Have you ever heard of Huantsan? A 6,369m (20,896 ft) peak? Probably not. But what about after I show you this picture:
Look familiar? Nothing still? How about now?
There you go. Although the Paramount Pictures logo mountain isn't definitively Huantsan (it's not confirmed, only speculated), it's awfully similar, don't you think? It also depends on the angle at which the mountain is seen from as well. There are sides of the mountain that look nothing like it and there are other mountains in the same mountain range that at the right angle also resemble it (Alpamayo and Artesonraju). But Huantsan looks the most similar, and a lot of people agree, with that shelf/ridge on the left side riding up to the summit.
Either way, I'm heading out to Peru on July 5th for a 3 week expedition up this relatively unclimbed (maybe has fewer than 50 summits?) peak in the Cordillera Blanca. Even cooler than that is that I'll be climbing with Altitude Junkies, the folks I climbed Everest with in 2013. Phil Crampton will be our leader, who's famous for saying things like "I brush my teeth with beer" and "I once used the oil from a tuna fish can to help lube up my butthole when I was constipated on Everest a few years back" (or something to that effect). Needless to say, he's a mountain man and a 7-time Everest summiteer. Beside him are a few Sherpas I also climbed on Everest with, namely Pasang Ongchu Sherpa and Kami Neru "Mad Dog" Sherpa. Then there will be about 8 climbers. A cozy little team. It will be an epic climb. The region of the Andes is stunning and remote and all of the good things that make me happy and push myself. All in the name of making life memorable.
And since we're on that topic....how's your memory? Have you taken my little memory test yet to see how you compare to me? If you haven't, please do! This is for research. If you haven't done it yet, go here and take the short and fun memory test! It's easy and painless: <<HERE>> Love you!
As for my climb, I will be blogging from the mountain and you'll also be able to track my progress via gps. Stay tuned!