, but we're worn out and ready to get back to friends, family, and yes, work!

For two videos from the summit, click here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGj10U8uhUo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1RDN3OMrCig

Photo address, incase link doesn't work above: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sundownr01/sets/72157594569580693/show/

Hot Shower and Real Beds

Hello from Mendoza, Argentina! Wow, all we can really say is that it feels good to wash off the 2 weeks of dust and sweat, though that still doesn´t make the image in the mirror any better looking! haha... really though, we´re feeling great. The fact that we were the only three people in our group to summit, and that we did it as a team, is still filtering through our heads. How great is that?! This accomplishment keeps the USAF 7 Summits Challenge´s record at 100% success on all the mountains we´ve done so far. That in itself is a huge testament to the strength, determination, and pride the Air Force members bring to the climbs!! Yesterday we did over 20 miles of hiking to get out of basecamp and reach the highway. I´ll tell you what, that is a LONG hike after using much of your strength on the summit push. It was beautiful though, and we did it in less than 8 hours!

Right now Justin and Heidi are catching up on some Z´s, but I couldn´t pass up the free breakfast and a quick jaunt on the internet. Thanks to all of you that have writen us or made blog comments. All of us have over 100 unanswered e-mails, so please be patient as we try to catch up on all the letters!! Since we summited on our first day, we now have two days in Mendoza before our flight home. We´re going to use the time for some wine tasting (the annual wine festival is this week... all the grapes are being harvested and it´s quite a celebration!), sleep, a few hours to shave, and try to find some stuff to bring home to ya´ll.

As for the pictures, sorry they didn´t show up. The sat link from base camp was very touchy and it seems it didn´t like pictures too much. I´ll grab a camera and put some of the best photos online today or tomorrow. I´ll also add a link to a large online gallery that all our photos will be at (plus some videos!). That´s it for now. We´ve got to get ready for some romping around Mendoza. As you can imagine, we wish all of you were here with us, but we know you´re here in spirit! Thanks again for all your support. We are overjoyed at the amazing success of this expedition and that we were fortunate enough to be some of the few people on the summit of Aconcagua over the last 2 weeks.

Take care and have a great weekend everyone!

Rob, for the slumbering Heidi and Justin
Climb High, Fly Low