Judy and I spent the last two days in Fort Collins, Colorado listening and meeting with Alan Arnette. We watched his presentation of his climb on K2 and it was amazing!
Alan Arnette is this incredible guy that started climbing when he was 38. Even though he started late in life, he has now, at age 58, been on 37 expeditions, including a successful climb of Mt. Everest and K2. He became the oldest American at age 58 to do so and the 18th American to climb K2. He also has a website, alanarnette.com, where he not only blogs but keeps track of all of the different groups on Everest each year. This allows everyone with a friend, relative, or simply an interest to know where members of an expedition are, and at which camps, along with summit success rates, etc.
It took us a little over six hours to drive from Ogden to Fort Collins, and we spent the night at the Hilton which is close to the Colorado State University Campus where the presentation was held. There were about 500 in attendance at the Lore Student Center Theatre. We introduced ourselves and arranged to meet him and his best friend, Jim Davidson, for breakfast the next morning.
Jim survived a crevasse fall in which his partner died and was featured on “I Shouldn’t Be Alive.” He will be on my IMG Classic team on Everest, so Alan thought it would be good for us to meet. We had a delicious buffet breakfast and shared many ideas and thoughts about our upcoming climb. I couldn’t thank Alan enough for setting it all up and for his wonderful presentation last night which left us feeling we had been on K2 with him! He made it real, documenting with video and photos almost every step of the way, and even his near-death experience.
We drove home after breakfast the next day. We were very glad we took the time and effort to go there. I think it will be extremely helpful for me while I am on Everest.
Mt. Everest 