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What's Cooking Spider-Man? Everest Round-Up, Pringles Fuel an Expedition

June 13, 2018, 10:33 am
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EXPEDITION UPDATE


Bill Steele and Hemirrhagus billsteelei, the spider named in his honor.

What's Cooking, Spider-Man?

Last time we wrote about world-renowned speleologist Bill Steele, he helped launch the National Eagle Scout Association's World Explorers Program dedicated to conducting national competitions to select young Eagle Scouts to experience life-changing opportunities in numerous fields.
Steele, an Eagle Scout himself, spends a lot of his time inside caves in Mexico, also home to a newly discovered species of spider. Scientists recently named it Hemirrhagus billsteelei, in honor of Steele's contribution to the collection of cave-dwelling tarantulas and other arachnids in Mexico's Huautla Cave System.

Without Steele, some of these spiders might never have been found.

Steele retired in 2014 after a 34-year career with the BSA. His last role was as national director for alumni relations and the National Eagle Scout Association. Today he leads Proyecto Espeleológico Sistema Huautla, or PESH, an annual underground expedition into the deepest cave system in the Western Hemisphere.

The new species can grow six to eight inches long. We hear some Explorers Club members can't wait to sink their teeth into Billsteelei at the next annual dinner.

Read more at:


EVEREST ROUND-UP

The Everest climbing season experienced unusually stable weather during the spring climbing season, but had its usual mix of both success and tragedy. Here's a quick round-up of results this year.

The jet stream hit the Himalaya on May 7. Everest expeditions were forced to wait at lower elevations, and the Icefall Doctors had to wait until May 10 to continue fixing ropes to the summit. Nevertheless, by May 14 they had completed the set lines on both the Nepalese and Tibetan sides of the mountain. From May 13 till May 24, the weather on Everest remained relatively calm, leading to a highly unusual 11 straight summit days, and likely a new record for Everest summits in one season, according to ExplorersWeb.

Exact statistics are still being compiled by the Himalayan Database, but this season will likely be the busiest ever. Everest saw at least 700 successful summits, substantially more than the current record of 667 set in 2013.

*    Death Count Drops, Slightly - Five deaths have been reported on Everest for the season, two fewer than in 2017. "The use of more supplemental oxygen, improved weather forecasting, staying on known routes and an increase of Sherpa support for foreigners, all have helped make Everest safer today than ever," writes noted climber, coach and professional speaker Alan Arnette on AlanArnette.com, based in Fort Collins, Colorado.


Of those fatalities, three were Sherpa: Damai Sarki fell into a crevasse near Camp 2 on the Nepal side; Pasang Norbu, 41, died near to the summit after suffering a stroke; and Lam Babu died in unclear circumstances on the way down from the summit while supporting a cryptocurrency stunt (see below). Two international climbers perished: Macedonian Gjeorgi Petkov, 63, from a heart attack on the Nepalese side, and the Japanese climber Nobukazu Kuriki, 36, who was found dead in his tent while trying to descend from Camp 3.

*    Almost a Triple Crown - In an attempt to bag Lhotse, Everest and Nuptse in a single season, Singaporean hedge-fund manager and ultra-marathon runner Leow Kah Shin hired a private team from Adventure Consultants, led by Guy Cotter. He and Cotter didn't quite make the Triple Crown, but managed two out of three - a fair haul. They climbed Lhotse and Everest in just over 24 hours, beginning on May 16. Earlier, they had abandoned their Nuptse push due to high winds and heavy snow.



Xia Boyu climbed with the Imagine Treks and Expeditions team, led by super Sherpa Mingma Gyalje. Photo: AFP

*    Double Amputee Returns 43 Years Later - In one of the most inspiring stories of the season, 70-year-old double amputee Xia Boyu managed to summit Everest, 43-years after his tragic first attempt. On that early expedition, the Chinese climber suffered severe frostbite, ultimately losing both his legs.

*    Record 22 Ascents; New Woman's Record - Kami Rita Sherpa, 48, made yet another trip to the top of the world, summiting Everest a record 22nd time. His goal is 25 summits before retiring. Meanwhile, 44-year-old Lhakpa Sherpa, from Connecticut, bested her own record for successful female ascents. Already the woman's record holder with eight Everest summits, she reached her ninth on May 16 from the North Col on the Tibetan side of the mountain.

*    Become a VVIP - Fancy yourself an Everest climber? One guide service, Seven Summits Treks and Expeditions based in Kathmandu, will take you there for a cool $130,000, all inclusive (except for airfare, your personal gear, and tips). Ask for their VVIP Everest Expedition Service via what they call the southeast ridge normal route, as if anything on Everest was actually "normal." The 36-day trip says nothing about the need to train before you arrive in Kathmandu, other than arriving with "a certain level of fitness."

In fact, money is more important.

The website reads, "If you want to experience what it feels like to be on the highest point on the planet and have strong economic background to compensate for your old age, weak physical condition or your fear of risks, you can sign up for the VVIP Mount Everest Expedition Service offered by Seven Summit Treks and Expeditions."

No thanks, we're good.

*    Publicity Stunt Goes Very, Very Wrong - One group held "the world's highest dinner party" at base camp. They had champagne, wore evening gowns and tuxedos, and raised over $135,000 for Community Action Nepal - a charity that supports Nepalis, according to Arnette's blog.

Fair enough. But when an ASKfm cryptocurrency promotional stunt, designed to draw attention to a cryptocurrency Initial Coin Offering, resulted in the death of one Sherpa, experienced Everest hands just shook their heads.

It was a stunt designed to play on one of cryptocurrencies most resilient memes: "to the moon" - the idea that prices will skyrocket, leaving currency holders rich in the process. But it was a stunt that left one Sherpa presumed dead on Everest, according to Mark Serrels, writing on CNET.com (June 4).

ASKfm, one of the world's top 10 social media networks, is set up in a question and answer format that is very popular with teens and tweens. It was about to release a brand new Initial Coin Offering (ICO), giving early investors the chance to pre-buy some of its cryptocurrency before its launch. To promote the ICO, ASKfm sent four "crypto enthusiasts" to Everest. The plan: bury $50,000 worth of ASKT, ASKfm's cryptocurrency, in a nano ledger at the top of the mountain.

See their promotional video here:

https://tinyurl.com/askfmstunt

 
Askfm ledger wallets left on Everest. 

The team of four made it to the top on May 14, and returned safely.

According to extensive media reports on the tragedy, Lam Babu Sherpa, a man who helped the ASKfm's four-man team summit, was left behind during the descent and is now presumed dead. Lam Babu Sherpa was a veteran of three Mount Everest summits.

Maxim Tsaryk, CEO of ASKfm, tells FinanceMagnates.com (May 31), "We sponsored an event like many other big companies do, although it didn't go well, and we are saddened and horrified by the outcome."

He continues, "Companies that choose to sponsor extreme sports and events are always taking a risk, as these events are, well, extremely risky. We can argue about if this was a good marketing ploy, but we can't argue about the fact that anyone's life being taken is horrible, even if it's someone who is working daily in a high-risk environment or choosing an extreme profession."

As of earlier this month, the buried Nano Ledger containing ASKfm's cryptocurrency is still on the mountain. Tsaryk says, "We weren't pushing for anyone to actually go and find this ledger, this was more of an entertainment kind of thing."

For more details about spring 2018 on Everest, visit:

https://explorersweb.com/2018/06/02/spring-2018-himalayan-recap/

http://www.alanarnette.com/blog/2018/05/24/everest-2018-season-summary-record-weather-record-summits/

EXPEDITION NOTES
 

Pringles Fuels Greenland Ice Cap Expedition

Many explorers we've covered on expeditions report deep cravings for chocolate. Or sticks of butter. Or pemmican, a nasty mix of animal fat and protein. Or a few nips of brandy at night. Now comes word of a rather unusual exploration fuel: Pringles.

Yes Pringles. While traditional potato chip manufacturers shave off slices of potato and deep fry them, Pringles are much different. The creation process begins with a slurry of wheat, rice, corn, and potato flakes that are pressed into form. The resulting dough is then laid out like a sheet of ultra-thin cookie dough and mechanically cut into shape. The chips then move forward on a conveyor belt until they are ultimately pressed into molds, giving it the famous Pringles shape, according to NaturalSociety.com.

Perhaps the only thing natural is the can's paper cardboard, but that's just us talking.

Now comes word that Pringles were considered a daily award during a grueling expedition to the Greenland ice cab by polar explorer and guide Eric Larsen, of Boulder, and his three clients.

 


For the love of Pringles. Photo taken during a previous Eric Larsen polar training trip. Nice lips. 

Larsen blogs on May 29, "To ski across the Greenland ice cap, we are pulling everything in lightweight sleds - 26 days of food, fuel and gear. Obviously, we want things to be as light as possible - especially our food. But we also need enough calories to sustain our daily efforts (for this trip around 5,000). Freeze dried meals, super charged oatmeal, Skratch energy bars, chocolate, salami, cheese, soup... we eat basically the same thing every day (and enjoy it).

"But the highlight has to be the salty snack of Pringles when we get in the tent each night. On polar expeditions, I choose Pringles because they stay fairly intact in the sled (surprisingly and somehow) and you can find them all over the world. Not a lot of nutritional value of course, but for crunch power and tasty satisfaction, they're worth it.

"... it takes a bit of self control to not chow through an entire tube each night," Larsen writes. 

We're thinking it might taste better if they actually used potatoes.

Read the entire post here:

 http://ericlarsenexplore.com/updates/journal/262234

Nominate Your Favorite Outdoor Book 

Nominations are now being accepted for the 2018 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 2018 National Outdoor Book Awards, nominated books must have been released (date of first shipment of books) after June 1, 2017 and before September 1, 2018, 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 23, 2018.

QUOTE OF THE MONTH 

"By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail."

- Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790). Source: Richard Wiese, newly-elected president of The Explorers Club, speaking on June 7 at the "Explorations in Investing" annual meeting of Jumar Management and Piton Debt Holdings in Boulder, Colorado.

Wiese would later say, "The best explorers see the dark cloud and know when to come to shore." When bad things happen, his father, an airline pilot credited with the first truly solo flight across the Pacific Ocean (1959), from the U.S. to Australia, would advise, "put yourself in a bubble of calm," to figure your way out.

In his introduction, Bo Parfet, author of  Die Trying: One Man's Quest to Conquer the Seven Summits (AMACOM, 2009), said, "Explorers survive because they think ahead and relentlessly prepare." 

His financial management firm uses exploration as a metaphor for investing.

FEATS 
El Capitan, Yosemite National Park, California. 

Honnold, Caldwell Break Climbing's "Four Minute Mile"



Two of the world's best rock climbers coped with frightening falls and the deaths of two fellow climbers on the same rock in a month-long quest to shatter a mythical record in Yosemite National Park. Tenacity paid off June 6 as Alex Honnold, 32, and Tommy Caldwell, 39, reached the top of El Capitan, the most celebrated slab of granite on Earth, in less than two hours, breaking a barrier compared to the four-minute mile, according to an Associated Press story by Brian Melley (June 7).

The blistering time of 1 hour, 58 minutes and seven seconds capped weeks of practice and a few stumbles on the so-called Nose route that runs up the middle of the 3,000-foot (914 meters) sheer monolith.

Hans Florine, who has held the record on and off between 1990 and 2012 - the last time with Honnold - said the mark is equivalent to the ongoing quest to break the two-hour marathon or Roger Bannister's 1954 achievement in the mile.

"We were pushing the five-hour barrier before and then the four-hour barrier and then the three-hour barrier. So which one of those is the four-minute mile?" Florine said before the mark was broken. "I think it is getting close," he tells AP.

On June 3, two U.S. climbers in their forties perished on El Cap's Freeblast route horrifying spectators in the valley below who had been hoping to see Honnold and Caldwell. Honnold and Caldwell were not climbing that day and they canceled plans to go for the record and instead conducted a training run.

Honnold is the only person to have climbed El Cap solo without a rope or any protection, a perilous feat that earned him both admiration and criticism for being reckless. (See EN, June 2017).

Read more about the El Cap speed record here:

MEDIA MATTERS

Bolivian National Park Found to be World's Most Diverse

A two-and-a-half year expedition in a remote part of Bolivia has uncovered a treasure trove of data on what has proven to be the world's most biodiverse national park, according to LoneleyPlanet.com.

Researchers from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) discovered more than 120 potentially new species of plant, butterfly, and vertebrate during their epic trek. As a result of the work, Madidi National Park is now considered the most biologically diverse protected area on the planet.

 
A giant cowbird snacks on the ticks of a lowland tapir (Tapirus terrestris) in the Madidi river. Photo by: Milieniusz Spanowicz/Wildlife Conservation Society.

In terms of species, it is home to 265 mammals, 1,018 birds, 105 reptiles, 109 amphibians, at least 314 fish, 5,515 plants with 1,544 butterfly species and sub-species also confirmed within the park.

Dr. Robert Wallace of the WCS said: "The massive amounts of images and data collected will provide us with the baseline information needed to protect this natural wonder for future generations of Bolivians and the world." Of all the species recorded in the Madidi landscape, 200 of them were newly discovered in Bolivia while 124 are considered as "candidate new species."

Read the story and view the video here:


 
Ulyana Nadia Horodyskyj  

Explorer Conducts Science in the Wild

Ulyana Nadia Horodyskyj was last covered in EN in April 2016, for her study of the difference between satellite images of Baffin Island glaciers, and the so-called "ground truth" research they gather by direct observation at the same sites seen from space.

Recently she was profiled in Rock & Ice magazine (April 26). Horodyskyj's Ph.D. work in glaciology had taken her to the Himalaya to study the effects of climate change on glacial lakes and villages high in the Nepalese mountains. She had participated in and even led alpine expeditions before, participating in climbs up Mount Ranier, Argentina's Aconcagua and Lobuche in eastern Nepal, according to the story by Zoe Rom.

She and her boyfriend and climbing partner, expedition guide and musician Ricardo Pena, are constantly training for ambitious climbs. For now, their exploration wish list  includes the Seven Summits, the 50 state high points and the Colorado centennial peaks. On each summit, Horodyskyj will make a short video about science, and Pena will sing a song.

"The pull of mountains even taller than the Rockies drew Horodyskyj to Nepal, where she began researching the effects of climate change on glacial lakes, studying how steadily warming glaciers endangered Nepalese villages near flooding lakes. Leaning on traditional knowledge and collaborating with Sherpa scientists in the mountains was a dream come true for Horodyskyj," Rom writes.

"When my scientific work has application and can be used to help people, it holds a lot more meaning for me."

Horodyskyj runs Science in the Wild (www.scienceinthewild.com), a Boulder, Colorado, company that takes clients on immersive adventure science expeditions.

Read the story here:

Scientists and Archaeologists Locate WWII Plane Where 11 Lost Their Lives

A B-24 D-1 bomber plane transporting 11 American servicemen was shot down over the South Pacific on March 11, 1944. For more than 70 years, the final resting place of the aircraft nicknamed Heaven Can Wait and the men it carried remained a mystery. Now, through the efforts of Project Recover, it has finally been identified.



Project Recover is an organization dedicated to locating the remains of U.S. aircraft that crashed into the ocean during World War II. To find the wreckage of this particular plane, a team of marine scientists, archaeologists, and historians worked together to trace its final flight, according to the story by Michele Debczak on MentalFloss.com. (May 28).

Before heading off to Papua New Guinea to survey the area, Project Recover compiled data on the crash from military reports, diary entries from airmen on associated planes, and extended family members.

With that information in hand, the team traveled to the suspected crash site and searched a 10-square-mile patch of sea floor with sonar, divers, and aerial and aquatic robots. It took them 11 days to locate the wreckage of Heaven Can Wait in Hansa Bay, 213 feet beneath the ocean's surface.

Most touching moment: a memorial service for all 11 servicemen held aboard the research vessel. The documentary concludes with these words:

"They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them."

- Excerpt from "For The Fallen," by Laurence Binyon (1914)

Read the story and watch the video here:


AUV Helps Scientists Find "Holy Grail of Shipwrecks" and Up to $17 Billion in Treasure

Here's another example of how technology is answering some of the oceans' deepest secrets: The Spanish galleon San José, which went down off the coast of Colombia in 1708, is the so-called "holy grail of shipwrecks." 

The doomed vessel was discovered in 2015 after more than three centuries lying in wait at the bottom of the Caribbean Sea, and late last month, researchers revealed how they made their famous find, according to a story by Peter Dockrill on ScienceAlert.com (May 23).


The perfect Father's Day gift for the treasure hunter in your life. 

Marine scientists from the Woods Hole (Mass.) Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) say the San José - whose sunken riches are estimated to be worth as much as $17 billion in today's currency - was discovered by a 13-foot autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) called REMUS 6000, during a survey off Colombia's Barú Peninsula. It has a maximum depth of 19,685 feet (6000 m, hence the model number).

Who gets their pieces of eight remains locked in controversy.

Some contend that since much of the wealth aboard the vessel resulted from the conquest of the Americas, it ought not leave Colombia - while others say other nations still may be entitled to a share of the treasure, based on historical arguments that much Spanish cargo in the late 17th century rightfully belonged to Holland, France, or England.

With the history of these sorts of disputes in mind, the United Nations called on Colombia last month to not commercially exploit the discovered wreck and the cultural heritage it represents.

Read the full story here:


Want your own REMUS 6000? Who wouldn't? Read the sales brochure here:


 

BLUE Film Examines a Marine World in Jeopardy

BLUE, directed, written and produced by Karina Holden, is a new documentary focusing on people defending marine habitats, campaigning for smarter fishing, combating marine pollution and fighting for the protection of keystone species. Among its numerous awards is "Best Impact Film," from the New York Wild Film Festival 2018.  

The way the ocean operates is different to how we thought of it 100 years ago. The film believes we can no longer think of it as a place of limitless resources, a dumping ground, immune to change or decline. Lest watching this makes you, well, blue, the doc shows there is a way forward and the time to act is now.

Watch the trailer here:


Learn about U.S. screenings at:


 

"Good Evening Everybody"

There's a game we like to play when showing visitors around the headquarters of The Explorers Club in New York. There on the landing is a bust of a distinguished looking gentleman; cover the nameplate and few visitors recognize the man who at one time was the most famous broadcaster in America. In fact, the Club's building is named in his honor, as is an annual award.

Globetrotting writer and broadcaster Lowell Thomas (1892-1981) is the subject of a new documentary by filmmaker Rick Moulton, narrated by Robert Siegel.  If you watch a news video today, listen to a newscast or download a podcast, then you are benefiting from the work of Lowell Thomas. As Tom Brokaw, Dan Rather, Dalai Lama and many others explain in this lively film about a dynamo of a man, Lowell Thomas invented what is now often celebrated or disparaged as "traditional journalism."

And he was a great adventurer. In a primetime special after his death, Walter Cronkite concluded that Thomas had "crammed a couple of centuries worth of living into" his 89 years. He returned from Arabia in 1919 with film of "Lawrence of Arabia," a legend he also more or less invented through a multi-media show. After riding a mule caravan up into forbidden Tibet in 1949, just before the Chinese invaded, Thomas returned with his leg broken in eight places but also with precious film of the young Dalai Lama. 

See the trailer at:


BUZZ WORDS

Microadventures

An experience close to home, cheap, simple, short and 100% guaranteed to refresh your life. A microadventure takes the spirit of a big adventure and squeezes it into a day or even a few hours. Source: Microadventures: Local Discoveries for Great Escapes (William Collins, 2014) by Alastair Humphreys, British adventurer, author, blogger, filmmaker and photographer.

EXPEDITION CLASSIFIEDS

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: 


Coming in Fall 2018: Travel With Purpose, A Field Guide to Voluntourism by Jeff Blumenfeld (Rowman & Littlefield)

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. ©2018 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 (made payable to blumassoc@aol.com).  Read EXPEDITION NEWS at www.expeditionnews.com. Enjoy the EN blog at www.expeditionnews.blogspot.com. 
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Exploring the "Twilight Zone," Forget About the Moon, Bright Stamp From the Snailmail Folks

July 12, 2018, 7:48 pm
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NASA, NSF PLUNGE INTO OCEAN "TWILIGHT ZONE" TO EXPLORE ECOSYSTEM CARBON FLOW 

A large multidisciplinary team of scientists, equipped with advanced underwater robotics and an array of analytical instrumentation, will set sail for the northeastern Pacific Ocean next month. The team's mission for NASA and the National Science Foundation (NSF) is to study the life and death of the small organisms that play a critical role in removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and in the ocean's carbon cycle.

More than 100 scientists and crew from more than 20 research institutions will embark from Seattle for NASA's Export Processes in the Ocean from Remote Sensing (EXPORTS) oceanographic campaign. EXPORTS is the first coordinated multidisciplinary science campaign of its kind to study the fates and carbon cycle impacts of microscopic plankton using two research vessels and several underwater robotic platforms. 
The Pacific Ocean teems with phytoplankton along the West Coast of the United States, as captured by the MODIS instrument on NASA's Aqua satellite. Satellites can track phytoplankton blooms, which occur when these plant-like organisms receive optimal amounts of sunlight and nutrients. Phytoplankton play an important role in removing atmospheric carbon dioxide. Photo courtesy of NASA. 

The research vessels, the R/V Revelle and R/V Sally Ride, operated by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California San Diego, will sail west 200 miles into the open ocean. From these seaborne laboratories, researchers will explore the plankton, as well as the chemical and physical properties of the ocean from the surface to one half-mile below into the twilight zone, a region with little or no sunlight where the carbon from the plankton can be sequestered, or kept out of the atmosphere, for periods ranging from decades to thousands of years.

"The carbon humans are putting into the atmosphere is warming Earth," says Mike Sieracki, program director in the National Science Foundation's Division of Ocean Sciences. "Much of that carbon eventually finds its way into the ocean and is transported to the deep ocean, where it is sequestered and will not return to the atmosphere for a long time. This project will help us understand the biological and chemical processes that remove the carbon, and establish a foundation for monitoring these processes as the climate changes."

Learn more here:

EXPEDITION NOTES
 
Bright Stamps from the Folks Who Brought You Snailmail
Bioluminescent Life Forever stamps introduced earlier this year celebrate life-forms that create their own light and perform a variety of functions, including support for medical research. The 50-cent stamps, 10 examples of Bioluminescent Life on sheets of 20 stamps, include glowing marine species, a firefly and a cluster of mushrooms captured on the surface.

