Team Development
Why is it that so many people in Egypt, Libya, Yemen, Iran (etc) have suddenly risen up in great numbers to protest decades of oppression? There has been some talk about the impact of social media like Facebook and Twitter being key in organizing many of these people and protests. Or had the situation reached it’s tipping point?
Continue reading about Towards the Tipping Point- Change in the Middle East
Climbing any big mountain always includes many unknowns. The team dynamics, the weather, the snow conditions and even the local culture, political climate and economy come into play. This is the excitement of exploration and adventure.
Today was a pretty simple day. After a good sleep in the clean cool mountain air we had breakfast at 8:00am. Breakfast was a selection of cereal, bread, cheese, salami, hard boiled eggs and crape pancakes (just like the ones I make). There was no good old Canadian maple syrup, but they had sweetened condensed [...]
After a quick breakfast we made our way to the airport. The driving was quite slow as Moscow traffic can be, and was, quite heavy. Check in and security was no problem with the help of our Moscow logistics guy, Nikoli. There is no English anywhere so without speaking the language you really need someone [...]
It is 5:00am. I have been awake for an hour and have finally given in to the fact that sleep is done for the night. Even though I went to bed at midnight and I am working on a huge sleep deficit, I can no longer sleep. Perhaps it is due to the fact that [...]
Today was a day to explore Moscow. I woke at 6:00am and went for breakfast at 7:00am. Breakfast was a huge buffet of western and Russian options. It was quite good. At 9:00am we met our tour guide and got on a bus. Moscow is so much more than I thought. It is such an [...]
I spent today chasing the sun. We started west, but quickly realized we would not catch it so we turned north and flew directly over the Artic Circle. We finally caught the sun 10 hours later in Moscow.
I often say that it is the journey that is most important on these trips and not the destination (the summit). The journey along the way to the summit is usually vastly richer in experience than the barren summit of a cold snow covered mountain. However, this is not to say that the summit is not important. After all that is the ultimate goal.
As of this Saturday I will be off on another mountaineering expedition. I will be climbing Mt. Elbrus in Russia. Elbrus is the highest peak in Europe and will, if I am successful, be the 6th of the 7 summits that I have climbed.
Summit and Frontier President Scott Kress will be departing for Russia on July 17. He will be attempting to climb Mount Elbrus which is the tallest mountin in Europe.