Sportswomen of Colorado

I first heard about this great organization called Sportswomen of Colorado a few years ago when our friend Christy Mahon from Aspen won an award for her ski-mountaineering accomplishments when she became the first female to ski all of Colorado’s 14ers. The primary goal of Sportswomen of Colorado is to promote women’s athletics by recognizing those exceptional achievements by very talented and wonderful women. It is the first community-based organization in the nation to do so. I always thought it would be fun to nominate Kristine for her 7 Summits quest, but at the time we were a few years off. Then, when we finally completed the 7 Summits in December 2014, I didn’t waste any time in the spring of 2015 to get the nomination rolling. Most of the awards really honor team-oriented high school athletics whether volleyball, track, swimming, or skiing. There are a few special awards for other fields of sports such as triathalons and, yes, mountaineering. And, then, the big award each year is THE Colorado Sportswoman of the Year, which the organization announces at the end of each year’s banquet. Last year, Vail Valley local Mikaela Shiffrin won the Sportswoman award for her professional ski racing accomplishments in 2013. Ironically, Mikaela was Kristine’s former art student at Vail Mountain School when Kristine taught there. After receiving wonderfully-written letters of recommendations by our great friends and supporters Rob Casserley and Diana Scherr, I submitted the entire nomination to the organization and the wait was on. Finally, just this past January we heard Kristine was to receive the special award for Dedication in Mountaineering for her 7 Summits accomplishment. We were all beyond thrilled! After all, I like to think of myself as Kristine’s biggest fan and I just wanted her to be recognized. Its not every day a woman (or for that matter an American woman) climbs the 7 Summits. In fact, as of now, I still only believe 20 or so American women have climbed the 7 Summits and Kristine is the first from Colorado.

The 2015 Sportswomen of Colorado awards banquet at the Denver Marriot Tech Center

The 2015 Sportswomen of Colorado awards banquet at the Denver Marriot Tech Center

So, we headed down to the Denver Marriot Tech Center on Sunday afternoon, March 8, to attend the very nicely done awards banquet. Only, we made one big mistake – driving to Denver on a Sunday afternoon. Fortunately, we never have to deal with skier traffic (and hopefully never will), but we hit it smack on. Good friends (Ben Conners & Brian Miller) have told us, “No one can tell you what skier traffic is, you have to experience it for yourself”. Well, we did. And, man, its awful. Nevertheless, we arrived at the banquet just a tad late for the dinner itself though we missed the hour long cocktail party. It was a fun evening, a great dinner & dessert, and really impressive to hear of all the award winners and their just plain awesome accomplishments. We were talking about how several of these high school women will likely be Olympians soon enough. The keynote speaker was Kate Fagan of ESPN fame. They had pictures circulating on the big screens throughout the dinner and we loved seeing the ones I submitted of Kristine ski-mountaineering in Antarctica and on the summit of Everest. Finally, Kristine was called on stage to receive the Dedication Award during which the announcers made a very nice introduction of Kristine, her accomplishment, and her teaching accomplishments here in the Vail Valley. I scooted near the back and took what pictures I could though the photographer at the front obviously got the goods. I was very proud.

Kristine receiving her Dedication Award from Kate Fagan

Kristine receiving her Dedication Award from Kate Fagan

There she is

There she is

Kristine on the big screen

Kristine on the big screen

The finale of the banquet was the announcement of this year’s Colorado Sportswoman and, not suprisingly, Mikaela won it again for her gold medal at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Hard to complete with a gold medal, we thought. I do wonder if adventure-type hobbies such as mountaineering, climbing, etc will ever compete with those spotlight media-hyped sports. Probably not. But, maybe that’s a good thing. Rob Casserley put it best when he said in his letter of recommendation for Kristine: “Mountaineering is not a sport replete with gold medals, cheering crowds, or podiums.” How very true. Anyway, it was nice to hear that the Sportswoman award would be kept local for one more year. Congratulations to Mikaela. We both wish we could have seen her, but she was in Europe for ski racing and could not attend. Though, she had a nice little video addressing the awards banquet crowd and thanked the organization for the award. We both have wondered if she’d remember Kristine as her art teacher.

We made a quick exit and arrived back home in Edwards around 11pm to find a sleeping Sawyer and Diana Scherr’s sweet 10 year old daughter, Piper, in the bed next to Sawyer’s crib. Diana & Piper had relieved good buddies J & Megan of baby duties halfway through the evening. We chatted with Diana for awhile and just thanked her (& Piper) so much for watching Sawyer. It was such a huge help. We got some really good friends, that’s for sure. We actually never took a picture of Kristine & myself at the banquet, so Diana was nice enough to take one of us in our living room with Kristine wearing her Dedication award medal.

