I'm an REI customer for life

I first got to know and love REI back in college when I was an outdoor recreation guide taking folks on canoeing, kayaking, camping and rock climbing trips.

Even back then, REI was this place where you could (and did) get anything and everything to take care of your outdoors needs. I spent enough money at the REI in San Diego, that I ultimately wound up working there (in the summer of 1990) first off because it was a great environment to spend my daylight hours talking to folks about the very equipment I used extensively on my days away from REI, but more importantly, because I got to participate in "pro deals" where employees could get the equipment at dramatically reduced prices. Heck, I think I actually bought more stuff from REI that summer than I wound up earning. Come to think of it, I believe that was the summer I began to carry the credit card debt that I wouldn't full break out from underneath until 8 years later when I hit the AOL options lottery.

Now flash forward 18 years to where I'm the customer wandering the aisles asking REI staff for recommendations on this, that and the other. When I did my Mt Whitney summit last year, it was the kind folks at REI who helped me pick out an updated pair of hiking boots to replace my 25 year-old Vasques. Of course, the REI folks helped me slide into a new pair of Vasque Switchback GTX boots (less than half the weight of my old pair, whew!), and all indications were that the boots were a perfect fit. At $150 for the pair, they should have been.

But they weren't the perfect fit. After I got back from climbing to the top of Mt Whitney (and back down again) in them, I lost the nails on both my second toes (next to the big toe), and my left big toe is still slowly growing out of its bruised nail these six months post-summit.

Now, it wasn't just my toes that took a beating on the summit run. The boots took a beating during my warm-up hikes around the Bay Area and up at Squaw Valley, and then up and down Whitney itself. Given all those miles (and the mounted crampons), you can imagine the scuff marks on the outside of the boots after all that.

So, what am I to do with a relatively new, yet still visibly worn, pair of boots that don't fit? Especially given I'm going up Mt Whitney again in three months? Well, thanks to REI's 100% satisfaction guarantee, I just take them back to REI, tell them I got the wrong size and I get credited my money back to buy another pair (they're now $160).

I was more than prepared to pay some kind of idiot tax for buying boots too small, but not to the extent of having to eat the entire cost of the boots.

REI's forgiven my mistake and retained me as a customer for life.

I wonder if I can get a pro deal on my next pair of boots?

Mt Whintey 2008 Lottery results are in

Hooray! Got the letter from the Forest Service today.

We've got our day hike permit (eight of us) to climb Mt Whitney on Friday, July 11, 2008.

Now, time to start rallying the troops and starting the training regimen. Considering I went from couch potato to Mt Whitney summiter over the course of the summer last year, I think any of the newbies interested in joining me this year will have plenty of time to train.

I can't wait to get up there again!!

still waiting on Mt Whitney 2008 Lottery results

Since I last posted about my Mt Whitney 2008 Lottery results impatience a couple weeks ago, time has c-r-a-w-l-e-d by as I'm still waiting to hear back from the "folks in charge."

While LeftCoast Mom has assured me she'll let me know when the Forest Service letter arrives in our mailbox, I still rummage through our paper-based mail at the end of each day vainly searching for some obscurely marked card that'll let me know I've got the Golden Ticket.

I've even begun to wonder if my lottery application even got there, but there's no way to find out since I didn't send it registered mail OR include a self-addressed-and-stamped postcard with my lottery form. Lesson learned for next time!

Going into this process, I thought they'd send out confirmation of results as the applications were processed. Upon closer reading, however it looks as if ALL lottery applications are processed before the confirmations are sent out. This means I'll be waiting for another month.

This is quite unfortunate, as I'm going to be giving a luncheon talk to coworkers next week trying to recruit a bunch to make it to the summit with me this year. It'd be much easier if I could answer their question of "so when's this going to happen?" with a firm date instead of a "well, if we're lucky, it'll be one of these seven dates in July or August."

In any case, they'll at least know it's time to start getting in shape!

Waiting on Mt Whitney Lottery results

At the beginning of February, I entered the lottery to climb Mt Whitney again this summer (see last year's successful climb pictures here and the video here).

Per instructions, I submitted an application via snail mail at the beginning of February. I'm hoping to lead a group of eight to do an overnight hike (just like last time) on one of the close-to-full-moon Thursday nights in July or August as my first choices, but will be happy just to get the permit for any of the nine nights I listed on the app.

Someone's crunched the data to show how many unused Whitney permits there were last year (see the spike at the end of September that coincided with the snow storm and explains why so few folks were on the trail with us September 29). Given the data, I think our odds are good in that I've asked for non-weekend days that aren't near any typical holidays.

