There you can read about Orlando's career as a cinematographer.
Friday, August 14, 2009
Tuesday, November 6, 2007
Mt. Bachelor Ski Video
Winter 2006. My friend Ben Stocks and I drove to Oregon and skied for two days in horrible weather conditions. But it was still amazing!
Mt. Shasta Summit Video
The triumphant documentation of Nicholas Brinker's 1st successful summit and my 5th successful summit.
Mt. Whitney Ascent
At 14,494 feet, Mt. Whitney is taller than any mountain in the contiguous United States. Not surprisingly, it is also the most climbed high elevation mountain in the United States. This summer, I along with countless other climbers, felt the urge to stand on top of this lofty place. And so, Nicholas Brinker, Nicholas Coonrod, Sky Kramer and I, all members of Beta Theta Pi, journeyed to the town of Lone Pine to prepare for a summit attempt. In the words of Nick Brinker, "It was a perversion of humanity. You know those places in movies that shouldn't exist? Well they do and it is in Lone Pine. I don't know what's worse, the food or the people." When we did arrive in the illustrious township of Lone Pine the temperature was well above 100 degrees. We spent the rest of the day finding a hotel, buying supplies, and exploring the limited points of interest throughout the town. The one redeeming factor of Lone Pine had to be the scenery (see below).
This was the view outside of our hotel.
From left to right: Orlando Giumarra, Nicholas Coonrod, Nicholas Brinker and Sky Kramer.
We started hiking up the summit trail at 3:00 a.m. and we quickly passed several large groups of climbers.
After hours of hiking in the darkness, the sun finally rose and we could see the gorgeous surroundings. (10,000 ft.)
Alpenglow on Mt. Whitney.
We stumbled upon this furry Marmot at around 10,000 feet. He made us all cheerful.
Nick Brinker Strikes a pose at the start of the infamous "Hundred Switchbacks."
Nick Coonrod smiles on the trail at 11,000 feet.
Nearing the summit at 13,800 feet. At this point we had run out of water and we were all hit hard by altitude sickness. Symptoms included: severe headaches, nausea, extreme fatigue, and irritability.
After 11 miles of hiking and over 7,000 feet of vertical gain, we finally reached the summit!
Triumphant, I am temporarily the tallest person in the lower 48 states!
Brinker is stoked to be so high!
The walk down was unimaginably long and painful. When we finally reached our car we had just walked for over 22 miles and had travelled over 14,000 feet of elevation change. What a day!
This was the view outside of our hotel.
From left to right: Orlando Giumarra, Nicholas Coonrod, Nicholas Brinker and Sky Kramer.
We started hiking up the summit trail at 3:00 a.m. and we quickly passed several large groups of climbers.
After hours of hiking in the darkness, the sun finally rose and we could see the gorgeous surroundings. (10,000 ft.)
Alpenglow on Mt. Whitney.
We stumbled upon this furry Marmot at around 10,000 feet. He made us all cheerful.
Nick Brinker Strikes a pose at the start of the infamous "Hundred Switchbacks."
Nick Coonrod smiles on the trail at 11,000 feet.
Nearing the summit at 13,800 feet. At this point we had run out of water and we were all hit hard by altitude sickness. Symptoms included: severe headaches, nausea, extreme fatigue, and irritability.
After 11 miles of hiking and over 7,000 feet of vertical gain, we finally reached the summit!
Triumphant, I am temporarily the tallest person in the lower 48 states!
Brinker is stoked to be so high!
The walk down was unimaginably long and painful. When we finally reached our car we had just walked for over 22 miles and had travelled over 14,000 feet of elevation change. What a day!
Mt. Shasta Ascent
Mt. Shasta, arguably one of the most spiritual mountains in the country, has held a special place in my heart since I was very young. To date I have stood at the 14,162 foot summit five times. Despite the grueling 12+ hour climb to the top, I feel drawn to the summit each spring. So it seems that Shasta has become my yearly ritual. Sadly my last summit was the only time I made it to the top without my step-dad Omar. However it was the first time I have brought along a friend who managed to summit. This is the account of the one day ascent in late June by Orlando Giumarra and Nicholas Brinker.
In mid June of 2007, mere days after the Mt. Eddy expedition, Brinker and I planned our ascent of Mt. Shasta. In preparation for our climb, I packed my equipment and Nick rented. Tools required: Helmet, ice ax, crampons, mountaineering boots, extremely warm clothes. We bought trail mix, beef jerky, power bars and several one liter bottles of water. That evening we had dinner with one of my mom's good friends, Mary-Jane, a middle-aged Mt. Shasta native who has summited Mt. Shasta several times and is probably the best telemark skier I have ever seen. She wisely advised us to bring steamed potatoes instead of power bars. "The power bars you eat will give you a temporary energy boost but all that sugar will bring you right back down fifteen minutes later. Instead if you continuously munch on steamed potatoes you will give your body the slow-release energy and carbohydrates needed for the long twelve hour climb." These words proved to be invaluable later on in the hike.
Finally summit day arrived and we woke up to my buzzing alarm clock at 2:00 a.m. We groggily packed up our gear into the car and drove for thirty minutes to the trailhead at 6,900 feet. There was no moon that night allowing for a spectacular display of stars uninhibited by any lights of civilization.
Here we are at base-camp. Our headlamps provided the only light for miles.
Here I am posing at the beginning of Olberman's Causeway, a two miles path made up of enormous boulders that was made by a mountain man living on Mt. Shasta in the nineteenth century.
This is the view from 9,000 feet as the sun was rising.
Still in good spirits, here we are at 9,500 feet.
After hours and hours of relentless climbing, it has become evident that crampons and ice-axes are mandatory. Here is Nick climbing at 12,600 ft.
