The North Face

Jan 31 | Last day in Base Camp

By Willie Benegas

we brought a load of hard gear, food and some tents to camp one yesterday, just over 16,000 feet.  our group of 22 represents el salvador, argentina, chile, the us, uk, and venezuela so at this point many of the group are at a new high point with each step - for many their first real climb of a mountain.  it brings a sweet freshness to our climb. 
we have moved into a high pressure weather system with the full moon but with this comes evidence of winds up high. last night we were treated to a ridiculous sunset and then full moon rise over the ridge of aconcagua.
diane and willlie strike out ahead of the group each day and were headed out again early this morning while the rest of us sorted gear and rested at camp. on their accelerated acclimitazation program they went to over 18,000 ft today.  kasha has held full yoga classes each afternoon with the the peak on one side and the crashing of seracs on the other - breathtaking surroundings in which to practice.  damian is madly keeping things organized and flowing smoothly for our giant group with such mixed experience and objectives,
we will run through another set of tests with the mayo doctors this afternoon.
and tomorrow we head up the mountain.  our plan will be to set three camps on the mountain over 4 days and then head for the summit.  with good luck and weather we hope to summit on on the 5th and be back in basecamp maybe that night or the next day.  no dispatches while we are on the mountain but we will take heaps of pictures to share.  

we are headed out!  the winds of yesterday turned most people off the summit but look like they have settled down a wee bit.  wish us luck!

Jan 30 | Plaza De Mulas

By Willie Benegas

as we bathe in the alpenglow of this evening we forget the storms of the last few nights.  we are all at plaza de mulas, our basecamp, and feeling well.  the weather has been predictably unstable - sunny and clear in the mornings but by mid day clouds building with electricity and rain.  we had one clear night where we were able to identify the southern cross and watch a magical moonrise, but the last couple nights have been rain down lower and snow higher, mixed with gropple and hail.  the infamous andean winds have luckily not hit us yet.
willie arrived this morning after running in from the highway in 3 hours - a journey that took us two days.  we were starting to worry he might have to winter over in antarctica.  he arrived feeling fresh, before those of us languishing on a rest day had even begun breakfast.  he brings the news that weather should improve for at least the next 4 days giving us time to establish ourselves higher on the mountain.
in the meantime we eat and drink and rest.  acclimitization and hydration are such critical pieces for success higher on the mountain.  monitored by our mayo clinic doctors we have all become compulsively interested in our heart rates and blood/oxygen saturation.  today we all weighed in and each have lost between 2-5 pounds and we have not even really started the climb.  we have been going through a series of resting and step tests to see how our bodies react and recover
we are a formidable group - 22 now with willie, but moving together with an amazing efficiency that can only be attained with each member being highly conscious of working as a group.  it is impressive to be with such skilled and professional individuals, each adding their unique perspective and experience.
tomorrow we take a load to camp one, a steep scree climb, and then come back to basecamp for one more night.
being here with diane and her team of doctors/scientists is such a great honor.  watching diane pace herself and the focus of the team is a treat and an inspiration!

kasha

Jan 26 | TNF Masters 2010 at Snowbird: Mark Carter & Shannan Yates Win

By The North Face

After two days of being grounded due to weather and unsafe snow conditions, The North Face Masters was finally given the green light yesterday on Snowbird’s famed Silver Fox venue. With nearly seven feet of snow in seven days, competitors had to put themselves on hold, while they were treated to several epic days of riding the greatest snow on earth. Check out the highlight videos, photos, and complete results from stop #1 of The North Face Masters Series on www.thenorthfacemasters.com.

Photo: Mark Carter, Rider. Lance Koudele, MSI Photographer.Snowbird, UT.

 

 

Jan 24 | Aconcagua Ultra: Mules loaded. All team so excited. We are off!

By Kasha Rigby

wow! we are a huge team! everyone arrived without a hitch from locations all over south america and the us. we are just missing willie who is waiting out fog and weather in antarctica after his summit of vinson. fingers crossed it will clear soon.

coming from winter mezdoza is hot. we are transported to the heat and long days of summer. argentine style we have already eaten every part of the cow on multiple occasions. the team met and gathered at a fabulous asada.

we have representatives from all over south america. diane with her crew from the mayo clinic will be doing high altitude studies as we climb. damian benegas and jacob uhland have pulled off a great feat to get this group assembled.

and now, we are perched in penitentes preparing to head out today for more or less two weeks with hopes of much of the team summiting and diane and willie making a speed ascent and descent of aconcagua. most of the team is wearing equipment from the mayo guys to track our different systems and functions. some we wear all the time and some just for sleeping.

today we walk in for several hours. oh and yes!! we arrived in a rain storm last night. damian said the first he had seem in 23 years here in this high dessert. the air became so fresh and the sunset is like one i have never seen with clouds and rays ignited in gold and red.

