Tuesday, November 8, 2016

Lobuche done! Off to build a school

Linda Blakely, Bob Wood, Nima Sherpa and Tim Rippel - Lobuche 6119m


Couldn't ask for a better day to summit and being my last climb in the Himalayas it was wonderful gift .  Standing there saying good-bye to all the memories on these beautiful peaks, Ama Dablam, Pumori and Everest that I worked on for so many years. Thank you beautiful Khumbu and all my friends that live here and the valley's below. My heart is full with love from all of you who have treated me so well. Thank you higher powers for keeping me and all my climbers safe. I'm one of the lucky ones and proud to leave this way. I sleep at night knowing I always gave it my best shot in keeping everyone safe. 

We (Becky and I), are off on another path. Everyone tells us that we can't quit and they are right. We will just be doing different things.  It's in our blood after 25 years, twice and sometimes three times a year. We will return each autumn to lead a soft trek and bring volunteers to help build quality schools in rural Nepal. 

Right after this climb I scurried off the mountain and headed to our earth build school project. You can follow us at Peak Freaks Rippel Effect. 

Please keep following. We have a lot of work to do.

Tim and Becky Rippel

Thursday, October 27, 2016

Island Peak Summited- Lobuche Next






Photos came in this morning from Linda Blakely from the UK on top of Island Peak with Nima Sherpa. Team is heading to Lobuche tomorrow. Weather has been crisp and clear.

Our earth quake relief "earth bag" team are about to begin their journey to Nepal this coming weekend. One adventure after another. http://rippeling.blogspot.ca 

More later.......

Becky






Friday, October 21, 2016

The World is Getting Too Small


Kala Pattar with Mount Pumori in the background 
Everest Base Camp 
PF 2016 Triple Crown team has completed the rigours of acclimatization. The team has requested a rest day today while Tim is going to head to our Island Peak base camp.  He's going on a walkabout to scout out some ice for the team to play on.

Yesterday the team enjoyed great weather atop Kala Pattar (5346m), the south ridge shoulder of Mount Pumori near Everest. It is a non-technical trail to the top. No exposure, no crevasse, no avalanche risks and the most dynamic photo-op location of Mount Everest.

As soon as they got down they went directly to Everest Base Camp and managed to get their photo there. Tim tells me that there was a line-up going up Kala Pattar,  and at least 200 people in line at Everest base camp waiting to get their photo by the base camp marker. It's nice to see that tourists are coming back, but... the traveller world seems to be bursting at the seams and it sure changes the magic that used to be here. Line-ups at places like Lake Louise in the Canadian rockies are example at home. The world seems to be getting too small.

Tim is looking forward to getting off the busy trail and getting comfortable at our base camp and enjoying some quiet time with the team.

That's all for now!  Anything exciting I'll bring it here.

Becky
http://peakfreaks.com/everest_mountaineering_course.htm
http://rippeling.blogspot.ca



Monday, October 17, 2016

HIGHEST LAMA CELEBRATES 20 YEARS LATER




In 1996 Tim Rippel was a member of climbing team who were attempting to be the first Canadians to summit Mt. Ama Dablam.  Ama Dablam today, is a very popular climbing objective in the Everest region known as the Matterhorn of the Himalayas. Also on this team was Nelson B.C's Tim Thurston,  and following in behind the team was Thurston's soon to be wife Carrie Morita who was on Becky's base camp trek team.

As the team worked their way up the mountain Lhakpa Sherpa ran down the valley to speak to Lama Geshi at his home in the village of Pangboche (the highest inhabited village in Nepal). Lama Geshi escaped Tibet in 1947. Lhakpa was to learn from Lama Geshi of an auspicious day to marry the couple. A day was picked, the team descended and Lama Geshi married the Thurston's "Tibetan style" in his home at 3985m in the Himalayas. Each year since, Tim takes his climbing team to meet with Lama Geshi and receive a blessing for safe massage while climbing on the Himalayan giants.

Twenty years later today, October 17th, 2016, Tim and Carrie's son Owen Thurston (now 19 years old), makes his firsts trip to Nepal. Trust me, these dates and this meeting were not even planned to line-up as Owen had just decided to take the journey to Nepal two weeks ago while on his travels in New Zealand. As the logistics were being put together it was realized he would arrive exactly 20 years later in the same spot, same day with Lama Geshi and Rippel who both were part of his parents marriage.

In this photo with Owen you will see Lama Geshi holding a photo of Tim and Carrie Thurston today holding their wedding photo in the exact same place in front of Lama Geshi 20 years later.

