Update from Paul Romero, father of 13-year-old Jordan Romero…

A last minute postponement of the planned climbing trip to Indonesia (Summit #6) and we found ourselves instead at the Summer Outdoor Retailer show in Salt Lake City then direct from the show to Washington state, home of one of North America’s prominent mountains, Mt. Rainier. Civil unrest in Indonesia near Carstensz Pyramid has temporarily halted all climbing in the area.

At 14,400ft., Jordan yells over the howling wind “3 down, 47 to go!” Jordan’s referring to his next mission to high-point the U.S. (standing on the highest point in each of the 50 states).

Jordan’s standing on top of Rainier, the massive free-standing mountain that commands tremendous respect and has claimed the lives of many who tried to reach it’s peak. So, though Jordan still sees it as training for the 7 Summits, he’s now bagged three of the U.S. High-Points; Washington’s Rainier, California’s Mt. Whitney and Alaska’s Mt. McKinley.

The Rainier team consisted of Jordan, 13, soon to be in 8th grade at Big Bear Middle School, Karen Lundgren, team Mom and videographer, and Paul Romero, Father and team guide.

It was a gorgeous drive into the national park in our stealth black rental Dodge Charger, latte in the cup holder, windows down and the radio playing all the right 70’s sing along tunes that even Jordan’s knows. Check-in, permits, pack the backpacks and the mission is underway. The team set off from White River, the eastern flank of the Mt. Rainier National Park. It’s a fairytale start with flowing creeks and waterfalls of glacier water, wildflowers in full bloom, white puffy clouds and high spirits. The sun was just right. Things just clicked getting this trip started.

We’d been anxious to get some climbing in. Other than some local training hikes, Jordan had not been on the serious end of a rope since our winter ascent up the Mountaineer’s route of Mt. Whitney, one cold, snowy winter day in February. He’s been using his time wisely, diversifying his skills and life experiences with mountain bike racing, stand up paddling, kayak racing, multisport racing and back country skiing just to name a few.

A 5 hour approach to the high camp was a fair bit of work, our packs were busting at the seams with gear, food and water. Rainier has a fierce reputation and we came ready for anything. We start at 4400’ and climb 5000’ just to arrive at the camp. Our strategy is to bed down at sunset, sleep for a few solid hours and ‘pop up’ at midnight for the expected 7 hour summit push. Setting up the camp was a great test of teamwork and patience. Thunderstorms made their expected visit, and gusting wind made set up entertaining…for anyone watching. Karen leads the effort, Jordan holds down a corner and duck squats to hide from the ripping wind. Our shorts no longer warm enough, we crawl into our sleeping bags, thaw out our appendages, eat and set alarms for 1 a.m. Paul’s plan – midnight start; Jordan’s vote 6 a.m. start – – the compromise 1 a.m.

Sleep turns into only a bit of relaxation as 60 mph winds pound our tent and blow so hard the roof of the tent bows down to our faces. ALARMS!! gear on, and secure the tent so it’s there when we return.

Once outside the tent, we see dozens of lights climbing the face – climbers that were a little more eager and who now have at least a 1000’-2000’ jump on us. Like it or not the competitive nature in all of us surfaces and we feel like we need to catch up. It doesn’t take long and we’re making new friends and having chit chat in the darkness. In the past, Jordan was always greeted with astonishment at ‘the kid’ on the mountain. His recent growth spurt and with the typical mountain gear on, he looks like the average 5’7” ‘guy’ on the mountain. No special idle chat about his age or background. He was 12 years old 1 week ago, but at a glance those days appear years ago.

Jordan like any 13 year old would prefer to stay in bed and “sleep-in”. This morning he shows his maturity and ability to be a rock solid teammate. It’s up, packed and into the blaring wind we go.

Nearly 6000’ stand between Jordan and the summit of Mt. Rainier. Conditions- not optimum, the warmth has created tremendous melting and crevasses are prevalent. Jordan has plenty of respect for the situation, but our recent mishap at Everest just a few months ago drives home the point that every single crevasse deserves full respect and has the potential to end life. The focus is good, and the uphill movement is brisk and consistent. We’re roped together, walking onto the glacier in the dim, narrow glow of our headlamps. The scenery won‘t change till the sun brings us new energy and a view of where we’ve been and where we’re going.

