Summit Denied to Weather

After a terrible few days weather-wise, the Logan team has decided to pull back and begin their descent from the mountain. There will be no second push for the summit. Please keep the team in your prayers.

Onwards and upwards...finalizing plans for Dykh Tau in Russia for July.

Minor Setback but Things Still Good on Logan

From the IMG Blog...

IMG Guide Mark Allen reports some pretty cold conditions on Mt. Logan. They were not able to get their cache in up on Prospector’s Col yesterday, but that’s not the end of the world. The plan now is to move up to the col today, to take advantage of the forecasted weather window coming their way.

Expedition Going Well...

From the IMG Blog as of May 19th...

Mark called in late this afternoon to report that all continues to go well on Logan. They’re at C2 now “right in the middle of King’s Trench” with great views of their objective (Logan) and King Peak. Tomorrow they’ll carry to C3 and double back to sleep at C2. Climb high, sleep low works as well in Alaska as it does in the Himalayas.

If the weather holds they’ll move into C3 on Monday.

No scheduled check in for a couple days so as always: “no news is good news”.

Tye Chapman

Going Well So Far...

From the IMG Blog...

Mark Allen called in today to report that all is well on Mt. Logan.  They enjoyed the night at C1 and are en route to C2.  It’s a big day even after dropping a cache about halfway. They’ll pull into camp tonight around 10pm, not a big deal in the great white north this time of year.

Tomorrow they’ll sleep in and have a big breakfast before heading down to retrieve their cache.  An ‘active rest day’ we’ll call it.

All is well. Next scheduled call time is Saturday. Remember no news is good news in the mountains.

Tye Chapman

Dr. Botha has landed!

From the IMG website:

IMG Guide Mark Allen called in this afternoon to report that all is well on the US/Canada Border! The team flew in and were dropped off safely on the flanks of Mt. Logan, Canada’s tallest peak. It was a ‘bluebird’ day with views from the St. Elias to the Pacific Ocean.

Once ‘awe factor’ has worn off they plan to carry to Camp 1 (C1) this evening in one push. Then, they’ll head on up to C2 tomorrow, dropping a cache about half-way which they’ll double back and pick-up on their rest-day (Day 3).

That’s about it for now.

Mount Logan - Here We Come

It's time to keep battling the seven second highest summits. Dr. Botha had originally planned to do the infamous K2 this July, but has since decided to do Mt. Logan. Today he set off on his incredible adventure making time for a quick middle-of-the-night phone call to me (his daughter Natasha) in Thailand. He sounds in great spirits as he heads towards Anchorage, Alaska. I'll keep you updated on his progress if you promise to keep him in your prayers for me :) Onwards and upwards!!

Thailand Times Two!

It's been a long time since any posts in this blog and it's about time I get it up and running again! A lot has happened in the past year, but I'll keep the recap short.

I went to Thailand twice over the past two months to visit my daughter, Tasha. She moved to Phuket in October and is the Director of Marketing & Communications for Tiger Muay Thai & MMA - the world's largest Muay Thai gym. It's an incredible place and famous fighters from all over the world come there to train. They have been profiled in TV shows and publications around the globe and it's like no place else on Earth.

I used the opportunity to reconnect with Tasha but also to train for my upcoming adventures. No, I didn't do any Muay Thai (didn't want to risk an injury this close to the climb) but I hammered it out in the bootcamps, spin and weight classes.

Runs to the Big Buddha and intense beach workouts added a lot of variety and additional functional movement training to my current regime.

I am going to Mount Logan in May with a trip to K2 planned for July. K2 will obviously be something else. It's going to be incredibly difficult, but I'm ready for the challenge.

Here are a few pics from Thailand...

A big thanks to Richie Lattin - Tiger Muay Thai's AV Manager for making me a mini-documentary about my adventures in an effort to help me find sponsorship. Richie is an incredible artist who's work smashes it out of the PARK! Seriously, the guy's incredible. Check out this video he did for fighter Paul Daley.

Richie and his fiancé Becky hung out with Tash and I a lot and are top notch people. They are moving to Japan after their wedding in June and I'm sure they'll find adventure wherever they go! Richie's video will be posted here and on Facebook.

Can't wait to see it!

Above: Wat Chalong (Chalong Temple) is incredibly beautiful and peaceful.

I LOVE tiger cubs!! I couldn't wait to give this one a bottle at the Phuket Fantasea show entrance. Tash loves animals too and was especially impressed with the goats in the show...yes, the goats. She's always been a bit strange! HA!

Getting a kiss from "Tasha's elephant" Lucky!

And so the adventures continue. I'm back in Grimshaw training hard and looking forward to new things to come. Thanks for reading :)