UKC

So I'm 30 years old but...I'm sure somebody will reply with a rude and derogatory comment as is the norm....but if you take a look at my profile is achieving to work towards cclimbing an 8000m peak achievable?
?

By this I am meaning not as a commercial party tthat literally gets hauled up but more as an independent trip?

Cheers,

AT

In reply to An Triubhas: Of course it isn't too late. Whether or not "you" can do it is a question only you can answer. I guess "you" can't because you haven't been driven enough to climb much so far.

In reply to An Triubhas:

At 30? God, I hope so otherwise I'm well f*cked ...

In reply to Sir Chasm: how do you know I've not been driven to so far?

In reply to Sir Chasm: when you don't know anything about my life?!

In reply to An Triubhas: Oh! Did I give an uninformed opinion on the internet? Sorry. Give us your history then so I can give an informed "you'll never do it".

In reply to An Triubhas: "I presume Sir Chasm said that because you asked for replies based on your user profile which only shown 9 climbs in your logbook. If he assumes that to be your only climbing experience (which reading the rest of your profile I assume that there is a lot more) then his comments are justified."

That was what I was going to say before Sir Chasm gave his rather scathing reply.

In reply to 2PointO:

Ok...point taken. Right, my list of climbs isn't at all up to date.

Maybe I should re word it to ask is it too late, with determination to get the fitness and skills to achieve it?

In reply to 2PointO: I didn't assume anything based on his profile. I based it on the fact he has to post for advice ranging from what tent pegs he needs for the Lake District to which hand he should wipe his backside with. But I lay you a fiver that Himalaya Mountain Rescue won't be called out to his attempt on a big hill.

In reply to An Triubhas: if you had the determination, then you'd know it's never too late. By looking for reinforcement you've kinda illustrated that you don't have the confidence and hence the drive and determination. But you can change all that starting from now

In reply to Sir Chasm: +1, quarks v vipers?

In reply to An Triubhas:
Are you a good looking blone girl? if so, you can get a sponser and get hauled up next year.

In reply to Sir Chasm:

You have been ever so supportive as always. You arse!

In reply to An Triubhas:
Me, 65, Kala Pattar 5000m+ YES
You 30, 8000m YES

TELL yourself you CAN do it.

In reply to Sir Chasm:

+1

And given his comical over reactions to criticism, when he's presumably relaxed and comfortable, would anyone want to spend a week stormbound with him at 20000+ feet?

In reply to An Triubhas:

On Parkinson during his interview

Brian Blessed : "They say i'm too old to climb Everest, I say Bollocks, I will climb Everest"

Thats the attitude to take

In reply to mypyrex:

Just because Joe brown can still climb E grade routes in his 70s, it doesn't mean i'll be onsighting rhapsody any time soon.

In reply to no_more_scotch_eggs:

Actually that's a rubbish analogy, because walking up a big hill on a trekking holiday is not comparable to climbing right unconquerable.

But the point is the same. Your success walking up a path has no bearing on OPs chances of getting up an 8000m peak under his own steam

In reply to An Triubhas:

Would you be using bottled oxgen? If so I can't see a problem if you pick your peak and route, if not thats a whole barrel of requiring more fitness and training.

In reply to mypyrex


You deleted your reply... Wasnt slagging you off, honestly!

Though I accept it does look like I am

But just highlighting the differencr between the relative difficulty of kala pattar and an 8000er

In reply to An Triubhas:

Jesus Christ man, you're ONLY 30!!! FFS, of course you could, although if you ask questions like that maybe you can't.

In reply to An Triubhas:

What? I am 30 now, just finished an exped to a 7000m peak, and will do a few more before maybe an attempt on a 8000er.

However, there are many peaks in the world, and 8000ers are not at the top of my list. So many other regions to explore and see

Avi

In reply to An Triubhas:

There is still hope for you even though your into your 4th decade

According to the Senior Citizen Mt Everest Expedition (SECEE), Min Bahadur Sherchan (Nepal, b.20 June 1931) reached the highest point on Earth on 25 May 2008 at the age of 76 years 340 days.