The shimmering stamps were created so that they reflect light to mimic the effect of bioluminescence. Fairly rare among species on land, bioluminescence reigns supreme in the darkness of the deep ocean. Fishes, squids, jellyfish, worms and many other ocean organisms make varied use of their ability to glow. Their light can lure food, attract a mate or fend off a predator.

Through improved deep-sea exploration and advances in photography, scientists have identified thousands of bioluminescent species. Yet many mysteries of bioluminescence remain unsolved, and many benefits of research await discovery.

Order them at store.usps.com

QUOTE OF THE MONTH 

"May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. May your rivers flow without end, meandering through pastoral valleys tinkling with bells, past temples and castles and poets towers into a dark primeval forest where tigers belch and monkeys howl, through miasmal and mysterious swamps and down into a desert of red rock, blue mesas, domes and pinnacles and grottos of endless stone, and down again into a deep vast ancient unknown chasm where bars of sunlight blaze on profiled cliffs, where deer walk across the white sand beaches, where storms come and go as lightning clangs upon the high crags, where something strange and more beautiful and more full of wonder than your deepest dreams waits for you - beyond that next turning of the canyon walls."

- Edward Abbey (1927-1989), American author

MEDIA MATTERS
 

Erik Weihenmayer tests the BrainPort device at his local gym in Golden, Colorado. With BrainPort, electrical impulses are sent to the brain by way of nerves in the tongue instead of the optic nerve in the eye. File photo by Scott Lederer originally appeared in the 
NIH Record, March 20, 2009.  

AI Tools Help Blind Adventurer Tackle Everyday Tasks

A host of products promise to radically change the lives of the visually impaired, including one noted adventurer, according to Chris Kornelis, writing in the May 28 Wall Street Journal.

"Since losing his vision at age 13, Erik Weihenmayer has summited Mount Everest, white-water rafted and climbed frozen waterfalls. But making soup in his kitchen presented a unique challenge. On a frozen waterfall he could tap his ax against the ice to get a feel for its density, but in the kitchen, he had no way to differentiate between cans of tomato and chicken noodle," Kornelis writes.

"Mr. Weihenmayer, 49 years old, found a solution in Microsoft Corp.'s Seeing AI, a free app for the visually impaired. Among other things, the app can recognize faces, identify money, read handwriting and scan bar codes to differentiate between cans of soup."

Seeing AI is one of the artificial-intelligence-powered products that are helping blind and vision-impaired people live more independently. Microsoft says it has no plans to monetize the app, which launched in 2017, calling it part of the company's efforts to empower all people, including those with disabilities.

Weihenmayer, for example, uses Comcast 's voice remote to find TV shows, Apple's Siri to send texts and Amazon's Alexa to cue up his favorite music, according to the story. He also uses a product called Aira, which employs glasses with a camera, sensors and network connectivity to connect the visually impaired to human agents, who act as visual interpreters. The reps can describe users' surroundings and assist them with tasks such as online searches.

"I think this technology gives people the confidence to go out and explore unknown areas where you just might be a little bit hesitant to go out as a blind person," says   Weihenmayer, a co-founder of No Barriers, a nonprofit that supports and advocates for people with disabilities.

Read the story here:

Should We Return to the Moon?
The famous 'Earthrise' photo from Apollo 8, the first manned mission to the moon. The crew entered lunar orbit on Christmas Eve, Dec. 24, 1968. That evening, the astronauts held a live broadcast, showing pictures of the Earth and moon as seen from their spacecraft. (Photo courtesy NASA)

As the 50th anniversary of Apollo 8's historic lunar orbit approaches later this year, NASA is planning to repeat the feat with an unmanned mission in 2019. Costco Connection, the monthly magazine sent to 12 million Costco members, debated the merits of returning to the moon in its May 2018 issue.  

Voting a resounding "yes," is Robert Zubrin, president of the Mars Society. "Astronauts should be explorers of new worlds. The moment is at hand to open the final frontier. America should seize it," he writes.

Taking an opposing view is Amitai Etzioni, the author of The Moon-Doggle (Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1964). He writes, "Explorations of the moon (and other deep-space ventures) have shown that they yield relatively little compared with near-space enterprises, which include communications satellites ... Claims that exploring the moon will allow us to come closer to understanding the origins of the universe or of life, or help us solve the mysteries of existence, are rhetorical flourishes."

Read the debate here:

Mike O'Rourke, a Ph.D. candidate in archeology at the University of Toronto, examines the remains of a large Inuvialuit house on the Tuktoyaktuk Peninsula in 2016. All traces of the house have now been completely washed away into the Beaufort Sea. (Photo by Max Friesen)

Experts Say Loss of Arctic Archeological Sites a "Catastrophe"

For thousands of years, the Arctic has functioned as a time capsule where evidence of past cultures and environments has remained remarkably well preserved. But archeologists are discovering that much of that evidence has been destroyed in less than a generation, owing to the accelerating effects of climate change, writes Ivan Semeniuk, science reporter of the Globe and Mail (June 27).

"Unless a concerted effort is made to rescue what is left, they say, a vast treasury of knowledge about the humanity's presence at the world's northern extremes will be wiped from existence."

"It's a catastrophe. A majority of sites, including many of the most important ones, are already gone," said Max Friesen, an Arctic archeologist at the University of Toronto and a member of an international team that has been taking stock of the damage.

The group's findings, published last month in the research journal Antiquity, suggest the situation is desperate, with far more sites set to vanish than scientists have the time or resources to document.
Erosion is a major threat, Friesen said, because so many northern archeological sites occur along coastlines where people lived off fish and other marine resources. 

As sites disappear, Friesen added, they also take with them an irreplaceable record of the plants and animals that were present and used by people who lived in a particular place and time.

Read the story here:

EXPEDITION FUNDING
Can You Crowdfund an Expedition?

Crowdfunding could be one of the most difficult techniques for expedition fundraising. That's the opinion of visitors to the British climbing forum, ukclimbing.com, as posted July 9 by Cathy O'Dowd on TheBusinessofAdventure.com. Reasons given include:

People actively dislike funding what appears to be a vacation.

People tend to mostly fund only people they know.

You'll have more luck if a product is involved, such as a book or film.

Funding increases if there's a charity involved.

It can create more costs and more work, especially if you need to create expedition-related imprinted items to reward donors.

You may need to top off the funds - sometimes if an explorer or adventurer doesn't put in their own funds, they won't reach the target and thus will receive nothing. One advantage to doing so is that donors are more inclined if the individual/team were putting in a sizable chunk of the money themselves.

Read the entire post here:

 
A tool of the people.

Leatherman Launches Grant Program

In 1983, after eight years of perseverance, Tim Leatherman created the world's first multi-tool, and it became an icon. Over the last 35 years, Leatherman multi-tools have prepared people around the world to tackle challenges, and in some cases have even saved lives. Now, the creator of the original multi-tool wants to inspire and support the next generation of doers who may someday save the day and change the world.

The inaugural Leatherman Grant Program will donate $100,000 to support non-profit organizations that aim to inspire, prepare, and develop the next generation of problem solvers.  

"We created this grant program to provide funds for fresh innovative ideas that have the potential to make a big impact. We hope we can enable someone to make their mark and make a difference," said Leatherman, co-founder and chairman of the board.

Grant applications will be accepted through August 31, 2018. All 501(c)3 organizations or the global equivalent are eligible to apply for funding ranging from $5,000 to $15,000. A team of Leatherman employees including Tim Leatherman will choose 10 to 15 grantees by October 2018. Application deadline is August 31, 2018.

For more information: 

EXPEDITION MARKETING
Princess Yachts Supports eXXpedition North Pacific 2018

Princess Yachts have lent their support to all-female environmental voyage eXXpedition, which aims to shed light on the impact of plastic on the environment and human health.

eXXpedition North Pacific 2018 is an all-female sailing expedition and scientific research mission that will study the crisis of plastics in the oceans.

The crew will be sailing the North Pacific Gyre in Sea Dragon, a 72-ft. scientific exploration vessel (owned by Pangaea Exploration), from Oahu to Vancouver (through July 14), and then from Vancouver to Seattle (July 21 - July 28, 2018) where the journey will end. The project is led by British skipper and ocean advocate Emily Penn, according to the story in Yachting & Boating World (Mar. 16, 2018).

The eXXpedition crew is made up of 24 female scientists, students, artists, filmmakers, business women, psychologists, actors, ocean activists and sustainability professionals, and novice as well as experienced sailors, traveling 3,000 nautical miles. 

The expedition aims to raise awareness of the impact of single-use plastic and toxics in the world's oceans; celebrate women in science, leadership and adventure; create a community of female change-makers and inspiring global ambassadors to tackle the environmental and health impacts of plastic pollution; and champion and contribute to innovative scientific research to tackle the crisis. 

During the month-long voyage, the crew will make daily trawls for plastics and pollutants, and collect data for a variety of global datasets and scientific research studies. 

Read more at:

Learn more on the project's website:



Sterling Rope Kicks off 25th Anniversary Treasure Hunt

Climbing rope brand Sterling wants all climbers, explorers and adventurers to think about their brand when they head to the hills. They recently announced an international treasure hunt and Instagram contest to celebrate its 25th anniversary. From June to November, Sterling will be partnering with Access Fund (@AccessFund) and the American Alpine Club (@AmericanAlpine) to place wooden #Sterling25 markers at 25 different crags across the US and Canada - anywhere from the trailhead to the top of a climb - and clues will be posted by @SterlingRope each week to help hunters find them.

Every Friday through November 16 @SterlingRope will post a photo and factual clue from its Instagram page. The first person to discover the #Sterling25 marker and post a photo with it tagging #Sterling25, @SterlingRope, @AccessFund, @AmericanAlpine will win a new Sterling rope. The next 25 people to post with the same marker will receive additional Sterling swag. 

Each day the marker goes unfound, another clue will be released to help treasure hunters win.

There will be 25 different markers in locations ranging from Alaska to Alberta, Washington to West Virginia, and Michigan to Maine, giving hunters around the country 650 chances to win.

Learn more here:

WEB WATCH

VR Transports Landlocked Students to the Sea

Yet another use for virtual reality is to expose students to experiences they might not otherwise get to see, as in the case of these landlocked students from Red Hawk ElementarySchool in Erie, Colorado. The Instagram video posted by Ocean First Institute shows the kids had a busy afternoon, first "diving" in protected waters of Indonesia, then off to a shipwreck in the British Virgin Islands.



Their reactions are priceless. See the video at:

Ocean First Institute, based in Boulder, Colorado, is a non-profit dedicated to creating impassioned, young ocean stewards by way of education and experience.

The organization connects youth with the wonders of the ocean and the importance of hands-on conservation through programming that highlights scientific exploration. Its in-person and virtual education programs have inspired over 100,000 students across the world to take action in their local communities, while its field-based research expeditions have exposed students to the rigors of the scientific process and how it contributes to the real-world value of conservation.

BUZZ WORDS

Space Scurvy

Exposure to microgravity has caused eye problems in 76% of astronauts deployed on prolonged space missions. NASA calls it "Spaceflight Associated Neuro-Ocular Syndrome." Astronauts call it "Space Scurvy."

Source: Christopher Teng, Yale School of Medicine Ophthalmology Professor, who was part of a NASA team using parabolic flights to test the effects of low gravity conditions on human physiology. Employing a special contact lens embedded with a sensor, Teng measured changes in the curvature of the cornea, which correspond to fluctuations in eye pressure. It measured real-time changes in intraocular pressure during parabolic flight. 

Last month, NASA's "Gravitational Dose and Multi-System Physiologic Response" team gathered aboard a parabolic flight aircraft in Bordeaux, France, and were joined by eight life science experiments from Germany, Netherlands, UK, France, and USA. On-board gravity ranged from nearly double that of Earth's, down to one-quarter gravity, which is less than the gravity on Mars, but much more than the Moon's.

Read more:

DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS

Everest Icefall Doctors Operate Lower Down

In the June issue of EN we referred to "icefall doctors" fixing lines to the summit. The original information was sourced to Explorersweb.com. That was not entirely correct, as pointed out by one eagle-eyed reader.  

Dear Expedition News:

Something I think you may want to know: the "Icefall Doctors" are a team of Nepali climbers (usually Sherpa) whose job is to fix the lines across the Khumbu Icefall between base camp and camp 1 and I believe they fix the ropes to camp 2 as well. That's their specific job and unlike what many people think they are not necessarily expert climbers at all. Sometimes they do a good job at fixing anchors and sometimes they don't. I think in general their work seems to be improving. The ropes above that (to camp 3, 4 and the summit) are not fixed by the icefall doctors but by the Sherpas of the guiding companies. So I don't think it's correct to say that the icefall doctors fixed lines to the summit.  

Ricardo Peña
Boulder, Colorado

Rowan White of ExplorersWeb responds:

"Ricardo is entirely correct. We erred.

"We've changed the copy accordingly so that readers referring back to that (Everest) round-up will not be misled, and we've added an editorial note at the end pointing out the belated correction.
"Thanks for letting us know. As every publisher knows, errors inevitably creep in from time to time, but we'll continue to do our best to minimize them."

Best regards,

Rowan, Owner & Operator of ExplorersWeb 

 
For an up close and personal look at the life of Sherpas, including the dangers Icefall Doctors face every climbing season, watch Sherpa on Netflix. Beginning as an account of a 2014 expedition up Mount Everest from the perspective of the unheralded Sherpas who make such climbs possible, this riveting 2015 documentary shifts focus when tragedy intervenes, killing 16 of the Himalayan guides.

ON THE HORIZON

 
Explore Weekend at the Royal Geographic Society with IBG, Nov. 9-11, 2018, London

It's not too soon to plan to attend Explore 2018, the Royal Geographic Society's annual expedition and field research seminar held each November at its London headquarters. With over 90 leading field scientists and explorers, the Explore weekend will provide inspiration, advice and contacts for your own field research project or expedition. The emphasis is on small projects with a research component but anyone planning overseas expeditions or fieldwork is welcome - regardless of age or experience. 

Learn more:


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: 


Coming in Fall 2018: 

Travel With Purpose, A Field Guide to Voluntourism (Rowman & Littlefield) by Jeff Blumenfeld

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. ©2018 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 (made payable to blumassoc@aol.com).  Read EXPEDITION NEWS at www.expeditionnews.com. Enjoy the EN blog at www.expeditionnews.blogspot.com. 
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Eye Docs Return to Nepal, OR Show's Weirdest Products, Rolex Expands Explorers Club Support

August 8, 2018, 8:07 pm
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EXPEDITION UPDATE 
Members of the December 2017 Gift of Sight Expedition to Nepal (shown above) will return to the country in October to provide quality eye care, including cataract surgeries. (Photo courtesy DooleyIntermed.org)

Gift of Sight Expedition Returns to Nepal
Some expeditions, of course, attempt to set new records. Others focus on scientific discovery. But those that serve to directly benefit the impoverished, the underprivileged and the desperately ill deserve special recognition. 

Dooley Intermed International, the New York-based non-profit that delivers quality medical care "at the end of the road and beyond," will once again travel to Nepal in October with a team of leading ophthalmologists. Their destination is Western Nepal - the Gumghadi, Mugu District, on the border of Tibet. It's considered the most remote region in Nepal, and among the least developed.

The team, assembled by Scott Hamilton, president of Dooley Intermed, and Dr. Ronald C. Gentile of Operation Restore Sight, will depart in early October on a two-week mission involving members of the elite Operation Restore Sight team.

This latest medical expedition to cure blindness represents Dooley Intermed's sixth sight restoration medical mission to Nepal in eight years, according to Hamilton. (See EN, January 2018).

An advance team from Himalaya Eye Hospital and the Pema Ts'al Sakya Monastic Institute will depart from Pokhara, Nepal (about 130 miles west of Kathmandu), on a multi-day four-wheel-drive journey into the Himalaya to reach the Mugu District. Tri-lingual monks from the monastery have volunteered their services as translators and eye camp assistants.

The Dooley-Operation Restore Sight surgical team will then travel via chartered Twin Otter aircraft to the remote 1,500-ft. Talcha airstrip located at an elevation of 9,000 feet. From there the eye doctors will journey along a mountain trail to Gumghadi village, meet up with the advance team, then begin the multi-day eye camp, providing comprehensive eye examinations, refractions, eyeglasses, medical care and sight-restoring surgeries.

"All medical care, eyeglasses, medicines and surgeries will be provided completely free of cost to everyone in need," says Dr. Gentile. Cataract surgery is one of the most cost-effective and gratifying surgical procedures in medicine since patients are "cured" overnight, often with full restoration of their eyesight.

In 2013 and 2017 members of the same team restored sight to more than 150 villagers in Nepal's remote Mustang and Gorkha regions while providing quality eye care and refractive services to over 1,500 patients. The Dooley Intermed - Operation Restore Sight team also participated in the construction of a new Eye Hospital in the Kavre District of Nepal, a region that suffered massive damage in the 2015 Nepal Earthquake.

Learn more about Dooley Intermed - Operation Restore Sight at:

See the Skyship Films documentary of the team's 2013 mission here:

EXPEDITION NOTES

Just One Word: "Plastics"

In a famous scene from The Graduate (1967), "Benjamin Braddock," played by Dustin Hoffman, receives some career advice at a party. "There's a great future in plastics," he's told. 

That may be the case, but plastics, particularly microplastics, have become the scourge of the marine environment worldwide. One group has been marshalling outdoor explorers and adventurers to study the problem in great depth. 

From 2013-2017, Adventure Scientists, based in Bozeman, Montana, mobilized thousands of trained volunteers to help identify the extent of microplastic pollution in marine and freshwater systems around the world. Results have revealed microplastics in the vast majority of marine samples collected, from places including Maine, Alaska, Argentina, Thailand, and Antarctica.  

Pollutants including pesticides and manufacturing chemicals can adhere to microplastic particles and bioaccumulate in aquatic life. Microplastics have been shown to affect feeding behavior and predator avoidance, and can interact with other pollutants to affect cell function in fish. They're also able to move from the digestive tract of organisms into the bloodstream, according to Adventure Scientists. 


Adventure Scientists works with outdoor adventurers to collect high quality data. (Photo credit: Louise Johns) 

The Global Microplastics Initiative utilized a network of trained volunteers to collect water samples across the world's oceans, rivers, lakes, and streams. Approximately 1,000 volunteer-led expeditions collected 2,677 water samples over four years and spanning each continent and every ocean. It has resulted in the most diverse and the largest known dataset documenting microplastic pollution on a global scale. 

The news is not good. On average, global water samples contained 11.8 pieces of microplastic per liter. Open ocean samples contained on average higher concentrations of the pollutant than did coastal samples, with polar regions containing the highest averages. Across studies, microfibers, as opposed to other types of microplastics, were dominant: microfibers composed 91% of marine particles, and 92% of freshwater particles. Through partnerships and targeted outreach, data are being used by governments, organizations, and industry to address the environmental issue of plastic and microplastic pollution. 

See the initial findings here: 


FEATS

  

Kick Scooters for Charity. That's Bex on the left. 

We Get a Kick Out of This

Londoners Bex Band and Gil Drori just completed a 1,750-mi. journey traveling the full length of the western U.S. using kick scooters - stand-up non-motorized scooters that are powered by leg muscles alone. The expedition, named "Kicking the States" began on May 17 in Vancouver, Canada and recently ended in Tijuana, Mexico. Their goal was to raise money to help build a school in Tanzania. They averaged 30 miles a day carrying gear on their scooters.

On Aug. 7, KUSI-TV in San Diego covered their journey:

Learn more about the project here:

QUOTE OF THE MONTH 

"Wilderness is a ferocious intoxication that sweeps over your senses. It is an untouched place that leaves you elated, awed, and changed. It is an aphrodisiac, a place of furious, ripe fullness."
- Jay Griffiths writing in UTNE Reader, January/February 2003. Griffiths' writing has appeared in the London Review of Books, The Guardian, The Observer, The Ecologist, and Resurgence, of which she served as associate editor.

EXPEDITION FOCUS  

Outdoor Retail Summer Market's Most Unusual Products 

While thousands of outdoor retailers converge on Denver for the annual Outdoor Retail Summer Market looking for products that will enhance their profitability, we attend for other reasons, and not just for the free water bottles and ballpoint pens. We attend to search of the more unusual products. Some are perfect for expeditions, others not so much. 

"Consumers are all about multi-sport now. And gear is following suit: versatility rules and hybrid products are increasingly designed with multi-purpose functionality," writes Aaron Bible in Outdoor Insight magazine (August 2018). 

This year's show didn't disappoint us. Here's what caught our eye:

 
The Bivystick (lower right).

*            Bivystick - Turn your cell phone into a satellite communication device. You can send and receive text messages, share your location, track your path, send an SOS message, recharge your phone battery, and access detailed weather forecasts, with or without cell service. It's all integrated with the Bivy app where you have access to over 45,000 trails, climbing routes, and waterways across the U.S. Basic service starts at $17.99. 

See it on Kickstarter: 

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bivyapp/bivystick-simple-affordable-satellite-communicatio

 

Hike and paddle on the same trip. Photo credit: @linkedringphotography

*            Kokopelli Packraft - Brilliant idea. An inflatable 5 lb. raft you can take into the outdoors in your backpack or onto your bike. Then paddle across a lake; fish from it; enjoy a remote backcountry paddle; float in with your gear to hard-to-reach climbing routes. Starts at $595. www.kokopellipackraft.com

 

The FireEscape - just don't bet your life on it.

*            Fire Escape Carabiner
- More than a few exhibitors were showing carabiners that were similar in one important detail - they were lousy for climbing. But if you want to use your 'biner as a wrench, seatbelt cutter, window breaker, or bottle opener, you're covered. Especially with this gizmo from Outdoor Element. Pricing not set yet. www.outdoorelement.com

 
Squeezing the simplicity out of a camp lantern.

*            Hydra-Light - How do you take a simple product like a flashlight or camp lantern and make it way more complicated? Here's an idea: create a water-activated HydraCell-powered light. Just dip it in water for hundreds of hours of light and power. When hydrated with water, they instantly produce a steady flow of electric current. Go ahead if you want to be cutting edge out on the trail, but we'll stick with boring Duracells ourselves. $29.95 As Seen on TV. www.hydra-light.com

 

Cold hands or dead phone. You decide.

*            Zippo Rechargeable Handwarmer ­- What do you do when you make cigarette lighters and the world turns against you? Naturally, you make rechargeable handwarmers that can also charge your sorry dead iPhone. It will heat for 120 degrees F. for six hours. Or charge your USB compatible devices. Except not at the same time. So the choice is yours: cold hands or no phone. Silly question. $44.95, www.zippo.com.

