Take a look at their most recent blog post highlighting this leg of the journey below or click to see the post on the Cycling Silk Blog here. Check it out-their photos are incredible!

After nearly two glorious months in Tajikistan, biking the Tajik-Afghan border and exploring the potential for transboundary cooperation in the Pamir mountain borderlands, we spent roughly 36 hours transiting through Kyrgyzstan before riding into Xinjiang in western China, where all our mad Silk Road biking adventures began five years ago. Originally we intended to ride from Kashgar into western Tibet, retracing our route from 2006, and exploring the Mount Kailash transboundary protected area – our fourth case study of the expedition. But then we learned the western road into Tibet was closed for construction. Bummer.

So instead we opted to ride the Qinghai-Tibet highway, which runs from Golmud to Lhasa, and then bike to Nepal from there. Because of limited time on our Chinese visa, and the gaping distance between Kashgar and Golmud, we had to take a series of trains and buses to get to our starting point. We couldn’t afford a Chinese guide or a permit, since a single day with a guide would’ve cost more than our entire budget for Tibet, so sneaking was the only option. We figured we’d see how far we could ride into Tibet without getting stopped, and by taking some precautions – namely posing as androgynous Chinese cyclists, carrying all our food so we didn’t have to resupply in towns, and stealth camping to avoid hotels. With a lot of luck on our side, we managed to make it all the way to the border, and then crossed into Nepal without a hitch.

Now we’re setting off on the final leg of the trip, from Kathmandu, Nepal to Leh, the capital city of Ladakh in northern India. The Himalayan passes on the road to Leh tend to close by mid-October, so we’re gambling on good weather to make it in time. From Leh, we’ll explore our final transboundary case study of the expedition: the Siachen glacier, which straddles the disputed Indo-Pak border in Kashmir. After spending some time interviewing folks in India about the conflict, and about possibilities for its resolution through environmental cooperation, we’ll pack our bikes – Marco and Polo – in boxes and catch flights home to Canada in November. Hard to believe the end of the Cycling Silk road is practically in sight, though there are still some epic mountains blocking the way.

So, more to come on our adventures in transboundary conservation these past few months, and in the meanwhile, wish us luck racing the snows to Leh!

Courtesy of Kirsten Kremer

Kirsten Kremer, Emilie Drinkwater and Janet Bergman, supported by a Polartec Challenge Grant, traveled to the Eastern Indian Karakoram in July and August. Their objective was an unclimbed 6,135 meter peak that alpinist Mark Richey had previously photographed. The south facing aspect with several beautiful looking rock buttresses appealed to the women for alpine rock climbing.

Courtesy of Kirsten Kremer

The team met in Delhi on July 3, along with Mark Richey, Steve Swenson and Freddie Wilkinson, who were attempting a first ascent of nearby Saser Kangri II, and with whom they shared base camp and climbing permits. The team flew from Delhi to Leh, Ladakh, and drove over the Khardung La, the “highest motorable pass in the world”, to the Nubra Valley where they commenced the three day trek to base camp, a grassy meadow at 5,000 meters. From there the two teams split up, with advanced camps and objective peaks on separate glaciers.

“Kirsten, Emilie and I made two attempts on ‘6135’,” said Bergman. “The walls were good quality crack climbing, but the melted-out ledges and the summit ridgeline were constantly bombarding us with rock and ice whenever the sun was out”.

The team made the decision that the conditions were too dangerous to attempt it again. “That mountain really illustrated the paradox of alpine rock climbing,” Bergman said. “We wanted it to be warm and sunny enough to use tight rock climbing shoes and bare fingers instead of boots, crampons and ice tools, but some mountains, like this one, can start to ‘come unglued’ and become very unsafe in conditions like that. I think we made a good call.”

Courtesy of Emilie Drinkwater

Fortunately, the area around Saser Kangri II where the guys had their advanced camp had several promising looking unclimbed peaks so, with the help of their Indian Sherpa staff, the women were able to clean out their advanced camp at ‘6135’ and move over to the Saser Kangri II camp for the remainder of their time.

“As seems to often be the case, all of our activity happened in the final week of the trip,” continued Bergman.