The altimeter spins like a slot machine, we chomp away at the vertical feet, dodging crevasses, meeting and passing teams and thoroughly enjoying the predawn peace. Then, the dreaded visitors. The guys nobody likes – – the sleep monsters. It’s the twilight just before the sun officially pops up when we find these guys. Jordan occasionally comes to a crawl and I see him 40’ uphill of me shaking his head…trying to avoid nodding off. It‘s hard. Jordan says, “Dad, I’m super sleepy”. Paul’s not exactly ready for a round of Jepoardy and doesn’t have any brillant advice other than ‘just push on’. He turns to Karen. “What do you do in these situations?” To which Karen responds… “count to 50 steps, then start over and do it again”. Neither of our pearls of advice offer much comfort. It’s one of those things you gotta figure out what works for you and wait for the sun. We push on.

The route is twisty and turny and offers plenty of variety. Some dicey snow bridges, some exposed traverses and a few steep 50 degree faces… and always the crevasses – just enough to keep things interesting. The off/on thunderstorms, wind and dark clouds finally give way to an unbelievable blue bird morning. As glorious as it gets.

We approach 13,500, around 1000’ left to the summit. Like a spill gate opening, the weather hits the mountain with amazing force. We’ve heard about the rapid changing weather of Rainier but from this high up, you can see anything coming for miles. Now we know what they mean. It just happens, just appears. In minutes we are in the middle of pea soup thick weather, 30-50 mph winds and the temps are dropping. The summit is close, nothing treacherous between us as the summit except some additional vertical feet of climbing.

Suddenly we’re on the summit. We can barely talk over the roar of the wind. Jordan’s chattering about the remaining U.S. highpoints before we even have a chance to take in the current accomplishment. “Three down and only 47 to go!” he hollars over the wind.

P.S. I just looked and these are on sale right now – 30% off at the backcountry.com outlet.

P.P.S. I’ve got a sweet Polartec garment for the first person to guess where the brand name ‘Cutter’ comes from. Post in the comments section.

UPDATE- The Gear Junkie put the Cutter Knickerbockers through the ringer for 6 weeks and just posted a glowing review. Read it here.

Core Concepts Plush Pullover
Featuring Polartec® Thermal Pro® fabric, the Plush Pullover from Core Concepts provides lightweight, moisture-wicking warmth, making it the perfect insulation layer no matter what you’re doing – whether it’s a double diamond ski run or a double tall latte. MSPR $80.

Polartec® is excited to announce the North American APEX Design Award winners for 2009. This prestigious award goes to the best-of-the-best Polartec® based garments that will be available to consumers in fall 2009. Winners are selected based on the style, function and fit of the garment as well as the most innovative and appropriate uses of Polartec® fabrics in the designs. This year’s winners range from a 100% recycled content baselayer, to a technical winter cycling jersey, to a recycled fleece canine coat. And the winners are:

• Arc’teryx Strato Jacket – 64% recycled Polartec® Thermal Pro®

• Burton Polartec® Power Stretch® Gloves – Polartec® Power Stretch®

• Core Concepts Plush Pullover – Polartec® Thermal Pro®

• Cutter Tech Knickerbocker – Polartec® Power Shield® with Hardface®

• Eddie Bauer First Ascent Point Success Jacket – Polartec® Wind Pro® and Polartec® Power Stretch®

• Kathmandu Ltd Hub and Velodrome Cycling Jackets – Polartec® Wind Pro® with Hardface® and Polartec® Power Stretch®

• Mountain Hardwear Polartec® Power Stretch® Jacket – Polartec® Power Stretch® with Hardface®

• Patagonia Capra Jacket and Hoody – 79% recycled Polartec® Thermal Pro®

• Patagonia Phil’s Fleece – 51% recycled Polartec® Thermal Pro® with 40% raw wool

• Peckham USMC FR Grid Fleece Shirt – Polartec® Power Dry® Flame Resistant

• Ruff Wear Dog Gear Climate Changer™ Fleece Jacket - 87% recycled Polartec® Classic 200

• The North Face El Cap – 100% recycled Polartec® Power Dry®

In addition to a Tiffany crystal award and bragging rights for a year, winners can participate in a custom hangtag program promoting these products at the consumer level. Polartec® also provides additional marketing support through product placement with media and events. Past winners can testify that the Polartec® APEX Design Award drives sell-through.

The 25 finalists for The North Face/Polartec® Eco Champion contest have been chosen and voting is underway online. A $15,000 donation is on the line for the winning green charity and $1,000 shopping spree at www.thenorthface.com for the winning entry.

