Spreadsheeting

This is the spreadsheet that's been in my purse for over a year now. A little tattered but there's a crisper copy on the side of my fridge. While I'm terrible at Excel, I might be the queen of analyzing. The spreadsheet was made after I'd finally come to terms with Kilimanjaro being a longer term goal than 5 years, due to the huge expense, especially seeing as I'd want to take my family along, if for nothing else, a post-climb safari. Its about $6,000 for the land-only portion of the trip for ONE PERSON. One of the reasons that I feel urgency to climb Kilimanjaro is that I want to see the ice fields at the top before they melt. I'm intrigued that, despite its location in the tropics, the cold and dry air at the top of the mountain has sustained large quantities of ice for more than 10,000 years. Another reason which I will address in a later post is the "Darren factor", a friend of mine from my exchange year who was killed in Arusha doing charity work at the foot of Kilimanjaro.

After returning from the Everest Base Camp trek (from here on out abbreviated EBC) in October 2011, I sat for a long time on what I wanted to do next. Everest is magical and spiritual and challenging and life-changing.  It carved out its own place in my heart that will never change. Deciding to postpone Kilimanjaro gave way to a few months obsession with Mt. Elbrus, the highest peak in Europe (18,510) and another one of the Seven Summits. I had considered it so seriously that I even picked the date I was going to go and was working towards it. Elbrus is considered one of the easiest of the Seven Summits, although it is not an easy mountain and there are 15-30 deaths each year on it.  Elbrus (in the Caucasus Range in  Russia) can be climbed in a relatively short amount of time and the total length away from home would be about 14 days, which is not only appealing but necessary with my schedule.

The thing that changed my mind about it for now is that a trusted source said that if it weren't one of the Seven Summits, no one would climb it. It's un-spectacular. It's still on my list, mainly because of the low technical requirements and of course the allure of it being one of the Seven Summits,but it would be a huge let down after Everest I've decided, especially culturally.  Is it just something to knock off? Will it be an "experience"? I put it on the back burner.

Afghanistan and Pakistan have the allure and  so many places to both trek AND climb, but the safety factor at this time makes them improbable. Adding to the existing safety issues, this year the following event took place on the ninth highest mountain in the world, Nanga Parbat  http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/climbing/mountaineering/David-Roberts-on-the-Nanga-Parbat-Massacre.html