Lei Wang update

A few months ago I wrote a post about how we'd be updating our readers on Lei Wang's journey up Mount Everest in her quest to become the first Chinese woman, as well as the first Asian-American woman to reach the seven summits and both poles.

Well, here come the updates. Lei is well on her way.

We received this update:

Didn’t sleep too well last night. Went to bed late because I stayed up to write journal after watched the movies, then woke up a few times. I woke up before dawn at bell ring of passing yaks. Based on my past experience, I know I’m slow on the acclimatization process, that’s why I wanted to do the extra trekking before the group arrives. I must be a little bit of nervous about the climb. I dreamt of strange oxygen saturation numbers a couple times, and woke up to feel my heart beat much faster than my normal pace at sea level. As the altitude goes higher, the heart beat speeds up because of the extra work needed to pump more oxygen into blood system (is that correct? – I need to study more of the change of heart and red blood cell at altitude)

You can view the rest of her update over on her site.

Keep checking back for more updates of Lei's adventure. We'll keep you posted as we find out more.

Lei Wang, Everest 2010

Over the next few months Just Northwest will be featuring a special new section. This will be guest posts by adventurer Lei Wang.

This spring Lei Wang will be climbing Mt. Everest, and while doing so she will be sending us reports from along her trip for us to feature on Just Northwest and Just South of North.

But reaching the summit of Mt. Everest is just the final step on her amazing journey.

Lei is aiming to become the first Chinese woman, as well as the first Asian-American woman to reach the seven summits and both poles.

The seven summits are the tallest mountain on each of the seven continents. Here are those mountains:

Africa: Kilimanjaro - 19,340 feet

Antarctica: Vinson - 16,067 feet

Asia: Everest - 29,029 ft

Oceania: Carstensz Pyramid - 16,023 feet

Europe: Elbrus - 18,510 ft

North America: Denali - 20,320 feet

South America: Aconcagua - 22,841 feet

Lei has already reached the top of six of the mountains as well as skied to both poles.

And now she has her sights set on Mt. Everest and we'll be helping to keep you informed of her progress. I'll also be featuring pictures and stories from her past trips that led up to her trip to Mt. Everest.

You can also check out her fan page on facebook.

Everest: Beyond the Limit

In April I wrote a post about Washingtonians that were going to attempt to summit Mount Everest and that the Discovery Channel would be documenting their climb.

International Mountain Guides, based out of Ashford, Washington will be the focus of the 5 episode series called Everest: Beyond the Limit. This will be the third season of the show for Discovery.

The series will run from December 27 to December 30. Here's the complete schedule on the Discovery Channel. But it all starts on the 27th with these showtimes:

• Dec. 27, 8:00 PM - Episode 1: First Summit

• Dec. 27, 9:00 PM -Episode 2: Impossible Dream

• Dec. 27, 10:00 PM - Episode 3: Deadly Countdown

International Mountain Guides’s 2009 expedition put 30 climbers on the summit of Mount Everest. Oh, and also the film crew from the Discovery Channel.

Since 1991, International Mountain Guides has led 209 climbers up Mount Everest.

Washingtonians on Mount Everest

On March 26th, I wrote a post about how I would be reading Bear Gryll's book, "The Kid Who Climbed Everest: The Incredible Story of a 23-Year-Old's Summit of Mt. Everest" I am about seven chapters into the book and what a story it has been. Let's just say that climbing to the summit of Everest is no easy task.

Mount Everest stands 29,035 feet tall. To compare the height of this mountain, Mount Rainier in Washington is 14,411 feet.

Well today I found out that two Washington men will be attempting history this year on Mount Everest. And the Discovery Channel will be documenting the whole event.

International Mountain Guides, based out of Ashford, Washington at the base of Mount Rainier, reached the base camp of Mount Everest on Monday. Base camp sits at 17,450 feet. At this altitude the air is thinner and the body must learn to adapt and function with less oxygen. The decrease in oxygen can cause altitude sickness, including headaches and vomiting. So it is very important for climbers to get accumilated to the altitude.

In this group from IMG is two Washington men, Dawes Eddy and Dave Remington. Eddy, 66, is attempting to become the oldest American to reach the summit of Everest without assistance from a guide.

Remington, 67, is also going for World Record. He is looking to become the oldest American to reach the summit. The oldest person on record to summit Everest was Yuichiro Miura of Japan. Miura was 70-years-old when he made it to the top in 2003.

Now mountain climbing is no easy task. It's not something that you can just decide to do one day. These are highly trained athletes. Even so, accidents happen to the best of them and climbing can not be taken lightly.

Just today a Polish climber, Piotr Morawski, was killed while climbing. An experienced climber, Morawski was best known for the first winter ascent of Shisha Pangma. The tragic accident happened on Dhaulagiri, the seventh tallest peak in the world, when Morawski fell into a crevasse.

And Mount Everest claims its share of lives. Of all the climbers who attempt the summit, 7% never come back down.

However, if you do make it to the top, you are in a very small percentile of people who actually do.

Here's some other records from the mountain:

• The first official summit was accomplished by Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, a sherpa, on May 29, 1953.
• The first woman to climb Mount Everest was Junko Tabei, who reached the summit in 1975.
• Climbers from 41 different nations have stood at the summit.
  
• Reinhold Messner and Peter Habeler were the first to climb Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen in 1920.
• The first couple to be married at the summit of Everest was Nepalese Mona Mulepati and Pem Dorje Sherpa on May 30, 2005.
  
• And on May 25, 2001 (almost 48 years to the day when Hillary stood at the top) Erik Weihenmayer became the first blind climber to conquer Mount Everest.

Good luck Eddy and Remington! Just South of North wishes you a safe and successful expedition!