On August 5-6, Kirsten and Emilie (Janet was in the throes of a violent 24-hour stomach bug) climbed Pumo Kangri, PD/AD 6440 meters, a striking ice and snow peak just outside of camp,soloing all but the final pitches, and rappelling through the night with a single rope

Saser Linga and Pumo Kangri- Courtesy of Janet Bergman

(they’d anticipated more snow than ice and got just the opposite). Freddie and Janet high-fived with them on their final rappels the next morning as they climbed the same initial ice slope to approach Saser Linga, IV 5.9+ ~6,200 meters, a beautiful 7 pitch rock pinnacle. Finally, on August 8-9, the four of them plus Mark Richey skied across the glacier to a high bivy and simul-climbed Stegosaurus, PD/AD 6,640 meters, a dinosaur-esque peak with a 150 meter corniced ridge traverse to the summit.

“I don’t have too much to say regarding my Polartec pieces because they performed exactly how they should,” said Drinkwater (The team was outfitted with a variety of Polartec fabrics by different manufacturers for the expedition).

Stegosaurus- Courtesy of Janet Bergman

“The obvious advantages of the Polartec fabrics are how light, soft, and comfortable they are, in addition to being durable.”

Emilie did have one clear favorite piece of clothing though. “I wore that pink Patagonia jacket every day for six weeks. I also used it as a pillow and, on one occasion, as a blanket to wrap around my very cold feet. This was my favorite piece because, aside from being pink and comfortable, it worked well under a large variety of temperatures. I would have worn it on the plane ride home but it was starting to smell gross.”

The team extends sincere gratitude to Polartec for providing the Polartec Challenge Grant program that makes this and so many other great adventures possible.

Courtesy Janet Bergman

And it goes a little somethin’ like this- “For 35 years, Gore-Tex has dominated the market for waterproof, breathable fabrics, but this spring it has some competition. Textile maker, Polartec, has developed its own waterproof, breathable fabric that threatens to trump Gore-Tex’s latest. We put both through the wringer to see which stands out.”

The Rab Stretch Neo Jacket with Polartec NeoShell went head to head with Millet’s Trilogy Limited GTX with Gore-Tex Active Shell.

The Results: (drum roll please)-”All four testers consistently felt more comfortable in the 17oz Polartec shell, despite the Gore-Tex jacket being 3oz heavier. Testers had to physically air out the Gore-Tex jacket by unzipping its armit vents, whereas sweat evaporated quickly out of the ventless Polartec.”

Needless to say, we are thrilled at the review and it’s a great Monday at Polartec.

“He has become the poster goat of the backcountry world: a seemingly uncrackable, unquenchable, undeniable ascender for the ages. His one million vertical feet of self-propelled ascending back in the winter of 2006-2007 put him on the ski mountaineering map, and now, as a sponsored athlete, with his own signature AT setup, and currently eight months into a goal of logging two million vertical feet (5,000 ft a day on average), in a single year, the Revelstoke, B.C., guide and father of two will undoubtably crack the stratosphere as one of the most interestingly committed backcountry skiers of our day…..

“If all the year were playing holidays…to sport would be as tedious as to work,” to quote Shakespeare. So of course, at times, it is tedious but when the tedium ends with a summit and a steep and deep descent, then I have to count myself as one of the lucky ones. Over 60 different mountaintops, many, many adventures, days exploring new terrain. North America, South America, not a lot of boredom doing on. Plus, I have been tree planting for 15 years and learned how to distance myself from the harshness of the situation to find my happy place.”

To read the entire article, pick up this month’s Powder magazine.

Check out a video of Greg hitting his half way point earlier this year. Currently he has skied 1,666, 2204ft.

In a recent post on the Soldiers to the Summit blog, Support Team member, Erik Weihenmayer commented on navigating the busy city without sight–”Walking down these crazy, narrow streets with taxis, tuk-tuks and rickshaws flying by is probably the most dangerous part of the expedition. I grab a teammate’s arm and weave, bob and jump around trying to follow my guide’s cue. When I feel a bumper or hot tailpipe against my calf I know it’s time to jump. A tuk-tuk cracked me in the elbow early today. I’ll be psyched to get up to the Khumbu tomorrow–having survived Kathmandu. The diesel fumes and pollution are rough here, as well, so I think the whole team is pretty excited to get up into the clean mountain air where, at least for the first few days, stepping in yak dung will be our only real danger.”

Climber Chad Butrick also commented in a recent blog post about his trek through Namche Bazaar and the members of the team-”The mountains are so big. We were able to see Mt. Everest for the first time today on our trek to Namche. As one of our guides described this place we are “crossing the threshold” above the tree line.”

“This team is excellent. There are a lot of very capable guides and soldiers. It is AWESOME getting to know these incredible people. As we continue our push up the mountain I know that we are all going to stand on top of something and I cannot wait to share those experiences with this group.”

