One of my most popular images on ExposedPlanet is the image of Makalu at sunrise, taken from the 3rd step of Everest. Makalu is the 5th highest mountain on earth, so there are not too many places from where you can look down on it.

I had taken a second image, a while later and had never edited it well, so now is the first time I am sharing this later picture. The original was shot just before the sun came up, this one just after. The light is different, the image is sharper and features of Mt Makalu are clearer. Though the other image is dreamier, I might even like this twin image better, how about you?

Related photos:

1. Makalu from the third step on Everest
2. Crowd climbing up towards Northcol on Mount Everest, Tibet
3. Shadow of Everest at sunrise

I finally have some time to edit some older images that never saw the light in public, but I think are worth sharing as they show the beauty of our planet and I realize not everybody gets the chance to see this personally!

From the upper flanks of Mount Everest, the sun dips behind Cho Oyu, while Nepal and Tibet are under a layer of clouds. Pumo-Ri is visible (the big mountain that looks like the top of a space rocket).

Hope you like it, there are more where this came from :)

Related photos:

1. Sunset from Camp 2, Everest
2. Makalu from Mount Everest after sunrise
3. PumoRi from Everest

It is Everest season and here is one of my favorite images of “Chomolungma”, the mother Goddess of the Earth.

This post is to celebrate 2 things:
- that some of my friends will be very close to the summit at this moment (good luck and be safe!)
- That my new Pocket Guidebook, “Everest, Summit of the World” has been published and is available through Amazon.com and other places right now!
Read more about the guidebook here on 7summits.com or see the info below!
_________________________________________________________________

“This book is packed with practical help and mountain wisdom, and is essential reading for anybody contemplating an attempt on Everest.”

(Lincoln Hall, Everest summiteer and survivor, and author of “Dead Lucky”)

Everest: Summit of the World, by Harry Kikstra

• 1 March 2009
• UK price £9.99
• 96pp+2pp map flap
• 117×145 mm;
• weight 112g/4oz
• ISBN: 978-1-898481-54-6

Of course you can buy it at amazon.com (click here).

Everest, Summit of Asia & the World,

by Harry Kikstra (7summits.com)

At 8848 m (29,028 ft) Mount Everest is the world’s highest peak. Even the trek to Base Camp is arduous. Climbers aiming for the summit must survive the extreme conditions of the ‘Death Zone’ and perform great feats of endurance.

The author describes how to prepare for and climb the popular ascent routes up Everest from both Nepal and Tibet, including

• advice on planning and organization
• how to prevent and manage altitude sickness
• practical advice on the use of oxygen and yaks
• how to choose your Everest route and expedition team
• detailed description of the Tibet (North-east Ridge) and Nepal (South Col) routes
• mapping, diagrams and over 50 colour photographs

It is the same size as the Aconcagua & Denali pocket guides and fits in most pockets, being only 115grams/4oz and 14.5 x 11.5 x 0.8cm in size (5.7 x 4.5 x 0.3 inch).

It can handle the snow, wind and cold you will meet on Everest without weakening the pages.

Related photos:

1. Prayerflags at Advanced Basecamp on Mount Everest, Tibet
2. Crowd climbing up towards Northcol on Mount Everest, Tibet
3. Vitor Negrete descending on mount Everest summitridge

Tibet is on fire. The past weeks many Tibetan monks have been killed brutally by Chinese forces, most of them in Lhasa, the capital of Chinese-occupied Tibet. You will not hear much about it unless we let people know, as Tibet is now closed to all foreigners and journalists.

China has also just announced that they have canceled all Mount Everest climbing expeditions from the Tibetan side, so they can try to perform their prestigious candle-trick: the Olympic torch is supposed to be carried over the summit of Everest, from the Nepal side to the Tibetan side. They do not want any chance of protesters while doing this, so simply close down the mountain. Now they are even pressuring the Nepali government to do the same…

Where the true spirit of the Olympics is that sports transcends politics, the Chinese government has changed the rules with sickening contempt for human life, dignity, their own people as well as sports itself, just to protect their outdated politics.

They do not just bother all the climbers and organizers and the over 1000 local Sherpas and Tibetans they employ and provide with a good living for a full year, but show once again deadly contempt for the original population of Tibet.

I for one, will not be watching the undoubtly masses of happy Chinese faces that the ‘government’ will put on TV this year and hope that this message and images gets spread from the blogosphere to the real world (please use the ‘bookmark’ button below the image to Digg/StumbleUpon, Reddit etc).