Check out the contest here. So far it’s a tight race between a couple of Riverkeeper organizations, the Audobon Society of Portland and ConservationNEXT. All of the finalists are incredibly worthy causes and people making a difference in our world. Thanks for your inspiration and good luck!

Just got back from Namibia yesterday and wanted to send off a quick note to let you all know that we made it– back safe, up a big route (FA Southern Crossing, 1300 ft 5.11+, V, granite crack extravaganza), back without a scorpion bite or snake bite among us. I’m putting together a press release that I will shoot off either today or this weekend that you can post up on websites and release. Stay tuned for that as soon as possible– for now I wanted to just say hi, AND, moreover, thanks. It was amazing to have this much support on this project. I can’t wait to tell you more

Cheers, Majka

Forty-two days ago, I went to Namibia expecting to climb, explore, and push my understanding of how curiosity, ambition, and adventure work vis a vis culture. I knew all of these components would come into play during the month long trip, I just didn’t know the formulation. In the north, where we’d originally planned to climb the most, our best moments came from sitting in the shade of an Acacia tree with a group of Himba women painted in red ochre and butterfat. Himba, Afrikaans, English, Spanish and Portuguese were spoken, but often hand gestures and figures drawn in the sand gained us the vital information we sought. Further south, on the Brandberg, we scraped through the dirt, bushes, and bird refuse that guarded our perspective line for three days to get to what we hoped would be a way up. Each day, we looked for a way for this country, the “easy Africa,” to give us portals to a higher stance, a greater understanding, or a smooth road. We eventually found all of them.

Stay Tuned for Words and Images From:
Majka Burhardt, writer and speaker. www.majkaburhardt.com
Gabe Rogel, photographer. www.rogelphoto.com
Chris Alstrin, filmmaker. www.alstrinfilms.com

Namibia 2009 was supported, in part by The Polartec Challenge Fund and the Mountain Grant Program of the Banff Centre, with additional support provided by Patagonia, Osprey Petzl, Outdoor Research, Clif Bar, and Scrapa.

*I share this news with a heavy heart in light of the recent news about Jonny Copp, Micah Dash, and Wade Johnson. Just over a month ago, Jonny and I high-fived a send off for our respective expeditions and promised to trade stories when we got back. As most of you know, those are stories we will now not have a chance to hear. When my father heard the news on the radio he called me and asked me one question: “How do you make sense of this in your world?” I told him the only answer I have. “I don’t.”

“Yesterday morning May 24th, at 7.30 AM I reached the summit of Everest. Only two of our team made it up and two sherpas, one who was only 17 years old and now the youngest sherpa to summit. The climb did not come easy. At 10 pm, it was extremely windy at 8000 m, at the souh col and in our tent and the sherpas refuse to go. Except two of our sherpas who were eager to get their summit bonus. So in 60 km/hr winds at 10 pm we set off, the first party to go for the night. Around 11 pm in the triangle, the wind suddenly stopped. Just before the balcony we found a half-dead American who had run out of oxygen, rapped off and fell. He did not know how long he had been there but he had taken off his gloves and down jacket, a sure sign of hypothermia. His frozen hands and feet were unusable. We radioed for a sherpa to get him down, gave him heat packs, food and hot drinks before we continued up to the summit.

On the way to the South Summit the weather changed, clouds moved in and the wind picked up. Are we losing our one day window already? For the next days bad weather was forecasted with 100 km/hr and worse conditions, perhaps the monsoon has arrived. At the south summit at 8700 m my oxygen mask froze up, the intake for fresh air did not work. Panic. I had less air in my mask then when I took my mask off at this elevation. The ice inside was so thick, it had to get hacked out with a ice axe and this I did not know till we were back at the balcony. I summited Everest in gasping for thin air, in a snow storm and wind. It was not a good day for summit photos! The descend was painful due to low visibility and tiredness; in one day from camp 3 to camp 4, rest a few hours and continue. After 30 hours, I collapsed and somewhere in the middle of the night my oxygen run out because I woke up empty at 8000m. Descending down in vicious wind, the weather changed and we got lucky. Sagarmatha gave us an opportunity and maybe Lhapka kept an eye on us! Despite the challenges, I am super stoked that I did it, perserve the challenges. We are in camp 2 now, one more time through the icefall and then safe in basecamp. I will update this tomorrow with some images.”

The South Col and South Summit of Everest

Read more here.