Having finally crested the ridge right after an intense ice-climb on a near vertical slope, I pause to rest at 12,900 ft.
Here is a view of the aptly named "Misery Hill" at 13,100 ft. While it may not be particularly steep, the elevation and exhaustion from the previous climbing makes this hill a formidable challenge.
Finally, we get a view of the true summit!
Exhausted but thrilled, Nick and I stand at the top of a 14,262 foot volcano!
The descent was long and brutal. We were able to glissade down a few thousand feet, which helped tremendously, but the low levels of snow made for a lot of walking over scree and rock which become painful after several miles. when we finally returned to our car we rejoiced at the feeling of sitting down in a chair and zoomed home to mugs of hot chocolate!
In mid June of 2007, mere days after the Mt. Eddy expedition, Brinker and I planned our ascent of Mt. Shasta. In preparation for our climb, I packed my equipment and Nick rented. Tools required: Helmet, ice ax, crampons, mountaineering boots, extremely warm clothes. We bought trail mix, beef jerky, power bars and several one liter bottles of water. That evening we had dinner with one of my mom's good friends, Mary-Jane, a middle-aged Mt. Shasta native who has summited Mt. Shasta several times and is probably the best telemark skier I have ever seen. She wisely advised us to bring steamed potatoes instead of power bars. "The power bars you eat will give you a temporary energy boost but all that sugar will bring you right back down fifteen minutes later. Instead if you continuously munch on steamed potatoes you will give your body the slow-release energy and carbohydrates needed for the long twelve hour climb." These words proved to be invaluable later on in the hike.
Finally summit day arrived and we woke up to my buzzing alarm clock at 2:00 a.m. We groggily packed up our gear into the car and drove for thirty minutes to the trailhead at 6,900 feet. There was no moon that night allowing for a spectacular display of stars uninhibited by any lights of civilization.
Here we are at base-camp. Our headlamps provided the only light for miles.
Here I am posing at the beginning of Olberman's Causeway, a two miles path made up of enormous boulders that was made by a mountain man living on Mt. Shasta in the nineteenth century.
This is the view from 9,000 feet as the sun was rising.
Still in good spirits, here we are at 9,500 feet.
After hours and hours of relentless climbing, it has become evident that crampons and ice-axes are mandatory. Here is Nick climbing at 12,600 ft.
Having finally crested the ridge right after an intense ice-climb on a near vertical slope, I pause to rest at 12,900 ft.
Here is a view of the aptly named "Misery Hill" at 13,100 ft. While it may not be particularly steep, the elevation and exhaustion from the previous climbing makes this hill a formidable challenge.
Finally, we get a view of the true summit!
Exhausted but thrilled, Nick and I stand at the top of a 14,262 foot volcano!The descent was long and brutal. We were able to glissade down a few thousand feet, which helped tremendously, but the low levels of snow made for a lot of walking over scree and rock which become painful after several miles. when we finally returned to our car we rejoiced at the feeling of sitting down in a chair and zoomed home to mugs of hot chocolate!
Mt. Eddy Exploration
Though I have embarked on countless expeditions previously, I have decided to start documentation of this particular journey due to the fact that it remains fresh in my memory and I have lots of wonderful photos to post!
It all began as an idea. Nicholas Brinker and I were bored at the end of our freshman year and we decided to take a trip into the hills and have some good old fashioned mountain conquering fun. Our ultimate goal was to climb Mt. Shasta, but considering this was Brinker's first time at high elevation, I decided that we needed to do some serious acclimatization. So we
decided to take a side trip: to the infamous crater lake in the Eddy Mountains behind my cabin.
Here we are at the start of our journey, still fresh and energized.
After several hours of strenuous hiking, getting lost and then found again. We get our first glimpse of majestic Mt. Shasta. The slope seemed relatively easy so far, and our spirits remained high.
Eventually we reach the top of a ridge and see a vast field of rocks that we have to negotiate. The vastness and scale of the rock field is not conveyed properly by these photos.
Finally, once we reached the top of the endless false-summits, we emerged at a flattened, forested area. We were pretty much clueless as to which direction we needed to go in order to find the elusive lake. Luckily I brought my topographic map and compass and was able to find the proper orientation and bearing. Exhausted we stumbled through the woods until finally the lake emerged below us!
Refreshed and rejuvenated by the sight of the glistening, crystal clear lake, we sprinted down the shore with the intent to jump in and relieve our sweating exhausted bodies. I managed to place my toe in the water and I almost feinted the water was so icy cold. Rather than go into hypothermia we decided to build a fire and eat the delicious chili we had packed.
Once we had eaten our fill we were finally able to explore the surrounding area.
Here we are at the start of our journey, still fresh and energized.
After several hours of strenuous hiking, getting lost and then found again. We get our first glimpse of majestic Mt. Shasta. The slope seemed relatively easy so far, and our spirits remained high.
Eventually we reach the top of a ridge and see a vast field of rocks that we have to negotiate. The vastness and scale of the rock field is not conveyed properly by these photos.Finally, once we reached the top of the endless false-summits, we emerged at a flattened, forested area. We were pretty much clueless as to which direction we needed to go in order to find the elusive lake. Luckily I brought my topographic map and compass and was able to find the proper orientation and bearing. Exhausted we stumbled through the woods until finally the lake emerged below us!
Refreshed and rejuvenated by the sight of the glistening, crystal clear lake, we sprinted down the shore with the intent to jump in and relieve our sweating exhausted bodies. I managed to place my toe in the water and I almost feinted the water was so icy cold. Rather than go into hypothermia we decided to build a fire and eat the delicious chili we had packed.
Once we had eaten our fill we were finally able to explore the surrounding area.
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