IRISH ADVENTURER SEEKS POLES OF INACCESSIBILITY

Study maps long enough and you're bound to identify a challenge not yet met. Such was the case of the late businessman Dick Bass in 1985 who targeted climbs to the tallest peaks on each continent, the so-called Seven Summits.

Now 46-year old Mike O'Shea, an Irish adventurer and public speaker from Dingle, is set to reach the Poles of Inaccessibility on each landmass on the planet.


Mike O'Shea is going to be rather inaccessible this fall.

A pole of inaccessibility (POI) is a geographical point that represents the most remote place to reach in a given area, often based on distance from the nearest coastline. A geographic concept, the location of a pole of inaccessibility is not necessarily an actual physical feature. Canadian explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson (1879-1962) was the first to introduce this concept in 1920 to differentiate between the location of the North Pole and the most remote and difficult location to reach in the Arctic.

These locations include some of the most remote and difficult places to reach in the world and although several of them are located near human settlements, reportedly, no one has ever reached all six Poles of Inaccessibility ­- perhaps until now when O'Shea will travel across each full continent via the POI's (coast to pole to coast), beginning this December in North America.

O'Shea will depart for New York in mid-November. To reach each POI, he will proceed by Jeep, on foot, on horseback, motorbike, and in the case of Antarctica, by ski and kite. First stop is the hilly wilderness between the towns of Allen and Kyle in southwestern South Dakota where the North American POI is located. He will then arrive in Los Angeles by the 25th, having traveled 3,380 miles coast-to-coast.

The South American POI, in Brazil, surrounded by lush vegetation, canyons, and waterfalls is next on the schedule.


As part of The Ice Project, O' Shea has crossed Lake Baikal in Northern Russia, Chile's North Patagonian Icecap, the Southern Icecap on Kilimanjaro and a full Greenland crossing. The summer of 2013 also saw Mike guide seven Irish groups up Kilimanjaro. While in Africa Mike also successfully managed to raise funds for and build an orphanage for local children whose parents died of HIV.

His mountaineering experience has allowed him to work on numerous projects such as Red Bull Cliff Diving and Crashed Ice events and international films such as Star Wars. His impressive resume includes 30 years rope access experience, in the Alps, Himalayas, Africa, New Zealand and Iran Jaya; 10 years mountain rescue; 15 years Coast Guard rescue; occupational first aid; and search rescue management.

The €350,000 (approx. $387,000) project is currently self-funded, although sponsors are being sought; their support will help speed-up his estimated 18 to 24-month timeframe.

Learn more about O'Shea's background at www.mikeoshea.ie

The POI project website is: www.thepolesproject.com

To see the list of POI's, view:

http://apl.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapJournal/index.html?appid=ce19bec7a3c541d0b95c449df9bb8eb5

EXPEDITION UPDATE

UNESCO Blocks Effort to Study Columbus'Santa Maria Wreck Site

Evidence continues of possible looting of the Santa Maria shipwreck off Haiti, according to marine archaeologist Barry Clifford who made worldwide news in May 2014 when he presented evidence that the iconic Columbus flagship had been located (see EN, June 2014).

"We have overwhelming evidence regarding the Santa Maria, but UNESCO refuses to review any of our research, or to speak with Professor Charles D. Beeker, Ph.D., or myself," he tells EN. Beeker is the director of Underwater Science at Indiana University Bloomington, and a renowned Columbus scholar.

"Efforts continue to preserve what's left of our important discovery off Cap-Haitian. Professor Beeker, one of the leading lombard (cannon) experts at the Mary Rose Trust, positively identified the round object (we saw) as a section of a lombard - the same artillery pieces Columbus mentions in his Dario."

Clifford, from Provincetown, Mass., continues, "As we have the exact Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) coordinates of our discovery, someday, someone will positively identify the wreck site. Unfortunately, the site is being pulled to pieces by local salvors after UNESCO dismissed our project ... and soon, there will be nothing left of the vessel."

Clifford offers as proof of looting, a video taken by Professor Beeker of a discarded 15th century wrought iron artillery piece suspected to be the Columbus lombard discovered outside the Haitian dive shop and hotel from where UNESCO conducted their investigation of Clifford's discovery.

"The artillery piece was originally observed and noted in-situ by Edwin Link on an expedition to locate the remains of the Santa Maria in 1960, and then again by myself and my associates on an expedition endorsed and made possible by the late Sen. Edward Kennedy."


Lombard discovered and photographed in-situ off Cap-Haitian. (Photo courtesy Brandon Clifford).

Clifford adds, "The lombard is the eighth such 'cannon' discovered in the Western Hemisphere and presumed to be from one of only 20 shipwrecks of this period in the entire world. The lombard was discovered 1.5 nautical miles offshore, the exact distance Columbus stated the Santa Maria wrecked from the fort he built, in part, with the remains of that vessel .... approximately 300 to 400 feet from the 'Columbus anchor' which Edwin Link discovered and donated to the Smithsonian.

"Yet, UNESCO ignored the presence of the looted lombard, which had obviously been illegally taken from our protected wreck site, and broken to pieces along with many other ancient artifacts. They also refused to speak with me or Professor Beeker in the face of our valid permit and my having been appointed by the Prime Minister of Haiti to a Special Commission to protect the Santa Maria," Clifford says.

"UNESCO also refused to review any of our many years of remote sensing survey records, underwater videos and photography."

Beeker dismisses the UNESCO study as inconclusive, and says it didn't analyze the wreck's wood, ballast or datable ceramics. According to Beeker, politics were behind the decision to reject his proposal. He claims UNESCO wouldn't let him back on the wreck if he was working with Clifford. UNESCO denies the decision was political, according to a story in New Scientist (June 11, 2016), by Michael Bawaya.

See a profile of Beeker's work here:

https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg23030770-400-shipwreck-archaeologist-versus-treasure-hunters-of-the-caribbean/ (subscription required)

Heard Island Expedition Studies Lagoon,
Communicates with 75K Hams Worldwide

The 2016 Cordell Expedition to Heard Island was the first scientific expedition to this extreme and extremely remote island in the Territory of Australia, in the Southern Ocean, in almost 15 years (see EN, June 2015). The two-month, half-million-dollar project took nearly four years to plan and prepare.

The actual voyage started in March 2016, in Cape Town, South Africa. After a 12-day sail, the expedition reached Heard Island at 53°S 73°E. The onsite team of 14 spent three weeks on the island, documenting significant changes in the two-mile-high volcano, glaciers, lagoons, and wildlife that have occurred over the past decade, and exploring areas not previously visited by anyone.


The Heard Island base camp with its sea of amateur radio antennas.

They were the first to enter and document a two-mile-wide lagoon created in the past ten years by the melting of a major glacier, and collected samples of rocks, sediment, and water. They also carried out an amateur radio operation that logged 75,000 contacts worldwide, and included a number of innovations in radio technology. The return voyage ended in late April in Fremantle, Western Australia.

In addition to the onsite scientific work, the project implemented a large number of infotech innovations, including a live online help desk, the first remote radio operation, the real-time web radio log display, and live Skype interviews with journalists and schools.

It was led by Dr. Robert Schmieder who has been organizing and leading scientific expeditions for 35 years. He is the founder of the nonprofit oceanic research organization Cordell Expeditions, which has to its credit more than 1,000 discoveries, including new species, range and depth extensions, and first observations.

Through the website, blog, Facebook, Twitter, newsletter, and numerous interviews and presentations, this expedition significantly raised the standard for outreach and interactivity for remote scientific projects, according to Schmieder.

For more information: www.heardisland.org

EXPEDITION NOTES

Good Luck Avoiding the Internet Out There

Swedish outdoor brand Haglöfs now offers trekkers on the northern Swedish trail Kungsleden, in the middle of the Swedish wilderness, free Wi-Fi. But there's a catch - it only works when it rains.


Now you can watch cat videos, even in the wilds of Sweden.

The weather in Northern Sweden can get pretty rough, and Haglöfs has helped people endure the weather since 1914. But today people seem to believe that being online is just as important as staying dry when the rain is pouring down. According to a 2014 survey, a good Wi-Fi connection is one on the things people value the most when we are traveling.

A Wi-Fi placed along the trail Kungsleden in northern Sweden gives trekkers the opportunity to go online in places where there normally is no connectivity at all.

Starting last month, anyone planning on heading out for Kungsleden can check out www.haglofsweather.fi to get the latest forecast for the region and to see whether the weather-fi will be up and running.

The free Wi-Fi connection is driven by solar panels, and is linked to a local weather station acting as an on/off switch. The worse the downpour, the better the signal.

Thanks Haglofs. Cue the eye roll. Obviously, there's no exit off the Information Highway.

Read the official announcement here:

http://www.mynewsdesk.com/haglofs/pressreleases/when-it-rains-it-streams-1591232

Watch the video here:

http://www.haglofs.com/se/sv


"Blurring Effect" Can Be Deadly During Himalayan Expeditions

Five decades of Himalayan treks show how collectivism operates in diverse groups.
By studying climbers summiting Mount Everest, Professor Jennifer Chatman of UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business, learned when collectivism works, and when it can be deadly.

Cooperation is valued as a key attribute of successful groups, encouraging cohesion among diverse members. But Chatman discovered that there can be a high cost when it comes to decision-making and performance because the tentative ties among diverse group members cause them to overemphasize their shared group identity and overlook the individual differences in skills and experience that can help the group succeed.

She calls this a "blurring effect," which is detailed in her new study, "Blurred Lines: How Collectivism Mutes the Disruptive and Elaborating Effects of Demographic Diversity on Group Performance in Himalayan Mountain Climbing."

"By simply asking people in a diverse group to focus on commonalities within the group, they appear to be unable to also focus on the attributes that differentiate group members from one another. It is like asking people to focus on the forest, which seems to preclude them from also focusing on the trees," says Chatman.

To study how collectivism fails, the researchers tapped the Himalayan Database, a compilation of all expeditions in the Nepalese Himalaya since 1950. Journalist Elizabeth Hawley began compiling this database in 1960, when she moved from the U.S. to Kathmandu, Nepal, and interviewed thousands of climbers who are required to register their expeditions with the Nepalese government.

Read the study here:

http://newsroom.haas.berkeley.edu/research-news/how-himalayan-mountain-climbers-teach-us-work-better-together

High Altitude Remembrance

No matter what your opinion about crowding on Mount Everest, or its commercialization, the mountain still stands as a metaphor for high achievement. When members of the VOICES of September 11 organization, based in New Canaan, Conn., learned that its Flag of Honor was anonymously displayed at Everest base camp last month, the image was proudly shared with thousands via social media.


Everest base camp remembers 9/11 (Photo courtesy Michael W. Halstead, Yachtstore.com)

The photo was taken on Oct. 24 by Michael W. Halstead of Sun Valley, Idaho, and Vero Beach, Fla., during his guided trek to the 17,600-ft. base camp. The flag displays the names of the 2,977 lives lost on that tragic day. VOICES of Sept. 11 was founded by Mary Fetchet in 2001, a mother who lost her 24-year old son Brad on 9/11.

Now 15 years later, VOICES offers help to any community that suffers from an act of terrorism, mass violence or natural disasters. Its VOICES Center of Excellence for Community Resilience helps communities heal after tragedy.

Learn more at: www.voicesofsept11.org

QUOTE OF THE MONTH

"Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?"

- From The Summer Day by American poet Mary Oliver (1935-)

Read the entire poem here:

https://www.loc.gov/poetry/180/133.html

EXPEDITION FOCUS

When You Need a Plumber

By Michael J. Manyak, MD, MED 92
Reprinted by permission from The Explorers Journal

One frequently worries about the local plumbing while in the field, but what if the plumbing of concern is yours? Urinary difficulties range from mildly irritating to exquisitely painful and potentially life-threatening processes. Some remain innocuous, others worsen, and some strike acutely with no warning. Urinary tract problems can occur in the kidney, ureter (tube between the kidney and bladder), bladder, urethra (tube from the bladder to the outside), and in the male genitalia.

Blood in the urine (hematuria) is one of the most common complaints and is disturbing but rarely life-threatening unless massive or if significant trauma has occurred in which case more than one organ system is usually involved. Many conditions can cause hematuria and a little bit of blood looks like a lot. Microscopic hematuria is not something you will notice but may be detected on urinalysis.

In either case of visible or microscopic hematuria, an evaluation by a urologist for the cause is important, though not an emergency. Hematuria can be a harbinger of serious problems like tumors of the urinary tract. Painless hematuria needs to be evaluated in a timely fashion but is rarely a cause for evacuation. Hematuria with pain can be caused by common conditions like urinary calculi (stones) and bladder infections.


Some medications can cause urine to look like it has blood in it. Certain strains of malaria and disorders like sickle cell may also have discolored urine suggestive of blood.

Passage of urinary calculi (stones) is a common, very painful urinary condition. Stone formation occurs with dehydration and in areas where there is a higher mineral concentration in the water. There are stone "belts" in various parts of the world with a high incidence of urinary stones due to increased water mineral content. You should remain well hydrated especially in dry or very hot climates and if you spend a long time in a location, find out whether urinary stones are common.

Stones often cause excruciating flank pain that may radiate to the lower abdomen or groin, waxes and wanes, and often causes nausea and vomiting. Small stones may pass but larger ones can cause complete obstruction.

Passage of a stone provides nearly immediate relief of pain. Obstruction is a medical emergency because the trapped urine can damage the kidney or lead to an infection which is potentially life-threatening. Any fever other than low grade with a suspected urinary stone is an emergency because of the potential for overwhelming infection. Therefore, victims may need to be evacuated for fever or pain control.

The development of acute urinary retention, the inability to pass urine, is a urinary tract emergency. It is accompanied by severe lower abdominal discomfort and distention. This is most often seen in males and commonly related to urethral scar tissue in younger males and prostatic obstruction in older males. This medical emergency is often preceded by difficulty with urination and any man with such issues should consult with a urologist before travel. Antihistamine use can be a cause of urinary retention in men.

Medical consultation is required to relieve acute urinary retention. This usually requires sterile placement of a urinary catheter into the bladder. Older cowboys used to carry a straw in their hatbands for relief but this type of instrumentation is not recommended in the field except in emergency because it may cause an infection. Anyone with this condition should be evacuated.

Bladder infection is another common urologic condition which more often affects women and certainly can occur while traveling. Bladder infection is characterized by frequent urination accompanied by burning and urine may have a foul smell or blood. Recent sexual activity may be related to the infection.

Treatment consists of appropriate antibiotics, hydration, pain medication in severe cases, and medical attention if accompanied by a high fever. Drinking cranberry juice helps prevent urinary tract infections in women.

Sexually transmitted diseases (STD) may be acquired while traveling. Both gonorrhea and non-specific urethritis from other organisms are prevalent throughout the world and occur within a few days of exposure. STDs can cause burning during urination and a urethral discharge. Broad spectrum antibiotics are required. Other sexually transmitted diseases include HIV/AIDS, syphilis, and other painful or ulcerating disorders that usually manifest from weeks to months after exposure. Do not treat sexually transmitted diseases with just any antibiotic - seek medical attention to assure prescription of the proper antibiotic in an adequate dose.


Michael J. Manyak

Michael J. Manyak, MD, FACS, is an explorer, author, urologist, and corporate medical executive. He serves as Physician Program Lead, Global Medical Director Urology, GlaxoSmithKline, Inc.; Adjunct Professor of Urology and Engineering, The George Washington University; Chief Medical Advisor for Crisis Response, Accenture; and Vice President, National Eagle Scout Association. He resides in Chevy Chase, Md.

MEDIA MATTERS

Pleasure and Pain of Climbing Life

Kelly Cordes in the New York Times (Oct. 28, 2016), writes about the pleasure and pain of the climbing life. She says, in part, "Those remote mountains inspire you, but they scare you, too. You take a deep breath and walk toward them, their stone and ice towering above as you try to quiet your swirling doubts.

"In those moments, I loved it. I hated it. I swore this was the last time. Then I would step off the ground and embrace the unknown, working with my fear in a world of indescribable beauty."

He was injured in a climbing accident at the age of 41 and goes on to recount the anguish of six surgeries over the next 13 months.

Read Cordes' opinion piece here:

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/10/29/opinion/the-pleasure-and-pain-of-the-climbing-life.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0&referer=

IN PASSING


Dr. Fred Roots on the 2016 SOI Arctic Expedition (Photo by Martin Lipman)

Fred Roots (1923 to 2016), Polar Exploration Legend

Dr. Fred Roots, a Canadian geologist who made significant contributions to polar science and international environmental research and policy, died at the age of 93, unexpectedly and peacefully at his home beside the ocean in East Sooke, British Columbia. It was less than a year after he received The Explorers Club's highest award, The Explorers Club Medal at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City, where he received two standing ovations.

A much-honored explorer with a mountain range named after him in Antarctica (the Roots Range),he was a mentor to hundreds of high school students who participated in the Students on Ice (SOI) program.

Geoff Green, founder of SOI says of Roots, "A true scientist and explorer. A founding father of Students on Ice, continuing his advisory and mentorship role right up to our most recent Arctic expedition. From pole to pole, he has touched so many lives, organizations, planetary processes, treaties, agreements, discoveries, and he truly made Canada and the World a better place."

Watch a three-minute video on Roots here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QCv1C6q1RU

Read his obituary in the Canadian Globe and Mail (Nov. 4):

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/fred-roots-was-modest-brilliant-and-a-legend-of-polar-exploration/article32686729/

ON THE HORIZON

Sea Stories Sail into New York Explorers Club, Nov. 12, 2016

On Saturday, Nov. 12, 2016, The Explorers Club will host its annual Sea Stories, a day focused on ocean exploration, scuba diving and marine life at its headquarters in Manhattan.


Chris Fischer of OCEARCH

Speakers include:

* Dr. Ian Walker - "Hooked: The Tragedy of By-Catch and One Sea Turtle's Story of Rescue and Rehabilitation at the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo."

* Chris Fischer - "OCEARCH"

* Jim Kennard - "Discovering Lake Ontario's Historic Shipwrecks"

* Susan Casey - "Voices in the Ocean"

* Joe Mazraani and Anthony Tedeschi - "From Ordinary to Extraordinary: The Merchant Mariner's Heroic Role in WWII's Battle for the Atlantic"

The $70 admission includes lunch and 5 p.m. reception. Student price: $35

For more information: https://explorers.org/events/detail/sea_stories_2016

American Alpine Club Annual Dinner, Feb. 24 to 25, 2017, Seattle

The AAC's Annual Benefit Dinner is the Club's largest event of the year where members and guests can rub shoulders with climbing legends, enjoy fine dining and socializing, and celebrate climbing's highest achievements.


Conrad Anker

Keynote speaker is Conrad Anker, billed as, "the man who embodies the new age of super technical explorers."

Time: 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Location: Seattle's Mountaineers Clubhouse, Vertical World, and Seattle Marriott Waterfront. Tickets start at $175 for members.

For more information: www.americanalpineclub.org

EXPEDITION CLASSIFIEDS

Get Sponsored!– Hundreds of explorers and adventurers raise money each month to travel on world class expeditions to Mt. Everest, Nepal, Antarctica and elsewhere. Now the techniques they use to pay for their journeys are available to anyone who has a dream adventure project in mind, according to the book from Skyhorse Publishing called: "Get Sponsored: A Funding Guide for Explorers, Adventurers and Would Be World Travelers."

Author Jeff Blumenfeld, an adventure marketing specialist who has represented 3M, Coleman, Du Pont, Lands' End and Orvis, among others, shares techniques for securing sponsors for expeditions and adventures.

Buy it here: http://www.amazon.com/Get-Sponsored-Explorers-Adventurers-Travelers-ebook/dp/B00H12FLH2

Advertise in Expedition News – For more information: blumassoc@aol.com.

IRISH ADVENTURER SEEKS POLES OF INACCESSIBILITY

Study maps long enough and you're bound to identify a challenge not yet met. Such was the case of the late businessman Dick Bass in 1985 who targeted climbs to the tallest peaks on each continent, the so-called Seven Summits.

Now 46-year old Mike O'Shea, an Irish adventurer and public speaker from Dingle, is set to reach the Poles of Inaccessibility on each landmass on the planet.


Mike O'Shea is going to be rather inaccessible this fall.

A pole of inaccessibility (POI) is a geographical point that represents the most remote place to reach in a given area, often based on distance from the nearest coastline. A geographic concept, the location of a pole of inaccessibility is not necessarily an actual physical feature. Canadian explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson (1879-1962) was the first to introduce this concept in 1920 to differentiate between the location of the North Pole and the most remote and difficult location to reach in the Arctic.

These locations include some of the most remote and difficult places to reach in the world and although several of them are located near human settlements, reportedly, no one has ever reached all six Poles of Inaccessibility ­- perhaps until now when O'Shea will travel across each full continent via the POI's (coast to pole to coast), beginning this December in North America.

O'Shea will depart for New York in mid-November. To reach each POI, he will proceed by Jeep, on foot, on horseback, motorbike, and in the case of Antarctica, by ski and kite. First stop is the hilly wilderness between the towns of Allen and Kyle in southwestern South Dakota where the North American POI is located. He will then arrive in Los Angeles by the 25th, having traveled 3,380 miles coast-to-coast.

The South American POI, in Brazil, surrounded by lush vegetation, canyons, and waterfalls is next on the schedule.


As part of The Ice Project, O' Shea has crossed Lake Baikal in Northern Russia, Chile's North Patagonian Icecap, the Southern Icecap on Kilimanjaro and a full Greenland crossing. The summer of 2013 also saw Mike guide seven Irish groups up Kilimanjaro. While in Africa Mike also successfully managed to raise funds for and build an orphanage for local children whose parents died of HIV.

His mountaineering experience has allowed him to work on numerous projects such as Red Bull Cliff Diving and Crashed Ice events and international films such as Star Wars. His impressive resume includes 30 years rope access experience, in the Alps, Himalayas, Africa, New Zealand and Iran Jaya; 10 years mountain rescue; 15 years Coast Guard rescue; occupational first aid; and search rescue management.

The €350,000 (approx. $387,000) project is currently self-funded, although sponsors are being sought; their support will help speed-up his estimated 18 to 24-month timeframe.

Learn more about O'Shea's background at www.mikeoshea.ie

The POI project website is: www.thepolesproject.com

To see the list of POI's, view:

http://apl.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapJournal/index.html?appid=ce19bec7a3c541d0b95c449df9bb8eb5

EXPEDITION UPDATE

UNESCO Blocks Effort to Study Columbus'Santa Maria Wreck Site

Evidence continues of possible looting of the Santa Maria shipwreck off Haiti, according to marine archaeologist Barry Clifford who made worldwide news in May 2014 when he presented evidence that the iconic Columbus flagship had been located (see EN, June 2014).

"We have overwhelming evidence regarding the Santa Maria, but UNESCO refuses to review any of our research, or to speak with Professor Charles D. Beeker, Ph.D., or myself," he tells EN. Beeker is the director of Underwater Science at Indiana University Bloomington, and a renowned Columbus scholar.

"Efforts continue to preserve what's left of our important discovery off Cap-Haitian. Professor Beeker, one of the leading lombard (cannon) experts at the Mary Rose Trust, positively identified the round object (we saw) as a section of a lombard - the same artillery pieces Columbus mentions in his Dario."

Clifford, from Provincetown, Mass., continues, "As we have the exact Differential Global Positioning System (DGPS) coordinates of our discovery, someday, someone will positively identify the wreck site. Unfortunately, the site is being pulled to pieces by local salvors after UNESCO dismissed our project ... and soon, there will be nothing left of the vessel."

Clifford offers as proof of looting, a video taken by Professor Beeker of a discarded 15th century wrought iron artillery piece suspected to be the Columbus lombard discovered outside the Haitian dive shop and hotel from where UNESCO conducted their investigation of Clifford's discovery.

"The artillery piece was originally observed and noted in-situ by Edwin Link on an expedition to locate the remains of the Santa Maria in 1960, and then again by myself and my associates on an expedition endorsed and made possible by the late Sen. Edward Kennedy."


Lombard discovered and photographed in-situ off Cap-Haitian. (Photo courtesy Brandon Clifford).

Clifford adds, "The lombard is the eighth such 'cannon' discovered in the Western Hemisphere and presumed to be from one of only 20 shipwrecks of this period in the entire world. The lombard was discovered 1.5 nautical miles offshore, the exact distance Columbus stated the Santa Maria wrecked from the fort he built, in part, with the remains of that vessel .... approximately 300 to 400 feet from the 'Columbus anchor' which Edwin Link discovered and donated to the Smithsonian.

"Yet, UNESCO ignored the presence of the looted lombard, which had obviously been illegally taken from our protected wreck site, and broken to pieces along with many other ancient artifacts. They also refused to speak with me or Professor Beeker in the face of our valid permit and my having been appointed by the Prime Minister of Haiti to a Special Commission to protect the Santa Maria," Clifford says.

"UNESCO also refused to review any of our many years of remote sensing survey records, underwater videos and photography."

Beeker dismisses the UNESCO study as inconclusive, and says it didn't analyze the wreck's wood, ballast or datable ceramics. According to Beeker, politics were behind the decision to reject his proposal. He claims UNESCO wouldn't let him back on the wreck if he was working with Clifford. UNESCO denies the decision was political, according to a story in New Scientist (June 11, 2016), by Michael Bawaya.

See a profile of Beeker's work here:

https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg23030770-400-shipwreck-archaeologist-versus-treasure-hunters-of-the-caribbean/ (subscription required)

Heard Island Expedition Studies Lagoon,
Communicates with 75K Hams Worldwide

The 2016 Cordell Expedition to Heard Island was the first scientific expedition to this extreme and extremely remote island in the Territory of Australia, in the Southern Ocean, in almost 15 years (see EN, June 2015). The two-month, half-million-dollar project took nearly four years to plan and prepare.

The actual voyage started in March 2016, in Cape Town, South Africa. After a 12-day sail, the expedition reached Heard Island at 53°S 73°E. The onsite team of 14 spent three weeks on the island, documenting significant changes in the two-mile-high volcano, glaciers, lagoons, and wildlife that have occurred over the past decade, and exploring areas not previously visited by anyone.


The Heard Island base camp with its sea of amateur radio antennas.

They were the first to enter and document a two-mile-wide lagoon created in the past ten years by the melting of a major glacier, and collected samples of rocks, sediment, and water. They also carried out an amateur radio operation that logged 75,000 contacts worldwide, and included a number of innovations in radio technology. The return voyage ended in late April in Fremantle, Western Australia.

In addition to the onsite scientific work, the project implemented a large number of infotech innovations, including a live online help desk, the first remote radio operation, the real-time web radio log display, and live Skype interviews with journalists and schools.

It was led by Dr. Robert Schmieder who has been organizing and leading scientific expeditions for 35 years. He is the founder of the nonprofit oceanic research organization Cordell Expeditions, which has to its credit more than 1,000 discoveries, including new species, range and depth extensions, and first observations.

Through the website, blog, Facebook, Twitter, newsletter, and numerous interviews and presentations, this expedition significantly raised the standard for outreach and interactivity for remote scientific projects, according to Schmieder.

For more information: www.heardisland.org

EXPEDITION NOTES

Good Luck Avoiding the Internet Out There

Swedish outdoor brand Haglöfs now offers trekkers on the northern Swedish trail Kungsleden, in the middle of the Swedish wilderness, free Wi-Fi. But there's a catch - it only works when it rains.


Now you can watch cat videos, even in the wilds of Sweden.

The weather in Northern Sweden can get pretty rough, and Haglöfs has helped people endure the weather since 1914. But today people seem to believe that being online is just as important as staying dry when the rain is pouring down. According to a 2014 survey, a good Wi-Fi connection is one on the things people value the most when we are traveling.

A Wi-Fi placed along the trail Kungsleden in northern Sweden gives trekkers the opportunity to go online in places where there normally is no connectivity at all.

Starting last month, anyone planning on heading out for Kungsleden can check out www.haglofsweather.fi to get the latest forecast for the region and to see whether the weather-fi will be up and running.

The free Wi-Fi connection is driven by solar panels, and is linked to a local weather station acting as an on/off switch. The worse the downpour, the better the signal.

Thanks Haglofs. Cue the eye roll. Obviously, there's no exit off the Information Highway.

