Posts by Alon Vainer

Earlier this summer I have injured my knee, which meant that I had to cancel my big mountain climbing trip.Luckily, with time I regained full function and was ready for some big climbs.So, I contacted Albi and planned to come a few days early, before the big group arrival.The plan was to climb in Austria , the…

78.56760° N, 12.40540° E We are on the deck of the 80 ft Kamak boat, in a fjord on the North Western coast of Svalbard. We are waiting for the dinghy to take 4 of us and drop us to the shore, for the second ski tour of the day. We had our life vest…

Engelberg valley –Central Switzerland  It’s dark. With the skis strapped on our backs, we are walking on an icy road . There are some lights , but they seem so far away .No idea for how much longer we have to continue.My Garmin watch shows 1,082 m altitude. We just just skied , climbed , rappelled…

There are the Dolomites and then there are the Brenta Dolomites. This group is located in the southwest of the central part of the Dolomites. They are called so because of the Dolomite rock, which is fossilized coral reef. It’s similar to limestone, but has also magnesium beside Calcite(calcium, cabnon and oxygen). In contrast the…

As it is well known , things don’t always go as planned . In fact, there is a saying that man plans and God laughs. My wish was to climb the Matterhorn. It’s located between Italy and Switzerland, with the village of Zermatt on the Swiss side and Cervinia on the Italian side. I have…

Merriam Webster dictionary definition of adventure *1 * a : an undertaking usually involving danger and unknown risks* * b : the encountering of risks 2 : _an exciting or remarkable experience _ 7:45 am, May 16. We are getting on a sled drawn by a snowmobile and riding on the sea ice in between…

-Kashmir Skiing 2023 It’s a sentence that my friend Lou always says when we start some exotic trip. For me this usually sounded funny, but this time -while driving in the Kasmir valley and passing military check point after check point and the sights around me look like what Pakistan or Afghanistan appear in a…

I have been to Patagonia a few times in the past, but I always heard about Torres del Paine in Southern Chile , with the iconic towers. Located at the end of the world in the stunning Chilean Patagonia, Torres del Paine National Park, named a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO and the 8th Natural Wonder,…

Well, after almost 2 weeks back,it seems like the trip never happened….This is life. Need to live the moment. But, it really did happen. So,here are some stats : We skied an average of 20,000 vertical feet per day: 6 days= 120,000 vertical feet. To put in into the right context ,Canadian Mountain Helliskiing offered…

August 2021 Whitney-looks daunting but the reality is different Garret and I climbed it , accompanied by 2 very experienced mountaineers .Todd Offenbacher and Abe Greenspan. One to one ratio on the rock climbing part makes it faster and more efficient. Whitney is the highest mountain in the lower 48 , at 14,505 feet. We…