Mount Kilimanjaro is one of the huge and biggest mountains in the world. Mount Kilimanjaro lies on the border among Tanzania and Kenya. This mountain is simple to climb because it has smooth vertical slopes and few landslides but near the top of Kibo. This big mountain has three peaks:

• Shira
• Kibo
• Mawenzi

Shira and Mawenzi have the maximum rate of corrosion thereby have lost some of its peaks. Kibo is not as tougher and is an ideal cone.

Mount Kilimanjaro, situated in East Africa is a spectacular view to watch, even from a distance. It is the main mountain in Africa, but the huge free standing Mountain in the world. It rises from the coastal floor an enormous 19,336 feet into the air. It is not as vertical as climbing many of the higher mountains in the world, and the record speed to the top is around five hours.

With the access to the park, you have a green Montane Forest, full of subtle living thing like leopard, buffalo, elephants and even the Abbot’s Duiker, and rare kind of animals. There are also a large array of primates and small antelope. Then there is the upland zone, with a cover of massive heather, studded with huge lobelias. At 4,000 feet, the terrain turns to an alpine desert, and then nearing the top, is the chilly zone, free of vegetation, but on views.

There is a Mount Kilimanjaro National Park in the Northern Section of Tanzania, and near Moshi. You can reach there from Arusha, and it about an hour’s driving from the Kilimanjaro airport. There are six different paths to the peak, as well as supplementary demanding climbing routes. You can choose from day, or overnight hikes on the Shira Plateau, and there are many nature trails lower along the mountain. You can also trout fish, and visit Chala crater lake on the Southeastern slopes of the mountain. You can stay at many campsites, resident huts, or even several different kinds of lodging outside the park.

Kilimanjaro presents exciting adventure taking you to the uppermost point in Africa. It is nearby to all but the mountain demands to be delighted with respect. Try to mount with companies that hold fair trade practices and conscientious tourism. Train in the months leading up to your climb and enjoy so as enjoying this exclusive experience in the exclusive setting.

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As reported by CARA ANNA (AP)

A British climber died hours after reaching the summit of Mount Everest as he was unable to descend and fellow climbers couldn’t bring him down, his climbing team and a Chinese official said Thursday 3rd June 2010.

Peter Kinloch reached the top of the world’s highest mountain on the afternoon of May 25 but died early the next morning, according to Summit Climb, the British-based company he was climbing with.

“It is with our deepest regrets that we report the passing of Peter Kinloch, who was a bright spark in our team, and he is missed very much,” the company’s statement said.

It did not give details of Kinloch’s death, but some British media reports said Kinloch went blind shortly after starting the descent and could not go on. The reports said fellow climbers struggled to help him down but risked putting themselves in danger and had to leave him in the early morning and retreat to camp below.

Among the risks climbers face, aside from the various effects of oxygen deprivation, are high-altitude retinal hemorrhaging, or small areas of bleeding in the eye, and snow blindness, or burning of the cornea by ultraviolet rays.

It was not clear what happened to Kinloch. Some British media said he had suffered temporary blindness in the past, but not when mountaineering.

The 28-year-old motivational speaker was climbing the 29,035-foot (8,850-meter) mountain from the Chinese side, the lesser traveled but technically more difficult route. The mountain straddles China and Nepal, and hundreds of people try to climb it each year.

Kinloch died three days after a 13-year-old American boy, Jordan Romero, became the youngest person to reach the top of Mount Everest. Romero also climbed the Chinese side of the mountain.

It was not clear whether an attempt would be made to retrieve Kinloch’s body. The bodies of other climbers have been left on the mountain in the past because of the harsh conditions.

“The geography of the area is very complicated, and the weather is often bad. Add the severe lack of oxygen, and it’s extremely hard for rescue work to be successfully carried out there,” Wang Yongfeng, vice chairman of the China Mountaineering Association, told The Associated Press.

Kinloch is the fourth person to die among people climbing Everest from the Chinese side this year, Wang said.

“Mountaineering is a high-risk event, and the mountaineers are all aware of the risk beforehand,” Wang said.