And now I'm stuck in a holding pattern waiting for the permit lottery process to play out. My paper-based application is in a big tumbler with all the others and will be drawn out randomly to get my date assigned (and my check cashed).

So all I can do now is check the mailbox each day to see if I'm a winner. The suspense is killing me!

RIP Sir Edmund Hillary

How very strange that just eight days after posting my observation that I was seeing a mountaineering theme in many things, I learn that Sir Edmund Hillary has just passed away at 88 years old.

From the AP obit, there's much to admire of Sir Ed, as New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark relates:

The gangling New Zealander devoted much of his life to aiding the
mountain people of Nepal and took his fame in stride, preferring to be
called "Ed" and considering himself just an ordinary beekeeper.

"Sir Ed described himself as an average New Zealander with modest
abilities. In reality, he was a colossus. He was an heroic figure who
not only 'knocked off' Everest but lived a life of determination,
humility, and generosity," Clark said in a statement.

"The legendary mountaineer, adventurer, and philanthropist is the best-known New Zealander ever to have lived," she said.

I'm still only half-way through the account of Hillary's first summit of Everest yet I know finishing it will be an odd experience now that I know its author and protagonist has passed. He was always careful to make sure that no matter the risk, he remained in control so that no one ever died on any of his expeditions.

Granted, the stakes weren't even remotely as high when we climbed Mt Whitney last Fall. But still, our ascent left a lot to be desired in terms of coordination and caring for the entire group. Sure, half of us made it, but I still can't quite let go of the guilt of leaving the others behind to stumble their way back to the cars unattended.

As I look at the 2008 Mt Whitney Lottery Application taped to the wall of my pod, I'm more determined to return to the top this time, and to make sure the whole climbing party makes it with me. This year I hope to be the kind of climbing group leader that Hillary would be proud of.

mountaineering theme in many things

I've noticed a real strong affinity to mountaineering stuff as of late...

• Accidentally finding Discovery Channel's Everest: Beyond the Limit programming while in Malaysia
  
• Recently re-finding my book detailing Hillary's first summit of Everest
• Going over major achievements of 2007 and seeing my summit of Mt Whitney coming in near the top
  

And now today I discover this great video of Dr. Rodrigo Jordan from the Leading@Google collection on YouTube:



I know this is all pointing toward something just around the corner... maybe it's a reminder I need to get my name in for the lottery to climb Mt Whitney again this summer when there's no snow on the summit!

my next physical challenge

While I have yet to post the tale that accompanies my Mt Whitney climbing video, I have been able to pick out my next physical challenge: a sprint-distance triathlon.

I found having a BIG GOAL (climbing Mt Whitney) was just the motivation I needed to modify my workout and eating habits. In the 75 days between saying, "yes I'll climb" and actually making it to the summit, I shed a total of 18 pounds from my 6'2" frame (from 218 down to 200). Even now, three weeks later, I've kept the weight off, and I'm in the best shape I've been since my first daughter was born five years ago.

Yet, since coming back from climbing Mt Whitney, I've found my motivation lagging to keep exercising regularly even while I've still kept to a healthy diet and eating schedule.

So, I've set my sights on finishing (with a smile!) the ICE Breaker Triathlon in Granite Bay, CA on April 13, 2008. It's a .5 mile swim – 13 mile bike – 4 mile run race. And while the bike and the run segments don't bother me too much, the swim is of greatest concern because my swimming skills consist of barely managing not to sink in the water. Lots of room to improve there.

I've also set my sights on launching a triathlon-specific blog to share my journey toward completing my first tri, including all advice analysis, training travails and gear getting along my way.

I'll post here on HVYTK the link once the new blog is launched. Wish me luck!

UPDATE: the link to my new triathlon-focused blog is http://tri4tk.blogspot.com so I'll keep the tri-related posts to a minimum here on HVYTK.

mt whitney climbing video

Still trouble-shooting the dramatic pause at the 58 second mark, but here's video I shot at 13,300 feet on the way up to the summit of Mt Whitney.

just back from climbing Mt Whitney

Made it to the top at 14, 497 feet. Much colder and snowier than expected, so it took a lot longer than planned. Finally returned to the cars, triumphant, 20 hours after we left. Only half our party made it to the top, and only a handful of folks made it the entire day we were permitted to be there.

More detail to come, but I've just posted my photos over in my Flickr Mt Whitney set.