Read the official announcement here:

http://www.mynewsdesk.com/haglofs/pressreleases/when-it-rains-it-streams-1591232

Watch the video here:

http://www.haglofs.com/se/sv


"Blurring Effect" Can Be Deadly During Himalayan Expeditions

Five decades of Himalayan treks show how collectivism operates in diverse groups.
By studying climbers summiting Mount Everest, Professor Jennifer Chatman of UC Berkeley's Haas School of Business, learned when collectivism works, and when it can be deadly.

Cooperation is valued as a key attribute of successful groups, encouraging cohesion among diverse members. But Chatman discovered that there can be a high cost when it comes to decision-making and performance because the tentative ties among diverse group members cause them to overemphasize their shared group identity and overlook the individual differences in skills and experience that can help the group succeed.

She calls this a "blurring effect," which is detailed in her new study, "Blurred Lines: How Collectivism Mutes the Disruptive and Elaborating Effects of Demographic Diversity on Group Performance in Himalayan Mountain Climbing."

"By simply asking people in a diverse group to focus on commonalities within the group, they appear to be unable to also focus on the attributes that differentiate group members from one another. It is like asking people to focus on the forest, which seems to preclude them from also focusing on the trees," says Chatman.

To study how collectivism fails, the researchers tapped the Himalayan Database, a compilation of all expeditions in the Nepalese Himalaya since 1950. Journalist Elizabeth Hawley began compiling this database in 1960, when she moved from the U.S. to Kathmandu, Nepal, and interviewed thousands of climbers who are required to register their expeditions with the Nepalese government.

Read the study here:

http://newsroom.haas.berkeley.edu/research-news/how-himalayan-mountain-climbers-teach-us-work-better-together

High Altitude Remembrance

No matter what your opinion about crowding on Mount Everest, or its commercialization, the mountain still stands as a metaphor for high achievement. When members of the VOICES of September 11 organization, based in New Canaan, Conn., learned that its Flag of Honor was anonymously displayed at Everest base camp last month, the image was proudly shared with thousands via social media.


Everest base camp remembers 9/11 (Photo courtesy Michael W. Halstead, Yachtstore.com)

The photo was taken on Oct. 24 by Michael W. Halstead of Sun Valley, Idaho, and Vero Beach, Fla., during his guided trek to the 17,600-ft. base camp. The flag displays the names of the 2,977 lives lost on that tragic day. VOICES of Sept. 11 was founded by Mary Fetchet in 2001, a mother who lost her 24-year old son Brad on 9/11.

Now 15 years later, VOICES offers help to any community that suffers from an act of terrorism, mass violence or natural disasters. Its VOICES Center of Excellence for Community Resilience helps communities heal after tragedy.

Learn more at: www.voicesofsept11.org

QUOTE OF THE MONTH

"Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?"

- From The Summer Day by American poet Mary Oliver (1935-)

Read the entire poem here:

https://www.loc.gov/poetry/180/133.html

EXPEDITION FOCUS

When You Need a Plumber

By Michael J. Manyak, MD, MED 92
Reprinted by permission from The Explorers Journal

One frequently worries about the local plumbing while in the field, but what if the plumbing of concern is yours? Urinary difficulties range from mildly irritating to exquisitely painful and potentially life-threatening processes. Some remain innocuous, others worsen, and some strike acutely with no warning. Urinary tract problems can occur in the kidney, ureter (tube between the kidney and bladder), bladder, urethra (tube from the bladder to the outside), and in the male genitalia.

Blood in the urine (hematuria) is one of the most common complaints and is disturbing but rarely life-threatening unless massive or if significant trauma has occurred in which case more than one organ system is usually involved. Many conditions can cause hematuria and a little bit of blood looks like a lot. Microscopic hematuria is not something you will notice but may be detected on urinalysis.

In either case of visible or microscopic hematuria, an evaluation by a urologist for the cause is important, though not an emergency. Hematuria can be a harbinger of serious problems like tumors of the urinary tract. Painless hematuria needs to be evaluated in a timely fashion but is rarely a cause for evacuation. Hematuria with pain can be caused by common conditions like urinary calculi (stones) and bladder infections.


Some medications can cause urine to look like it has blood in it. Certain strains of malaria and disorders like sickle cell may also have discolored urine suggestive of blood.

Passage of urinary calculi (stones) is a common, very painful urinary condition. Stone formation occurs with dehydration and in areas where there is a higher mineral concentration in the water. There are stone "belts" in various parts of the world with a high incidence of urinary stones due to increased water mineral content. You should remain well hydrated especially in dry or very hot climates and if you spend a long time in a location, find out whether urinary stones are common.

Stones often cause excruciating flank pain that may radiate to the lower abdomen or groin, waxes and wanes, and often causes nausea and vomiting. Small stones may pass but larger ones can cause complete obstruction.

Passage of a stone provides nearly immediate relief of pain. Obstruction is a medical emergency because the trapped urine can damage the kidney or lead to an infection which is potentially life-threatening. Any fever other than low grade with a suspected urinary stone is an emergency because of the potential for overwhelming infection. Therefore, victims may need to be evacuated for fever or pain control.

The development of acute urinary retention, the inability to pass urine, is a urinary tract emergency. It is accompanied by severe lower abdominal discomfort and distention. This is most often seen in males and commonly related to urethral scar tissue in younger males and prostatic obstruction in older males. This medical emergency is often preceded by difficulty with urination and any man with such issues should consult with a urologist before travel. Antihistamine use can be a cause of urinary retention in men.

Medical consultation is required to relieve acute urinary retention. This usually requires sterile placement of a urinary catheter into the bladder. Older cowboys used to carry a straw in their hatbands for relief but this type of instrumentation is not recommended in the field except in emergency because it may cause an infection. Anyone with this condition should be evacuated.

Bladder infection is another common urologic condition which more often affects women and certainly can occur while traveling. Bladder infection is characterized by frequent urination accompanied by burning and urine may have a foul smell or blood. Recent sexual activity may be related to the infection.

Treatment consists of appropriate antibiotics, hydration, pain medication in severe cases, and medical attention if accompanied by a high fever. Drinking cranberry juice helps prevent urinary tract infections in women.

Sexually transmitted diseases (STD) may be acquired while traveling. Both gonorrhea and non-specific urethritis from other organisms are prevalent throughout the world and occur within a few days of exposure. STDs can cause burning during urination and a urethral discharge. Broad spectrum antibiotics are required. Other sexually transmitted diseases include HIV/AIDS, syphilis, and other painful or ulcerating disorders that usually manifest from weeks to months after exposure. Do not treat sexually transmitted diseases with just any antibiotic - seek medical attention to assure prescription of the proper antibiotic in an adequate dose.


Michael J. Manyak

Michael J. Manyak, MD, FACS, is an explorer, author, urologist, and corporate medical executive. He serves as Physician Program Lead, Global Medical Director Urology, GlaxoSmithKline, Inc.; Adjunct Professor of Urology and Engineering, The George Washington University; Chief Medical Advisor for Crisis Response, Accenture; and Vice President, National Eagle Scout Association. He resides in Chevy Chase, Md.

MEDIA MATTERS

Pleasure and Pain of Climbing Life

Kelly Cordes in the New York Times (Oct. 28, 2016), writes about the pleasure and pain of the climbing life. She says, in part, "Those remote mountains inspire you, but they scare you, too. You take a deep breath and walk toward them, their stone and ice towering above as you try to quiet your swirling doubts.

"In those moments, I loved it. I hated it. I swore this was the last time. Then I would step off the ground and embrace the unknown, working with my fear in a world of indescribable beauty."

He was injured in a climbing accident at the age of 41 and goes on to recount the anguish of six surgeries over the next 13 months.

Read Cordes' opinion piece here:

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/10/29/opinion/the-pleasure-and-pain-of-the-climbing-life.html?smid=tw-share&_r=0&referer=

IN PASSING


Dr. Fred Roots on the 2016 SOI Arctic Expedition (Photo by Martin Lipman)

Fred Roots (1923 to 2016), Polar Exploration Legend

Dr. Fred Roots, a Canadian geologist who made significant contributions to polar science and international environmental research and policy, died at the age of 93, unexpectedly and peacefully at his home beside the ocean in East Sooke, British Columbia. It was less than a year after he received The Explorers Club's highest award, The Explorers Club Medal at the Waldorf Astoria in New York City, where he received two standing ovations.

A much-honored explorer with a mountain range named after him in Antarctica (the Roots Range),he was a mentor to hundreds of high school students who participated in the Students on Ice (SOI) program.

Geoff Green, founder of SOI says of Roots, "A true scientist and explorer. A founding father of Students on Ice, continuing his advisory and mentorship role right up to our most recent Arctic expedition. From pole to pole, he has touched so many lives, organizations, planetary processes, treaties, agreements, discoveries, and he truly made Canada and the World a better place."

Watch a three-minute video on Roots here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_QCv1C6q1RU

Read his obituary in the Canadian Globe and Mail (Nov. 4):

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/fred-roots-was-modest-brilliant-and-a-legend-of-polar-exploration/article32686729/

ON THE HORIZON

Sea Stories Sail into New York Explorers Club, Nov. 12, 2016

On Saturday, Nov. 12, 2016, The Explorers Club will host its annual Sea Stories, a day focused on ocean exploration, scuba diving and marine life at its headquarters in Manhattan.


Chris Fischer of OCEARCH

Speakers include:

* Dr. Ian Walker - "Hooked: The Tragedy of By-Catch and One Sea Turtle's Story of Rescue and Rehabilitation at the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo."

* Chris Fischer - "OCEARCH"

* Jim Kennard - "Discovering Lake Ontario's Historic Shipwrecks"

* Susan Casey - "Voices in the Ocean"

* Joe Mazraani and Anthony Tedeschi - "From Ordinary to Extraordinary: The Merchant Mariner's Heroic Role in WWII's Battle for the Atlantic"

The $70 admission includes lunch and 5 p.m. reception. Student price: $35

For more information: https://explorers.org/events/detail/sea_stories_2016

American Alpine Club Annual Dinner, Feb. 24 to 25, 2017, Seattle

The AAC's Annual Benefit Dinner is the Club's largest event of the year where members and guests can rub shoulders with climbing legends, enjoy fine dining and socializing, and celebrate climbing's highest achievements.


Conrad Anker

Keynote speaker is Conrad Anker, billed as, "the man who embodies the new age of super technical explorers."

Time: 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Location: Seattle's Mountaineers Clubhouse, Vertical World, and Seattle Marriott Waterfront. Tickets start at $175 for members.

For more information: www.americanalpineclub.org

EXPEDITION CLASSIFIEDS

Get Sponsored!– Hundreds of explorers and adventurers raise money each month to travel on world class expeditions to Mt. Everest, Nepal, Antarctica and elsewhere. Now the techniques they use to pay for their journeys are available to anyone who has a dream adventure project in mind, according to the book from Skyhorse Publishing called: "Get Sponsored: A Funding Guide for Explorers, Adventurers and Would Be World Travelers."

Author Jeff Blumenfeld, an adventure marketing specialist who has represented 3M, Coleman, Du Pont, Lands' End and Orvis, among others, shares techniques for securing sponsors for expeditions and adventures.

Buy it here: http://www.amazon.com/Get-Sponsored-Explorers-Adventurers-Travelers-ebook/dp/B00H12FLH2

Advertise in Expedition News – For more information: blumassoc@aol.com.

EXPEDITION UPDATE


Ulyana N. Horodyskyj (second from left) and her HERA crew hold The Explorers Club flag.

From HERA to Mars

Ulyana N. Horodyskyj, Ph.D., a 30-year-old Boulder, Colo., scientist and entrepreneur, traveled to the Canadian Arctic last spring to study the difference between satellite images of Baffin Island glaciers, and the so-called "ground truth" research (see EN, July 2016). Now she has her sights set a lot further afield.

This fall she climbed inside a windowless 636-square-foot pod housed in a warehouse at NASA's Johnson Space Center, switched off her phone, high-fived the three strangers she'd be spending the next 30 days inside with, and watched the doors shut tight.

Horodyskyj served as commander of the Mission XII crew of NASA's Human Exploration Research Analog (HERA) project, a multi-year endeavor to study just what happens to people's bodies, brains and psyches when they're isolated inside a confined space for long durations with other adults.

During the HERA project, mission control informed her that out of 18,300 applicants, she was one of 120 being considered for NASA's Astronaut Candidate program.

Read the story in CU Boulder Today:

http://www.colorado.edu/today/2016/12/08/adventurous-alum-serves-test-subject-30-day-nasa-isolation-project.

Her company, Science in the Wild, LLC, takes ordinary citizens on science expeditions to selected locations around the world.


Artist conception of crew rescued from the sinking scow-sloop Black Duck (Sketch by Mark Peckham)

Black Duck Discovered

The Explorers Club held its annual Sea Stories last month, a conference focused on underwater exploration and conservation. Speakers included Chris Fischer of Ocearch who reviewed his numerous global expeditions to research and protect white sharks; Susan Casey, best-selling author discussed the mysterious world of dolphins and their complex relationship to humanity; Joe Mazraani and Jennifer Sellitti shared their efforts to discover and explore the wreck of the Pan Pennsylvania sunk by U-550 during WWII's Battle for the Atlantic; and Dr. Ian Walker, of the Bermuda Aquarium, Museum and Zoo described his efforts to rehabilitate an injured sea turtle that was successfully released from Bermuda and swam to Florida.

Shipwreck explorer Jim Kennard discussed the discoveries of several shipwrecks including the oldest wreck found in the Great Lakes. Kennard announced that a rare sailing craft identified as a scow-sloop has been located in deep water off Oswego, N.Y.

In August 1872, the scow-sloop Black Duck was enroute from Oswego to Sackets Harbor, N.Y., when it foundered in a northwest gale. Only a small number of these shallow draft flat bow sailing craft existed around the Great Lakes and were typically utilized on rivers or for short lake crossings. They were not constructed to withstand the high winds and waves on the open lake.

The Black Duck may be the only fully intact scow-sloop to exist in the Great Lakes. Kennard and Roger Pawlowski made the identification in September 2016 after their initial visit to the wreck over three years ago which failed to identify the ship.

For more information: kennard@rochester.rr.com, www.shipwreckworld.com

EXPEDITION NOTES


Fiennes summits Antarctica's tallest peak (Photo courtesy Marie Curie)

Ranulph is Fiennes After Antarctic Summit

Veteran British explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes has successfully climbed to the summit of Mount Vinson, the highest peak in Antarctica. The Dec. 6 feat forms part of his pledge to climb the highest mountain on every continent between August 2016 and May 2017.

The 72-year-old faced minus 40 degree F. temperatures and severe winds to summit the 16,050 ft. (4892 m) peak.

The explorer from Exmoor, Somerset, is halfway to completing the Global Reach Challenge in aid of the Marie Curie charity which he has been raising funds for since the death of his first wife Ginny in 2004.

He has already crossed both polar ice caps and climbed Mount Everest in Asia, Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa and Mount Elbrus in Europe. To complete the challenge, he still needs to summit Aconcagua in South America, Mount Carstensz in the continent of Australia, and Denali, the highest peak in North America.

Sir Ranulph has had two heart attacks, a double heart bypass, has vertigo and a breathing condition called Cheyne-Stokes while climbing, according to the BBC.

Speedy Recovery to Anker and Aldrin

Best wishes to famed climber Conrad Anker and space legend Buzz Aldrin.

Anker, 54, who suffered a heart attack at nearly 20,000 feet, and is currently on the mend, writes, "On the morning of the 16th of November 2016 while climbing on Lunag-Ri, a peak in the Khumbu Himalaya of Nepal, I experienced an acute coronary syndrome. My climbing partner David Lama of Austria and I were six pitches up the climb when I experienced severe chest pain. Having never experienced anything of this nature I immediately understood this as a time critical health situation.


Hard to keep a good man down.

"We called for a helicopter and with the help of our Sherpa friends I was evacuated to Kathmandu. Within 9 hours of the incident I was in the cardiac care unit of Norvic International Hospital. Dr. Bhutta performed an angioplasty and removed the obstruction."

Anker has since returned to his home in Bozeman, Mont., and is limiting further travel for the time being.

See his Dec. 5 Facebook post at:

https://www.facebook.com/ConradAnkerOfficial/?hc_ref=NEWSFEED&fref=nf

Earlier this month, former American astronaut Buzz Aldrin, was evacuated by plane from the South Pole for medical reasons. Aldrin, 86, was visiting the South Pole as part of a private tourist group when his health deteriorated, the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators said on its website. It said he was transported as a precaution on a ski-equipped LC-130 cargo plane to McMurdo Station, a U.S. research center on the Antarctic coast.

Having been cleared by doctors previously, Buzz took the trip to Antarctica to add to his exploration achievements.


Buzz Aldrin resting in a hospital in Christchurch, New Zealand with some congestion in his lungs.

Despite the unexpected evacuation, Aldrin is reportedly the oldest man to reach the South Pole. At presstime on Dec. 9 Aldrin was flying home, promising to someday return to New Zealand, "for vacation and not evacuation," he posted to Facebook.

Read more at:

http://buzzaldrin.com/south-pole-news

FEATS


Colorado skater thinks outside the rink (Photo courtesy Marisa Jarae, www.mountainwander.com)

Skating Beyond the Rink

The Colorado Rocky Mountains in winter have a special allure for 31-year-old Laura Kottlowski, a creative/art director from Golden. Where others see backcountry ski runs, ice climbs, and hiking trails, she also sees pristine alpine lakes ready for spins, double jumps and just pure skating.

Kottlowski, who began figure skating at age six, was a former competitor at Penn State University, and teaches skating weekly, now calls herself a skate-explorer who thinks beyond the rink. Way beyond. To high alpine lakes close to 12,000 feet. It's here, close to treeline, where her passions for mountaineering, figure skating and artistry align.

"If you're a skater and you see ice as smooth as a mirror, you just want to skate it, especially in such an epic settling," says Kottlowski, who started alpine lake skating in 2009 and has since skated at 11,900 feet.

"Skating in the elements is definitely a different feeling with the wind and the changing light. It is definitely more liberating than skating in an indoor rink. It's incredibly challenging. The surface up high can be smoother than Zamboni ice, or it can be sculpted by the wind into ripples far too rough to skate. I never know until I get there.

"But when you have the wind to your back and smooth ice in front of you and the wind propels you forward, the difficulties of climbing non-stop in sub-freezing weather fade away. It's exhilarating, and the realization that there is nothing else like it makes it all the more special," she says.


Worth the climb (Photo courtesy of Laura Kottlowski)

Kottlowski's skate-exploration is motivated by the desire to skate as many stunning and wild locations as she can, despite the obvious dangers of unstable snow, ice and weather. She and her friend, photographer and fellow hiker Marisa Jarae, 31, from Denver, use microspikes and crampons for ascents, adding ice axes when steeper and icier terrain stands in the way of an alpine lake with foot-thick ice.

To mitigate the risk, she analyzes the weather and geography to study the conditions that form the smoothest ice. Below 10,000 feet, ice is more protected from wind, but is covered by snow. Higher elevations have more wind, although less snow to shovel clear.

Why aren't more skaters tackling high alpine frozen lakes?

"The ice is sometimes as corrugated as a washboard. The risk of falling and becoming injured is not only more likely, but the consequences are similar to any mountaineering accident: potentially having to hike back down difficult terrain four, five or nine-plus miles back to transportation and then sometimes drive for hours to the nearest town for help," she tells EN.

As a freelancer, Kottlowski has the flexibility to avoid crowded trails by skating midweek, while also planning longer trips. She dreams of setting an altitude skating record on the highest named lake in the U.S. The trailhead near Breckenridge is an easy drive from her home, but the ascent to frozen ice at 13,400-ft. will require sheer determination and outdoor skills.

"It will be a pure mountaineering attempt of the unknown. We don't know if the ice will be clear enough to skate once we get there, how intense the avalanche danger will be, and how we will feel after hauling so much gear."

Her mind skates off as she contemplates returning again to the Canadian Rockies with its endless miles of frozen rivers with trees dotting the surface, locked in winter's icy grip. She's skated in ice caves inside Athabasca Glacier in the Columbia icefield of Jasper National Park, and shallower lakes, where, when the ice is crystal clear, she can often see fish swimming beneath her blades.

Future plans call for skate-explorations around the world, especially the high alpine lakes of Asia and South America, anywhere, in fact with smooth surfaces that she can affordably. Dazzling lakes awaiting for the first time in history the sound of steel blades carving a perfect turn.

For more information: laura@laurakottlowski.com, www.laurakottlowski.com

QUOTE OF THE MONTH

"Exploring is another way of saying 'curiosity in action,' and if you think about it, there haven't been any advances made in civilization without someone being curious about what's out there - what's around the next bend in the road, or over the next hill, or beyond that forest over there... and so on.

"This kind of curiosity is far more than just wanting to go and look at some new scenery someplace - it's an attitude...

"Back in the days of the old maps, that showed the known world - off on the edges, it showed boiling pots of oil, and dragons, and so on.

"Our whole history has been one of dragon pushing. Pushing dragons back off the edge and filling in those gaps on the maps."

- The late Senator John Glenn, speaking March 16th, 2013, upon receipt of The Explorers Club Legendary Explorers Medal. Glenn passed away at the age of 95 on Dec. 8, 2016.

EXPEDITION FOCUS

Exploring the Kennedy Space Center

A recent trade show in Orlando presented the opportunity to visit the House of the Mouse. But the thought of paying $101 for a ticket to Disney World's Epcot Center, then untold more cash for country-themed trinkets and fast food, paled in comparison to another attraction 50 miles away on the Florida coast.


A visit to the Kennedy Space Center appeals to the inner space geek in all of us. Having grown up with the space program in the 1960s, the original seven were our heroes. The concept of exploration, and the importance to explore, was evident as NASA used original artifacts, advanced audiovisual techniques, spacesuits and a moon rock to tell the epic story of the U.S. space program.

The trip was especially poignant in light of the recent passing of astronaut John Glenn. It felt, in a way, that we were just with him.

Some highlights of the visit:



Our heroes

* When you first enter the newly-opened Heores and Legends building, featuring the U.S. Astronauts Hall of Fame, one of the first displays credits the famous Ernest Shackleton hiring advertisement from 1914 - the one about "Hazardous journey, small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness..." Elsewhere, another poster proclaims, "Explorers Wanted."

In fact, the theme for the park, proudly proclaimed on the cover of KSC tourist brochures distributed in literature racks throughout Florida is simply, "Always Exploring."


Sign Us Up

* For an extra fee which we gladly paid, we had lunch with an astronaut. Joseph R. "Joe" Tanner, 66, who flew four times on the Shuttle and conducted seven space walks, hosted a buffet luncheon that included, yup, Tang, the syrupy orange mix that reached new heights when it was chosen to fly with John Glenn on Friendship 7, and on later Gemini Program missions.


One visitor with a seasons pass to KSC chugs a glass of Tang, the iconic space beverage.

Tanner's favorite food in space was peanut butter on a tortilla. Horseradish was also big during his missions; they'd eat it on shrimp to clear their sinuses and restore their sense of smell and taste.

M & Ms were also popular, although they had to refer to it as "candy coated chocolates" because to use a brand name would infer government endorsement which was not allowed.

When asked about the presence of UFOs, Tanner said, "We're not instructed to hide anything. I've spoken to over 300 astronauts and cosmonauts and none of us have seen UFOs."

Later he said, "When I first got into space I was overwhelmed by the sight of the Earth. Don't let anyone convince you the Earth isn't round. Columbus was right."

* Our favorite infographic explained that the average Apollo astronaut was 32.5 years of age, weighed 164 lbs., stood 5 ft. 10 in., was married with two children and owned one dog and one Corvette.

For more information: www.kennedyspacecenter.com

MEDIA MATTERS


Fuel efficient cookstoves can reduce indoor air pollution 90 percent with 75 percent less biomass fuel.

Efforts to Deliver Clean Cookstoves Praised by Costco Magazine

In the December 2016 issue of Costco Connection, the magazine published by the multi-billion dollar global retailer, Himalayan Stove Project (HSP) founder George Basch was recognized as part of its "Changing the World" feature. Basch talks about the lack of ventilation in Nepali homes. "It's a miserable environment," he says, which the magazine concludes is an "environment unsuitable for human inhalation."

Costco Connection has a circulation of 12 million. The HSP has shipped almost 4,000 fuel-efficient Envirofit stoves since it began shipments in 2011. Recent publicity in mainstream media brings hope of further nearing its goals. The story can be viewed at www.costcoconnection.com (page 112) or http://tinyurl.com/georgebasch

EXPEDITION INK


Comrades on the Colca: A Race for Adventure and Incan Treasure in One of the World's Last Unexplored Canyons

by Eugene Buchanan (Conundrum Press, 2016)
Reviewed by Robert F. Wells

Five hundred years of civilization marching on has very little effect on taming a raging river replete with Class V/VI rapids. And in the case of Peru's Colca, the damn thing just rips, and has been doing so for centuries, accomplishing a vertical drop of 2,750 feet over the Canyon's 12 miles. The author, armed with an Explorers Club flag and a collection of crazy Polish adventurers, take off to become the first to descend this stretch of the river.

So how does Incan treasure factor into this tale? The upper Colca Canyon was basically unexplored - not to mention inaccessible. Seemingly, it stood as a perfect place for the Incas to hide their riches from marauding Spanish conquistadors in the 1500's. Ah, legends! Anyway, for Buchanan and his merry band, why just run rivers when you can also run ragged looking for loot?

And ragged this group runs. Super-sucking sieves lure kayaks and rafts like jaws of death. Colossal cataracts hide behind blind corners - thundering through the mist. Canyon heights reach upwards to 13,696 feet ... while the Colca's depth bottoms out at nearly 10,500 feet. Pull-outs are barely existent. While, if lucky enough to find a spot to land, bullet ants, bot flies and "skin-bubbling" plants can't wait to greet you.

You as a reader won't get your feet wet - or bounce off any boulders. But you will experience twists and turns as the Colca cascades downward. You'll meet a competing party intent on becoming the first to navigate this inhospitable stretch of river. And you'll get a better appreciation for the value of teamwork - even among rivals.

Does the expedition find Incan treasure? You'll just have to read the book. And as a pleasant sidelight, when you do, you'll gain a Peruvian history lesson (sans kayak skirts and paddles), understand why Poles have a penchant for Peru, as well as possibly develop an itch to down some coca tea and get up into the Andes to see it for yourself.

Robert Wells, a member of The Explorers Club since 1991, is a resident of South Londonderry, Vt., and a retired executive of the Young & Rubicam ad agency. Wells is also the director of a non-profit steel band (see www.blueflamessteelband.com).

National Outdoor Book Awards Winners Announced

A woman's thousand-mile journey across Alaska in a dogsled. A scientist's quest to find primitive creatures under the seas. The saga of the first ascent of one of the world's most dangerous mountains.

These are some of the themes among this year's winners of the 2016 National Outdoor Book Awards (NOBA). The annual awards program recognizes the best in outdoor writing and publishing.


Among this year's winners is a moving account written by Debbie Clarke Moderow about her experiences competing in Alaska's famous dogsled race, the Iditarod. Entitled Fast Into the Night, Moderow's book portrays all the excitement and adventure that occurs during this most rigorous of races.

Moderow's book won the Outdoor Literature category, one of ten categories making up the awards program. Overall this year, the judges bestowed honors on 17 books.

Sponsors of the program include the National Outdoor Book Awards Foundation, Idaho State University and the Association of Outdoor Recreation and Education.

Complete reviews of all 2016 winners may be found at the National Outdoor Book Awards website at: www.noba-web.org.

WEB WATCH


Krystle Wright relentlessly pursues the perfect shot.

Canon Video Profiles Adventure Photographer Krystle Wright

The career of Canon Master and adventure photographer Krystle Wright is profiled in an eight-minute sponsored video directed by Skip Armstrong. The Mysteries - In Pursuit Of The Perfect Shot, follows a tenacious, and perhaps crazy, quest to chase down an elusive image and provides a glimpse into the kind of singular passion that drives people to reach their goals, regardless of what stands in the way. Wright finds herself harnessed to a helicopter skid to photograph BASE jumpers, a project that has consumed her for 4-1/2 years.

Wright, 29, is originally from Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia.

View it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWtIYJvqpu0

It's a great example of so-called sponsored content. Other companies using this marketing tactic effectively are Yeti and Outdoor Research.

DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS


The stubble should have been our first clue.

What's in a Name?

Last month we incorrectly identified Kelly Cordes as a female climber. Readers pointed out that Kelly is indeed a male. Our Eagle Eyed Award goes to Gaelin Rosenwaks, and Jim Davidson.