Kinloch seemed to know. “Mount Everest has a fearsome reputation and justifiably so,” he wrote on his website. “Although not offering too much of a challenge technically the high altitude can stop even the strongest of climbers in their tracks.”

Kinloch had been on a quest to climb the highest peak on each continent.

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BEIJING (AP) — A 13-year-old American boy became the youngest climber to reach the top of Mount Everest on Saturday, now just one step away his quest to climb the highest peaks on all seven continents.

Jordan Romero called his mother by satellite phone from the summit of the world’s highest mountain, 29,035 feet (8,850 meters) above sea level.

“He says, ‘Mom, I’m calling you from the top of the world,”’ Leigh Anne Drake told The Associated Press from California, where she had watched her son’s progress on a GPS tracker online.

“There were lots of tears and ‘I love you! I love you!”’ Drake said. “I just told him to get his butt back home.”

The teenager with long curly hair — who climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa when he was 9 years old — says he was inspired by a painting in his school hallway of the seven continents’ highest summits.

“Every step I take is finally toward the biggest goal of my life, to stand on top of the world,” Jordan said earlier on his blog.

The former record for the youngest climber to scale Everest had been held by Temba Tsheri of Nepal. He reached the peak at age 16.

Jordan’s climbing team reached the summit hours earlier than expected.

“The first thing, they all hugged each other and said, ‘I love you, I can’t believe we’re finally here’ and started crying,” said Rob Bailey, the team’s spokesman, by phone from the United States.

Jordan, from Big Bear, California, was climbing Everest with his father, his father’s girlfriend and three Sherpa guides. He left for the peak from the base camp on the Chinese side.

Everest was his first challenge above 26,240 feet (8,000 meters).

Unlike neighboring Nepal, the other approach to Everest, China has no age limit for climbers. Jordan registered with Chinese officials in April, said Zhang Mingxing, secretary general of China Tibet Mountaineering Association.

No interview with Jordan would be possible until he returns to advance base camp, which could take a couple of days, Bailey said. Climbers stay overnight at three or four camps before the summit, depending on their route and pace.

Jordan carried a number of good luck charms, including a pair of kangaroo testicles given to him by a friend who has cancer.

“That’s the one that probably meant the most,” Bailey said.

At the summit, Jordan left behind his lucky rabbit’s foot and planted some seeds that a Buddhist monk at a local monastery had given him for luck on his journey, Bailey said. Then he took the satellite phone and called his mom.

Just one mountain remains in the quest to climb the highest peaks on all seven continents, the Vinson Massif in Antarctica.

Jordan’s team leaves for Antarctica in December, Bailey said.

“A piece of cake,” his mother said.

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KATHMANDU, May 13, 2010 (Xinhua News Agency) — Nepali government has exempted visa fee for Mt. Everest (also called Qomolangma) and Dhaulagiri summiteers for 2010 and 2011, local media reported on Thursday.

The mountaineering fee has also been reduced by 50 percent for Dhaulagiri climbers during the two years, on the occasion of Dhaulagiri golden jubilee celebration, on May 13, and Sagarmatha day on May 29, reported The Himalayan Times daily.

The government is set to celebrate the third International Sagarmatha (Mt. Everest) Day on May 29 with various programs. The celebration is scheduled for two days, on May 28-29.

“We are hopeful that the celebration of Mt. Everest Day will definitely help encourage Everest summiteers and promote Nepal Tourism Year 2011,” said Ranjan Krishna Aryal, secretary at Ministry of Tou-rism and Civil Aviation (MoTCA).

“The celebration is scheduled for May 28 and 29,” Aryal said adding that during the celebration Everest summiteers from around the world will be invited for the Everest Summiteers Seminar that the ministry has planned.

The ministry has also formed a special committee for the celebration of Sagarmatha Day that will be headed by minister of Tourism and Civil Aviation Sarat Singh Bhandari.

According to Nepal Mountaineering Association (NMA) it has expected more than 250 Mt. Everest summiteers to attend the program.

The NMA has also requested the government to regard the summiteers as the Goodwill Ambassadors of Nepal to promote Nepal’s mountain tourism.

