Xtreme Peaks: Peak Freaks Take On Mt. Kilimanjaro For New Years

The Peak Freaks expedition company will be heading to Tanzania for their yearly New Year’s Mt. Kilimanjaro climb.  The team will be lead by Tim Rippel and will be taking off on December 27th.  The Mt. Kilimanjaro expedition has become a yearly New Year’s tradition for Peak Freaks and offers the opportunity to climb one of the famed seven summits on one of the world’s biggest holidays.

This year’s New Years itenerary includes a 3-day/3-night wild African safari.  Ther Mt. Kilimanjaro climb and safari can be purchased together, or you have the opportunity to partake in each of these trips on their own.

The Peak Freaks website ofers more information on pricing, what to expect, and what is involved in such a magnificent New Years expedition.  I couldn’t think of a cooler way to spend New Years than looking over the African Savannah from the top of Africa’s highest peak.  Go check out their site for more information.

Xtreme Peaks: 2008 Winter Himalayan/Karakorum Expedition List

The fall climbing season in the Himalayas and Pakistan has just about ended.  Teams are now going through their gear, packing it up, and moving on.  After a couple of nice summits during the fall climbing season, the attention now falls on winter.  Xtreme Adventurer.com posted an article a week or so back that took a look at the meaning of climbing in winter.  It is the most dangerous and grueling time of the year to attempt some of the world’s tallest peaks.  There are actually a few of these peaks that have never been summited in winter.  Last year, not a single team was able to top out on the higher elevated peaks in winter.  These include the Karakorum range (Pakistan.  Home of K2) and the Himalayas.

So what do we have to look forward to this year?

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Xtreme Peaks: The Meaning of Winter in High Altitude Climbing

Simone Moro and Denis Urubko have scheduled to pursue a winter climb on Makalu.  Makalu represents the only 8,000 meter peak in the Himalayas to not have allowed a successful winter summit.   Their assault on Makalu this winter brings their climbing partnership back together after taking a couple of years off to climb on their own.  In that time, Simone Moro attempted a few winter assaults on peaks in the Karakorum, while Denis Urubko attempted a winter summit on Makalu last season without success.

The 2008-2009 Himalayan-Karakorum climbing season is building up to be one of the better winter climbing seasons in recent memory.  Moro and Urubko will attempt to make the first winter summit of Makalu. Pavel Krupieka, Jan Krabec, and Milan Wlasak will try to get to the top of  Manaslu, and all of this coming on the heals of the Field Touring Alpine Team capturing an Ama Dablam summit on November 22, 2008.

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