 

Love it. Want it. 'Nuff said. 

*            Tailgater Tire Table - Definitely drool worthy. No fancy brand names here. Simple directions. No cutting edge technology or anything fancy like that. This one speaks to us.
We need it. We want it. Even their URL is self-explanatory. $139.95, 
www.tailgatertiretable.com

Chamonix Honors Its Climbing History

During a recent hiking trip to the French resort of Chamonix, the EN staff was happy to see how well the city embraces its climbing history. Site of the first Winter Olympics in 1924, this picturesque town of 8,900 is located in a valley on the north side of the summit of Mont Blanc, at 4808.7 m/15,777-ft. it's the highest European mountain west of Russia. Nearby is one of the highest cable cars in the world, which links the town to the summit of the Aiguille du Midi at 3842 m/12,605-ft.

 
French resort city honors its famed guides and mountaineers.

There are free telescopes in town pointed at the high point, and signs honoring the first ascension on Aug. 8, 1786 by Jacques Balmat (1762-1834) and Doctor Michael-Gabriel Paccard (1757-1827). Best of all is a huge fresco devoted to the "Mountain Guides of Chamonix" located on the entire end wall of a property on the Rue du Docteur Paccard, close to the center of Chamonix.

 
Michel Payot (1840-1922)

 
Gaston Rebuffat (1921-1985)

Created in July 2010, the mural features 20 of the outstanding pioneering guides and mountaineers associated with Chamonix and Mont Blanc. It's a trompe l'oeil on a grand scale.

Go for the hiking, go for the French cuisine, and go for a look at the early days of climbing almost as old as the United States itself. 

For a closer view, dust off your sixth grade French and click here:


MEDIA MATTERS

Caving is "Pure Exploration"

Bill Steele, the cave explorer we've covered in past issues of EN, provided his thoughts about the Thai soccer team, ages 11 to 16, and their coach trapped inside a cave in Mae Sai, northern Thailand. He writes in the July 6 Washington Post just prior to their successful rescue on July 9-10, "What I have learned, since I started exploring caves as a 13-year-old Boy Scout 55 years ago, is that caving absolutely requires you to adhere to the Boy Scout motto: Be prepared.


Rescue scene from Royal Thai Navy Facebook page.

"The Thai boys and their coach obviously were not prepared with supplies in case of an emergency. They were not prepared with proper gear such as helmets, each person with a dependable light (or three, like we carry), boots and so on. They did not heed a warning sign at the entrance about the cave being prone to flooding during a rainy-season downpour." 
Steele continues, "Caving means taking a calculated risk. I also drive. I've been hurt worse in traffic accidents than in caves. I still drive, and I still go in caves."

He calls caving, "an exhilarating opportunity to pursue pure exploration on the planet Earth, which isn't so easy to do these days."

Read his WashPo op-ed here:


Steele also commented about cave safety in a blog for Boy Scouts of America adults leaders you can access here:


Ted Radio Hour Reruns Ken Kamler Interview on Crises 

Moments of crisis can upend our lives, but can also help define them, according to NPR.TED speakers, including 1996 Everest doctor Ken Kamler, explore how a quick, compassionate or unexpected response can turn crisis into opportunity. It's a rerun hosted by Guy Raz on Aug. 3 of an earlier interview with Kamler.

Listen to it at:


EXPEDITION FUNDING

Apply for the Bob Swanson Memorial Exploration Grant

Big Agnes, the Colorado gear manufacturer whose designers take their inspiration from "sleeping in the dirt," invites applicants to apply for the company's Bob Swanson Memorial Grant. It's named in honor of Bob "The Tent Guy" Swanson who co-founded Sierra Designs, founded Walrus tents, then sold that to REI and followed it up by working for REI for several years before going out on his own as a consultant for Big Agnes.

Applicants, age 18 and up, must describe how their proposed adventure will push new boundaries in some way, use creative problem solving to overcome unique challenges and help them grow as an individual.

Approximately two to three months of returning from the project, all grant recipients will be required to submit a trip report. Successful applicants receive Big Agnes, Honey Stinger and/or Helinox products. Application period is Oct. 20 through Dec. 17, 2018.


EXPEDITION MARKETING 

The Explorer II, Explorer, and Submariner will be a part of the Expedition Watch Program. We'll take two. 

Rolex Partners With The Explorers Club for Expedition Watch Program

Rolex is offering up three watches to be taken on expeditions and put in harm's way. But there's a catch: you have to be an Explorers Club member, according to an Aug. 7 story in Hodinkee, the website for watch geeks. 

Jason Heaton writes, "Rolex has been a supporting partner of The Explorers Club for decades and, in addition to financial support through event underwriting and grants, has provided three watches to be worn on expeditions: an Explorer (duh!), an Explorer II, and a Submariner. These watches are the subject of what is being called the 'Rolex Expedition Watch Program' and will piggyback on existing flag expeditions."

Watches will be awarded to worthy expeditions, based on detailed applications submitted to a selection committee.

Heaton continues, "As part of the Expedition Watch Program, each selected expedition leader will wear the chosen Rolex for the duration of their mission, capturing photographic evidence of it for posterity and then returning the watch to the Club. Rolex will engrave the back of the watch to commemorate each expedition, a plaque will keep a running history of each watch's use, and then the given watch will remain at the Explorers Club until the next assigned expedition. Like the flags, each watch will eventually be retired after a number of expeditions to be left on permanent display at The Explorers Club."

In a robust comment section beneath Heaton's original story, journe1304 writes:

"I get the sense that many of us feel it's corny to admit that we're inspired by stories of adventure. But I think it's magical to allow oneself to imagine walking on the moon with Buzz Aldrin while staring at their Speedmaster (editor's note: an Omega product), or be inspired to get scuba certified after reading one of Mr. Heaton's watch reviews (particularly the one with Sylvia Earle). This is part of the 'emotion' of watches that people keep talking about-I, for one, am inspired to go out and feel it for myself."

Read the full story here:

 
Alex Martin, 18, is putting Gearlab paddles to the test. 

Teen Circumnavigates Lake Winnipeg 

Winnipeg kayaker Alex Martin, 18, is on a first of its kind solo expedition to circumnavigate Lake Winnipeg, 34 miles north of Winnipeg, Manitoba. The goal during the 1,750 km (1,087-mi.) sea kayak journey is to raise awareness about the critical need for sustainable watershed management in the region. 

The adventure kicked off June 27. At press time in early August, Martin was about to complete his journey. 

Along the way, Alex sopped in communities around the lake to share stories, promote the campaign, and photograph the lake along the coast.

Lake Winnipeg is the largest lake within southern Canada's borders, and is part of the most undeveloped large watershed of southern Canada. The lake is 416 km (258 mi.) from north to south, with remote sandy beaches, large limestone cliffs, and many bat caves.  The lake's east side has pristine boreal forests and rivers that are being promoted as a potential United Nations World Heritage Park. 

Sponsors include Gearlab, makers of the Nukilik, modern Greenland-style carbon fiber paddles with exchangeable tips. Greenland paddles are said to allow kayakers to travel farther with greater efficiency and precision, while reducing injury and fatigue. Martin has been feeding the Taiwanese company product reviews along the way (www.gearlabpaddles.com).

While Lake Winnipeg was circumnavigated by a duo of adventurers in 1983, Alex's solo trip is reportedly the first known solo expedition. His trip is being tracked via Garmin inReach.

For updates on the trip visit:


ON THE HORIZON
 

Lowell Thomas Award Dinner, October 27, 2018, Boston Museum of Science 

Winners of The Explorers Club's prestigious Lowell Thomas Awards this year are Harvard Professor of Organismic & Evolutionary Biology Peter Girguis; Aerospace biomedical engineer and space suit designer Dava Newman; groundbreaking Egyptologist Sarah Parcak; Principal Investigator of NASA's New Horizons Pluto Mission Alan Stern; and Nobel prize-winning physicist Rainer Weiss. The 2018 theme is "Engineering Exploration." According to the Club, all have demonstrated the skills necessary to engineer groundbreaking expeditions and expeditionary science.
The Lowell Thomas Awards were first presented on the occasion of The Explorers Club's 75th anniversary, October 17, 1980, to a group of outstanding explorers including Carl Sagan, Isaac Asimov, Sylvia Earle, and Lowell Thomas himself.  

For more information: 


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: 

Coming in Spring 2019: 

Travel With Purpose, A Field Guide to Voluntourism (Rowman & Littlefield) by Jeff Blumenfeld

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. ©2018 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 (made payable to blumassoc@aol.com).  Read EXPEDITION NEWS at www.expeditionnews.com. Enjoy the EN blog at www.expeditionnews.blogspot.com. 
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Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys

September 16, 2018, 9:35 pm
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EXPEDITION UPDATE
    
Stowe Family Robinson 

Stowe Away 

In 2010, artist/long distance sailor Reid Stowe completed history's longest non-stop, self-supported sea voyage - 1,152 days at sea. He began the trip with a girlfriend in April 2007, then ended solo as Soanya Ahmed returned home on day 306 due to sea sickness, which turned out to be morning sickness. Their child, a son named Darshen, was born five months later as Stowe remained at sea to complete his project (see EN, February 2010).

Today, Stowe, Ahmed and Darshen live in Greensboro, N.C., where they are caring for his father suffering from Alzheimer's disease. The 70-ft. gaff-rigged Anne sits in disrepair 130 miles away on the Cape Fear River. When the time comes, Stowe hopes to refurbish the boat.

He writes EN, "We were on an adventure up the rivers of Guyana, repairing the schooner when my mom died. I immediately knew we had to go care for my dad. It would have been the end of him if he had to go into an old folks home. Now he is happy and healthy and I feel connected to the endless cycle of life and death and the importance of caring for our elders as they did us."
"Darshen is 10 years old in fifth grade and the joy of our lives."

He recently signed with Rediscovered Masters which identifies and markets artists who have not as yet received the full recognition they deserve.

Stowe adds, "Yes, I am sure we will sail again. At the moment we have things to accomplish. We will see what visions and opportunities arise."

Learn about his record-breaking voyage at: http://beyond1000days.com

See Stowe's artwork at:



Preston Sowell 

What's New Pussycat?  

Using an array of camera traps placed at altitudes greater than 5,000m/16,400-ft., May and August 2018 expeditions led by Preston Sowell successfully documented the presence of the endangered Andean mountain cat (Leopardus jacobita) in the Sibinacocha watershed of Peru's Cordillera Vilcanota mountains (see EN, March 2017).

The Andean mountain cat is the most threatened cat in the Americas and one of the five most endangered cats in the world, according to Sowell. Preferring habitats greater than 4,000m/13,000-ft. in its northern range (i.e. Peru), it is so rare and secretive that prior to 1996, a few museum specimens and observations were the only basis for its description.


Here kitty: the camera-shy Andean mountain cat.

Sowell's team consisted of fellow Sibinacocha Watershed Project member and mammalogist Kate Doyle (U. Massachusetts), Peruvian biologist Dina Flores with the Asociación para la Conservación y Estudio de Montañas Andinas - Amazónicas (ACEMAA), and Enrique Ramos, a Peruvian biologist with the Denver Zoo's conservation program. 

The three instances in which the cat was photographed by Sowell's camera traps are believed to be among fewer than 10 ever captured in Peru. The work was primarily funded through a Denver Zoo Field Conservation grant.

Learn more about Sowell's work at:


EXPEDITION NOTES


Call for Entries 

The New York WILD Film Festival 2019 has issued a call for entries. Filmmakers from around the world are invited to submit their work to the 6th annual New York WILD Film Festival hosted at The Explorers Club HQ in New York, February 21-24, 2019. Organizers are seeking movies about exploration, adventure, wildlife, conservation and the environment.

For more information:  https://lnkd.in/dnxerCQ  

QUOTE OF THE MONTH 

"All life in the wilderness is so pleasant that the temptation is to consider each particular variety, while one is enjoying it, as better than any other. A canoe trip through the great forests, a trip with a pack-train among the mountains, a trip on snowshoes through the silent, mysterious fairyland of the woods in winter - each has its particular charm."

-  Theodore Roosevelt (1858-19190, Outdoor Pastime of an American Hunter(1905). Reprinted in Theodore Roosevelt for Nature Lovers edited by Mark Dawidziak (LP, 2017)

EXPEDITION FOCUS  
Humpback whale bones await assembly.

Whale Articulator Pieces Cetaceans Back Together

When a dead whale washes up on beaches, who you gonna call? In British Columbia you call a whale articulator, one of the few in North America. During a recent visit to Salt Spring Island, near Victoria, BC, EN visited the workshop of Michael deRoos of the family-run Cetacea Contracting Ltd.

Positioned on the floor and work tables is a two to three-year-old juvenile humpback whale skeleton found on North Vancouver Island that deRoos was preparing for display at a museum. "The government has to deal with dead whales that wash up on their beaches ASAP, especially in front of resort hotels," he says.

The flesh is removed using a layer cake of bones and fresh manure. Time and temperature then go to work - as much as six months buried in soil temperatures of as high as 140 degrees F. It's a stinky, but highly effective process.

"Maggots work, but microorganisms in the manure also do a fine job and horse manure is pretty available around here," he tells us. "It's too expensive to create replicas, so we work with real bones."

 
Michael deRoos

He carefully reassembles the bones using x-rays of bone structures of similar whales found in the area. Missing bones are often 3-D printed. Vertebrae are drilled, cables attached and steel is used for support. The result is a fully articulated whale skeleton that can fascinate schoolchildren, and adults, for generations.

"For us, our skeletons are not just about building scientific and artistic collections, these projects are about creating an emotional experience, fostering awareness and providing an opportunity to experience the amazing form and function abundant in our natural world.

"Mother Nature is the artist," he continues. "I'm just the facilitator putting her pieces back together," de Roos says as he begins to make plans to take his family to Perth, Australia, for a six-month project for the Western Australian Museum.

It promises to be a whale of an exhibit.

Learn more at: www.cetacea.ca

MEDIA MATTERS

High-stakes Charity Fundraising

Over the past five years, mainstream charity fundraisers have taken a turn for the extreme. A big-city marathon used to be the benchmark for commitment to a cause. Now it's a desert marathon or a jungle course. Nonprofits might ask you to step into a boxing ring, climb a mountain or walk over hot coals, according to a Wall Street Journal (Aug. 13) story by Hilary Potkewitz.

Studies show that the more difficult the challenge and the more suffering the volunteer is expected to endure, the more money their friends give. Chris Olivola, professor of marketing at Carnegie Mellon's Tepper School of Business, identified the so-called martyrdom effect in 2011 while studying the growing popularity of charity marathons.

He predicted that at some point, marathons would no longer be seen as extreme enough, and charities would have to step up a notch to stand out.

David Hessekiel, president of the Peer-to-Peer Professional Forum, a trade organization for fundraising managers, says, "People are looking for experiences that are more unique, so charities are being challenged to come up with something that will capture people's attention. It has to be difficult, maybe a little dangerous. Those types of events are increasing in popularity."

Read the story here:


The Dawn Wall Documentary Begins International Tour -
"Like Stepping off the Edge of the Earth"

In January 2015, American rock climbers Tommy Caldwell and Kevin Jorgeson captivated the world with their effort to climb The Dawn Wall, a seemingly impossible 3,000-foot rock face in Yosemite National Park, Calif. The pair lived on the sheer vertical cliff for weeks, igniting a frenzy of global media attention. Blurring the line between dedication and obsession, Caldwell and his partner Jorgeson spend six years meticulously plotting and practicing their route. 
The documentary, by Sender Films, producers of the Reel Rock Film Tour, has begun an international run. 
View the trailer here:


Visit www.dawnwallfilm.com to find a show near you.   

For a behind-the-scenes look at the immense publicity surrounding the effort, coordinated by CGPR Public Relations, see the below link. At one point the network morning shows were fighting over themselves to get at the story: 


"Unnecessary Rescues" Soar in Nepal on Profits From Insurance Payouts

The latest negative news to come out of Nepal is a story by Agence France-Presse (July 2) that claims tourists hiking in Nepal's Himalayan mountains are being pressured into costly helicopter evacuations at the first sight of trouble by guides linked to powerful brokers who are making a fortune on "unnecessary rescues." 

Dodgy operators are scamming tens of thousands of dollars from insurance companies by making multiple claims for a single chopper ride or pushing trekkers to accept airlifts for minor illnesses, an investigation by AFP has revealed. In other cases, trekking guides, promised commission if they get tourists to return by chopper, are offering helicopter rides to tired hikers as a quick way home, but billing them as rescues to insurance companies.

The practice is so rampant helicopter pilots are reporting "rescuing" tourists who appear in perfectly fine health. "It's a racket that's tantamount to fraud, and it's happening on a large scale throughout Nepal," says Jonathan Bancroft of UK-based Traveller Assist, which carries out medical evacuations in Nepal on behalf of global travel insurance companies.

AFP's Annabel Symington reports Traveller Assist says 2017 was the most expensive year on record for travel insurance companies covering tourists in Nepal due to a startling number of helicopter rescues - though this year is on track to beat it.

Australian trekker Jessica Reeves was urged by her guide to be evacuated by helicopter from near Everest base camp in October 2017 when she complained of a common cold. "He kept telling me to get a helicopter," Reeves recalls. 

"They said if I keep going it would be really risky so it was better to leave now instead of risking it."

The majority of rescues in the Himalayas are related to "acute mountain sickness" caused by low oxygen levels at high altitude. The symptoms are vague - headaches, nausea, loss of appetite - and the only treatment is to descend. But once the patient is at lower altitudes the symptoms disappear, making it impossible to tell if the evacuation was medically necessary.

Read the story here:


Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys

This is one scene you won't see in First Man, the new Ryan Gossling movie about the Apollo 11 moon landing. 

The internet is raising a stink, as only the internet can do, about an obvious omission in the upcoming Neil Armstrong biopic First Man.

The movie screened at Venice Film Festival last week and has been criticized for not featuring a scene depicting the American flag being planted into the moon.

Following outrage online, U.S. astronaut Edwin E. 'Buzz' Aldrin, Jr., Lunar Module pilot on Apollo 11, tweeted a photo of himself and Armstrong on the moon, alongside the hashtags "proud to be an American,""freedom,""honor.""one nation," and "road to Apollo 50." 

Damien Chazelle - who previously directed La La Land and Whiplash - has explained that the decision to omit the iconic moment was not a political gesture, according to The Independent (Sept. 2).  

"In First Man I show the American flag standing on the lunar surface, but the flag being physically planted into the surface is one of several moments of the Apollo 11 lunar EVA that I chose not to focus upon," he said.

"To address the question of whether this was a political statement, the answer is no. My goal with this movie was to share with audiences the unseen, unknown aspects of America's mission to the moon - particularly Neil Armstrong's personal saga and what he may have been thinking and feeling during those famous few hours."

James R. Hansen, the author of the biography on which the movie is based, along with Armstrong's sons, Rick and Mark, have defended the adaptation. Like Chazelle, they explain that the story focuses on the personal struggles Armstrong went through, rather than moments the world has already seen.
First Man has received rave reviews from critics and is being touted as an early Oscars contender. 

Read the story here:


See the trailer here:


WEB WATCH

Giving it His All

 
John All plans his escape from a Nepal crevasse. 

What's it like to be facing death inside of a crevasse? At a recent Explorers Club seminar on Salt Spring Island, B.C., many of us learned first-hand from John All, JD, Ph.D., founding director of the Bellingham, Wash., Western Washington University Mountain Environments Research Institute. 

A global explorer and geoscientist specializing in climate change research in remote locations, All was climbing alone on Nepal's Himlung Mountain in May 2014 when he fell. As he struggled to climb seven stories back up to the surface with a severely dislocated shoulder, internal bleeding, a battered face covered in blood, and 15 broken bones - including six cracked vertebrae, he recorded the ordeal on his Sony travel zoom digital camera.

When asked how he managed to find the composure to videotape himself, All tells EN, "As a scientist I take photos of everything. It was a way for me to calm down and think things through. The camera helped me talk myself through it.

"Also, I wanted proof to show my friends that the crevasse was really that deep."

If anyone had the right to drop multiple F-bombs in a video selfie, it was All.

All recounts his potentially career-ending fall in the book Icefall: Adventures at the Wild Edges of Our Dangerous, Changing Planet (PublicAffairs, 2017).

Watch his horrifying video here:


IN PASSING

Climbing World Mourns Passing of Jeff Lowe

In 1991, Jeff Lowe conquered a new route up the north face of the Eiger, doing so without bolts, a route he named Metanoia, a Greek word for spiritual transformation. Jeff Lowe: beloved climber who challenged the world's tallest peaks and trickiest ascents as one of the most renowned climbers of his generation, until illness in the last few years made climbing impossible, died on Aug. 24 at a care facility in Fort Collins, Colo. He was 67. His daughter, Sonja Lowe, said the causes were pneumonia and a degenerative disease similar to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. 

Jeff Lowe  

In August 2016, EN wrote about Lowe's virtual time capsule of 1991 climbing gear literally dug out of the ice on the 13,020-ft./3,970-m Eiger in the Swiss Bernese Alps. Lowe was relieved when it was found - discarding the pack was contrary to his alpine-style aesthetic, of doing more with less and leaving nothing behind. When the pack was opened - it took eight days to thaw - the contents were covered in a gritty, sand like material determined to be oxidized aluminum. 

Lowe helped improve climbing technology and apparel by designing and testing new gear for Lowe Alpine Systems, a company founded by his brothers, Greg and Mike, who are also mountain climbers.

Lowe's former companion and caregiver, Connie Self, produced the film Metanoia, which features narration by the climber and writer Jon Krakauer.

See the trailer here:


Read his obituary by Daniel E. Slotnik in the New York Times (Sept. 11): 


ON THE HORIZON
 
Friday Harbor Film Festival, San Juan Island, Wash., Oct. 26-28, 2018

Each year, the Friday Harbor Film Festival invites dedicated and talented filmmakers to showcase their documentary films' unique ability to entertain audiences through the art of compelling storytelling; inspire audience members, as well as filmmakers to be a force for positive change; enlighten all participants by conveying relevant information, creating awareness and expanding appreciation of our fragile planet, diverse cultures and those daring to explore new frontiers; and encourage students to participate in the Young Filmmakers Project to learn the art of storytelling thru film.

Captain Paul Watson has been chosen as this year's recipient of the FHFF Andrew V. McLaglen Lifetime Achievement Award. This annual award honors an individual who has made outstanding contributions to raising the general public's awareness of important issues, either through activism or as a filmmaker. Watson is one of the original founding members of Greenpeace. He also founded Sea Shepherd Conservation Society and was more recently featured on seven seasons of Animal Planet's Whale Wars TV series. 

