You can. And do it legally...

If you go to the Traveler's Club to see Yarmouth resident Bill Yeo's program on his epic 2006 mountaineeering expedition to the Himalayas that landed his climbing partner on top of 29,000 foot Mount Everest.

Yarmouth climber Bill Yeo on Mount Everest in 2006.
Photo courtesy Bill Yeo

It's guaranteed to be a great show with tales of high adventure and stunning photography to boot. I can say this because I saw Bill's Everest show awhile back at another venue and it was awesome. I know you'll enjoy it!

Better get there early, though, 'cause this is going to be one packed house for sure.

The Traveler's Club meets tonight at 7PM at the Gilsland Farm Audubon Center off Route 1 in Falmouth. It's free and open to the public.

Look no further than Samantha Larson!

This amazing young woman reached the summit of Mount Everest just 5 days ago, completing her quest to climb the Seven summits, the highest peak on each continent.

Larson is the youngest person to accomplish this incredible feat. And she did in tandem with her father--another first.

Wow! You go girl!

And way to go dad.

What's the next bold adventure I wonder??

Life is a daring adventure or nothing at all.
--Helen Keller

It's true!

The first Mainer ever has made to the highest point on Earth: The summit of Mount Everest at 8,848 meters or somewhere around 29,100 feet.

Congratulations to John Bagnulo of New Vineyard for this monumental accomplishment, and to his climbing partner, Bill Yeo of Yarmouth, who stopped just shy of the summit and turned back, apparently due to breathing difficulties.

Surviving an Everest climb is done by only the thinnest of margins. At more than 8,000 meters anything that goes wrong is hugely magnified and there is no one there to help you.

To go to Everest is one thing. To return from it is quite another. It is an extremely dangerous endeavor.

Consider that for every 12 successful individual ascents of Mount Everest, 1 person dies. They slip and fall thousands of feet, are crushed by tons of falling ice, are lost forever in bad weather, succumb to pulmonary or cerebral edema, or any of dozens of other bad things that can happen.

The mountain is not kind and does not descriminate. And it is never, ever "conquered." Rather it merely allows you to live, if it so chooses.

So, congratulations on your huge success, John. And to you Bill, for your huge effort. Even more so, congratulations for making it down alive and well.

I know you're going to have big stories to tell. We'll be right here waiting to hear all about it...

The news out of the Himalayas is a bit sketchy at this moment, but two sources--EverestNews.com and MountEverest.net--are reporting that Maine climber John Bagnulo of Farmington has reached the summit of Mount Everest at 29,320 feet.

Reports also indicate that his climbing partner, Bill Yeo of Yarmouth, was not far behind, and by now, may also have summited.

Both men were climbing without the aid of supplemental oxygen, which makes the task considerably more difficult and dangerous. We wish them both a safe and speedy descent.

I'll keep you posted. Let me know if you hear anything, too.

By the way, Bill's going to have some hefty expedition bills to pay when he returns home to Maine (it costs tens of thousands of $$$ to pull off an Everest expedition). Help him out a little by buying a cool Everest T-shirt or hat!

This is all the info I could find right now.

Apparently he took a 50 foot screamer off Cathedral Ledge in North Conway NH and is now being treated at Maine Med.

Damn.

We're pulling for you Scott.

Here's the full poop on our own Maine climbers Bill Yeo and John Bagnulo and their upcoming attempt to climb Mount Everest that I mentioned to you late last week.

Mount Everest... Wow! You go guys!

Climb hard, be safe, and take lots of photos. Gonna be a heckuva view.

Camden is probably best known for its pretty harbor, downtown shops and restaurants, the quiet trails and comfy campsites of the picturesque Camden Hills that rise just above town, and the tourist traffic along Route 1 that bunches up pretty good this time of year.

Take Route 52 west out of town toward Lake Megunticook, though, and you can leave a good part of the summer hustle behind. And a couple miles down the road, just after cresting a road cut, you'll find one of the best little rock climbing cliffs in the state at Barrett's Cove.

Just like the Portland Press Herald's Deirdre Fleming did. Climb on Dierdre!

I don't rock climb much anymore, but when I did, Barrett's Cove Cliff was my favorite getaway. Scenic and uncrowded, the cliff offers a host of sweet climbing routes from easy beginner to scary hard (that's not an official rating, just my own "sweaty palms" description) on a 250-foot wall of clean rock at a consistent angle of about 70 degrees.

A nice introduction to the cliff is Clamdigger (my first-ever lead climb years ago), an enjoyable one-pitch 5.5 that puts you on Broadway, the big ledge that cuts across the cliff face midway. From there, finish up with Slow Children, a fun 5.4 hand crack. At the top, walk off left or rap down, but you'll need 2 ropes and it'll take 2 rappels. The path is quicker.

A step up is the 3-pitch sweep up the center of the cliff on the 5.7 Charlotte's Crack, the classic climb at Barrett's, combining nice face climbing lower down with squirrelly crack moves above.

More experienced climbers may want to test their meddle on the 5.8 (really a 5.9) Templeton's. Thin cracks and intricate protection make this one an exciting foray. My palms are drenched just thinking about my last trip up there. Sewing machine leg? Not me! (I lie).

There used to be a little guidebook to the area called "Rock and Ice Climbs in the Camden Hills" by Ben Townsend, but it may be out of print (and you can't have mine). For some local beta on climbing routes at Barrett's Cove, try checking in with the folks at Maine Sport in Rockport.

Post-climb, coil up the ropes and stow the gear, and go for a swim at the town beach on Megunticook just down the hill from the cliff. Then head to Cappy's Chowder House in the village for wings and a cold one. You've earned it!

Have fun and climb safe!

And if anybody wants to take this creaky old climber out for a nostalgic romp up the cliff, I'm in. I promise I won't wear my lederhosen, but I'll buy the beer after!

What do you get when you put together a telephone pole, an array of nozzles and hoses and pumps, water, -56F temperatures and a group of people with way too much time on their hands?

You get your very own ice climbing wall!

Follow this hilarious account of members of the Alaskan Alpine Club, as their ice wall grows, and changes, and morphs... into a real thing of beauty. Something only a semi-deranged ice climber could love.

These guys are nuts!

And it may be contagious.

I hear rumblings already from the local underground ice climbing community. Garbled whisperings about "northern exposure" and "vertical drop," "water access" and "hose lines." "The Big Drip." And mutterings about "radiation exposure from the antenna towers."

Oh God. They're serious.