Hello everyone,

If you are receiving this update it is because you are currently a sponsor or are among a select group of family and friends who have expressed an interest in following the upcoming series of expeditions. If you do not wish to receive these updates, just let me know and I will take you off the distribution list. Also, please feel free to pass these updates along to any interested parties.

Well, I am at it again. Climbing plans for completion of the 7-Summits, i.e., the highest mountain in each of the seven continents, are as follows:

7-Summits completed to date: Denali (Expedition Leader, 5/17/89, 12-days, 20,320’), Aconcauga (Expedition Leader, 1/4/92, 9-days, 23,000’), Mt Blanc (7/17/99, 2-days, 15,772’), Elbrus (8/17/01, 4-days, 18,510’), and Everest (5/16/02, 61-days, 29,035’).

If successful, these climbs will result in an undisputed 7-Summits (i.e., both Elbrus & Mt Blanc, and both Carstenz & Kosciuszko). Based on available statistics (i.e., adventurestats.com & everestnews.com), I would be the 43rd and the oldest person to ever complete the 7-Summits including all options.

A fantastic event is planned for the evening of Friday, August 29th, 2003 at the Monte Verde Inn in Foresthill, CA. The Inn is hosting a fundraiser to offset the costs of the remaining climbs required to complete the 7-Summits. The event is from 6:30 to 10:30 pm and includes dinner, a thrilling Everest presentation, a raffle and a silent auction followed by dancing under the stars. This promises to be an exciting evening and I sure hope you can attend. The auction will include, among other things, a rock from the summit of Everest, a trip to climb Kilimanjaro with me in November, and a custom raft trip guided by me down the South Fork of the American River. The cost for the evening is $25 per person and tickets are now available (see contact information below).

Plans were underway to climb Carstenz Pyramid this month. I had already booked air fare, cleared my calendar and started my training program. When I returned from kayaking the Grand Canyon (18-day trip involving big white water), I was greeted by the following e-mail. “Dear Randall, This mountain is like a demon. Referring to the final confirmation we received from the army intelligence's headquarter in Jakarta today, with much regret we have to inform you that due to the temporary insecure situation and other political reasons in Irian Jaya, the Carstenz Pyramid climb in August has to be postponed. As per the authorities, following the recent gun shooting in Wamena they found the central highland and mountain area of Irian Jaya is insecure and not save to be visited by tourist/foreigners for climbing purposes at the moment. Due to the above reason, the army intelligence headquarters would not grant the permit for us and they do not allow us to proceed with the climb in August. Referring to their advices, we will have to postpone the expedition at least to be in early October 2003. In regards to the new schedule, we are working on it and will advise it to you asap. We are very keen and have done all the best we can to keep the expedition going, however since we do not have the permit, so regret that we could not make it this time. We do also apologize for not informing you of this delay notification earlier as we were just informed today and to be honest this really is beyond our expectation as at the beginning we got great supports from the government. Thanks in advance, Best regards, Harry Kikstra, Director, 7summits.”

Needless to say, this was quite disappointing and resulted in considerable expense due to air fare cancellation penalties, wire transfer fees and faxes to third world countries. Note that in light of yesterday’s bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Jakarta, this might have been a fortuitous decision! Setting this aside, the recovery plan as outlined above is firming up and the goal of completing the 7 Summits still burns brightly within me. It is a great pleasure to announce the sponsors that have signed up in support of these expeditions. They include: Donner Ski Ranch, Foresthill Beacon, Foresthill Messenger, Grant Hardware and Plumbing, Monte Verde Inn, Regan MacKenzie Investment Services, Pasco Scientific, Robber’s Roost, Townsend Design, VG Donuts and Bakery and numerous individual contributors. Other businesses are currently considering sponsorship and will be announced in future updates.

If you haven’t signed up as a sponsor yet, or wish to buy tickets for the Monte Verde Inn event, please contact Randy Peeters at 4404 Morning Star Place, Foresthill, CA 95631. (530) 367-5561 rlpeeters@msn.com

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