Learn more about Cordes' extraordinary career, including his first ascent of the Azeem Ridge on Pakistan's Great Trango Tower at:

http://www.patagonia.com/ambassadors/climbing/kelly-cordes.html

EN HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE

Once again, in a thinly veiled attempt to scam free product from unsuspecting manufacturers, we offer our favorite gift-giving suggestions for the explorer or adventurer in your life.

Maybe Not the Kind of Rock She Had in Mind


Rock on

Ok, so maybe a $10,000 meteorite is not the kind of rock your partner had in mind for the holidays, but still, they can be first on the block to own one. A meteorite is the only thing they can possess that is not originally from this planet, so it's a good bet it won't be returned like some soap-on-a-rope or a pair of bunny slippers. Membership in the International Meteorite Collectors Association, a real group - yes, we checked - is optional. Just don't call them meteors, the membership gets testy about that.

This 25 pounder is an iron meteorite first discovered in 1971 in Argentina and thought to have fallen 4,000-6,000 years ago. ($7,500 - $10,000, www.thespaceshop.com/meteorite.html)


Why get dressed when you can wear Sospendo all day?

Please Make Them Stop

This is the perfect gift for unselfconscious friends or loved ones who can't bear to be without a screen staring them in the face. We know who you are.

Sospendo is a handsfree smartphone tablet stand that goes where you go thanks to a flexible aluminum band that wraps around your body. We can't stand the sight of it, but who are we to say? We're still wearing ripped jeans from high school. ($49, www.sospendo.com)


Watch the Birdie

Poor Man's Drone

Maybe this is how the cave man captured HD video. Make your GoPro fly, well, like a Birdie with this new device modeled loosely around a shuttlecock.

Toss the device high in the air. Once it reaches peak altitude, the spring-loaded wings unfold making the weight of the GoPro point the Birdie towards earth.

If you fail to catch the Birdie, the base has a built in bumper to protect it from harm or scratched lenses. It also floats which should make it fun at the beach. Unless of course it sinks. That would not be so much fun. ($59, http://birdiepic.com).


A Frank Zappa mustache will make you look faster.

Take a Load Off

Travel is stressful enough without having to walk through airports or train stations. That's why the savvy explorer or adventurer needs Modobag, the world's first motorized, smart and connected carry-on that gets savvy travelers, tech enthusiasts and urban day-trippers to their destination up to three times faster than walking. It's luggage you can ride. Looking like a dork comes at no extra price. ($1,095, www.modobag.com)

EXPEDITION CLASSIFIEDS

Get Sponsored!– Hundreds of explorers and adventurers raise money each month to travel on world class expeditions to Mt. Everest, Nepal, Antarctica and elsewhere. Now the techniques they use to pay for their journeys are available to anyone who has a dream adventure project in mind, according to the book from Skyhorse Publishing called: Get Sponsored: A Funding Guide for Explorers, Adventurers and Would Be World Travelers

Author Jeff Blumenfeld, an adventure marketing specialist who has represented 3M, Coleman, Du Pont, Lands' End and Orvis, among others, shares techniques for securing sponsors for expeditions and adventures.

Buy it here: http://www.amazon.com/Get-Sponsored-Explorers-Adventurers-Travelers-ebook/dp/B00H12FLH2

Advertise in Expedition News– For more information: blumassoc@aol.com

MEDIA MATTERS


Artist Alexander Ponomarev

A Cool Exhibition

Antarctica is the inspiration for Antarctic Biennale 2017, a new exhibition of contemporary art spearheaded by Russian artist Alexander Ponomarev. He describes it as an "international socio-cultural phenomenon that uses artistic, scientific and philosophic methodologies to address shared spaces such as Antarctica, outer space and the ocean."

According to a story in the Winter 2017 issue of Venu magazine, it is scheduled to launch aboard an international research vessel in late March from Ushuaia, Argentina, for a trip to the continent. The voyage is envisioned as a vehicle for the generation of art and ideas, a traveling platform for dialogue between artists, researchers and thinkers, according to writer Cindy Clarke.

Read more:

https://issuu.com/venumagazine/docs/_venu_33 (see pages 62-65)

Toenail Clippings Get More Respect

Next time you sweep up a luxuriant pile of toenail clippings from under your bed, think about this. Scientists have used lasers to peer inside a toenail clipping from one of the Franklin Expedition bodies, which provided a picture of what the crewmember had been eating and the state of his health, according to a story in the Canadian Press (Dec. 6). The doomed 19th-century British voyage to the Northwest Passage remains one of Canada's most enduring mysteries.

The study, published in the Journal of Archaeological Science, firms up earlier conclusions that the Franklin's 129 crew members didn't die of lead poisoning from canned food. It also suggests the expedition was running low on supplies long before its ships became stranded in ice - all from the careful examination of a tiny piece of toenail.

The Franklin expedition headed north, never to return, in 1845. Some remains of its crew have been discovered, along with ghastly evidence of cannibalism. Its two ships, Erebus and Terror, were found within the last two years by underwater archeologists.

Laser study of a small piece of toenail from able seaman John Hartnell revealed a
long-standing, severe zinc deficiency, reports Bob Weber of the Canadian Press.

That zinc deficiency would explain that Hartnell had a very low immune function. In the tough environment, he probably contracted infections and died from disease, probably tuberculosis, scientists say.

Read the story here:

https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2016/12/06/lasers-reveal-franklin-expedition-diet-cause-of-death.html


The StairMaster StepMill retails for approximately $6,500 to $7,500

Training for a Climb? Try a Stepmill

Stepmills look like moving staircases, and are so challenging that people brag about their workouts on social media with the tag #stairmonster. Gyms are adding them - and removing the classic stair climbers that have been a staple since the 1980s - as more people seek shorter, tougher workouts, according to a Wall Street Journal story by Rachel Bachman (Nov. 19).

Stepmills quietly have become the most-used cardio machine after treadmills at gyms across North America. The dozen stepmills at the 24 Hour Fitness Super Sport in Aurora, Colo., are used heavily, says Tim Beamer, one of the club's personal trainers. He and a part-time co-worker, Karen Vincent, use stepmills to stay in shape and to train for mountain climbing.

"For me the stairmill actually simulates what I'm going to feel when I'm on a 14er," says Karen Vincent, a part-time employee at 24 Hour Fitness Super Sport in Aurora, Colo. "I get that heavy breathing. It's hard on the legs."

When Mr. Beamer is a month or two from a planned mountain ascent, he starts wearing hiking boots and a backpack on a stepmill. He gradually adds weight until the pack carries as much as 45 pounds.

Read the story here:

http://www.wsj.com/articles/a-tougher-workout-than-a-stairmaster-the-stepmill-1479556805

EXPEDITION FUNDING

Sponsors Line Up for Solo Winter Climb in Alaska

There's no shortage of support lining up for Lonnie Dupre, 55, a polar explorer and mountaineer who consistently delivers marketing value to his sponsors. Dupre is launching Cold Hunter One - the first winter solo ascent of Mount Hunter (14,573 ft.), eight miles south of Denali. Hunter is the steepest and most technical of the three great peaks in Denali National Park. It is also considered the most difficult 14,000 foot peak in North America. No one has yet to succeed in a solo ascent of this mountain during winter, according to Dupre.


Lonnie Dupre is attempting Mount Hunter with a little help from his friends.

Dupre's recent 2015 success at being the first to reach Denali's (20,340-ft.) summit in January has propelled him to attempt this frigid first.

The climb, budgeted at $8,000, will be an alpine style ascent. Everything Dupre needs to survive for 15 days will be strapped to his 55 lbs. backpack. Dupre hopes to fly into the Alaska Range the first week of January, weather permitting.

"This project is the culmination of all my years of experience wrapped into one challenge, where every ounce of food, fuel, gear and clothing matters," said Dupre. "All calculations are based on the absolute minimum my body needs to survive. I've allowed four days for storms; weather will be a leading factor to the success of the climb."

Dupre will be backed by PrimaLoft - Performance Insulation, which he has used in all of his expeditions since 1995.

Dupre's major sponsors include: Minnesota based Granite Gear, which produce backpacks and accessories that he has used on his expeditions for over 25 years; Voyageur Brewing, his Grand Marais hometown brewery, is also supporting the effort.

Support sponsors include: SPOT personal locator beacon to follow along during the climb; Globalstar is providing satellite phone service; BlueWater Ropes will aid his descent off the mountain; Mountain Hardwear is supplying his sleep system, tent, one-piece suit and various other garments that will keep him warm; and Midwest Mountaineering continues its long time support of his projects.

Dupre tells EN that when he returns from a project, he immediately sends emails to all his supporters with a trip report, thanking each for their support. He provides photos and videos for their use.

"Mainly we like to provide solid content that sponsors can use for their own social media channels. We try not to focus just on the physical difficulties of an expedition but something that has more depth and resonates with outdoor folks in their everyday lives," Dupre says.

He suggests to explorers and adventurers, "Don't shelve the material you took during the expedition when you get home. It's important to use your select photos, video, and diary entries well after the expedition is over to tell your stories ... your sponsor will appreciate it and keep coming back."

For more information: www.lonniedupre.com

QUOTE OF THE MONTH

"Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure... than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat."

- Theodore Roosevelt (1858 - 1919)

EXPEDITION MARKETING


Fjallraven Joins Forces with "Mysterious Organization"

In the never-ending search for expedition sponsors, we find it helpful to keep an eye on the publications that corporate decision-makers read. That's where we saw the story about Swedish backpack company Fjällräven's (pronounced "Fall-Raven") new sponsorship of The Explorers Club.

Last week, according to Adweek (Dec. 13), the company announced a long-term partnership with The Explorers Club. The association between an old club and a young clothing company (Fjällräven has been in the U.S. only since 2012) represents a slightly more complex and thoughtful approach to branding - for both parties - and the hope is that the reputations and fans of each will gravitate to the other, according to Adweek reporter Robert Klara.

Says Fjällräven vp of brand Joe Prebich, "Fjällräven is a brand new storyteller, and this is an area where storytelling is so important," Prebich said.

"The Explorers Club is built on stories. You could spend a week here and not go through half the stories that are here."

Klara writes, "For the Swedish brand, the chance to use the club's name and badge represents a prestigious seal of approval: with the possible exception of the National Geographic Society, The Explorers Club is America's most storied exploration fellowship."

What's more, according to Fjällräven's American president Nathan Dopp, there's a cachet that comes from associating with a slightly mysterious organization. "We see them a little bit as a secret club - people know of it, but it's still a mystery," he said.

Read the story here:

http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/why-swedish-backpack-company-partnering-nycs-storied-explorers-club-175079

EXPEDITION INK


No Barriers: A Blind Man's Journey to Kayak the Grand Canyon
by Erik Weihenmayer and Buddy Levy (Thomas Dunne Books, 2017)

No Barriers was written by Colorado-based adventurer Erik Weihenmayer, best known as the first and only blind climber to summit Mt. Everest and the Seven Summits.

The book deals with Weihenmayer's journey since coming down from Mt. Everest in 2001, and the fulfillment of a dream to kayak one of the world's great rivers through the Grand Canyon as a blind athlete - living what he calls the No Barriers life.

It highlights the pioneers who give those around them the courage to do great things. People who have risked failure, transcended their personal barriers, and shown others a way forward: scientists and innovators, artists and musicians, climbers and adventurers, activists and soldiers.

One particularly poignant excerpt reads:

"I had just done something that many critics thought was impossible. They'd said I'd be a liability, that I'd subject myself to horrendous risk, that I'd slow my team down, that I'd draw the whole mountain into a rescue. They'd said a blind person didn't belong on the mountain...at times, I had been one of them, doubting, wondering, and second-guessing myself. I was almost as bad as the naysayers themselves.

"The difference, however, was that I managed to shove out some of that clutter, to train hard and to move forward step by step - regardless of what my brain was telling me. And so I found myself at the summit with my team, standing on an island in the sky the size of a two-car garage. And although my body was there, my mind hadn't caught up.

"A voice kept asking me, is this really true? Are you really here? Later, a reporter had said I'd shattered the world's expectations about what was possible, but what he didn't know was that I'd shattered my own expectations even more than the world's."

Learn more at:

https://www.amazon.com/No-Barriers-Blind-Journey-Canyon/dp/125008878X

WEB WATCH


Simrik Air B3 helicopter leaving Lukla helipad headed towards Everest Base Camp. (Photo courtesy Discovery Channel)

Everest Rescue Features Work of Himalayan Chopper Pilots

Often the fate of climbers and Sherpas on Everest rests in the hands of the world's most elite band of helicopter pilots. Discovery Channel'sEverest Rescue features exclusive access to a group of diverse helicopter pilots as they manage emergency calls during the 2016 climbing season. The six-part series runs through Feb. 19.

Virtual reality extras on DiscoveryVR.com feature a detailed tour of the mountain and an inside look at Lukla - considered one of the world's most dangerous airports.

Even when flying a B3 helicopter, a special high altitude machine featured in the series, there is very little room for error. "Just because you can fly at that altitude does not mean you can land at that altitude," explains American chopper pilot rookie Ryan Skorecki.

He goes on to reveal that he has a huge fear of simply landing the aircraft successfully.

"You are sent out there to try and help someone out and if you have a problem, not only do you not help that person you have created an even bigger problem."

For more information:

http://www.discovery.com/tv-shows/everest-rescue/


PBS documents study of human bones found in high caves of Upper Mustang, Nepal (Photo by Liesl Clark).

Secrets of the Sky Tombs

Peter Athans and Liesl Clark's Secrets of the Sky Tombs, about the search for the first peoples of the Himalaya, high in the caves of Upper Mustang, premiered this month on PBS Nova.

The towering Himalayas were among the last places on Earth that humanity settled. Scaling sheer cliff sides, a team of scientists hunts for clues to how ancient people found their way into this forbidding landscape and adapted to survive the high altitude.

They discover rock-cut tombs filled with human bones and enigmatic artifacts, including gold masks and Chinese silk dating back thousands of years, and piece together evidence of strange rituals and beliefs designed to ward off the restless spirits of the dead.

Athans is co-Director, Khumbu Climbing Center, Phortse Village, Nepal.

See the trailer here:

http://www.pbs.org/video/2365919761/

The full program will be available to stream online for two weeks into January 2017. Watch it here:

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ancient/secrets-sky-tombs.html


Discovering Antarctica

The Royal Geographical Society has relaunched a robust web site about Antarctica that readers can share with the little explorers in their lives. Discovering Antarctica is a collaboration between the Society, the British Antarctic Survey, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and the British Antarctic Territory. It's full of stunning images, interactive graphics, videos and resources for teachers and students with information about Antarctic science, exploration, governance, tourism and more.

View it at: www.discoveringantarctica.org.uk

Geezer Says Adventure Travel Can "Transform the World"

Don Mankin, the self-described Adventure Geezer who writes about adventure travel for boomers and seniors, refers to writers as diverse as Pico Iyer, Henry Miller, and Paolo Coelho who have long recognized that travel can transform our lives, work, relationships, and even the world in which we live.

"This is especially true for adventure travel, which is usually embedded in wild, rugged and remote destinations, where activity levels and challenges can be unpredictable and significant, as well as in exotic destinations and unfamiliar cultures characterized by unsettling sights, sounds, tastes, and conditions. These challenges, both physical and psychological, push us out of our comfort zones and convert "travel" into "adventure travel," Mankin writes in The Huffington Post (Jan. 5).

"Adventure is intrinsic to the human psyche. At the very least, it makes life interesting. Many would even argue that we need it, especially in this modern era where civilization buffers us from the existential threats that used to lurk behind every bush and over every hill. Others go even further by claiming that it is essential to our development, as individuals and as a society," says Mankin.

Read the story here:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/586ea398e4b0a5e600a7891c?timestamp=1483647550033

DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS


Col. Norman D. Vaughan during an earlier trip at age 88 when he summited 10,320-foot Mount Vaughan, an Antarctic peak named after himself by Admiral Richard E. Byrd. (Photo by Gordon Wiltsie).

Holy Moley! Vaughan was the Oldest Polie

Media coverage surrounding Buzz Aldrin's evacuation from the South Pole (see EN, December 2016), reported that at age 86 he was the oldest man to reach the bottom of the earth. Long-time EN reader Carolyn Muegge-Vaughan, widow of the late Col. Norman D. Vaughan, says, au contraire.

We checked and yes, the late Colonel at the age of 90 was on a commercial expedition to the pole with ANI based at Patriot Hills. In fact, he returned a year later with philanthropist and prominent socialite Mary Lou Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, and gave a talk to the Polies he met, his widow reports. Vaughan died in 2005 shortly after his 100th birthday.

"We had also stood at the equator," says Muegge-Vaughan. "And we were going to the North Pole (with Mary Lou again) following this trip.

"It would have been great fun for Norman to have been at 90 degrees south, 90 degrees north, and zero degrees at the age 90: 90 & 90 at 90. But alas, the weather was bad for the Geographic North Pole so we only bagged the Magnetic," Muegge-Vaughan tells EN.

See an image of Vaughan's 1995 polar visit here:

http://www.southpolestation.com/trivia/90s/pole90s.html

Where in the World is Mount Carstensz?

Last month we mistakenly referred to Mount Carstensz as being on the continent of Australia. Well, it depends. The 16,024 ft./4884 m mountain has had a bit of controversy regarding its continent designation, but that is primarily a political rather than geographical dispute. The Dutch ceded control of the area in 1962 to Indonesia, and the area remains politically unstable.

Carstensz Pyramid is within the borders of Indonesia, which is on the Asian continent. The mountain is located in the western half of the island of New Guinea, in the Indonesian province of Papua. Most experts consider the island to be part of the Oceania continent, which also includes Polynesia, Melanesia, Micronesia, New Zealand and Australia, according to Livescience.com.

Climbers who aspire to complete the Seven Summits climb Mount Everest as the Asian summit. Some expand the Seven Summits to eight, also climbing Australia's Mount Kosciusko, which is 7,310 feet (2228 m).

By the way, of all of the Seven Summits, Carstensz Pyramid ranks highest in the number of alternative names. The mountain is also called Puncak Jaya, Puncak Jaya Kesuma, and Jaya Kesuma. Indonesians typically vary between the names Carstensz Pyramid and Puncak Jaya.

This month's Eagle Eye Award goes to reader Bernie Weichsel, who knows a thing or two about mountains. Last November he was named as part of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Hall of Fame class of 2016.

ON THE HORIZON

Explorers Club Annual Award Recipients Primed for
ECAD, Mar. 25, 2017, on Ellis Island

This year the Club will honor the outstanding accomplishments of three individuals with The Explorers Club Medal - the most prestigious recognition in exploration: André Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard, M.D., for their solar powered circumnavigation, Solar Impulse; and Nainoa Thompson, for his historic work on Polynesian way finding.

Their fellow awardees include: Pasang Lhamu Sherpa Akita honored with the Tenzing Norgay Award; George Basch, with the Citation of Merit; Lee Langan, recognized with The Edward C. Sweeney Memorial Medal; and Sophie Hollingsworth, with TEC's first-ever New Explorer Award.

For more details and ticket information: www.explorers.org

EXPEDITION CLASSIFIEDS

Get Sponsored! - Hundreds of explorers and adventurers raise money each month to travel on world class expeditions to Mt. Everest, Nepal, Antarctica and elsewhere. Now the techniques they use to fund their journeys are available to anyone who has a dream adventure project in mind, according to the book from Skyhorse Publishing called:

Get Sponsored: A Funding Guide for Explorers, Adventurers and Would Be World Travelers

Author Jeff Blumenfeld, an adventure marketing specialist who has represented 3M, Coleman, Du Pont, Lands' End and Orvis, among others, shares techniques for securing sponsors for expeditions and adventures.

Buy it here:

http://www.amazon.com/Get-Sponsored-Explorers-Adventurers-Travelers-ebook/dp/B00H12FLH2

Advertise in Expedition News - For more information: blumassoc@aol.com

EXPEDITION NEWS is published by Blumenfeld and Associates, LLC, 1877 Broadway, Suite 100, Boulder, CO 80302 USA. Tel. 203 326 1200, editor@expeditionnews.com. Editor/publisher: Jeff Blumenfeld. Research editor: Lee Kovel. ©2017 Blumenfeld and Associates, Inc. All rights reserved. ISSN: 1526-8977. Subscriptions: US$36/yr. available by e-mail only. Credit card payments accepted through www.paypal.com. Read EXPEDITION NEWS at www.expeditionnews.com. Enjoy the EN blog at www.expeditionnews.blogspot.com.

FROM SEA TO SUMMIT AND BACK AGAIN

An international team of three military veterans will conduct a Sea-to-Summit-to-Sea
Expedition of Mt. Everest and Lhotse in order to promote actionable and tangible options for
transitioning veterans.


Christopher Pollak and teammate Krishna (last name withheld for security reasons) in the
Langtang region of Nepal, north of the Kathmandu Valley and bordering Tibet, December
2016

Assuming they receive final funding this month, by spring the expedition will begin on the
beach near Calcutta, India in the Bay of Bengal. The team will then bike 600 miles to Jiri,
Nepal. From Jiri, the team will trek 118 miles to Everest Base Camp.

From there, the team will begin a series of acclimatization climbs, shuttling essential gear while establishing routes and high camps on Everest and Lhotse. In late May, the team will wait for a clear weather window to make a summit attempt on the highest and fourth highest peaks in the world.

Shortly thereafter, the team will return by bike and on foot via the same route back to the Bay
of Bengal. If successful, they will have logged 1,200 miles on bike, and 236 miles trekked.
The core team for the Sea-to-Summit-to-Sea project will consist of both U.S. and
international military veterans from Nepal and U.K., both former and active duty service
members.

"We hope to demonstrate through a successful expedition that today's veterans are capable of
performing in any environment, in any clime and place. Whether through alternative treatment
methods or by spending time in the outdoors, our veterans need to know that they have options
to succeed post-military service," says expedition leader Christopher Pollak of Boulder,
Colo.

Myrmidon Expeditions and Himalayan Ski Trek have donated all logistical planning and
expenses for the core team members of the Everest/Lhotse Sea-to-Summit-to-Sea. Travel and
individual costs are currently shared by the individual expedition members and sponsors,
however the expedition is actively seeking sponsorship to subsidize individual costs.

Total budget is $90,000 of which $65,000 had already been raised earlier this month. Main
sponsors are DreamQuest Productions, Himalayan Ski Trek, and Myrmidon Expeditions (all
veteran owned companies). If they lack enough funding in spring 2017, the money raised to
date will roll over to spring 2018.

Pollak tells EN,"Our No Shit Go/No-Go deadline of having the remaining money in hand is
10 March."

For more information: christopher@myrmidonexpeditions.com, 843 271 0791,
http://sea2summit2sea.com/expeditions/everest/

EXPEDITION UPDATE

Oil Barrel Cleanup by Dog Sled Removes First Five Barrels

An environmental clean up project called the Henderson Haul Operation Extraction, was
successful in extracting five abandoned, polluting oil barrels from the remote Alaskan
wilderness via a freight hauling dog sled team (see EN, August 2016). The barrels were then properly disposed.

The first barrel extraction took place on the remote Stampede trail close to Denali National
Park and McCandless Bus 142, the final resting place of Christopher McCandless, profiled by
Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild and visited by hundreds of people each year.

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

Make that five fewer barrels polluting the Alaskan wilderness.

The Henderson Haul team consisted of Joe Henderson from North Pole, Alaska, and Rhonda
Schrader from Hudson, Wisc., and a 12-dog Alaskan malamute dog sled team pulling two
freight hauling sleds.

The team was able to successfully locate a barrel dumpsite after a two-day dog sled into the
wilderness on the trail. Camping by the barrels, they worked over two days extracting the five
barrels, including one half full with diesel fuel, using ice axes and a tiger torch.

"During the 1950s these barrels were deposited throughout the arctic and other parts of the
Alaskan wilderness by oil and mining companies in the race to find minerals and oil. They have
been left abandoned to rot and pollute the environment for almost a century," says Henderson
Haul co-founder and arctic explorer Joe Henderson.

Currently, there are still barrels left at this dumpsite that Henderson Haul expects to remove in
two more consecutive extraction runs as funding becomes available.

Joe Henderson is an arctic explorer, author and public speaker. His dog team was also used in
the Disney movie White Fang and Joe himself was an actor, dog trainer and stunt double for
the movie.

Rhonda Schrader, artist and writer, is a wilderness guide with over 25 years of experience in
the outdoors, including guiding an Arctic expedition.

For more information: www.hendersonhaul.com

EXPEDITION NOTES

Mike Horn Crosses Antarctica Solo and Unsupported

Earlier this month, famed adventurer Mike Horn, 50, completed a solo, unsupported crossing
of Antarctica. He covered a total distance of approximately 3,169 miles (5100 km) using skis
and kites in 57 days, which was reportedly a record. Horn's crossing is part of his Pole2Pole
Expedition where he is attempting to circumnavigate the globe by the two poles, a journey
involving sailing, desert and river crossings, skiing and more.

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

Tentbound, solo and unsupported across Antarctica (Photo courtesy of Mike Horn)

On Feb. 7, 2017 22:50 UT Horn completed his solo, unsupported north-to-south traverse of
Antarctica from the Princess Astrid Coast to the Dumont D'urville Station via the South Pole.
He arrived at the pole on Jan. 9.

Horn, a resident of Les Moulins, Switzerland, reports that the hardships were many: "Every
day I had moments of disappointments and relief. Those are the highs and lows of each day.
But to name a few disappointing moments: Losing my cooking equipment, the start of frostbite
on my toes, breaking through a snow bridge into a crevasse, kite being blown away in the
wind.

"Injury to my right shoulder and then having very little use of my right arm, breaking my skis,
very difficult terrain with nearly impassable sastrugi fields for the last 400 km (249 mi.) of the traverse."

His main sponsors are Mercedes-Benz, Officine Panerai, and Inkwell Media.

Learn more at:

www.mikehorn.com

Mama, Don't Take my Kodachrome Away

Ektachrome is apparently coming back, but there are conflicting reports whether beloved
Kodachrome film, the world's first successful color film, will make a comeback as well.
According to Kodak CMO Steven Overman, speaking to The Kodakery podcast (Jan. 9) at the
Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas last month, "We get asked all the time by
filmmakers and photographers alike, 'are you gonna bring back some of these iconic film
stocks like Kodachrome [and] Ektachrome,'" says Overman.

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

"I will say, we are investigating Kodachrome, looking at what it would take to bring that back
[...] Ektachrome is a lot easier and faster to bring back to market [...] but people love Kodak's
heritage products and I feel, personally, that we have a responsibility to deliver on that love."

Not so, says the Washington Post three days earlier in a story written by Todd C. Frankel. He
quotes T.J. Mooney, product business manager for "film capture" at Kodak Alaris, one of the
companies that emerged from Eastman Kodak's bankruptcy. Mooney says, "Kodachrome will
not be coming back. We took a look at it and decided Ektachrome was the better choice."

Part of the reasoning was technical. Kodachrome is notoriously difficult to process. Not just
any film processor can do it. "You almost needed a Ph.D. in chemistry," Mooney said. That
skill was lost when Kodachrome disappeared seven years ago.

Ektachrome, which first hit store shelves in 1946, is known first as a slide film. It was
celebrated for its rich, distinctive look - and for being particular about how it was exposed.
Professional shooters, like those at National Geographic, swore by it, Frankel writes.
Then Ektachrome was killed off in 2012 - the last of Kodak's chrome films, just another digital
photography casualty.

Last month, Kodak Alaris announced that it was reviving Ektachrome. The 35mm film will be
available this year. Kodachrome could be next. Or not.

Riddle us this: why are the subjects of numerous expedition photos wearing red? We have
National Geographic to thank. By taking its cameras into the field, the magazine brought
archaeology, the arts, science, and adventure into people's homes. To this day, polar
explorers, South Pole scientists, and cruiseship passengers visiting Antarctica wear red parkas
because the color is said to show up best in color magazine photos.

Listen to the podcast here:

https://petapixel.com/2017/01/09/kodak-investigating-take-bring-back-kodachrome/

Read the Washington Post story at:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2017/01/06/kodak-says-its-bringingback-
ektachrome-film-and-photographers-everywhere-smile/?utm_term=.f5436d2b6514

FEATS

Climbers Bag First Ascent of Lowe's "Metanoia" in 25 Years

German climber Thomas Huber, and Swiss alpinists Roger Schaeli and Stephan Siegrist
scored the second ascent of Jeff Lowe's legendary climbing route "Metanoia" on the north
face of the Eiger, Switzerland. The three pro climbers completed the second ascent in
December 2016, becoming the first to successfully repeat the route.

