- Home
- Expeditions
- Mar 27, 2018
-
-
Email -
Facebook -
Pinterest -
Twitter
-
Madness Climber Begins His Pursuit of the “Eight-Thousanders”
The world is covered in mountains of all shapes and sizes, but only 14 peaks stand taller than 8,000 meters (26,247 ft). Each of these has a riveting history, the triumphant and disastrous often only minutes apart. Mountain Madness climber Alex B. is embarking on his first of the “eight-thousanders,” Cho Oyu. Madness Everest guide Ossy Freire leads the Expedition starting August 25. We invite you to follow the expedition experience through the eyes of Alex.
It’s Over Eight Thousand!!!
You’ve heard some of their names.
Everest. K2. Annapurna.
![](https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2F1May2017-Icefall1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=300&s=ed9ba4fc90c0bc1ad9665abb27ef3a63 300w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2F1May2017-Icefall1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=500&s=c67bd968a2b86f36a4ae324f64922b63 500w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2F1May2017-Icefall1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=700&s=91acea41a927efd8dcfa00db2a969ae7 700w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2F1May2017-Icefall1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=800&s=bfb2fd60819335206a9d63c09c2d4a8f 800w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2F1May2017-Icefall1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1000&s=435c591ccb1bc0553f264fb2b8c07388 1000w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2F1May2017-Icefall1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1200&s=1f7246c3562cf20a05b7ec0a6ca10a40 1200w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2F1May2017-Icefall1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1400&s=559d49e285c0dd9584411625c18a1b68 1280w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2F1May2017-Icefall1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1600&s=4ff15b3dfe7d645c67c5a133bf15a425 1280w)
Everest’s Khumbu Icefall. Ossy Freire photo
Some you’ve probably never heard of, but whose very names fill the mind with wild and mystical images of far off and exotic places.
Makalu. Dhaulagiri. Shishapangma.
There are only fourteen of them in the world, residing in a thin chain of mountain ranges stretching from the impossibly high sheer walls of Nanga Parbat, standing in isolation in Pakistan to the west, to the daunting and holy Kangchenjunga, 1500km to the east near the border between Nepal and Sikkim, India. It is one of the younger mountain ranges on the planet, still rising at a rate of five millimeters per year, pushed towards the stratosphere by the violent collision of the Indian subcontinent plowing into and under the Tibetan plateau.
Hidden Peak. Broad Peak. Cho Oyu.
![](https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FChoOyu_Payne_103.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=300&s=2d977e1e1cb7c9fde22f17d816179dcd 300w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FChoOyu_Payne_103.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=500&s=5758d8f6c6098ab5119c54286d225dc4 500w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FChoOyu_Payne_103.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=700&s=dd917e26115fef0d791d30b546663b16 700w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FChoOyu_Payne_103.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=800&s=fb98e833eb9693d8d416c75129fa76d0 800w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FChoOyu_Payne_103.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1000&s=76d9965ba73e2ff8f94555cfd239e598 1000w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FChoOyu_Payne_103.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1200&s=b3af4660cb3b3ff91ff8900ef98d71c5 1200w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FChoOyu_Payne_103.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1400&s=27cd8c4452150ae51a5423aa2411e512 1400w, https://mountain-madness-external.imgix.net/https%3A%2F%2Fkraftwerk-mountain-madness.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fblog%2FChoOyu_Payne_103.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=max&q=80&w=1600&s=38d358770d6c9d0e997768e670006581 1536w)
Cho Oyu camp. Mark Payne photo
They are known as the “eight-thousanders;” mountain peaks whose summits reach up over eight thousand meters (26,000 feet) above mean sea level, into a realm normally only occupied by jet streams and jet liners (and the occasional flock of overachieving geese). Up here the atmosphere is so thin that the vast majority of those who venture into this realm will use supplemental oxygen while they dash to the top in often razor-thin windows of opportunity.
Gasherbrum II. Lhotse. Manaslu.
First successfully climbed between 1950 and 1964 in a post-war burst of nationalistic pride by teams from countries around the world, most of them have still only seen a few hundred ascents. The scene of many epic triumphs and tragedies, they are among the most storied and famous (and infamous) mountains in the world.
Coming Summer 2018.
Follow the journey on social media:
Instagram: @weekendalpinist
Twitter: @weekendalpinist
Alex
P.S. For those not up on their memes (or aren’t Dragon Ball Z fans)