Within a days, if all goes well and the weather holds, ARM software engineer mattdupuy will stand atop one of the world’s tallest peaks, kitted out with ARM-powered wearables and mobile devices and sporting a big grin on his bearded face.
Du Puy (pictured right), who’s been with ARM for four years and is based in San Diego, Calif., is scaling Annapurna (26,545 feet) with a small team. After the team tackles Annapurna, it will head across the Kaligandaki River valley and attempt Dhaulagiri (26,795 feet) on the same trip.
It’s a testament to his passion for mountaineering, electronics and ARM that he reached out and offered not only to take along some ARM patches and flags and additional wearable and mobile technologies but to share dispatches along the way.
And he’s doing this on his sabbatical.
And he’s doing it on a mountain that his climbing partner, Christine Burke of New Zealand, describes as one of the most dangerous of the 8000-meter mountains: The fatality to ascent ratio is 32 percent.
“Mountain climbing is equal parts preparation, problem solving and will power,” he said. “It is also a lovely excuse to travel and make amazing, passionate friends along the way. And each time we get more adept at kitting ourselves out, gear gets lighter and, in the case of electronics, more interesting and useful for climbers.”
Du Puy took off from Southern California March 9 and landed in Kathmandu to start the preparation and acclimatization process. Sunday (March 13) he flew to Pokhara, 120 miles from Kathmandu.
“Today, as we flew in to Pokhara, we caught small glimpses of the Annapurna range through the clouds,” Du Puy wrote in an email over the weekend. “I’m in awe of the explorers who came here a decade ago and even considered setting foot on the flanks of these giants and humbled by the fact that our plane was cruising around 20,000 feet and we were still looking up at the peaks.”
Tuesday he’ll fly to Jomsom and drive Muktanath for additional acclimatizing until the 16th when he’ll drive early back to Jomson to catch helicopter to base camp.
Du Puy said that on his GPS watch he’s cached terrain data and plotted some waypoints for the team’s summits. That’ll help optimize their route and aid in case of low-visibility conditions.
He added:
“The sat modem is up and running with a new SIM card so I’ll be able to post updates and get weather regularly. That is no less than four satellite systems (Thuraya, Iridium, GPS, GLONASS) we’re using with four different devices. I’m glad we have all of these satellites whizzing above our heads and gadgets to talk to them so I can focus on what I do best; putting one foot in front of the other and repeating. A lot.”
“We also have questionable taste in movies and shows so I’m making sure we have Zoolander 2 and The Expanse on a portable WiDi disk station I’m taking to base camp,” he said.
He wrote a kickoff blog on Hexus.net where he described the incredible technologies he’s bringing with him, and I described the project for the audience over on Semiconductor Engineering. You’ll be able to follow his progress on his DeLorme GPS site, here and on social media.
First, Congratulations to Matt Du Puy, for getting to the summits of K2 in 2014 and Mt. Everest in 2009 (as I learned through Chris Jensen Burke's blog and Brian's article in SEMICONDUCTOR ENGINEERING)!
Most rankings using different measures list Annapurna/Annapurna I as the most treacherous mountain/peak. So it is less arguably the most dangerous to climb. I almost don't have any knowledge about Dhaulagiri but it's also one of the highest mountains with high fatality rate for climbers.
I'm wishing success and benevolent Annapurna and Dhaulagiri for Matt Du Puy and Chris Jensen Burke's team on their climbing mission. My impression is that they are a team of very disciplined mountaineers who can resist their zeal if they feel the time is not right. Chris Jensen Burke narrated that she attempted Annapurna last year but turned back at an altitude of less than 200m from the summit.
Good luck, safe climbing, and all the best for this daunting quest.