About Me

Thu, 10/11/2007 - 02:44 — skress
Hi everyone. Welcome to my expedition blog. My name is Scott Kress and I am about to embark on an expedition to Ama Dablam in Nepal. I will be going with my climbing partner Angus. We will attempt the mountain in November just before the winter storms set in.
I will try to update this page as often as possible and plan to include stories of the trip and photos when possible. Please feel free to join me from your computer, send me your thoughts and ask any questions that enter your mind.
A little about me; I live in Oakville which is just West of Toronto Canada. Oakville is a quiet and beautiful suburb of Toronto located on Lake Ontario. I live there with my wife Susan, and my children Amy (7) and Colin (4). Amy and Colin
I run two training companies; Summit Training & Development and the Frontier Group (www.summittraining.com www.frontiergroup.biz). Summit focuses on leadership and team development training and The Frontier Group offers some of the most unique teambuilding training around.
I have been climbing for around 20 years. I started in Thunder Bay,
Ontario when I went to University. Thunder Bay offered many great undeveloped areas for rock and tons of ice. I then started to venture to other rock climbing destinations around Canada and the US. I have climbed all over Ontario and Quebec as well as The Needles, Mount Rushmore, Devils Tower, Joshua Tree, Squamish, Bugaboos, Zion and others.

I used to lead around the 5.10-5.11 area, but do not have as much time to get out these days. I have also done several multi-day big wall routes. Ice in Southern Ontario is difficult to find, but I do manage a little each year. I have led Grade 5, but 3 or 4 would likely be more comfortable these days. I have done a fair bit of mountaineering over the years including Ixta and Orizaba in Mexico, Illiniza, and Cotopaxi in Ecuador, Mount Rainier, Aconcagua, Mount Logan, Denali, Cho Oyu, Mt. Blanc, The Matterhorn and a few others in the Canadian Rockies. I have only been on one guided trip (Aconcagua) and have preferred to climb independently with friends. I have done some guiding and been a professional rock and ice climbing instructor. I am also an Outward Bound Instructor and have led trips in Canada, the US and Mexico (canoeing, rafting, hiking and mountaineering).

Past Climbing Experience
I began climbing when I went to Lakehead University. Lakehead is located in Thunder Bay Ontario on the north Shore of Lake Superior. I was there to study Outdoor Recreation and this was a perfect location for it. A 20 minute drive in any direction pretty much put you in the wilderness. Climbing was still pretty young in Thunder Bay so there were plenty of opportunities to explore, learn and develop new climbing areas. I started leading rock pretty fast and once the winter came I began to climb ice. Ice comes early to Thunder bay and it was not uncommon to climb ice from the end of October until the end of April. There were literally hundreds of ice routes to be found.
I then discovered the art of Aid climbing and loved the technical aspect of it. Working with friends we put up many new aid routes in the Thunder Bay area. My biggest aid route is Moonlight Buttress in Zion. I have always wanted to climb El Cap in Yosemite, but have not made it there yet.
While in Thunder Bay I started to work in the summers with Outward Bound. I worked with their rock climbing program and became an instructor for their wilderness canoe trips. I continued to work with Outward Bound for the following 10 years and led trips in Canada, the US and into Mexico. While at Outward Bound I began to work with their Professional Development Programs delivering teambuilding programs to corporate groups. This would be the beginning of my career in the team and leadership training field.
During my University days I had plenty of time to travel and discover the many climbing areas in Canada and the US. I have climbed all over Ontario as well as Alberta and BC. Joshua Tree California is one of my favourite destinations.
The natural progression now seemed to be to travel into the mountains. Mexico presented a relatively close and inexpensive to sample high altitude and I went there several times to climb Ixta and Orizaba. Unfortunately I was not able to climb Popo as it was an active volcano at the time. From here I went on to climb in Ecuador, and then to Mount Logan, Rainier, Aconcagua, Denali, Kilimanjaro, Cho Oyu, Mount Blanc and the Matterhorn.
Today I do not have as much time to climb so I have tried to commit to one expedition a year. Ama Dablam is the expedition of this year and will hopefully be the building block for something even bigger next year.

Messages

question

jodi — Wed, 12/12/2007 - 21:08

hi there i need to know where and how high is mt.everest

Where is Everest

Visitor — Sat, 12/15/2007 - 01:54

Jodi, mount Everest is on the boarder between Nepal and Tibet. Tibet is considered the North side and Nepal is the South. It is 8848 meters tall or 29,029 feet.

Longitude: 86º55’40" E

Latitude: 27º59’16" N

Nepal Name: Sagarmatha

Tibetan Name: Chomolungma

You can learn more at www.everestnews.com and other similar web sites.

Hope this helps, Scott.

i was wandering how old are you? 4 a school project

twilightfan1 — Tue, 05/06/2008 - 15:14

your canadian sweet i'm aswell i'm following you in your trip to everest, how old are your scott im just wandering for a school project

Scott's age

skress — Thu, 05/15/2008 - 13:39

Hi, Scott is 40 years old.
Susan (Scott's wife)

Well Done Scott

Visitor — Fri, 06/06/2008 - 15:39

Scott. I saw your accomplishments and wanted to drop a line to say congratulations on Everest. I haven't seen you since we were in Outdoor Rec together. Rob jamieson here. I am still involved with Lakehead on their Alumni Board of Directors as I know the University experience we all shared was a great one. Just a short note. Take care and glad to see you are doing well.

Rob