Less than 20 women in the world have climbed Earth’s seven highest peaks. Lei Wang is an American citizen now living in Boston but born in China who is currently training for a 2010 expedition to Mt. Everest. If she successfully summits Everest, she’ll become the first Asian-American woman who has until now climbed six of the seven summits (Kilimanjaro, Denali, Elbrus, Aconcagua, Carstensz Pyramid, Vinson and Everest) and skied to both North Pole and South Pole. Once Lei has climbed Everest, she’ll be one of only 10 people to have completed what’s referred to as the “7 + 2” (Seven Summits and the Two Poles). She hopes that her example will especially inspire Chinese People, American immigrants and women around the world to challenge themselves to do something they once considered impossible.Tvi - Tvi - Good - Luck - Lei.

PS: Support Lei, Inspire Others

The term Brotherhood of the Rope (I would love to add Sisterhood or even use another term, Fellowship of the Rope) refers to the psychological, social and spiritual connection amongst members of a climbing team, their reliance upond one another for safety, security and success. It is also the philosophy and title of the biography of famed American climber and doctor Charles Houston, whose team’s failed 1953 attempt on K2 in Pakistan. He tackled K2 twice, and became the foremost authority on altitude sickness. In his book K2: The Savage Mountain, he was writing about the Brotherhood of the Rope:

…men banded together in a common effort of will and strength–not against this or that imagined foeman of the instant, but against their only true enemies: inertia, cowardice, greed, ignorance, and all weaknesses of the spirit.

Charles Houston died last year, and this evening I came upon an amazing video of him speaking and sharing his film from K2 in 1953. WW means worth watching.

“It’s not justifiable by any logical terms. That’s probably why you do it”. Joe Simpson used these words in his two old years documentary “The Beckoning Silence” while trying to explain what drives some mountaineers to do what they do.

Known for his documentary “Touching The Void”, Joe Simpson documents in  this documentary the fatal summit attempt of Eiger by young Edi Rainer, Willy Angerer, Andreas Hinterstoisser and Toni Kurz.

Toni Kurtz

Toni Kurtz’s attempt to be the first to scale Eiger’s North Face in 1936 was met with the death of three teammates and himself. He died of exhaustion, suspended from a rope just 15 feet away from rescue. The last words spoken by Toni were: “Ich kann nicht mehr”. I was emotionally drained after watching “The Beckoning Silence” and gawking at Toni Kurtz’s body hanging from the cliff.

Why couldn’t they just rescue him?

Life is not fair (and I really need to get used to it).

PS: I’ve heard great things about The White Spider by Heinrich Harrer who describes mountain climbing attempts of the “Eiger North Face”, including also this tragedy of the 1936 attempt by Edi Rainer, Willy Angerer, Andreas Hinterstoisser and Toni Kurz.

PS 1: We watched North Face movie some days ago, and I was not impressed.

Impossible2Possible (i2P) is a US and Canadian non-profit organization dedicated to inspiring, educating and equipping a generation of global problem solvers committed to sustainable living. In 2007, Adventure Runner and i2P founder, Ray Zahab and two other runners made history by running 4300 miles across the entire Sahara Desert, and in the process of raising the bar of what we think possible, also raised awareness for clean-water initiatives in Africa. The success of the Sahara run inspired Ray to found i2P, an organization dedicated to using adventure to inspire and equip a generation of young sustainability leaders:

The mission of impossible2Possible (i2P) is to encourage youth to reach beyond their perceived limits, and to use adventure as a medium to educate, inspire and empower our global community to make positive change in the world. i2P aims to equip today’s youth with the understanding and belief that they have the power to change the world. We envision a world of achievers that believe in their hearts that nothing is out of the realm of possibility!