"Metanoia" was established in 1991 in a solo effort by famed climber Jeff Lowe of Lafayette,
Colo. The route had been attempted before by several climbers without success. It's
considered one of the most bold and legendary routes in the Alps.

Huber, who was fascinated by the unique history behind the climb, was quick to get Siegrist
and Schaeli on board. In 2009, Schaeli had found Lowe's pack frozen in the ice high up on the
Eiger, where he had left it in 1991. (See EN, April 2011).

"Metanoia" was established in 1991 by American alpinist Jeff Lowe in the winter in a solo
effort. Lowe is known, amongst others, for his solo ascent of the south face of Ama Dablam
in 1979. He also still holds the record for reaching the highpoint of Latok I.

Lowe has bagged more than 1,000 first ascents worldwide. He was involved in the
development of the first ice screw and cam, and later developed the first tuber belay device
and soft shell jacket. He also invented the globally recognized difficulty scale for ice and
mixed climbs. He brought the Sport Climbing Championships to the U.S. and started the
popular Ouray Ice Festival in Colorado.

Lowe named his route "Metanoia," a Greek word meaning "fundamental change of thinking,
transformative change of heart." Lowe was diagnosed with an unknown neuro-degenerative
disorder 16 years ago that has tied him to a wheelchair and rendered him unable to speak,
though mentally sound.

Jeff Lowe's Metanoia is an award winning documentary film, narrated by Jon Krakauer, that depicts the first ascent.

Learn more at:

http://jeffloweclimber.com

See the Banff Film Festival 2014 tribute to Lowe at:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KfnJMD5Jy4&feature=youtu.be&list=PLAfsnsHgQdY4aQbJUBEkkhgBOX0brp8lB

QUOTE OF THE MONTH

"Mountains are the bones of the earth, their highest peaks are invariably those parts of its
anatomy which in the plains lie buried under five and twenty thousand feet of solid thickness
of superincumbent soil, and which spring up in the mountain ranges in vast pyramids or
wedges, flinging their garment of earth away from them on each side."


- Excerpt from "O Truth of Earth" by John Ruskin (1819 -1900), the leading English art critic
of the Victorian era.

EXPEDITION FOCUS

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

Michael Brown on his fifth and final Everest summit in 2010. Photo by Seth Waterfall/First
Ascents

Filmmaker is Done With Everest

After summiting Everest five times, most of them with heavy camera gear,filmmaker Michael Brown, 50, is moving on from Everest.

During a Boulder, Colo., presentation on Feb. 9 at Neptune Mountaineering, Brown shared
some highlights of an Emmy award-winning career that has spanned over 50 expeditions to
seven continents - all with cameras rolling. Brown has captured ice caves for NOVA,
tornadoes for Discovery, science at the South Pole for National Geographic, mountain climbing for IMAX and avalanches for the BBC.

"For me, Everest has been a dream that just kept on going," he said.

Brown remembers best the treks to Everest base camp. "The valley is absolutely stunning. The
sounds of bells on yaks will never leave my mind.

"Then seeing the mountain and the stars in the moonlight made me think I was climbing into
outer space."

During his Everest climbing career, he preferred to climb up to 26,000 feet without oxygen.
"It's a trade-off," he said. "With oxygen you get sweaty, gross and claustrophobic with this
squid on your face."

Image may be NSFW.
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"The trek to Everest base camp is the best part."

Brown's career started in his dad's home office among the clutter of 16mm film outtakes in the
cutting room and the faint smell of chemical film developer.

"Today, the size of cameras have shrunk while the quality keeps getting better." His camera
gear was lugged up to altitude in Pelican cases which he jokes were, "Yak2K compliant."

With the help of Sherpas, he took the first ever HD Camera (Sony 700) to the summit of Mount
Everest during the filming of blind climber Erik Weihenmayer's historic ascent on May 25,
2001, an expedition retold in his film, Farther Than the Eve Can See, which won close to 20 international film festival awards and two Emmy nominations.

Brown has no plans to return to Everest. "Now that I'm the father of two little guys, it's too
scary up there. I couldn't imagine doing anything as dangerous any longer."

He is back working with Weihenmayer to edit footage of his 2014 blind kayak descent through
the Grand Canyon's Colorado river, 277 miles from Lee's Ferry to Pierce Ferry, at times in
Class 5 rapids.

Brown expects to complete the film, tentatively titled Dark Canyon, in fall 2017.

Learn more about Serac Films at:

www.seracfilms.com

MEDIA MATTERS

Flower Power

The first American to summit Mt. Everest, the world's tallest mountain, was Jim Whittaker, but
it was in 1963, 10 years after Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay conquered the peak,
writes Jim Clash on Forbes.com (Jan. 8).

"Back then, climbing wasn't as popular in the U.S. as it was in Europe and Asia, so American
funding was scarce. Still, the event was a major achievement, as Whittaker was only the 10th
person to the 29,035-foot summit. Compare that with today, when the top has been visited
thousands of times," Clash writes.

Whittaker, 87, tells Clash that when they descended, "I noticed our group had stopped ahead
to gather in a circle around something on the ground. I'm wondering just what's going on.
They're looking at a blade of grass - emerald green, beautiful! It was stunning because we had
seen no color and nothing living up there for so long. Next someone says, 'Hey, there's a
flower.' They were literally crying, glad to be back on this magical Earth, back to where there's
life. You realize every day is a gift."

Read the story here:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/jimclash/2017/01/08/jim-whittaker-first-american-to-summiteverest-
talks-about-teamwork-peace-climb-k2/#297b795b44e0

Born to Explore Premieres on PBS

The television series Born to Explore with Richard Wiese (BTE) premiered on public television stations nationwide last month. The show is the most Emmy nominated travel and adventure show on television in its five-year run on ABC.

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

Richard Wiese during a visit this month to the Jackson Ski Touring Center in Jackson, N.H.
Every week,Born to Explore journeys to unpublicized corners of the globe to celebrate the wildlife,diverse cultures and natural wonders of the planet. In a recent episode, the production crew
traveled to Borneo to track orangutans in the wild; in Tanzania, Wiese joined the primitive
Hadzabe tribe in a hunt to feed its members.

"Our socially conscious team is humbled by what we have experienced during our filming,"
says Wiese.

"As a result, our commitment is stronger than ever to celebrate unique cultures and foster
good stewardship of the planet in the hope of making the world a better place."

For more information: www.borntoexplore.net

Check local listings for airtimes near you. Twenty-six earlier episodes of
Born to Explore can be viewed on Netflix.

EXPEDITION FUNDING

AAC Cutting Edge Grant Recipients Announced

The American Alpine Club (AAC) recently announced the recipients of the 2017 Cutting Edge
Grant award. The Cutting Edge Grant, a new evolution of the AAC's historic Lyman Spitzer
Award, continues the Club's tradition of supporting climbing athletes in pursuit of world-class
climbing and mountaineering objectives.

The Cutting Edge Grant seeks to fund individuals planning expeditions to remote areas
featuring unexplored mountain ranges, unclimbed peaks, difficult new routes, first free ascents,
or similar world-class pursuits.

Objectives featuring a low-impact style and leave-no-trace mentality are looked upon with favor. For the 2016/17 grant cycle, the AAC received 33 grant applications and awarded $20,000 to three recipients:

* Anne Gilbert Chase ($8,000) - To attempt the first ascent of the Southwest face of Mt.
Nilkantha (6596 m), a major peak of the Garhwal division of the Himalayas, in the Uttarakhand
region of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. The route contains 1500 m of technical climbing
from base to summit and features steep rock and ice mixed climbing with numerous objective
hazards. Mt. Nilkantha has been climbed only a few times via the North and West Ridges while
the more impressive Southwest face is yet to be completed.

* Jerome Sullivan ($6,000) - To attempt the first ascent of the East face of Monte San
Lorenzo (3706 m) on the border between Argentina and Chile in Patagonia. Various parties
have attempted the face yet no one has succeeded - cornices and seracs top the 4 km wall,
leaving little safe lines. The primary objective is a steep and technical buttress on the East face of the Cumbre Central.

* Clint Helander ($6,000) - For an attempt at the first ascent of the South Pillar of Panbari (6905 m) located in the Peri Himal region just north of Manaslu in Nepal. Panbari, though
close to the popular and accessible Manaslu trekking circuit, has seen little attention from
climbers. The South Pillar begins with a web of couloirs that weave upward for 1000 m with
the technical pillar beginning at about 5300 m with steep snow, ice and mixed climbing
expected, with the rock being fractured granite.

The Cutting Edge Grant is supported in part by Global Rescue, who works constantly to
protect AAC members though the Club's Rescue Benefit.

Applications for the Cutting Edge Grant are accepted each year from October 1st through
November 30th.

Learn more at:

www.americanalpineclub.org

WEB WATCH

New VR Film Features Pioneering Oceanographer Capt. Don Walsh

To mark the anniversary of the first descent to the deepest point in the ocean, a new immersive
360 VR film documents the work of pioneering oceanographer Don Walsh, one of the first
two people to descend seven miles down in 1960.

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Walsh (left) and Piccard on the seabed, Challenger Deep, with national flags, January 23,
1960. (Photo courtesy U.S Navy)

On January 23, 1960, U.S. Navy Captain Don Walsh, now 85, and the late Swiss engineer
Jacques Piccard, became the first people to descend 11 km (seven miles) to full ocean depth,
the bottom of the trench in the Pacific Ocean aboard the Swiss-built U.S. Navy bathyscaphe,
Trieste. It was dubbed "Project Nekton." Despite advancements in modern marine technologies, their record to a depth of 10911 m (35,797 ft.) remains unbroken to this day.

(Editor's note: On March 26, 2012, James Cameron reached the bottom of the Challenger
Deep, the deepest part of the Mariana Trench. The maximum depth recorded during this
record-setting solo dive was 10908 m {35,787 ft}).

Walsh said, "After 1960, we turned our eyes towards outer space and Project Nekton was
largely forgotten. I hope this film encourages people to begin to turn their gaze downwards.
Today the deep ocean remains the last, great, unknown frontier on our planet. As we consider
colonizing Mars, we must remember that only a small fraction of the ocean has been
explored."

The Journey to the Deep film is produced by the marine research charity Nekton and
sponsored by re/insurer XL Catlin.

View it here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hHi4IiiU8g

The video can be viewed online at the Nekton Mission YouTube Channel and Facebook pages
via a smartphone and virtual reality headset or via tablet and computer using keystrokes to
move through a 360 degree line of sight.

Nekton is a multi-disciplinary alliance of the world's leading ocean scientists, media
organizations, business leaders, philanthropists, educationalists and civil leaders who have
joined forces to explore and research the deep ocean, the Earth's least-explored, largest and
critically important ecosystem. (www.nektonmission.org)

STOP! Here's the First Thing to Do to Survive

Since we started EN back in the Stone Age, there is certainly no shortage today of content
online. In fact, it's a wonder anyone actually has time to get outdoors, what with an avalanche
of email, Tweets, Insty's, Vimeos, not to mention incessant texts to contend with. But not all
of it are cats playing the piano. Here's one valuable bit of survival advice from the folks at
Adventure Medical Kits, based in Littleton, N.H.

AMK and Eric A. Weiss M.D. have posted basic skills for surviving potentially life threatening
situations like getting lost or injured. Weiss is co-founder of Adventure Medical Kits and
author of the Comprehensive Guide to Wilderness and Travel Medicine (Adventure Medical
Kits, 1997).

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

Their first rule is "STOP to Survive":

S-Stop: Do not travel farther until you assess your situation.

T-Think: Should I stay here or move? What is the likelihood that I will be found here? How
far am I physically able to travel?

O-Observe: Look around and determine whether you can obtain shelter, water, and fuel for a
fire at this location.

P-Plan: Decide what you should do and take action. Staying put may be the best choice,
especially if someone knows where to look for you.

One tip is to always carry a whistle because its sound will travel much further than your voice.
Three sharp blasts at regular intervals is the standard distress signal.

Excuse us while we go find one in the house for our expedition kit.

Read more here:

http://www.adventuremedicalkits.com/blog/2017/02/lost-the-first-thing-you-should-do-tosurvive/

ON THE HORIZON

Go Wild at The Explorers Club, Feb. 23-26, 2017

The New York WILD Film Festival, Feb. 23-26, is the first annual documentary film festival in
New York to showcase a spectrum of topics, from exploration and adventure to wildlife and
the environment, bringing all things wild to the most urban city in the world.

Co-sponsored by The Explorers Club, the festival will present a range of adventure and ecominded
films, including Before the Flood, in which Leonardo DiCaprio heads deep into countries affected by climate change, and 4 Mums in a Boat, a doc about a group of female Brits who aim to break the world's record for oldest rowers across the Atlantic. Films will be shown at the Club HQ at 46 East 70th Street, New York.

For ticket information and to view the 2-min. trailer, go to:

http://www.nywildfilmfestival.com

EXPEDITION CLASSIFIEDS

Get Sponsored!– Hundreds of explorers and adventurers raise money each month to travel on world class expeditions to Mt. Everest, Nepal, Antarctica and elsewhere. Now the techniques they use to pay for their journeys are available to anyone who has a dream adventure project in mind, according to the book from Skyhorse Publishing called: "Get Sponsored: A Funding Guide for Explorers, Adventurers and Would Be World Travelers."

Author Jeff Blumenfeld, an adventure marketing specialist who has represented 3M, Coleman, Du Pont, Lands' End, Michelin, and Orvis, among others, shares techniques for securing sponsors for expeditions and adventures.

Buy it here: http://www.amazon.com/Get-Sponsored-Explorers-Adventurers-Travelers-ebook/dp/B00H12FLH2

Advertise in Expedition News– For more information: blumassoc@aol.com.

Preston Sowell and Peruvian underwater archaeologist Josué Israel Zare Vergara preparing to submerge.

High Altitude Lake in Peru Reveals 850-Year-Old Submerged Ruins

During ongoing climate and ecological studies, environmental scientist Preston Sowell, 47, from Boulder, Colo., discovered submerged ruins in a remote, high-altitude lake in southern Peru. Climate studies imply that the structures were built between A.D. 1160 to 1500, when regional lake levels were lower.

Sowell teamed with licensed Peruvian archaeologists to study the site and conduct archaeological reconnaissance surveys. “Archaeologists believe that we have indeed discovered an important pre-Hispanic ceremonial site,” he says.

The exact location, about 125 miles from Lake Titicaca, has been withheld to discourage looting. Teams in 2013, 2015 and 2016 accessed the site on horseback, carrying their scuba gear to reach depths that are world records at that altitude (16,000 feet). Their expeditions revealed a trove of artifacts and structures dating from the Inca period and earlier.

The entire watershed, and its sacred landscape and cultural features are currently under threat from mining, increased human presence, and dropping lake levels, precipitating the need for an urgent response action, according to Sowell. Later this year they hope to return to conduct excavations, expanded archaeological explorations, and underwater ROV and UAV-assisted surveys. Only a small area has been surveyed to date, so they anticipate that more discoveries will be made in and around the lake.

The goals of the 2017/2018 field seasons will be focused on protecting vulnerable artifacts and providing the information necessary to protect the area, gain long-term funding, and guide future investigations.

“The ultimate goal (besides protection of the watershed) is to get enough momentum so that an academic researcher can easily step in and take on long-term research once we've secured the site. My archaeologists think that there will be 10-plus years of archaeological work there,” he tells EN.

The project, a nonprofit 501(c)(3), is seeking $36,000 to fund the next critical phases of the field effort. For more information: preston.sowell@gmail.com, 303 775 6920

EXPEDITION NOTES


Dr. Douglas Duncan

Time for a Corona

Dr. Douglas Duncan, director of the Fiske Planetarium at the University of Colorado, previewed the Aug. 21, 2017 total eclipse last month in Boulder. Duncan has been chasing total eclipses since 1970.

This summer, you won’t have to fly your Lear Jet to Nova Scotia. For the first time in 40 years, a total eclipse will cross the entire U.S.


“A total eclipse is one of the most spectacular sights you can ever see,” Duncan gushes.

“It looks like the end of the world might look. There is a black hole in the sky where the sun should be. Pink flames of solar prominences and long silver streamers of the corona stretch across the sky. It gets cold, and animals do strange things. People scream and shout and cheer, and remember the experience their whole life.

But total eclipses are important scientifically as well. They let us see parts of the sun’s atmosphere that are otherwise invisible,” Duncan said.


Are you feeling lucky? Watch the eclipse for Baily’s beads – the rugged lunar topography allows beads of sunlight to shine through in some places, and not in others.

Duncan is a faculty member in the Department of Astrophysical and Planetary Sciences of the University of Colorado, where he directs the Fiske Planetarium.

In 2011 he received the prestigious Richard Emmons award presented to the “Outstanding Astronomy Teacher in the U.S.” Duncan broadcasts science commentary on the Colorado Public Radio program, “Colorado Matters.”

For more information, including details on buying eclipse glasses, view:

https://www.eclipse-watch.com

Michael Aisner of Boulder, Colo., is a self-professed “eclipse freak” who has seen 11 total eclipses around the world for an elapsed time of 35 min. 13 sec. Share his passion for eclipses at: www.eclipsefreaks.com

Finally, if you want to know if the skies will be clear when you haul ass to North Platte, Neb., check out Historical Cloud Cover Charts at:

http://www.eclipse2017.org/2017/weather/2017_clouds.htm

On My Honor: Scouts Create Merit Badge for Exploration

Growing up in the Scouts, we seem to recall receiving one or two merit badges, that’s it, including one for ham radio. In fact, we still remember Morse code to this day, although it doesn’t come up much in conversation.

Obviously, we were born too soon. Here’s news of the new Boys Scouts of America Exploration Merit Badge designed to inspire the next generation of explorers. Created and developed by experts in the field, the Exploration Merit Badge is the 137th addition to the BSA’s bank of merit badge programs and is now available to Scouts nationwide.

“We have a wealth of experience encouraging Scouts to use their natural curiosity to learn how the world works, and now we’re putting that energy and adventure into a new merit badge,” said Michael Surbaugh, the BSA’s Chief Scout Executive. “The Exploration Merit Badge adds to our broad range of STEM topics and programs Scouts can experience.”

To earn the Exploration Merit Badge, Scouts will be asked to demonstrate their knowledge of exploration, as well as its history and importance in today’s world. They will complete hands-on projects about real-life explorations and have the opportunity to complete an exploration in a lab or in the field. The badge culminates with the Scout planning, preparing for and completing their own expedition.


Beware of Scouts bearing bullwhips

Michael J. Manyak, M.D., Distinguished Eagle Scout and expedition medicine expert, led the charge for the development of this merit badge and worked closely with the BSA and other explorers to make it come to life.
“Exploration is what drives innovation, whether in science, economics, or business – we need exploration to spur discoveries that help enhance their lives and improve our world,” said Manyak. “The possibilities for exploring are endless and require teamwork and dedication. We look forward to seeing Scouts become future change-makers through their experiences with this badge.”

The badge shows an Indiana Jones type hat, binoculars and a bullwhip. A bullwhip? Is that for getting closer to the hors d’oeuvres at the next Explorers Club dinner, we wondered?

Manyak enlightened us: “In today's overly politically correct world maybe some misguided people might misinterpret this for violence or submission or slavery or whatever rage du jour, but the vast majority interpret it for what it is, a symbol of Indiana Jones, a consummate if fictitious explorer. Honestly, everybody smiles when they see it, they get it.”

For more information:

http://www.scouting.org/filestore/Merit_Badge_ReqandRes/Exploration.pdf


Dr. Geoffrey Tabin

Geoff Tabin: Exploration’s Triple Threat

In entertainment, a triple threat is a performer who excels at acting, singing, and dancing. In exploration, a triple threat could be defined as Geoff Tabin, M.D., a Professor of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences and Co-Director of the Outreach Division at the John A. Moran Eye Center and University of Utah, specializing in cornea, cataract and refractive surgery. Not only is he known to perform 1,000 cataract surgeries in a single week in Africa, but is also an accomplished mountain climber and guide. And to top it off, plays a mean jazz harmonica.

Tabin has been named an "unsung hero" by the Dalai Lama for his international work and dedication to eradicate unnecessary world blindness and sustain ophthalmic health care in the developing world. Being the fourth person to climb the Seven Summits, he has pioneered difficult technical rock, ice, and mountaineering routes on all seven continents including the East Face of Mt. Everest.

His passion for mountain climbing directed him to his professional career in eye care. After summiting Mt. Everest on one of his expeditions, he came across a Dutch team performing cataract surgery on a woman who had been needlessly blind for three years. It was then he understood his life calling.

“As the world ages, blindness will increase unless we do something,” he told a seminar earlier this month in Vail, Colo. He explained that 39 million people are blind today, of which 90 percent live in developing countries.

“It’s an aspect of global public health that we can actually win. When we perform cataract surgery, the patient is cured for life.”

On July 1, 2017, Tabin will become the Fairweather Chair and a Professor of Ophthalmology and Global Medicine at Stanford University.

Recently, Tabin won an eTown eChievement award for his work with the Himalayan Cataract Project. eTown is one of the most successful and widely distributed radio shows in the U.S., carried on 300 stations every week and podcast worldwide.

Listeners from around the country send in nominations of remarkable individuals who are working hard to make a positive difference in their communities and beyond.

Tabin joined in on harmonica with David Bromberg and his band for a rendition of the song "Tongue." See it here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yb0TEVBlzPA

Learn more about Tabin’s work at www.cureblindness.org.

QUOTE OF THE MONTH

“The gladdest moment in human life, me thinks, is a departure into unknown lands.”

– Sir Richard Francis Burton (1821-1890), English explorer, geographer, translator, writer, soldier, orientalist, cartographer, ethnologist, spy, linguist, poet, fencer, and diplomat.

EXPEDITION FOCUS


Alan Arnette lies injured on Twin Sisters

Accident Gives New Meaning to “Rocky” Mountains

Best wishes for a speedy recovery to climber, Alzheimer’s Advocate and master adventure blogger Alan Arnette, 60, of Fort Collins, Colo., after he was swept off his feet by high winds on Feb. 10 on Twin Sisters (11,428-ft.) in Rocky Mountain National Park.

Arnette was on a tune-up climb for an attempt on Dhaulagiri in April. With him was fellow climber Jim Davidson. An experienced climber, Arnette was the 18th American to summit the notoriously deadly K2 and at age 58 in 2014, the oldest.

He blogs, “With no warning my next sensation was losing my footing and being pushed to my right. For a split second, I felt totally helpless. It was a hard push that I had no control over.”

Arnette continues, “… a rogue wind gust blew me off my feet, into the air, twisting my helpless body along the way before violently depositing me on the sharp rocks of a talus field.


It pains us just looking at this.

“I felt a pain in my lower right leg that transcended all my life’s injures including nine dislocated shoulders, torn ACL and meniscus knee injuries, sprains and strains.”

Arnette adds, “The intensity was breath taking, paralyzing. The pain was searing, debilitating. My mouth opened wide. I gasped for air while stretching my hands out to grab my leg. My eyes were shut tightly hoping that this was a horrible nightmare.

“I let out a primal scream that had no words, no translation other than I was hurt in a way I had never anticipated or had ever experienced.”

Later he would learn that the winds had been clocked in the area between 60 and 80 mph with gusts close to 100 mph that day.

The next ten hours became a case study in triage, rescue, communications and friendship.

By that evening, 40 rescuers had responded to help save his life.

“I sobbed uncontrollably in my cocoon as I heard those numbers knowing that these are volunteers who pay for their own gas, food and gear. They invest months to train for rescues like this with the only payback being the knowledge of helping someone in need.”

Earlier this month, he told EN,“I’m doing well. The leg is healing a bit faster than I expected but it will still be August until I can get out. My face is still numb from the impact with the rocks. I am still having some emotional challenges dealing with such an unexpected event on a ‘simple’ hike on a well known trail that I have done probably 100 times.

“But, and I am not trying to be brave or pollyannaish, I only see the good in the incident. It showed me the meaning of true friends, how even when you are totally prepared the unexpected can knock you off your feet, literally, and how fortunate I have been to climb so many peaks around the world and if such a serious incident were to occur, it would happen in my own backyard.

“I don’t think we did anything wring or foolish, it just happened, and I am fine with that,” Arnette tells us.

Read his chilling account here:

http://www.alanarnette.com/blog/2017/03/01/dont-want-be-in-rocks/

MEDIA MATTERS

Fly Me To the Moon

Billionaire Elon Musk's SpaceX – Space Exploration Technologies – said it plans to take tourists on a trip around the moon in as little as two years, after it starts ferrying NASA astronauts to the international space station.

In an announcement last month, Musk’s company said it already accepted “a significant deposit” from two unidentified “private citizens” and envisions sending them to circumnavigate the moon after SpaceX begins routinely ferrying NASA astronauts to the international space station. The manned government trips into orbit could start by late 2018, according to Wall Street Journal reporter Andy Pasztor (Feb. 28).

Health tests and initial training for the first passengers are set to begin later this year, adding that “other flight teams have also expressed strong interest and we expect more to follow.”

The plan entails an autonomous, roughly weeklong voyage that would speed hundreds of thousands of miles from home, hurtle past the Moon and then return on an automated trajectory and presumably, a parachute landing.
In a nod to the iconic Apollo program that sent U.S. astronauts to the surface of the moon more than four decades ago, SpaceX said plans call for private flights to blast off from the same launchpad where those missions started.

Read the story here:

https://www.wsj.com/articles/elon-musks-spacex-proposes-a-private-manned-mission-to-orbit-moon-1488238007

EXPEDITION FUNDING


Eric Larsen is schwagged out down to his underwear.

Being Sponsored is a Privilege for Eric Larsen

Eric Larsen, 45, has no full-time job. In reality, he has dozens of jobs. Polar adventurer, expedition guide, dog musher and educator, are just four that come to mind for this Boulder, Colo., resident who has spent the past 15 years of his life traveling to some of the most remote and wild places left on earth.

In 2006, Eric and Lonnie Dupre completed the first ever summer expedition to the North Pole. During this journey, the duo pulled and paddled specially modified canoes across 550 miles of shifting sea ice and open ocean.

Eric successfully led his first expedition to the South Pole in 2008, covering nearly 600 miles in 41 days.

Eric is now one of only a few Americans to have skied to both the North and South Poles. In fact, when he reached the summit of Mt. Everest on October 15, 2010, he became the first person in history to reach the North Pole, South Pole and Everest – the world's three “poles” within a 365-day period.

More recently, in 2014, he and Ryan Waters skied, snowshoed and swam from Canadian soil to the North Pole, possibly the last expedition of its kind due to disappearing sea ice.

Eric has dedicated his adult life to sharing his love for the outdoor world with others. Eric travels extensively giving motivational and educational lectures to schools, universities, nonprofit organizations and corporate groups. Often this takes sponsorship and lots of it.

We caught up with Larsen in February just before he and Tim Harincar of webExpeditions left on a short scouting mission for a future expedition near Gurvansaikhan National Park, an area roughly 300 miles south of Ulan Bator, Mongolia's capital city.

He was a walking advertisement for his sponsors, dressed in HellyHansen shoes, an ExOfficio shirt, with a Garmin on his wrist and a Zeal Optics sunglass on his head. He was also wearing ExOfficio underwear, but we took his word for it.

“I tell fellow explorers and adventurers that being sponsored is a privilege. For me it’s a 24/7 commitment.

“When I started exploring, before social media, we just went exploring and adventuring. Our only sponsor was the fact that we had jobs. We could last all day on a bowl of rice,” he tells EN.

“I advise young explorers to ‘forget about sponsorship.’ Just go on some adventures for five years, get good at it, establish your own unique perspective, then plan a trip that no one has done before. Then and only then should they solicit sponsorship. They should build their adventure c.v. first.”

He adds, “The world today is smaller than it was. It’s more connected. Explorers need to push against boundaries in unique ways, telling their stories with drones, 360-degree video, texting from the field with a Garmin inReach, all the latest technology.

Larsen is the father of a 4-1/2-year old boy and two-year-old girl. Of his long absences from home, he blogged, “When I'm gone, Maria (his partner) is a single mom. She runs her own PR and marketing business so having a full time job, shuttling kids to ski lessons and swing sets is no cakewalk. I miss her and my two young kids so much at times that it hurts deep and unrelenting.