For more information: www.fhff.org

EXPEDITION CLASSIFIEDS

Climb Mount Howe - Join Seven Summits record-breaking mountain guide Vern Tejas to the "Last Place on Earth"! Our select team of mountaineers is now accepting applications for climbing Mount Howe...the Southernmost mountain on the planet. Extremely remote at 87'22 S, it's logistically one of the most challenging mountains to access. Mount Howe harbours the southernmost known indigenous life. Afterwards, explore the Amundsen-Scott South Pole station. Early December 2019. Contact: vern@verntejas.com

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: 

 
Coming in Spring 2019: Travel With Purpose, A Field Guide to Voluntourism(Rowman & Littlefield) by Jeff Blumenfeld

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. ©2018 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 (made payable to blumassoc@aol.com).  Read EXPEDITION NEWS at www.expeditionnews.com. Enjoy the EN blog at www.expeditionnews.blogspot.com. 

 
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$50 Million Sought to Help Save Ocean Giants; $2K Used Parkas, Whole Foods Dishwasher Seeks Everest Summit

October 9, 2018, 7:41 pm
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EXPEDITION PHOTOGRAPHER'S MULTI-YEAR PROJECT SEEKS 

$50 MILLION TO HELP SAVE THE OCEAN GIANTS  

Amos Nachoum is a wildlife photographer and explorer who is laser-focused on achieving a singular dream: to photograph and videotape the earth's 35 "ocean giants" to inspire people globally to care, and to take action, about protecting the ocean's most magnificent creatures.  

Nachoum, 68, an expedition leader for Big Animals Global Expeditions based in Pacific Grove, Calif., has been leading wildlife photography and diving expeditions from the High Arctic to Antarctica for the last 40 years. His work has appeared in hundreds of publications around the globe, including National Geographic, Time, Life, The New York Times, Condé Nast Traveler, Le Figaro, Terra Sauvage, Airone, Mondo Somerso, Der Spiegel, Unterwasser, and many more.

 
Amos Nachoum

"Considering the meteoric advancement in imaging technology, such as virtual reality,
360 degree video, IMAX, 3D and 8K filming quality, and at the same time, the
rapid loss of wildlife and the endangerment of some species, the time is right to fully document the inhabitants of the oceans," he tells EN.

For his Ocean Giants Legacy Project, Nachoum has assembled two multi-national teams of eight of the world's leading photographers and filmmakers who will undertake seven expeditions a year for five years to document wildlife such as whales, sharks, polar bears, leopard seals, anaconda and crocodiles, and package these images for a global audience.

"Each expedition will also include a well-known personality - an artist, actor,
politician, poet, and sportsperson - each from a different nation, who will bring back his personal stories, in his own language, to his followers."

 

Nachoum continues, "This collection of images and footage will be available for free to all education and research facilities' use worldwide; and we will partner with media outlets to distribute six to seven television episodes globally each year."

He also plans to sell a coffee table book, but one that requires a really large piece of furniture. He envisions a book spanning three feet by three feet, containing 365 pages for each day of the year, and available in a limited run of $50,000 per copy, with all proceeds earmarked for an educational endowment. 

Nachoum estimates a multi-year project cost of $50 million and is seeking an executive director, fundraising consultants, a marketing director and webmaster to help him achieve positive results for the planet. That's a big ask, a heavy lift, but as famed explorer Norman D. Vaughan (1905-2005) liked to say, "Dream big and dare to fail."

Or as Nachoum says now, "My belief is that it is not too late to save the wilderness and wildlife that has graced our oceans since before humankind."

For more information:


See his TEDx Conejo appearance here:


EXPEDITION NOTES

Hold Onto That Kit

"Explorabilia" isn't a word that exists in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, but it should. The tents, sleeping bags, boots, maps, cookstoves, compasses, GPS, radios, signal flares, first aid kits, and various other flotsam and jetsam of an expedition could very well be worth money in the bank. Just as space memorabilia is worth eminently more once it has "flown" (i.e. used in space and not just for training), so too with expedition gear.

Such is the case with expedition apparel, made evident to us following an inquiry from a Finnish reader looking to purchase a parka from the 1989-90 Trans-Antarctica Expedition. Even we were surprised that a used parka from the expedition was selling on eBay for $959.

 
Even used, this 25-year-old turquoise shell is selling on eBay for $959.

 
More astounding is this orange TAE fleece offered on eBay for $1,999.99.  

These are just asking prices, mind you, but still...... it pays not to throw anything away when it comes to used gear and apparel.

See both listings here:


QUOTE OF THE MONTH 

"All of us are transients here. What endures is our planet and her oceans. From my mid-Pacific vantage point, human artiface and artifacts appeared small and temporary. This is why dreamers will always build boats to voyage into that eternal ocean realm: to gain the perspective that is hidden from those who stay close to the shore."

- Ed Gillet, quoted in The Pacific Alone: The Untold Story of Kayaking's Boldest Voyage(Falcon Guides, 2018), by Dave Shively. In the summer of 1987 Ed Gillet achieved what no person has accomplished before or since, a solo crossing from California to Hawaii by kayak.

 
Gillet, at the age of 36 an accomplished sailor and paddler, navigated by sextant and always knew his position within a few miles. Along the way he endured a broken rudder, among other calamities, but at last reached Maui on his 64th day at sea, four days after his food had run out. Until the book was issued this month, Gillet barely spoke of his crossing for 30 years.

MEDIA MATTERS
 
Front man, composer, and lyricist Jacob Brandt is a huge fan of Buzz Aldrin.

The Second Man Closes at Manhattan's Fourth Street Theater

After he became the second man to walk on the moon, reporters asked Buzz Aldrin if he wished he had been the first. Reportedly, Aldrin replied, "I really didn't want that because of the added heartache." Last month a folk-rock fable for the runner-up in all of us closed at New York's Fourth Street Theatre. The New York Theatre Workshop performance, 1969: The Second Man, explored competition and collective achievement through the story of one small man who became one giant myth. In its review of the show, The New Yorker (Sept. 10) reports that Aldrin was the second man to exit the lunar module, but the first to pee up there.

TMI? Yeah, we think so.

For more information: www.1969thesecondman.com

See 20 minutes of the performance here:


Palin Dreams of Scuba Diving the Erebus

Launched in 1826, the Royal Navy ship HMS Erebus was made famous by two major polar expeditions. From 1839-43 it undertook an Antarctic voyage captained by James Clark Ross. In 1845, with HMS Terror, the ship embarked on the Franklin Expedition to find the Northwest Passage. What exactly transpired on the Arctic voyage remains a mystery, but both ships were abandoned and all 129 crewmembers died. In 2014, the sunken wreck of Erebus was finally rediscovered; two years later, the Terror was found.
 
Michael Palin is serious about someday diving the Erebus 

Former Monty Python funnyman Michael Palin, 75, has written a book on the Franklin Expedition called Erebus: The Story of a Ship (Hutchinson). He tells Ellie Cawthorne of BBC History Magazine (Oct. 4), "During my own Arctic and Antarctic journeys, I was struck by just how vast polar landscapes are and how colossal the scenery is. These enormous empty landscapes must have been quite terrifying for the crew at times.

"On Ross's Antarctic voyage, Erebus came up against a 200-ft.-high ice wall (later termed the Ross Ice Shelf). I've seen icebergs on that scale, but it's always been from the comparative comfort of a ship that has an engine and can move out of the way. Erebus only had a very small auxiliary engine, so the crew had to rely solely on their sailing skills. If they got stuck in ice, it was incredibly difficult to get out."
 
HMS Erebus

Later in the interview, he grapples with what happened to the expedition.

"A whole range of theories have been proposed as to what happened to Franklin's men. People claimed that the local Inuit must have killed them, or that the crew had been stricken by scurvy. Lead poisoning (from food tins contaminated by lead solder) was once thought to be the key reason why everything went wrong, but that theory has now been widely dismissed.

"It's not a very glamorous theory, but ultimately, I believe that Franklin's men were simply in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Palin continues, "I think that the single most important fact is that they chose to make their voyage to the Northwest Passage during one of the coldest periods in modern history. From around 1845 to 1848, the ice in that region didn't melt even over summer, meaning that they were unable to free the ships. That was the primary problem, and it couldn't have been foreseen.
   
"My ultimate dream is to scuba-dive in Erebus's wreck. But if I did get down there I think I'd be a bit overwhelmed. I'd probably just be in tears the whole time, if it's possible to cry underwater."

Read the interview here:

EXPEDITION FUNDING
 
Lhakpa Sherpa is recognized by Guinness Book of World Records for reaching the summit of Everest for the ninth time on May 16, 2018, more times than any other female climber. You'd think that would help generate sponsorship revenue. Not much. 

Woman Sherpa, a Whole Foods Dishwasher, 
Seeks Sponsorship for 10th Everest Summit

It has been said that it's easier to climb Everest than raise the money for an Everest expedition. Despite her women's world record with the most summits (nine), Lhakpa Sherpa, 45, works washing dishes at a West Hartford, Conn., Whole Foods for $11.50 per hour, hoping she can return a tenth time in 2019. Friends have banded together to help search for sponsors. The job pays the bills and helps Sherpa support her two daughters, writes Hilary Brueck, in Business Insider (July 28).

"I feel I'm addicted, in my body," Sherpa told Business Insider, explaining that when she doesn't climb, she feels sick. "I like to go again and again."

The word Sherpa means "easterner" and refers to the place Sherpas originally came from ­-­­ eastern Tibet - though it often functions as a last name, as well as the term for Everest guides.

At least 94 Sherpas have died climbing Everest, according to NPR, accounting for roughly a third of all deaths on the mountain.

Sherpa doesn't do much extra training in Connecticut, aside from hauling the trash at work. But she believes strong women like her make better climbers than men, since they tend to be more careful and deliberate.

"Men only wanna go up, you know?" she said.

For her past climbs, Sherpa has worked for her brother Mingma's company, which usually picks a Tibetan route up Everest. But she recently started her own venture, Cloudscape Climbing, and plans to head to Kathmandu with the inaugural crew in April. Sherpa aims to take her group to the summit from the Nepal side of the mountain, according to Business Insider.

For her ninth summit Black Diamond was provided gear and monetary support. Sherpa is looking for additional sponsors, management help and public relations support for her 10th summit in 2019.

Krista L. Pich is one of Sherpa's Connecticut friends providing assistance. She tells EN,"Lhakpa would be a terrific corporate ambassador. Her (ongoing) world-record-breaking achievements alone qualify her, and she shines in her ability to connect with and inspire people of all ages and abilities. As an adventurous, hardworking single mom, she's especially relatable to active women, a huge purchasing demographic.

"Her ability to persevere through multiple hardships and traumas shows her iron will and limitless personal strength." 

Read the Business Insider story here:


Reach Lhakpa Sherpa here: http://cloudscapeclimbing.comhttp://cloudscapeclimbing.com, cloudscapeclimbing@gmail.com

EXPEDITION MARKETING 

If we owned an Infiniti, sorry but you wouldn't find us on this kind of terrain scratching the finish. 

That's One Small Step for an Infiniti 

For years, in fact since we started EN 24 years ago this month, we've written about companies that sponsor expeditions to demonstrate their products' performance in extreme conditions. The tradition continued last summer for one luxury car company that readers seeking sponsorship might want to pitch. 

Braving the forbidding desert and bandits of Mongolia's Gobi region, Roy Chapman Andrews, said to be the inspiration for Raiders of the Lost Ark, made history by being the first to find fossilized dinosaur eggs. Nearly 100 years later, Infiniti, Nissan's luxury division, facilitated a new dinosaur fossil hunt in the Gobi using 2018 QX50, QX60 and QX80 SUVs, plus the latest in high-tech, ground mapping technology.

John McCormick, writes in The Detroit News (Aug. 15), "In the Gobi, there are no paved roads, just deeply rutted tracks that the locals carve seemingly at random across the plains. Rugged, powerful vehicles are a must, and the Infiniti SUVs managed well. The newest of the range, the QX50 with its advanced variable-compression engine, provided ample pulling power when needed, but it was the big QX80 with its superior ground clearance and softer suspension that delivered the most comfortable ride."

He continues, "With its unique geological formations, the Gobi is one of the world's best regions for paleontological research. Andrews found some of his most remarkable fossil specimens in the Flaming Cliffs area, so named for its stunning red sandstone hills."

On a visit to the same spot just prior to McCormicks' arrival, Infiniti had teamed up with the Mongolian Institute of Paleontology and Geology and The Explorers Club's Hong Kong chapter. The expedition relied on a fleet of QX50s to explore the area and made the first use of drone-powered multispectral and thermal cameras.

"There is also a pleasure derived from the fact that as an auto writer, I am testing a vehicle in such an unusual and challenging environment, far removed from the trappings of a typical press event luxury resort in the U.S. So, hats off to Infiniti for pushing the envelope and demonstrating the capabilities of its SUVs in such a dramatically different and illuminating fashion."

The 2019 Infiniti QX80 sells for $65,000-plus. Be careful not to scratch it out there. 

Read the story, see photos of the Infiniti's in action here:

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/business/autos/2018/08/15/review-infiniti-qx-50-qx-60-qx-80/976294002/ 

Caroline Gleich Gives Thanks

The ink-stained wretches at Expedition News who attended the Adventure Film Festival in Boulder, Colo., this month were gratified to see how speakers channeled their inner Emily Post to thank their sponsors profusely. Corporate sponsors A-Lodge, Black Diamond, Fjallraven, Google Earth, Hydro Flask, La Sportiva, Meridian Line, RXBAR, Zeal, and others were recognized for their support of adventure.

 
Caroline Gleich

Caroline Gleich, 32, a professional ski mountaineer and adventurer, was particularly adept at giving thanks, crediting Keen, LEKI, Patagonia, and others at the top of her presentation, praising them as brands that are "serious about being socially responsible companies."

Gleich, based in Salt Lake City, uses her voice as an athlete to advocate for social and environmental justice, working on issues such as climate change, clean air and cyber harassment with non-profits such as Protect Our Winters, HEAL Utah, Winter Wildlands Alliance, Wilderness Society, Tree Utah and Adventurers and Scientists for Conservation.

"I climb up mountains and then ski down them," she tells the Adventure Film Festival audience on Oct. 7.

Later she would argue that male climbers talk about mountains the way some of them, regrettably, talk about women, using words like "conquering" summits.

She also rails against history's habit of changing the original indigenous names of mountains to honor white people. "We need to show more respect to indigenous cultures who have stewarded these landscapes for centuries, who view these peaks as sacred."

One photograph of Gleich proposing marriage to her boyfriend on the summit of Cho-Oyu (sixth highest mountain in the world on the China-Nepal border) drew an appreciative sigh from audience members.

Gleich posts online, "I knew you were a keeper when you emptied my pee bottle and carried down the wag bag we shared. Sharing a month long expedition with your significant other is one of the most intimate experiences. There are highs and lows, and you get to see a person's true colors."

She tells the women in the Boulder crowd, "It's 2018. Do we still have to wait?"

Boyfriend Rob Lea accepted.

Learn more about Gleich at https://carolinegleich.comhttps://carolinegleich.com

EXPEDITION INK

 
I think that I shall never see. A poem lovely as a tree.

Making the rounds of the book circuit is British-born American biologist, author, and professor of biology David George Haskell whose work integrates scientific, literary, and contemplative studies of nature. His first book, The Forest Unseen, was finalist for the 2013 Pulitzer Prize in nonfiction and received numerous honors including the National Academies' Best Book Award. In Haskell's latest book, The Songs of Trees (Penguin USA, 2018), he examines biological networks through the lives of a dozen trees around the world. 

He unabashedly tells his book talk audience, "I sit around watching the forest do stuff." 

Haskell takes readers on an expedition to trees in cities (from Manhattan to Jerusalem), forests (Amazonian, North American, and boreal) and areas on the front lines of environmental change (eroding coastlines, burned mountainsides, and war zones). In each place he shows how human history, ecology, and well-being are intimately intertwined with the lives of trees.

Of particular note is a Bradford (Callery) pear tree he studied in New York at 82nd and Broadway, watching how it intersects with the lives of passersby in Manhattan. He had high praise for the way trees grab pollutants from the air that would otherwise enter human lungs, and estimates trees save New York City $10 million per year in reduced air conditioning costs. Haskell believes, "Trees are fundamental to the rise and fall of human civilization." 

Learn more about Haskell at: https://dghaskell.com 

WEB WATCH

Keeping it to Themselves 

The world's cartographers reportedly are living their secret lives of luxury on the idyllic, never-disclosed eighth continent they call home. Or so says The Onion. We have our friend GOTUS to thank for this amusing link: that would be the Geographer of the U.S. Director Lee R. Schwartz, Office of the Geographer and Global Issues at the U.S. State Department.

Good to see the folks at Foggy Bottom are maintaining their sense of humor.

Get in on the joke here:


EXPEDITION CLASSIFIEDS

Climb the Southernmost Mountain in the World - Explorers Club member Ken Zerbst and storied mountaineer Vernon Tejas are seeking up to three expedition members to climb Antarctica's 9,600-ft. Mount Howe, the southernmost mountain in the world. Assuming Antarctic weather cooperates, this looks to be a straightforward climb suitable for most intermediate climbers. Afterwards the team will explore the Amundsen-Scott South Pole station. Early December 2019. Ken Zerbst FN'98, 303 506 5272, topofworld@earthlink.net

 

How "KUHL" Was Your Last Expedition or Adventure? Tell Us in 50 Words or Less

In honor of our 24th anniversary this month, Expedition News is partnering with KUHL, the well-known mountain culture apparel company, on a "KUHLest Moment in the Wild" contest. In 50 words or less, tells us what your "KUHLest" moment was on an expedition or adventure.

Entries will be judged by our panel, and three winners will receive their choice of the following:

*            Women's long sleeve LYRIK Sweater https://www.kuhl.com/kuhl/womens/long-sleeve/lyrik-sweater/https://www.kuhl.com/kuhl/womens/long-sleeve/lyrik-sweater/  $79 sug. ret.

*            Men's long sleeve INVOKE shirt https://www.kuhl.com/kuhl/mens/long-sleeve/invoke-ls/  $85 sug. ret.

 

*            Men's long sleeve JOYRYDR shirt https://www.kuhl.com/kuhl/mens/long-sleeve/joyrydr/  $120 sug. ret.

Winning entries will also be published in an upcoming issue of EN. Deadline for entries is November 1, 2018, submitted to Editor@expeditionnews.com. Decision of judges are final.  


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: 

 
Coming in Spring 2019 –  Travel With Purpose, A Field Guide to Voluntourism (Rowman & Littlefield) by Jeff Blumenfeld

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. ©2018 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 (made payable to blumassoc@aol.com).  Read EXPEDITION NEWS at www.expeditionnews.com. Enjoy the EN blog at www.expeditionnews.blogspot.com. 
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Women Explorers Overwinter in Svalbard

November 21, 2018, 5:15 pm
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Hearts in the Ice, a new project launched this year, aims to create global dialogue and social engagement around climate change in the Polar Regions. In August 2019, seasoned expedition leaders, Hilde Fålun Strøm and Sunniva Sorby will inhabit for nine months a historic 215 s.f. trapper's cabin known as "Bamsebu" in Svalbard, Norway. The goal of the project is to show rapid climate change escalation and what can be done to mitigate the effects.

Hilde Falun Strom

Conditions will be rigorous during the Arctic Winter as Sorby and Fålun Strøm will dwell in total darkness for 90 days and occupy Bamsebu with the daily threat of polar bears and  no running water or electricity. Additionally, they aim to have the smallest carbon footprint possible by using solar and wind energy, and reducing all packaging from their suppliers and providers.

"Climate change is having a greater impact in the Arctic than anywhere else on the planet," said Hilde. "Temperatures have increased by twice the global average over the past 50 years. We invite everyone to get involved and take the time to understand what is happening in their own neighborhoods, and what they can do locally to mitigate the effects of climate change," says Sorby.

Sunniva Sorby

Life at Bamsebu will be broadcast and published in real-time via Iridium satellite through social media to scientists, students, adventurers, and interested citizens from around the world.
Sorby and Fålun Strøm will conduct observations and gather data in collaboration with the Norwegian Polar Institute, The Norwegian Meteorological Institute, NASA, and The Scripps Institute of Oceanography. Their findings will add to existing research in the Arctic. Two of these projects will be mirrored in Antarctica with Polar Latitudes' Citizen Science Program (www.polar-latitudes.comwww.polar-latitudes.com)

Sponsors include Garmin, Hurtigruten, Iridium, and Polar Latitudes.

For more information: www.heartsintheice.comwww.heartsintheice.com

See their pitch video here: https://youtu.be/RA1pNAPILA4https://youtu.be/RA1pNAPILA4

EXPEDITION UPDATE 

Ryan Gosling plays Neil Armstrong in First Man, apparently not very convincingly. 

Hollywood, We Have a Problem

In addition to the shitstorm over the failure of the film First Man to show Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin actually raising the U.S. flag on the moon (see EN, September 2018), the movie is also not very good, according to one space insider who has worked closely with NASA.
In a recent Facebook post, Alan Stern, the principal investigator of the New Horizons mission to Pluto, was aghast. He writes:

"Saw First Man last night. It was terrible. It was a disservice to Armstrong and Aldrin and all of Apollo. Even the eye candy special effects were - and I rarely curse - crap. Save your money. Don't go.

"Poor CGI. Shallow script. Poor character development. The depiction of spaceflight was completely off base. This movie is a disgrace to Apollo, to Armstrong, to the Greatest Space Generation. The film made Neil a nothing - and it made Buzz a cad. Do not go!

"In one thousand years Neil Armstrong will prove to be single most towering historic personage of the 20th Century. This film completely missed the point.

"Worse, this film is a mockery of the man I knew. Grade: F."

Ok Alan, now tell us what you really think. Stern was named this month to the National Science Board (NSB), the policymaking body of the National Science Foundation (NSF) that advises Congress and the Administration on issues in science and engineering. He and co-author David Grinspoon wrote Chasing New Horizons: Inside the Epic First Mission to Pluto (Picador, 2018).