Take at look at the group’s most recent video-Soldiers Nicolette Maroulis, Justin Moore, Katherine Ragazzino and Cody Miranda look inside to talk about their motivations for coming on the expedition.

No matter which way you ski, however, the season is slowly moving upon is, and the newest ski movie trailers have been popping up everywhere. The winner of last year’s Scufoneda-in the tele category, and also a member of our Polartec Athlete Advisory Board, Nick Devore, spent this past winter shooting with tele film company, Powderwhore. The film is also sponsored by Polartec partners, Black Diamond and Mountain Hardwear, two more brands that when it comes to free or locked heels, seem to be pro choice.

Here is the trailer, enjoy!

This past weekend was the annual Mt. Washington Hill Climb bike race. Mt. Washington (just under 6300ft.) is the highest peak in the northeastern United States and the annual hill climb is known as one of the toughest in the world at 7.6 miles in length, with an average grade of 12% with extended sections of 18% and the last 50 yards is an oppressive 22%.

Polartec has sponsored the race for the past 10 years, donating Thermal Pro blankets to all of the riders. Due to the threat of hypothermia when finishing the race they are no longer allowed to even hold the race without these blankets. This year, John Brodie from the Polartec marketing department decided to give the race a shot.

“I finished at 1:31:04 at a 5mph average, which I was pleased with for a first time ride,” Brodie said in an email to the Polartec staff. “I wasn’t sure how the legs would hold over the length of the course so I kept an even steady pace, and had enough left to push the last 1/4 mile at about 10-12mph. The weather was perfect, actually a bit warm until getting above tree line. Views of the Presidential range were awesome, and there was a very large crowd at the summit.”

Congrats to John and all of the riders that attempted the Hill Climb! I was feeling pretty good about my 5 mile run this morning until just now.

The race, which took place this last weekend, was stopped after 15 hours due to inclement weather and Laurent and Julien were pronounced the winners of this epic road run, which included over 4500m+ elevation gain with two 2,800 meters passes, and Lombard pass at the bottom of Aiguilles d’Arves at 3,100 m. The route took runners through the Karellis, Valloire, Bonnenuit, around Le Galibieer, Besse Gerbier, and Albiez regions.

Laurent, a 39-year old accomplished ultra runner and adventure racer, lives in Rotherens, France. Congrats Laurent and Julien!

Earlier this month Kevin Back of Powder Magazine very graciously brought a few of us heli skiing in Girdwood / Alyeska, Alaska with the Chugach Powder Guides.

I took the opportunity to continue to put our new soft shell fabric, Polartec Power Shield Pro, to the test in the field (it’s tough work but has to be done).

We arrived on a rare blue-bird day in Anchorage with views of Denali and a beautiful ride south along the Turnagain Arm to the resort in Girdwood. That night the clouds picked up, a storm moved in and we were blessed with about 40″ of light fresh powder over the next 36 hours.

Alaska this time of year can be surprisingly warm and damp (tip – bring multiple pairs of goggles for cat / heli skiing in Alaska) – so it was an excellent environment to really put Polartec Power Shield Pro through its paces.

That’s me in the video tele skiing in the pinkish raspberry outfit (that’s what happens you let engineers pick the sample fabric colors). I took some heat from the guides and other groups of skiers – but all in the name of fabric testing…

We skied in a range of conditions from the high teens Fahrenheit to the mid 40’s – everything from blower powder to heavy wet snow – howling winds to baking sunshine.

Throughout the week, I wore the exact same set of clothes (occasionally adding another layer of Polartec Thermal Pro high loft when temperatures dipped). I was super impressed with the comfort range Polartec Power Shield Pro offers – wind resistant enough, yet allows some true airflow through the fabric to keep from overheating. The jacket and pants also did an excellent job of moving moisture vapor away and keeping me dry inside both by venting sweat vapor and by keeping the wet snow and water out (even when kneeling in slush to clamp down my Black Diamond O1 tele bindings and leashes).

Overall the trip was a total success – great conditions delivering over 80,000 vertical skied and Polartec Power Shield Pro outperformed what either a traditional hardshell or traditional softshell could have done. It was the perfect balance for widely variable conditions. This fabric is available Fall 2010 in North America from The North Face in the Kishtwar jacket and in Europe will be offered by TNF, 66 North, Eider, Millet, TrangoWorld, Norrona, Montura, and Lowe Alpine. Check it out.

PS – these photos and video were shot and edited by Adrian Glasenapp – thanks Adro!

Nate Simmons Heli Skiing Alaska

Photos by Adrian Glasenapp