Author Topic: Help me Summit For Someone  (Read 1188 times)

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Steve Heezy

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Help me Summit For Someone
« Topic Start: November 02, 2007, 01:53:51 PM »
All,

I believe I have mentioned it in previous threads but I am participating in the Summit for Someone Climb Series hosted by Big City Mountaineers (www.bigcitymountaineers.org) and will be climbing Mt. Whitney from April 18-21. The mission of BCM is to provide urban teenage youth in need of positive adult mentoring with challenging and safe wilderness experiences led by qualified adult volunteer guides. My goal for this event is to raise $3800 which will fund 1 8-day wilderness trip for these kids. In total, the 2008 trips will involve 126 teens and 123 volunteers from ten geographic regions: Seattle, Denver, Colorado Springs, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Washington DC, Miami, Corpus Christi, and the San Francisco Bay Area.

If you would like to help out and donate to BCM, please go to www.summitforsomeone.org and click on the Donate button. On the next screen you can enter my name, Steve Vadnais, click "Go" and it will take you to my personal page. Every dollar counts and I truly appreciate any/all help.

Thanks again,

Steve "Heezy" Vadnais

Offline Ericas Nats

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Re: OT: Help me Summit For Someone
« Reply #1: November 02, 2007, 04:05:57 PM »
oh cool, i'll check it out !! thanks for the info!

:-)

Offline Ali the Baseball Cat

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Re: OT: Help me Summit For Someone
« Reply #2: November 04, 2007, 10:52:38 AM »
Two questions:  is that Mt Whitney, CA?  And if so, isn't that the highest point in the lower 48?  Well, three questions, actually...at the risk of revealing my craven side, is this tax deductible?

All,

I believe I have mentioned it in previous threads but I am participating in the Summit for Someone Climb Series hosted by Big City Mountaineers (www.bigcitymountaineers.org) and will be climbing Mt. Whitney from April 18-21. The mission of BCM is to provide urban teenage youth in need of positive adult mentoring with challenging and safe wilderness experiences led by qualified adult volunteer guides. My goal for this event is to raise $3800 which will fund 1 8-day wilderness trip for these kids. In total, the 2008 trips will involve 126 teens and 123 volunteers from ten geographic regions: Seattle, Denver, Colorado Springs, Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, Washington DC, Miami, Corpus Christi, and the San Francisco Bay Area.

If you would like to help out and donate to BCM, please go to www.summitforsomeone.org and click on the Donate button. On the next screen you can enter my name, Steve Vadnais, click "Go" and it will take you to my personal page. Every dollar counts and I truly appreciate any/all help.

Thanks again,

Steve "Heezy" Vadnais

Offline Ali the Baseball Cat

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Re: OT: Help me Summit For Someone
« Reply #3: November 04, 2007, 11:02:14 AM »
Impressive website, and I see the answer is yes, yes, and yes...donation sent.  Good luck!

Steve Heezy

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Re: OT: Help me Summit For Someone
« Reply #4: November 04, 2007, 12:57:52 PM »
Hey Ali, thank you so much for your donation. Sorry I didn't get back to you sooner. I was out all day yesterday for a "training" session at Little Stoney Man Cliffs. Thanks again!!!

Steve Heezy

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Re: OT: Help me Summit For Someone
« Reply #5: November 04, 2007, 01:03:26 PM »
Also ... here is the climb description and itinerary.

At 14,497 feet, Mt.Whitney is the highest peak in the lower 49 US states. It is also one of the most sought-after mountains in North America. During the winter and spring months, our climb route (the Mountaineer's Route) is full of snow. Crampon, ice axe and rope-travel skills are necessary as well as fixed-line skills.  In some conditions, running belays are employed. Over the four-day climb, we will set up two expedition-style camps, the highest located at the base of the spectacular East Face of Mt. Whitney.  This 25- to 45-degree climb offers an excellent opportunity to learn and review skills applicable to climbs such as Mt. McKinley and peaks in South America, the Alps, Russia, Nepal and other mountains with big snow climbs. The route we've chosen is much less crowded on the way to the summit, and beautiful vistas are prevalent throughout the climb.

Day Zero: Travel
Flights/travel to Lone Pine, California. See Travel Info for more details.
 
Day One:
Meet and hike to Lower Boy Scout Lake
The group meets on the first day of the trip in the nearby town of Lone Pine at the High Sierra Cafe starting at 7 a.m. We then will drive as far as the snow will allow, which is usually within a mile of the summer trailhead at Whitney Portal. Wearing snowshoes from the start, we will ascend the North Fork of Lone Pine creek and put in our first camp at Lower Boy Scout Lake (10,300 feet). We will spend some time there reviewing skills and working on techniques.
 
Day Two: Hike to High Camp
On day two, the team moves to high camp at Iceberg Lake (12,240 feet) in preparation for our summit bid the following morning.
 
Day Three:  Summit Day   
Day three is the ascent of the Mountaineer's Route. The slope runs at a 25 to 35 degree angle to a notch approximately 400 feet below the summit.  From there, we will ascend the final snow and rock gully where the steepness increases to between 40 and 45 degrees. The team will use fixed line from that point to the summit. We descend back to our high camp the same day.
 
Day Four: Return to Trailhead
The final day is devoted to descending back to our cars, and usually we get back between 12 noon and 2 p.m.

Offline Ali the Baseball Cat

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Re: OT: Help me Summit For Someone
« Reply #6: November 04, 2007, 11:29:53 PM »
That should be a hell of a climb in April...I was skiing at ~12,000 feet in CO last April, and there was a sh**load of snow and nighttime temps were well down into the negatives.  Should be an exciting time on Whitney!  There was a Washington Post Sunday Mag piece about such a program a few weeks ago - had to do with some kids from D.C. Juvie who got packed off to somewhere out west (I want to say Utah) to go tramping about the bush for a week, and the effect it had on them.  Given that the recividism rate from juvie is about 99%, if a week in the wilderness can do anything at all, it's probably worth a shot. 