EXPEDITION NOTES


The world's oldest shipwreck dating from 400 BC of ancient Greek origin, most likely a trading vessel. Photograph: Black Sea map

World's Oldest Intact Shipwreck Found in Mile-Deep 
Waters Off Bulgarian Coast

A team of researchers has found the world's oldest intact shipwreck. The Black Sea Maritime Archaeology Project (MAP) recently found the 75-ft. wreck off the coast of Bulgaria. It's believed to be from a Greek merchant ship. Carbon dating has shown it to be more than 2,400 years old. The ruins were discovered more than a mile underwater, in oxygen-free conditions that helped preserve the ship's parts. It's just one of several ancient vessels the Black Sea Archaeology project has found over the past three years.

"A ship surviving intact from the classical world, lying in over 2 km (6,562-ft.) of water, is something I would never have believed possible," said Professor Jon Adams, the principal investigator with MAP, the team that made the find.

"This will change our understanding of shipbuilding and seafaring in the ancient world."

Read the story here: 

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2018/oct/23/oldest-intact-shipwreck-thought-to-be-ancient-greek-discovered-at-bottom-of-black-sea


Meteorologists hope to return to Mt. Everest

Mothballed Mount Everest Climate Observatory Could Reopen Soon

Scientists hope that a Himalayan climate observatory that had its funding cut four years ago could be back in action by early next year. Managers of the Nepal Climate Observatory - Pyramid station say they are close to reaching an agreement with the Italian National Research Council (CNR). The council helped set up the station near the base of Mount Everest in 2006 but stopped funding it in 2014 because of how its budgets were managed, according to a story in Nature (Oct. 30) by Lou Del Bello.

"For the first time in four years, I am extremely optimistic about the fate of the station," says philanthropist and climber Agostino Da Polenza, who heads the Ev-K2-CNR Association, a non-profit group that promotes research in mountain areas and helped to set up the Nepal Climate Observatory-Pyramid, one of the highest climate observatories in the world. 

Read more here:

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-06846-8https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-018-06846-8

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. ... the mountains must come from under all, and be the support of all; and that everything else must be laid in their arms, heap above heap, the plains being the uppermost."

- John Ruskin (1819-1900), English art critic of the Victorian era, from "O Truth of Earth." A portion of the poem appears in stainless steel set into the black granite of the Hyatt Regency Denver's porte-cochère.

MEDIA MATTERS


O'Brady's kit included the prestigious Explorers Club flag. (Tamara Merino for The New York Times)

Head-to-Head Across Antarctica 

Two adventurers are racing head-to-head to cross Antarctica and bag the honors of first unsupported solo crossing. One's a British army captain. One's a social media star. Though very different, Colin O'Brady, 33, and Louis Rudd, 49, are both being quite cordial with each other, according to The New York Times (Nov. 11) story by Adam Skolnick. 

The two men, who came to this quest from very different backgrounds but forged a competitive bond during their time in Chile, were each determined to become the first person to cross Antarctica alone without support - a 921-mile odyssey on ice through blasting winds that could take as many as 65 days, according to Skolnick. It's the same trek that killed Rudd's friend, Lt. Col. Henry Worsley, two years ago. 

Both O'Brady and Rudd hope to conquer a continent that has become the new Everest for extreme athletes.

Rudd is more of an old-school adventurer. He enlisted in the Royal Marines at age 16 and remains in the British armed forces. He fought in Kosovo, Iraq (three tours) and Afghanistan (four tours).

O'Brady is more of the age, a seasoned adventure athlete and budding social media star forged from injury and perseverance. He grew up in Portland, Ore., and swam at Yale. He climbed each of the Seven Summits and skied the last degree to both polesThis summer, he climbed the high points in all 50 states in just 21 days, obliterating another record - to the delight of his social media followers.

He calls his expedition "The Impossible First'' and plans to show much of it on social media (Rudd's presence online is minimal.)

"Though a handful of adventurers have used kites to ride the winds across the continent or arranged for caches of food and fuel to be dropped along the way, the accomplished English polar explorer Ben Saunders was the last to attempt a solo, unsupported crossing. He chose a different route and tapped out after covering 805 miles in 2017," writes Skolnick.

The year before, Rudd's friend Worsley had made the same valiant attempt. He covered more than 900 miles but died from an infection two days after being rescued from the ice, just 30 miles from the finish line.

Rudd and O'Brady each raised upward of $200,000 from corporate sponsors and private donors to make their attempts.

Read the Times story here:


Editor's note: In 2012, Felicity Ann Dawn Aston MBE, an English explorer and former climate scientist, became the first person to ski alone across the Antarctic land-mass using only personal muscle power, as well as the first woman to cross the Antarctic land-mass alone. Her journey began on November 25, 2011, at the Leverett Glacier and continued for 59 days and a distance of 1,084 miles (1,745 kilometers). She had two supply drops. 

 

Michael Brown's Blind Kayakers Documentary 
Wins Banff Mountain Film 

Boulder, Colorado, director and producer Michael Brown of Serac Adventure Films won Grand Prize at the 2018 Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival for The Weight of Water, an 80-min. account of the descent of the Grand Canyon by blind adventurers Erik Weihenmayer and Lonnie Bedwell. The film depicts kayaking Lava Falls, the toughest rapid in the Grand Canyon.  


Erik Weihenmayer and Michael Brown (Photo: Denver Film Festival/Jason DeWitt)

"We selected the film that touched us most deeply - the one that caused us all to shed some tears...," said Rebecca Martin, a member of the 2018 Film jury. 

"The human achievement that was the focal point of this work gripped us and the emotional journey of the main protagonist as the narrative unfolded was palpable, while also being exquisitely subtle. We were moved. We were immensely inspired. And we were drawn into the story so intensely, we felt a part of the exhilaration of an unimaginably hard-won accomplishment." 

After receiving the award, which elicited a prolonged standing ovation, Brown posts, "The best part for me was bringing my sweet six-year-old on stage. It meant the world to be able to share my biggest professional moment ever with so many people I love."

Read about the other festival winners here:



When Erik Weihenmayer finished his first climb, he thought, "This is what I want out of my life." Photo by Skyler Williams

In a related story, Weihenmayer explains to Elaine Glusac of The New York Times (Oct. 21) how he feels fortunate to attract "awesome" friends and mentors. "On a big mountain, they're hiking in front of me and a lot of times I can hear their crampons crunching in the snow, so I can just follow them.

"When you're on a rock, they're jingling a bear bell and I'm using two trekking poles to feel my way. And when I get in more technical terrain, I'm just feeling my way up the rock face or an ice face. So I'm just doing it by sound and by touch."

Read the Times interview here:


Astronaut Scott Kelly: "In Space, You Can't See Political Divides"

Astronaut Scott Kelly saw the sun rise and set about 32 times each day during the 520 total days he spent in outer space. He also spent considerable time looking at Planet Earth. Naturally, it changed his perspective ­- in the most literal sense. 


Scott Kelly on Cheddar TV

During a book tour this month, Kelly tells Cheddar.com, "You do get more in tune with the environmental issues when you see that our atmosphere is very fragile looking, very small ... you see pollution over certain parts of the planet. You see the Earth with no political borders between countries.

"That makes it seem like, you know, we're are all in this together - this thing called humanity - and we need to work together to solve our problems."

Kelly's latest book, Infinite Wonder: An Astronaut's Photographs from a Year in Space (Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2018) contains personal photography, which captures the Earth and Moon, sunrises and sunsets, and even life aboard the International Space Station, where Kelly spent so many hours.

See the entire interview here: 


Titanic Artifacts Sold to Hedgies

Some of the richest people in the world lost everything when the Titanic sank. Now a consortium of new-money risk takers is poised to profit from turn-of-the-20th-century artifacts that curators had hoped to claim, according to a New York Times story by Amie Tsang (Oct. 17).

Three hedge funds banded together to submit a $19.5 million bid to buy the once-lost treasures of the ocean liner, thwarting a group of British museums backed by the National Geographic Society and James Cameron, who directed the 1997 movie Titanic. The museums could muster only $19.2 million and withdrew this month.

The new owners - Apollo Global Management, Alta Fundamental Advisers and PacBridge Capital Partners - said they would keep the collection as a tourist draw, but declined to comment further.


Bowler hat recovered from the wreck site in 1993. The ribbons are grosgrain. (Premier Exhibitions)  

"The 5,500 items recovered from two miles below the surface in international waters off Newfoundland are remnants of a gilded era: a bowler hat, the crusty leather folds of a once-sumptuous Gladstone bag and the dark, sleek curves of a bronze angel that graced the post of a staircase," writes Tsang.

The objects are "time capsules that take you back to 1912," said Kevin Fewster, director of Royal Museums Greenwich, which was part of the museum bid. "It's this complete section of humanity and society."

Read the story here:


Wingsuit/BASE Jumping Couple Unafraid of Death, Surprised by Love

Men have been making light of what they see as "women's stuff" for centuries, and quite possibly forever. Calling the wedding notices in The New York Times "the women's sports pages" is a classic, writes Candace Bushnell, whose New York Observer column was adapted into the bestselling Sex and the City anthology. 


Steph Davis and Ian Mitchard with Cajun

But in this case, Lois Smith Brady's Vows column was really about sports - skydiving, BASE jumping and wingsuit flying to be exact.

Steph Davis, 46, is a professional rock climber, BASE jumper and wingsuit flyer, as well as a blogger, author and public speaker, was married this month in Utah to Ian Mitchard, 38, a tandem instructor at Skydive Moab, a sky-diving operation, as well as a wingsuit flyer and BASE jumper, according to the story. 

Davis and Mitchard met at various air sports events and gatherings over the years but did not fall in love until late fall 2013, when both were car camping and sky diving near Skydive Arizona in Eloy. She was sleeping in her Honda Fit and he in the green rusty van he called home at the time. On a few of their early dates, they cooked dinner together in his van. "I had no kitchen so she brought the stove," he said.

At the time, she was emerging from a long depression after the death of her second husband, Mario Richard, who died while wingsuit flying during a flight with Ms. Davis in 2013 in Italy's Dolomite Mountains. (Ms. Davis's first husband, whom she had divorced, was Dean Potter, a well-known rock climber, slack rope walker and all-around daredevil who died in 2015 in a wingsuit flying accident in Yosemite National Park.)

Writer Lois Smith Brady asks, "What about the obvious, the possibility of death?"

"It's in our face all the time," Mitchard said, even if they avoid risks.

Both said they were prepared to die, legally and financially at least. "We have taken care of the logistical things in our lives because we know we are mortal," said Davis.  

Still, she added: "My biggest life dream would be for Ian and me to live this long, happy life and then be together in our bed and holding hands and pass away together. It could happen!"

Read the entire society page story here:


EXPEDITION INK

2018 National Outdoor Book Award Winners

A race to reach the North and South Poles. A trip down the Arkansas River.  An investigation of a murder deep within the Grand Canyon. These stories and more are among the winners of 2018 National Outdoor Books.

 

The exploration of the North and South Poles is the subject of this year's winner of the History/Biography category: To the Edges of the Earth (William Morrow, 2018) by Edward Larson. Larson concentrates on one year when explorers are on the verge of attaining some of the great prizes in polar exploration.

That year is 1909. Expeditions are underway at the top and bottom of the globe. It is the year in which some of the great figures in exploration make their marks: US Naval Officer, Robert Peary; African American adventurer, Matthew Henson; Italy's Duke of the Abruzzi; and Britain's Ernest Shackleton.

"To the Edges of the Earth is quite simply great writing backed up by great research," said Ron Watters, chair of the National Outdoor Book Awards.  

Larson's book is one of fourteen winning books in this year's award program.  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 these and the other 2018 winners may be found at the National Outdoor Book Awards website at: www.noba-web.org.

 
Political Thriller Brings Murder to the Moon

Not even the moon is safe from homicides. Red Moon (Orbit, 2018) by Kim Stanley Robinson, is set in 2047, when the U.S. and China have returned to the moon, establishing permanent settlements on its surface. 

An American named Fred Fredericks is sent to the moon to deliver a quantum-enabled phone to the head of the Chinese Lunar Authority, Chang Yazu. But after shaking the man's hand, Yazu is poisoned and dies, and Fredericks is accused of murder. The incident kicks off a major political crisis between the U.S. and China as Fredericks escapes and goes on the run.
Read a sample chapter here: 

ON THE HORIZON

 

Explorers Club Annual Dinner Honors 50th Anniversary of Apollo Program, March 16, 2019, Marriott Times Square

As the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11 fast approaches, The Explorers Club and its members find themselves with a once-in-a lifetime opportunity to celebrate the pioneers of the space program. The 115th Explorers Club Annual Dinner will toast the living Apollo moonwalkers, astronauts, and engineers, alongside those they inspired, March 16, 2019, at the Marriott Times Square. Tickets start at $500.

For more information: 212 628 8383 or reservations@explorers.org.

EXPEDITION CLASSIFIEDS

 
Jan Reynolds Wins "KUHLest" Moment in Exploration Contest  

Writer, photographer, author and explorer Jan Reynolds of Stowe, Vermont, has won EN's 24th anniversary contest sponsored by KUHL, the well-known mountain culture apparel company. What was her KUHLest Moment in the Wild?

 

Jan Reynolds of Stowe, Vermont 

"As both Ned Gillette and Jim Bridwell looked at me, deciding I would go last on rappel off this bollard we freshly hacked, as the Himalayan winter jet stream winds lowered down on us, it was confirmed I was just another team member, not a lady, not the female among them. There was no "ladies first," for my safety and protection. "You're the lightest, you should go last," they determined. 
"I agreed. I would be the least likely to pop the rope off over the bollard or cut through, and we needed to descend as rapidly as possible and make our rope as easily retrievable as possible, thus the bollards. We held the rope down on the bollard for both Jim, then Ned to descend, and I had no one to do this for me, as I swung under the lump of snow, holding my breath and rappelled down, without tumbling off, or breaking through. We were a team, I was a teammate. No more ladies first. How Kuhl is that?!"

Reynolds wins a women's long sleeve LYRIK Sweater. 

Learn more about Reynolds at www.janreynolds.com


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: 

 
Coming in Spring 2019: Travel With Purpose, A Field Guide to Voluntourism(Rowman & Littlefield) by Jeff Blumenfeld

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

EXPEDITION NEWS is published by Blumenfeld and Associates, LLC, 290 Laramie Blvd., Boulder, CO 80304 USA. Tel. 203 326 1200, editor@expeditionnews.com. Editor/publisher: Jeff Blumenfeld. Research editor: Lee Kovel. ©2018 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 (made payable to blumassoc@aol.com).  Read EXPEDITION NEWS at www.expeditionnews.com. Enjoy the EN blog at www.expeditionnews.blogspot.com. 

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Greenland Plane Discovery, Holiday Gift Guide

December 15, 2018, 4:31 pm
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PLANE CRASH SITE REVEALS NEW 
WWII PLANE DISCOVERY IN GREENLAND 
New data about the location of the wreckage of a J2F-4 Grumman Duck airplane carrying three military flyers, which crashed on the ice sheet of Greenland in Nov. 29, 1942, has led researchers to believe the plane is located in a small and specific area which can be excavated this spring.
The Fallen American Veterans Foundation (FAVF) and mission leader Lou Sapienza says a newly discovered account of a visual sighting of the plane in 1962 on the Køge Bugt ice sheet surface, combined with surveys made by NASA and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Cold Regions Research Engineering Lab (CRREL), and reviewed by the FAVF Remote-Sensing Board, is the best evidence of the exact location of the plane and the remains of Lt. John Pritchard (USCG), Radioman First Class Benjamin Bottoms (USCG) and Corporal Loren Howarth (USAAF).
Last flight - Lt. John Pritchard (front seat) (USCG) and Radioman 1st Class Benjamin Bottoms (USCG) readying for its final flight en route to downed B-17 crew. Lt. Pritchard would be the first pilot to ever land an amphibious biplane on its pontoon on a glacier. (Photo by Howard S. Gammill, Photographer's Mate 3rd Class U.S.N.R) 
"This is a critical piece of specific, credible and scientifically accurate information and further proof that we know exactly where these three men are," said Sapienza of Rockport, Maine. "We are committed to working with United States Coast Guard and the Department of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) to getting our team back on the Greenland ice in spring 2019 and bring these men home to their families." 
The FAVF Remote-Sensing Board includes scientists from the Ohio University Byrd Polar Research Center, Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) Glacier Dynamics and Remote Sensing Group, the University of Iceland, among other academic and private industry experts. 
The Fallen American Veterans Foundation, Inc., advocates for surviving families of the 83,000 U.S. Military Personnel Missing In Action (MIA) since WWII through advocacy and proposed legislation and lobbying.
For more information: www.favf.uswww.favf.us
IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF SWEDEN'S SVEN HEDIN  
Sven Hedin (1865 - 1952) was a famous Swedish explorer and one of the very first honorary members of The Explorers Club - elected before 1910. By simple course and distance measurements, he alone explored and mapped larger areas overland than any other person in history. In total he spent almost 20 years in the field filling out the blank spots on the map of Central Asia. 

Hedin's autobiography, My Life as an Explorer (Asian Educational Services, 1996), was marketed by his New York publisher in 1925 as "the greatest story of exploration and adventure by the greatest explorer of them all." In 2001, National Geographic Adventure selected the book as one of the world's 100 greatest adventure books of all time.
 
Sven Hedin dressed for success in 1906 (photo courtesy of The Sven Hedin Foundation)
"Although Hedin was once an international celebrity and a national hero in Sweden, his strong support for Germany, throughout both World Wars, made him deliberately disappear from our collective memory and today he has been largely forgotten by the general public, even in Sweden," writes Lars Larsson.
Larsson is an explorer from Are, Sweden, who in 2013 was funded by National Geographic to depart on the first of a series of expeditions to Asia in Sven Hedin's footsteps to raise awareness and knowledge about environmental and climate change, as well as increase the knowledge about Sven Hedin's role in the history of exploration. 
Larsson's main objective is to study and document how the natural and cultural landscape has changed in the locations Hedin visited more than 100 years ago. His main method is repeat photography, taking advantage of Hedin's vast photographic collections, consisting of thousands of images, held at the Museum of Ethnography in Stockholm.
 
Lars Larsson (photo courtesy Peder Lundqvist)
Larsson hopes to retrace all of Sven Hedin's expeditions carried out between 1885 and 1935, an epic journey that will take him up snow-clad mountains, down wild rivers and through the burning deserts of Central Asia. So far, six years into the project, he has done five trips - three to Iran, one to the Caucasus and one to the Pamirs, the latter spanning the countries of Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan and Xinjiang, China. 

What was originally conceived as a five-year project has become an open ended and potentially life-spanning mission. Larsson is focused on journeying to Tibet within two years, Hedin's main staging area. Beforehand, he tells EN,"I will probably do a couple of easier trips in between, such as traveling from Tehran in Iran to Karakol in Kyrgyzstan, passing through the big cities in Central Asia. That is a trip Hedin did in 1890-91."
Besides his focus on Central Asia, Larsson is also an expert whitewater kayaker, a former Swedish champion, member of the National Swedish Team for ten years, and a pioneer of over 40 whitewater first descents in Scandinavia. 
For more information: lars@utforskaren.com. 

Learn more about the project at http://svenhedin.comhttp://svenhedin.com
EXPEDITION NOTES
 
American paleontologist and geologist Dr. Kenneth Lacovara
Dr. Kenneth Lacovara Wins The Explorers Medal
The Explorers Club announced this week that Dr. Kenneth Lacovara FN'03 is the 2019 recipient of its highest honor, The Explorers Club Medal. Awarded for extraordinary contributions directly in the field of exploration, scientific research, or to the welfare of humanity, he joins a renowned legacy including Adm. Robert E. Peary (1914), Roy Chapman Andrews (1932), Auguste Piccard (1954), President Herbert Hoover (1961), the crew of Apollo 11 (1971), Sir Edmund Hillary (1986), Mary Leakey (1989), Jane Goodall (1993), James Cameron (2013), and many more.
Dr. Lacovara has unearthed some of the largest dinosaurs ever to walk the planet, including the super-massive Dreadnoughtus, which at 65 tons weighs more than seven T. rex.
He is founding Director of the Edelman Fossil Park of Rowan University in New Jersey. In the depths of its quarry, Lacovara and his team are uncovering thousands of fossils that provide an unprecedented view of the last pivotal, calamitous moments of the dinosaurs.

He will be honored at the 115th Explorers Club Annual Dinner, at the Marriott Marquis in Times Square on Saturday, March 16. For ticket information: www.explorers.orgwww.explorers.org
Molecular Frontiers Journal Announces "Solutions for Planet Earth" Awards
Earlier this month, World Scientific announced the Molecular Frontiers Journal Award inviting students who are excited about helping the planet to get creative and submit proposals that identify opportunities and challenges for future earth and to come up with solutions for these. 
The competition is open to high school students from around the world ages 13 to 18. The top three entries selected by a scientific committee will receive a cash award and certificate. The submissions will also be highlighted on the Molecular Frontiers Journal page and the winners will be invited to produce an article for the digital open access publication. Deadline for submission is Feb. 28, 2019. 

For more information:

Dr. Lorie Karnath, lkarnath@yahoo.com, https://www.planetearthsymposium.org/submissions/https://www.planetearthsymposium.org/submissions/
FEATS
 
Ben Lecomte witnessed extensive plastic pollution during Pacific swim attempt.
Benoit Lecomte, 51, is a French-born long-distance swimmer (now a naturalized American citizen) who claimed to be the first man to swim across the Atlantic Ocean without a kick board in 1998.
Recently, he attempted to become the first person to swim the Pacific, departing June 5, 2018, from Choshi, Japan, in the Kanto region. After covering an arduous 1,500 nautical miles, the effort was abandoned in late November when a storm caused "irreparable" damage to the mainsail on his support boat. He had been trying to raise awareness of climate change and plastic pollution throughout the journey. It was not long after he reached the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch," a zone dominated by ocean plastic, that he was presented with typhoons and severe storms.
"I am very disappointed because I had not reached my mental and physical limits," he said in a statement. "I realized that the danger is not the shark, it's the plastic that we see every day that is there and that shouldn't be there."
Reportedly, he's continuing his mission with a new focus: documenting the extent of plastic pollution on Earth, starting with an expedition from Hawaii to California.
Sponsors include Lifeproof, Shotz, Tyr, and XPrize.
During his 73-day, 3,716-mile Atlantic swim 20 years ago, Lecomte was supported by a 40-foot sailboat that had an electromagnetic field to ward off sharks. He was accompanied by a crew of three aboard the sailboat, where he could rest and eat between each swimming period. Lecomte typically spent eight hours swimming each day in sessions of two to four hours.
Learn more about his attempt here: http://benlecomte.com
QUOTE OF THE MONTH 
"The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why."
- Mark Twain (1835-1910), real name Samuel Langhorne Clemens, an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer  
MEDIA MATTERS
Mars Insight Lander (photo courtesy NASA)
Missions To Mars Have Experienced a High Failure Rate 
NASA's Mars InSight probe finally made it to the red planet after a 300-million-mile journey lasting seven months. The spacecraft slammed into the Martian atmosphere at 12,300 mph late last month before settling on the Elysium Planitia, an extensive lava plain near the equator. The $814 million lander will use a sophisticated array of onboard instruments to study Mars' core, crust and mantle to help scientists learn more about how the planet was formed.
There's a reason they call the descent "seven minutes of terror," writes Statista data journalist Niall McCarthy on Forbes.com. "Given the price and amount of work put into the endeavor, all of that trepidation is understandable given the high failure rate of previous missions to Mars. Whether its landing a probe on the Martian surface, orbiting the planet or merely conducting a flyby, only 40% of previous trips have proven successful."
He reveals NASA has enjoyed considerable success with 16 missions succeeding out of 22. On the other hand, the USSR/Russia has seen 15 out of its 18 missions end in failure.
Read the story here: https://tinyurl.com/marsinsightterrorhttps://tinyurl.com/marsinsightterror
 
Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques (illustration by Oriana Fenwick)
Packing for Space in a Shoebox
Engineer, astrophysicist, physician and Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques of Montreal and Houston, tells Air Canada's Enroute in-flight magazine (December 2018) how he preps and packs for six months in space. 