“But I love expeditions too and these types of adventures are integral to who I am as a person. Part of these trips are simply a form of self-expression. After that, I don't have the answers to my seesaw dilemma. There is no real balance actually.”

See Larsen’s most recent book, On Thin Ice: An Epic Final Quest into the Melting Arctic (Falcon Guides, 2016) here:

https://www.amazon.com/Thin-Ice-Final-Melting-Arctic/dp/1493022962

DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS

IMAX Camera Stayed Behind

In February, some editions of EN erroneously stated that filmmaker Michael Brown summited Everest with a heavy IMAX camera. That is incorrect. He carried an IMAX only to Camp II (21,500 ft). “For that shoot I took a 35 lbs. High Def camera to the summit,” he tells EN.

ON THE HORIZON


The tall ship Stad Amsterdam at Fernando de Noronha, recreating the voyage of HMS Beagle.

Sailing Stories Returns to The Explorers Club, April 23, 2017

On April 23, 2017, the Explorers Club will host its annual Sailing Stories, a day focused on sailing-based exploration and conservation at its global headquarters in New York.

Speakers include:

• Wendy and George David, oceanic racers will discuss survival at sea as they experienced when their 100-foot boat overturned in the Irish Sea.

• Sharon Green, one of sailing’s leading photographers, will share her images and efforts to capture some of the ocean world’s most epic images.

• Joe Harris, a blue-water sailor, completed a 152-day solo, unassisted sailing circumnavigation of the world by way of the three Great Capes, including the famed Cape Horn, joining a select group of only 140 sailors that achieved this goal.

• Peter Nichols, best-selling author and sailor shares his sailing adventures across the Atlantic and around Cape Horn with the descendants of Charles Darwin and Captain Robert FitzRoy of HMS Beagle.

• Matt Rutherford, describes his non-stop, single-handed voyage around North and South America that earned him two Guinness World Records.

Reservations at www.explorers.org, reservations@explorers.org, reception@explorers.org, 212 628 8383.

EXPEDITION UPDATE

Did You Know Alex Lowe?

Max Lowe, the son of the late mountaineer Alex Lowe, is seeking personal and archival information about his late father who was widely regarded as one of the best climbers of his generation. Max, 28, a filmmaker from Bozeman, Mont., was in Boulder this month for fundraising and pre-production of a film titled Torn that will tell his family's story.

In October 1999, the climbing world was saddened by news that Alex, at the age of 40, died in a 6,000-ft. avalanche on Shishapangma (26,289-ft.) in the Tibetan Himalaya.

Alex was attempting to ski the mountain as part of the 1999 American Shishapangma Ski Expedition. He was killed along with high-altitude cameraman David Bridges, 29, from Aspen, Colo. (See EN, November 1999). Lowe left behind three sons: Max, the eldest, Sam and Isaac.

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If you knew Alex, contact Max Lowe.

Teammate Conrad Anker was injured in the slide. Anker, a professional athlete employed by The North Face, married Alex's wife, Jennifer Lowe, in 2001 and adopted the boys.

Lowe-Anker is author of the memoir Forget Me Not (Mountaineers Books, 2009), which received the National Outdoor Book Award for literature in 2008. She is also president of the Alex Lowe Charitable Foundation best known for launching the Khumbu Climbing School in Nepal.

In April 2016, 16-1/2 years after the tragedy, the bodies of Lowe and Bridges were found by Swiss and German alpinists Ueli Steck, 39, and David Goettler, 37 (See EN, May 2016). Max explained to EN this month that both bodies were cremated on the mountain in the Buddhist tradition.

Max, a graduate of Westminster College who has recently returned from a film project in Iraq with the Sierra Club's Stacy Bare, is now focusing on telling the story of Alex and the impact he had on his family.

"I want to tell the untold story of Alex as a person, not a legend," Max says.

Target release date is Spring 2018. Funding is sought in the high five figures.

For more information: www.maxlowemedia.com

Loncke Wins European Adventurer of the Year Award

Belgian Louis-Philippe Loncke, 40, won the European Adventurer of the Year award for completing his three extreme desert treks in less than one year:

* November 2015 - Death Valley National Park (California), 250 km in 8 days

* August 2016 - Simpson Desert (Australia) 300 km in 12 days

* October 2016 - Bolivian Salars (Bolivia) 250km in 7 days

The award, judged by an international jury of outdoor magazine editors and adventurers, was presented to Loncke last February at the ISPO trade show in Munich for achieving something unique in the world of adventure and expeditions by pushing the limits.

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Belgian Louis-Philippe Loncke crossed Death Valley solo and unsupported without waffling.

For all crossings, Loncke only used a backpack containing water, food and equipment. He was completely solo and unsupported: no support vehicles following along and no food resupply. He navigated off-track not following any roads. (See EN, December 2015).

In 2018, Loncke plans a historic solo crossing of Chile's 600-mile Atacama Desert.

Watch the award ceremony at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mmedQ-irUM

Learn more about the award here:

http://www.adventureroftheyear.com/previous-winners.html

Loncke's website is www.Louis-Philippe-Loncke.com

Extreme Ice Survey Marks 10th Anniversary

Extreme Ice Survey (EIS), a long-term photography program that provides a visual "voice" to the planet's changing ecosystems marked its 10th anniversary last month. EIS installed its first time-lapse camera at Iceland's Solheim Glacier in 2007. (See EN, April 2016).

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"Over the past decade, we've witnessed the world change. Glaciers have disappeared. Lakes have formed. And our cameras caught it all," according to a recent announcement.

Today, the Extreme Ice Survey project includes 43 cameras at 24 sites around the globe - from Greenland to Antarctica. Its pictorial archive serves as a visual legacy and provides a baseline - useful in years, decades and even centuries to come - for revealing how climate change and other human activity is dramatically impacting the planet.

Recently an Extreme Ice exhibit opened at Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry.

According to founder James Balog, "Arctic and Antarctic glaciers are changing every day of every year. As we move into the next decade, we will continue to capture their story. But we also aspire to place more cameras in more places – most notably glaciers in South America which are rapidly disappearing."

The organization is also at work on a new feature-length documentary film examining the Anthropocene (the current geological age), which will debut in early 2018.

Watch horrifying footage taken from April 2007 to June 2016 that shows how the Sólheimajökull Glacier in Iceland is retreating due to a combination of stream erosion and ice melt. The cracks ("crevasses") seen forming parallel to the flow indicate that the glacier is also spreading out (thinning) as it flows forward.

https://vimeo.com/6039933

Learn more at: http://extremeicesurvey.org

EXPEDITION NOTES

Cold Places: Explorers Club Weekend 2017

Once again, as it has for 113 years, the world's largest gathering of explorers convened in New York on Mar. 23 to 26 for an annual dinner, annual meeting, seminars, VIP tours and general all-around bonhomie. During the annual meeting it was announced that Club membership stands at 3,356, the largest age group being 61 to 70, of which 78% percent are male, 22% female.

One positive note was that the younger age groups are growing about 15 percent. New is a private invitation-only Facebook group of 40 younger members called NGEN, the Next Generation Explorers Network.

The theme for ECAD 2018, "Next Generation of Explorers," reflects the understanding that the future of the Club, in fact the future of exploration itself, will be the responsibility of the young explorers of today.

The dates and venue for ECAD 2018 have not yet been announced.

Some highlights of the weekend:

* Cold Places - Ellis Island generally received high marks for the location, despite problems with acoustics. Some enjoyed the scenic schlep by ferry from Battery Park, while others wished they could return to the Waldorf Astoria, which was closed for renovations.

Still, the sold-out event was the most successful annual dinner ever, with gross revenues of around $400,000, according to an annual meeting presentation by Club president Ted Janulis.

Actor, producer and director Robert De Niro made a powerful speech criticizing President Donald Trump's climate policies.

Wade Davis was Master of Ceremonies, and legendary British Explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes was a featured speaker, who also echoed De Niro's strongly expressed sentiments, all of whom were roundly applauded by the more than 1,200 Explorers Club members and guests in attendance in Ellis Island's Great Hall.

The Club's highest award, the Explorers Club Medal, was bestowed upon Dr. Bertrand Piccard and Andre Borschberg, pilots of the Solar Impulse aircraft which set the first around-the-world solar flight.

The Explorers Club Medal was also awarded to Nainoa Thompson, president of the Polynesian Voyaging Society and a master in the traditional Polynesian art of non-instrument navigation.

Scenes of the dinner are included in the President's Video Report at:

https://vimeo.com/210667797

* "An explorer walks into a bar" - That sounds like the start of a joke, but Club HQ has gotten serious about its expanded Explorers Corner bar for members and guests, now open most nights of the week. Featured are specialty drinks with exploration themes, libations that sound like someone went into a liquor store and decided to put everything they could find into one drink.

There's the Heyerdahl Highball made with a garnish of actual Kon-Tiki rope fiber, the Shackleton, Not Stirred, the Hot Teddy ("Speak softly, and carry a big cinnamon stick!"), Explorers Club Jungle Juice, a Cosmonautopolitan, and the Suffering Bastard.

Good thing no one actually drives in New York.

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"Everyone who comes here has a story," says bartender Sixto Acosta, who spoke to
EN while a clip of Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom played in the background.

Many of the drinks contain Explorers' Club Johnnie Walker Whiskey, created through a licensing deal with Diageo's John Walker & Sons. (It comes with a plural possessive apostrophe at no extra charge.)

* "May we have the envelope please? - When you're the repository of almost 125 years of exploration history, you can never have too many artifacts. The Club was honored to receive from Explorers Award recipient Bertrand Piccard a piece of the Breitling 3 Orbiter balloon envelope that was part of the world's first nonstop balloon circumnavigation (1999).

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Bertrand Piccard (left) presents to Club president Ted Janulis.

* Secret Sons - It is an emotional story indeed. There were a few teary-eyed members in the audience as Dr. S. Allen Counter, retold the story of his 1986 mission to successfully reunite the then 82-year-old sons, one part white, the other part black, of Robert E. Peary and Matthew A. Henson. Both, born to Greenlandic Inuit women in 1906, were left behind when the explorers returned south. While the two men worked together to reach the top of the earth as equals, Peary would go on to be honored, while Henson, due to his race, was virtually shunned.

In 1988, Counter was instrumental in relocating Henson's simple grave at Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx to a place of honor next to Peary's gravesite at Arlington National Cemetery. He is author of a new children's book, North Pole Promise: Black, White, and Inuit Friends (Bauhan Publishing, June 2017).

Watch the trailer to the film North Pole Promise, narrated by James Earl Jones:

https://vimeo.com/79914298

* A Whale of a Story - One of the favorite stops along a pre-ECAD media tour of Club headquarters was the iconic whale penis in the Trophy Room. Ashley P. Taylor of LiveScience.com was sufficiently struck by the enormous cetacean phallus to do some digging into its background, as she explains in an April 17 post on CBSNews.com.

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Standing tall

Apparently, the massive member dates back to 1977, when the Club received it from Mr. and Mrs. Frederick S. Schauffler who sent their regrets in a note ... along with a sperm whale foreskin, stuffed and mounted on an oak base.

Frederick Schauffler was an Explorers Club member and U.S. naval captain.

According to the foreskin's record, it came from the collection of an individual named Edward Sanderson who was born in Ohio in 1874, but lived his final years on the Massachusetts island of Nantucket, where his taxidermied sperm whale penis was donated to the Nantucket Historical Association, which runs the Nantucket Whaling Museum.

How Sanderson came to befriend the father of Frederick Schauffler, and how the relic continues to stand tall in the Trophy Room makes for some fascinating reading.

Read the story here:

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/whale-penis-explorers-club/

Ernest Shackleton Loves Me

During EN's last visit to New York, we were otherwise occupied with Explorers Club happenings. But we're a sucker for exploration-themed Broadway shows and are resolved during our next trip to Gotham to see the new off-Broadway musical Ernest Shackleton Loves Me which runs through June 11 at the Tony Kiser Theatre.

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We love a good exploration musical.

The show is an epic musical adventure that tells the story of a sleep-deprived single mom who struggles to work as a video game music composer. Unexpectedly, she is contacted across time by the famous polar explorer, Ernest Shackleton.

Inspired by her music, he shares his epic Antarctic journey with her in video and song. Against all odds, they discover that their greatest inspiration lies within each other. It is directed by Obie Award winner Lisa Peterson and written by Tony Award winner Joe DiPietro (Memphis).

Watch a live performance of one appropriately named song called, "This Sucks," wherein electric violinist/singer/songwriter Valerie Vigoda names many of our favorite explorers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tETx284RYFk

For more information: http://ernestshackletonlovesme.com

FEATS

Making Waves

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Álvaro de Marichalar

Making the rounds of the speaker's circuit is Spanish solo explorer Álvaro de Marichalar, 54, who since 1982, has singlehandedly captained 40 expeditions aboard a customized 11-ft. personal watercraft, setting 11 world records along the way.

His most recent feat of solitary maritime exploration: a 7,500 nautical mile journey through 28 Caribbean countries. His Solo Caribbean Tour recreated, albeit on a so-called JetSki, the historic journeys of Spanish explorers Juan Ponce de Leon, who was the first European to arrive in Florida in 1513, and of Vasco Núñez de Balboa, who led the first European expedition to the Pacific Ocean.

His talks are complete with tales of encounters with sea life such as dolphins, sea turtles and sharks; observations of pollution and other signs of humans' negative impact on the oceans; and raising funding and sponsorship for the expeditions.

Álvaro, based in Madrid, uses his projects to benefit various non-governmental organizations such as the Red Cross and Tierra de Hombres.

He currently plans a 2019 World Circumnavigation on his tiny craft.

See his 2-1/2-min. sizzle reel:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQrki45Jn0s,

For more information: atlantik2002@hotmail.com

QUOTE OF THE MONTH

"One must conquer, achieve, get to the top; one must know the end to be convinced that one can win the end-to know there's no dream that mustn't be dared. . . . Is this the summit, crowning the day? How cool and quiet! We're not exultant; but delighted, joyful; soberly astonished. . . . Have we vanquished an enemy? None but ourselves. Have we gained success? That word means nothing here. Have we won a kingdom? No . . . and yes. We have achieved an ultimate satisfaction . . . fulfilled a destiny."

- George H.L. Mallory (1886-1924) Source: QuoteInvestigator.com and the September 1918 issue of a London periodical called The Alpine Journal: A Record of Mountain Adventure and Scientific Observation by Members of the Alpine Club.

MEDIA MATTERS

Let's Make Great Americans - Always

American athlete, adventurer, author, activist and motivational speaker, Erik Weihenmayer, writes in a Denver Post op-ed piece (Apr. 3), "Donald Trump says, 'Let's make America great again,' but greatness is all around us. Instead the slogan should be, 'Let's make great Americans - always.'"

Weihenmayer continues, "Over the last thirteen years, I've met thousands of people who live the spirit of No Barriers, a battle cry for grit, innovation, and a dogged pursuit of purpose. Our challenges are as real as dragging and bleeding our way towards a distant summit, as real as overcoming the death of a child. But despite the formidable obstacles in our way, what's within us can transcend all barriers. It's the trail map Americans have always used to navigate towards growth and renewal."

Read the op-ed here:

http://www.denverpost.com/2017/04/03/lets-make-great-americans-always/

During a recent book talk in Boulder to promote No Barriers: A Blind Man's Journey to Kayak the Grand Canyon (Thomas Dunn Books, 2017), he told an SRO crowd of 80, "I don't want to become the blind Evil Knievel ... I didn't kayak to prove blind people can kayak the Grand Canyon. I did it to experience life."

Later he said, "I didn't conquer fear in the Grand Canyon, but I did come to terms with it."

Weihenmayer is experimenting with new technology called BrainPort V100 Vision Aid that allows him to "see" shapes through a sensor placed on his tongue.

Sherpa Stew

The Sherpa of Nepal's high Himalaya are the men and women westerner's seek out for their endurance and ability to survive at oxygen-deprived altitudes. However, in New York City, home to an estimated 4,000 Sherpa, they're driving cabs, selling imports at street market stalls and chopping vegetables in the kitchens of Asian restaurants.

Sherpa Stew, a 2016 documentary by Andy Cockrum, follows mountaineers Nima Dawa Sherpa (2-time Everest summitteer) and Kipa Sherpa (three-time) from the top of Mount Everest to Queens, New York, as they strive to start a new life.

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With nuance, humor and insightful direction, filmmaker Andy Cockrum of Danger Dog Films offers a fresh perspective on the immigrant's journey, and one that will change perceptions about the people you pass on the street.

See the trailer here: https://vimeo.com/185497815

For details about upcoming screenings see: www.dangerdogfilms.com

How Does A Nepalese Porter Carry So Much Weight?

Trekking season begins this month in the Himalayas, and visitors are sure to experience a common - if jaw-dropping - sight: local porters carrying towering loads on their backs, often supported by a strap over their foreheads, writes Emily Sohn on NPR's "Goats and Soda" site.

Their packs are sometimes heavier than their bodies, says Norman Heglund, a muscle physiologist of Belgium's University de Louvain. Think: a 150-plus pound pack on a 125-pound man.

When he and colleagues measured the movements of Nepalese porters, they reported in a recent study, they didn't find anything particularly special about how they walk.

They simply go. And they keep going.

"They haven't got any trick," Heglund says. "And what they do is pretty amazing."

Compared to the muscles of European graduate students, the study found, the porters' muscles were slightly more efficient at turning oxygen into work. But there was nothing unusual about their gait or energy use.

That finding emphasizes just how remarkable the human body is, says David Carrier, a comparative biomechanist at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, who was not involved with the study, Sohn reports.

A variety of organizations currently advocate for porter health, with some progress to report: guidelines now recommend a 66-pound limit for porters who work for the tourism industry, Heglund says. Still lacking are regulations for porters who do commercial work.

Read the complete story here:

http://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2017/03/12/517923490/how-does-a-nepalese-sherpa-carry-so-much-weight

EXPEDITION FUNDING

Columbus Sailed. He Delivered. - A Classic Take on the Value of Expedition Sponsorship

Filmmaker and sports promoter Michael Aisner, a Renaissance man from Boulder whose cluttered home includes pet tarantulas, a 1960s-era studio TV camera, and an antique dental chair, once addressed the International Events Group sponsorship conference in Chicago with an elegant take on the impact of expedition sponsorship.

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Michael Aisner

While revisionists 500 years later charge that Italian explorer Christopher Columbus was simply a fortune hunter who left a legacy of exploitation and genocide, and there are some Icelanders - descendents of Leif Erikson - who believe he was a latecomer to the adventure game, one thing Chris knew how to do was ask for money.

During Aisner's one minute talk almost 30 years ago, he explained how expedition sponsorship is nothing new. After all, Columbus pitched Queen Isabella and delivered great value to his sponsor after his discovery of the New World. The Italian explorer also had a great publicist who bestowed upon him enormous publicity and naming rights - e.g. Columbus (Ohio), Columbus Circle, and even a country and space shuttle were named after him.

Take 60-seconds to view his presentation here:

https://youtu.be/FyPfcdfwxR0

EXPEDITION CLASSIFIEDS

Get Sponsored!– Hundreds of explorers and adventurers raise money each month to travel on world class expeditions to Mt. Everest, Nepal, Antarctica and elsewhere. Now the techniques they use to pay for their journeys are available to anyone who has a dream adventure project in mind, according to the book from Skyhorse Publishing called: "Get Sponsored: A Funding Guide for Explorers, Adventurers and Would Be World Travelers."

Author Jeff Blumenfeld, an adventure marketing specialist who has represented 3M, Coleman, Du Pont, Lands' End and Orvis, among others, shares techniques for securing sponsors for expeditions and adventures.

Buy it here: http://www.amazon.com/Get-Sponsored-Explorers-Adventurers-Travelers-ebook/dp/B00H12FLH2


Advertise in Expedition News– For more information: blumassoc@aol.com.

PROJECT PoSSUM TRAINS CITIZEN-SCIENTISTS TO
STUDY UPPER ATMOSPHERIC CLOUDS

This June, a group of citizen-scientists will fly in a small research aircraft out of Northern Alberta to chase upper-atmospheric clouds. They will use camera systems that will then be flown in a high-altitude balloon around Antarctica in December. These rare "space clouds" called noctilucent clouds are believed to be sensitive indicators of global climate change and also a good proxy of low-density atmospheres on planets like Mars.


PoSSUM students are on cloud nine.

The flights are part of PoSSUM, a non-profit based in Colorado and an acronym for Polar Suborbital Science in the Upper Mesosphere. It uses research aircraft, high-altitude balloons, and commercial suborbital spacecraft to study elusive clouds that can help scientists address critical questions about Earth's climate. However, they can only be studied in the upper atmosphere from polar latitudes during a small window of time in the summer.

PoSSUM grew from a NASA-supported award granted in 2012 to use commercial suborbital spacecraft to enable a deeper understanding of the upper atmosphere - the most sensitive part of the planet. To date, PoSSUM has trained students from 24 countries and all six continents at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Daytona Beach, Fla.

In December 2017, the PoSSUM team will launch a high-altitude balloon to fly around the Antarctic polar vortex to study fine structures of noctilucent cloud that cannot be viewed from the ground or from space. These structures will tell researchers about the complicated dynamics that occur where the earth's environment interacts with the solar environment. Once commercial suborbital spacecraft become operational, PoSSUM scientist-astronauts will fly through these clouds with special instruments to model the clouds in 3D.

"PoSSUM brings together some of NASA's most respected astronauts, cosmonauts, famous artists and science communicators, top-notch astronaut instructors, and the best aeronomers (who study the upper atmosphere) in the world," said Jason D. Reimuller, Ph.D., executive director, Project POSSUM, Inc., Boulder, Colo.

Parallel to PoSSUM's upper-atmospheric research, PoSSUM conducts bioastronautics research on spacesuits and human performance integral to the POSSUM mission. This October, Reimuller and his team will continue its spacesuit research work to conduct the first visor-down zero-G commercial spacesuit tests in Ottawa, as well as test the ability of the suits to perform a variety of post-landing contingency operations.

In April 2018, they will be testing the sea survivability of IVA spacesuits in varying sea conditions as a prerequisite to flying a spacesuit manned to 90,000 feet. EVA spacesuit testing will then start in Summer 2018.

The citizen-science aspect and internationalism are core to the PoSSUM mission.
"Climate change is a global issue, and we are building a global response. The challenges we face require a new generation of scientists and engineers, and PoSSUM recognizes the unique ability of astronautics to inspire this next generation of scientists, engineers, and science communicators," Reimuller says.

Reimuller is seeking sponsors to support broader research and education outreach missions including the PoSSUM Space Academy Program at the Space Foundation in Colorado Springs, Colo. The program is designed to teach high school and undergraduate students about the upper-atmosphere and inspire them to pursue STEM careers.

For more information: Jason.Reimuller@projectpossum.org, www.projectpossum.org

QUOTE OF THE MONTH

"At that great moment for which I had waited all my life my mountain did not seem to me a lifeless thing of rock and ice, but warm and friendly and living. I like to think that our victory was not only for ourselves - not only for our own nations - but for all men everywhere."

- Tenzing Norgay (1914-1986) recalling his summit of Everest with Sir Edmund Hillary (May 29, 1953) in an excerpt from his autobiography Tiger of the Snows (Putnam, 1955) co-written with James Ramsey Ullman.

MEDIA MATTERS

Students on Ice Northwest Passage Expedition
Celebrates Canada's 150th Anniversary

Geoff Green, founder of Students on Ice (SOI), departs June 1 for a voyage along Canada's coastline ­­­­- one of the signature projects of Canada's 150th anniversary celebrations.

Dubbed Canada C3, the expedition will begin June 1 in Toronto and finish 150 days later in Victoria via the Northwest Passage, touching along each of Canada's three coastlines.


Geoff Green, second from right, will begin a Students on Ice Expedition through the Northwest Passage starting early next month.

"We have the biggest coastline of any country in the world," Green tells TheStar.com (Mar. 22).

"We have three coasts, three oceans. We're an ocean nation really and we're a polar nation - the biggest part of our coastline is the arctic - and it just seemed like a no-brainer."

The project is an initiative of the Students on Ice Foundation. Upwards of 300 Canadians will set sail along the way aboard a 220-foot-long former Coast Guard icebreaker.

Divided into 15 legs of 10 days each, a different selection of about 25 people at a time will take part in the trip.

"There's this cross-section of Canadians on board: scientists, musicians, artists, youth and they're on board to be the ambassadors, the voices, the eyes, the ears of the country," Green tells reporter Sammy Hudes.

"They're not on board as tourists. They're there to play a role, to share the journey with all the millions of Canadians following the journey digitally."

Since 2000, SOI has led educational expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic involving more than 2,500 alumni from 52 countries making positive and lasting impacts in communities around the world.

"Virtual crew members" can sign up online to receive daily video content.

Read the full story here:

https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2017/03/22/voyage-around-canadas-3-coastlines-to-celebrate-sesquicentennial.html

For more information about Canada C3 view:

https://canadac3.ca/en/homepage/

Not Just Another Dirtbag

Dirtbag, The Legend of Fred Beckey, is a new documentary making the rounds of the film festivals, starting with a world premiere at Mountainfilm in Telluride, Memorial Day Weekend (May 26-29).


The film tells the story of Fred Beckey, 94, a true American pioneer, with an unparalleled list of alpine accomplishments under his belt over the past century. His monumental first ascents broke new ground thought previously impassible, and his essential guidebooks provide a blueprint for generations of new climbers and explorers.

Known for an uncompromising dedication to the mountains with his record string of first ascents and groundbreaking new routes, Beckey has achieved mythical status in mountaineering circles. He carries a polarizing reputation as a hero and a rebel, his name evoking simultaneous worship and vitriol.

Despite his controversial nature, Beckey's scholarly writings reveal a greater depth to this man, captured in more than a dozen published books that continue to inspire new generations of climbers and environmentalists.

Dirtbag was created by Colorado-based documentary director Dave O'Leske and co-producer Jeff Wenger who partnered with a crew of award-winning Seattle filmmakers.

Presented by Patagonia, it has a running time of 96 minutes.

Watch the new theatrical trailer on the Dirtbag YouTube Channel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05RiYBruHpU

Learn more at www.dirtbagmovie.com

The Gray Lady Devotes Almost Four Pages to K2 Winter Attempt

The New York Times confirmed this month that yes, there are some sports that don't necessary need a ball, or a stadium of rabid fans, to be legitimate. In an extraordinary amount of the editorial coverage, The Gray Lady itself, the national newspaper of record, devoted an astounding 3-3/4 pages of May 14 SportsSunday coverage to a group of Polish climbers planning a winter attempt of K2, which it calls, "the world's most dangerous mountain."

Reports Michael Powell, of the 14 peaks over 8000 m, 13 have been summitted in winter, with the exception of K2 - at 28,251-ft. high it sits in the Karakoram range on the border of Pakistan and China. Ten Polish climbers hope to make history by reaching the summit next winter.


K2 has never been submitted in winter.

Krzysztof Wielicki, 67, one of the most accomplished Himalayan climbers alive, will lead the K2 Expedition. Powell writes, "The Polish mountaineers will arrive in late December (2017) and will wait days and weeks and months in hopes that incessant winds will not rend their tents."

Says Adam Bielecki, 34, a candidate to join the K2 winter team, "Climbing is about pleasure and pain ­- in winter that balance is lost. There's no pleasure to be found in Karakoram in winter. You are uncomfortable every minute of every day.

"But the great emotion of making history, of making an accomplishment no one else did, that is immense, almost spiritual," Bielecki tells the New York Times.

Read the story here:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/09/sports/polish-climbers-to-scale-deadly-k2-peak-in-winter.html?_r=0

EXPEDITION FUNDING

Explorers Club and Rolex Announce New $50,000 Explorer Grants

The Rolex Explorer Grants will send extraordinary young explorers into the field and promote the significant role that exploration plays in addressing cutting-edge scientific questions, understanding our environment and the world we live in, and learning more about our history. In 2017 up to five $10,000 grants will be awarded to young explorers age 35 or younger.


Open to all field science disciplines, proposals must contain a field science exploration component and address a novel scientific, environmental, or historic question. In addition to demonstrating a spirit of exploration, candidates must put forward a project or research proposal that has a clear scientific rationale, represents original work, and has the potential for significant impact or new understanding. Fieldwork must be completed by February 28, 2018.

