Either it’s snowing super hard or the Everest webcam is down again. The solar powered camera was setup by a team of scientists who are seeking to measure the effects of global warming, and the feed is live from 6am to 6pm Himalaya time. I’m terrible at math so you’re on your own for local times. Right now the camera feed looks like a whiteout, so I’ll stop back in a few hours to see if it’s blackout. I heard that the webcam was invented by scientists who wanted to keep an eye on the coffeepot in the next room; glad to see we can now use them to keep an eye on glaciers on the other side of the world.

via Adventure Blog

Yes, we’ve all read that going up Everest is glorified “snow march.” This helmet cam video from a while back shows a climber making his way over the Khumbu glacier. Put some railings up on those things! I’ve read so much ridiculous stuff about Everest that it’s become easy to forget how beautiful it can be. I hope they tipped their Sherpas well for putting up the ladders.

via Teton AT

If you doubted that Eric Larsen was from Minnesota your doubts can be laid to rest after watching the trailer for his upcoming film Colder. The bold modern day polar explorer narrates this piece, and his accent make me feel like I’m back in the Country Bar in Uptown Minneapolis. Fantastic guy, I’m sure, and his accomplishments over 2009 speak for themselves: overland to the North and South Poles and to the summit of Everest in fall. Looks to be an interesting film.

via The Adventure Blog

After 87 years the issue of who first made the summit on Everest if up for debate. The only loose thread is George Mallory and Andrew Irvine who disappeared during their summit bid. Mallory’s body was found years ago, but he didn’t have the camera that could potentially hold a photo of one of the duo standing at the top of the world. It’s suspected that Irvine would have carried the evidence. Now the BBC is filming an attempt on a group looking for Irvine’s body, which would hopefully have the camera intact and preserved in the freezing temps after all these years. The team is using satellite imagery to hone in on what they think might be Irvine’s body, and they’ll go after him in December. The weather might not be great then, but at least the mountain won’t be too crowded. Some would prefer that the team’s camera remain one of the great mountaineering mysteries. Regardless it was only a matter of time until someone went looking, and perhaps we’ll one day find out.

via Adventure Blog

Mountaineering must be the only sport in the world where you’ll occasionally run across the frozen body of an old friend and no one considers it all that weird. About 200 people have died on Everest and their remains have stayed on the mountainside, some of them like ‘Green Boots’ familiar markers to climbers on their way up or down. This season one climber found the body of his 28-year-old friend from Scotland who’d died on the way down a couple months earlier. The deceased climber’s family had requested that the friend retrieve the camera if he could, but the body proved too far out of reach.  Upstanding UK newspaper the Mirror has all the details.