Steve House and Cory Richards, Makalu 2009: Collapsed Kitchen

Steve House / May 27, 2009 / Climbing, Sports

CRP-Makalu 09-01124
[Makalu base camp after the storm, May 2009. Photo: Cory Richards]

In today's call from Makalu, Steve House describes a tropical storm that dropped 36 inches of wet snow in 36 hours on base camp. The weight of the snow was enough to collapse their cook tent. Undeterred and with time running out, Steve is going to head up Makalu one more time with friend and photographer Cory Richards who kindly emailed the photos attached to this post.

Listen to Steve House – Makalu, May 27, 2009
(mp3 – 5:44 – right-click to download)

CRP-Makalu 09-01074 Previous posts from the trip:
Makalu Again
Getting Acclimated
High Altitude Pulmonary Edema
Back to Normal
Greetings from 24,300 Feet

[Steve House, Makalu 2009. Photo: Cory Richards]

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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.