The original Mount Your Friends is a thing of beauty. It has a bunch of modes, but in its purist form it's a multiplayer game about getting near naked dudes to climb on top of your friends near naked dudes. Fail to clamber up to the top of the growing flesh mountain in 60 seconds and you're out, usually to the sound of your mates shouting "waheeeey" as a misplaced swing sends you tumbling down to the bottom.
The schlongalicious stack'em up has cast off the chains inherent to a mere two dimensions, and is embracing a full three with its sequel. Mount Your Friends 3D: A Hard Man is Good to Climb (good grief) is out on Feb 23rd, and there's a trailer below. 3D mounting looks like fun, though now I'm wondering what version of Mount Your Friends higher dimensional entities are playing.
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There was an art to Mount Your Friends, and I'm a little concerned that might have been lost in this latest iteration. It uses a less fiddly control system where you only need to worry about your hands, where as a large part of the original came down to remembering which of the four limb buttons you needed to move next - and crucially not tapping the one that would send you plummeting back down the mountain of men to get reacquainted with the goat at the bottom.
It really shone once everyone playing had a few hours of mounting under their belt, and could start making those clumsy ragdolls look positively graceful. At first you'd find yourself moving moving one awkward limb at a time - but once you got the hang of it you could transcend that and start cartwheeling up the side of the tower, building up momentum as you flung yourself from dong to dong. Truly, it was a glorious sight to behold.
In my opinion there are a number of different mountains you should climb before even thinking about climbing Mount Everest. Being as self sufficient as possible and not reliant on too much Sherpa support should be a key consideration. We highly recommend climbing an 8,000m/ 26,000 feet peak like Cho Oyu before attempting the Everest climb.
I also believe you need to have a wide range of mountaineering experience. You should consider the following climbs before making the dangerous journey to Mount Everest. Consider climbing Kilimanjaro, Mont Blanc, Elbrus, Mera and Island peaks, Cotopaxi and Chimborazo, Aconcagua and Denali. Putting others at risk so you can stand on the summit of Mount Everest is not cool. There are already plenty of those people on the mountain. Follow us on Instagram.
We have our own office in Kathmandu with our own full time Climbing Sherpa crew. Should they be willing to take risks I am not willing to take? I personally want to limit the risk to them at all times no matter what mountain we aim to climb.
So, after our South American adventure, we returned to Ireland and decided to explore the idea of Climbing Mount Everest. We had a good level of climbing and mountaineering experience but limited experience with high altitude. Our goal was to do this as quickly as possible, so we planned the date of May 2008.
We knew we were going to need help to be successful so we sought out professional advice on all fronts. This included our physical training we would need to do in order to reach our goal. I was told that, in terms of training, I would have to follow three phases in my training; base, build and peak phases. This required different types of training than I had previously completed before I started this process, however I was willing to place my trust in my trainer and did everything he recommended.
In January 2007, I started the base phase of training. My goal was to train six days a week with one day completely dedicated to rest. Starting with two hours a day five days a week. You should mix up your training. I was jogging, lifting weights, walking uphill on a treadmill and mostly stair master training. Think about adding some resistance bike work. On the fifth day of the week, I would pack my back pack with weight. My goal was to build from 10 to 30 kilograms of weight and head out to the hills building from four to 10 hours of trekking. This was built up over 18 months. Learn more.
I also took different training trips to the Alps, Scotland and Wales practicing the specific training needed for Himalayan mountaineering. The majority of those training trips were spent in the Scottish Highlands.
I loved training on Ben Nevis and the surrounding mountains in the winter. Sampling the harsh conditions that Scotland can provide in the winter months will get your prepared. Scotland also provided me with all the specific technical training needed to be safe.
I could complete long hard treks as well as practice my technical winter climbing skills, all in difficult conditions. Climbing Everest is 80% mental. Having experience and lots of it would be really important. Irish and Scottish winters would help me test out my clothing and test every piece of kit. Mount Everest is also a physical challenge so being as prepared on all fronts was my goal.
