Adventure trips have been an important part of my life for the past fifteen years. My first long adventure was riding a superbike around the USA. My friend Dan and I liked to say we went from Brooklyn, where he lived, to Manhattan, where I lived, in 30 days, riding 15,000 km.
I took up trekking in Patagonia with Thierry in 2008, taking in one of the world’s most beautiful circuits, the Torres del Paine. In 2010 I went back to adventure motorcycling and travelled to inner Mongolia. In 2011 and 2012, David and I crossed a section of the Tibetan plateau in Yunnan, Sichuan, Qinghai and Gansu, over 5,000 m passes on KTM adventure bikes.
The pull of the mountains grew stronger after trekking in Nepal in 2011; climbing seemed to connect me with life and nature. In 2013 I attempted Chulu West, a 6,300 m peak in Nepal. In 2014, Lars, Xavier and I summited Mont Blanc, and the three of us became close climbing partners and friends.
In 2015, Xavier, Patrick, Glenn and I attempted our first 7,000er, Himlung Himal. It was hard, but with friendship and perseverance we pushed to the last high camp. After a ten-day glacier and crevasse rescue course in Denali National Park in 2016, Patrick, Xavier and I planned a climb of Denali, which we completed in 2017, and again in May 2019.
Through this blog I want to share some of these experiences, and maybe inspire a few people to connect with nature and live life to the fullest.
Personal contact: ben@bengrenon.com