Hi friends,

In a few hours I am departing for Nepal. My partner, Marty Schmidt, is already there. He's handling the cargo and last minute details. Once we are together, we will be traveling to Makalu, the world's fifth tallest mountain. Our objective is to pioneer a route up the un-climbed South Face. If successful, this will  be only the 10^th time an American team has climbed a new route on an 8000 meter peak.

Accompanying us to base camp are two film makers. We are planning on shooting the expedition, including the climbing, in HD. Our hope is to create a film (or even better a short series) that captures the overwhelming power of the mountain and the strength a small team must harness to meet the challenge. We all know that an old fart like me needs a partner to lean on. 

We will be chronicling the adventure through our website: www.sharedsummits.com. We hope that you follow the journey and share it with your friends and network.

The adventure is finally beginning.

-Chris

IN THE NEWS: Explorers Web covers Makalu Expedition