The next day saw septuagenarian Yuichiro Miura (Japan, b.10 October 1932) reach the summit at the age of 75 years 227 days - the second oldest person to successfully climb the world's highest mountain.

In reply to no_more_scotch_eggs: I was trying to make a point about our respective ages, not climbing difficulty or ability. As an aside, I know that to the UKC divas Kala Pattar is a "walk". To me it was my own personal "Everest" , an achievement which I shall treasure for posterity and equal to and no less demanding in its own way to many other outings I have made.

In reply to Trangia:

Op wants to do it independently. Not sure how relevant these examples are.

Especially as, while age has no bearing on whether he'd get up, it does if what he's actually asking is,

"Given the massive amount of experience I will need to gain, can I find the time and money to gain it in my busy life...? And what sort of sacrifices might I have to make to get this experience?"

If that is the question, we would need more info about his current experience, and personal circumstances.

And a bit more tolerance from him of replies that arent exactly what he expected to hear!

In reply to mypyrex:

Yes, sorry if that came across as running down your achievement- that wasn't the intention. Not sure I'd be able to manage it at 40, as I acclimatise so badly!

But it bears as much relevance to independently climbing and 8000er as it does to going to the moon....

In reply to An Triubhas:

I don't know anything about the topic, but 30 isn't old.

It's achievable.

In reply to An Triubhas: I've no idea about mountain climbing, but obviously 30 is not too old to do anything.

I think you're asking for support in the wrong place. Most people into climbing tend to be quite self supporting and the mere idea that you're posting to ask makes most people think, no, you probably can't. But people are different, we don't all come out of one mould.

I've an ex partner who does what you do, looks for support because she has so much self doubt. Thing is, I have never seen her fail at anything she set her mind to. I am not saying you're like that......... I don't know you. But yes, it's possible if you get your head right and you have it in you.

In reply to An Triubhas:

I refer the OP to the recent British success on the Mazeno Ridge, Nanga Parbat. If I remember rightly, those guys were on the 'wrong' side of a half century (not unlike wot I am).

In reply to An Triubhas:

How about joining a commercial trip for the logistics side of things but then doing the final summit push independently? I would think this half-way house approach would make a lot of sense by removing a lot of the time and effort required in the bumpf that seems to surround these type of trips, but allowing you to keep the purist ethic that you aspire to.

Having said this, I know next to nothing about these type of expeditions and don't know whether doing it this way is actually possible. Maybe someone better informed can chip in.

I've toyed with the idea of doing some expeditions myself. I'm not really sure how much fitness is required though. I consider myself pretty fit - run 2 to 3 times per week and climb 2 to 3 times per week as well. I'm not sure that being able to run a 5k fast or onsight 7a is actually very useful for these type of things, however. Like most things, I imagine the fitness is quite specific to the activity and that the best way to train is to climb a lot of big hills regularly.

Truth be told, it's when I get to looking at the costs involved that my interest starts to wane.

In reply to An Triubhas:

First of all, if you think that going on a "commercial party" means that everyone is "literally hauled up" then I suggest you need to find out a teeny bit more about what goes on during commercial expeditions, and about the variety of commercial expeditions.

Secondly, the fact that you suggest we look at your profile and then you admit your profile is out of date makes me think you are not really serious in seeking informed opinion.

I suggest you look at some commercial web sites and read their requirements and read their expedition reports. That will give you a better idea of what they offer, and a better idea of what you would need to do to get on a good quality commercial trip. I recommend Jagged Globe as a good starting point. Or Adventure Peaks.

Finally, what do you mean by an "independent trip?"
Do you mean one with no support from porters, cooks, drivers, etc?
Do you mean solo?
Do you mean arriving in country and hiring your own team one by one?
Do you mean hiring a local agency?

All in all, I suggest there is a lot of easily accessible information out there that can answer your question.
If you are not prepared to do some independent research to answer your question, then of course you will never be able to climb any big mountain independently.

