Summit Murder Mystery Series

Ever since George Mallory’s expeditions in the early 1920s and Edmund Hillary-Tensing Norgay’s successful summit in 1953, Mount Everest has captivated thousands of passionate mountaineers. While climbing Everest still remains an impossible dream for most, trekking to the Everest base camp has become an achievable goal. Everest base cEver since George Mallory’s expeditions in the early 1920s and Edmund Hillary-Tensing Norgay’s successful summit in 1953, Mount Everest has captivated thousands of passionate mountaineers. While climbing Everest still remains an impossible dream for most, trekking to the Everest base camp has become an achievable goal. amp (EBC) trek is a feat that involves 10 days of arduous journey on foot, covering a distance of about 60 km one way, starting at 9,350 ft and reaching an impressive altitude of 17,598 ft. We set off with high spirits from Bengaluru and our fir...

The San Ramon Valley High School student’s name is displayed on a flag on the world's tallest peak, thanks to a special expedition.   Danville, CA By Bea Karnes (Patch Staff) - How many people reading this have been to Mt. Everest? Sixteen-year-old Alex Maddux, a sophomore at San Ramon Valley High School, hasn’t, but his name is on a flag there. Maddux has Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a disorder that causes progressive muscle weakness. A few months ago his mother Kim became aware of an expedition to Everest Base Camp with a flag carrying the names of 1,000 Duchenne patie...

0 in Share Share More       BEIJING The Mt Everest base camp in Tibet will be reopened to climbers on July 1, the tourism authorities said on Tuesday. The base camp was closed for safety reasons following the 7.9-magnitude earthquake on April 25 that killed climbers and guides on Nepal's side of the mountain. Roads leading to the base camp will be subjected to periodic traffic controls, a spokesperson with the tourism bureau said, according to Xinhua news agency. The base camp, located 5,200 metres above sea level, saw 59,100 visitors in 2014. The earthquake killed over 9,000 people and injured more than 21,000.   For more information about the Summit Murder Mystery series, CLICK HERE  To order your copy of Murder on Everest, CLICK HERE  To order your copy of Murder on Kilimanjaro , CLICK HERE Follow Charles Irion on Twitter HERE Friend Charles Irion on Facebook HERE Visit Charles Irion's YouTube channel HE...

Devil may care climbers beware, you might have to start climbing Mt Everest like a regular rock if humans continue to even exist. According to a study published in The Cyrosphere, Mt Everest is going to change drastically due to climate change. If Dr. Joseph Shea and the co-authors of this study are to be believed, industry continually to operating like it has for years will shrink the glaciers around Mt Everest by 99 percent. Even if there is a moderate reduction of greenhouse gas emissions Mt Everest is estimated to lose around 70 percent of its natural beauty. This has shocked the team of researchers with Dr. Shea telling the New York Times, “We did not expect to see glaciers reduced at such a large scale…The numbers are quite frightening.” A forbidding sign indeed. The findings come from a computer model of glaciers the team built, that took into account the higher temperatures causing the ice t...

By EMILY SHAPIRO Google executive Daniel Fredinburg was among at least 17 people killed today in an avalanche on Mt. Everest that was triggered by a massive earthquake near the Nepal capital of Kathmandu. Google's Director of Privacy Lawrence You wrote in a statement: "Sadly, we lost one of our own in this tragedy. +Dan Fredinburg a long-time member of the Privacy organization in Mountain View, was in Nepal with three other Googlers, hiking Mount Everest. He has passed away. The other three Googlers with him are safe and we are w...

By Ed Payne, Manesh Shrestha and Dave Alsup , CNN updated 1:35 AM EDT, Fri April 18, 2014 Climbers and guides were preparing for the spring climbing season. STORY HIGHLIGHTS The deadliest year on Mt. Everest was 1996, when 15 people died More than 300 climbers have been given permission to tackle Everest this spring About 400 Sherpas will help them Climbers and guides had been preparing the route to the summit (CNN) -- Two Sherpa guides were killed and seven others were missing Friday after a high-altitude avalanche on Mt. Everest, officials said. A group of about 50 people, mostly Nepali Sherpas, were hit by the avalanche at more than 20,000 feet, according to Tilak Ram Pandey, with the mountaineering department of the tourism ministry. The avalanche took place just above base camp in the Khumbu Ice Fall. The climbers were accounted for, Pandey said. "Rescue teams have gone ... to look for the missing." Readying for clim b ...

A friend sent me this article, and I thought it would be a great one to share.  'Meeting A Survivor On Everest' is written by Richard Wiese from the Huffington Post.   You would think that after trekking for almost a month in the high Himalaya, it would be the mountains that I would remember most, but when I look back on that expedition in 2007, it's not the sea of snow-capped peaks or even the massive beauty of Everest itself that comes to mind. I think of the face of a young girl -- blonde, big-eyed, no more than 10 -- her features illuminated by the light from a teahouse fire. She walked into a ramshackled hut on the roof of the world, played a few rounds of poker and left to join her party camped nearby. I never saw her again. It was early April and I had already been on the Nepal side of Everest for two weeks. There were at least 40 of us in our party though I never really got a firm head count. The consisted of climbers, researchers, physicians and Jo...

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- A spokesman for a Russian mountaineering team seeking to be the first to climb K2 in winter said Monday that it has abandoned the attempt after one of its members died on the mountain.  The 15 climbers had been on the mountain the world's highest after Mount Everest, since late December and were hoping to make a summit-push in mid March.  Naiknam Karm said one of the climbers died Monday of breathing difficulties at base camp and said the team was waiting for better weather before being flown from base camp by helicopter. Winter ascents of the world's 14 highest mountains are some of the most prized achievements left in climbing. K2 sees winter temperatures of 50 below zero and winds of up to 70 kilometers an hour (40 miles per hour) in winter. We are very sorry for the loss of your team member.

“What’s going on?” I asked Tom. “That Sherpa woman is in trouble.” “Laki?” “That’s the one. I saw her for a moment. Horrible. Her eyes were all bugged out. Cal tried a shot of dexamethazone, but it doesn’t seem to be working.” Dexamethazone was the drug of last resort in such a situation. It was an anti-inflammatory steroid that in certain situations was a lifesaver. That it wasn’t working was very bad news. I went into the clinic. Calvin was still arguing with Harlan, who was making no attempt to explain himself. Laki lay nearby and looked dreadful. To see a snapshot of someone suffering from HACE with edema, you cannot imagine what you are actually looking at. Such a photo might even look funny, with the eyes bugging out in an unnatural way. What was taking place was that her brain was swelling, and there was nowhere for it to go except through the openings that held her eyes. Laki was panting like a dog in summer. Her face was gaunt. She looked at me for ...

After beating a brain tumor, 27 year old Justin Anderson is among 20 other cancer survivors attempting to climb Mount Everest. The trip is meant to show the metaphor used by many cancer patients, climbing a mountain. The trip is funded and arranged through a Radiation Oncologist from the Mercy Cancer Center in Des Moines. The goal of the trek is to allow for people in Anderson's position to explore how catastrophes such as cancer can enhance one's outlook on life. After going into the doctor to have some mysterious headaches checked out, Anderson was told he had a malignant brain tumor the size of a walnut in his head. Through early detection and neurosurgery, the tumor is now completely gone. Anderson will leave for Nepal in the beginning of April but plans to blog about his entire experience while there.