Awardees will be acknowledged at The Explorers Club Annual Dinner in March 2018, and will receive membership in The Explorers Club for the duration of their award.

Deadline: June 5, 2017. To apply Register at:

http://grants.explorers.org

EXPEDITION MARKETING

SPOT On

SPOT, the emergency notification device in the little orange block you see on expeditions and various adventures, announced last month that its products have surpassed a milestone of initiating 5,000 rescues around the world since its launch in 2007. These rescues have taken place on six continents and in over 89 countries. For those of us who travel around the boundaries of cell service, this gizmo can be a lifesaver.

SPOT sends emergency responders to your GPS location with the push of a button. Past rescues include a lone worker who pressed his S.O.S. after suffering from a seizure while on a logging job site; a man who was transported to a hospital via helicopter after a skiing accident in Switzerland; and a woman who was in a snowmobile accident in Canada and was airlifted after suffering severe injuries.


SPOT to the Rescue - When Garrett Atkinson and a friend were hiking the Four Pass Loop near Aspen two years ago, on the second night, Atkinson spent the entire evening coughing up blood and fighting for every breath. The next day he tried with all his might to walk out but continued to fall after several attempts. He activated his SPOT and within two hours, a helicopter landed and transported Atkinson to the Aspen Hospital where they found he had developed high-altitude sickness and pulmonary edema.

Says Jay Monroe, chief executive officer of SPOT's parent Globalstar, "This 5,000 rescue milestone is a result of the hard work put in by the entire team at Globalstar, our partners at GEOS and the search and rescue community."

For more information:

www.FindMeSPOT.com

WEB WATCH

Film Provides Glimpse of the "Mr. T" of the Sea



Gaelin Rosenwaks and a freshly-caught GT

Fishing for Science: Giant Trevally, a new film by marine scientist and angler Gaelin Rosenwaks, follows the highs and lows of an expedition of marine scientists as they travel to Seychelles, a small group of islands in the Indian Ocean, to study the Giant Trevally (GT), the "Mr. T" of the sea - a fish revered by many cultures and prized by sport fishermen around the globe.

Little is known about the interconnectivity of populations of this important species, which can be found throughout coastal waters of the Pacific and Indian Oceans.

Rosenwaks joins fellow scientist, Jessica Glass, to catch and sample GTs in the waters surrounding the inner Granitic Islands, where fish and samples are scarce. Glass, from Yale University, is working to understand the GT's connectivity through genetic analyses of fish sampled throughout their range.

Watch the 17-min. film at:

https://youtu.be/6bDaNXJtgFc

To learn more about Rosenwaks' work, visit:

www.fishing.globaloceanexploration.com

Capturing Everest in VR

Sports Illustrated is sharing online virtual reality footage of a 2016 Everest Expedition whose team members included Brent Bishop, 50, the son of Barry Bishop, a member of the first American team to summit Everest, in 1963; Lisa Thompson, 44, former director at a medical-device company who decided to take on Everest after beating breast cancer; and Jeff Glasbrenner, 44, who lost his right leg below the knee in a childhood farming mishap.

Last spring was the first climbing season on Everest after two years of cancellations due to bad weather and safety concerns. The group summitted on May 18, 2016 and the climbers recorded their seven-week climb in 360-degree video. The result is the documentary series Capturing Everest, a co-production of SI and Endemol Shine Beyond USA ­-reportedly the first bottom-to-top climb of Everest in virtual reality.

View it at: www.si.com/capturing-everest

BUZZ WORDS

OECD - Obsessive Expedition Climbing Disorder

"When you have these intense experiences it really makes you want to get back there." Source: National Geographic Explorer and Adventure Scientist Mike Libecki. Interviewed by Victoria Ortiz in AdventureScience.org.

LPSI - Logos Per Square Inch

The propensity of sponsored explorers and adventurers to provide value to their benefactors by maximizing every square inch of their parkas, tents, sleeping bags, support vehicles, canoes, kayaks t-shirts, headbands, hats, pants and whatever else they carry in colorful sponsor logos.

Source: Photographer Ace Kvale of Boulder, Utah, who tells us he and professional extreme skier Scot Schmidt once counted a total of 26 North Face logos on his expedition kit.

Speaking of Kvale, take nine minutes to watch 2016's Ace and the Desert Dog, a Vasque-sponsored feature about Kvale's 400-mile, 60-day backpacking trip in Utah's Canyon Country with his blue heeler, Genghis Khan. He assures us, "No dogs were harmed in the making of this dogumentary."

You won't see a Vasque logo except at the beginning and end.

Watch it here:

https://vimeo.com/163509935

Via Ferrata


Hold on. (Photo courtesy Jackson Hole Mountain Resort)

New climbing routes coming to the U.S. - Via Ferrata means "iron way" in Italian, and dates back to WWI, when troops fixed cables and ladders to the rock faces of the Dolomites in order to move soldiers and equipment. Today, people climb via ferratas for sport. Using the via ferrata method, climbers secure themselves to a cable, limiting risks of falling, allowing novice climbers ascend exposed rock. This summer, at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort in Wyoming, beginners will pay $109 for a 2-1/2-hr. guided tour.

Source: Mountain Magazine, Summer 2016

DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS

Nainoa Thompson Was Third Recipient of 2017 The Explorers Club Medal

We regret that some editions of the April Expedition News failed to mention that Nainoa Thompson was a third recipient of the 2017 Explorers Club Medal, along with Andre Borschberg and Bertrand Piccard. Thompson is the president of the Polynesian Voyaging Society and a master in the traditional Polynesian art of non-instrument navigation. He is also currently featured in Patagonia retail stores as the first native Hawaiian since the 14th century to navigate without modern instruments from Hawaii to Tahiti.

IN PASSING

Climbing World Mourns Passing of Ueli Steck, the "Swiss Machine"


Ueli Steck

Tributes from around the climbing world attest to the impact that the late Ueli Steck, 40, had on the sport. He was widely regarded as one of the most celebrated climbers of his generation.

Mingma Sherpa of Seven Summit Treks told the Associated Press that Steck died April 30 at Camp 1 of Mount Nuptse. He reportedly fell 3,280 feet down the mountain, which he had climbed to acclimatize before tackling Everest and Lhotse in May. Steck was alone because his trekking partner, Tenji Sherpa, had stayed behind at Everest Base Camp with a frostbitten hand.

At press time, the cause of the accident was still unknown.

His body was recovered by the Italian helicopter pilot Maurizio Folini at a height of about 6600 m (21,654 feet) and transferred to the hospital of Kathmandu.

Steck's family held a funeral service in the monastery of Tengboche near Kathmandu on May 4. According to the Nepali tradition, Steck was cremated in a three-hour ceremony, with some ashes returned to Switzerland.

Tributes poured in almost immediately. Asks climber Tommy Caldwell, "Is alpine climbing a beautiful love affair, or a dangerous addiction? Maybe the problem is that it's both. We miss you Ueli Steck. You inspired a generation."

Norbu Tenzing Norgay, vice president of the American Himalayan Foundation (AHF), and son of Tenzing Norgay Sherpa, posted, "Ueli was one of the greatest climbers of our times. A consummate purist, he was a shining example to everyone who strives to test the limits of their abilities."

Climbing guide Michael Wejchert writes in a New York Times (May 1) op-ed that Steck, "was probably the best mountain climber in the world. In a sport where a willingness to take risks is as crucial as fitness, he combined an Olympian's physique and a calculated daring few could rival.

"As satellite phones, helicopter access and a lack of virgin terrain squeeze the unknown and unexpected out of mountaineering, alpinists have had to fight for relevancy. With new routes and unclimbed peaks becoming scarcer, many have transitioned into completing classic climbs as quickly as possible," Wejchert writes.

"Steck, who often ran up difficult routes in little more than tights and a headband, could easily have been mistaken for a distance runner or Nordic skier. But try as mountaineering might to masquerade as a traditional endurance sport, the risks remain, increasing as gear is stripped away to the bare minimum."

According to the Times piece, Steck climbed the Eiger's infamous North Face in 2 hours 22 minutes, sprinting up the 6,000-foot-high "Wall of Death" in the time it takes to run a fast marathon. In 2015, he climbed all 82 of the peaks in the Alps 4000 m (13,123 feet) or higher. It took him a mere 62 days, including the time spent biking and paragliding between mountains.

"Steck will be remembered as the climber who ushered mountaineering into its latest modern age. But his death is a reminder that those on the cutting edge are still subject to mountaineering's oldest companion: tragedy," writes Wejchert.

Read the Times op-ed here:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/01/opinion/ueli-steck-falling-off-the-edge.html?_r=0


Climbing legend Reinhold Messner tells Alexandra Kohler in the Swiss newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung, "In my day, ten hours was a fast ascent of the Eiger north face. Two hours and 23 minutes (Steck's current speed record for the climb) was absolutely unfathomable at the time. Steck always had bold aspirations and was constantly evolving, for which I admired him."

EXPEDITION CLASSIFIEDS

Get Sponsored!– Hundreds of explorers and adventurers raise money each month to travel on world class expeditions to Mt. Everest, Nepal, Antarctica and elsewhere. Now the techniques they use to pay for their journeys are available to anyone who has a dream adventure project in mind, according to the book from Skyhorse Publishing called: "Get Sponsored: A Funding Guide for Explorers, Adventurers and Would Be World Travelers."

Author Jeff Blumenfeld, an adventure marketing specialist who has represented 3M, Coleman, Du Pont, Lands' End and Orvis, among others, shares techniques for securing sponsors for expeditions and adventures.

Buy it here: http://www.amazon.com/Get-Sponsored-Explorers-Adventurers-Travelers-ebook/dp/B00H12FLH2

Advertise in Expedition News– For more information: blumassoc@aol.com.

EXPEDITION UPDATE

Apollo Engines Land at Seattle's Museum of Flight

Almost 50 years after they were fired up, rocket engines that sent NASA's Apollo crews on the first leg of their trips to the moon have reached their final destination at last, in the spotlight at the Museum of Flight's Apollo exhibit in Seattle. (See EN, August 2015).

During a press preview on May 18, the museum showed off the mangled components from the Saturn V first-stage engines for two Apollo moon missions, alongside an intact 18-foot-high F-1 rocket engine on loan from NASA.


David Concannon (Photo courtesy Kim Frank)

Comments David Concannon, 51, who put together a team to find components from the F-1 rocket engines that sent NASA astronauts on their way to the moon, "It was the culmination of seven years of hard work by an amazing team of friends and professionals. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos knocked it out of the park, answering questions and inspiring the next generation of explorers. I could not have been happier."


F-1 Engine Components (Photo courtesy Kim Frank)

Concannon, a resident of Sun Valley, Idaho, has been involved as an explorer in Titanic expeditions, and as a lawyer in 2004's prize-winning flights of the privately funded SpaceShipOne rocket plane. Those were thrilling experiences, but in Concannon's opinion, finding and recovering the F-1 engines is on an entirely different level, writes GeekWire's Alan Boyle.

"I didn't see this until two hours ago, and I was overwhelmed," Concannon told GeekWire. "I still am. ... It's a really sad moment. I'm proud of what we and Jeff did, but it's kinda like sending your son off to college."

Bezos was five years old when Apollo 11 lifted off. Decades later, he said the Apollo experience "was a big contributor to my passions for science, engineering and exploration," eventually leading him to create Amazon as well as his Blue Origin space venture.

Concannon adds, "These engines tell a magnificent story of a time in America when everybody came together, pulled together to do something magnificent. When President Kennedy said, 'We choose to go to the moon,' it wasn't actually possible, because the technology didn't exist.

"If it weren't for tens of thousands of people pulling together to make that possible, we never would have achieved it. To me, that's the story that these beat-up, burned-up artifacts tell," Concannon says.

Other components from Apollo 11's F-1 rocket engines will go on display at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., under an arrangement worked out by NASA, Bezos and the museums. And Concannon said he and his colleagues identified six additional sites on the Atlantic Ocean floor where Apollo engine parts are still lying.

Read more at:

https://www.geekwire.com/2017/apollo-moon-engines-museum-flight/

EVEREST ROUND-UP

It's somewhat anticlimactic to report about the Mount Everest climbing season, now that Alex Honnhold has stunned the climbing world with his free solo ascent of El Capitan (see related story). Honnhold's feat notwithstanding, Everest is about the only other time that mountaineering is covered in the news. Still, we think would-be Hillarys need to create a new Bucket List.

More than 5,000 climbers have set foot on the summit of Everest from the Nepal side since Edmund Hilary and Tenzing Norgay Sherpa first summitted in 1953. This spring season, which ended on May 31, saw the fourth highest number of successes with 445 climbers making it to the top, the Nepali Tourism Department said. Including these 445, the total number of Everesters has reached 5,324, according to the Kathmandu Post (June 9).

Everest saw a record number of climbers this season due to a backlog resulting from the 2014 and 2015 avalanches.

Giving a breakdown of the summiteers, Khem Raj Aryal, an official at the department that issues climbing permits, said there were 190 foreigners, 32 fee-paying Nepalis and 223 high-altitude climbing guides.

Six people died on the mountain this season, according to published reports, including American Dr. Roland Yearwood, 50, from Georgiana, Alabama, Swiss climber Ueli Steck (see EN, May 2017), and former Gurkha Min Bahadur Sherchan who became the world's oldest person to reach Everest's summit in 2008 at the age of 76. The Nepali died at age 85 attempting to recapture his title after his record was eclipsed in 2013 by 80-year-old Japanese climber Yuichiro Miura.

The government issued a record 375 climbing permits this season. An Everest climbing permit costs $11,000 for foreigners.

In a related story, the Himalayan Times reported on June 8 that the Chinese government has officially closed Mount Everest and other mountains from climbing in the upcoming autumn season from the Tibetan side, claiming the mountaineering sector witnessed a series of problems including an illegal north-south traverse by a Polish climber.

Chinese officials were dismayed that some climbers posted on Facebook that they stood atop Everest with photos of Dalai Lama and free Tibet flags. China considers possessing such Tibetan flags an illegal act in Tibet, according to the Himalayan Times story.

The fall 2017 closure also applies to Cho-Oyu and Shishapangma.

Read the story and see the controversial Facebook post here:

https://thehimalayantimes.com/nepal/china-closes-mt-everest-cho-oyu-shishapangma-climbing-autumn/

* Kilian Jornet Beats His Own Time Up Everest

On May 27, Spanish ski mountaineer Kilian Jornet, 29, climbed in a single 17-hour push the north face of Everest for the second time in one week using neither supplemental oxygen nor fixed ropes. Jornet had already reached the summit on May 22, but stomach cramps had prevented him from completing the route as planned.

On that previous climb he reached the summit in 26 hours, leaving from Base Camp at Rongbuk monastery at 5100 m.

The two ascents are part of Jornet's Summits of My Life project, in which he traveled to some of the most emblematic mountains across the globe, setting records for fastest known ascents. He began in the Mont Blanc range in 2012 and has since climbed in Europe (Mont Blanc and Matterhorn), in North America (Denali) and in South America (Aconcagua).

Read Jornet's personal account here:

http://blog.summitsofmylife.com/2017/05/28/kilian-jornet-summits-everest-twice-in-one-week-without-supplemental-oxygen-2/

* Hillary Step Has Collapsed; Dump the Bucket List

There is confirmation that the rocky outcrop called the Hillary Step was destroyed, presumably during the Nepal earthquake of 2015. The near-vertical 12m (39-ft.) rocky outcrop stood on the mountain's southeast ridge, and was the last great challenge before the top.


Logjam at the Hillary Step

Philip Hoare in The Guardian frets this will now make it easier to climb Everest - and thus open it up to new "depredations."

Some even wonder if it is time to impose severe limits - or even a ban - on expeditions that are becoming too popular, and too invasive, affecting the very qualities which define the place, he writes.

"There may now be a good case for declaring Everest and other over-popular peaks as reservations - perhaps even in the way that visitors to Uluru (once known as Ayers Rock) in Australia's Northern Territory have been asked not to climb a site sacred to the Anangu people," Hoare writes.

"It is human curiosity to see stairs, a tree, a hill, and the atavistic instinct is to climb up, to get a better view. As if we will be vouchsafed some new vision, some new path, some new direction.

"We need to reinstate our awe and dump the bucket list. We do not own these places, no matter how many names we give them. The fact that someone (usually a man) has stuck a flag at the top of a peak has no greater meaning than that fact."

Hoare continues, "We pit our puny humanness at the scale of things, as if at the desperate knowledge that ultimately, we won't mean anything. When humans are over, and have become just another geological stratum, the entirety of our existence will be represented by a layer no thicker than a cigarette paper. Now I find that rather beautifully humbling."

Read his opinion piece here:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/may/23/mount-everest-hillary-step-bucket-list

Confirmation of the destruction of the Hilary Step can be found here:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-39989992

* Stolen Oxygen

So much for the brotherhood of the rope. The Washington Post (May 27) reported instances of stolen oxygen on the mountain.

"It is becoming a serious issue up there," mountain guide Nima Tenji Sherpa told the BBC last month.

"I kept on hearing from expedition groups that their oxygen bottles had disappeared and that could be life-threatening - particularly when they have used up what they are carrying on their way up and they are still not on the summit yet, or they plan to use the stocked bottles on their way back," added Tenji Sherpa, who had just returned from Everest.

The first group of climbers summitted the mountain on May 15 and it didn't take long for reports of the suspected thefts to come in.

"Another 7 bottles of Os have gone missing from our supply - this time from the South Col," Everest Expedition leader Tim Mosedale wrote on Facebook, referring to the location of one of Everest's final camps before the summit.

"I'd never normally wish ill on anyone but if these thieving bastards don't summit, or get frostbite in the process, then that's karma," he posted to Facebook.

At press time, no one has been caught stealing the bottles, nor do there appear to be any suspects, according to authorities.

Read more at:

https://flipboard.com/@WashPost/-trouble-at-the-top-of-the-world-bodies-/f-c82c99607c%2Fwashingtonpost.com

EXPEDITION NOTES

Faceless Fish Found

A recent expedition uncovered a faceless fish that won't be winning any auditions in a Disney cartoon. It was found while exploring the depths of a massive abyss off the coast of Australia last month.The brownish white fish was unrecognizable, without eyes or anything that resembled gills.

A group of 40 scientists from Museums Victoria and the Australian government's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), who were traveling on a research vessel for a month-long journey that began on May 15, caught the creature in the Jervis Bay Commonwealth Marine Reserve off New South Wales some 13,000 feet below the surface. The temperature of the water was barely above freezing.


Don't call us. We'll call you.

The 17-in. long fish, which scientists dubbed the "Faceless Cusk," has not been spotted in the area for more than a century.

Dr. Tim O'Hara, chief scientist and expedition leader for CSIRO, said, "This little fish looks amazing because the mouth is actually situated at the bottom of the animal so, when you look side-on, you can't see any eyes, you can't see any nose or gills or mouth.

"It looks like two rear-ends on a fish, really," O'Hara told The Guardian.

The faceless fish went viral on Facebook and Twitter ­- with thousands of people sharing photos of the unusual sea creature.

"If he only knew how famous he'd become, imagine the look on his face! Oh...wait," CSIRO joked on Twitter.

Read more here:

http://wdef.com/2017/06/01/faceless-fish-discovered-during-deep-sea-expedition/

"It Was a Dark and Stormy Night":
Nominations Open for National Outdoor Book Award

Nominations are now being accepted for the 2017 National Outdoor Book Awards. The program recognizes the work of outstanding writers and publishers of outdoor books.

Books may be nominated for awards in one of nine categories including: History/Biography, Outdoor Literature, Instructional Texts, Outdoor Adventure Guides, Nature Guides, Children's Books, Design/Artistic Merit, Nature and the Environment, and Natural History Literature.

Additionally, a special award, the Outdoor Classic Award, is given annually to books which over a period of time have proven to be exceptionally valuable works in the outdoor field.

To be eligible for the 2017 National Outdoor Book Awards, nominated books must have been released (date of first shipment of books) after June 1, 2016 and before September 1, 2017, except for those titles which have been nominated for the Outdoor Classic Award.

Application forms and eligibility requirements are available on the National Outdoor Book Awards website (http://www.noba-web.org). The deadline for applications is August 24, 2017.

The Whole Tooth


Eugene Buchanan gives a toothy smile for the camera.

Steamboat Springs, Colo., author Eugene Buchanan proved last month that a book talk could be both entertaining and informative. During a Boulder Bookstore stop on his promotion tour for, Comrades on the Colca: A Race for Adventure and Incan Treasure in One of the World's Last Unexplored Canyons (Conundrum Press, 2016), he entertained an audience of 80 people about his experiences on a previous expedition, this one to the Siberian Bashkaus river. That adventure was the subject of a previous book, Brothers on the Bashkaus: A Siberian Paddling Adventure (Fulcrum Publishing, 2007).

When traveling on a Russian train, team members tried to appear Russian, but were soon exposed. Said one local, a nurse, "You can't pass for Russian - you smile too much and your teeth are too good."

He tells of purchasing grain alcohol for barter, and eating sugar cubes and pork rinds with their Russian teammates, passing time by singing three universally-known songs: Don McLean's American Pie, The Beatles' Rocky Raccoon, and Simon & Garfunkel's The Sound of Silence.

"Luckily, they were within my repertoire," he joked.

FEATS

Everest? What's That?
Climbing World Stunned by Honnold's "Moonshot" Ascent of El Capitan

When a climbing story makes it into that straphanger favorite, the New York Daily News, and no one has died in the story, nor has the "E" word been uttered, well that's truly extraordinary for mainstream media (or as Trump likes to tweet: MSM).

Honnold, 31, shocked the sport of climbing by free soloing (no ropes, harnesses or other protective equipment) El Capitan, climbing 3,000 feet - ascending one of the world's largest monoliths - in less than four hours with little gear other than a bag of chalk.

Famed climber, adventurer and author Mark M. Synnott calls it the greatest pure feat of rock climbing in history.


Alex Honnold on June 3 after scaling El Capitan in Yosemite National Park. Honnold became the first person to climb alone to the top of the massive granite wall without ropes or safety gear. (Photo: Jimmy Chin)

"So stoked to realize a life dream today," Honnold wrote on Facebook immediately afterwards. National Geographic is basing a new documentary on the historic climb.

"Speechless," wrote the American Alpine Journal in its response to the news that Honnold had tackled the imposing granite wall in a free solo ascent.

Honnold raced up the wall in 3 hours and 56 minutes, prompting Alpinist magazine to say, "This is indisputably the greatest free solo of all time. Congratulations, Alex!"

Honnold tells NationalGeographic.com,"I didn't have much of a backpack, and the climbing just felt amazing. Not dragging 60 meters of rope behind you for the whole mountain, I felt so much more energetic and fresh."

Writes Daniel Duane in the New York Times (June 9), "The world's finest climbers have long mused about the possibility of a ropeless free solo ascent of El Capitan in much the same spirit that science fiction buffs muse about faster-than-light-speed travel - as a daydream safely beyond human possibility."

Duane goes on to write, "I believe that it should also be celebrated as one of the great athletic feats of any kind, ever."

See the New York Times story here:

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2017/06/09/opinion/el-capitan-my-el-capitan.html?mwrsm=Facebook&referer=http%3A%2F%2Fm.facebook.com

View the Daily News coverage here:

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/more-sports/solo-climber-honnold-1st-yosemite-el-capitan-ropes-article-1.3220497

Read the interview in NationalGeographic.com:

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/features/athletes/alex-honnold/most-dangerous-free-solo-climb-yosemite-national-park-el-capitan/

Oru Kayak Attempts Solo KayakPassage from Cuba to Key West

Oru Kayak, makers of the origami-inspired folding kayak, is leading an attempt at completing a solo kayak passage from Cuba to Key West. In July, a small crew of solo kayakers led by Oru Kayak will set out from Havana, Cuba, with compasses set for Key West. The 103-mile ocean passage is infamous for strong currents, sharks, unpredictable weather, and as a hazardous journey often made by Cuban refugees seeking political asylum in the U.S.

Due to recently renewed diplomatic relations between Cuba and the U.S., the ocean passage has been the subject of much interest. In recent years the passage between the neighbor countries has been swum, paddle boarded, and completed by a tandem kayak team, however, a solo kayak passage (e.g. a kayak powered by just one-person) has reportedly yet to be completed.

While completing a solo kayak passage remains a significant test of human strength, endurance, and perseverance - and will likely require 30 to 40 hours of non-stop kayaking - the ability to make a safe and legal journey from Cuba to the U.S. is arguably the most remarkable feat of all.

Andy Cochrane, Oru's director of marketing who is organizing and leading the expedition, commented, "Kayaking from Cuba to the USA is a dream opportunity for any kayaker. But more important than our success, is the fact that we can do this safely and with the blessing of both the U.S. and Cuban government - and what that means for people in both countries."

Oru Kayak will use a fleet of the company's newly updated COAST XT expedition kayaks to complete the 103-mile journey. The expedition touring model was updated in 2017 to increase the durability of the boat in high surf and wind.

More information about the COAST XT and live streaming video from the attempt can be found at: www.orukayak.com

QUOTE OF THE MONTH

"The gladdest moment in human life, me thinks, is a departure into unknown lands."

- Sir Richard Burton (1821-1890), the English explorer, geographer, translator, and writer.

EXPEDITION FOCUS

Want to Join an Expedition? Become a Jack-of-All-Trades

Mike Pizzio, 55, is a former Special Agent for the FBI who served three rotations in Iraq and seems to have no problem getting invited on expeditions.

He's a certified Dive Instructor Trainer, 100 ton Master U.S. Coast Guard captain, and has blown bubbles within a few feet of the most iconic shipwrecks in history, including the Civil War-era Monitor, the Andrea Doria and Britannic. A single father of two grown children, he has led dives to find a missing WWII WASP, Gertrude "Tommy" Tompkins, and her P-51D Mustang lost in 1944 off what is now LAX.

Pizzio is also a licensed private investigator, working with plaintiff attorneys on cases that include diving liability, and a former member of numerous diving expeditions for the History Channel, National Geographic, and Learning Channel.


Mike Pizzio is a Jack-of-all-trades

Yet, besides those dive and law enforcement skills, which admittedly are pretty impressive by themselves, the Port St. Lucie, Fla., explorer admits he's really not an expert in anything else. But he knows a little bit about a lot of things.

He's not licensed to fly an airplane, but has been in the right seat enough times to take a stab at landing safely in an emergency.

His advice for getting invited on an expedition: "Learn as much as you can about everything to make yourself as valuable as you can."

Pizzio is the kind of team member you want by your side - a MacGuyver who can rely upon his 26 years of FBI training to get almost any job done. Eat lunch with him and he insists on sitting facing the door - that's after he's scanned the room for exits.

"I don't want to be anywhere I'm absolutely worthless," he says.

For that reason, he travels with three forms of communications: EPIRB, Iridium Extreme sat phone, and a SPOT Messenger to provide access to three communications satellites.

As they say in the military, when it comes to redundancy, "Two is one, one is none."

When he was sidelined for four months by an abdominal condition, what did he do? He took a 160-hour EMT course and passed at the top of his class.

"I want to be the guy people turn to. Am I an expert in emergency medicine? Maybe not. But I know a lot more than the average guy who can only use a Band-Aid."

How does he pay for his expedition work?

"I'm not a rich guy. I live on a retired government employee salary. Sometimes my expenses are paid, as in the case of the cable network projects. Other times, I pay. The importance is to know up front what the trip will cost. No surprises."

He suggests the best way to receive an invitation to join an expedition is to expand your skill base. "You want to have as many skills and abilities as you can," he says.

"Look, at my age I'll never be an accomplished rock climber. I don't have the physical capability or years of experience. But I've learned basic climbing skills so that I can be of value if I need to ever belay someone.

Want to receive invitations to join an expedition? Heed Pizzio's advice:

* Keep taking courses and instruction to build your proficiency in outdoor skills. Add to your list of certifications.

* Learn as much as you can from expedition teammates.

* Build your adventure resume by volunteering for expeditions and paying your own way if necessary.

"Whenever I can, I try to add a new skill to my toolkit. By becoming the Swiss Army Knife of team members, the expedition leader won't have as many mouths to feed.

"Become a Jack-of-all-trades even if it means you'll be the master of none."

