Gary J. Nelson is a partner in
the Pasadena, California office of Christie, Parker & Hale, LLP. His
practice includes the prosecution and maintenance of large international
corporate trademark portfolios, and has managed over 7,000 individual trademark
applications/registrations throughout the world. Through his network of foreign
counsel, Mr. Nelson has filed and supervised the prosecution of trademarks in
over 150 countries.

Mr. Nelson is an
expert in domain name disputes and Internet Law, and serves as a Neutral and a
Domain Name Panelist for the World Intellectual Property Organization’s
Arbitration and Mediation Center. Prior to joining Christie, Parker & Hale,
Mr. Nelson spent eight years producing, directing and editing documentaries in
the entertainment industry. Mr. Nelson joined the firm in 1996 and became a
partner in 2004. He earned his Juris Doctor, Georgetown University Law Center,
May 1996; Masters of Fine Arts, Cinema-TV Production, University of Southern
California, May 1986; B.A., Economics, magna cum laude, Pacific Lutheran
University, August 1981; B.S., Chemistry, magna cum laude, Pacific Lutheran
University, May 1981…AND HE CLIMBS MOUNTAINS….including 5 of the 7 summits.

Mt. Everest is 29,035 ft high and separates Nepal and
Tibet,  It was first conquered by Sir
Edmund Hillary in 1953 and since then many have completed the climbs, while others
were not successful.

Gary brought a pictorial of his climb to the peak of Mt.
Everest to his presentation at Rotary’s Friday afternoon luncheon.  He focused his talk on going from Base Camp
to Base Camp on up to the summit.  Gary
is a mountain climber and achieved his goal of reaching the summit of Mt.
Everest this year.

His trek began at the base of Everest in Tibet, where
there are monasteries, where climbers are blessed before they start the climb
and where a fee is paid to undergo the climb.
He had one picture showing a monument to those who have climbed and
passed away in their attempt.  Climbing
Mt. Everest is not for the weak of heart.
Four persons died this year in an attempt to climb the mountain.  He acknowledged it is dangerous to climb
Everest.  The most dangerous part is
crossing the Ice Fault Glacier.  This
part of the climb takes about one to three meters per day to reach the first
base camp.  He said it was the most
dangerous part of the climb.  The
difficulties of the climb to the top include showering in a tent where the
water starts out hot and freezes as it reaches the bottom.  In the first base camp there were 1000
people, the “Sherpa’s” and those who are attempting the climb.  The native Sherpas accompany the climbers on
their trek.   They fix the lines the
climbers follow in the climb.  At the
base camp, the climbers spend five days training for the climb, how to walk
across metal ladders placed across crevasses (a fissure, or deep cleft, in
glacial ice).  Before heading off, they
have a ceremony and then start.

Crossing a crevasse is no easy task.  Many climbers are hurt, when they become
complacent.  It is important to look at
the rungs of the ladder, not directly down into the crevasse.  It is treacherous when crossing a crevasse,
the ice moves and ladders do break.  The
ice can tilt and fall away, causing the ladder to sway, or slip.   The climber begins the day at 0 ° and then
up to 50°, carrying water and food for the climb.

The
climb includes four camps before the attempt at the summit.  At the 23,000 foot elevation, it is necessary
to use oxygen and climbers also have to carry oxygen tanks on their way
up.    At Camp four, it looks like the
climber is there, but it is a false summit, the South Summit.  And then there is the Hillary Step, named
after Sir Edmund Hilary, the first man to conquer the mountain.  The Hillary Step is a bottleneck, because
many climbers have a hard time getting up the rock and traffic backs up
here.  Reaching the summit is precarious
due to the winds that swirl around.  He
did make it to the top in a half hour from the final base camp.  It was exhilarating, to have accomplished to
reach this lofty goal.  And we
congratulate him for his accomplishment and photo depiction of the conquest of
Mt. Everest.