I caught this earlier today on Eddie Bauer’s First Ascent blog. While it is light on the details, it is the teaser for an upcoming expedition sponsored by the cash strapped outdoor apparel company that is trying oh so hard to get back to its roots and make a mark once again with the real outdoor crowd.
It seems two unnamed athletes will be making the “first ever 9000 meter ascent” by first SCUBA diving to 152 meters down, and then climbing Everest. The blog post says that this will begin in February, so presumably they’ll make the dive just before they travel to Nepal and begin their ascent of the tallest mountain on Earth, which just so happens to stand 8848 meters in height, giving them a combined total of 9000 meters.
The blog also urges us to “Be First! Get Sponsored.” Which seems to indicate that Eddie B. has more cash to splash around on these types of projects. While I’m sure this is a noble venture, and the whole SCUBA dive to Everest Summit will probably garner some attention, I’d personally rather see them fund some expeditions to more remote regions for more daring climbs. This just seems like another Everest publicity stunt, which we’ve seen so many times over the past few years. Anyway, they even put together a teaser video that you can check out below too, although you’re better off watching the one of Babu Sherpa that I posted below instead.
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While I appreciate EB trying to get back into "real" outdoor gear, this is just so gimmicky. And, like you said, Everest stunts are old hat and EB would be best served by blazing some new trails to prove their worth.
I so agree! Everest has several hundred summits each year. If they want to get the hardcore back, they need to fund some more ground breaking expeditions in my opinion. This just sounds too gimmicky.
Then again, everyone and their brother was covering the EB return to Everest last year, so what do I know. Didn't hurt that they had that All-Star cast of climbers though.
Uh, is this just me or does it sound like a suicide run?
I agree with Mike Barish, this is very much a gimmick. I'm not a fan of it stunts like this.
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What is really sad, is that this expedition is sponsored by EB.
I mean ,EB is one of the original outdoor clothing outfitters. But now, whith North Face,Mountain Hardwear,Columbia and others, do people still shop for gear at EB?
I've always considered EB to be the "outdoorzy" company for spoiled rich people.
I think they would be better off doing a unclimbed route on another mountain.
Mount Everest The British Story
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Agreed Colin. I'd rather they send their sponsorship dollars to a more unique and adventurous expedition rather than another Everest "first". They'll likely get plenty of exposure on this one though.
If they do it, I still have the first 10,000m in my head, the tallest peak on earth !
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mauna_Kea
So with the money they have they better do it before I reach 45 or so because got other world firsts in head before that one 🙂
That's hilarious Lou-Phi, because I was thinking about Mauna Kea myself when I read the original story. Most people don't realize that it is actually the tallest mountain on the planet, it just happens to fall mostly underwater. 🙂
Also, their 9000m peak will be broken in 2 phases I guess. The dive+the climb. And how far away are these to points ?
To me they can only succeed a 9000m if they dive it, and they walk or go overland the the Everest. Flying would mean break the ascent a bit like if you would climb everest from Lukla to EBC than take a heli and be dropped in camp4 and resume the climb to the summit)
But climbing Mauna Kea can be seen in 2 ways: the easy one and the hard one.
Easy one would mean go with a http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bathyscaphe down and up, but I'm wondering if there's a human propelled way to go down and up to that deep ! Because using engines is a bit cheating.
Anyway, this 10,000m peak is in a way still virgin and a good adventure to be tried alongside with some tests on the human body to check how we feel/react after being deep then mid-high altitude.
I was thinking the same thing about the 9000m ascent. Since they're starting it in February, they pretty much have to be doing the dive elsewhere.
Details are a bit thin at the moment, but at the very best, they'd dive in late February then immediately fly to Kathmandu and begin the climb phase. But either way, they're not going to be doing it overland I suspect, although that would at least make it a bit more interesting.
I'd be willing to bet the dive will take place some where tropical and they'll then hop a flight to KTM.