Happy Anniversary Tim and Carrie!!!! Many great memories were made here and lifetime friends.

Tim & Becky
http://peakfreaks.com/everest_mountaineering_course.htm
http://rippeling.blogspot.ca


More trek photos contributions of the journey to Pangboche today.

















HIGHEST LAMA CELEBRATES 20 YEARS LATER




In 1996 Tim Rippel was a member of climbing team who were attempting to be the first Canadians to summit Mt. Ama Dablam.  Ama Dablam today, is a very popular climbing objective in the Everest region known as the Matterhorn of the Himalayas. Also on this team was Nelson B.C's Tim Thurston,  and following in behind the team was Thurston's soon to be wife Carrie Morita who was on Becky's base camp trek team.

As the team worked their way up the mountain Lhakpa Sherpa ran down the valley to speak to Lama Geshi at his home in the village of Pangboche (the highest inhabited village in Nepal). Lhakpa was to learn from Lama Geshi of an auspicious day to marry the couple. A day was picked, the team descended and Lama Geshi married the Thurston's "Tibetan style" in his home at 3985m in the Himalayas.

Twenty years later today, October 17th, 2016, Tim and Carrie's son Owen Thurston (now 19 years old), makes his firsts trip to Nepal. Trust me, these dates and this meeting were not even planned to line-up as Owen had just decided to take the journey to Nepal two weeks ago while on his travels in New Zealand. As the logistics were being put together it was realized he would arrive exactly 20 years later in the same spot, same day with Lama Geshi and Rippel who both were part of his parents marriage.

In this photo with Owen you will see Lama Geshi holding a photo of Tim and Carrie Thurston today holding their wedding photo in the exact same place in front of Lama Geshi 20 years later.

Happy Anniversary Tim and Carrie!!!! Many great memories were made here and lifetime friends.

Tim & Becky
http://peakfreaks.com/everest_mountaineering_course.htm
http://rippeling.blogspot.ca


More trek photos contributions of the journey to Pangboche today.

















Sunday, October 16, 2016

Namche Bazaar - Mountain City



Triple Crown 2016- Nepal in Namche Bazaar

Just a quick update on our progress. We were lucky to get out on schedule to Lukla, the weather window closed in behind us so we are happy about getting in, and on, with this expedition on schedule.

I must say I'm surprised by the evidence of wealth up here in the Khumbu. New lodges are going up all around and they've built a water fountain in the village, or rather mountain city. There is a new high-end North Face store that resembles something you'd see downtown Vancouver and more shops coming. The dominating visitors this year appear to be Asian and mostly small groups. I haven't ran into any climbers yet. Things have definitely changed since I was here this time last year.

What's happening in Nepal is good example to those looking to help Haitians. 
 Grassroots works!  

We are sleeping in Debouche tonight and tomorrow we visit with Lama Geshi for pretty special blessing. We'll share the details of that with you tomorrow.


Tim

http://peakfreaks.com/everest_mountaineering_course.htm
http://rippeling.blogspot.ca  (Earth Bag Build)

Gammon Bag Demonstration 



Linda Blakely & Tee Tolliver 







Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Nepal Triple Crown 2016 Team


Triple Crown Team 2016' - Kathmandu - Nepal

Here is our team minus one who arrived later from India, and also minus our Sherpa staff that they'll join with in the Khumbu tomorrow.  This years team consists of professional athletes, beginner/novice climbers and the rest come with impressive climbing bios.  Members are from Canada, Australia, USA, UK and India, and most are close to the same age. 

Kathmandu is quiet. Tim met with a couple longtime Nepalese expedition agents the past couple of days and learned that tourist visits are definitely down which contradicts what local news has been reporting. Agents are however still keeping busy with administration due to more individual bookings compared to the groups they used to get. 

The past day or two the team has been busy purchasing required equipment, going out for meals together, bonding, and doing reviews of emergency equipment like the Gammow Bag (hyperbaric chamber). 

Tomorrow the team is up at 5:00am and off to Lukla if weather permits. Ive been watching high winds in my weather reports that has the potential to thwart tomorrows flights. We'll keep followers updated on the situation here on this blog.


Becky Rippel

















Thursday, September 1, 2016

Nepal - Almost There!

Peak Freaks autumn expeditions in the Himalayas will soon begin.

We've formed two nice sized teams on our Triple Crown- Everest Training Climb, including our Island Peak expedition,  and our Nepal Relief Work team who will be learning and building earth quake safe earth bag structures and schools beginning in November.




