With that in mind, Outside Online has a great profile of speed-climber Chad Kellogg as he prepares for a run at the Everest speed record. The story was written by Grayson Schaffer, who has been stationed in South Side Base Camp all season long and has had the chance to get to know Chad while he is there.
The story takes a look at all the challenges that Kellogg has had to deal with over the past few years, including the loss of numerous loved one, most notably his wife Lara. He's also dealt with injuries, financial set backs and plenty of other problems, and yet he continues to pursue his passion for climbing all over the world.
At the moment, as the rest of the teams head for the summit, Chad is preparing to have a run at Marc Batard's 1988 record of 22 hours, 29 minutes from BC to summit and 36 hours for the round trip, all done without oxygen. There has been some rumblings about a fast time, turned in by Kazi Sherpa a decade later, who made it to the summit in 20 hours, 24 minutes, but Outside says that Kazi used oxygen on the descent, so his record is in some dispute.
Either way, reading the article I get the impression that Chad is going to hit the slopes and simply see what he can do. If the record is attainable he'll go after it, but mostly this is about him continuing to chase his passions in the mountains.
There are some concerns about the current weather window closing early next week. It would be a shame if Kellogg didn't at least have a go at the record. We'll just have to wait and see what happens.
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