Mike says he's standing by for your invitation. Reach him at: pizziom@bellsouth.net

WEB WATCH

Why We Explore

Kudos to NASA for summarizing in a just few short paragraphs, why humans are such a nomadic tribe. We read on their website a rationale for spending billions on space exploration:

"Humanity's interest in the heavens has been universal and enduring. Humans are driven to explore the unknown, discover new worlds, push the boundaries of our scientific and technical limits, and then push further. The intangible desire to explore and challenge the boundaries of what we know and where we have been has provided benefits to our society for centuries."


The huge, 363-feet tall Apollo 11 space vehicle is launched from Pad A, Launch Complex 39, Kennedy Space Center (KSC), at 9:32 a.m. (EDT), July 16, 1969. Apollo 11 was the United States' first lunar landing mission. Its rocket engines were recovered in the ocean and recently placed on display in Seattle (see related story). (Photo courtesy NASA).

The NASA website continues, "Human space exploration helps to address fundamental questions about our place in the Universe and the history of our solar system. Through addressing the challenges related to human space exploration we expand technology, create new industries, and help to foster a peaceful connection with other nations.

"Curiosity and exploration are vital to the human spirit and accepting the challenge of going deeper into space will invite the citizens of the world today and the generations of tomorrow to join NASA on this exciting journey."

Well said.

Read the rest of the post titled, "Beyond Earth - Expanding Human Presence Into the Solar System":

https://www.nasa.gov/exploration/whyweexplore/why_we_explore_main.html#.WTchzlKZN3k

BUZZ WORDS

Border Dicks


Eric Mohl patiently waits (Photo courtesy: Eric Mohl)

What else would you call border agents who hassle explorers and adventurers, in fact, every traveler? Source: Trans-Americas Expedition which has crossed 58 borders so far, traveling full-time on a Trans-Americas road trip through the Americas for more than 10 years.

"While 90% of the border officials we've come across have been pros, the other 10% have been, as we say in the travel business, border dicks," writes the team of photographer Eric Mohl and journalist Karen Catchpole.

Catchpole tells EN, "Our Border Dicks post was not necessarily saying that border agents hassle overlanders more than other types of travelers. For example, on the Argentina border where we had to unload the truck .... all other drivers had to do the same. The post was meant to convey a sort of satire or levity that we've developed about border officials after so many border crossings. After all, if you can't laugh then you'll cry."

For examples of dickish behavior, see:

http://trans-americas.com/blog/2017/05/border-crossing-road-trip-travel/

EXPEDITION CLASSIFIEDS

Get Sponsored! - Hundreds of explorers and adventurers raise money each month to travel on world class expeditions to Mt. Everest, Nepal, Antarctica and elsewhere. Now the techniques they use to pay for their journeys are available to anyone who has a dream adventure project in mind, according to the book from Skyhorse Publishing called: Get Sponsored: A Funding Guide for Explorers, Adventurers and Would Be World Travelers.

Author Jeff Blumenfeld, an adventure marketing specialist who has represented 3M, Coleman, Du Pont, Lands' End and Orvis, among others, shares techniques for securing sponsors for expeditions and adventures.

Buy it here:

http://www.amazon.com/Get-Sponsored-Explorers-Adventurers-Travelers-ebook/dp/B00H12FLH2

Advertise in Expedition News - For more information: blumassoc@aol.com

EXPEDITION NEWS is published by Blumenfeld and Associates, LLC, 1877 Broadway, Suite 100, Boulder, CO 80302 USA. Tel. 203 326 1200, editor@expeditionnews.com. Editor/publisher: Jeff Blumenfeld. Research editor: Lee Kovel. ©2017 Blumenfeld and Associates, Inc. All rights reserved. ISSN: 1526-8977. Subscriptions: US$36/yr. available by e-mail only. Credit card payments accepted through www.paypal.com. Read EXPEDITION NEWS at www.expeditionnews.com. Enjoy the
EN blog at www.expeditionnews.blogspot.com.

Young Explorer Studies Island Conservation Efforts

This fall, Joshua Powell, 23, from Sussex, UK, is leading the Island Conservation For An Island Nation Expedition across the South Atlantic islands. It's the second leg of a recent South Pacific research trip documenting innovation in island conservation practice across the South Pacific and South Atlantic.


Josh Powell

During a stop in Tasmania, he'll study an ambitious strategy by the Save the Tasmanian Devil Program to identify diseased "Devils," geographically isolate a given population on the island of Tasmania and its offshore islands, eradicate some of the diseased carnivorous marsupials, and then translocate healthy individuals to re-establish disease-free populations.

Powell says, "I plan to research the effectiveness of their bold plan that combines several highly challenging conservation techniques in the attempt to save this endangered Tasmanian icon."


The Tasmanian Devil: a face only a mother could love. Or a Warner Bros. cartoon artist. (Photo courtesy Josh Powell)

Powell, a 2017 Churchill Fellow notes, "Island systems might be a world apart, but the challenges they face and the environments they operate in are often directly comparable. For instance, New Zealand's Sub-Antarctic Islands face many of the same challenges as the UK's Falkland Islands, or South Georgia and the South Shetland Islands. That's why it is so important to share best practices."

In addition to the Tasmania group, Powell will work alongside a range of key conservation organizations in each of the given locations, including New Zealand's Department of Conservation (DOC), and WWF South Pacific.

"The project has actually been far more social than I expected, but of course that makes perfect sense because although many islands are uninhabited, a tremendous amount of the most biologically important ones also have human populations - and that means working with local communities is absolutely essential."

Support has been received by The Winston Churchill Memorial Trust, with Poseidon Expeditions supporting the second leg to the South Atlantic sub-Antarctic islands, which will depart in October.

For more information: Follow Island Conservation For An Island Nation on Facebook using the hashtag #IslandConservationForAnIslandNation.

Reach Powell at http://www.wcmt.org.uk/users/joshuapowell2017

Outdoor Retailer Lowers the Curtain on Salt Lake City

The so-called Zion Curtain was a law in Utah that required partitions in restaurants to separate bartenders preparing alcoholic drinks from the customers who order them. It was revoked by the Utah legislature in spring 2017, shortly before Emerald Expositions lowered its own curtain on the city, announcing it would relocate its three 20,000-plus person Outdoor Retailer trade shows to Denver effective January 2018.

At a Denver press conference on a blistering hot July 6, over 100 trade show executives, Colorado government officials, and outdoor companies located in the state gathered with the still-snow capped Rockies in the background to announce the Colorado capital would become the site of Outdoor Retailer + Snow Show, Outdoor Retailer Summer Market and Outdoor Retailer Winter Market.


Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper (podium) praised his state's 40 wilderness areas and four national parks, calling Colorado, "the number one destination for outdoor recreation visitors in the U.S." Denver Mayor Michael Hancock (front row, center), added, "This should have happened a long time ago. You're simply where you should have been long ago."

Colorado was selected in part because of the high value the state places on outdoor recreation. Utah raised the ire of the outdoor community because of its lack of interest in protecting public lands.

"The State of Colorado and Outdoor Retailer share the common belief that protecting public lands is not only good for the economy, but also, for the soul," said Luis Benitez, director of Colorado's Outdoor Recreation Industry Office, who has summited the Seven Summits, and is a six-time Everest summiteer.

Why this matters to readers of EN: for 35 years since its founding, OR has been the place to solicit expedition funding, the place to network with fellow explorers and adventurers, and consider the latest gear and apparel to meet the challenges of extreme environments.

In fact, OR is the place where the entire industry comes together to conduct business, share best practices and to exchange ideas - it's the largest outdoor trade show in North America and as such, presents plenty of opportunities to the exploration and adventure community.

The upcoming show dates are:

Outdoor Retailer + Snow Show, Jan. 25-28, 2018

Outdoor Retailer Summer Market, July 23-26, 2018

Outdoor Retailer Winter Market, Nov. 8-11, 2018

The final Summer Market in Salt Lake is July 26-29, 2017

Learn more at: www.outdoorretailer.com


Watching the Eclipse? Don't Forget to Write

The Postal Service has released a first-of-its-kind stamp that changes when you touch it. The Total Eclipse of the Sun Forever stamp, which commemorates the August 21 eclipse, transforms into an image of the Moon from the heat of a finger (see related story).

The stamp image is a photograph taken by astrophysicist Fred Espenak, aka Mr. Eclipse, of Portal, Ariz., that shows a total solar eclipse seen from Jalu, Libya, on March 29, 2006.

In the first U.S. stamp application of thermochromic ink, the Total Eclipse of the Sun Forever stamps will reveal a second image. Using the body heat of your thumb or fingers and rubbing the eclipse image will reveal an underlying image of the Moon (Espenak also took the photograph of the Full Moon). The image reverts back to the eclipse once it cools, which when you think about it, is pretty cool itself.

The Total Eclipse of the Sun Forever stamps may be ordered at usps.com/shop

After Climbing: Start Volunteering

Famed climber and noted conservationist John Roskelley, from Spokane, Wash., shared the limelight with his son, Jess, at the American Alpine Club Excellence in Climbing Awards on June 3 in Denver.


John Roskelley

During his presentation, the elder Roskelley praised Jeff Lowe who was in the audience. "He was the greatest climber partner to have. He gives confidence to you and your other climbing partners when you're out with him." His comments elicited a standing ovation from the audience.

John, 68, continued, "You can't climb forever. So use that passion to volunteer back home."
Added Jess, "Some of the activities you volunteer for can be spur of the moment. It doesn't have to be planned. The environment needs your help."

Father and son successfully reached the summit of Everest on May 21, 2003, at which time Jess, at the age of 20, became the youngest American to have reached the top.

Sopranos Actor Kicks off Nepal Fire Truck Expedition

Sopranos star Michael Imperioli kicked off an expedition this month that will see a motley crew of celebrities drive 10 fire trucks on Nepal's hair-raising roads for charity. But wait. It's not as crazy a stunt as one might think.

Imperioli and around two dozen other celebrities - including actor Malcolm McDowell and British explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes ­­- will drive 480 kilometers (298 miles) from the India-Nepal border in November to the capital where the trucks will be donated to Kathmandu's fire brigade.

"I got involved in the project first of all because I just think it's a great idea. I think it's going to save lives and save properties and bring benefit to a lot of people," Imperioli told AFP.

The fire department in earthquake-prone Kathmandu - a city of 2.5 million - is poorly equipped with just three functioning fire engines.

Six fire engines, one ladder truck, two front-loader tractors and a fire command vehicle, mostly donated by fire departments in the U.S., will be commandeered by the celebrities for the charity drive.

The project is the brainchild of German watchmaker and two-time Everest summiteer Michael Kobold, who initially planned to drive one fire engine over the Himalayas with the late Sopranos actor James Gandolfini.

Kobold hopes the initiative will spur further donations to bolster Nepal's fire departments.

Read the story here:

http://www.france24.com/en/20170710-sopranos-actor-kicks-off-nepal-fire-truck-expedition

Watch the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpsTU6Xmmj0

QUOTE OF THE MONTH

"... It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it's still here. So get out there and hunt and fish and mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, climb the mountains, bag the peaks, run the rivers, breathe deep of that yet sweet and lucid air, sit quietly for a while and contemplate the precious stillness, the lovely, mysterious, and awesome space. Enjoy yourselves, keep your brain in your head and your head firmly attached to the body, the body active and alive, and I promise you this much; I promise you this one sweet victory over our enemies, over those desk-bound men and women with their hearts in a safe deposit box, and their eyes hypnotized by desk calculators. I promise you this: You will outlive the bastards."

- Edward Abbey (1927-1989), American author and essayist noted for his advocacy of environmental issues, criticism of public land policies, and anarchist political views.

MEDIA MATTERS

How High is High?

Did Mount Everest shrink after Nepal's massive 2015 earthquake? Has it lost a few meters of snowcover due to global warming? Is it getting taller due to shifting continental plates?
To clear up these frequently raised questions once and for all, the Nepalese government has kicked off the long and arduous mission of re-measuring the height of the world's tallest peak, according to CNN (June 21).

In 1856, Everest's height was first calculated to be 8,840 meters (29,002 feet) above sea level by a team led by British surveyor Sir George Everest, the man whom the mountain was named after. Later, in 1955, the figure was adjusted by eight meters to 8,848 (29,028 feet), which has remained the official height to date.

"Since multiple scientific studies show that there might have been some changes in the height of Everest, it became the Nepali government's responsibility to check and clarify the matter," Ganesh Prasad Bhatta, director general of Nepal's Survey Department, told CNN.
The height will be calculated using a combination of geodetic data received from three mechanisms: leveling instrument, gravity meter and GPS.

"You'll have an answer within two years," Bhatta said.

Read the story here:

http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/21/asia/everest-height-dispute/index.html

First All-Women North Pole Expedition Remembered

In recent years, melting sea ice has made human-powered trips to the North Pole extremely treacherous. Every year, the ice has grown thinner and less stable. It's hoped that the story of the 20th anniversary of the first all-women relay expedition to the North Pole will inspire readers of Smithsonian.com to fight to protect this delicate environment.

The expedition planning began with a classified ad in The Telegraph:

"Applications are invited from women of any age, background and occupation, but they will have to prove fitness and commitment. They will have to put up with real pain and discomfort. They will wonder every ten steps what they are doing but they have the opportunity in an epic endeavor."

That ad attracted 200 applications of which 60 showed up in the remote moorlands of Dartmoor National Park in southwest England for two rounds of grueling tryouts. The group was then whittled down to 20 amateur adventurers, according to writer Jason Daley.

The team was divided into five groups of four adventurers, each of which would tackle one leg of the 416-mile slog over the ice from Arctic Canada to the Pole, pulling their gear behind them on sledges. Facing temperatures of almost minus 50 degrees F., blasting winds and ever-changing ice, which could (and occasionally did) crumble into open water at any minute, the women carried on, writes Daley.

Read more and listen to the podcast here:



Were It So Easy

Men's Journal posted a story this month that explains how to get into The Explorers Club. "No easy feat," says writer Sam Donnenberg.

In his 1915 application, Teddy Roosevelt famously filled out the "Experience" section of the written application by penning in "President of the United States." (Though it's more likely he officially earned his spot by trekking into the Amazon rainforest to uncover the headwaters of the Rio da Duvida - "River of Doubt" - and now called the Roosevelt River).

"It's a fine line often between adventurism and exploration," said Marc Bryan-Brown, the club's Vice President for Membership.

"All explorers are adventurers, but not all adventurers are explorers. You can climb Everest, or scuba dive with sharks, or hang out in New Guinea with a bunch of tribespeople and it's a lot of fun, but in and of itself that is not exploration," says Bryan-Brown.

Donnenberg warns, "Remember this isn't about how many passport stamps you have. The website clearly states, 'Travel without scientific purpose or objective, big game hunting, personal photography or similar pursuits do not represent sufficient qualifications.'"

Donnenberg adds, "Don't turn in a round up of your all-time favorite vacations. You want to show how you've given back to the scientific community as a result of your exploration of the world (or worlds beyond this one). But don't be discouraged if your explorations haven't exactly gone down in history. The membership committee wants to see that you scratched an exploratory itch, not that you necessarily uncovered a groundbreaking new revelation about the world."

Read the full story here:

http://www.mensjournal.com/adventure/articles/how-to-become-a-member-of-the-explorers-club-w487146

EXPEDITION MARKETING


Osprey Supports Campaign to Ship Fuel-Efficient Cookstoves to Nepal

Osprey Packs, the pack manufacturer based in Cortez, Colo., has become the latest outdoor gear manufacturer to support the Himalayan Stove Project (HSP), a seven-year effort to deliver clean-burning, fuel-efficient cookstoves to the people of Nepal.

"This support makes great sense for us - we have a strong connection to Nepal," Sam Mix, Osprey Conduit of Corporate Outreach.

"Not only do we sell Osprey packs in Kathmandu through retailer Sherpa Adventure Gear, but many of our end-users either have toured the country, or have it at the top of their bucket lists to eventually visit."

During the spring 2015 earthquakes in Nepal that killed 9,000, Osprey assisted with reconstruction, working with the dZi Foundation, based in Ridgway, Colo.

Mix continues, "Osprey and the HSP are a perfect match. As both a humanitarian and environmental cause, the HSP is consistent with our Philanthropic Five Areas of Focus: Environmental Conservation/Stewardship, Public Lands Protection, Trail Stewardship, Reducing Environmental Hazards, and Climate Change."

Osprey Packs can be found online at www.ospreypacks.com. Learn more about the Himalayan Stove Project at www.himalayanstoveproject.org.

EXPEDITION INK


The Edge of the World
(Falcon, 2017)

The Edge of the World is a new collection of the best photography ever published by Outside magazine. Covering Outside's most compelling stories from throughout the years, it offers readers an inside and dramatic look through the lens of the world's top adventure photographers. It contains a foreword by world-renowned photographer Jimmy Chin and an introduction by Outside magazine's editor Christopher Keyes.

Chin writes, "All adventures begin on the ground. From there we go, well, anywhere we can. We climb. We rappel down. We run. We leap and land - and leap again."

The story behind the cover image (above) is explained, "To get this shot of British BASE jumper Chris Bevins nose-diving off 460-foot Thaiwand Wall, near Railay, Thailand, Patrick Orton had to climb four pitches up a 5.11 route called Circus Oz.

"I wanted to be directly below Chris when he jumped," says the Bozeman, Montana, photographer. Orton, who was dangling from a bolt by his climbing harness, snapped seventeen frames in the thirty seconds it took Bevins to reach the beach. Rappelling took Orton half an hour. "Chris was sipping a margarita at the bar when I got down," he says.

In blurbing the book, Hampton Sides, New York Times bestselling author of In the Kingdom of Ice, pretty much sums up why we all like to explore:

"Here, from the ends of the earth, comes several lifetimes' worth of astonishing images that confirm how deeply adventure is rooted in our DNA. We humans need to soar through the firmament, to walk on wires across the open spaces.

"We need to swim with whales, bike with wildebeests, paddle among sharks. In these stunning photographs, our truant species seems full of hubris but also profoundly humble in the immense face of nature - for, as every adventurer knows, nothing makes us feel grander than to feel small."

WEB WATCH

Blogger/Climber Has Great Respect for Everest Climbers

Climber, blogger and Alzheimer's Disease advocate Alan Arnette, 60, presented a fascinating talk about Everest during the Himalayan Travel Mart 2017 in Kathmandu in early June. He has been covering Everest for the past 15 years on an almost real-time basis.


Alan Arnette

Arnette, a resident of Ft. Collins, Colo., has been on Everest four times, summiting once in 2011. In 2014, he became at the age of 58, the oldest American to summit K2.

During his talk, he explains that people follow AlanArnette.com because, "I didn't try to spin it, don't ask for subscriptions, I simply tell the truth.

"I seek the truth and try to share it in a very clear, authoritative way."

He continues, "Today rumors are spread very quickly. When someone dies you have to double check and triple check before you report it."

Later in the 17-min. talk he says, "I have full respect for anybody who even attempts Everest, much less summits it."

See the entire presentation at:

https://www.facebook.com/alan.arnette (scroll down to July 2)

BUZZ WORDS

Umbraphile

Literally a "shadow lover," one who is addicted to total solar eclipses. Source: David Baron, author of American Eclipse (Liveright Publishing Corp., 2017).

Surely an appropriate Buzz Word for July as Americans in a wide swath of the nation will become umbraphiles for a day during the Great American Eclipse. Baron, a former science correspondent for NPR, decided 19 years ago to write a book about the history of eclipses when he first heard about the Aug. 21 event. He has seen five totals so far.

During a recent book talk in his hometown of Boulder, he said, "You must be in the Path of Totality. A 99 percent partial eclipse doesn't cut it. The closer you are to the center line, the longer the duration of the eclipse."

This August he'll be in the Tetons to try and witness the approach of the moon's shadow from the distance.

He says of totality, "It's like time stops, then it's all over. Normally articulate people become babbling idiots. It's remarkably unearthy."

"During totality, don't take pictures. Just look and enjoy it."

Traffic is expected to be at a standstill as millions get closer to the natural world.

GreatAmericanEclipse.com warns, "Imagine 20 Woodstock festivals occurring simultaneously across the nation. Large numbers of visitors will overwhelm lodging and other resources in the Path of Totality. There is a real danger during the two minutes of totality that traffic still on the road will pull over at unsafe locations with distracted drivers behind them."

EXPEDITION MAILBAG

Everest: Odds of Dying Too Steep

"I think it is interesting that the ratio of climbers to deaths on Everest hasn't changed from the 35:1 that it has been over the last 20-years or so that I have been tracking it. I have climbed some easier mountains so I appreciate the interest in and beauty of climbing Everest. But with the odds of dying being one in 35, I decided those odds are too steep for me (e.g. Denali is 200:1)."

- Chuck Patton, 74, a former climber from Orlando, Fla., and a suburb of Chicago, who now works full-time as SVP-Business Development for a technology company in Chicago.

EXPEDITION CLASSIFIEDS

Get Sponsored!– Hundreds of explorers and adventurers raise money each month to travel on world class expeditions to Mt. Everest, Nepal, Antarctica and elsewhere. Now the techniques they use to pay for their journeys are available to anyone who has a dream adventure project in mind, according to the book from Skyhorse Publishing called: "Get Sponsored: A Funding Guide for Explorers, Adventurers and Would Be World Travelers."

Author Jeff Blumenfeld, an adventure marketing specialist who has represented 3M, Coleman, Du Pont, Lands' End and Orvis, among others, shares techniques for securing sponsors for expeditions and adventures.

Buy it here: http://www.amazon.com/Get-Sponsored-Explorers-Adventurers-Travelers-ebook/dp/B00H12FLH2

Advertise in Expedition News– For more information: blumassoc@aol.com

EXPEDITION UPDATE

First American Woman Summits K2

In December 2014, we wrote about plans by Vanessa O'Brien to become the first American woman to successfully summit K2. On July 28, at the age of 52, she succeeded in her years-long goal. The summit team also included 11 other climbers, including six Nepali Sherpas.

Her successful summit was preceded by two unsuccessful attempts to make it to the top of "the savage mountain."

Due to her dual citizenship, O'Brien, an ex-Morgan Stanley banker from New York, is also the first British woman to successfully and safely summit K2. British woman Alison Hargreaves summitted in 1995, but died on the descent at the age of 33.


Everest gets the most press. But K2 is the bigger prize, a hard-fought summit achieved this month by dual passport holder, British-American woman Vanessa O'Brien. (Photo courtesy Vanessa O'Brien)

Reportedly, only 18 women have survived the climb to the top of K2.

O'Brien is the Guinness World Record holder for being the first woman to set a speed record to climb the Seven Summits, the highest peak on every continent, in 295 days. She successfully climbed Mt. Everest in 2010.

"It is said when you climb Everest, you are a mountaineer in the eyes of the world, but when you climb K2 you are a mountaineer in the eyes of other climbers," said O'Brien before her climb, according to a story by James Clash posted to Forbes.com (July 29).

The K2 2017 season has ended with 12 people summiting (six Nepali, one Pakistani, three Chinese, one Icelander, and O'Brien, the one British-American) bringing the total to about 396 summits compared to about 8,250 for Everest, according to climbing blogger Alan Arnette, an Everest summiteer in 2011 and oldest American to summit K2 at 58 on his birthday July 27, 2014.

See Arnette's 2017 K2 climbing season coverage at:

http://www.alanarnette.com/blog/k2/k2-2017-coverage/

Read Jim Clash's exclusive interview with O'Brien at:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimclash/2017/08/10/exclusive-interview-with-vanessa-obrien-first-american-woman-up-28251-foot-killer-k2/#1d2d70d176f9

Kayakers Abandon Cuba to Key West Expedition

In June we wrote about the Oru Kayak Libre Expedition from Cuba to Key West.The 103-mile ocean passage is infamous for strong currents, sharks, unpredictable weather, and as a hazardous journey often made by Cuban refugees seeking political asylum in the U.S.

Andy Cochrane, Oru's director of marketing, writes that the morning of the attempt the four-man team participated in a Cuban press conference with a few TV stations and local publications, met the U.S.-Cuban ambassadors, and paddled out of the harbor with a number of athletes from the Cuban national team.


Andy Cochrane abandoned a Cuba to Key West kayak attempt. (Photo by Peter Amend)

By late afternoon two team members, worn down by skeg issues and unrelenting heat, pulled out. A few hours later Cochrane fell ill, likely a combination of sun, sea sickness, and possibly bad food.

"After puking the first thing I had eaten in hours, I decided to end my attempt. This was probably lucky, as I soon came down with serious diarrhea."

The final team member quit hours later due to sickness.

Cochrane writes, "Defeat is a tough pill to swallow. I haven't felt this humbled in a long time. I'm in awe of those who have done this crossing before us. Yet, even with our failure to paddle the crossing unsupported, I realize the project will only be a failure if we choose to not learn something along the way.

"It will only be a failure we don't share the message of friendship and love with the greater community here in the US. That's what matters most right now," Cochrane says.

See the story here:

www.gearjunkie.com

EXPEDITION NOTES


You never know-Jack could have a job waiting for him in 13 years.

Guardian of the Galaxy

Upon posting a job opening for "Planetary Protection Officer," NASA has received countless job applications, but none as original and adorable as the one by fourth grader Jack Davis, a 9-year-old with all the right qualifications to be a "Guardian of the Galaxy."

Dr. James L. Green, NASA's director of planetary science, sent a perfect response that reads in part, "It's about protecting Earth from tiny microbes when we bring back samples from the Moon, asteroids and Mars. It's also about protecting other planets and moons from our germs as we responsibly explore the Solar System."

He then suggests that Jack "study hard and do well in school."

See the post here:

http://www.boredpanda.com/kid-nasa-job-application-guardian-of-the-galaxy-jack-davis/

FEATS

Viking Rowers Reportedly Break Arctic Ocean Records


Fiann Paul, front, Alex Gregory and Carlo Facchino are rowing across the Arctic Ocean, breaking records for speed and for how far north they've rowed.

A team of some of the best rowers in the world are crossing 2,000 kilometers (1,243 miles) of Arctic Ocean, breaking records and going farther north than any rowers have gone before.

Icelander Fiann Paul, 37, and the Polar Row crew are in the midst of a six-week voyage rowing north through the Norwegian Sea from Tromso, Norway, to the archipelago of Svalbard and then south to Iceland. After reaching the latitude of 78 degrees north, the crew is believed to be the first to row the Arctic Ocean from the south to north.

They also believe they've broken seven Guinness World Records so far, including the farthest north anyone's traveled by rowboat, according to the Ocean Rowing Society, which tracks ocean rowing records, writes Alex Brockman of CBC News.

The crew rows for 12 hours a day, splitting 90-minute shifts between them. Their schedule was so ambitious, the Norwegian government balked at giving them the permits to travel to Svalbard.

"They thought we were bluffing, they thought it was impossible," Paul said. "So the governor's representative made us pay as much as possible for search and rescue insurance."

The team of nine also includes Alex Gregory, who won back-to-back Olympic gold medals in rowing for Great Britain in the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games.

Read the CBC story here:

http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/north/arctic-ocean-polar-row-1.4240362

Track the expedition via Garmin inReach at:

www.polarrow.com

QUOTE OF THE MONTH

"Alas! Alas! Life is full of disappointments; as one reaches one ridge there is always another and a higher one beyond which blocks the view."

- Fridtjof Nansen (1861-1930), a Norwegian explorer, scientist, diplomat, humanitarian and Nobel Peace Prize laureate. He also liked to mail naked photos of himself at the age of 67 to his Norwegian-American girlfriend, but that's another story (see EN, July 2013).

EXPEDITION FOCUS

Take a Ride Back in Time

Now for an expedition of a different sort-one back in time.

The 1960 sci-fi thriller, H.G. Wells' The Time Machine starring Rod Taylor, Alan Young, and Yvette Mimieux, has stuck in our mind since we first scared ourselves witless in a darkened Kennedy-era movie theater.


The replica prop is upholstered in mohair velvet, studded with Swarovski crystals and embellished with marble. It is housed in an antique, hand-carved Berninghaus chair. Gets better mileage than a DeLorean, but is way more expensive.

We were further intrigued when we recently viewed the 2016 documentary How to Build a Time Machine, which continues to make the rounds of theaters worldwide.

The 83-min. film by director Jay Cheel tells the story of two middle-aged men obsessed with time travel. One is theoretical physicist Ronald Mallett from the University of Connecticut who explains how losing his beloved father at the age of 11 pushed him into a lifelong obsession with time travel. He wants to go back in time to save his life.


