Posts Tagged ‘Argentina’

Yesterday we introduced the Seven Sisters to you – to remind you this is the highest mountain on each of the seven continents and amongst the mountaineering community considered to be a blue ribbon achievement to rank right up there with the greats.

We talked specifically about the America’s highest mountain – Aconcagua – located in Argentina, South America and so today we will travel north to North America’s highest peak, Mount McKinley in Alaska.

Denali – The High One –  is the Native (Athabascan) American word for North America’s highest peak and this is where Fahrenheit and Celsius meet secretly at night at -40 degrees.

Mt. McKinley has been the goal of aspiring high altitude climbers since it was first climbed in 1913. Its reputation as a highly coveted summit derives from its location near the Arctic Circle and the Pacific Ocean giving it some of the most ferocious weather in the world. Because of its weather and ease of access, some climbers use McKinley as a training ground for climbing the 8,000 metre peaks of the Himalayas.

The fact that the West Buttress route is not technically difficult should not obscure the need to plan for extreme survival situations. Of course, some climbers manage to get up and down in a perfectly nice but rare period of good weather. However they are the lucky ones – the West Buttress route is a terribly underestimated climb.

Climbers interested in more detailed discussions of Denali’s routes should consult HIGH ALASKA or the MOUNT MCKINLEY CLIMBER’S HANDBOOK.

Snow and weather conditions for climbing Denali are usually best from May through July. Colder minimum temperatures and strong northwest winds commonly occur in May. Winter climbing in Denali borders on the ridiculous more because of its unfathomable risks than because of its mountaineering challenge. Some of the world’s best climbers have either disappeared or perished form literally being flash frozen.

In the video below from DavidWhitingOutdoors an expedition to summit Denali is described and shown, starting at the 17,000 foot base camp and finishing with the summit of Denali at 20,320 feet – the highest peak in North America.

Where shall we go tomorrow – tune in to discover!

Where to start – that is the question.

‘A’ would seem a pretty obvious answer and so it shall be – Aconcagua – the highest mountain in the Americas and the highest mountain in the western hemisphere – the first of the 7 sisters about which we will blog over the next few days.

The 7 sisters are the highest 7 mountains on each of the 7 continents, although even on this point there is discussion and disagreement but for the sake of space we will look at what are generally considered ‘the 7 sisters’.

They are namely:

• Aconcagua – South America, Argentina – 6962 metres  22,842 feet
• Mt McKinley or Denali – North America, Alaska, USA – 6194 metres  20,320 feet
• Elbrus – Europe, Russia – 5642 metres  18,510 feet
• Kilimanjaro – Africa, Tanzania – 5892 metres  19,340 feet
• Vinson Massif – Antarctica, claimed by Chile – 4892 metres  16,050 feet
• Carstensz Pyramid – Australia, Maoke Mountains, Indonesia – 4884 metres  16,024 feet
• Everest – Asia, Nepal and China – 8848 metres   29,029 feet

But back to Aconcagua – above, photo courtesy William Marler. There are 5 recognised routes.

• The Normal Route  - a scramble, failure due to altitude sickness, no easy ride
• Polish Traverse – as above
• Polish Glacier Route – glacier climb and short technical rock climb – tough
• Argentinian Route –  ice and rock climbing, very difficult very tough
• Ibanez-Marmillod Route – high altitude Alpine climb, definitely only for the very competent

All attempts must start in Mendoza in Argentina where a permit to climb the mountain can be purchased. These will cost as much as $500 depending on the time of year you attempt your climb, the Christmas holiday period is the most expensive.

There are many rules and regulations which you must acquaint yourselves with before you set out – to upset the apple cart will cost you dearly.

To give you a good idea of what it is like if you take one of the ’scrambles’  the video below from Gonzandes dramatically shows a realistic representation.

Its a great feeling to be on top of the world and certainly the conquering of Aconcagua will give you that – its no walk in the park though – you have to be in tip top condition. We will give you a brief blog on one of Aconcagua’s sisters tomorrow.

So who says golf can’t be extreme? If you’ve seen our past 2 articles (and I’d better warn you that there are likely to be more in the pipeline) you, too, might be revising your opinion of golf and golfers… here’s the last 4 of the 8 most extreme golf courses in the world…

Ushuaia Golf Club, Argentina.

