Summit Murder Mystery Series

By   RAJNEESH BHANDARI MAY 6, 2017 Continue reading the main story Share This Page Share Tweet Email More Save Photo Min Bahadur Sherchan in Kathmandu, Nepal, in April, describing the trail to Mount Everest. Credit Niranjan Shrestha/Associated Press KATHMANDU, Nepal — An octogenarian Nepalese mountaineer who was on a mission to reclaim his title as the oldest climber on Mount Everest died on Saturday afternoon at base camp, government officials said. The climber, Min Bahadur Sherchan, 85, died at 5:14 p.m., said Dinesh Bhattarai, the director general of the Nepal Department of Tourism. The cause of Mr. Sherchan’s death was not immediately clear, but Gyanendra Shrestha, a government mountaineering official at the Everest base camp, said it might have been a heart attack. Tilak Ram Pandey, a government liaison officer for Mr. Sherchan’s team who was near the base camp, said Mr. Sherchan’s body would be taken to Kathmandu for an autopsy on Sunday. M...

DEHRADUN: Ankur Bahl, 54, went missing for two days soon after the April 25 earthquake in Nepal. He was stranded two nights at Camp II, at a height of 22,000 feet above sea level, while attempting to summit Everest for the first time. His anxious wife sent out tweets and messages on social media, and was flooded with offers of support and help. "The ministry of external affairs and the office of the President too reached out to help," Sangeeta Bahl says, recalling that ordeal and the kindness of strangers. Her husband says it was a dream to scale Everest. He was training under the guidance of Garret Madison, seven-time Everester. "I started my expedition for Everest on April 4. At 12 in the day on April 25, when it was all clouded and visibility was poor, the earth shook violently and two pronounced avalanches of approximately two minutes, one from the Nuptse side and the other from Everest side devastated the entire ice-fall route, sweeping ...

(Photo: DIPTENDU DUTTA AFP/Getty Images)   KATHMANDU, Nepal (AP) - Human waste left by climbers on Mount Everest has become a problem that is causing pollution and threatening to spread disease on the world's highest peak, the chief of Nepal's mountaineering association said Tuesday. The more than 700 climbers and guides who spend nearly two months on Everest's slopes each climbing season leave large amounts of feces and urine, and the issue has not been addressed, Ang Tshering told reporters. He said Nepal's government needs to get the climbers to dispose of the waste properly so the mountain remains pristine. Hundreds of foreign climbers attempt to scale Everest during Nepal's mountaineering season, which began this week and runs through May. Last year's season was canceled after 16 local guides were killed in an avalanche in April. Climbers spend weeks acclimatizing around the four camps set up betw...

A Hot-Air Balloon Ride Over Mt. Everest Will Cost You $2.6 Million Greg Keraghosian Associate Travel Editor The Everest balloon ride would cost two people $5.215 million. (Courtesy: IfOnly) Is the garden-variety hot-air balloon ride not an exciting enough date for you? Got a few million dollars stashed under your mattress? If so, one man is offering the adventure of a lifetime – possibly a short lifetime. Chris Dewhirst, the man who in 1991 completed the first hot-air balloon ride over Mount Everest is looking for two passengers for his second attempt: it costs over $2.6 million per person . And lest you get cold feet, the trip is non-refundable, with no guarantee of a successful crossing. Pilot Chris Dewhirst, who was aboard the first successful balloon ride over Everest. (Courtesy: IfOnly) Looking down on the frosty peaks of the world’s highest mountain from over 30,000 feet is bound to be worth the price for someone – people ar...

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Great article in the Arizona Republic today about Laura Barnes and her upcoming Kilimanjaro climb. In Swahili, hakuna matata translates to "no worries." Laura Barnes of Gilbert uses these words immortalized by the Disney movie "The Lion King" to assuage the fears of her 11-year-old son Henry about her upcoming charity trek of Mt. Kilimanjaro in the African country of Tanzania. "Kilimanjaro? Hakuna matata," Barnes says jauntily to Henry, who's troubled that the name of the mountain starts with the consonant "kil."  Hakuna matata was far from what Barnes' parents felt 40 years ago when their daughter was diagnosed with a hole in her heart. Barnes was 4 then and living in the village of Hartford in northwest England. "I cannot even begin to imagine the fear and the terror they were going through," she said. "But they didn't show it to me." When she turned 10, Barnes had open-heart surgery at Ro...

