Summit Murder Mystery Series

In Antarctica home of the amazing Mt. Vinson Massif, an amazing discovery was made!  Water could hold living microbes!  Take a look below at this article from the Associated Press. Opening a scientific frontier miles under the Antarctic ice, Russian experts drilled down and finally reached the surface of a gigantic freshwater lake, an achievement the mission chief likened to placing a man on the moon. Lake Vostok could hold living organisms that have been locked in icy darkness for some 20 million years, as well as clues to the search for life elsewhere in the solar system. Touching the surface of the lake, the largest of nearly 400 sub glacial lakes in Antarctica, came after more than two decades of drilling and was a major achievement avidly anticipated by scientists around the world. "In the simplest sense, it can transform the way we think about life," NASA's chief scientist, Waleed Abdalati, told the Associated Press in an email Wednesday. The Russian team m...

Reaching the summit of K2 in summer is one of the mountaineering's most deadly and difficult challenges.  Now a team of Russians is attempting what no other has yet achieved - scaling the world's second-highest peak in winter. The 15 climbers will endure temperatures plunging more than 50 below zero and winds of up to 40 mph as they inch up the stuffing giant pyramid that straddles Pakistan and China.  The assault is expected to take 21/2 months. "This is only possible for a Russian team," said Victor Kozlov, affable leader of the expedition, whose members established a new route on K2 in 2007.  "God willing, we can make it," he said this week in Pakistani capital, ahead of his journey to the Karakoram range in the far north of the country. Winter ascents of the world's 14 highest mountains are some of the most prized achievements left in climbing. The "eight-thousanders," as they're known because they all top 8,000 meters (5 miles),...