This is the world’s sourthernmost golf course and the tmeperatures reflect this. Ushuaia has a maritime subantarctic climate. Temperatures average 1 °C (33 °F) in the coldest month, and 9 °C (48 °F) in the warmest month. The record low is −20 °C (−4 °F) (July), and record high 31 °C (87.8 °F) (December). The record low ever recorded in summer is −6 °C (21 °F) (February). It is a short, difficult and windy 9-holes links course.  From October to April, days are longer and one can play between 6 AM and 10 PM. It is not a championship course. It is different. Created in 1992, the first 9 holes of the Ushuaia Golf Course are located  at the door of the Lapataia National Natural Park nearby the ancient convict train station on the steep hills along a mountain stream, el Rio Pipo. Between snow-topped mountains and the cold waters of the Beagle Channel, the course ambles from the steep slopes, over the small tumultuous river and back up  and down the hill again. There is a touch of the  wild Scottish Highlands here. The holes are short but not straight with narrow fairways, small greens near the stream and the ever-present winds. There is no sophistication, just a lovely natural place with a warm welcome at the club house.

North Cape Golf Club, Norway.

And once again from once extreme to the other – from the southern-most course to the northern-most one…  this course is 280m north of the Arctic Circle. The typical golfing season in Norway ranges from early May until the snow comes (mid/late November). Golfing in many locations is possible twenty four hours a day between the middle of May until the end of July. A golfer’s paradise? or a non-golfer’s nightmare! This is not a challenging golf course, with its 6-hole course, 2 par 4’s and 4 par 3’s and quantities of mud, but it has one lovely oddity – with the Arctic Circle Norwegians having little sense of territory, and obviously a great sense of sportsmanship, if the ball lands in one of the unfenced gardens that border the course, you are allowed to lob it back into play! Although North Cape is on the list of 8 most extreme golf courses, it is now no longer the most northern -most. It has been superceded by Hammerfest Golf Course – also Norway.

Ko’olau Golf Club, Hawaii.

This is reputably the toughest golf course in the world. Carved out of the topical rainforest on the windward side of the 2,000-foot Ko’olau Ridge mountain range, Ko’olau encompasses three distinct climate zones and features winding ravines, extreme elevation changes, and breathtaking views of cascading waterfalls – all on one golf course!. Situated on eastern Oahu, the rugged landscape of this tropical jungle course uses ravines as the target for holes and boasts lush vegetation and huge sand bunkers. The course was built in 1991 as a private Country Club for the high rollers, located just over the Pali Highway from Honolulu.  You can’t beat this golf course for beautz. It has breathtaking mountain views, spectacular fiarwazs surrounded by rainforest, and dramatic sights of the Pacific Ocean. The rule of thumb here is to bring the same number of balls as your handicap. The 18th hole has two carries over a giant ravine – both the drive and the approach shot… you have been warned!

And last, but not least, the world’s oldest and most famous course: Old Course, St. Andrews, Scotland.

If there is a single course in the entire world that most golfers aspire to play just once in their lifetime, it is the Old Course at St Andrews in Scotland – a course like no other and an experience like no other. Golf has been played on the Links at St Andrews since around 1400 AD and the Old Course is renowned throughout the world as the Home of Golf. Golf was clearly becoming popular in the middle ages, as the game was banned in 1457 by King James II of Scotland who felt it was distracting young men from archery practice. This ban was repeated by succeeding monarchs until James IV threw in the towel and in 1502 became a golfer himself. As the 600 year history of the Links has unfolded, one simple track hacked through the bushes and heather has developed into six, and now seven with the new Castle Course open, public golf courses, attracting hundreds of thousands of golfing pilgrims from around the globe. St Andrews Links is the largest golfing complex in Europe and all 18 hole courses can be booked in advance. In 1764 the Old Course consisted of 22 holes, 11 out and 11 back, with golfers playing to the same hole going out and in, except for the 11th and 22nd holes. The golfers decided that the first four holes, and therefore also the last four holes, were too short and that they should be made into two holes instead of four. This reduced the number of holes in the round from 22 to 18, and that is how today’s standard round of golf was created.

We trust no one will be upset by cycle polo which from our research would appear to be gathering an increasing number of players, supporters and countries that play the game. Having said that we have not been able to find anything about the 2009 tournaments and so we would be delighted to hear from enthusiasts of the sport of what is happening, when and where, so we can post a blog and keep people informed.

Traditional bicycle polo is played in a rectangular grass field, 150 meters by 100 meters officially, unofficially whatever field is big enough or whatever surface is smooth enough. Moreover, official dimensions can vary between 120 and 150 meters in length on 80 to 100 meters in width.

The game was invented by an Irishman, Richard J. Mecredy, in 1891 and has seen a sharp spike in interest since the turn of this century and new teams are sprouting up across the world.

