Mount Kilimanjaro

First, a couple more announcements:

1. I once again blog for beer!  This time I am joined in my Iron Blogging by Kevin R. of the Free Dissociation blog.  Please check it out and let me know if he starts owing me beer!

2. A couple of people have pointed out that, while the "TAIL-us" pronunciation is more common, the other pronunciation of "TAL-us" is certainly also used.  Hurrah!  Here is some celebratory talus:

From K-FREE's flickr photostream

Now, onto the topic of the day: Mount Kilimanjaro.

Mount Kilimanjaro is one of the Seven Summits (the set containing the tallest peak on each continent), but it is one of the easier of the Seven Summits to climb.  Notably, in a sense you can "just walk up the mountain" without a bunch of technical gear and ice-climbing expertise.  Because of this, I had sort of been thinking about Kilimanjaro as just a long hike.  Turns out, I was underestimating it.

This and future Kilimanjaro images are from Fabio Bretto's flickr photostream

The first clue that I'd underestimated the mountain came when I looked up just how tall Kilimanjaro actually is: 19,341 feet.  That's pretty serious.  So, sure, you can "just hike up the mountain" but you'll get HAPE or HACE (high altitude pulmonary edema or cerebral edema) and possibly die.

Wikipedia actually says "All trekkers will suffer considerable discomfort, typically shortness of breath, hypothermia, and headaches."  Citation needed, but... that's a pretty strong statement.  Lesson 1: Kilimanjaro is tall.  Photos taken on summit expeditions remind me of photos taken out of airplane windows:

The way to climb Kilimanjaro is to take a week, possibly more, to acclimatize yourself.  In fact, Tanzania's regulations require that ascents take at least 5 days.  You spend many nights on the mountainside in little camps.

Apparently this mountain kills a lot of people -- not because of falling ice or white-out blizzards, but because people don't take the time to acclimatize themselves.  Again, the take-home message is that the mountain is very very tall!

One phrase you can apparently use to describe Mount Kilimanjaro, which I think is awesome, is "Afromontane sky island."  Afromontane means it's a mountain in Africa, and "sky island" refers to the fact that Mount Kilimanjaro rises up from largely-flat surroundings.  It has a prominence of 19,308 feet with respect to its surroundings, making it ranked 4th in the world for prominence.

I highly recommend you check out this panoramic image showing Kilimanjaro from a nearby African town called Moshi.  Zoom in, and consider how big Kilimanjaro looks compared to its surroundings.  Maybe you can start to get an idea for why this is one of the Seven Summits.

This is probably a bad time to say this, now that I've spent my blog post discussing the dangers of Mount Kilimanjaro, but there is some non-zero probability I'll attempt to climb this eventually.  My friend Yuki and her brother and father are planning to climb this mountain at some point, and I've asked that they keep me in the loop.  I'll make sure they (we?) take at least a week to climb.  And that no one dies.

I might do a series of blog posts on some of the Seven Summits.  I'm particularly interested in the Antarctic summit (Vinson Massif), the European summit (Mount Elbrus), and the North American summit (Denali, or Mt. McKinley).  Feel free to request that I focus on certain aspects of the mountains/the climbing experience.

Until next time!

Important Talus Announcements!

I have some important talus-related announcements this week.

First, the long-overdue announcement about pronunciation.  I had always considered myself somewhat of a talus expert, and yet it turns out that I'd been pronouncing the word wrong!  You probably have been, too.  The word is pronounced "TAIL-us."  Seriously.  Yes, it's weird.  I am still not used to it.

This is earth-shaking news in the world of Talus Slopes.  To help us cope with the sense that everything we knew is wrong, here is a photo that reminds us that life will go on, and so will talus.  This photo is talus from 1899!

Photo from the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library

Second, once again, I no longer blog for beer!  My fellow "iron blogger" has stepped out of the competition after raking up a debt of, I believe, 4 beers.  I need to cash in.

Would anyone else like to join into an iron blogger blog-for-beer pact?  Just let me know!  Remember, threatening me with owing you beers is an excellent way to keep high-quality Talus Slopes content coming to you every week or two!

From Dru!'s flickr photostream

Lastly, you should go check out my brother's blog.  Cole and his friend Simon have created a blog about adding tasty foods together in order to make gross foods.  It's called "If You Like A..." You suggest disgusting combinations, and they post a video of themselves making and eating said combinations.  Here is the first video they posted:

Check it out by clicking here!

A Return To Talus

It is official: Iron Blogger is back on!  My friend Eli Stickgold started a blog called Nemesis Program, and as it appears neither of us can blog on a regular basis without the threat of buying each other beer, we restarted Iron Blogger.  If either of us misses a post, we owe the other a beer.  The current plan is to post once every 2 weeks.  Eli will, no doubt, be disappointed that I am making this week's Friday deadline. 

In honor of the re-start of Talus Slopes, today's post will feature photos of talus slopes themselves!  I consider myself somewhat of an expert on the subject.  My other Eli friend, Eli Alford-Jones, can back me up. 

Talus slopes are generally formed when rocks break off of a cliff face or mountain.  The rocks tumble down the slope, coming to rest in a large pile of "talus."  A majestic example:

 

(from mnlamberson's flickr photostream)

Snow-covered talus:

(from Dru!'s flickr photostream)

Off-roadin' through the talus:

(from Chazz Layne's flickr photostream)

Endless talus slopes:

(from Laurel Fan's flickr photostream)

And finally, here is a photo of me, supporting an entire talus slope on my back while climbing Mt. Adams in Washington.

No beer for Eli Stickgold this week!  

Welcome back to Talus Slopes.

I No Longer Blog For Beer!

The reason I didn't post last week is because Iron Blogger has officially come to an end!  For Iron Blogger, every week I didn't post, I'd have to pay $5 to the beer pool.  Then, eventually the people who blogged less would pay for the beer of people who blogged more.  And now it's done.

I'm going to keep posting about talus slopes, expeditions, and the good life!  Hopefully they will come every week, but if I start slacking off, feel free to post a comment and give me trouble.  The next few posts will be about my super awesome new skis and about my recent skiing trips, one on the West Coast and one on the East Coast.  Until then, here are a couple of nice things to look at!

A video of someone kayaking off a 189-foot waterfall (seriously, watch that, it's crazy).  (This link courtesy of Ken.)

And, a picture of Denali, the tallest mountain in North America.  It would be amazing to climb this thing...maybe I will post about it someday.  Look at how big this mountain is:

(from Camille's flickr photostream)

Keep on keepin' on, readers!  More to come soon.