Imagine taking 5 days to climb and hanging your tent off the side. Might be helpful to take a lot of rope with you. Good rope.
No one ever made it all the way up the northwest cliff face to the top until July 1999. And the three that did, got stuck in their tents in a blizzard for a day and a half, half way up. Bad enough caught in such weather, but also under the direct menace of a cornice of snow as well. A blizzard there as they climbed and yet the same day it hit 105 degrees (Fahrenheit, not Celsius, silly, otherwise the population would dwindle!) in Islamabad. No, no, no. It didn't snow in Rawalpindi that day. Yes, Rawalpindi is a different world, but not THAT different. Duh.
And at least one of the climbers was laid up with a day of Delhi Belly too--though let's not delve into the intricacies of how to hug porcelain--or sit on a porta-potty--without falling, while hanging off a sheer rock face. Not a place for the timid to get sick, leaning out your tent with a 1 KM drop beneath you. Face it: robably not a place for the timid to be healthy, either. (And don't say I didn't warn you to avoid the term Delhi-belly in Pakistan!)
Climbing the Trango Tower is not a 9 to 5 job. Not for a corporate drone, either, I'd say. I could be wrong, I suppose. There's always that pesky inevitable, statistical probability. Maybe it will be a published feature of the next version of Microsoft Windows? If so, I'm sure there will be lots of "fatal errors." In such a case, I won't upgrade. Linux here I come!
Seriously now, watch this space for more recommendations including how to save money on your phone bill. In a hurry? E-Mail me at mdr@post.com
Try out this cool 3D Heading Maker and make your own custom 3D headlines to save and use! Great for everything from auctions to email greetings.
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The great Trango Tower is one of the most spectacular granite towers in the world. Climbers Alex Lowe, Jared Ogden and Mark Synnott made the first successful ascent of the 5000-foot northwest face headwall of the 6,257m (20,335ft) great Trango Tower Tower in Pakistan, in July 1999.
Picture 1: http://www.pakistanpage.net/gallery/main/mountains/tt.html
Picture 2: http://www.fmntrekking.com/trango.htm
John Middendorf on the Trango Tower (and everything you wanted to know about shopping in Rawalpindi, Skardu and Askole--and why you need to do it--but were afraid to ask!) http://www.bigwalls.net/climb/Trango.html
Xaver Bongard and John Middendorf climb the Trango Tower
http://www.bigwalls.net/climb/XGrand.html
Big Wall Climbing Home Page http://www.bigwalls.net/climb/
How to spend $300 million trying to turn a profit, ignore the cheapest, easiest way to do and blow off the people who are telling you how to make that money, and then go bankrupt.
Let's be st00pid!
