Steve House, Vince Anderson and Marko Prezelj, Makalu 2008: Blown Away

Steve House / 1 Min Read / Climbing

Located 14 miles east of Mt. Everest, on the border between Nepal and China, Makalu is the fifth highest peak in the world (27,762 ft). Photo: Marko Prezelj

Makalupostcard_2

Steve, Vince and Marko spent last night at the base of the wall but returned to base camp this morning due to extremely strong winds. Attempting Makalu’s West Face in less than ideal conditions is one thing, attempting it in a storm of flying rocks and ice chunks is just not smart. Steve House shares the details in this morning’s call:

Listen to Makalu Update 8
(mp3 – 2:12 – right-click to download)

We’ll keep you posted if the team decides to extend their trip. Otherwise, our thanks go out to Steve and Vince for taking the time to bring us along for the ride.

Previous posts from this story: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.

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Steve House

Reinhold Messner called Steve House “the best high-altitude climber in the world today.” But for Steve, climbing is about process, not achievement. He says, “The moment your mind wanders from the climbing at hand will be the moment you fall.” Steve has earned Messner’s praise by leading the charge to climb bigger routes, from the Himalaya’s to the Canadian Rockies, faster and with less equipment than anyone before. He is the author of two books: Beyond the Mountain and Training for the New Alpinism: A Manual for the Climber as Athlete (cowritten with Scott Johnston). In 2012, Steve and his wife Eva cofounded Alpine Mentors a non-profit organization to mentor young climbers to safely become better alpinists.