kasha

Jan 22 | TAWOCHE 2k10 dispatches #5--live from the field

By Renan Ozturk

“This is our decision to live fast and die young. We've got the vision, now let's have some fun. Yeah it's overwhelming, but what else can we do? Get jobs in offices and wake up for the morning commute?” MGMT As we told our sponsors before the climb, we’ve gone rogue like Sarah Palin. We are off the grid… As we wake up battered and depleted, everything points us towards bailing. Only we are too hard headed to concede defeat, not realizing in fact that we are just too stupid to know when to call it. We haven’t had water in a day or so…but who needs hydration anyway? Talking with this degree of cottonmouth makes me sound like I am speaking in tongues…Renan looks at me with confused, puffy eyes. Are we really going up? I am as confused as him…the answer is a surprisingly emphatic ‘yes!’ I dodge rocks as Renan leads through some choss. He short fixes, I jug, dry heave, swing leads, dry heave more, and suck down hard candies like an addict locked in the throes of withdrawals. I can’t wait for the snow, for the water, but we still have hours to go before we get there…if we get there. But the unspoken common ground is that we are down to go up… As are artists, we are locked in a constant struggle between what we want to capture, and the energy our bodies can afford to give. It’s an instinct to reach for the camera, but one that nearly always falls second to the tasks at hand. Often times, I criticize myself for not shooting more…for not nailing the perfect image…but then again, I am fighting just to move. As athletes, we are succeeding, but as creative individuals, we are flailing…it hurts. There are multiple points in any given day, during any given hour, or on any given pitch, where I want more than anything to call it in. I want to yell up at Renan that I’ve had it. I can’t swallow, can’t talk…can barely breath, and all of it makes me want to descend. I know he feels the same because I can see it in his face. But our mouths stay shut, moving upwards steadily as a cohesive unit. No, it doesn’t make any sense…but we’ve never pretended to understand. Life is reduced to a consecutive series of familiar motions. Our arms begin to cramp due to lack of fluid. The glands in our mouths stop producing saliva. We are dried up… All the variables in the equation equal out towards descent. But math was never my strong point…apparently Renan suffers from the same learning disabilities.

- Cory Richards and Renan Ozturk

Jan 20 | TAWOCHE 2k10 dispatches #4

By Renan Ozturk

Waking at 3:30 a.m. is the least of my concerns. We haven’t really been sleeping anyway. Our minds are filled with “What Ifs?” and scenarios that leave us wondering if we are struggling against basic fear, or fighting intuition. Alpine climbing is a labor of love…it’s type 10 fun…the kind of fun that doesn’t have to be fun to be fun. In fact, most of the time spent in the actual activity is consumed by the minds’ pursuit of the base desire that has thrust you into the situation to begin with. In short, it is not something that makes a tremendous amount of sense. Following your instincts isn’t really an option because your instincts tell you not to leave the ground. But conversely, not leaving the ground isn’t a viable option either…because fighting your desire to climb leaves you more miserable than the climbing itself. We think about friends we’ve lost in the mountains and wonder if they were feeling the same thing the last morning they crawled from their respective tents. There is a massive question mark that hangs gloomily above the whole situation, and this morning is no different. I light the incense and tuck it into the makeshift Stupa. Over my shoulders, pre-dawn light outlines the horizon…the dark figures of Makalu, Baruntse, and Ama Dablam. The last of the gear is shoved into the packs in silence as our labored breath rises into the light of our headlamps. The only thing left to do is start climbing. Greater fears are boiled down to specific distractions: Will there be water? Will the weather hold? Can we climb fast enough? And before we know it, the sun warms our backs and we are high above the valley floor on new terrain. The fear melts and melds with joy to create a hybrid emotion that feels almost tangible. Like my friend Colin Moorehead says, “Climbing is the truth.”

- Cory Richards and Renan Ozturk

Jan 18 | Introducing the Aconcagua Ultra Expedition

By The North Face

Expedition Team:
Diane Van Deren and The Benegas Brothers (Willie and Damian Benegas)

Expedition Duration:
January 22 - February 15, 2010

Expedition Location:
At 6,962 m (22,841 ft), Cerro Aconcagua is the highest mountain in the Americas, and the highest mountain outside Asia. It is located in the Andes mountain range, in the Argentine province of Mendoza.

After Diane Van Deren won the world’s coldest, toughest footrace in 2009 - the 430-mile Yukon Arctic Ultra race - one might think she’d rest on her laurels. But that isn’t how this super-athlete, mother of three and overall role model is wired. In January 2010 she’ll attempt a record-shredding speed traverse of South America’s tallest peak, Aconcagua (22,841 feet).

Aconcagua is a massive volcanic mountain that is frequently blasted by a hurricane-force jetstream Argentineans call the “viento blanco,” or white wind. It’s a serious mountaineering objective that typically takes a climbing team three weeks to summit. Diane’s speed trek will climb up the “Polish Glacier” route on the East Face to the summit, and then she’ll head down the Northwest side of the mountain. Total distance will exceed 100 miles.