He tells writer Katie Underwood, "It's everything from athletics to Russian language training to learning to fly and using the Canadarm. And we have to learn all the emergency procedures of the space station and the rocket. All in all, it's like a mixture of getting a pilot's license, public speaking and training for a sports event."
Saint-Jacques continues, "Your suitcase is the size of a shoebox. You only need to bring personal effects, like a wedding ring, or mementos you want from Earth. Everything else, like toiletries, is standard issue. I'm bringing something to remind me of my children and my wife, and a Rubik's Cube that my parents gave me when I was a kid."

He and his two fellow crewmembers reached the ISS earlier this month, the first to be sent to the space station since a crewed Soyuz launch was aborted in October after a booster rocket failed to separate properly, crippling the rocket.
Read the interview here:
http://enroute.aircanada.com/en/articles/david-saint-jacques-on-prepping-and-packing-for-six-months-in-spacehttp://enroute.aircanada.com/en/articles/david-saint-jacques-on-prepping-and-packing-for-six-months-in-space
Amundsen Biopic is Coming to a Theater Near You
SF Studios has unveiled the first teaser trailer for the upcoming biopic film Amundsen, profiling the life of iconic Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen. Amundsen is a legendary name in Scandinavia, however not many people from America seem to know about him. He was the first to reach the South Pole in 1911, and the first person to reach both the North and South Poles in 1926, along with many other daring accomplishments exploring the coldest places on Earth.
The film is the solo directing debut of Espen Sandberg, who previously co-directed Kon-Tiki and Dead Men Tell No Tales. It premieres Feb. 15, 2019. 

See the teaser trailer here: https://tinyurl.com/amundsenteaserhttps://tinyurl.com/amundsenteaser
EXPEDITION FUNDING
 
Applications Accepted for AAC Research Grants 
AAC Research Grants support scientific endeavors in mountains and crags around the world, funding projects that contribute vital knowledge of the climbing environment, enrich understanding of global climber impacts and support and improve the health and sustainability of mountain environments and habitats.  
In addition to their relevance, applications are considered in terms of their scientific or technical quality and merit. The application period is now through January 15. AAC Research Grants are powered by the National Renewable Energy Lab and Ridgeline Venture Law, and supported by the Arthur K. Gilkey Memorial Fund and the Bedayn Research Fund.
Apply here: 
https://theamericanalpineclub.formstack.com/forms/research_grants_2019https://theamericanalpineclub.formstack.com/forms/research_grants_2019

WEB WATCH
 
Lama bags first solo ascent of Lunag Ri
You Won't Believe This Footage of a First Solo Ascent of Nepal's Lunag Ri
We know that headline sounds like click-bait, but if there was an Oscar for best climbing footage, it would go to the video team behind this clip of Austrian alpinist David Lama's first solo ascent last October of the formidable Lunag Ri Massif (22,661-foot) in the Himalayas, on the border of Tibet and Nepal.
Lama climbed the beautiful, and terrifying, peak alone. This POV and drone footage captures the ascent beautifully. Lama honored Conrad Anker, his former climbing partner during a 2016 attempt, with total praise in a blog post on his site. Although only a little over three minutes, it had our heart racing and our frontal lobes firing.
See it here:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOx1mAxEHKcfiOR6YGYxLQQhttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOx1mAxEHKcfiOR6YGYxLQQ

EN's HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE 
To paraphrase the late Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor, one cannot be too rich or too thin, or have too much outdoor gear. When it comes to cool gadgets or kit that can be used on an expedition or adventure, too much is never enough. 

For that special adventurer or explorer in your life, we respectfully suggest a few must-haves for under the tree this holiday period. While it's too late for Hanukkah, these are all ideal choices for Christmas, Kwanzaa or even Chrismukkah and Festivus (yes, those are a thing). 
Christie's Head of Handbags & Accessories Matthew Rubinger with the Louis Vuitton trunk.
*            Louie's Aluminium Explorer Trunk
Designed for intrepid explorers, this historic travel trunk could become the most valuable trunk in history. Louis Vuitton produced just a handful of these aluminium trunks - designed for the most intrepid of explorers - in a single year: 1892. Today, only two examples are known to exist. 

One is in the Louis Vuitton Foundation in Paris. The other is this one, offered in Christie's Handbags & Accessories auction. In addition to filing patents for special hinges and clasps, Vuitton was the first to make a flat-top trunk that could be stacked. (Prior to this, trunks were made with curved lids.) 
Pricey, yes. Your recipient can use it to store the flotsam and jetsam of their  entire expedition - in fact, the whole schmegegge - including that expedition underwear they wore so many days their chest hair grew through the fabric (hey, it happens). Estimated auction price:  £50,000-100,000. (https://tinyurl.com/explorertrunkhttps://tinyurl.com/explorertrunk)
Smile! You're on Canine Camera. 
Go Fetch

This harness puts the "pet" in POV. The rugged GoPro mount can handle mushing to the North Pole or competing in the Iditarod race. On the internet, nobody knows you're a dog, except if your pooch is FaceTiming with this rig behind your gift recipient's back. ($39.99, GoPro.comGoPro.com)

Lokai bracelet has its high and low points. 

Pass Water 

If your friend or loved one failed in that second Everest summit attempt, here's a consolation prize: gift them a white Lokai bracelet that contains water from Mt. Everest, reportedly taken from Camp Two. It also includes one black bead containing mud from the Dead Sea (earth's highest and lowest points, get it?). ($18, mylokai.commylokai.com)


Have blankie will travel.

The Expedition Binky

It's a chaotic world out there, especially on an expedition or adventure. So your gift recipient will find comfort in the Kachula Adventure Blanket. A better binky has yet to be found. Use it as a blanket, travel pillow, light sleeping bag or even emergency poncho. It's water resistant, has a removable hood and a "stash pocket" (in case you're camping in, let's say Colorado, or some other 420-friendly state). ($72, coalatree.com)

Good for Tinkling with a Skunk

 

Perfect for the Democratic woman representative in your life.  

After a tumultuous meeting with President Trump on Dec. 11, Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said, "You get into a tinkle contest with a skunk, you get tinkle all over you." Well if that's ever the case with a female friend or loved one this holiday period, get them the Tinkle Belle, the "best stand-to-pee accessory" on the market, or so says the company that makes this 9-in. hydrophobic funnel-like device that's, thank god, top-rack dishwasher safe. 
So there's that. 

To avoid subjecting our readers to TMI, it's best you watch the video yourself at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwblY0SdX74https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwblY0SdX74.
Then decide if this is the right gift. ($27.50, www.thetinklebelle.comwww.thetinklebelle.com)
 
Friend or foe?
Send the Little Buggers on a Trip
Now here's a must-have for anyone active outdoors, which come to think of it, is all of us. This little kit, which we admit is fairly cringey, will help determine if a tick is a carrier of Lyme Disease before symptoms appear. Trouble is, the Cutter Lyme Disease Tick Test requires one to capture the tick and send it off to a lab. Not so easy finding the tiny critter, but we're sure your holiday gift recipient can figure it out. 

Results come back within three business days of its arrival at the lab. Sure, this might be a strange holiday gift, but it's a whole lot more practical than soap-on-a-rope. ($24.99, www.cutterticktest.com)www.cutterticktest.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/B00H12FLH2http://www.amazon.com/Get-Sponsored-Explorers-Adventurers-Travelers-ebook/dp/B00H12FLH2
 
Coming in April 2019: Travel With Purpose, A Field Guide to Voluntourism(Rowman & Littlefield) by Jeff Blumenfeld

Pre-order it here:

https://tinyurl.com/Travelwithpurposebookhttps://tinyurl.com/Travelwithpurposebook
Advertise in Expedition News - For more information: blumassoc@aol.com.

EXPEDITION NEWS is published by Blumenfeld and Associates, LLC, 290 Laramie Blvd., Boulder, CO 80304 USA. Tel. 203 326 1200, editor@expeditionnews.com. Editor/publisher: Jeff Blumenfeld. Research editor: Lee Kovel. ©2018 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 (made payable to blumassoc@aol.com).  Read EXPEDITION NEWS at www.expeditionnews.com. Enjoy the EN blog at www.expeditionnews.blogspot.com. 

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Antarctic "Crossing" Stirs Controversy; Queen Guitarist Composes Flyby Song

January 11, 2019, 1:59 pm
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PADDLING THE NORTHWEST PASSAGE 

By Pam LeBlanc, Special Correspondent 

Austin, Texas, paddler West Hansen will trade Amazon tropics and Russian waves for crushing ice and polar bears next summer, when he attempts to lead the first expedition to kayak the Northwest Passage.
 
West Hansen paddling the Amazon River, just below the confluence of the Ucayali and Marañon rivers. Photo by Erich Schlegel

Hansen, 56, made the longest source-to-sea paddling descent of the Amazon River in 2012 and the first descent of the Volga River in Russia two years later. Team members include veteran paddlers Jeff Wueste, 57, and Jimmy Harvey, 55. Launching in summer 2019, they'll cover 1,900 miles, half of which have never been kayaked.

The team will follow the same east-to-west route that explorer Roald Amundsen took during his landmark three-year navigation of the passage, completed in 1907, starting in Baffin Bay and finishing at the Beaufort Sea. Along the way, Hansen will monitor plankton and jellyfish populations, and record ice coverage.

"(Firsts) are getting more and more rare, and it's pretty special doing something no one's ever done," Hansen says.

The paddlers will face gale force winds, car-sized slabs of ice and pummeling waves, plus orcas and polar bears. 

"You can't fire a gun (to spook them) because it sounds like cracking ice and polar bears are used to that," Hansen says, noting that the team will carry satellite phones, emergency beacons, firearms and screaming flares to ward off 2,000-pound predators. 

"It's been attempted several times, but no one's ever come close to accomplishing it," says Hansen. "We have a lot more experience in long distance expedition paddling than anybody else who's tried. And we're older, which is always a bonus."

West Hansen's route. 

The expedition is expected to take 60 days and will cost nearly $75,000. Hansen is looking for sponsors, and can be reached via west@westhansen.com.

Pam LeBlanc is an Austin, Texas-based freelance writer specializing in adventure travel, fitness and conservation. She will join the expedition as an embedded journalist.

EXPEDITION NOTES

Space Exploration Takes Giant Leap for Mankind

The world watched as two significant achievements in space exploration occurred within the past month, starting with history's farthest exploration.

NASA's New Horizons spacecraft, about the size of a baby grand piano, flew by a small, distant world in the Kuiper Belt on New Year's Day. The object studied, officially designated 2014 MU69 and nicknamed Ultima Thule, is 4 billion miles from Earth. No spacecraft has ever explored a world so far away. It was a suitable encore to the same spacecraft's last historic mission 3-1/2 hyears ago - recording the first high definition images of Pluto. 

 
The highest definition photo so far of the minor planet Ultima Thule in the Kuiper Belt. The first images to arrive were only a vague blur taken during the approach, leaving its exact shape a mystery: did it look like a bowling pin, or was it perhaps two small objects orbiting each other? This photo, which followed the next day, has revealed the object to be a cluster of two fused objects, a "contact binary," in the shape of a snowman. 

Several weeks before, the New Horizons team offered people around the world the opportunity to "beam" their name and a choice of messages, at the speed of light, toward New Horizons and Ultima Thule on flyby day. Some 30,500 people ultimately signed on. "Happy 2019!" was the top choice, selected by 8,100 participants, followed by "Keep on Exploring!" sent by 6,800 participants.

Transmitted on New Year's Eve from the satellite communications facility at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland - where New Horizons was built and is operated - the signals carrying the messages reached New Horizons just hours before the flyby, then continued on past Ultima Thule and through the Kuiper Belt.


"Never before has the public had an opportunity to have their names and messages across our entire solar system on the historic day of the farthest exploration of worlds in human history," said New Horizons Principal Investigator and "Beam Me" project originator Alan Stern, of the Southwest Research Institute, Boulder, Colorado.
New Horizons' closest approach to Ultima Thule occurred at 12:33 a.m. EST on Jan. 1, when it zipped approximately 2,200 miles from the object. The spacecraft sent back the first close-up images of its Kuiper Belt target in the following days, confirming that Ultima Thule is a contact binary, and offering tantalizing hints of the science to come.


Dr. Brian May, astrophysicist, New Horizons participating scientist and Queen lead guitarist, speaks with media at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland, on Dec. 31, 2018.

Further testament to the project's popularity among the general public, is the reaction to an original song created by Brian May, lead guitarist of the rock band Queen, who also happens to be an astrophysicist. It's May's personal tribute to the on-going NASA New Horizons mission.
Brian May's New Horizon music video has been viewed almost 986,000 times on YouTube:


What led a legendary rocker to become an astrophysicist is perhaps a story for another time.
Reached while on a much-deserved vacation in Australia, Stern tells EN, "The exploration of Ultima Thule is behind us, but the scientific results are almost all ahead, as less than 1% of the data from New Horizons has been downloaded as of today, Jan 9. Data will continue to stream back for 20 months to unlock Ultima Thule's secrets."


Stern continues, "The media reaction to the exploration we did - the farthest exploration of worlds in history - was fantastic. Hundreds of front pages like the NYT; documentaries by no less than NOVA, NHK, BBC, and others; coverage on daily newscasts by CDB, CNN, PBS, NPR, and many more. We are very pleased to have explored, to have learned, and to have raised awareness across the world for scientific exploration."

Even though the flyby took place on January 1, the images are just starting to trickle in. The data has a long way to travel. Ultima Thule itself is 43 times further away from the Earth than the Sun, so it takes over six hours to send a signal back to Earth. That number will only increase as the New Horizons probe travels yet farther away.

Follow this mighty little spacecraft at:

In a related story, a Chinese spacecraft has become the first to land on the far side of the moon in another historic moment for human space exploration.

The successful touchdown earlier this month was hailed as a major technical feat and is seen as an important step towards China's wider ambitions in space.

The robotic probe Chang'e 4 landed in the unexplored South Pole-Aitken basin, the biggest known impact structure in the solar system, at about 2:30 a.m. GMT on Jan. 3. Prior to confirmation of the landing and the release of the first close-up shots of the far lunar surface by the Chinese state broadcaster CCTV, many details of the mission, including the planned timing of the landing, had been kept secret.

The landing was described as "an impressive accomplishment" by NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine.

FEATS

Over a Barrel

On October 24, 1901, Annie Taylor was the first person to conquer Niagara Falls in a barrel. After climbing inside her airtight wooden barrel, the air pressure was compressed to 30 p.s.i. with a bicycle pump. Though bruised and battered, Annie made it. She expected fame and fortune but, alas, died in poverty.

This winter, 71-year-old Frenchman Jean-Jacques Savin is hoping for a much happier ending. Earlier this month he set off across the Atlantic Ocean in a large orange barrel, hoping to float to the Caribbean by the end of March. He is traveling at "two or three kilometers an hour" (one to two miles an hour) and intends to (literally) barrel his way across the ocean, attempting to reach the Caribbean with only ocean currents and trade winds propelling his 10-ft. capsule, according to a Facebook page set up to document his project. The craft is smaller than a pickup and held upright by concrete ballast.




Savin's ocean crossing is hardly a barrel o' fun. 

The vessel includes a small kitchen and bed, and space for storage. Savin is dropping markers on his way to allow international marine observatory organization JCOMMOPS to study ocean currents.
On his project's website, Savin - a former military parachutist, pilot and park ranger in Africa who has already crossed the Atlantic four times using a sailboat - described his venture as a "crossing during which man isn't captain of his ship, but a passenger of the ocean."

Savin's 55,000-euro (or $62,000) project has been funded by sponsorships, including two French barrel makers, and a crowdfunding campaign.  

Brush up on your French and track him at:

QUOTE OF THE MONTH 

"For my part I know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of the stars makes me dream."

- Vincent Van Gogh (1853-1890), Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who is among the most famous and influential figures in the history of Western art.

EXPEDITION FOCUS  

An Unassisted Antarctic Crossing? It's Debatable   

By Jeff Blumenfeld, editor  

Amidst all the depressing news of politics and international conflict came an uplifting report late December that two adventurers, nearly neck and neck, achieved a grueling traverse of Antarctica. Man against the elements, facing the worst conditions Antarctica threw their way.  

Certainly, the approximately 920-mile "crossings" set by American athlete Colin O'Brady, 33, then two days later by British army Captain Louis Rudd, 49, of Britain, were no easy feat. Hauling supply sleds weighing some 375-400 lbs., they faced extreme winds of up to 60 MPH, whiteouts, crevasses and temperatures below minus 40 degrees F. 

Colin O'Brady

Both claimed their efforts were solo, unsupported and unassisted, as they man-hauled their supplies without the use of kites or mechanical means. In O'Brady's case, he claimed to achieve the first-ever such crossing, a feat he called "The Impossible First." Members of the exploration community begged to differ, including Norwegian Borge Ousland, now 56, who in 1996 achieved a true crossing, albeit with the use of a "ski sail" for part of the way. Still, he is considered the first explorer to ski alone across Antarctica from coast-to-coast.

Rudd and O'Brady began and ended their treks not at the seacoast but at points on the inland facing side of two great ice shelves. The distance they traveled - approximately 920 miles - was only half the 1,864 miles that Ousland covered.

Between November 1996 and January 1997, Ousland man-hauled a sled initially laden with 412 pounds of food and gear for 64 days across Antarctica from the ocean edge of the Ronne Ice Shelf to McMurdo Sound, on the seacoast below the Ross Ice Shelf. 

Until 1997, no one had crossed Antarctica from coast-to-coast without receiving resupply along the way. Ousland's unsupported crossing 22 years ago set the standard for Antarctic crossings that has been unfairly diminished in the current adulation about O'Brady and Rudd. 

Writes David Roberts in the New York Times (Jan. 3), "It's not surprising that in 2018, the effort to claim the purported first solo, unsupported traverse of Antarctica became an all-out race between two contenders. For sponsored professional adventurers who feel the need to connect in real time to a social media audience, true exploration becomes secondary to the need to set 'records,' to claim 'firsts,' no matter how arbitrarily defined." 

Referring to Ousland's expedition, Roberts continues, "On the 'downhill' leg from the pole to the coast, Mr. Ousland occasionally unfurled a 'ski sail' of his own devising: in his words, 'a simple piece of square fabric' that would catch the wind and help propel him as he skied across the snow. 

That minimal aid, in the view of more recent traversers such as Messrs. O'Brady, Rudd and Worsley disqualified Mr. Ousland's epic solo jaunt from the laurel of an 'unsupported' journey." (Editor's note: Henry Worsley died of peritonitis after sledding more than 800 miles attempting the same feat three years earlier.)



Borge Ousland (1996-97 route); GPS locations of campsites and planned Antarctic Logistics & Expeditions route (O'Brady and Rudd routes); all routes shown are approximated. (Courtesy New York Times)

Putting that journey aside, the debate rages whether O'Brady's and Rudd's expeditions from the so-called Messner Start on the Ronne Ice Shelf on Antarctica's eastern coast, stopping short at the Leverett Glacier on the Ross Ice Shelf, can truly be considered a crossing, when Ousland soloed much farther from two opposite coastal points bound by ocean. As the Antarctic historian and mountaineer Damien Gildea argued in a post to the website ExplorersWeb.com, "The ice shelves are land ice and therefore part of the continent. This was accepted by all the earliest polar travelers who did, or attempted, crossings."

To us, nothing will ever match a true Antarctic crossing at its widest points - the International Trans-Antarctic Expedition, a 3,741-mile, seven-month feat of endurance by man and sled dogs, from the Antarctic Peninsula to the Soviet scientific research base at Mirnyy on the far coast. You want to talk about crossings, assisted or otherwise, spend seven continuous months out on the Antarctic ice.

Louis Rudd

Then there's the interpretation of  "unassisted." The Twittersphere was ablaze with the little known fact that both recent adventurers followed a track, known as the McMurdo-South Pole Highway or the South Pole Overland Traverse (SPOT), for more than 350 miles. Was that not assistance? The SPOT is a flattened trail groomed by tractors towing heavy sledges to resupply the polar station. Flags every 100 meters or so make navigation easier, especially during whiteouts.

The route is devoid of sastrugi - the wavelike ridges of hard snow - and is routed to avoid crevasses. Tractor marks are visible in a photograph of O'Brady taken on Day 50. 

Writes Paul Landry of PolarConsultants.com, one of the best-known polar guides in the world, "I do consider the use of the SPOT road as being assisted as it eliminates the need for navigation and is an advantage to travel conditions - the road offers faster travel conditions compared to the untouched snow beside the road. It is a form of assistance as it allows one to move faster." 

Veteran polar guide Eric Philips of Icetrek Expeditions and Equipment, Hobart, Australia, tells ExplorersWeb.com, "It is a highway (that) more than doubles someone's speed and negates the need for navigation. An expedition cannot be classed as unassisted if someone is skiing on a road."

Philips tells EN, "A skier benefits from the road in many ways, particularly after it has been seasonally re-opened - it negates the need for glacier travel skills and equipment, the road and flags are a navigational handrail, the psychological aid of knowing that a road is nearby, rescue is much more simplified (it's very difficult for a plane to land in the middle of a sastrugi field), etc."
We reached out to O'Brady via his website but had not received a reply by presstime.

