What's your wildest dream?  It may be to simply stay in shape until you're old and grey, base jump off the rock walls of Yosemite, hike up Mt. Kilimanjaro or perhaps summit Mt. Everest!  Whatever it is, stay inspired to achieve your goals.  Watch the movie 'The Wildest Dream: Conquest of Everest' starring Conrad Anker and directed by Anthony Geffen, a captivating and vivid documentary about one of the earliest Mt. Everest explorers, George Mallory.

Click here to reserve your tickets to The Wildest Dream now!

Team Skimble got to check out a private viewing of The Wildest Dream a few weeks ago and really enjoyed it!  We met with Conrad and asked him a few questions:

• Q: Did you take any photos up during your trek? Did you take any other special item to drop off at the summit?
• A: I had two pictures en route to the summit of Everest. Always have them with me.

• Q: What's the next adventure for you?
• A: Studying glaciers and climatology. Sharing my knowledge of mountains with others.

• Q: Has anyone made a call or recorded a GPS track with an iPhone or Android phone at the summit of Everest?
• A: Maybe this year...

Anyone up for volunteering?

Many San Franciscans made it out to The North Face after hours last night.  Upstairs we all gathered around to meet Daniel Mazur, an incredible mountaineer and guide!  Dan's best known for leading Greg Mortenson's K2 expedition in the novel, Three Cups of Tea, as well as rescuing Australian climber Lincoln Hall during a summit attempt up Mt. Everest.  When you meet him in person, you'll soon realize he's a humble yet lively man who simply explains that you may have to make hard (life & death) decisions up at 20,000+ ft elevation.  He's fortunate enough to have survived countless summits while enjoying nature and trying to leave no trace.

Dan shared many fun, funny and enlightening stories about his first and impromptu rescue expedition up Mt. Everest.  I won't spoil them here!  You'll just have to meet him at another talk.

Before the night ended, we all got to play with some mountaineering tools that have been to Everest and back!  Here's a fun pic of Dan, myself and the ice axe:

And at 29029 ft in elevation, you may just need some air:

No time to get lightheaded though.  The interactive talk supported the low-income mountain families of Nepal.  The Mountain Fund is currently building a 300-person school in the Nepalese mountain range where there is no government support.  They are also working to provide basic health care for the area.  Realizing that basic needs are not met in these remote areas, Dan and SummitClimb guides are helping to raise awareness and collect funds for the cause.

With that in mind, the SF people opened up their checkbooks and some even did a little swiping.

Randy Reddig from Square was on site to swipe credit cards through their new payment device to instantly donate to The Mountain Fund.  Here are a few pics of some successful transactions:

Go climb or hiking up a mountain...it's International Mountain Day!  Some of us dream of summiting some tall peaks and there's no question about the allure of the challenge.  Today is a day to create awareness about the importance of mountains in our lives.  Be safe & prepared for these adventures!  Here we are taking a Snow Safety Skills Course at Mt. Shasta:

And in case you're bent on summiting some peaks, here is a shortlist of the tallest three:

1. Mount Everest - 8,848 meters / 29,028 ft

South Base Camp, Nepal - 5,360 meters / 17,600 ft & North Base Camp, Tibet - 5,208 meters / 17,090 ft

2. K2 - 8,611 meters / 28,251 ft

K2 Base Camp, Pakistan - 5,585 meters / 18,322 ft

3. Kangchenjunga - 8,586 meters / 28,169 ft

Kangchenjunga Base Camp - 5,350 meters / 17500 ft

As here are the 7 tallest summits on 7 continents:

Asia: Mount Everest -  8,848 meters / 29,028 ft

North America: Mount McKinley / Denali - 6,194 meters / 20,320 ft

Europe: Mount Elbrus - 5,633 m / 18,481 ft

Africa: Mount Kilimanjaro - 5,892 metres / 19,331 ft

South America: Cerro Aconcagua - 6,962 meters / 22,840 ft

Australia: Carstensz Pyramid / Puncak Jaya - 4884 meters, 16,023 ft

Antartica: Mount Vinson - 4,892 metres / 16,067 ft