nedjelja, 28. veljače 2010.

Decalibron, Colorado

Kratka prica o privatnim planinama.

The "Decalibron":
Mount Democrat 4313m (14,152 ft.)
Mount Cameron 4340m (14,238 ft.)
Mount Lincoln 4355m (14,291 ft.)
Mount Bross 4321m (14,177 ft.)


Decalibron je termin koji se koristi medju planinarima u Koloradu, a predstavlja uspon na cetiri ''fortinera" u jednom krugu. Ova tura u zimskom periodu presdstavlja ozbiljan izazov, izazov od 20 kilometara, sa ozbiljnim prijecenjem i izbjegavanjem dijelova gdje lavine predstavljaju potencijalnu opasnost. Decalibron cine Mount Democrat 4313m, Mount Cameron 4340m, Mount Lincoln 4355m , Mount Bross 4321m.Posljednjih nekoliko godina vodi se ozbiljan sudski postupak u vezi javnog pristupa ovim planinama. Zapravo radi se o tome da se planine nalaze na privatnom zemljistu i sve do prije nekoliko godina nije bilo problema sa pristupom. Tako je bilo sve dok nekom od planinara nije palo na pamet da se obrati vlasnicima i upozori ih da u slucaju nesrece odgovornost moze snositi vlasnik. Tako je i pocela javna rasprava i sudska bitka, uz nekoliko kompromisa i dogovora planine su ostale na usluzi planinarima osim Mt. Bross na ciji je vrh pristup zakonski zabranjen.

Kretanje na ovim planinanm je ograniceno i dozvoljeno je samo na obiljezenim stazama, a svako odstupanje smatra se ugrozavanjem privatne imovine. U zimskoj sezoni ova tura je jako atraktivna zbog relativno lakog pristipa i netehnickog uspona, mada je poznato da planina moze da nam pruzi iznenadjenje kada se najmanje nadamo. Kada se radi o Koloradu i vremenu onda tu se treba biti jako oprezan. U Koloradi vazi nepisano pravilo, sacekaj desetak minuta i vrijeme ce se promijeniti, sto i jeste istina.

Februar je skoro bio na izmaku, vikend nije bio obecavajuci, ali sve se promijenilo telefonskim pozivom u petak poslijepodne. Moj prijatelj i partner u planinskim avanturama Jim, koji zivi u Colorado Springsu nazavao me i pitao dali sam zainteresovan da se pridruzimo grupi iskusnih alpinista koji ce pokusati penjati Decalibron.
Naravno, rekao sam.

Tako je pocelo moje ubrzano spremanje, mada sam vec bio spreman,jer uvijek sam spreman,i u autu se uvijek nalazi oprema za planinarenje i ribolov, jer nikad se nezna kakav trenutak motivacije ili inspiracje moze doci u toku voznje. Imao sam dovoljno vremena da pogledam kartu i pravce kretanja, moram priznati da me lavine uvijek plase i izazivaju strah u meni. Strah je faktor koji me uvijek tjera na razmisljanje prije nego napravim sljedeci korak.

Sljedece jutro cekalo me je dva sata voznje od Denvera do Alme, sto je znacilo rano ustajanje, jer dogovor je bio da se nadjemo u sedam sati. Voznja je protekla relativno brzo uz veliku dozu kofeina koji me je drzao budnim i andreanalina koji je cijeli organizam doveo u nestrpljivo stanje iscekivanja nove avanture.

Svi se skupili i dosli na vrijeme, nisam nikoga znao osim Jima, ali neka imena su mi poznata jer se radilo o alpinistima koji su popeli sve vrhove u Koloradu prako 14000 fiti, i preko nekoliko stotina vrhova koji su dosezali preko 13000 fiti. Nalazili smo se oko 5 km daleko od Kite Lake, malog jezerca koji je dobio ime po tome sto oblik jezera lici na zmaja, a u ljetnom periodu prostor oko jezera sluzi kao parking i mjesto za kampovanje. Rastojanje do jezera presli smo relativno brzo, put je bio prekriven snijegom, povrsina je jednim dijelom bila smrznuta, ali nije izdrzavala pod mojom tezinom tako da sam bio primoran staviti kplje, hodaljke za snijeg, koje nikako ne volim.