While the debate rages about what many consider an assisted partial crossing of Antarctica, polar guides such as Philips, and others, are calling for an agreement about Antarctic/South Pole expeditioning that will include a widely-accepted and fair labeling protocol that some are calling a Polar Expedition Classification System to replace ambiguous terms such as "unsupported" and "unassisted." 

Philips emails EN, "While we are working on a Polar Expedition Classification System, we will likely still use the terms unassisted and unsupported but apply very strict definitions."

This business of superlatives is a tricky one as explorers and adventurers continuously add parameters to records, especially after the fact. No matter how this plays out, Richard Wiese, president of The Explorers Club, the organization whose prestigious flag was carried by O'Brady, writes in an email to Club members, "... the exceptional accomplishments of Ousland, O'Brady and Rudd, all focus important attention on the polar regions and make our global audience far more aware of just how fragile these regions have become."

Read David Robert's story in the New York Times here:

Read what Peter Winsor of ExplorersWeb.com has to say:

See the rather fawning Jan. 7, 2019, CBS This Morning interview that focused, in part, on the songs that powered Rudd across the ice:

MEDIA MATTERS



Mountains Make You Dumber

We know that cognitive function is impaired at high altitude, but it's not entirely clear why, writes Alex Hutchinson in a Jan. 5 post on OutsideOnline.com.

In 1925, the eminent physiologist Joseph Barcroft, fresh from a pioneering high-altitude research expedition to heights of Cerro de Pasco in Peru, made a provocative claim. "All dwellers at high altitude," he wrote, "are persons of impaired physical and mental power." 

The accuracy of that statement remains hotly debated, to put it mildly, nearly a century later. Highlanders in the Andes and Himalayas, whose ancestors have lived above 10,000 feet for thousands of years, beg to differ. But for temporary visitors to the highest places on earth, Barcroft's claim is self-evident: mountains make you weak and stupid.

According to Hutchinson it's not obvious why. The obvious culprit for reduced cognitive function is the thin high-altitude air depriving your brain of oxygen. The resulting impairment of judgment and decision-making can have serious and sometimes fatal consequences when you're choosing routes, scaling cliffs, and assessing weather and snow conditions. 

But there are lots of other factors beyond the oxygen levels during a typical alpine expedition that might dull your judgment, such as sleep deprivation, dehydration, and simple physical exhaustion from the prolonged effort it took to get there. 

Further down in the post he writes, "If you're heading out for a big adventure in the mountains, there's not a whole lot you can do about either the thin air or the prolonged physical exertion. ... Sleep and dehydration, on the other hand, are much more modifiable. Neither is easy at high altitudes - but if you make them a priority, there's potential for improvement."

Read the full story here:

 
Department of Derring-Do

The New Yorker (Jan. 7) focused its gimlet eye on a reunion at The Explorers Club of two explorers of great renown: Jim Fowler, 88, the zoologist and the former host of Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom, the pioneering nature procedural, and John Atwater Bradley, 87, a retired management consultant, adventurer, raconteur, and exuberant dropper of names.


According to writer Nick Paumgarten, Fowler, who was wearing Ugg boots, a safari jacket, and a Citroën ball cap, while Bradley had on yellow slacks, a salmon-colored Princeton reunion blazer (class of 1954), a bawdy-Santa tie, and a straw boater with a black-and-orange band and a pin in the shape of a Thompson submachine gun.

Musing on the mission of humanity, Fowler said, "It's to create a quality of life for all the people on the planet. The world of nature is not a very pleasant place. Most living things are fighting and killing and eating each other. I was with some cannibals in Africa years ago, and I asked one of them what his name meant, and he said, 'It means, I'm strong and my axe is sharp, so no one can kill me or eat me.'" 

Fowler, who the late, late night talk show host Johnny Carson nicknamed "Jim Foul-up," went on: "I've had a few close calls. In the Amazon, I made a mistake. I was approaching an eighteen-foot anaconda, and I slipped. It grabbed me by the hand and swallowed my arm up to the shoulder ... Anaconda have half-inch teeth, so I couldn't pull it out. Sorry, getting gory."

Read the story here:

EXPEDITION FUNDING

 
Apply for Field Grant From The Explorers Club and Fjällräven

The Explorers Club and Fjällräven, the Swedish manufacturer and retailer specializing in outdoor equipment, announced earlier this month "We Love Nature" field grants which will aid in continued exploration and research that helps better understand the environment, a changing climate, and how it is intertwined with wildlife and civilizations around the planet.

The program seeks young explorers who are working on sustainability, wildlife, and climate to educate and inspire the next generation of conservationists and explorers. The Explorers Club - Fjällräven Field Grant will award two recipients $5,000 each to aid in sending extraordinary young explorers into the field to conduct critically important research.

Proposals must include a focus of saving the preciousness of nature and how the recipient will make a lasting impact on younger up and coming generations who will continue to carry the message. 
Apply at grants.explorers.org. Deadline is January 21, 2019. Awardees must be 18 - 35 years old at time of award.

WEB WATCH

How About a Hug?

Many tears were shed when Virgin Galactic CEO George Whiteside urged everyone to hug it out after a Virgin Galactic rocket plane blasted to the edge of space on Dec. 13, capping off years of difficult testing to become the first U.S. commercial human flight to reach space since America's shuttle program ended in 2011.



Richard Branson, center, celebrates with pilots Rick 'CJ' Sturckow, left, and Mark 'Forger' Stucky, right.

Virgin's airplane-like SpaceShipTwo took off from California's Mojave air and space port, about 90 miles north of Los Angeles. Shaggy, goateed Richard Branson was there dressed in a leather bomber jacket with a fur collar, tearing up before hundreds of spectators.  

He shared the moment with his 3.2 million Instagram followers, "Many of us cried tears of joy when we reached space, and the air really was filled with love as we celebrated the milestone flight. It certainly was for two of our wonderful team. After the flight, The Spaceship Company flight test engineer Brandon Parrish proposed to his girlfriend Veronica McGowan, a Structural Engineer at The Spaceship Company. What better way to propose than with a ring that had just flown to space? Huge congratulations to the happy couple."

The commemorative video has been seen almost 860,000 times. See the posts here:

Working under the theory that no good deed goes unpunished, Australian astronaut Andy Thomas is quoted in The Guardian (Dec. 17), "It's true that he will fly to the edge of space, but he can't stay there. He falls right back down. It's really just a high-altitude aeroplane flight and a dangerous one at that. As a technology to get humans out into space it's a go nowhere, dead-end technology."

Read the story here: 



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: 

 
Coming in April 2019: Travel With Purpose, A Field Guide to Voluntourism (Rowman & Littlefield) by Jeff Blumenfeld

Pre-order it here:

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

EXPEDITION NEWS is published by Blumenfeld and Associates, LLC, 290 Laramie Blvd., Boulder, CO 80304 USA. Tel. 203 326 1200, editor@expeditionnews.com. Editor/publisher: Jeff Blumenfeld. Research editor: Lee Kovel. ©2018 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 (made payable to blumassoc@aol.com).  Read EXPEDITION NEWS at www.expeditionnews.com. Enjoy the EN blog at www.expeditionnews.blogspot.com. 

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Search for Shackleton's Endurance was a Nice Try

February 14, 2019, 7:02 pm
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The final sinking of the Endurance. It was abandoned in November 2015 as the masts collapsed, the hull crumbled, and the men watched helplessly from the ice as their boat sank. The rest is history.

 
SEARCH FOR SHACKLETON'S ENDURANCE WAS A GOOD TRY  
 
At press time, an expedition to locate one of the most iconic exploration ships in history was cancelled due to bad weather. 
 
The Weddell Sea Expedition 2019 and the icebreaker S.A. Agulhas II  reached the last known location of Ernest Shackleton's ill-fated ship, the Endurance, which was crushed by the ice and sunk in 1915. According to a tweet by the director and archaeologist of the expedition, Mensun Bound, "We are the first people here since Shackleton and his men!" 

Unfortunately, bad weather led to the loss of an AUV and cancellation of the effort. 
 
 
 
The Agulhas did not break a straight-line channel through a solid ice shelf to reach the site. Instead, through a combination of favorable surface conditions and the skill of her experienced crew, she threaded a narrow channel - following leads through drifting floes to arrive at approximately 68.5 degrees S 52.5 degrees W, the final position Shackleton's crew recorded for the Endurance.
 
The search was a secondary goal for the research team. Before heading towards the wreck site, the expedition conducted a subsea survey of the Larsen C ice shelf using ROVs and AUVs. According to Professor Julian Dowdeswell, the expedition's chief scientist, the data gathered will help oceanographers and glaciologists "better understand the contemporary stability and past behavior of Larsen C, with its wider implications for ice sheet stability more generally."
 
Since the team is already in the Weddell Sea and carrying all the tools needed for hunting a shipwreck at depths of 9,000 feet, it tried to locate Endurance and survey the site. If Endurance had been found, the team says that the wreck was not going to be  touched or disturbed. That was not to be. 
 
The ship became trapped in the ice, absolutely stuck, which is what happened to the Endurance some 100 years ago.

“The conditions were brutal. It makes you think about all that Shackleton and his team had to put up with. It was dangerous back then 100 years ago, and it’s dangerous today," said expedition leader Bound in an expedition video. 

He paraphrases Shackleton: “This is the worst corner of the worst sea on earth. What the ice gets, the ice keeps.” 

 
Read the expedition blog here: weddellseaexpedition.org

View Bound's video report at: https://vimeo.com/317146403/dd8de74aa7
 
EXPEDITION NOTES
 
 
 
Inspiring Explorers 2019: Leah Stewart, Alexander Hillary, Marco de Kretser, Rosanna Price and Georgie Archibald 
 
Young Explorers to Kayak Antarctic Waters in Spirit of Polar Exploration
 
Sir Edmund Hillary's grandson, a living kidney donor, and a mother are among a group of young explorers who are heading to Antarctica to take part in an expedition featuring kayaking with New Zealand Olympian Mike Dawson.
 
New Zealand's Antarctic Heritage Trust has just named the five young people selected
to take part in its 2019 Inspiring Explorers' Expedition, March 2-17, 2019. They are accomplished photographer Alexander Hillary (Sir Edmund Hillary's grandson); living kidney donor and freelance camera operator Leah Stewart; Wellington communications specialist and mother Rosanna Price; Christchurch learning advisor Georgina Archibald; and photographer and sound specialist Marco de Kretser, from Auckland.
 
The group will join two students and a teacher from Sir Edmund Hillary Collegiate on the expedition. The group will travel to the Antarctic Peninsula from South America aboard a One Ocean Expeditions vessel.
 
This is the fourth Inspiring Explorers' Expedition, and follows last year's successful 560 km crossing of the Greenland ice cap, the summiting of New Zealand's Mt. Scott in 2017, and the crossing of South Georgia island in 2015.
 
 
 
 
The historic Church of San Lorenzo Venice (Chiesa San Lorenzo) is being given a second life as it re-launches as Ocean Space. Photo: TBA21-Academy
 
Ocean Research Center Opens in Venice 
 
TBA21-Academy (Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary) this month announced the opening next month of Ocean Space - a new, collaborative global hub for trans-disciplinary oceanic research and discovery in Venice.
 
Following decades of careful restoration and renovation, the historic Church of San Lorenzo is being given a second life as it re-launches as Ocean Space, a new collaborative platform for research, discovery, and innovation supporting ocean stewardship and conservation.  
 
TBA21-Academy also is opening its archives to the public with the first physical presentation of OceanArchive, developed by Etienne Turpin with the support of Andrés Jaque and Office for Political Innovation. The launch of Ocean Space reintegrates the historic church, which has been largely closed to the public for the past 100 years, back within the social and cultural fabric of city. The space will be activated throughout the week of the Venice Art Biennale in May 2019, including a special live performance by Jonas. 
 
TBA21-Academy (Thyssen-Bornemisza Art Contemporary) leads artists, scientists, and thought-leaders on expeditions of collaborative discovery, fostering a deeper understanding of the ocean through the lens of art and engendering creative solutions to its most pressing issues. For more information: TBA21.org
 
QUOTE OF THE MONTH 
 
"All of us are transients here. What endures is our planet and her oceans. From my mid-Pacific vantage point, human artiface and artifacts appeared small and temporary. This is why dreamers will always build boats to voyage into that eternal ocean realm: to gain the perspective that is hidden from those who stay close to the shore."
 
- Ed Gillet, quoted in The Pacific Alone: The Untold Story of Kayaking's Boldest Voyage(Falcon Guides, 2018), by Dave Shively. In the summer of 1987 Ed Gillet achieved what no person has accomplished before or since, a solo crossing from California to Hawaii by kayak. Gillet, at the age of 36 an accomplished sailor and paddler, navigated by sextant and always knew his position within a few miles. Along the way he endured a broken rudder, among other calamities, but at last reached Maui on his 64th day at sea, four days after his food had run out. Until the book was issued, Gillet barely spoke of his crossing for 30 years.
  
MEDIA MATTERS
 
New York Times Supplement Features Controversial Antarctica Trek
 
A stand-alone supplement in the Jan. 19 New York Times, penned by Adam Skolnick, acknowledges the controversy surround what is considered "unassisted" and "unsupported" when it comes to Antarctic crossings.
 
In regards to Borge Ousland's longer crossing in 1996-97, American Colin O'Brady is quoted, "He's one of the greatest modern-day polar explorers. But to me, it's apples and oranges."
 
Englishman Louis Rudd, who was simultaneously crossing separately, addresses critics of the adventure, especially in regards to their route following a marked path that heavy vehicles traverse, "I wish they could be there, it's not a road at all. Trying to say it was easy that we skied down a road is just so wrong. It's unbelievable. It's a bit disappointing. It's a shame that they haven't actually said, 'Well done, guys, great effort that was, tough journey.'"

 
 
Antarctic Weight Loss Plan: Unassisted or not, Louis Rudd lost more than 30 pounds on his journey.
 
Both were unaided by kites for propulsion, a device Ousland used for part of his trek over 20 years ago.
 
According to the Times' Adam Skolnick, both men carried satellite phones and remained in touch with their respective expedition managers and handlers. Some in the exploration community argue that this communication should be considered assistance. (See this month's Expedition Mailbag for further comment from two readers.)
 
One little known fact: O'Brady buried his excrement six inches deep and brought four rolls of toilet paper. Rudd is old school: he used ice. TMI?
 
Read the Times story here:
 
 
 
 
The elusive Andean cat (photo courtesy Preston Sowell)
 
Cat's Cradle 
 
Hemispheres, the in-flight magazine in every United Airlines seat pocket, features explorer Preston Sowell in its February 2019 story, "Cat's Cradle: The Search for the Andean Feline: An expedition into the High Mountains of Peru in Search of the Mythic Andean Cat." Sowell has studied the small, bushy-tailed Andean cat, which lives in the mountains of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, and Peru and is the most endangered feline in all of the Americas, according to writer Cayte Bosler. 
 
Finding the cat could help secure legal protection for the Sibinacocha watershed, which is currently under threat from mining and rapid climate change. "Documenting the Andean mountain cat may be a lifeline for protecting the area," Sowell tells Bosler. "We all rely on the resources that mining brings, and our society can't survive without it right now. However, some areas just shouldn't be disturbed. I think the Sibinacocha watershed is one of them."
 
 
 
Preston Sowell 
 
The story continues, "Scientists don't know much about the Andean cat's behavior. Barely larger than a house cat, it lives only in remote, austere areas above 13,000 feet, roaming alone over long ranges to hunt prey like the viscacha, a rabbit-like rodent with long, furry ears. Our team strategically places camera traps, equipped with motion sensors, to collect data. On the first excursion, we find scat, an exhilarating clue. Here. It's been here. We set a camera and wonder: Will it return? Will we get a glimpse into the unknown?"
 
The team returned with four images of the cat, including a close-up of the distinctive tail: long, thick, and banded with dark rings.  
 
Read the story here:
 
 
Editor's Note to our many Colorado readers: Sowell will present his findings on Feb. 21 during a free public talk at the Fjallraven store in Boulder starting at 7 p.m.  
 
 
Insurance Companies to Everest Trek Operators: "No More Mr. Nice Guy"
 
International insurance companies last month threatened to end travel coverage to Nepal if the government did not crack down on elaborate helicopter rescue scams that target foreigners trekking near Mount Everest and other high altitude peaks.
 
Last year, investigations by the Nepali government and Traveller Assist, a medical assistance company based in Ireland, found that some trek operators, guides, helicopter companies and even doctors and hospitals had conspired to bilk millions of dollars from insurance companies by pushing for emergency mountainside evacuations for minor illnesses, or when simpler treatment options were available, according to Kai Schultz writing in the Jan. 25 New York Times. 
 
The Nepali government found evidence that some guides went as far as intentionally making hikers ill by spiking their food with large amounts of baking soda, which can cause vomiting, diarrhea and other ailments, and then calling for an emergency helicopter evacuation.
 
These evacuations can cost as much as $40,000 each, depending on how many trekkers are on board, and insurance companies are often stuck with the bill, writes Schultz. 
 
 
Dem Bones: A Final Discovery for British Explorer Matthew Flinders (1774-1814)
 
 
 
This statue of Matthew Flinders unveiled by Prince William in 2014 at Euston Railway station in London shows the explorer crouched over a map of Australia. Flinders will be re-interred at a yet-to-be determined site. His cat Trim is portrayed on the right. (Associated Press photo). 
 
Britain is carrying out its largest-ever archaeological dig, courtesy of construction on a multibillion-dollar, high-speed rail system to speed passengers between Britain's biggest cities. But last month, workers in London unearthed a traveler from a different era when they found the remains of Capt. Matthew Flinders. The British explorer led the first circumnavigation of the continent whose name he would go on to popularize: Australia, according to a Jan. 25 story on NPR by Ian Stewart. 
 
Archaeologists in London have been working under a giant temporary shelter to exhume and move at least 40,000 human remains from St James's Gardens, a former burial ground. Flinders' headstone had been moved from the cemetery during the 1840s and his remains had been presumed missing. 

But last month, archaeologists found an ornately engraved lead plate with a well-preserved and unmistakable inscription: "Capt Matthew Flinders." 

Flinders (1774-1814) was the first person to circumnavigate Australia and the explorer who popularized its name. The region had been known as "Terra Australis Incognita" or "Unknown South Land" according to the National Library of Australia. It was later named "New Holland" by Dutch explorers. But after Flinders' expedition, he wrote "Australia" on a map and the name stuck. He was accompanied the entire way by an indigenous man named Bungaree, according to Australia's ABC broadcaster. Bungaree, an interpreter and guide, simultaneously became the first Australian to sail around the continent.
 
Read the full story here:
 
 
The Secret is Out 
 
We're not sure how a 115-year-old organization that counts as its members Peary, Hillary, Heyerdahl, Armstrong and Aldrin can be considered a "secret," but that's what the BBCcalls The Explorers Club in its Jan. 17 feature. 
 
Mike MacEacheran writes, "The deepest oceans. The farthest rivers. The highest peaks. Even the moon and outer space itself. All of it has been mapped by the club's globetrotting members. And on any given day, many can be found in the back room, taking tea while plotting their next extraordinary adventure. Talk is not of the weather, but of moon landings and blow dart encounters."
 
 
 
Teddy Roosevelt's membership app (Photo by Mike MacEacheran)
 
Says newly re-elected Club president Richard Wiese, "Exploration for us is now less a cult of personality and more a cult of data. And because of that we're getting better at finding the truth."
 
The story includes a shout-out to American writer and broadcaster Lowell Thomas of Lawrence of Arabia fame, an enthusiastic member in the 1960s, who was instrumental in the club acquiring its current headquarters, once a private family home owned by an heir to the Singer Sewing Machine.
 
"'This place used to be about pushing dragons off the map,' said the club's archivist and curator of research collections Lacey Flint, leading me on a fascinating tour of the townhouse. 'We still push those dragons, but the club has become so much more. What really excites members is that we know more about the volcanoes on Jupiter than we do about the very bottom of our oceans,'" writes MacEacheran. 
 
Read the entire story here:
 
 
EXPEDITION MAILBAG
 
No single story in Expedition News' 25-year history has elicited as much feedback as our January 2019 coverage of the claims by American athlete Colin O'Brady, 33, and British army Captain Louis Rudd, 49, to have separately crossed Antarctica unsupported and unassisted. Here are two representative samples of the letters we've received.
 
Follow the Rules
 
"Two undeniable facts from the Expedition News article: Colin O'Brady's and Louis Rudd's feats are significant efforts ... and publicity about such accomplishments as 'unassisted' and 'unsupported' in the general media focuses important attention on the fragile polar regions. That said, unlike summiting a mountain or completing a marathon, there are an infinite number of potential ways to 'cross' Antarctica, depending on the 'rules' - something that the general public would not be aware of. 
 
"Quoting Damien Gildea in Explorersweb, 'Normally, in any field, if someone wants to claim a first, they do so on a track of similar length, and in the same style as their predecessors. 

"'You do not contrive a route that is both geographically shorter and artificially easier, thereby choosing just the rules that suit you.' (https://explorersweb.com/2019/01/09/crossing-antarctica-how-the-confusion-began-and-where-do-we-go-from-here/)
 
"What are the 'rules?' The best ones I know of were originally the 'Rules and Definitions' created by Tina and Tom Sjogren in 2002-2004, the early days of Explorersweb(http://www.adventurestats.com/rules.shtml). Perhaps they crafted the rules to favor their own successful 2002-03 Hercules Inlet-Pole trip. Those rules state that the start or end point of a full trip or traverse has to be from the boundary between land and water - the coastline, and that permanent ice is considered part of the ocean, not the land. 
 
"Of course the heroic era explorers had no choice but to start from where their ships could get them to ... conversely, today's NGO support companies ALE and ALCI, cannot practically support expeditions from Ross Island, the Bay of Whales area, or the Wilkes Land coast. Also, the 'rules' state that, 'using tracks created by motorized vehicle (same goes for bridges or roads) is considered support.'"
 
-  Bill Spindler
Boulder, Colorado 
 
A field construction engineer and inspector based in Boulder, Spindler run three Antarctic websites: southpolestation.com, palmerstation.com, and mcmurdostation.com. He examines the recent crossing controversy here: https://www.southpolestation.com/trivia/10s/crossings.html
 
Technology Provides an Advantage 
 
"I agree with all who commented that the ice road provides support, both physical and moral, for speed of movement, navigation of direction, and safety from crevasses and large sastrugi. Borge manhauled a much longer supply of food with him, his journey being over twice the length of the recent adventurers. I understand that the sail Borge improvised was not even used for the first 1,000 miles - rather only on the "home-stretch" well to the north of the South Pole where winds blow toward the coast, and then only where the sastrugi was minimal.
 