Back at home

Back at home

Congratulations again, Kristine. Not only does your 7 Summits accomplishment deserve recognition and accolades, but all of your accomplishments throughout life deserve admiration and celebration. You will always be all of our Sportswoman of Colorado. Special thanks again to Diana & Rob for their outstanding letters of recommendation. You guys are really good friends. To nominate someone or learn more about Sportswomen of Colorado, check the organization out at http://sportswomenofcolorado.org/.

7 Summits Party at Jackal Hut

Thanks to everyone for helping to make our 24 hours up at our favorite Jackal Hut so special! It really meant the world to Kristine & myself that our friends and family came from all over to help us celebrate completing the 7 Summits together. But, more than that, it was just so much fun and special to spend quality time with our families, new & old friends, and canine companions in such an amazing setting. It was pretty cool to share the high country of Colorado with our parents as well as old climbing buddies who came from afar.

I believe I counted 51 total folks and maybe 8 canine friends. Definitely a hut record for us!

I believe I counted 51 total folks and maybe 8 canine friends. Definitely a hut record for us! Photo by Ginny Hughes. Click to enlarge

The weather on Saturday wasn’t ideal, but as Joel promised the clouds and rain/snow mix started to clear out around 6pm and a wonderfully crisp, cool, and starry night ensued full of good laughs around an outdoor campfire. Sunday dawned a sunny and clear day. We all had a great breakfast of bagels/cream cheese and pancakes. Most folks coordinated the 4WD descent before noon, but Ken Oelberger, Rob Casserley, Chase Lochmiller, Kevin Vann, & myself stayed around for a few hours and hiked up the east ridge towards Pearl Peak.

Another amazing aspect of the weekend were how many of our wonderful friends and climbing buddies who actually shared a 7 Summit or two with Kristine & myself came from all over to help us celebrate. A few Kilimanjaro folks (Dave & Sarah Levinson and Alex Parillo), a few Everest folks, Henry Herring, and Sean Swarner were missing, but other than that everyone with whom we shared one or more of the 7 Summits was present!

7 summits crew

7 summits crew. Photo by Ginny Hughes

I posted the following paragraph on our Vinson Trip Report, but figure it really applies to this 7 Summits crew picture:

Kristine & I could not have accomplished the goal of climbing the 7 Summits of the world together without each other. I don’t think we would have even wanted to try. We need each other more than we know on these big climbs and in life in general. I can’t tell you how many times she has been there for me in times of stress or duress. I think the same is true vice versa. Another highlight has been sharing these experiences with good friends of ours. Thanks to Lee Hoffman & Rob Schnare for the experiences and memories on our first big international mountain (besides Orizaba in 2005) – Aconcagua in 2006. Thanks to J Weingast & Sean Swarner for being wonderful climbing partners and friends to Kristine and myself on our first of the 7 Summits together – Denali in 2007. Thanks to Derek Drechsel & Rob Schnare for the sketchy Russian adventures on Elbrus in 2008, in the Russian countryside, and in Moscow. Thanks to Caleb & Jennie Wray for being such fun travel companions around France and climbing partners on Mont Blanc in 2009. Thanks to Henry Todd, Fi Ramsden, James Stearns, & Rich Birrer Jr & Sr for their companionship & support on Everest in 2010. A very special thanks to Rob Casserley for always being a great friend and mentor on Everest in 2010 and ever since. Thanks to Dave & Sarah Levinson, Scott & Darci Hook, Jamie Buckley, Chris Carlsen, & Alex Parillo for the camaraderie and friendships on Kilimanjaro in 2011. Thanks to Henry Herring for his spirit of adventure and willingness to try new things (like snowshoeing) on Kosciuszko in 2012. Thanks to Brett & Maura Wamsley for their support on Aconcagua in 2013. Lastly, thanks to Kevin Vann for his friendship and fun spirit (as well as the rest of the crew and ANI folks in this report) on Vinson in 2013.

Lastly, we may have had another record number of pregnant ladies at a 10th Mtn Hut. Including Kristine, there was Anna, Sarah, Eileen, and Darci. Anna was also 2 weeks away from welcoming their baby into this world! Very impressive being at an 11,660′ hut at 38 weeks pregnant!

The pregnant ladies

The pregnant ladies. Photo by Ginny Hughes

Thanks again to everyone for a memorable get together to conclude this amazing chapter in our lives!

Cheers!

