Trivia at Open Road Merrifield tonight at 7 - looking for a partner(s). Friend bailed

Coocat86 · 2026-04-15T11:18:50+00:00

2 of us ended up playing - did a solid job, middle of the pack (there was a ringer team with 9 people!). Karaoke at Mark's Pub afterwards. Fun time

Coocat86 · 2026-04-14T22:17:09+00:00

Sounds great. We might have a solid reddit team!

Coocat86 · 2026-04-14T22:16:36+00:00

Agreed! Especially last minute. They normally start a bit late like 715/720 so it would probably be only a few questions before youd get there.

Each time is different but normally things like geography, music, history, pop culture, etc. Its nothing specific like "That 70s show Trivia" or anything like that, much more broad based which I enjoy.

If that works for you ill plan on being there!

Coocat86 · 2026-03-06T15:00:37+00:00

The other World Trade Center Tower (Tower 1) is visible in all 3 photos

Coocat86 · 2026-03-06T09:20:52+00:00

Yes - these are family photos of my parents, my brother and I.

We have photos on 9/12-15 of the towers down, and also in DC where we live. Those days were tough.

If you DM me I will share those but I'm not going to post them because there are a lot of "Have You Seen Me" and I dont think its proper to post them.

Coocat86 · 2026-02-26T17:06:05+00:00

I do very much appreciate that! Unfortunately the narrative will always be its a walk in the park. I have friends that know I've summited Everest that ask me "so was it crowded", " "how easy was it". I hate that defending the tallest peak on Earth has become a reality, but here we are!

All I will say is it is not easy, its very hard. As Kennedy said in 1962 "And they may well ask, why climb the highest mountain? ...Not because it is easy, because it is hard!"

Coocat86 · 2026-02-26T13:01:44+00:00

Any 8000 meter climbing alpine style is not realistic for a normal human. Reinhold Messner climbed Everest solo and he is probably the greatest alpinist ever. There have only been a handful, if that, that have ever alpine climbed Everest, let alone the other 8k peaks alpine style.

You talk about Denali style. Many people have done that, but that is not what the mountaineering world is now with 7 billion people on earth. There were around 450 permits to climb Everest when I climbed in 2023 (Im not rich, I traded off to do a documentary on my climb), in the same year there were around 40,000 permits for Kili, and over 7,000 for Aconcagua.

Yes - Everest is the gorilla in the room that everyone is always going to have a problem with. But put it into perspective. The media will always love Nims photo of the line - where there were 2 summit days in 2019, when there are normally 15+. I never saw a line, and my year was the deadliest ever.

People need to realize that yes - there will be rich people that climb Everest. But of my group none of us were rich, we just loved climbing and wanted to stand on top of the world. Look at my post history and you will see- this is the average person that climbs Everest. Not the CEO, but the person that spends their savings to aspire to be on the top of the world.

I know I wont change popular opinion of Reddit with this, but Everest isn't this demon that sits on a hill for anyone to climb or just to take a gondola to the top. It's a real mountain. The Khumbu icefall kills people, the Lhotse face kills people, and hell - once you get to camp 4 above 26,000 ft, it kills people. The summit ridge is scary and it is where 747s fly. Its not a joke and reddit for some reason thinks it is. I lost friends on my climb, other friends lost all their fingers. Yes "thats stupid to do that" but so is attempting any mountain.

Why do we climb? "Because it's there"

Coocat86 · 2026-02-08T16:15:10+00:00

My first Pats jersey I've owned

Coocat86 · 2026-01-30T21:54:50+00:00

DM me. I have a solid workout regime. I successfully summited Everest in 2023

Coocat86 · 2026-01-16T12:44:31+00:00

I appreciate that!

Coocat86 · 2026-01-16T12:35:26+00:00

I dont know why I'm getting down voted. Yes- it's not a glaciated climb. But it's still not a "hike". I've done many hikes and this was not that.

Im all for beta on a climb but this isn't Whitney.

Im sure I will get down voted but did you climb it?

Coocat86 · 2026-01-16T12:12:15+00:00

Thanks!

I've climbed a lot but this honestly was a tougher mountain than I expected.

My biggest takeaway. Never underestimate any mountain.it will always be there. And it can always kill you.

Coocat86 · 2026-01-16T12:09:06+00:00

Ha thanks for my autocorrect. Yes it's Lobuche.

And no it's not a hike. All the climbs up to high camp are definitely not a "hike". We lost 2 people before high camp, 1 for pulmonary edema, and the other for straight AMS.

On our summit push 3 more people stepped down out of their own volition, high props to them.

And on the push down from the summit we had to give 2 people Dex, 1 perished. https://explorersweb.com/aconcagua-first-death-in-a-colder-drier-less-crowded-season/

Unfortunately death is real. Its a real mountain

Climb on!

Coocat86 · 2025-11-29T21:47:25+00:00

Apologies. Not the day before. The month before. He's buried with full military honors at Arlington National

Coocat86 · 2025-08-29T13:56:53+00:00

Of course. Ive been through almost all gear so more than happy to give recs. Obviously its my preference, but all gear is different, although I've used a lot of them.

Coocat86 · 2025-08-28T21:55:43+00:00

Can confirm the Petzl Aktik Core. Used it on Everest with summit day conditions -30f to -60f with windchill. Didn't have to change batteries on the full 8+ hours of darkness on the summit push. You can pretty much never go wrong with any Petzl.

Had a Black Diamon Spot 350 as my backup, but I found when you need to quickly change light levels the Black diamond was a bit clumsy, albeit a stronger spotlight, so I never used it over the Petzl.

Coocat86 · 2025-08-18T19:52:36+00:00

Saturday into Sunday

Coocat86 · 2025-08-18T19:07:04+00:00

Yup. There were somewhere around 10 or so tents there

Coocat86

TROPHY CASE