Team Adidas-Terrex Prunesco Wins 2013 Patagonian Expedition Race

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I haven't written much about the 2013 edition of the Patagonian Expedition Race in large part because it has been difficult to get much information about what was happening. For a decade this has been the first big adventure race of the year and it is notoriously challenging with unpredictable weather always playing a role. This year was no different and we even had familiar faces at the top of the leaderboard.

For the fourth year in a row, Team Adidas-Terrex Prunesco has claimed victory in Chile. The team, which is made up of Mark Humphreys, Nick Gracie, Sally Ozanne and Chris Near, crossed the finish line yesterday after nine days of non-stop racing. They beat out ten other teams, most of which are still out on the course. It appears that Team Eastwind will claim second place today.

It seemed that the only way to follow the race this year was on Facebook and Twitter. The website for the event has typically provided live tracking, an up-to-date leaderboard and regular news posting on what was happening out on the course. Those things were absent this time out, which made it a lot more challenging to figure out what was going on. Hopefully next year's version of the race will bring those tools back for us fans to follow.

Congrats to the champs once again. It seems that over the past few years they've made Patagonia their home turf. Well done!

Deadline Passes For Lance Armstrong To Deal With USADA

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Yesterday was the deadline for Lance Armstrong to come forward and fully cooperate with the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency if he hoped to get his lifetime ban from competition reduced to eight years. The deadline came and went without Armstrong meeting with USADA officials, leaving many to wonder what the next move is for the disgraced cyclist who seems embattled on numerous fronts at the moment.

Following his much publicized interview with Oprah Winfrey last month, in which he admitted to doping while riding in the Tour de France, the USADA asked Armstrong to testify under oath about his use of performance enhancing drugs. The organization dangled the carrot of removing the lifetime ban if he came clean on the subject and shared his information on which doctors, coaches, trainers and cycling officials facilitated his doping over the years. In other words, they were willing to reduce the ban provided Lance named names.

Armstrong's lawyers say that he is willing to cooperate and share more details, but the cyclist fears opening himself up to more lawsuits. He also says that the USADA should be a part of a larger investigation conducted by WADA, the World Anti-Doping Agency. Lance believes that WADA has more jurisdiction over the sport because cycling is so Euro-centric. Lance has always maintained that the USADA's efforts were too narrowly focused on only select American riders when the entire sport needs to be cleaned up.

For its part, the USADA now says it'll move forward with its own investigations. After extending the deadline for Lance already, they don't seem too thrilled with the idea of delaying further. The organization still has a lot of work to do in terms of tracking down everyone who was involved in the widespread use of PED's in cycling. As we all know by now, that is a rabbit hole that runs quite deep.

Personally, I believe Lance is hoping to get his ban reduced even further. A lifetime ban from competition is pretty clear cut and an eight-year ban isn't much of an improvement. For an athlete, eight years is an eternity. Most can survive a two or three year band and get back to a competitive level, but eight years might as well be a lifetime. The chances of us ever seeing Lance competing in a race of any kind again seems fairly remote at this point.

Video: A Mountain Guide's Take On The Garmin fēnix

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Judging from the amount of traffic that this series of videos from Garmin has gotten over the past few weeks, I think it safe to say that you are enjoying learning more about the fÄ“nix GPS watch and how it can be used in our outdoor pursuits. The latest video features German mountain guide Christof Schellhammer, who worked closely with Garmin int he development of the fÄ“nix. Christof shares how he uses the device to navigate through the mountains and the role it plays in helping him be a safer guide.

The more I see of these videos, the more I think I need one of these watches, which is kind of the point huh?

Video: First Ever Footage Of Baby Tigers In The Wild

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Tigers are notoriously reclusive cats that have gotten rarer as their species has continued to shrink in numbers. But recently the BBC was able to capture the first ever footage of a mother tiger with her cubs in the wild. And just how exactly did they manage to do this after years of trying? Simple! They strapped cameras to elephants! It seems the pachyderms and big cats are not exactly mortal enemies, so the tigers don't flee when the elephants wander by. As a result, the BBC was lucky enough to capture this footage. Narration provided by Sir David Attenborough of course!

Winter Climbs 2013: Search Continues On Nanga, Winds Howl On BP

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Just a couple of short updates from Pakistan this morning as we head into the weekend. Not much has changed in the past few days, but I wanted to share what little information we have at the  moment.