Znao sam da ce u povratku na ovom putu zbog temperature snijeg biti puno meksi i da ce kretanje biti puno teze nego ovog jutra. Ne mrzim nista vise od ''postholing'' sto znaci propadanje kroz duboki snijeg pokusavajuci pratiti necije tragove kroz prtinu. Jos su svjeza sjecanja sa proslogodisnjeg uspona na Mt. Evans gdje smo zbog jako dubokog snijega koji i visokih temperatura dva kilometra prelazili vise od tri sata.

Poslije kratkog predaha kod Kite Lake, ubrzano smo se kretali prema padini koja vodi na Mt. Democrat, nase prvo odrediste. Niko od nas nije imao opremu za lavine, oprema koja vam moze zivot spasiti u slucaju zatrpavanja lavinom. Radio primopredajnik, lopata, lavinska pipaljka, nista od toga nije nam bilo pri ruci, razmislajo sam o tome dok smo se jedan po jedan prebacivali preko padine koja je predstavljala potencijalnu opasnost, ali sa obzirom na temeraturu i da je snijeg star vec par sedmica davalo mi je malu dozu smirenja.

Napokon smo bili iznad padina koje su bile debelo pod snijegom i koje su cekale proljece da posalju snijeg duboku u dolinu. Uspon na Democrat je bio jako zanimljiv, kretali smo se ivicom prevoja koji je bio pod snijegom i zaledjen. Cijelo vrijeme sam se pitao zasto nisam ponio dereze, nisam iz jednostavnog razloga sto na prakingu kada smo provjeravali opremu neko je spomenuo da nece biti potrebne tako da smo ostavili u automobilima, a tako bi bile od pomoci.

Ovaj dio uspona je i bio najtezi zbog dijelova koji su bili pod ledom, ali cekalo nas je spustanje sa Democrata i skoro identicno penjanje na Cameron, koji ustvari i nije sluzbeno priznat kao vrh koji je iznad 14000 fiti jer sedlo koje dijeli vrh sa Mt. Lincoln nije odredjene duzine, mada zbog njegove visine svi ga racunaju ka ''fortiner''.

Prelazak sa Camerona prema Lincolnu je za mene bio najbolji dio ture, prije svega zbog osjecaja kretanja preko visoravni koja je iznad 4000 metara i cinjenice da je ''ono'' najgore iza nas, mozda jedino spustanje sa Brosa niz strmu zaledjenu stranu moze predstavljati prepreku. Dvadestak kilometara i skoro dvanaest planinarenja bilo je u zasjenjeno osjecajem uspjeha ture za koji se u toku zime samo rijetki usudjuju.

utorak, 16. veljače 2010.

Colorado from Space





>

1984 Sarajevo, Bosnia

1984 Sarajevo, Bosnia
The Olympics that captivated the world



The Bosnian capital of Sarajevo was virtually unknown on the global stage when the Winter Olympics landed in the Balkans for the first time. Organizers took full advantage of the opportunity, constructing state-of-the-art sports facilities in hopes of gaining international exposure for the socialist nation of Yugoslavia.

Unfortunately, the Olympics aren't what first spring to mind when people think of Sarajevo. The region captured headlines within a decade of the 1984 Games when it was a battleground in a brutal three-and-a-half-year conflict.

Along with many human casualties, the Olympic venues were heavily damaged, some reduced to rubble. Billboards depicting mascot Vucko the Wolf were riddled with bullet holes. The bobsleigh run was transformed into a Serb guerilla artillery position before becoming littered with landmines. Part of the men's skiing facility, Mt. Bjelasnica, became a Serb military installation.

