State Highpoints

[pizza]

It sounds like the guy just underestimated Mt. Washington.
After climbing a couple of 20,000 ft peaks, it's easy to think 6000 is nothing.

[Mike P.]

Pizza, I agree he underestimated his hike on that day, Why is the opinion I'm trying to state. (Opinion, my thoughts based on the facts as I understand them being 200 miles away when it too place7 or 8 years ago! - A co-worker also had a saying for Opinions, they are like _____ everyone has one & they all stink)

I think he underestimated his trip that day because on big trips he never made the decisions, the guides did. While In the scope of mountaineering, Washington is not a big trip but when you factor in the time of year & weather he encountered at the start & the well earned reputation of the mountain in that weather, it was(& is) a much different trip than doing it in Mid-July with 0% of rain

Mark, I'm not saying that at all, the people I know & have met that do highpoints usually do fine. If I'm picking on anyone, it would be people who don't plan or take part in the planning of there own hikes. (Whether that is always using a guide or letting your friends/spouse plan the trip & you just follow along)

The person I described was not a State Highpointer & to the best of my knowledge he had no ambition to finish the 7 Summits. IMO the two he did (if you count Indonesia not Austrailia) are the two easiest when you factor in elevation, overall cost, climbing, temperture, political climate of the country where the peak is located & all the other logistics. (The two peaks + Oriziba & another Europe trip are the fantasy peaks/trips on my own wish list outside of the US)

[Mark S]

Okay, so I see you're saying and it is a good point. But it gets back to what I said earlier in the thread ... how other people choose to attain highpoints has no effect on me so who am I to slam others for using guides if they feel they need them. Part of my goal is to do all 50 without guides, but we'll just have to see how that goes. I'm just plugging along one trip at a time and thoroughly enjoying every aspect of it, including planning (which is one of the most enjoyable parts of it). Ironically, I kind of feel like a bit of a guide for my father who has joined me on my last 16 HPs. He's not an experienced outdoorsman at all but is having a blast. He's 67 and my mother keeps making me promise not to kill him! It will be interesting to see how it goes on Texas, Colorado and New Mexico on our next trip.

[Mike P.]

It's okay if they use guides, I would recommend people still pay attention to the decison making though. A friend of my brother was on a Denali trip a few years ago & the group decided to retreat even though the guide wanted to go up the mountain.

[pizza]

Originally Posted by Mike P.

IMO the two he did (if you count Indonesia not Austrailia) are the two easiest when you factor in elevation, overall cost, climbing, temperture, political climate of the country where the peak is located & all the other logistics.

I thought you said he did Aconcagua and Kili?
Don't be mistaken - aconcagua is not one of the two easiest.. which wouldn't be saying much, because kili isn't exactly a walk in the park either.


A good guide would teach you to be self-sufficient.. sounds like this guy had either bad guides, or underestimated the mountain by not bringing the gear he needed to survive a storm (or both.)

I would prefer not to pay a guide on some of the technical western peaks, but I wouldn't hesitate to do so if I wasn't with a sufficiently experienced friend(s) that I could learn from.

[Mark S]

Gotta agree with Mike there, pizza. Everest, Denali, Elbrus, Carstenz and Vinson are probably all more difficult than Aconcogua and Kili. Not that any are easy by any stretch ... guides or not. Interesting that we should be talking about guides and the 7 summits though. Dick Bass was the first to complete them and he was guided every step of the way ... although he did the Kosciusko version.

[pizza]

Originally Posted by Mark S

Gotta agree with Mike there, pizza. Everest, Denali, Elbrus, Carstenz and Vinson are probably all more difficult than Aconcogua and Kili. Not that any are easy by any stretch ... guides or not. Interesting that we should be talking about guides and the 7 summits though. Dick Bass was the first to complete them and he was guided every step of the way ... although he did the Kosciusko version.

elbrus (which can be driven up in a land rover) is harder than aconcagua?
carstenz involves some technical rock-climbing and logistical problems, but harder than aconcagua?


the climb up the north face is non-technical, but at 22,800 feet, it takes a while to properly acclimate - normally there's three camps.

[Mark S]

48 people died in the Mount Elbrus area in 2004 alone. The weather is ferocious and like Washington, many go expecting a walk in the park only to be rudely awakened. Your Land Rover link is a little silly, don't you think? Of course, having done none of them and only aspiring to Denali at this point, this is a debate that I don't really want to get into.

http://www.summitpost.org/mountain/r...nt-elbrus.html

Cheers.

[Mike P.]

A non-technical trip, even at 22,800 which is high but outside of the death zone would be easier, IMO. I'd pick a local guide or a group from US that does Himalaya so they would know area & high altitude techniques

(I also listed other factors besides elevation, getting to Cartenz & the polictical/religious climate are worse although there is some crime in SA, Cost is also reasonable for SA)

I wouldn't climb anything I was unfamilar with that is any harder than Humphrey's with Dick Bass, I'd prefer doing it solo than with him too. Now if he was going to give me some tips for getting rich, that I'd listen too or recommendations for a guide.