On Nanga Parbat the search continues for missing French snowboarder Joel Wischnewski. After being forced down by poor weather earlier in the week, the team of high altitude porters who have gone looking for him had hoped to climb back up to Camp 2 yesterday and possibly go higher. There has been absolutely no sign of Wischnewski who now hasn't been heard from in more than two weeks. Because he was climbing in alpine style however, there are no fixed camps to search for. He had all of his gear with him when he set out for his summit push on February 6. That means he could be stuck in a tent, high on the mountain and currently out of reach. If that is the case, he has to be running low on food and fuel by now, regardless of his health.

I'm sure friends, family and the mountaineering community that has been following his climb are still hoping for a miracle, but the chances of him coming down safely now seems incredibly small. Over the past two weeks the weather hasn't been good on Nanga and he would have had to endure that at altitude. Not impossible of course, but highly unlikely during the bitterly cold winter. I think everyone should be preparing themselves for bad news at this point.

Over on Broad Peak the Polish team continues to sit and wait in Base Camp. After being turned back on a summit bid last weekend, they'll now rest and prepare for another window that could give them access to the top of the mountain once again. The problem is, the weather forecast indicates that high winds have now settled over BP and are expected to remain there well into next week. That means it could be the first March before the Poles get another shot at going up. And this being winter in Pakistan, that next weather window may never come. Still, they'll wait it out until the bitter end, hoping to nab the first winter ascent of the mountain and with a month to go until spring arrives, they should get at least one more chance. For now, we all wait and watch the skies.

That's all for today. Hopefully there will be some more news next week.

Video: Garmin fēnix For The Trekker

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Okay, I promise this is the last video I'll post about the fÄ“nix GPS watch but I didn't want the hikers and backpackers to feel left out on the fun. This latest video from Garmin features German trekker Ferdinand Thies who thru-hiked the 2200-mile (3500 km) Appalachian Trail and used his fÄ“nix to share his adventures with friends and family along the way. Ferdinand likes the watch because it is lightweight and helps him navigate through areas he hasn't been to before without the bulk of a traditional GPS device.

The most intriguing thing to me about the fÄ“nix is that I pretty much do everything that Garmin has showed us in the video. Climbing, hiking, trail running and so on. That makes this one very versatile watch as far as I'm concerned. I haven't decided if I'll pick up the fÄ“nix or Suunto's Ambit, but both are definitely on my "wish list" at the moment.

Alan Arnette Interviews Richard Salisbury - The Man Behind The Himalayan Database

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As I've mentioned before, Alan Arnette is the best source of news and information on Everest, both leading up to the start of the spring season and while it is in full swing. As usual, Alan is getting us all ready for another year on the Big Hill by sharing some insightful interviews prior to the start of this year's expeditions. One of those interviews, posted earlier this week, is with a man you've probably never heard of, but whose impact on Himalayan mountaineering is undeniable.

The subject of Alan's latest interview is Richard Salisbury who works closely with the one and only Miss Elizabeth Hawley. For those who don't know Elizabeth Hawley, she is the preeminent expert on mountaineering the Himalaya, having spent more than 50 years in Kathmandu cataloging climbs and verifying just who has, and who hasn't summited. Quite frankly, if Miss Elizabeth says you haven't summited, no one else in the world is going to believe your story either.

Salisbury first met Hawley back in 1991 when he was planning a climb up Annapurna IV. At the time, he shared a spreadsheet he was using to keep track of the details of his climb, and he suggested that Hawley should start using a database to track all of the records that she was keeping of the big climbs in the Himalaya. She told him that she already had a grad student on that very project, but when the student moved to the U.S. to attend university, the project hit a wall.  In 1992, she and Salisbury reconnected and he began working on what would become the Himalayan Database, the most comprehensive expedition archive of the region.

This database has become the definitive work and lasting legacy of Elizabeth Hawley and it is used by climbers, guides, media outlets, writers and numerous other people to keep track of what happens on Everest and the other big Himalayan peaks each year. In the interview, Richard talks about the origins of the project, problems with false summits, how Everest has become increasingly safer to climb and a whole lot more.

For Everest junkies this will be a fascinating read. Lots of good insight and statistical information from a man who has a long history of climbing and trekking in the Himalaya and working with a woman who knows more than probably anyone else on the subject.