While bombed-out buildings and shattered sports venues destroyed the infrastructural legacy of the Sarajevo Games, the soul of the 1984 Olympics was left untouched. The 1984 Games are remembered as a great athletic event that captivated the world

The Numbers
Number of nations:49
Number of competitors: 1,277 (277 women, 1,000 men)
Sports:10
Events:39
New events: 1 (women's 20km cross-country skiing)
Love letters received by Katarina Witt after she won gold:35,000
Witt's nosiest admirer: East German dictator Erich Honecker, who ordered his secret police to log the duration of Witt's sexual encounters



Heaviest snowfall in a decade
The 1984 Games saw the continued growth of the Winter Olympic movement. The number of competing nations jumped from 37 in 1980 to 49 in 1984 when the International Olympic Committee, under president Juan Antonio Samaranch, agreed to pay for one male and one female athlete from each participating nation. The decision allowed balmy countries, like Mexico, Egypt and Senegal, to field their first Winter Olympians.




Organizers again fretted about a snow shortage in the weeks leading up to the Games. If they had prayed for snow their prayers were answered because as the athletes marched through Kosovo Stadium to open the Games, Sarajevo experienced its biggest snowfall in more than a decade.

It was a little too much of a good thing. There was so much snow it interfered with the alpine skiing schedule, with daily delays a normal occurrence. Organizers were forced to juggle the events over the two weeks, eventually combining two days of slalom into one to make room for the men's and women's downhill.

Skiing had its own controversy in the months leading up to Sarajevo. Several top money-winners and former Olympic champions like Sweden's Ingemar Stenmark and Liechtenstein's Hanni Wenzel - each of whom won two gold medals in 1980 - were excluded from the Games because they IOC felt they earned too much money to be considered amateurs. The IOC revoked what it called their B-licence, clearing a path for some new names atop the Olympic podium.

The Americans became the big alpine skiing story once the events received the green light. A cocky Bill Johnson surprised favoured Swiss and Austrian athletes to conquer Mt. Bjelasnica and become the first North American to win the Olympic men's downhill.

In Stenmark's absence, twins Phil and Steve Mahre won gold and silver, respectively, in the men's slalom. The U.S. also went one-two in the women's slalom, thanks to Debbie Armstrong and Christin Cooper.



In the men's giant slalom a Yugoslav national hero was born when hometown favourite Jure Franko captured silver. It was the first Winter Olympics medal for Yugoslavia and the only medal won by the host country at the Games.

Golden performances
Finland's Marja-Liisa Hamalainen was the top individual medal-winner at the 1984 Olympics. The physiotherapist from Simpere won all three women's cross-country skiing events and added a bronze in the 4x5km relay.

East German speed skaters hauled in multiple medals at the speed skating oval, led by Karin Enke (two gold and two silver medals), Andrea Schone (one gold, two silvers) and a gold by Christa Rothenburger.

The Soviet Union rebounded from its "Miracle on Ice" loss in Lake Placid four years earlier to dominate the 1984 Olympic hockey tournament. Legendary goalie Vladislav Tretiak led the team, as did the first wave of future Soviet NHLers -- Vyacheslav Fetisov, Vladimir Krutov, Igor Larionov and Sergei Makarov. The USSR went a perfect 7-0 in the tournament. Like the Canadians half a century earlier, the Soviets dominated the 1984 hockey tournament, scoring 48 goals and allowed only five.

British ice dancers Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean gained international fame for their interpretation of Ravel's "Bolero." Torvill and Dean earned the first perfect 6.0 marks in Olympic ice dancing history on the way to winning gold.

After placing only fourth at the 1983 world figure skating championships, Katarina Witt of East Germany arrived in Sarajevo somewhat under the radar. But her surprise gold-medal victory over Rosalynn Sumners of the U.S. vaulted the sensuous Witt into her place as the most exciting skating star of the 1980s.



