Axe on Everest heads for Indonesia
A huge thank you to Greg Moore, fellow kiwi and ex-mountaineer now based in Duri, Sumatra, Indonesia. Greg has made a huge effort to arrange a series of Axe on Everest 2012 presentations next weekend in Indonesia. I am very excited to be heading there together with Stephanie to meet the friendly folk which are nearly always found in the more remote locations in our world. The weekend has a jam-packed schedule with 4 presentations (at last count!), school visits, BBQ’s, and all proceeds going towards some great local groups including an orphanage. A big thank you to the sponsors involved below as can be seen on the flyer.
Meanwhile in other corners of the world I am eagerly following the progress of the ‘Qinghai Virgin Peaks Expedition 2012’. The team consists of two good friends David “Daisy” Lim and “Dr’ Rozani. They will be attempting to climb at least one, never before climbed 6000m peak. Together with Rozani and David, I had the pleasure of climbing three virgin peaks in the Tien Shan mountain range on the border of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan in 2009 (see write-up in the American Alpine Club Journal). It was a truly memorable experience being the first human being to stand on a mountain top and knowing you had climbed it under your own steam, sharing the rope with two close friends without the use of any guides or outside assistance. The nature of this independent climbing, with the necessity for complete self-reliance is a style that is immensely appealing to me and I salute both Dave and Roz for thinking outside the box and doing some real exploratory climbing. Good luck to the team and you can follow their progress here.
Posted on September 16, 2012, in Everest 2012, Speaking and tagged tien shan mountain range. Bookmark the permalink. 7 Comments.
Grant Axe Rawlinson 
sounds like you still having fun and staying famous! Keep it up and best of luck. Loks like Margaret will go again next year as she has an unfinished business. See you sometimes in Sing
cheers Tad
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Mr Tad, where have you been? Long time no hear! Thanks for the message, Margaret is a determined lady that’s for sure. When are you coming here next?
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not sure, usually get couple of days notice 🙂 I’ll let you know cheers
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Hi grant, Phew you must be tired doing all these presentations but keep going you must be loving it and meeting many people and making new friends! You really are dedicated. I am thinking of doing a charity walk say Mount Snowden like Animals Of Asia do each year and I know you have to be sort of fit but at least its not going to be your climb!!! I love animals and support many charities like Soidog Foundation , animals of Asia and a shelter in the Philliphines as well as here in the UK. I cant stand any form of animal cruelty and dont think I could ever visit Asia as I would be upset with the stray dogs roaming around and the cruelty . But at the same time there are caring people out there in Asia with shelters and rescuing animals with a mass sterilisation. Anyway Grant it,s good that your sister is getting better all the time now and I wish you all the best in your forthcoming presentations! Love Mica,
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Hi there Mica! Nice to hear from you. I only get tired doing things I dont like and presentations are something I enjoy so its all good! Your charity walk sounds like a great idea and Mt Snowdon is lovely. Go for it! Yes I also do not like to see animals treated badly so its nice to to see organisations working towards these goals of helping them them out. Anyway, nice to hear from you and hope all is well in the UK! Bye for now. Axe
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By now you will be up to date re Manaslu. My heart goes out to families and friends. I expect you will know many of the climbers that were on the mountain at the time but sounds as though the ones you know escaped the actual avalanche but were amongst the rescue team.I don’t know whether I can face following another Everest season, last year was so eventful and the photographs of so many queueing to cross a crevice took some of the magic away. I believe two people died just waiting in the queue. It seemed to be different on the North, not so many climbers. Alan A’s daily blogs were so graphic I felt to be really part of it all. Are you planning a big one in the near future or are giving your time to presentations? Cheers Kate (UK)
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Hi Kate, Yes Manaslu was an awful event and quite a freak one by the sounds. I am not sure ow many actually died however I am sure it will come out in the next few days along with the first people who will write a book about the event! Very sad for the family and friends of the deceased. I have no leave left to climb anything else at this time Kate. Have to wait until next year to get some more leave and we will see what happens then! Thanks for your messages again and I hope all is well in your part of the world!
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