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https://vimeo.com/162271693  Click this link for podcast.  Mountaineering at the ultimate levels includes combining human physiology with the impacts of thin air.   The human body is simply not designed to exist at high altitude.  However, with preparation and experience, it is possible and the result is unparalleled adventure.  Check out the link above as part of a coop effort between 8kpeak.com and The Ski Channel for the first video pod cast on a variety of subjects we will be broadcasting on all kinds of aspects of ski mountaineering in the high peaks.    

  Base camp Winter Himlung Himal. I've never had any issues with altitude but this photo shows me in a total daze. The Himalaya in winter is accessed via helicopter. We flew from Katmandu which is at about 4500 feet, to about 15,000 feet in a couple hours. Normally, you would trek to that altitude taking a week or so to slowly acclimate. When I got out of that helicopter, I could barely walk in a straight line. The world just started spinning. It was really a wake up call to the magnitude of thin air and gave us a...

(8kpeak.com was proud to sponsor Adrian Ballinger this past fall with his Ski Makalu expedition.  We supplied the team, (Kid Deslauriers, Hilaree O'Neil, Emily Harrington, and Jim Morrison) with Aspect Solar chargers and Thermacell heated insoles and hand warmers. We will post Adrian's reviews in the days to come. Check out Adiran at   alpenglowexpeditions.com) Emily Harrington, Hilaree O'neil, Rob Morrison, and Adrian   Hauling loads..... As 2015 winds down, and my brain and body dives into planning for 2016, it is also a time to look back at key moments of the past year. Our attempt to ski Makalu, the fifth...

  There are a lot of choices for AT skis these days, but we are stoked here at 8kpeak to see Lou Dawson at Wild Snow pipe in with his industry review: "I truly do enjoy these skis, having been on them quite a bit last winter and now with a few days this season. They’re different. Not as solid feeling on the down as our full-on alpine skis that tour (Chugach & BMT, for example). But they have a cool silky feel that actually reminds me of Fishers I skied on decades ago. Perhaps that’s caused by more metal...

  “Gear we use that works….”   Is the motto we at 8kpeak.com dreamed up years ago sitting at base camp in norther China in the middle of winter where we experienced -90 degree temperatures.   We didn’t have the gear necessary to handle that kind of cold, so we set out to find, develop, GET IT!  We don’t have competing brands, just the stuff that actually works.  Thermacell is a small manufacturer that specializes in heated products, and our initial exposure to their gear was in the form of heated insoles.   What we found was a product 25 years in the...