Nepal has opened a total of 326 peaks for climbing. The higher 293 peaks are managed by Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation while the lower 33 peaks are managed by NMA.

This Spring Season, MoTCA has already issued permits to 80 expedition teams for climbing various higher peaks including Mt. Everest and still few more teams are in the pipeline.

Similarly, NMA has already issued permits to 358 climbing teams to scale 33 peaks of NMA and many more teams are expected to arrive before the monsoon in June. In the year 2009, NMA had issued permit to 1,210 climbing teams.

(Source: iStockAnalyst )

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Reaching the top of the highest mountains on all seven continents is an impressive achievement at any age, but 74-year-old Takao Arayama of Kamakura, Kanagawa Prefecture, is believed to be the oldest person in the world to have done it.

Arayama conquered the seven peaks over a period of 11 years, beginning at the age of 63 and finishing at 74. He reached the top of the final mountain in February, climbing to the summit of Tanzania’s Mt. Kilimanjaro, the highest on the African continent at 5,895 meters.

Only about 20 Japanese have reached the summits of all seven mountains, an official of an organization of alpinists said, adding that Arayama “is probably the oldest person in the world to achieve this.”

A former company employee, Arayama joined an alpine club and began serious mountain climbing in the latter half of his 40s. He traveled to different mountains on every vacation and even climbed during winter.

Arayama climbed his first overseas mountain at age 55, when he received an extended vacation from his company in recognition of his many years of service.

“It was on a different scale from mountains in Japan. I became eager to challenge much bigger, higher peaks,” Arayama said.

After retiring, he conquered Mt. McKinley at age 63 in June 1999. Since then, he has joined numerous guided expeditions of nonprofessional alpinists on world-class peaks.

Arayama’s physical training included running uneven roads and climbing mountains carrying a 40-kilogram backpack.

In May 2006, Arayama became the oldest person to reach the summit of Mt. Everest, doing so at the age of 70 years and seven months. The previous record was held by professional skier Yuichiro Miura.

In 2008, Arayama attempted to climb to the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro, but gave up because of political turmoil in surrounding countries.

He conquered the sixth peak in March 2009, climbing to the summit of Carstensz Pyramid in Indonesia’s New Guinea island. This ascent also involved rock climbing.

Arayama said Mt. Kilimanjaro “was never a difficult mountain for me to climb; I just didn’t have a chance to conquer it.” He said he felt a special joy when he conquered the summit on his second try.

In 2008, Guinness World Records certified Tomiyasu Ishikawa, now 73, in Kariya, Aichi Prefecture, as the oldest person to conquer all seven peaks.

The president of the Aichi Mountaineering Association, Ishikawa did so from the ages of 65 through 71.

Adventures Guides Co., a Tokyo-based firm that arranges ascents on the seven peaks by nonprofessional alpinists, said that though it is difficult to confirm absolutely, there is no doubt Arayama is the world’s oldest person to reach the top of all seven peaks.

“I wasn’t thinking very much about achieving this at my age, but I’m happy if my actions can inspire many people,” Arayama said. “I want to continue enjoying mountain climbing.”

The world’s seven highest peaks are Mt. Everest in Asia; Mt. Elbrus in Europe; Mt. McKinley in North America; Cerro Aconcagua in South America; Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa; Mt. Kosciuszko in Australia or Carstensz Pyramid in Indonesia; and Vinson Massif in Antarctica.

source: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20100501TDY03T03.htm

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A South Korean climber has become the first woman to scale 14 of the world’s highest mountains.

Oh Eun-sun reached the summit of Annapurna and planted a South Korean flag.

She beat a Spanish rival for the right to call herself the first woman to climb all 14 of the highest mountains in the Himalayas.

Annapurna, at 26,545ft above sea level, was the last of the 14 Himalayan peaks above the 8,000-metre level she had wanted to conquer.

She narrowly beat Edurne Pasaban of Spain to the 14th peak. Pasaban had only the 26,330ft Mount Shisha Pangma left on her list.

Oh Eun-sun also tried to reach the peak of Annapurna last year but turned away near the summit because of bad weather. Snow and wind also stopped her from making the trek last weekend.

