Stirring the pot of ethical debates, Chris Kalous—who apparently has some sort of climbing credentials, though I know not where—gives a nice seven minute speech about the inaccurate and self aggrandizing nature of aid ratings.

I am just back from my follow up visit to China Tibet Mountaineering Association (CTMA) in Lhasa, Tibet. On our agenda was the following issues: the impact of the Olympic expedition on other climbers, theft and misconduct on the mountain and the difficulty of managing the yaks.

While reading the weekly feature about Ontario ice, I noticed the sole picture of Minnesota ice climbing. I felt it necessary to add to the discussion by indicating that Nightfall (WI4+, 60m), Minnesota's longest natural ice fall, is also the site of the Gentleman's Occasional. This almost annual event is, likely, the most important gathering of ice climbing enthusiasts in the country.

I wanted to like this because I love the Huber brothers. If I could climb 5.14 in leather pants, I would. Actually, if I could climb 5.14, I would do it in leather pants to prove a point. Much like the Hubers. Alex is a physicist, too, just to spice things up. In any event...

Captain GJ Finch, who took part in the Mount Everest expedition, speaking at a meeting of the Royal Geographical Society, London, last evening on the equipment for high climbing, testified to the comfort of cigarette smoking at very high altitude. He said that he and two other members of the expedition camped at 25,000ft for over 26 hours and all that time they used no oxygen.

K2's mighty West Face is one of the greatest big mountain walls in the world and ripe for a beautiful alpine style ascent. This past summer a large, 18-person team of Russians converged upon Concordia intent on forcing a direct line up the steepest part of the face by any means necessary. Like they have done before on Jannu, they sieged the mountain, fixing ropes from base camp to nearly the summit, establishing seven camps enroute!

Alpinist seeks a producer for The Alpinist Film Festival. Dynamic and challenging part-time position helps plan, organize and execute annual film festival for Alpinist Magazine. Applicant must be self-reliant, resourceful, organized, experienced in event planning and proficient in budgets and fundraising.

I have not yet had time to read through Alpinist 21 properly, but I noticed a picture caption on Page 82 that gives the impression that the first ascent of Chomolhari (7326m) was in 1996. The record of ascents of Chomolhari is a bit confused, and few people are aware of the significance of the epic first ascent—alpine style—by F. Spencer Chapman and team in 1937.

So, Mayor Kiss, of Burlington, Vermont, USA, decides that the 86 percent of tax payers that voted to change the empty, decommissioned power plant into a park were wrong. Mayor Kiss decides that turning the building and the grounds it stands on into a commercial facility is more financially intelligent for the city. Why is this relevant at all?

In the October 1 NewsWire there was some discussion about Mt. Mahindra. Number three above is the ascent line that was made by Kopold and Stefansky in 2003, which obviously shows that they did not make it to the top of the peak. This picture was published in the magazine Jamesak.

Here is the other side of Iapetus, one of Saturn's moons. If you go to saturn.jpl.nasa.gov and ciclops.org, you can check out hi-res images (so you can zoom in to the point where you can route find!) and get more information.

Having just read Marko Prezelj's article, "Based on a True Story" in Alpinist 21, I have to say that I am disappointed. While few people would deny that Prezelj is one of the most accomplished climbers in the world today, and that he had a mind-boggling year in 2006, I put down the issue with a bad taste in my mouth.

Though slightly sensationalized, as most news tends to be, this article does point out something that seems to dovetail rather well with yesterday's Mont Blanc Thermometer Blog. Climate change, whatever the causes, is becoming more and more obvious in relation to our favorite pastimes.

The Mont Blanc Massif's enormous expanse, divided into three separate nations, is completely free of protected status. Pro Mont Blanc aims to change that. But first they need to find out what's going on in the region. Thus, they're created the The Mont Blanc Thermometer...

Supported by a grant from Mountain Hardwear, Pat Goodman and Dave Sharratt and I left home on August 7th bound for the Miyar Nala in India's Himachael Pradesh. This broad, pastoral valley provides access to a series of glacier systems offering impressive rock walls and ridges to summits up to around 6,000 meters...

On Dec. 4th, 2006 Christine Boskoff, owner of Mountain Madness and AMGA member, and her climbing partner Charlie Fowler, one of the original AMGA examiners, were scheduled to return from a personal climbing adventure on Genyn Peak, Sichuan Province, China. Charlie's body was found at the base of the north face, where he was laid to rest by an apparent avalanche. The body of Christine was discovered seven months later on July 3, 2007 around the same height as Charlie. The pair were likely caught in a fatal avalanche on the peak in November of 2006.

The other night I got one of those texts that you can tell was written by someone so excited they could hardly hold a mobile phone in their hand. It was Kevin Shields enthusing to me that he had just soloed Fast + Furious in Birnam Quarry.

"At last. Everest has finally been conquered by the Nude Mountaineering Society."