The political climate in Nepal remains unpredictable but nothing out of the norm.  A new prime minister has been elected, the ninth in eight years. Political shuffles like this rarely effect our expeditions in the mountains. Many are asking if Nepal is safe for travel and we say "yes it is". The fuel crisis is over and the country is trying to get back on it's feet.  The country relies on our tourism dollars more than ever now.

Thankfully there has been a considerable amount of snow this year created by the seasonal monsoon and three cyclonic events affecting the Indian subcontinent. We've been watching these storms and feel confident it will settle out by the end of September and the mountains will begin to heal from the past two years of warmer than normal temperatures, and ice-melt. It's hopeful that the snow will stabilize the potential for rock fall and landslides that can happen when there is not enough snow to glue to hold the mountains and routes together. All said, it looks like a good mix and it should be a better than normal autumn climbing season.

Our expedition supplies have been purchased, inter-Nepal transportation is booked, international flights are secured and our staff are anxiously awaiting our teams arrival.

Onward and upward! We are almost there.

Tim and Becky Rippel
peakfreaks.com 




Tuesday, March 8, 2016

Everest 2016 - safety evaluation continues


Everest 2016 - Cancelled once again.

We cancelled Everest in 2015 and as a result our staff were spared, and not involved in the tragic avalanche at base camp created by the April 25th earth quake last spring. Amen!

Everest 2016 season is now getting underway, however our concerns for cancelling in 2015 are still present, (see announcement below). Our biggest concern is the affects of global warming in the Himalayas and other mountains around the world. We are not prepared to put our climbers and Sherpa guide staff in harms way climbing through the crumbling ice-fall, and passing under fast melting seracs and dodging rock fall on the Lhotse face. Mountaineering has always been risky, but educated risk taking is key when taking clients money offering them your guidance in safety.

We are also very much concerned about the environmental protection implementations that we worked so hard towards the past 20+ years, we fear it will be compromised as the industry becomes more desperate with new competitors using price cutting as their edge and not investing in the costs of leaving footprints only and how corruption will prevail when bottom-lines are too low.

The Nepalese government has yet to restrict the number of climbers allowed to climb nor have they made any attempts to regulate who can operate there. Low ball operators are taking novice climbers up the mountain on a one-way ticket. We saw this coming and don't want any part of it.

More important than ever before, we continue to prepare aspiring climbers for Everest and other mountain objectives on our TRAINING CLIMB offering extensive instructional ascents on 6000m peaks in the Everest region. Helping participants be climbers NOT just a client as they should be.

We will also continue with our work helping REBUILD NEPAL with First Steps Himalaya and organize private base camp and Annapurna treks, and our annual group BASECAMP STAY TREK in October each year. We will do our best with the help of our customers to bring tourism back to the beautiful people of Nepal.


"PEAK FREAKS CANCELS EVEREST IN 2015 ANNOUNCEMENT"

Since beginning our operations over 24 years ago, it has always been a challenge to navigate through the complex and ever-changing political, social, and environmental aspects inherent in running a climbing and trekking operation in the Himalayas. The pay-off nonetheless has always been worth it – to our clients, to our Sherpa’s and their families, and to us. And as much as last year’s tragic events highlighted both the need for better safety regulations and a reassessment of the business which climbing Everest has become, our present concerns and consequent conclusions come from a much larger set of worrying circumstances.
The local government’s fickle posturing and vague statements relating to mountaineering policies, the drastic alterations to the weather both traditional ENSO and ENSO Modoki have and will continue to cause, the growing list of socio-political events which has a cumulative effect of compromising regional security, present us with only one responsible and rational course of action. We at Peak Freaks are cancelling our commercial Everest 2015 summit climb. As clear as this decision has become it is still far from an easy one for us to have come to. The financial impact on our partners, our Sherpa’s, will be severe.

The patience and loyalty of our clients will be taxed. Even so, our love for the region and what we do remains intact. Our determination to continue expeditions and our commitment to those who welcomed us to the Himalayas almost a quarter century ago and who continue to work by our side has inspired us. It has inspired us to widen our offerings. To provide adventures free from thorny politics, crumbling glaciers, and looming ice-falls. After all, the majesty of the Himalayas should never be locked away.


So on the eve of our sad Everest news we hope solace can be found knowing that Peak Freaks will not close its doors. Instead it will open paths for adventurers to climb other challenging and awe-inspiring peaks, to take cultural tours through the highest lands of Nepal and Tibet, and to experience unconditionally this magical kingdom we now call our second home.