Offline tomterp

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Re: OT: Help me Summit For Someone
« Reply #7: November 05, 2007, 08:53:04 AM »
Nice 4,200 foot in altitude gain from the starting elevation.  Steve, I hope you're taking your training seriously!

Steve Heezy

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Re: OT: Help me Summit For Someone
« Reply #8: November 05, 2007, 10:46:29 AM »
Hey Tom, it will actually be a 6100 ft. gain over the course of the trip. We will start at Whitney Portal which is at 8360' and then hike to Lower Boy Scott Lake at 10300'.

I am taking my training very seriously. For starters I've already dropped 20 lbs (I'm back down to 165) which without doing anything else increases my power to weight ratio. I will spend all winter training/camping outside in the cold to get a feel for what I'll be up against. I'll head out to Mason's field house to run the stadium with a 40lb pack on. Regular walks around my neighborhood with a heavy pack on. Hiking Old Rag right after a snow storm. Increased miles on regular runs since I'm running a 10-miler (goal of 9 min. each) two weeks before I head out west. And I'll mix in some strength training in the gym: back, legs, shoulders are the main focus.

The end result is that I need to be more physically efficient. Less weight more power

Offline tomterp

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Re: OT: Help me Summit For Someone
« Reply #9: November 05, 2007, 12:03:28 PM »
Hey Tom, it will actually be a 6100 ft. gain over the course of the trip. We will start at Whitney Portal which is at 8360' and then hike to Lower Boy Scott Lake at 10300'.

I am taking my training very seriously. For starters I've already dropped 20 lbs (I'm back down to 165) which without doing anything else increases my power to weight ratio. I will spend all winter training/camping outside in the cold to get a feel for what I'll be up against. I'll head out to Mason's field house to run the stadium with a 40lb pack on. Regular walks around my neighborhood with a heavy pack on. Hiking Old Rag right after a snow storm. Increased miles on regular runs since I'm running a 10-miler (goal of 9 min. each) two weeks before I head out west. And I'll mix in some strength training in the gym: back, legs, shoulders are the main focus.

The end result is that I need to be more physically efficient. Less weight more power

Sounds like you got the right idea.  I'm not any kind of authority, but I have hiked in deep snow in Colorado, in October, on a trip where we ascended to the Continental Divide.  I don't remember the altitude, but it was well above 10,000 feet, and I think we gained about 2,500 on the trip in (one day ascent).  I was 26 at the time and in decent shape, but you really notice the lack of wind when at altitude. 

One thing you don't think about if you haven't snowshoed before, is that with each step (particularly with a heavy pack) you plunge deeply into the snow, and before you can lift your foot for the next step, snow caves in on top of your shoe.  So merely lifting your foot for the next step becomes a significant undertaking.  I think those are the hip flexor muscles, but whatever, make sure you train your legs for lifting up (with weight), otherwise you set yourself up for pain. 

Steve Heezy

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Re: OT: Help me Summit For Someone
« Reply #10: November 05, 2007, 04:12:18 PM »
Ah ... "post-holing" ... this I am not looking forward to at all. I have heard horror stories of how much energy people spend trying to hike through deep snow.

I have also studied up on "hypoxic" training (just incase ... training with low levels of oxygen to simulate higher altitude). One exercise I read about was swimming 50/100 meters taking a breath every 2 strokes, then swim 50 meters taking a breath every 4 strokes, and so on till you pretty much can't take anymore. I will not spend too much time on this but will devote some time to it much closer to april to gain a feeling of exerting effort with little air.

Offline Ali the Baseball Cat

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Re: OT: Help me Summit For Someone
« Reply #11: November 06, 2007, 11:03:57 AM »
As I'm sure you know, oxygen decays geometrically with altitude, so the difference between 10,000 and 15,000 feet is much greater than between sea level and 5,000 feet.  I climbed a 20,000 foot mountain once, and even though it was a relatively easy climb (Kilimanjaro in Africa) and I was in excellent shape, the mountain totally kicked my butt, and I just barely made it to the top.  The flip side was the rush of descending, as the brain reoxygenates...big fun!!  Just go slow...hypoxia is a much greater problem if you go up to fast.

Ah ... "post-holing" ... this I am not looking forward to at all. I have heard horror stories of how much energy people spend trying to hike through deep snow.

I have also studied up on "hypoxic" training (just incase ... training with low levels of oxygen to simulate higher altitude). One exercise I read about was swimming 50/100 meters taking a breath every 2 strokes, then swim 50 meters taking a breath every 4 strokes, and so on till you pretty much can't take anymore. I will not spend too much time on this but will devote some time to it much closer to april to gain a feeling of exerting effort with little air.

Steve Heezy

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Re: OT: Help me Summit For Someone
« Reply #12: November 30, 2007, 11:19:28 AM »
Thanks to everyone who has donated so far. I truly appreciate it. Its the end of November and I'm making a push to reach the $1000 mark by the end of the day. I'm currently at $880 and am asking for your help! Even if you can only give $5, $10, or $15 please do.

Thanks again for all your support,

Steve

Steve Heezy

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Re: Help me Summit For Someone
« Reply #13: February 04, 2008, 02:49:14 PM »
Just want to bump this up to the top. If anyone is interested in donating and helping me reach my goal of $3800 please go to https://ssl.charityweb.net/bcm/summit08/?PledgeID=42503 .

Thanks for your help.