Brandon & Kristine

7 Summits Presentation at CMC in Edwards

Kristine & I will be giving a 7 Summits slideshow presentation this coming Tuesday night, September 2 @ 6pm, at the Edwards campus of CMC (Colorado Mountain College). So, if you don’t have much going on that evening or need a break from whatever it is you are doing, come on out and join us. We’ll probably talk about the 7 Summits quest for an hour or so leaving plenty of time for questions. Apparently, the presentation will take place in the Lecture Hall, Room 118. This is a free event and open to the public. Should be a fun evening!SevenSummits (2)

2013 Vinson Ascent Videos

The much anticipated video of our December 2013 Vinson climb, filmed and edited by Ed Horne, was finally released a few days ago. Ed was hired by our logistical guide service, Antarctic Network International or ANI, to be a part of our “V3” expedition to climb Mt. Vinson. Ed is an extraordinary photographer, videographer, and all-around super guy. We all felt honored to have him along on our climb and as a result all became good friends. In a nutshell, our 11 day climb up and down Mt. Vinson was documented by Ed and this awesome video is the result. Its a lengthy video at over 17 minutes, but brings back so many happy memories for all of us that I hope you enjoy as well. Hopefully, this will give folks a great snapshot of what it is like to climb to the top of the bottom of the world with the phenomenal services provided by ANI. The logistics, guides, food, and support of ANI are really first class and unmatched in the mountain guiding industry. Several of us “client” climbers are featured in this video including myself, Kristine, Chase Lochmiller, Kevin Vann, Dan Healy, Luis Alvarez, and Vilborg Arna Gissurardottir. Guides featured are Scott Woolums, David Hamilton, Lhakpa Gelu Sherpa, Namyga Sherpa, and Josh Hoeschen. Unfortunately for Kristine, Kevin, David, and myself, there is no footage of us on summit day (except for leaving high camp) because we ascended the north bowl/west ridge and descended the standard east ridge. We passed Ed and the rest of the ANI crew on the east ridge on our descent as they were all heading for the summit. I so wish we had been up there with them all, but its great seeing all of the happiness, elation, and excitement of Chase, Villa, Harry, Halla, Dan, Luis, Lhakpa, Andy, and Namyga on Vinson’s summit. We all feel very fortunate to have had Ed with us on our Vinson climb and for this video to relive those days in Antarctica for the rest of our lives. Enjoy!

Lastly, Ed shot and edited this little 1 minute promotional video for ANI based on footage from our Vinson climb if you would like to check it out:

7 Summits Wall of Composites

Well, we finally finished our wall of fame (or shame) with the completion of the final custom framed Vinson picture and plaque. These custom framed pictures and plaques have been a work in progress for 8 years now ever since I climbed Aconcagua for the first time in January 2006 and my dad surprised me with the first custom framed composite including the summit picture, plaque, and permit of this series of composite pictures. I loved this very thoughtful present from my dad so much I decided to continue this same idea with each additional mountain of the 7 Summits we would climb. Yes, its expensive to do, especially with the plaque and custom framing, but I think worthwhile in the long run to have these framed composites for our lifetimes and for the memories. We always try to locate the climbing permit below the plaque in the composite, but Kosciuszko and Vinson did not have any permits. I think we could have used the Kosciuszko National Park pass, but that’s not very exciting and I believe we just drove past the entrance gate anyway and didn’t even get a pass. Whoops. As for Vinson, there was no climbing permit as no one country owns Antarctica, but we used a reduced size version of the Vail Daily article in the location on the composite where a permit would go.

Vinson composite

Vinson composite

Unfortunately, the original Aconcagua composite picture has been relegated to the guest bedroom, but totally understandable as it wasn’t part of Kristine and my 7 Summits endeavor. So, I guess wherever we go or move to or new home we may buy down the road, these composites will come with us to remind us of the wonderful 7 Summits journey we experienced together.

The complete Wall of Fame (or Shame)

The complete Wall of Fame (or Shame)

Vail Daily Newspaper Article

Kristine & I both think Randy Wyrick with the Vail Daily did a good job writing a fun and complimentary article regarding our recent Vinson climb and the 7 Summits in general. I took a snapshot of the online edition and converted it to an image file, so I hope you enjoy.Vail Daily Vinson ArticleThe only correction I must make is Australia’s highest mountain is not Puncak Jaya but in fact Mt. Kosciuszko at 7,310′. Puncak Jaya or commonly referred to as Cartensz Pyramid at 16,024′ located on the island of Papua New Guinea is the highest mountain in all of Oceania, the region consisting of all the islands of Indonesia & New Zealand as well as the continent of Australia. Furthermore, Carstensz Pyramid is the highest mountain on the Australian continental plate, which consists of the continent of Australia and the islands of Papua New Guinea and New Zealand. Kosciuszko is the highest mountain on the continent of Australia. While its not a goal of ours to really travel & climb Carstensz Pyramid, if we do get the opportunity sometime in our lifetimes, we sure wouldn’t turn it down.