Mount Kilimanjaro is probably one of the most famous mountains in the world – it’s the highest walkable peak anywhere on the planet and thousands of people head here each year to climb it. That’s all well and good, but if you’ll be climbing Kilimanjaro as part of your gap year, you should know a bit more than that – to get you started, here are a few things you might not know about the Tanzanian mountain. The First Successful Ascent While climbing Kilimanjaro  may still be an impressive feat, it’s nothing compared to what the first mountaineers went through to tackle the summit. In October 1889, Hans Meyer, Ludwig Purtscheller and Yoanas Kinyala Lauwo became the first people to officially reach the rim of the Kibo crater and were the first ones to ascend Uhuru Peak – the highest point – on Purtscheller’s 40th birthday. This was actually Meyer’s third attempt at scaling the mountain and the expedition party – which also included nine porters, a guide, a cook and...

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...

Last year, an estimated 25,000 people set out to climb Mt Kilimanjaro , Africa's highest mountain. In so doing, they ate approximately 110,000 snickers bars, drank 70,000 litres of tea, expelled 75 cubic metres of intestinal gas and used 962 kilometres of toilet paper. More significant for the rest of us, they also produced some 25,000 personal accounts of the climb, tales of altitude, aptitude and attitude that have been written up, blogged about or televised more times than Britney Spears' waist line. With all this exposure, you'd be forgiven for thinking that a trek up Kili (as it's affectionately known by morons) would yield little in the way of surprises, every trivial twist and turn having been cogitated ad (altitudinal) nauseam in the pages of some glossy travel mag. Certainly this was my feeling as I embarked on the climb last month: there was nothing that could catch me unawares, right? Well, it turns out I was wrong. And here in testament t...

Kilimanjaro, with is three volcanoes, Kibo, Mawenzi and Shira, is considered an active volcano. Rising 19,341 feet above sea level in the north-eastern part of Tanzania and is the highest mountain in Africa. The meaning and origin of the name Kilimanjaro is unknown, but is thought to be a combination of the Swahili word Kilima and the Kichagga word Njaro. Kilima in Swahili translates to "mountain", while Njaro in Kichagga translates to "whiteness" or in some instances "our". European explorers adopted the name by 1860. In the 1880s the mountain was called Kilima-Ndscharo, and became a part of German East Africa. Karl Peters had persuaded local chiefs to sign treaties. In 1889 the peak of Kibo was named "Kaiser-Wilhelm-Spitze" by Hans Meyer. He named the peak on the first ascent to the summit. This name was used until 1918, when after World War I the German colonies were given to Great Britain. The British renamed it "Uhuru Peak...

The highest mountain in Antarctica, Vinson Massif, stands 16,050 feet above sea level. It lies in the Sentinel Range of the Ellsworth Mountains. The massif extends between several glaciers, the most well known being the Hinkley Glacier to the east. Vinson Massif comprises both the high central Vinson Plateau and several side ridges. Vinson Massif was first seen in 1958 and first climbed in 1966. The current height, 16,050 feet, resulted from a GPS survey by the 2004 Omega Foundation team. The team was led by Australian Damien Gildea and comprised of two Chilean climbers, Rodrigo Fica and Camilo Rada. The climate on Vinson Massif is mostly controlled by the polar ice cap's high pressure system and creates reasonably stable conditions. As in all arctic climates, high winds and snowfall are still a possibility. Traditionally, the annual snowfall on Vinson Massif is low. The summer season of Vinson Massif is during the months of November through January and there are 24 hours ...

Puncak Jaya, also known as Mount Carstensz or the Carstensz Pyramid, is located in the western central highlands of Papua province or Indonesia. Among the native people of Indonesia it is also called Nemangkawi, and Gunung Sukarno. It is the highest mountain in Oceania and the highest island peak in the world. It stands at 16,024 feet above sea level. Puncak Jaya was named "Carstensz Pyramid" after a Dutch explorer, Ja Carstensz, first sighted the glaciers on the peak of the mountain in 1623. Interestingly, Carstensz sighting was not verified for another two centuries and the explorer was ridiculed for claiming to see snow in close proximity to the equator. The peak was renamed "Puntjak Soekarno" in the 1960s, when Indonesia took control of the province. The name was later changed to Puncak Jaya. "Puncak" translates to peak or mountain, while "Jaya" translates to victory or victorious. The first team to be victorious and summit Puncak Jaya ...