The other is a Westchester County animator who built a full-scale model of the 1960 sled-like contraption, only one actually better than the original prop still owned by a California collector.

Robert Niosi estimated it would take around three months, but his attention to detail got the best of him-as he began forsaking plastic for milled brass, replacing pine with mahogany and hunting down others with their own replicas, the project stretched out over a decade.

After seeing the documentary, we wondered about the status of Niosi's time machine replica. Our inquiry was particularly timely: it's currently for sale for a cool $803,000 according to Luxify.com, an Asian online marketplace for luxury products.

The listing breathlessly promises, "It stays true to its literary and cinematic roots, making it an amazing possession for those interested in film, science fiction, or amazing artwork.
"Imagine how excited your friends and family will be to sit in your own personal time machine! If you love collecting quirky things, a time machine is about as exceptional as any collector's item you can find on the market."

Luxify's Stephanie Lau tells EN, "The film in which it is featured, has been playing around the world, from Singapore to San Francisco, and has been extremely well received by audiences and credits alike."

We love collecting quirky things, so we wondered what kind of warranty is available at that price.

The website quotes Niosi, "Once a year, for 10 years, I will personally travel to the location of the Machine to clean and maintain it. I will replace any worn parts and make sure it is in 100% operating condition."

Sign us up for a test drive.

View the listing at:

https://www.luxify.com/listing/full-scale-iconic-time-machine

Watch the documentary trailer at:

https://vimeo.com/162407882

EXPEDITION INK


Dinomite

What can long-dead dinosaurs teach us about our future? Plenty, according to paleontologist Kenneth J. Lacovara, Ph.D., who has discovered some of the largest creatures to ever walk the Earth. Lacovara is Dean, School of Earth & Environment, Professor of Paleontology & Geology, and Director, Jean & Ric Edelman Fossil Park of Rowan University in Glassboro, N.J.

Why Dinosaurs Matter (Ted Books, September 2017) explains how dinosaurs achieved feats unparalleled by any other group of animals.

Says Lacovara, "As we move into an uncertain environmental future, it has never been more important to understand the past."


Kenneth Lacovara's 2014 discovery of the giant titanosaur, Dreadnoughtus schrani, was published by the journal Scientific Reports, making international headlines. It is the most complete skeleton of a giant titanosaur discovered to date.

Lacovara writes, "Dinosaurs matter because our future matters. Global warming, sea level rise, the catastrophic degradation of our environment, and the heartbreaking and costly biodiversity crisis all loom large on our horizon. People, even paleontologists, are more concerned with the future than with the past. But we don't have access to the future.

"We can make no observations of it and can conduct no experiments in it. The future is a dark scrim that races just before us, always obscuring that which we are about to experience, always concealing how the world will dispose of our dreams and hopes and prayers and desires. As for the present, there's not much to it."

He continues, "Unstable and fleeting, like the heaviest of elements. A wisp of time separating that which can be from that which has been. The sentence you are reading is already in your past. But the past can be embraced. It's in the hills, under the oceans. You can hold it. Crack it open. Learn from it. Put it in a museum for all to see. Most importantly, the past is our guide to the future, the only one we will ever have."

Learn more about Lacovara's work at:

http://www.rowan.edu/fossils/

Buy the book on Amazon.com

EXPEDITION FUNDING

Big Agnes Wants to Hear From You

Need gear like tents, sleeping bags and camp furniture? Big Agnes, the outdoor company based in Steamboat Springs, Colo., wants to hear from you.


Successful applicants must agree to share photography from their trip(s), keep in touch with updates, provide gear testing reports, and allow us to utilize media assets on our website, catalog, and social media outlets.

Access their online request form here:

http://www.bigagnes.com/sponsorship-request

WEB WATCH

Voyagers' Aging Engineers Begin to Retire

Today the two Voyager satellites - 1 and 2 - are respectively 10 billion and 13 billion miles away, the farthest man-made objects from Earth. The 40th anniversary of their launch will be celebrated next month. In the Aug. 3 New York Times Magazine, Kim Tingley explains the challenges faced when some of the original engineers age out of NASA.


Voyager 2 was launched on Aug. 20, 1977. Voyager 1 was launched on Sept. 5, 1977. (Photo courtesy of NASA)

"All explorations demand sacrifices in exchange for uncertain outcomes. Some of those sacrifices are social: how many resources we collectively devote to a given pursuit of knowledge. But another portion is borne by the explorer alone, who used to be rewarded with adventure and fame if not fortune," writes Tingley.

"For the foreseeable future, Voyager seems destined to remain in the running for the title of Mankind's Greatest Journey, which might just make its nine flight-team engineers - most of whom have been with the mission since the Reagan administration - our greatest living explorers."

Tingley continues, "They also may be the last people left on the planet who can operate the spacecraft's onboard computers, which have 235,000 times less memory and 175,000 times less speed than a 16-gigabyte smartphone. And while it's true that these pioneers haven't gone anywhere themselves, they are arguably every bit as dauntless as more celebrated predecessors. Magellan never had to steer a vessel from the confines of a dun-colored rental office, let alone stay at the helm long enough to qualify for a senior discount at the McDonald's next door."

Read the story here:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/03/magazine/the-loyal-engineers-steering-nasas-voyager-probes-across-the-universe.html

The Voyager team tapped famous astronomer and science popularizer Carl Sagan to compose an onboard message. Sagan's committee chose a copper phonograph LP as their medium, and over the course of six weeks they produced the "Golden Record": a collection of sounds and images that will probably outlast all human artifacts on Earth.

View the 116 images NASA wants aliens to see:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAN1kt4SG9E

No Holds Barred

"Before you do it, do you like, write a note to your mom or anything?" asks late night TV host Jimmy Kimmel last month, of Alex Honnold's recent free solo of El Capitan.

"No, that seems overly dramatic," Honnold replied.

In a July 14 segment on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Honnold explained his preparation and mindset for the record-breaking climb. View the full segment here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-vOcJtlTQAY

The Art of Adventure Writing

It's not enough for an explorer or adventurer to conceive of a newsworthy project. Not enough to do it safely and come back alive. They need to be exceptional communicators to tell the rest of us - those who stayed home-what it was like out in the extremes.

Dave Roberts, 74, author of 29 books, is one of the country's best adventure writers and provides some advice on the craft to Monica Prelle in the REI Co-Op Journal (posted July 24).


Dave Roberts (Photo by Matt Hale)

In the 1960s and 1970s, Roberts was climbing the hardest routes in Alaska, including the first ascents of the Wickershim Wall on Denali and the east face of Mount Dickey. His dramatic experiences in mountaineering gave him plenty of story fodder and ultimately launched his writing career, in which he specialized in climbing, adventure, and the American Southwest, according to Prelle.

"You can't make a living writing about climbing, you have to broaden it, so the answer was to write about adventure more generally. Gradually over the years, I expanded my so-called area of expertise to anything to do with adventure, and even more broadly-travel, literature and history," he says.

"The very notion of adventure has changed and not for the better. With the advent of so-called adventure travel in the mid-1980s, a bunch of companies sold the basically bogus idea that a group trip led by experts including paying customers, who were along to do something somewhat adventurous but basically turned over all of the decision making to the leaders, fostered the idea that adventure was something you can neatly package and sell instead of something planned and executed by yourself."

He continues, "There was no hope of sponsorship when I started out, but now every aspiring snowboarder or mountain biker wants to be a North Face athlete. I think, sadly, you find a lot of younger people who think it's more important to be sponsored or get a certain number of hits on Facebook than it is to really do something that's cutting edge. There are climbers who become famous because of Instagram-I don't even understand that."

Read the post here:

http://blog.rei.com/climb/the-art-of-adventure-writing/

BUZZ WORDS

Fingy

Recent news that conservationists unearthed a 106-year-old ice-covered fruitcake in Antarctica they believe once belonged to the British explorer Robert Falcon Scott, prompts us to look into the peculiar lives of researchers on the coldest, highest, driest, windiest continent on Earth.

That brings us to "Fingy," a pejorative term for a new employee posted to an Antarctica base. The term apparently derives from "f-king new guy," or FNG. (Source: MentalFloss.com)

For another 22 Antarctic slang terms, like "Big Eye,""Cheech,""Ice-Husband"/"Ice-Wife," and "Turdsicle," see:

http://mentalfloss.com/article/85378/23-slang-terms-you-only-understand-if-you-work-antarctica

IN PASSING

Dr. S. Allen Counter, 1944-2017

S. Allen Counter, the Harvard neurobiologist and explorer who reclaimed the reputation of Matthew A. Henson, a black explorer on Robert E. Peary's 1909 expedition to the North Pole, and tracked down his descendants in Greenland, died last month at his home in Cambridge, Mass. He was 73.

The cause was cancer, his daughter Philippa Counter said.


The late Dr. S. Allen Counter

One of his interests-discovering the cause of widespread hearing loss among the Inuit of Greenland-dovetailed with a historical mystery he hoped to solve. While dining with Swedish colleagues in the late 1970s, he was told that both Peary and Henson, Peary's main assistant on all but one of his Arctic expeditions, had left descendants in northern Greenland, the product of their relationships with Eskimo women.

Dr. Counter, who had been fascinated by Henson since childhood and had written extensively on the contributions of black Americans in remote places, made it his mission to track down their sons and descendants.

He was the driving force behind Henson's reinterment at Arlington National Cemetery. (See EN, April 2017).

Read his New York Times obituary here:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/17/us/s-allen-counter-dead-harvard-neurobiologist-and-explorer.html

ON THE HORIZON


2017 Explorers Club Lowell Thomas Award -
"The Changing Face of the Arctic," Oct. 28, Toronto

This year's Explorers Club Lowell Thomas Awards are themed, "The Changing Face of the Arctic," and will be held on Oct. 28 at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto. The event includes a full weekend of activities. Awardees are:

* HSH Prince Albert II of Monaco, FI '14

Prince Albert II of Monaco has long been dedicated to the protection of the environment and focuses on fighting climate change, promoting renewable energy, combating the loss of biodiversity, and preserving water resources through his Prince Albert II Foundation. He has also participated in research expeditions to the Arctic and Antarctic, thus becoming the first head of state to reach both poles.

* Donn Haglund, Ph.D., FE '72

Dr. Haglund is a Professor Emeritus of Geography at the University of Wisconsin, where he created and taught a pioneering Arctic wilderness field course for more than 40 years. He is recognized internationally for his expertise in maritime transport in support of Arctic economic development, and for his dedication to scientific research in these areas.

* Martin T. Nweeia, D.M.D., D.D.S., FN '99

Dr. Martin Nweeia is a research scientist, explorer, professor and scholar on the functional significance of the narwhal tusk and Inuit knowledge. His landmark studies on narwhal tusk sensory function have earned him nine grants from the National Science Foundation, as well as awards from The National Geographic Society, Harvard University, and the Smithsonian Institution.

* Konrad Steffen

Dr. Konrad Steffen is Director, Swiss Federal Institute for Forest, Snow and Landscape Research and Professor, Institute of Atmosphere & Climate, ETH-Zurich. He researches sea level changes sensitivity studies of large ice sheets using in situ and modeling results.

For more information:

www.explorers.org

PAX ARCTICA EXPLORES LITTLE-KNOWN NEW SIBERIAN ISLANDS

A one-month expedition will explore a virtually unknown region of the Russian Arctic to create awareness of the challenges affecting this part of the world.

The Pax Arctica - Russian Arctic Expedition 2017 is led by explorer Luc Hardy, 58, of Cos Cob, Conn., founder of Pax Arctica, an organization that raises awareness of the impact of climate change on arctic, polar and glacier regions.


Luc Hardy is ready to roll.

At a time when no place on the planet seems inaccessible, one of the most extreme regions has yet to reveal its secrets. Above the Arctic Circle, the islands of New Siberia and De Long are still terra incognita ... even if ancient and modern maps mention them; even if a few rare explorers trampled the ground of these virtual "white zones."

At press time, the Franco-Russian-American expedition was expected to launch from the port of Tiksi, in Yakutia. This (re)discovery of the islands of New Siberia is supported by the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation.

Says HSH Prince Albert II, "The entire world needs the Arctic, a living Arctic, rich with the people who inhabit it and preserved from the dangers that threaten it.This is why it is our duty to invent in the Arctic, a new mode of development, an economy respectful of men and nature."


Victor Boyarsky will guide the expedition.

Well-known explorer Victor Boyarsky will be the guide for this expedition. He is Deputy PR Director of the Russian State Museum of Arctic and Antarctic in Saint-Petersburg.

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

In 1988, Boyarsky crossed Greenland from south to north by ski and dog with an international team; in 1989-1990 he participated in the International Trans-Antarctica Expedition, the longest in history, led by Will Steger. Since then he has participated in more than 30 expeditions to the North Pole on ski and with nuclear icebreaker.

It's hoped that the expedition will provide valuable information on the effects of climate change on these regions and the consequences they can have on ecosystems.Geolocalized measurements will be carried out in order to better understand local signs of climate change.

Inspired by the great adventurers of the nineteenth century, expedition leader Luc Hardy will embark on board the 437-ft. Russian Arctic research vessel - Mikhail Somov - in the company of renowned multidisciplinary researchers including the paleozoologist Alexei Tikhonov and the anthropobiologist Eric Crubezy.

A documentary film about the Pax Arctica Expedition will be directed by Bertrand Delapierre, whose numerous films include The Pursuit of Endurance - on the Shoulders of Shackleton.

See the trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YttkGizltA

Partners include: Green Cross International, La Francaise, Sigg, and Tag Heuer.

Follow the expedition in real time:

https://www.facebook.com/Pax-Arctica-140974605968049/

Follow via Garmin inReach: https://share.garmin.com/LHRussia

GOBI WINTER EXPEDITION TO USE DRONES

UK polar explorer Newall Hunter, 53, is 900 km (560 miles) into a bike-based reconnaissance trip in preparation for a solo crossing of the Gobi Desert on foot this November.

At press time he was half-way across, posting about checking inside his boots in the morning before putting them on due to scorpions.


Newall Hunter will tackle the Gobi in winter.

The coming winter trek will take Newall, a resident of Wotton-Under-Edge, Gloucestershire, England, between 70 and 90 days depending on weather conditions, which will feature temperatures as low as minus 40 degrees F. (- 40°C) and winds of up to 100 mph.

His official 1,600 km (994-mile) solo attempt on foot will stretch from this November into January 2018, according to a story in the Gloucestershire Reporter by Eddie Bisknell (Aug. 18)

However, for the first part of his research for the trek, Newall is going to spend most of September on the bike reconnaissance to identify the best route for him to take and to locate sources of water.

To help him in his search for water he will be flying a drone to obtain on-the-spot aerial images, which may prove crucial to the mission's success since he will only be able to carry two days supplies at a time.

Hunter is an aerial drone operator specializing in technical filming solutions for extreme sports, expeditions, and in mountainous and remote locations where others won't go.

See examples of his work at: http://www.sevensummits.aero

"Water, or rather the lack of it, is going to be the most critical factor, if it can be located then it will probably be frozen," said Newall, who just over two and a half years ago gained the title of the first Scot to ski solo to the South Pole and the first Briton to undertake that particular route.

"If it can't be done on a bike, then I certainly won't be able to walk it pulling a cart with my supplies on it, but I don't think it will come to that," he said.

The word "Gobi" means "waterless place" and the desert which bears its name is a vast and arid region in southern Mongolia and northern China; it is the world's fifth largest desert.

His progress on both the reconnaissance and the full attempt can be followed on www.newallhunter.com

Read the story in the Gloucestershire Reporter here:

http://preview.tinyurl.com/engobi

Follow him on Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/newall.hunter

PULLING FOR THE PLANET: GREENLAND 2019

Apparently, when you're born with an exploration gene, you're always planning your next project, even before your current one is completed. Such is the case with Lonnie Dupre from Grand Marais, Minn. We first met the indefatigable explorer in 1989 during the Bering Bridge Expedition. Since then, the ¬¬¬56-year-old's projects have been covered often in these pages.

His next adventure is a 100-day, 1,000-mi. dog sled expedition in Greeland beginning in January 2019. Based out of Qaanaaq, the northernmost community in the world, the team will share the Inuit culture, the exploration, history and scientific discoveries of a rarely visited place on earth.


Lonnie Dupre keeps going and going and going.

The team will travel to Warming Land, a series of unexplored icy fjords located on the northwestern tip of Greenland. The team then pushes on to the northernmost islands of Greenland, with a mission to discover the cairn built in the early 1900's by Robert Peary - generally recognized as the first explorer to reach the North Pole.

The team will also document three centuries-old Inuit tent rings at the mouth of Bessels fjord - reportedly discovered by Dupre in 2000, during his circumnavigation of Greenland, but never excavated nor measured.

To conduct product testing, the expedition will capitalize on one of most remote and harshest climates in the world. The team will also collect samples of ice, snow, plant life, and the inhabitants themselves for various pollutants.

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

"Pulling for the Planet pays homage to the Inuit people, unsung heroes of countless Arctic expeditions and pioneers of ingenuity to create rich lives. The Inuit exemplify a low carbon footprint existence-they lead their lives on simple living principles such as valuing strong communities, family, and unified work," Dupre says.

In addition to an educational program that expects to reach thousands of schoolchildren via free educational curricula, Pulling for the Planet, in conjunction with Pale Blue Dot Media, will produce a 1-hour film that shares the journey, discoveries and fascinating Inuit culture.


To accomplish the mission, Dupre has pulled together an exploration dream team including:

Joseph Cook - As a 2016 Rolex Young Laureate in the Exploration category, this glacial microbiologist has made his research a journey of discovery that reveals how ice micro-organisms on the Greenland ice sheet shape our world.

Cristian Donoso - A hardy explorer, Cristian has kayaked countless miles in rough waters in some of the most inhospitable places on earth. In 2006, he was named a Rolex associate laureate in exploration and culture. He plans to study and share the significance of the kayak in Inuit lives.

John Hoelscher - Spent six years in Antarctica before joining Lonnie on their first ever non-motorized circumnavigation of Greenland.

Ulyana Horodyskyj - scientist, adventurer and entrepreneur based in Boulder.

Pascale Marceau - An adventure racing, backcountry skiing and mountaineering athlete, her background is as a chemical engineer in the production and renewable energy fields.

Stevie Plummer - Has led the marketing and PR support for Lonnie's latest expeditions. An avid adventurer herself, she will be joining the team in Greenland and managing all communications and marketing aspects of the project.

The project is seeking $300,000 in sponsorship funding.

Learn more at:

www.lonniedupre.com

EXPEDITION UPDATE


Alan Arnette on K2

Alan Arnette Continues Sponsor Search for Project 8000 for Alzheimer's

Alan Arnette, 61, of Ft. Collins, Colo., is recovering well from a hiking accident earlier this year, well enough that he's resumed a sponsor search for his Project 8000 for Alzheimer's (see EN, January 2015) - an effort to raise $5 million for Alzheimer's and reach 100 million people.

With summits of Everest, K2 and Manaslu under his belt, and good efforts on Shishapangma, Broad Peak, Cho Oyu, and Lhotse, Arnette is planning to attempt the 11 mountains above 8000 meters (26,247 feet), he has not yet summitted.

If successful, he would only be the second American and 35th person to climb all 14 of the 8000 meter mountains.

As the 18th and oldest American to summit K2 at age 58 in 2014, the Alzheimer's advocate and passionate climber has reached over 50 million people and raised close to $300,000 for AD research, working with The Cure Alzheimer's Fund, Banner's Alzheimer's Prevention Registry, UsAgainstAlzheimer's and occasionally, the Alzheimer Association.

"Like so many, I find the state of investment, awareness and knowledge of Alzheimer's unacceptable," he says.

With the proper PR backing, he believes 100 million people can be reached during the campaign. His website and social media has over three million annual interactions, and over 30,000 social media followers. Arnette is seeking approximately $35,000 each for exclusive sponsorship of the remaining 11 mountains. The money is to be used for hiring guides, support staff, communications, gear, food, insurance, travel, and permits.

On Feb. 10, 2017, he was swept off his feet by high winds on Twin Sisters (11,428-ft.) in Rocky Mountain National Park. Arnette was on a tune-up climb for an attempt on Dhaulagiri in April. With him was fellow climber Jim Davidson (See EN, March 2017).

"I am making good progress and anticipate being able to climb another 8000'er in spring 2018," he tells EN.

For more information: alan@alanarnette.com

QUOTE OF THE MONTH

"The first time I went to Everest as the lead guide, I reached 28,000 feet, but was forced to stay overnight and slept on the ground after stomping a platform in the snow. If I continued on, I felt I would be risking the loss of fingers and toes to frostbite, or being blown off the mountain because the winds were so high.

"The second time, the trip was cut short because of a lethal rock-fall on the mountain. There is never a guarantee, even if you have the best guide in the world, that you can make it to the summit. So much can happen, and so much can go wrong."

- Vern Tejas, mountain climbing guide from Talkeetna, Alaska. His book, Seventy Summits(Blue River Press/Cardinal, 2017), written with Lew Freedman, is a compilation of his experiences over the last four decades of high altitude mountain guiding.

Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.

For more information: https://sevensummitspecialist.com/vern-e-book

EXPEDITION FOCUS

Surviving the Drake Shake

Knowing full-well our propensity for seasickness - mal de mer, tossing your cookies, praying to the porcelain god, saying hello to yesterday's lunch - call it what you like. Under certain conditions, truth be told, we could be incapacitated, or at the very least, the front of our shirts severely stained.


As the saying goes, once afflicted you become afraid you're going to die; then as seasickness gets worse, you worry that you won't.

We wear seasickness as a badge of honor. After all, no less an explorer than Charles Darwin was famously prone to the condition, resting in a hammock and eating only raisins during rough passages, and spending as much time ashore as possible.

Thus we read intently recent advice posted by Quark Expeditions about crossing the dreaded Drake Passage, which you'll recall is the body of water between South America's Cape Horn and the South Shetland Islands of Antarctica. It connects the southwestern part of the Atlantic Ocean with the southeastern part of the Pacific Ocean and extends into the Southern Ocean.

The passage is 800 kilometers (500 miles) across, making the crossing from Ushuaia the shortest distance and most direct route to the Antarctic Peninsula.

When rough, it's called the Drake Shake; in calm weather, seasoned travelers call it the Drake Lake. Regardless of the weather, it's best to consider your options.

"Take ginger, don't drink, eat saltines, wear wrist bands, try acupuncture, stare at the horizon, close your eyes... the dizzying array of suggestions to fend off seasickness may have you feeling queasy. But which one really works?" asks the Quark post by Miranda Miller (June 13, 2017).

"It may surprise you to learn that up to 50% of the people in any given passage across the Drake will feel some degree of seasickness.

"In seasickness, your eyes and inner ear disagree about your body's position in space. The resulting conflict can cause drowsiness, cold sweats, dizziness and vomiting," she warns.

"The passengers I spoke with on our expedition had varying degrees of success with their seasick skin patches and tablets. Unless you've been seasick before, you can't tell which solution will work for you."

Dr. Dan Zak, one of Quark's onboard physicians, said, "Once vomiting kicks in, dehydration becomes a risk - and if we determine you are becoming dehydrated, a shot of anti-motion sickness medicine in the buttocks may be in order.

"There's no shame in getting seasick - many veteran sailors admit to an occasional bout. It's almost impossible to tell whether you'll be seasick, but if you are prone to motion sickness, and ounce of prevention could be better than a pound of cure," Miller posts.

Your seasick-prone EN editor found the perfect solution: we moved this publication to Boulder.

Read Quark's advice here:

http://tinyurl.com/drakeshake

MEDIA MATTERS


If not "world's hardest climb," it's certainly hard enough.



Hardest Climb in the World?

It took four years of preparation and seven visits to Norway, but Czech rock climber Adam Ondra has finally completed what is thought to be the hardest climb in the world.

The 24-year-old achieved the 45 meter ascent at Hanshelleren cave in Flatanger in just 20 minutes on Monday. Ondra believes the climb to be the first that can be classified as a "9c" - which would make it the world's hardest single rope-length climb.

"Months and months of my life summed up in 20 minutes. So much time and effort in something so short but intense as hell," he said.

His last triumph was becoming only the third man ever to climb El Capitan's Dawn Wall, the fabled rock in Yosemite National Park. The world champion, who was born in Brno in 1993, climbed his first 9a at the age 13 and went on to became the first climber in history to win both the Lead and Bouldering World Cup titles.

But Everest blogger and climber Alan Arnette of Ft. Collins, Colo., begs to differ.

(Ondra's feat is), "Impressive to be sure, but the grading system is not uniform across the world and this was a single rope, 45 m pitch rated on the French scale at 9b. When compared to the Yosemite Decimal Systems (YDS) it would be 5.15b and there are several climbers according to Mountain Project that meet that level of difficulty.

"Many people still view Alex Honnold's June 2017 free solo climb of of the 915 meter, 3,000-foot, wall of El Capitan-without a rope-to be the most impressive climb of all time. It took Honnold 3 hours and 56 minutes compared to Ondra's 20 minutes but both climbs will go down in history as amazing feats," Arnette tells EN. (See related story).

Ondra's next victory may well be an Olympic medal. Climbing was approved as a sport for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo by the International Olympic Committee last year.

See the story here:

http://tinyurl.com/hardestclimb


Hillary and Tenzing Team Up on Pluto.

Pluto's Mountains Named after Hillary and Tenzing

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has officially approved 14 names for surface features on Pluto, according to Mike Wall of Space.com (Sept. 8).

The names were submitted for IAU approval by the New Horizons team. The scientists came up with some of those names themselves, while others were proposed by members of the public via the Our Pluto campaign, a collaboration among the mission team, the IAU and the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Institute in Mountain View, Calif.
Tenzing Montes and Hillary Montes were names given to towering water-ice mountain ranges on Pluto in honor of Tenzing Norgay and Edmund Hillary.

"The approved designations honor many people and space missions who paved the way for the historic exploration of Pluto and the Kuiper Belt, the most distant worlds ever explored," said New Horizons principal investigator Alan Stern, from the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder.


Alan Stern at the Rocky Mountain chapter of The Explorers Club last May.

Stern and the IAU don't see eye to eye on everything, however. In 2006, the IAU reclassified Pluto as a "dwarf planet," reducing the number of officially recognized "true" planets in our solar system to eight. The decision still does not sit well with Stern and a number of other scientists.

Read the story here:

http://preview.tinyurl.com/plutostern

IN PASSING

Lowell Thomas Awardee to be Honored Posthumously

Explorers Club Lowell Thomas Awardee Donn Keith Haglund, Ph.D., passed away peacefully on Aug. 9 at the age of 90. His son Erik is attending the Oct. 28 Toronto dinner and will present on his father's work (See EN, August 2017).

Dr. Donn Haglund was known for his expertise in maritime transport to support Arctic economic development. He was Professor Emeritus of Geography at the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee, where he established an Arctic Winter field course which he taught for more than 40 years. The course "Arctic Winter," inspired countless students with his passion of the far North and his dedication to preserving the Arctic Circle.

Read his obituary here:

http://tinyurl.com/ltadhaglund

EXPEDITION CLASSIFIEDS

Join Science in the Wild

Join Science in the Wild, an adventure citizen science company run by Dr. Ulyana Horodyskyj, in the field this year and next. You'll not only learn about the beautiful landscapes you're trekking in and climbing, but also get to participate in important scientific projects.

From November 11-19, 2017: If you're a climber, take part in our snow and ice sampling expedition on Mexico's volcanoes, Iztaccihuatl and Pico de Orizaba. We'll be exploring the impacts of city pollution as well as volcanic ash on melting of snow and ice:

http://scienceinthewild.com/mexico_volcanoes/

From January 15 - 20, 2018: If you love survival stories, horseback riding, and hiking, travel with us to the Andes and explore the site made famous in the book, Alive! in the company of one of the survivors. We'll learn about the science of survival and document how the glacial landscape has changed in the 40+ years since the airplane crash:

http://scienceinthewild.com/mexico_volcanoes/

From February 4 - 12, 2018: If you love Aztec history, culinary delights, and working with robotics, join us in Mexico to explore Teotihuacan (site of Pyramids of the Sun and Moon), Nevado de Toluca's volcanic crater lakes, and Iztaccihuatl's summit glacier. This trip is not as rigorous as our November Mexican volcanoes itinerary and is focused on a scientific, culinary, and cultural experience:

http://scienceinthewild.com/mexican-volcanoes_2018/