After six months of hard training, and after completing the climb of Mont Blanc again in June 2007, I moved into the build phase of my training. I added in more weight lifting sessions to my training plan.
One extra hour a day in the gym taking me to three hours daily. Also spending more hours weekly in the hills, sometimes even adding multi-day treks. I would go out to the hills in Co. Wicklow in Ireland and trek for six to eight hours. Set up a tent, sleep, then wake up and do it all over again.
I was now carrying 15/ 20 kilograms in my backpack. I also began to run some of the trails in the Wicklow Mountains, sometimes running a 9 kilometer trail three times consecutively. Mixing up the training was really important for me.
After climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro again in September 2007, we mixed up the training again, adding one interval training session per week. I continued with the high level of intensity/ endurance training. Being comfortable building from 15 to 25 kilograms of weight to my backpack during my gym sessions was my new goal.
The added weight on my back during my gym training, combined with the increased weights I was lifting. I was beginning to really see the difference in my overall fitness levels. Every eight weeks I would take a full week off. Letting my body fully recover from the intense training was really important.
Maintaining a six day a week program was really important. I would not be taking a week off until I would fly to Kathmandu. It was important to add in interval training five days a week and would head out on the hills one day a week for eight to ten hours carrying 20kg to 30kg in my backpack.
In addition, I would also go to the gym, jog 10 kilometers and then do an hour long spin class, or interval session on the stair master or treadmill. This was my final chance to push my fitness levels through the roof.
My goal was going with confidence and knowing that I was physically capable for the climb ahead. When you are faced with something that has so many factors you cannot control. Making sure I did everything I could to do prior to the trip gave immense mental strength. Be the best at things you can control.
It was March 2008 and time to get the flight for Kathmandu. I was at my peak level of fitness and felt prepared for the task ahead. My resting heart rate was 38 beats per minute. I was light, lean and strong.
It would take two weeks to trek into Everest Base Camp, followed by six weeks of climbing up and down Everest, acclimatizing to the lower levels of oxygen. We would eventually climb up and down five times.
One of these rotations would take us all the way to 7,200m/ 23,600 feet at Camp Three. Camp 3 is high on the Lhotse Face. We spent the night before coming all the way back to Everest Base Camp to recover.
After 6 weeks at Everest Base Camp and adjusting well to the low levels of oxygen, then it was time to go for it. We would take seven days to push all the way to the summit of Mount Everest and back down again.
I reached the summit at 6:02 am on the 23rd of May 2008. At 29 year old, I became the youngest Irishman to stand on the top of Mount Everest. During that final seven day push to the top, I lost 12 kilos/ 26 lbs of body weight.
Throughout the entire journey, I had to battle my own fears and sometimes I struggled mentally at times. My physical preparation helped me push past my fears and achieve my dream of standing on top of the world.
HIRE IAN TO SPEAK at your up coming event. GET IN TOUCH if you are interested in learning more specifics of my training. Why not come and trekking and climbs around the world with me.
Visually speaking, the size of the peaks can be judged well from the Arkansas River valley near Buena Vista. Mount Princeton, Mount Yale, Mount Antero and Mount Shavano rise abruptly from the valley floor, the big beasts of the Collegiate Peaks that mark the heart of the Sawatch.
I should start by saying that ascending Mount Yale (or any other mountain in the Rockies) with an undiagnosed and relatively hidden case of pneumonia is not a good idea. More on that later.
By now, my group was scattered all over the mountain. About half had seen enough and decided to head back down somewhere around 13,000 feet. I have to say, knowing when to say when, swallowing your pride and calling it a day is an underappreciated trait. Too many people let pride get in the way when it comes to chasing summits, heading up despite their deteriorating physical condition or the onset of bad weather, me included.
Through great effort, I finally made the saddle, somewhere just above 13,000 feet. Ahead of me was the summit ridge, a rocky boulder-hop of a stretch that would under normal circumstances be the most interesting part of the trip. Picking your route, scrambling over and around the rocks and other interesting aspects of the ridge take your mind off the fatigue that comes with a high altitude hike.
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