Aerial Drone Video of the Khumbu Himal (Mt. Everest Region)

This past May (2014), Jon Miller from The Rest of Everest trekked through the Khumbu Himal (Mt. Everest region in Nepal) with two quadcopter drones equipped with video cameras. Upon returning, he edited the footage into a polished, twelve-minute video, which you can watch here:

The video provides stunning birds-eye views of Renjo La, Gokyo, Cho La, and the southside basecamp of Mt. Everest. Everest basecamp is observed to be eerily deserted after the massive avalanche into the Khumbu icefall a month earlier, which claimed sixteen lives.

The video is particularly riveting for me, because I spent 45 days trekking through that region some years ago. It's amazing to be able to relive my experiences of the places listed above, especially the somewhat obscure Renjo La and Cho La passes, through the eyes of the remote-controlled quadcopter. It was also gratifying to have first viewed the video with Jon Miller himself, on a beach in Maine, of all places.    

Sender One Climbing Gym

Earlier this summer, I roped up for the first time since (gulp!) 2002. My choice of venue for the occasion was Sender One climbing gym in Santa Ana, CA. I've since been back twice and would like to make it a regular occurrence.

Owned by internationally renowned rock climber Chris Sharma, Sender One features sport climbing routes that are varied, well-maintained, and frequently refreshed. In addition to some short routes, there is a great selection of relatively long routes. The gym also has a huge bouldering area, along with impressive facilities for yoga, fitness, and kid's climbing.