Annapurna 1 Summit - A VIRTUAL HIKE

THIS IS A VIRTUAL HIKE ONLY. THERE ARE A FEW MINIMAL COSTS INVOLVED IN RUNNING A MEETUP. (I.E $144.00 PER YEAR FOR THE WEB PRIVILEGES.) IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO ASSIST IN OFFSETTING THOSE COSTS SIMPLY SIGN UP FOR THIS VIRTUAL HIKE. THE COST IS ONLY $2.00. UNLIKE OPB WE WILL ONLY HOLD OUT THE HAT ONCE EACH YEAR AND SAY PLEASE. ANY MONIES GENERATED FROM THIS VIRTUAL HIKE WILL ONLY BE USED FOR COSTS ASSOCIATED WITH THE MEETUP. ANY SURPLUS MONIES COLLECTED WILL BE DONATED AT THE END OF THE YEAR TO THE FOOD BANK OR SIMILAR ORGANIZATION. ALL HIKES WITH PMUHIKERS ARE FREE AND YOU ARE UNDER NO OBLIGATION. THIS IS SIMPLY AN EASY WAY TO ASSIST WITH THE COST IF YOU CHOOSE. IF YOU WISH TO SIGN UP AND PAY IN PERSON AT ANY HIKE YOU MAY DO SO AND I WILL ADD YOU TO THE LIST. Terrain: Rocks, crevasses, ice flows, moraines, no trails, lots of hanging ropes and expended oxygen bottles littering the scene Total Elevation Gain: 26,545 Feet straight up Distance: Far...very far Expected Pace: Very slow since one must preserve energy and oxygen Expected finish time:If one survives the trek, you get back when you do. Expected Weather: Gail force winds, ice storms, blizzard conditions, very cold. You'll long for the simplicity of Portland rain. Overall Rating: Extreme-The Annapurna peaks are among the world's most dangerous mountains to climb, with a fatality rate of 40% and is why this hike is simply virtual. Dog Friendly: No-bring a yak or sherpa instead. Transit:In the Himalayas? Not likely. Kid Friendly: Not a chance Carpool Link:The absence of roads tends to end the whole carpool thing. The area around Annapurna 1 is called the Annapurna Conservation Area Project (ACAP), the first and largest conservation area in Nepal. The area was established in 1986 by the King Mahendra Trust for Nature Conservation. The Annapurna Conservation Area is home to several world-class treks, including the Annapurna Circuit. A bit of history courtesy of Wikipedia Annapurna I was the first 8,000-metre (26,200 ft) peak to be climbed. Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachenal, of a French expedition led by Maurice Herzog (including Lionel Terray,Gaston Rébuffat, Marcel Ichac, Jean Couzy, Marcel Schatz, Jacques Oudot, Francis de Noyelle), reached the summit on 3 June 1950. (See the documentary of the expedition "Victoire sur l'Annapurna" by Marcel Ichac). Its summit was the highest summit attained on Earth for three years, until the first successful ascent of Mount Everest. (However higher non-summit points—at least 8,500 metres (27,900 ft)—had already been attained on Everest in the 1920s.) The south face of Annapurna was first climbed in 1970 by Don Whillans and Dougal Haston, members of a British expedition led by Chris Bonington which included the alpinist Ian Clough, who was killed by a falling ice-pillar during the descent. They were, however, beaten to the second ascent of Annapurna by a matter of days by a British Army expedition led by Henry Day. In 1978, The American Women's Annapurna Expedition, a team led by Arlene Blum, became the first American team to climb Annapurna I. The expedition was also remarkable for being composed entirely of women. Alison Chadwick-Onyszkiewicz and Vera Watson died during this climb. (Vera Watson was the wife of computer scientist John McCarthy.) On 3 February 1987, Polish climbers Jerzy Kukuczka and Artur Hajzer made the first winter ascent of Annapurna I. With a fatality rate of 54%, and as of 2005, only 103 successful summits have been made, for the loss of 56 lives, many to the avalanches for which the mountain is known. Climbers killed on the peak include famed Russian climber Anatoli Boukreev in 1997, Christian Kuntner in 2005 and Iñaki Ochoa in 2008 The first solo climb was October 2007 on the South Face by Slovenian climber Tomaz Humar Once again, this is a virtual hike only for the purpose of raising a little money to offset my costs.