Today there is organized cycle polo being played in Argentina, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, India, Ireland, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland and USA.

The 1980s saw the rise of two new powers in cycle polo, India and USA. The Cycle Polo Association of India was officially created in 1966 and the Bicycle Polo Association of America was created in 1994.

International cycle polo matches staged a comeback in the 1990s with the first world championship organized in 1996 in the USA. Teams from India, USA and Canada participated with India winning the title.

Today the game has become more urban and is played on tennis courts and the like where a hard surface presents a fast and exciting game.

See the video below from cleancut62 of some action from a recent game which demonstrates there is more than just a little skill in riding a bike required – the crashes are pretty hard but it looks a lot of fun.

The final installment of this trilogy will be about Segway polo….stay tuned!

We thought we would put a blog out about extreme polo today and so we started researching the subject. Our YouTube search came up with this extraordinary act which not surprisingly is called extreme polo by enriquepolo.

Ok so it may not be exactly what we had in mind to present but we thought it was so amazing that we must share it with you.

Globe of Death by Extreme Polo features five men riding their motor bikes in a minute transparent steel globe which would appear to not have enough room to swing a cat. But these five blokes – Enrique Polo, Sergio Ayres, David DaCruz, Nildo Mendes and Pedro Robatini somehow manage to achieve the impossible and drive their bikes within the globe without crashing. Impressive stuff.

So our search had to continue and eventually we found the real thing. Polo on horse back but played in the snow – in this case in Aspen, Colorado – but it doesn’t look a great game, too slow with the ball being held up in the snow which inevitably gets churned up by the horses. See what you think in this video by sourtoefilms.

So our research did find some interesting and extreme forms of polo but we will save those for another day. Not wanting to leave you disappointed we thought you would appreciate watching this video by BlackWatchPoloTeam of the Black Watch Polo Team who are one of the preminent polo teams in the North American Polo League.

The team is captained by Nacho Figueras with Bautista Heguy, Matias MacDonough and Francisco de Narvaez being the other players. The Black Watch Polo Team is owned by Neil Hirsch from Florida.

The best polo players in the world come from Argentina and we were wondering why there was no polo competition at the Olmpic games until we asked an Argentinian friend who said, ‘there would be no competition, despite the handicap system, for a national Argentinian team’. Bold words but he is probably right. However we note from Black Watch’s website that they are entered for the 2012 summer Olympics in London…….this requires further research but polo at the Olympics would be a welcome addition….sounds rather more exciting and extreme than synchronised swimming?!!

Here is Nacho and his team mates talking about the Black Watch Polo team.

It is always tragic to report on a death but in this particular summer climbing season in the southern hemisphere Aconcagua has now claimed its fifth nationality. This time is was an American who died on Friday while scaling Argentina’s Aconcagua mountain, becoming the fifth climber to perish this month on the highest peak in the Americas, officials said.

An army patrol on a training operation came across the man lying on the ground and calling for help in the afternoon after he was apparently hit by falling rock at 16,400 feet (5,000 meters), said Julio Suarez, police spokesman in Mendoza province.

The man died an hour later as squad members were carrying him down to a base camp. A doctor there confirmed he died of a head injury and a pneumothorax, or collapsed lung, Suarez said.

Mountaineers must register to climb the 22,841-foot (6,962-meter) Andean peak, and Suarez said the man signed in as 51-year-old Arthur D’Lisle of Kansas, hiking alone. But officials at the U.S. Embassy in Buenos Aires did not immediately return phone calls or e-mails seeking to confirm the victim’s nationality and identity.

Two to three people typically are killed every year while climbing Aconcagua, according to Juan Pablo Marziane, head of logistics with a climbing expedition company in Mendoza.

But at least five have already died during the 2008-2009 summer climbing season in the Southern Hemisphere.

Last week, an Italian and her Argentine guide died after being caught in a brutal snow storm, and an Englishman died steps from the summit of an apparent heart attack. A 42-year-old German climber fell into a crevasse and perished on Jan. 3.

Suarez also said rescuers are searching for a 31-year-old French citizen who attempted to scale one of Aconcagua’s toughest routes and has been missing since Jan. 4.

Six hundred people signed up to attempt the summit this season.

The amazing thing about the human spirit is that it never ceases to challenge itself. As if climbing the 22,000 feet of Aconcagua was not extreme enough the guys in the video below did not only that but then launched themselves from the summit and paraglided back down the mountain. Suppose the logic must have been to save time – ok understood! Enjoy and thanks to sdean10 for the great video.