After capturing the public's imagination in Sarajevo, Witt dominated figure skating for the rest of the decade, winning four world championships and a second Olympic gold in 1988. She turned professional following the Calgary Games, but made an Olympic comeback in 1994. Though overmatched by the athletic young leapers who had taken control of women's figure skating, Witt charmed the crowd in Lillehammer with a beautiful free skate that paid tribute to war-torn Sarajevo, site of her first Olympic triumph. She placed seventh.




Witt's athletic accomplishments and sex appeal made her wildly popular in both the East and the West. Dubbed "the beautiful face of socialism," she remained something of a cultural phenomenon well after the fall of the Iron Curtain, making guest appearances on several American sitcoms and appearing alongside Robert DeNiro in the 1998 film Ronin. Witt also created a stir by posing nude for the December 1998 issue of Playboy. The edition remains one of the magazine's all-time best sellers.

Venues crumble in war
Many of the facilities built for the Sarajevo Games were damaged or destroyed outright in the fighting that lasted from 1992 to 1995 following the recognition of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a sovereign state.

The Zetra Olympic Hall, the hockey and ice skating venue that provided the backdrop for Torville and Dean, Katarina Witt and Brian Orser, burned to the ground after sustaining a direct missile hit during the Bosnian conflict. The only venue not affected by the fighting was the Bosnian Serb-controlled Jahorina, home to the women's skiing events.

After years of fighting and bloodshed, however, Bosnia appears to have turned a corner. Sarajevo is rebuilding and the 1984 Olympic venues are no exception. In May 1999, a rebuilt, state-of-the-art Zetra Olympic Hall opened in Sarajevo. The project, spearheaded by the IOC, created such optimism that the Bosnia-Herzegovina Olympic Committee prepared a bid for the 2010 Winter Games, which were awarded to Vancouver.
---------------------------
Country Gold Silver Bronze Total
1. Soviet Union 6 10 9 25
2. East Germany 9 9 6 24
3. Finland 4 3 6 13
4. Norway 3 2 4 9
5. USA 4 4 0 8
6. Sweden 4 2 2 8
8. Canada 2 1 1 4



©cbc.ca

nedjelja, 14. veljače 2010.

Twin Sisters Peaks (Rocky Mountain National Park)

Twin Sisters Peaks, Rocky Mountain National Park
Februar 13,2010
East Twin Sisters Peak (11,428') 3483m
West Twin Sisters Peak (11,413') 3478m
Duzina: 13 km
Startna visina: 2743 m
Elevacija: 740 m




Twin Sisters Peaks smjestene su na istocnoj ivici Rocky Mountain National Park, a pocetak staze je smjesten neposredno uz Lily Lake turisticki centar. Lagani uspon na ovu planinu slijedi istocnu granicu parka odakle se u lijepim i suncanim danima mogu vidjeti Longs Peak, Mt Meeker, Estes Cone i veci dio continentalne podjele koja prolazi kroz ovaj park. Danas nismo imali priliku da vidimo puno toga, nevrijeme koje se nadvilo iznad Longs Peak i susjedne vrhove nekim cudom kao da je izbjegavalo ovaj dio parka.


Ploca na samom pocetku uspona, koja upucuje na pravila, topografsku kartu i registracijsku svesku. Twin Sister je jedan od najpopularnijih vrhova u parku tokom cijele godine, ali cesto puta vremenske nepogode mogu biti velika prepreka. Tako nesto desilo se i nama krajem decembra 09 godine. Vrijeme je taj dan bilo nemilosrdno prema nama, posebno vjetar, tako da smo nakon jednog sata uspona bili primorani da se vratimo.

srijeda, 10. veljače 2010.

Colors of Nature
















    Text Widget

    Trip reports, videos, and photos from hiking, climbing,and mountaineering adventures in Colorado Rockies and beyond.