“I gave it up because of a sudden ominous feeling that something bad would happen to either me or my peers including the sherpas on my way back to base camp,” she said last month.

She said this trip would be different, and she would be carrying a photograph of Ko Mi-young, a lifelong rival who fell to her death last year while descending from Nanga Parbat, the world’s ninth-highest peak.

Copyright © 2010 The Press Association.

News Source: Google News

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Passu Cones picture taken by me in 1998 from the border village of Susat on Karakoram highway.

Passu Cones or Passu Cathedral, a set of great mountain peaks (more then 6,000 meters) that inspires me for more then 11 years, when I first saw them and still inspiring on my every visit on karakoram.

Situated near China and Pakistan border besides Hunza River in Pakistan. No one clearly mention the origin of the name Passu, but there are 3 places there.

• Passu Glacier with Passu peak
• Passu Cones
• Passu Village

If  you  are travelling on the famous Karakoram highway, you will start seeing the Passu cones after about an hour drive from Hunza valley.

In winters you can see the foots of the glacier from the road. Passu Village is famous for many reasons, you can get more details here on Passu Village.

Passu now provide many of the modern time  facilities, with the most memorable Passu In resort and the looks of full moon from there. My beautiful days were when I spent 4 days camping near Passu Village for my first trip for rock climbing. And thats the place where I first did my free climb, I consider myself luck to start from that place.

Many of the climbing associations and adventure foundations consider Passu as one of the great bouldering and rock climbing place.

You will find the Passu villagers  most literate and friendly in their region. Its a great place to visit atleast once in life time, to enjoy t he view of Passu cone, different high altitude peaks including Passu peak over Passu Glacier.  Enjoying a real safe glacier, that is most easiest to reach.

I have seen many pictures of the place  but its nothing like seeing these great art work of God face o face.

We enjoy the moment of Rock Climbing in Passu. See Passu Cones in the back drop.

Passu is also the gateway to Shamshal valley, a hidden pearl for trackers. Will discuss on that some other day.

If you ever visit Passu never miss the Apricot Cake from ‘Passu Inn’ 

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Here is another addition to our family ski vacations reviews.

One of the best outstanding ski resorts in the world is our today’s focus ‘The Great Aspen Resort’ for Ski family vacations, located in Colorado. It provides a variety of ski areas for all levels and covers more then 4,400 acres spread over four lovely mountains. Aspen resort is also well known for its nightlife because of its downtown and the Quieter Snowmass resort area that has plenty of things for every age.

Aspen resort area host multiple bars and restaurants you ever want or need. You can get a leisurely walk through this deluxe city to discover many shops, boutiques and more. In the city center area there are lots of historical buildings, reach with history presenting a treat for history lovers. One of these is the Ute bank building; dated back to the silver region approximately the 1750’s.

Aspen Ski Resort

Aspen take care of the needs of everyone to avoid any boring moments and make your visit memorable. You are sure to find a slope in Aspen Mountains that suits your level of skiing.

Aspen Snowmass is one of the well-liked resorts of the world, so make sure to make your reservations in advance.

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Accommodation for tourists here is scarce. The only hope for tourist though is medium-sized Shangrila Hotel, which is under-construction and will be ready by January 2010. “The government departments instead of facilitating us have been creating problems. So far, the government has not provided us electricity or clean water. They have been asking us to work with it on self-help basis. This clearly shows the government’s ‘commitment’ for promotion of tourism in this area,” says Arif Aslam Khan Chairman Shangrila Resorts. According to him, his father (late) Brigadier Muhammad Aslam was the person who made it possible for travellers to reach Fairy Meadows.

Fairy Meadows, a Treat for Mountain lovers

The four-hour track up the pine forests is one of the most revealing experiences of my life. The most memorable moment of the journey was when we saw the peak of Nanga Parbat. There it was standing right in front of us. The clouds covered it during the first three hours of the journey and Abbas Ali Khan had predicted that it could be near impossible for us to see the peak in such weather. “It might be covered with clouds for the next 24 hours,” he announced in a gloomy tone. Almost at the same time, however, wind started blowing and in seconds the weather cleared, to reveal the peak.

Nanga Parbat from Fairy Meadow

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