Family Dedicates Website To Climber Lost On Nanga Parbat

Much like this winter climbing season, last year at this time I was posting frequent updates on the teams who were attempting to summit 8000 meter peaks in the coldest, harshest months of the year. One of the climbers that I followed closely was a Joël Wischnewski, a French climber and snowboarder who was attempting a solo summit on Nanga Parbat. Reading his posts from the mountain were both a joy and a challenge. It was clear that he loved being in the mountains, but it was evident that he was struggling physically and emotionally. Eventually those updates from Nanga stopped, and we all feared the worst. For days the mountaineering community held out hope that Joël would appear safe and sound, having lost power to his satellite phone or some other issue. But as time went by, we all acknowledged that the mountain had claimed the life of another climber.

This past fall, Joël's body was discovered on Nanga Parbat by a group of climbers. Eventually, it was brought down the mountain and laid to rest in the Herrligkoffer climber's cemetery, closing the last chapter on his life and hopefully providing some closure for his family too. I'm sure not knowing his ultimate fate was a challenge.

Now, his family has posted a note on Joël's website, dedicating it in his honor. They have also shared a link to the photos that he had taken while climbing on Nanga Parbat. Those images were found on Joël's camera when his body was discovered. The photos are beautiful and serve as a lasting legacy of a young man who loved to climb and was taken from his loved ones at too early an age.

Joël's family asked me to share these links with readers, many of whom no doubt followed his expedition last year. I am happy to do so now, so that we can choose to remember him as the talented and ambitious climber that he was. He perished doing what he loved most, and I continue to offer condolences to his family.

Reminder: Hangout With Nat Geo's Adventurers Of The Year Tomorrow!

I posted about this last week, but I wanted to remind everyone that National Geographic will be hosting a Google Hangout tomorrow with five of its 2014 Adventurers of the Year. That means, that through the use of modern technology, we'll all get the chance to attend a virtual meeting with some pretty impressive people.

Amongst those scheduled to be in attendance at the hangout are ultrarunner Kilian Jornet, surfer Greg Long, long-distance swimmer Diana Nyad, snowboarder Kevin Pearce and explorer Sarah Marquis. Climber, storyteller and adventure filmmaker Fitz Cahall, who did the individual pieces on the Adventurers for Nat Geo, will also be in attendance.

The Google Hangout will take place from 1-2 PM Eastern Standard Time tomorrow. Questions for the group can be submitted through all the usual social media outlets, including Twitter, Google+ and Facebook using the hashtag #AdvOfYearChat. If there is something you'd like to ask these folks, it is best to get your questions in ahead of time so they can be reviewed and asked during the online meeting.

And as always, don't forget to cast your vote for the People's Choice Adventurer of the Year. Voting will run through the end of January. I know who I'd like to see win, but we'll just have to wait until the winner is announced in February.

The 151 Best Backpacking and Hiking Websites

The Internet is full of great outdoor related websites, but it isn't always easy to find them. That's why a site called Happy to Survive has compiled a list of their selections for the 151 best backpacking and hiking websites of all time with some familiar and not so well known pages – including this one –making the list.

Some of the more well known websites the earn a spot on the list include our friends over at the Adventure Journal (#2), adventurer Alastair Humphreys (#4), and Section Hiker (#11). Others that are favorites of mine include The Gear Caster (#22), Explorer Eric Larsen's site (#25), and The Dirtbag Diaries (#28) and Best Hike (#44).

With 151 entires on the list, this is just scratching the surface however, and no matter where you live or how you hike, it is almost certain that you'll find a site or three that will draw your interest. In terms of lists of top outdoor websites, I'm not sure if I've seen one quite this comprehensive. Not only are there a lot of good sites, but they range widely in topics too.

I'd be remiss if I didn't send a thank you out to the Happy to Survive team for including The Adventure blog on the list. My humble little site manages to earn the 24th spot overall, which is pretty good considering this isn't strictly a hiking and backpacking site. I'm honored to be included amongst so many other great bloggers, adventurers, and explorers. It was also a lot of fun to discover some new sites that I hadn't seen before.

If you'd like to check out the entire list, click here.

Travel Tip: LeftOverCurrency.com

Frequent travelers take note; I've got a website that you're going to want to bookmark for future use. It's called LeftOverCurrency.com, and it gives us the ability to take all of that extra cash that we bring home with us from our adventures, and convert it back into money we can use. The site accepts a wide range of currencies, and offers very good exchange rates to ensure that you're getting the most value for the foreign money that you probably just have sitting around in a drawer somewhere anyway.

As someone who travels to foreign destinations on a regular basis, I always seem to come home with a few bank notes or coins in my pocket. Most of that cash ends up going into a box, along with other money that I've collected on my journeys. I currently have everything from Egyptian pounds to Nepali rupees, to Mongolia tögrögs rolling around in there, plus a few others too. But with LeftOverCurrency.com, I can get that money converted back into something I can use.

Here's how it works. Simply go to the website, select the currencies you want to exchange, and add them to your online wallet. After you've done this for all of the various types of money you want to swap out, you click on the wallet to see your current balance. Then, push the "Proceed to Exchange" button and fill out the information in the form to create your account. Doing this will lock in your exchange rate for 14 days, which allows you the time necessary to send your foreign currency in to be verified. After that, the website will either send you a check, or direct deposit your money into a bank or PayPal account.

The process works for wide array of currency types, including bank notes and coins that are even out of circulation. It is a quick, easy, and efficient way to get some real cash for the foreign money that you have left over, and your local bank won't accept. You can find out more by visiting the website and starting the process yourself.

Video: The Ibis Expedition - In Search Of The Ultimate Sleep

The video below is in reality a commercial for Ibis Hotels and a promotion they are having for finding the "Ultimate Sleep." But, it is also a rather funny and clever spot that shows adventurers out in the wild, where they are attempting to sleep at the top of a mountain. It is all rather tongue in cheek, but enjoyable none the less. At the end, the video points to ibis-expedition.com, although there doesn't really seem to be much going on there at the moment, other than a beautiful shot of Roraima, the "Devil's Mountain" in the video. Maybe there is more to this promotion to come.

IBIS EXPEDITION - Ultimate Sleep [TRAILER] from The Skeeto Lounge on Vimeo.