The image above depicts butterlamps that were burning in the temple of the Dalai Lama, in his exile home in Dharamsala, India. I have given the flames a little red aura depicting the blood that is being shed. Many of his followers have gone from this exact place on a peaceful march to protest against the Chinese occupation of their country and currently they are being slaughtered, in the name of sports.

Related photos:

1. Buddhist Butterlamps at Swayambunath temple, Kathmandu
2. The highest campsite in the world on Everest, Tibet
3. Stolen Shoes sign at Dharamsala, India

This is a composite image, I think from 6 or 7 images, covering about 180 degrees from a windy hilltop in the Khumbu Valley, taking with a Canon EOS5 and probably the 50mm or 70mm lens. To teh left, lovely village Khumjung can be seen, subject of a prevous photoseries on ExposedPlanet.com. Nuptse and Lhotse can be seen, but Everest is just a small peak in the distance, recognizable only because of the ever present snow-plume of her summit. Also beautiful Ama Dablam can clearly be seen, the solitary peak aiming for the heavens above, but the rest of the valley and the surrounding mountains are just as breathtaking, but maybe that was because of the quick hike up to 3800m in order to be able to see this wonderful panorama :)

Extra large size as a way to say: Merry Christmas everybody!

Related photos:

1. 29th Prayerflags Rainbow above Namche Bazaar, Nepal
2. Torres del Paine panorama, Chile
3. Khumjung (5): Sherpani carrying basket with goods from Namche

Brazilian climber Vitor Negrete is descending from the summitridge of Mount Everest on June 2nd 2005, the Tibetan Plateau in the background.

That year the weather was quite bad and only late in the season some climbers could summit. Also the ropes had not been fixed to the summit as is usually the case, so the last part was exhilarating and airy, as part of the route goes over the overhanging snow cornices.
Though I shook his hand, I did not know his name at that time, only found out a year later in 2006 when we were having dinner together a few kilometers lower and we discovered that we had been on the summit together.

Vitor climbed Everest again a few weeks after that, this time without oxygen, but died in Camp 3 on the way down.

Shot with backup-body Canon 500n with 50mm lens on Provia slide film, scanned later.

Related photos:

1. Between the steps: Climbers on summitridge of Everest
2. Crowd climbing up towards Northcol on Mount Everest, Tibet
3. Mount Everest from BaseCamp, Tibet

Hardly visible from Nepal, Mount Everest is majestic from the Tibetan side.

Shot from close to the Rongbuk Monastery, the mountain is still more than 25km/16miles away…

Shot in September 2004 with Canon Eos3 on Provia 100 slidefilm, scanned later

Related photos:

1. Everest from Rongbuk Monastery
2. Buddhist monk at Rongbuk Monastery, Tibet
3. Nuns in a snowstorm in Rongbuk monastery, Tibet

Climbers fighting their way up the last sections of Mount Everest. This is the relatively flat and easy stretch between the 2nd Step (seen in the back) and the 3rd Step (from which i am taking the foto.

The steep Kangshung face of Everest can be seen on the right side, only two expeditions have ever summited via that side…

Related photos:

1. Vitor Negrete descending on mount Everest summitridge
2. Climbers near third step on Everest
3. Climbers towards North Col of Everest, Tibet

Most part of Mount Everest is not a technical climb. Near the summit are the infamous 3 rock Steps, but on the way to the NorthCol, you could meet some vertical ice like this. Not too bad near sealevel, but here, at 6700m/22,000ft it is quite exhausting..

Related photos:

1. View from Camp 3 on Everest, Tibet
2. Climber coming up to Camp 3 on Everest, Tibet
3. Crowd climbing up towards Northcol on Mount Everest, Tibet

The most dangerous part of Mount Everest is just above Basecamp on the Nepal side. This mess is in fact a flowing river of ice, breaking into many huge pieces. To cross this, dozens of ladders are used to bridge all the gaps and many people have lost their lives when these huge blocks of ice suddenly collapsed.

Shot before the climbing season started, so no trails yet, but the part you see here has a height difference of several hundred meters, about a thousand feet.

Related photos:

1. Climbers towards North Col of Everest, Tibet
2. Phortse town and Ama Dablam in Khumbu Valley, Nepal
3. Vitor Negrete descending on mount Everest summitridge