Every Picture Tells a Story Don't It?

Under the auspices such a topic title I wish I could report that I have chopped some of Maestri's bolts, but I have not. The bolts I chopped two days ago are some of the many that David Lama's film crew placed last summer.

Above the col of Patience (the shoulder) I came across 20 “David Lama-Red Bull bolts”, as opposed to the 12 reported by Lama himself and the person responsible for placing them, the Austrian mountain guide Heli Putz.

Also worth noting Lama and the Red Bull film crew left 5 haul-bags of stuff on the mountain last season when they bailed out of town, including the 700 meters of fix line on the route. About a month later they hired three Argentine guides to clean up their mess. They did a great job and managed to pull most everything off the route, with the exception of two haulbags (not one as reported by Lama and Putz). Just four days ago two Argentine climbers brought down in disgust those two remaining haul-bags and hopefully will hold their contents up for ransom.

In his response to the debacle Lama wrote saying that for his second attempt to free the Compressor route during the 2010-2011 season they would take a different, lighter approach. However reports suggest that the team size has been increased rather than reduced, so again in this case Lama’s statement might be but a diversion.

With the level of misinformation that the Red Bull crew is dishing out their fancy fizzy drink is fast becoming the modern Kool-aid. Dont drink it!

An everyday ride to work bike