PS the first thing you mention - your age - is by itself the least relevant factor I can think of in whether it is too late for you to aspire to climb an 8,000m peak. Unless you expect to die by the age of 31.

In reply to SARS:

Most good quality expedition companies will offer to do the logistics for you and let you climb on your own.

As for the fitness level required, I again suggest you look at the Jagged Globe website where these things are explained very clearly.
As for the costs - it depends upon whether you want to climb a big mountain in the Himalayas or if you want to climb something over 8,000m. If the latter, there is a high minimum price. If you can broaden your objectives then the price and fitness demands can both come down A LOT.
You can then view the climbing of huge mountains (make no mistake, something over 5,500m will feel huge) as an end in itself, or as a stepping stone to bigger hills.

In reply to An Triubhas: As a rule of thumb on here, if you ask for advice on a certain aspect of climbing, only listen to the advice given by those who've actually got experience in that aspect - in your case, people who have experience of 8000m (or at least 6000m+) climbing.

In reply to Goucho:
Agree.

Am just trying to get my training right after my first exped over 7000m, so not too late for anything.

Plus, most people who try for 8000ers, unless you are sponsored, need some financial security and backup, which is hard to get before mid 30s, 40s.

Unless you win the lottery that is and can sack everything and go climbing.

Avi

In reply to Sir Chasm:

Where's the "Like" button? ;0)

In reply to An Triubhas:

I would think the stats show that 30 years old + is about the low end of 8000m summits, whether commercial or non commercial expeds. The key as everyone else has said is how much effort you actually want to put into it.

Going with a commercial expedition does mean that you climb on your own steam, you know, it just means that you can delegate the logistics / local knowledge / weather expertise to someone who has spent many years building up the necessary experience.

If you really want to do it yourself then you'll have to learn all those organisational, medical and objective danger skills, and they can't be learnt from reading books or asking people on forums. You need to get out there and do it, and that takes time (lots of it), money (ditto) and probably some good innate skills.

The altitude and fitness are probably quite low down the list of problems you are going to have to deal with - pretty much anyone middle aged or younger can get fit enough, and though some deal better with altitude than others, most people can spend enough time aclimatising and deal with it ok - particularly as you're probably going to use oxygen anyway.

In reply to An Triubhas: i like this thread more and more.

In reply to Removed User:

Up your arse?

In reply to An Triubhas: Best of luck. I've only been to 5000 but apparently endurance improves in males till 40 or so. I know a guy (25ish) who just climbed Ama Dablam, I'm sure something like that is within your grasp with proper training and dedication.

Sir Chasm: Lonely tonight?

R

In reply to AndyC:

Absolutely, was an awesome effort.

In reply to An Triubhas:

You haven't said why you think it shouldn't be achievable. Age? you're only 30, don't be ridiculous. Lack of experience? You're 30, you've plenty of time to gain experience.

"Working towards climbing an 8000m peak" will surely involve tackling some lower mountains first, To go straight into Himalayan climbing at 8000m would be ambitious. There's a reason the commercial companies require previous high-altitude experience before accepting people on 8000m expeditions.

I would suggest going on a few commercial non-guided expeditions first, where the logistics and support will be taken care of but you will be still be involved in the mountaineering decisions (and certainly won't be "dragged up"). By the time you have the experience to tackle an 8000er you'll also have the experience to know whether it's achievable.

In reply to Sir Chasm:

Fairy nuff, I was trying to point out to the OP that it looked like one way or another you had a fairly justifiable point and that he seemed to be over-reacting a bit in the whole "you don't know me, how dare you say that" response after he had asked for responses based on his out-of-date profile.

In reply to 2PointO: I don't base my replies based on profiles, it wouldn't seem right somehow.

In reply to Sir Chasm: How admirable of you, if only more people had principles like that I would consider un-logging all those definitely true E7s that I have definitely done.

In reply to Sir Chasm:
I don't really base my replies on people's profiles because I know how little effort I put in to ensuring that MY profile is up to date...