Mount Elbrus lies in Russia, rising near the political strife ridden border between Russian and Georgia. Mount Elbrus stands as the highest mountain in Europe and the west summit rises to 18,510 feet. The name Elbrus is a metathesis of Alborz. Alborz is derived from the name of a mountain in Persian mythology, Hara Barezaiti, which translates to 'High Watch' or 'High Guard'. Elbrus is considered an inactive volcano, but beneath the mountain there still resides a supply of active magma. There has never been a recorded eruption of Mount Elbrus but scientists believe that between 0 and 100 AD. The mountain also has solfataric activity and many hot springs. Scientists do not know if Mount Elbrus will erupt again. According to myth, Mount Elbrus was known to the ancient civilizations as Strobilus and believed that Zeus had chained Prometheus, the Titan, to the mountain because had stolen fire from the gods to give to the people. Some speculate this is in reference to...

According to Russian scientists Mount Elbrus is expected to erupt within the next 50 years. If this were to happen, it would dramatically change the climbing world. This would completely disrupt the face of Mount Elbrus and could potentially change the way climbers attack Mount Elbrus. Russian scientists believe Mount Elbrus will erupt due to several evidentiary facts. The first, according to Natalya Volodicheva, the head of the Elbrus Scientific Research Centre of Moscow State University, is the emission of fumarolic gases and the appearance of thermal springs. The increase in appearances of both of these things suggests that an eruption is in the near future. Also, the temperature at the peak of Mount Everest is abnormally high. Because of this higher temperature, moss has begun to grow on the cracks of the surface. The growth of moss is another sign of a volcano about to erupt. The biggest fear of Mount Elbrus erupting is the danger it poses. The melted ice and snow will tur...

Kenton Cool plans to climb Everest for the eighth time, breaking his own record of seven successful Everest summits. Known as one of the UK's leading climbers, Kenton has been climbing for 18 years. In 2007, Kenton summited Everest twice. Kenton who is a Dream Guides founder, will be making it a double record by guiding 22 year old Bonita Norris , making her the youngest British woman to summit Everest. Bonita leaves for Everest on April 3 .

China Everest 87 expedition team. Charles Irion pictured (far left) Interestingly enough, the idea for the Summit Murder Mystery Series started when author Charles Irion was climbing Mount Everest. According to Irion, "I was part of a 1987 Everest expedition. I never planned to attempt a summit but thought the experience would be one of a lifetime. I was right. I reached 21,000 feet, well below the summit, but that was enough for me. Climbing Everest, even with the aid of all the technology now available, is a daunting and dangerous undertaking. What I took away was just how dangerous high altitude climbing is. When the prospect of murder is introduced the possibilities were immediately apparent."

Monday there will be a discussion about "Murder on Everest" and "Abandoned on Everest" held at the Meridian RV Resort in Apache Junction ,Arizona. There are over 100 residents and guests signed up for the event where author Charles Irion will speak and take part in a question and answer session. This exciting debut novel and prequel novel the first two in a series of 8 books about a murder mystery taking place on one of the highest and deadliest mountains in each of the world's continents. Intrigue ,sex, murder, no one has guessed right who the murderer was until the very end! www.summitmurders.com

we placed facebook ads for our new murder mystery series and the results are amazing!

Ron and I are deep into this new mystery which will be published next year. The characters will amaze you and the research into the native culture is fascinating. The russians as always want our oil---the environalmentalists will stop at nothing to stop the big companies.----sex, murder, intrigue

Writing seven murder mysteries atop each of the highest peaks of the world's seven continents is a daunting task. Mountaineering offers many opportunities for excitement and danger, and the mountains themselves are located in exotic locales, typically in remote locations. But seven books about mountain climbing could get tedious. How many times can you describe snow? Or a blizzard? A fall? The cold? It could get old very easily. Still, the concept of murder in such inherently dangerous places was too much for Chuck and I to pass up. So... the idea is to give each book a twist, a different angle and in that we've succeeded I believe. We've laid out original storylines for each book. It's an exciting enterprise and we're both looking forward to publishing the flagship of the series, Murder on Everest.