During Diane’s ascent, she’ll be monitored by the Mayo Clinic of Rochester, MN, by being hooked up to performance-tracking portable instruments. Medical science will focus not only on Diane’s athleticism, but also on her singularity as a survivor: In 1997 she underwent radical and risky brain surgery to cure epilepsy. Though she’d been a pro-tennis player in college and multi-sport expert, she found her Ultra running stride after that lobectomy removed a golf-ball sized piece of her brain. For Diane, running was the antidote to seizures. Whenever she felt the tingling sensation that signaled the onset of a seizure, she’d slip on her running shoes and hit the trail. Indeed, she never had a seizure while running, and she’s remained seizure-free since surgery. Running, she reports, puts her into a zone where time and distance evaporate; perhaps that’s the key to her prowess on so many 100-mile runs, like the recent Hard Rock Trail event in Colorado, on which she earned eighth place among the women’s division

On Aconcagua, she’ll join forces with The North Face® alpinists Willie and Damian Benegas. A decade ago, Willie set a world record by blitzing the peak in under 24 hours. This year, he’ll be a team member on Diane’s historic fusion of ultra running and alpinism.

Stay tuned to follow this team's journey.

Jan 15 | Lucas DeBari Joins The North Face Athlete Team

By The North Face

SAN LEANDRO, California — January 15, 2010 — The North Face, the world’s premier supplier of authentic, innovative and technically advanced outdoor apparel, equipment and footwear, today announced snowboarder Lucas DeBari has joined its athlete team. The North Face has a team of more than 60 professional global athletes which includes snowboarders, skiers, rock climbers, mountaineers and ultrarunners.

 

“Lucas is an ideal addition to The North Face snowboarding team,” said Aaron Carpenter, Vice President of Marketing for The North Face. “His enthusiasm and creativity for exploration and passion for pushing himself to the next level shows his dedication to the progression of snowboarding.”

 

Raised in Glacier, Washington, in the shadow of Mount Baker, DeBari has been snowboarding since he was four years old. He has been featured in films by Peoples Creative, Transworld, Think Thank, Funner and is currently filming with Absinthe. In 2008 DeBari won the Rookie of the Year in the Transworld Rider Poll. In his second year of pro competition, DeBari won the Mount Baker Legendary Banked Slalom. Establishing himself as a progressive big mountain snowboarder, DeBari is inspired by large unique backcountry features, steep chutes and exposed ridges.   

 

“There is so much more potential in snowboarding that I am driven to explore,” said DeBari. “My goal for the next few years is to snowboard as much as possible while pushing the limits of possibility, and I am psyched to be aligned with The North Face as I take the next steps in my career.”

 

For more than 40 years The North Face has teamed up with the world's finest mountaineers, alpinists, climbers, skiers, snowboarders and endurance adventurers who have defined the limits of what is humanly possible. The North Face Athlete team works closely with Research, Design & Development, creating innovative designs that push new technologies and inspire cutting-edge products.

 

For more information on The North Face rider Lucas DeBari, and The North Face athlete team, check out www.thenorthface.com

 

 

Jan 12 | TAWOCHE 2k10 dispatches #3--live from the field

By Renan Ozturk

Turn up the RADIO! Coming at you live from 17,000 ft. below the South Central (Gangsta) Buttress of Tawoche… Renan and I are stuffed in a tent suffering from pounding altitude headaches. This after our 4,300 ft elevation jump yesterday on our final approach to BC comes as little surprise. We have never actually been accused of being the sharpest bowling balls on the shelf…so go figure. Tawoche in all her glory rises above us another 5,000ft. With the view, comes the all to familiar rollercoaster of emotions that precede any alpine endeavor. Balancing fear and intuition, angst and energy, the action vs. the idea….they all flow into your already pounding cranial vault, leaving you exhausted before you’ve left the ground. Since our last dispatch, we are one man, one camera, and one crucial lens down. Chhewang accompanied us to BC, but has since descended to Pangboche to wait. One 5D was tragically lost to a windstorm last night, as well the lens attached. Left with merely pieces, I am more than just a little bummed that the culprit time-lapse didn’t even make the cut for the dispatch. Thanks for hanging with us…while we have no real comms up here, it means a lot to us to know someone might be listening.

- Cory Richards and Renan Ozturk

Jan 12 | Kami Semick Named Runner of the Year, TNF Ultrarunning Team Takes Top Honors

By The North Face

Kami Semick has been named Runner of the Year by UltraRunning magazine.

Semick won all six races she ran in 2009, including two world championship events, the IAU 100km World Championships in Belgium and the IAU 50km World Championships in Gibraltar. She was also the winner of three of North America’s most competitive events, the Miwok 100km race and the American River 50 Mile, both in northern California, and the White River 50 Mile near Mt. Rainier in Washington. Semick, who also won the award in 2008, received first place votes from all 20 of the voters, the first unanimous selection since Ann Trason in 1998. Semick’s win at the 100km World Championship was voted  Outstanding Performance of the year and her IAU World Championship 50k was named fifth.

Michael Wardian and Hal Koerner took third and fifth place, men, respectively, in the Men's poll for Runner of the Year. Koerner's Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run win was named fourth best Performance of the Year - Men.

     
Kami Semick Hal Koerner Michael Wardian