"Another point ... I am unaware of communications back in 1996-97. Iridium came into being the year following Borge's successful crossing of Antarctica. No doubt there is a huge mental boost for today's adventurers to carry small, lightweight, solar-powered devices that allow for emergency evacuation and for Tweeting with the world."
 
- Rosemarie Keough
Salt Spring Island, B.C. 
 
Along with her husband Pat, Rosemarie Keough, based in British Columbia, is a medalist of The Royal Geographical Society and The Explorers Club. The two have been awarded World's Best Nature Photographers 2003. Antarctica, the inaugural volume in their Explorer Series of luxurious private press tomes, has received 23 prestigious honors including World's Best Photography Book, World's Best Printing, and Outstanding Bookarts. (www.keough-art.com)
 
EXPEDITION CLASSIFIEDS
 
 
 
Travel With Purpose, A Field Guide to Voluntourism (Rowman & Littlefield, April 2019) by Jeff Blumenfeld ­- How to travel and make a difference while you see the world? These are stories of inspiration from everyday voluntourists, all of whom have advice about the best way to approach that first volunteer vacation, from Las Vegas to Nepal, lending a hand in nonprofits ranging from health care facilities, animal shelters and orphanages to impoverished schools. 
 
Case studies are ripped from the pages of Expedition News, including the volunteer work of Dooley Intermed, Himalayan Stove Project, and even a volunteer dinosaur dig in New Jersey. 
 
Pre-orders available now on Amazon. Read excerpts and "Look Inside" at: tinyurl.com/voluntourismbook @purpose_book
 
 
 
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.
 
 
Advertise in Expedition News - For more information: blumassoc@aol.com.
 
EXPEDITION NEWS is published by Blumenfeld and Associates, LLC, 290 Laramie Blvd.,  Boulder, CO 80304 USA. Tel. 203 326 1200, editor@expeditionnews.com. Editor/publisher: Jeff Blumenfeld. Research editor: Lee Kovel. ©2019 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 
 
 
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World's Most Adventurous Women; Protecting Astronaut Poop

March 9, 2019, 5:52 pm
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EXPEDITION UPDATE 
 
The adventurous Ulyana

Ulyana Horodyskyj is One of World's Most Adventurous Women

"For me, science and adventure go hand-in-hand," says Ulyana Horodyskyj, who we profiled in our June 2018 issue. She has been named one of the world's most adventurous women for 2019 in Men's Journal (January 2019). Jayme Moye and Mary Anne Potts write that she is among the women who are redefining the limits of what's humanly possible.

To study climate change, the 32-year-old has traveled to the icefields of Mount Everest, the fjords of Baffin Island, and the glaciers atop Kilimanjaro. That's because it's those places where the effects of a changing planet are often most easily observed.

In 2016, she founded Science in the Wild to bring adventurous citizens along to help collect data and see science in action. Her latest research, studying the impact of soot from North American wildfires, took her to Norway's desolate Svalbard archipelago in 2018, with a documentary film coming this year about climate change and industrial pollution.

In September 2016, she was chosen as mission commander for the NASA Johnson Space Center's HERA (human exploration research analog) 30-day isolation experiment, simulating a long-duration mission to an asteroid. She was one of 120 semifinalists out of 18,354 applicants for NASA's 2017 astronaut class.

Earlier this month, we're happy to report she married musician and expedition guide Ricardo Pena who has studied the 1972 plane crash site in the Andes made famous by Piers Paul Read's 1974 book, Alive: The Story of the Andes Survivors. Officiant at their Denver ceremony was Eduardo Strauch, one of the survivors of that tragedy.

Read the Men's Journal profile here:

https://www.mensjournal.com/adventure/worlds-most-adventurous-women-2019/ulyana%e2%80%a8-nadia-horodyskyj-scientist-and-alpinist/

 
Alison Hargreaves and son Tom Ballard in 1995. Photograph: Murdo Macleod/The Guardian

Body Found of British Climber Tom Ballard, Son of Alison Hargreaves

In September 1995 we wrote about the Aug. 13, 1995, deaths on K2 of British climber Alison Hargreaves, Rob Slater of Boulder, Colo., Bruce Grant of New Zealand, Jeff Lakes of Calgary, Alberta, and Spaniards Javier Escartin, Lorenzo Ortiz Monson and Javier Olivar. Hargreaves, then 33, was the first woman to climb Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen, according to ExplorersWeb.com. 

Now comes word of the tragic death of Hargreaves' son, British climber Tom Ballard, 30, and his Italian climbing partner, Daniele Nardi, 42, who late last month disappeared on the Himalayan peak Nanga Parbat - at 26,660 ft./8126 m the ninth highest summit in the world.

Ballard and Nardi were trying to climb a new route on Mummery Spur when they disappeared. Stefano Pontecorvo, the Italian ambassador to Pakistan, said Spanish climber Alex Txikon found the bodies on the Mummery Spur trail. Pontecorvo added the bodies were in a place that was difficult to reach but everything possible would be done to try and recover them.

Climbers Jack Geldard and Nick Brown documented Ballard's alpine solos for website ukclimbing.com. They wrote in 2015:

"There's no denying that part of Tom's motivations come directly from his mother's legacy. He's chosen the same mountains, the same path, and he too wants to be a professional climber."

Read more here:

https://explorersweb.com/2019/03/06/search-called-off-nardi-ballard-assumed-dead/ 

(left) The artifact found in 1991. (right) Photograph taken from the film.

Patching Together Clues to Amelia Earhart's Disappearance

From time to time we like to check in with the The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR), the Oxford, Pa., group searching for answers to the mysterious disappearance of aviatrix Amelia Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, on July 2, 1937 (See EN, April 2018).

In 1991, TIGHAR found an aluminum panel on Nikumaroro in the Republic of Kiribati, that they suspected is the patch installed on Earhart's Lockheed Electra 10E aircraft in Miami prior to her departure on her second and fatal world flight attempt.

The artifact has been the subject of intense debate ever since. The key to a conclusive yea or nay is a comparison between the unique rivet pattern and deformation on the artifact and the unique rivet pattern and deformation visible in photos of the patch on the Electra. The problem has always been the poor resolution in the handful of historic photos that show the patch.

In 2008, the group was contacted by a woman who said she had photos and movie film of Earhart, Noonan and the Electra in Lae, New Guinea. A TIGHAR researcher visited her and made low-resolution scans of still photos taken on July 1, 1937 showing the aircraft being fueled for the flight to Howland Island the next day.

One of the photos showed the right rear side of the Electra from a closer distance than any photo yet seen, according to the TIGHAR.org website. A TIGHAR researcher also watched a VHS dub of scenes from a reel of 16 mm movie film showing the Electra taking off for the short test flight on the morning of July 1, 1937 and the subsequent fueling operation.

The next step is to get the brittle, nearly 82-year-old, acetate film scanned at high resolution, a delicate and expensive operation that must be done on special equipment prior to further forensic analysis. The film is currently in Boulder, Colorado, and will shortly be submitted to a specialized film lab.

For more information about the search for Earhart, see:

EXPEDITION NOTES
(left) An adult male 'regular' killer whale - note the size of the white eye patch, less rounded head and dorsal fin shape. (right) An adult male Type D killer whale - note the tiny eye patch, more rounded head, and more narrow, pointed dorsal fin. Illustrations by Uko Gorter, courtesy of NOAA.

Antarctic Tour Vessels Help Solve Killer Whale Mystery

Photographs taken aboard International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO) vessels since the 1990s, some by voluntourists, have supported research which, this year, has brought scientists face-to-face with a mysterious and potentially new species of killer whale.

An international research team led by Dr. Bob Pitman, a researcher from NOAA Fisheries' Southwest Fisheries Science Centre in California, has been compiling and cataloguing killer whale images as part of a project to monitor their distribution, movements and abundance.

The "Type D" killer whale is characterized by a more rounded head, sharply pointed dorsal fin and much smaller eye patch than those of killer whales elsewhere in Antarctic waters; and has been at the centre of a mystery spanning decades. Was it a different species of whale, or simply a genetic abnormality of a single, family pod?

In January, during a three-week research voyage near Cape Horn off Southern Chile aboard the 79-ft. IAATO research vessel S/Y Australis, Pitman finally came face to face with the elusive animals that he has spent 14 years searching for. The Australis encountered a group of approximately 30 whales which approached the vessel several times allowing the international team of scientists to capture vocalizations, underwater images and, most importantly, three biopsy samples - tiny bits of skin collected harmlessly using a dart.

Unraveling the secrets of these enigmatic animals now moves from the Southern Ocean to the laboratory, where NOAA scientists will analyze DNA from the skin samples. 

"These samples hold the key to determining whether the Type D represents a distinct species of killer whale," Pitman said.

Although three other types of Antarctic killer whale have been well documented, good sightings of the elusive Type D are rare. From their data Pitman and his team surmise that the Type D killer whale is distributed around the entire continent of Antarctica, but avoids the coldest waters; leading them to suggest a common name: "Sub-Antarctic killer whale."

Given that these waters are in some of the most inhospitable latitudes on the planet, it is no wonder it is almost unknown to science. However, scientists and voluntourists aboard IAATO vessels have been recording whale sightings in the Southern Ocean since the organization's inception in 1991, especially after digital cameras became more accessible in the late 1990s.

Amanda Lynnes, Head of Communications and Environment for IAATO, said: "This is really exciting news. IAATO members have been supporting whale research for decades in Antarctica, a region where data on these large mammals are still surprisingly scarce and much needed to ensure their continued protection.

"Visitors can often get involved too; in this case their holiday snapshots really contribute to scientists' understanding of whales."

QUOTE OF THE MONTH 

"Exploration is the engine that drives innovation. Innovation drives economic growth. So let's all go exploring."

-   Edith Widder, American oceanographer, marine biologist, and the co-founder, CEO and Senior Scientist at the Ocean Research & Conservation Association (1951-)

MEDIA MATTERS
 
Ocean Space Habitat is a portable inflatable dwelling which establishes a dry space within the undersea environment.

Just Don't Try to Make S'mores 

A pair of veteran divers have created an underwater tent that can serve as base camp for extended expeditions into the depths of the sea, according to Kraig Becker writing on DigitalTrends.com (Jan. 27).

Designed and patented by National Geographic explorer Michael Lombardi and New York University professor Winslow Burleson, the Ocean Space Habitat (OSH) was conceived and built to overcome the biggest challenges that divers face.

The inflatable underwater "tent" allows divers to create a safe, comfortable place to stay while submerged hundreds of feet below the surface of the ocean. The OSH can be brought to a suitable depth, inflated to its proper size, and anchored in place, allowing undersea explorers to come and go as needed.

According to the Ocean Space Habitat's technical specs, the underwater shelter is made from a unique blend of vinyl and nylon with polyester support strappings and stainless steel hardware. The entire shelter weighs as little as 50 pounds, although it can scale up to as much as 200 pounds depending on the configuration.

Onboard carbon dioxide scrubbers can provide a breathable atmosphere for up to six hours with rechargeable batteries powering internal air-circulating fans. Those batteries are also used to run two built-in oxygen monitor displays, which are connected to dual galvanic oxygen sensors, according to Becker.

Essentially, the OSH is designed to serve as a portable underwater campsite that allows divers to stay down longer and remain safer. Inside the tent, undersea explorers can take off their scuba masks, replace tanks, eat a meal, or just have a short rest.  

Read the entire post and watch Lombardi's video here:

How Do You Preserve History On The Moon, Including Astronaut Poop?

Historic preservationists are hoping that the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing this summer will persuade the United Nations to do something to protect Neil Armstrong's footprints in the lunar dust, according to the NPR Morning Edition story by Nell Greenfieldboyce (Feb. 21).
 
Historic preservationists want the U.N. to take action to preserve significant artifacts and objects on the moon, such as Apollo 11 astronauts' footprints in the lunar soil.

Some of his boot marks are still up there, after all, along with other precious artifacts from humanity's first steps on another world. Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin left behind tools and science equipment, a plaque that read, "We came in peace for all mankind," and the U.S. flag, which has likely been bleached white by five decades of harsh ultraviolet light.

Other than a dusting of lunar soil or the random micrometeorite impact, Tranquility Base has been an untouched time capsule since the astronauts departed - though that could change as more nations and even commercial companies start to explore the moon, says Boyce.

"There has never been historic preservation off our planet. It's a really difficult subject," says Michelle Hanlon, a law professor and space law expert at the University of Mississippi who co-founded For All Moonkind, a nonprofit group devoted to protecting historic sites in space.

Recently she brought the issue to the United Nations, in what she thinks is the first time the subject has been raised there. Speaking to a subcommittee of the U.N.'s Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space, Hanlon told the group that the Apollo 11 landing site is a cultural treasure similar to UNESCO World Heritage sites such as Egypt's pyramids or China's Great Wall, according to NPR.
Hanlon wants the U.N. space panel to issue some kind of declaration stating that the Apollo 11 landing site has unparalleled cultural importance that deserves special recognition.

In 1969, the Apollo 12 astronauts landed 160 meters away from the Surveyor III spacecraft that had been on the moon for a couple of years. The astronauts walked over and removed some pieces of the craft to bring them home for analysis to see how the lunar environment affected equipment. It was sandblasted from the landing of the Apollo lunar module.

One of the most scientifically interesting items from the Apollo landing sites are the bags of human excrement.

"I think the most important thing on the moon would be the bags of human poop because they are incredibly valuable for science," says Philip Metzger, a planetary scientist now at the University of Central Florida. 

"These are samples of human biological material including microbial life that we placed on the moon decades ago. We would love to find out, did anything survive?"

Listen to the story here:

 
This image released by Neon/CNN Films shows a scene from the film Apollo 11.

Apollo 11 Film Contains Newly Discovered Footage

Fresh off its Sundance 2019 premiere having received a favorable response from critics and audiences alike, Apollo 11 is making the rounds of U.S. theaters, including never before seen 70 MM footage of the mission.   

From director, Todd Douglas Miller (Dinosaur 13), the film is crafted from a newly discovered trove of wide format footage, and more than 11,000 hours of uncatalogued audio recordings. Immersed in the perspectives of the astronauts, the team in Mission Control, and the millions of spectators on the ground, the audience vividly experiences those momentous days and hours in 1969 when humankind took a giant leap into the future. Visuals you may have seen a hundred times get a fresh look in the new film.

Miller includes a three-and-a-half-minute single take of the view from the lunar module from orbit to landing, and another of the docking with the command module after the moonwalk. It received a 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Paintings Uncovered of 1953 Everest Expedition

The moment Sir Edmund Hillary set off on his 1953 quest to conquer Everest is captured in never-before-seen paintings by a team member, paintings that are now up for auction, according to the UK Daily Mail (Feb. 14).



Edmund Hillary, featured here surrounded by Sherpas and local children before heading off for Everest base camp.

The four artworks were painted by AC Thornton who was a member of the historic expedition. The four paintings were recently discovered during a house clearance 66 hears later in a property in the West Country (southwestern England). Auctioneers are planning to sell the four paintings as one lot with an guide price of between £800 and £1,200. ($1,057 to $1,585).

The previously unknown pictures show Hillary setting out for Everest base camp in March 1953 surrounded by Sherpa guides and local children. They are rare for that period because by 1953 photography was well advanced. The sale tales place in April.

Read the story and see all four paintings here:

WEB WATCH

 
Alex Honnold

"Holding with One Hand and Flailing With the Other? That's Not a Thing."

Alex Honnold is having his moment. We saw him on stage at the Oscars picking up hardware for Free Solo; the award-winning film recently aired on the National Geographic Channel; and now he's a YouTube star on the GQ Channel. He breaks down rock climbing clips from both real life and film, including Mission Impossible II, Point Break, Star Trek V, Failure to Launch, Dark Knight Rises, Vertical Limit, and Sly climbing ice barehanded in Cliffhanger. Hilarious. Watching his commentary on the depiction of climbing in the cinema is a hoot.

At press time, 3.1 million people saw his critique on YouTube. You can too:

 
 Climbing holds are full of fecal matter, according to new video parody.

"Gyms are the Armpit of the Climbing Universe"

Alex Honnold recently endorsed Expensive Membership, a  comical ode to his own documentary, Free Solo. The parody features amateur climber and video editor Nick Garnham Wright as he strives to accomplish his V8 gym project. It's a feat that will forever rival Honnold's own ropeless climb of El Capitan.

See it here and watch out for fecal matter on those holds:

DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS

He's Bill Spindler

We regret that some editions of EN incorrectly spelled the last name of one of our contributors to the O'Brady/Rudd Antarctica story that appeared in our February issue. He's Bill Spindler, not Splinder. A field construction engineer and inspector based in Boulder, Spindler run three Antarctic websites: southpolestation.com, palmerstation.com, and mcmurdostation.com. He examines the recent Antarctic crossing controversy here: https://www.southpolestation.com/trivia/10s/crossings.html

EXPEDITION CLASSIFIEDS
 
Travel With Purpose, A Field Guide to Voluntourism (Rowman & Littlefield, April 2019) by Jeff Blumenfeld ­- How to travel and make a difference while you see the world?

These are stories of inspiration from everyday voluntourists, all of whom have advice about the best way to approach that first volunteer vacation, from Las Vegas to Nepal, lending a hand at nonprofits ranging from health care facilities, animal shelters and orphanages to impoverished schools.

Case studies are ripped from the pages of Expedition News, including the volunteer work of Dooley Intermed, Himalayan Stove Project, and even a volunteer dinosaur dig in New Jersey.

Pre-orders available now on Amazon. Read excerpts and "Look Inside" at:



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.

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

EXPEDITION NEWS is published by Blumenfeld and Associates, LLC, 290 Laramie Blvd.,  Boulder, CO 80304 USA. Tel. 203 326 1200, editor@expeditionnews.com. Editor/publisher: Jeff Blumenfeld. Research editor: Lee Kovel. ©2019 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 



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Explorers Club Dinner Sets Record; Aldrin's Socks Dazzle, Read Excerpt From "Travel With Purpose"

April 9, 2019, 9:18 am
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EXPEDITION NOTES
 
Lower Cost ROV Makes Deep Sea Exploration More Affordable 
 
At a time when AUVs (autonomous underwater vehicles that look like fat yellow torpedos) cost upwards of $5 million, along comes a New Zealand company with a new idea. Boxfish Research, based in Auckland, has created a lower cost US $70,000 ROV (remotely operated vehicle) that has already been at work for five weeks capturing sea life such as the comb jelly, crocodile ice fish and giant sea spiders near Scott Base in Antarctica. ROVs are connected to a surface ship or land by a cable. 
 
 
 
Ben King is roving the seabed with his new ROV.
 
"We can achieve greater maneuverability and picture quality that wasn't previously available in an ROV," Boxfish co-owner Ben King tells EN. "It rivals the performance of an ROV ten times the size and can operate at depths of 300 meters. What's more, unlike a human diver, it can stay below for hours at a time. Our crew on the surface gets cold before the Boxfish does."
 
The computer does all the stabilization, much like a drone, so the operator doesn't need much skill to operate it, according to King. Additionally, it allows researchers or filmmakers to pitch or roll the entire vehicle to fit through cracks, look up or down at things, and maneuver around various objects. The Boxfish ultra high definition 4K cameras can stream uncompressed images to the surface.
 
King continues, "It's a workhorse that gets the job done without a lot of infrastructure."
 
Next up for the Swiss Army Knife of ROVs is a study of volcanology in the Pacific. 
 
Learn more at: www.boxfish.nz
 
Watch TV coverage of the Boxfish in action here:
 
 
View stunning Antarctic footage captured by the Boxfish ROV:
 
 
Details on the volcanology expedition can be seen here:
 
 
QUOTE OF THE MONTH 
 
"I think even in bad times it's good to keep some money going into research. And that's the purpose of the whole space program. It's not just exploration and going to see how far we can go out into space and keep people alive and bring them back, although exploration certainly has its place." 

 - John Glenn (1921-2016), first American to orbit the earth, circling three times in 1962. 
 
EXPEDITION FOCUS  
 
Historic Explorers Club Annual Dinner Was Largest Ever;
Buzz Aldrin's Socks Dazzle
 
An historic gathering of eight Apollo astronauts, crunchy crickets and scorpions, fossilized dinosaur poop, and Buzz Aldrin's dazzling socks were just a few of the star attractions at The Explorers Club's 115th annual dinner (ECAD), March 16, at the New York Marriott Marquis. It was a marathon of reminiscing astronauts, post-dinner parties, and explorer presentations back at Club headquarters on the Upper East Side. An estimated 1,700 attended the dinner, up over 10 percent from the previous record dinner 15 years ago, raising over $600,000, also a Club record. 

As always, EN was on the look-out for the quirky sidebar stories that make this such a special fundraiser for the organization of 3,451 members located in 30 chapters worldwide.
 
 
(L-R) Charlie Duke (Apollo 16), Harrison Schmitt (Apollo 17), Fred Haise (Apollo 13), Michael Collins (Apollo 11), Al Worden (Apollo 15), Walter Cunningham (Apollo 7), Buzz Aldrin (Apollo 11), and Rusty Schweickart (Apollo 9). Photo courtesy: Craig Chesek/The Explorers Club
 
*            Eight Apollo Astronauts Were in the House - NASA's Apollo program ran 17 missions, which are best known for putting the first people on the Moon in 1969.
Humanity hasn't set foot on the Moon since NASA's Apollo 17 mission in December 1972. Eight of the 17 surviving Apollo astronauts gathered together at ECAD for an early celebration of the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing, July 20, 1969. Aldrin dazzled; clad in a suit patterned with rocket ships, American flag socks, four gold rings, and two watches, the 89-year-old astronaut certainly stood out.
 
Aldrin and Collins described how the lunar module almost didn't make it back off the Moon's surface. (Collins stayed in the command module in lunar orbit in order to reconnect with the other two astronauts on their return.)
 
According to Space.com, Apollo 11's lunar module, Eagle, which ferried the astronauts to the Moon's surface and back, had a broken part.   
 
Aldrin revealed, "I laid down on the floor with my head to the right, which is the co-pilot's side, and I'm looking around at the dust that came in, and there's this little black object. Didn't look like it belonged there. Looked a little closer ... this was a circuit breaker that was broken."
 
That circuit breaker was a critical piece of machinery that would help the lunar module get back to Collins in orbit.
 
Luckily, the astronauts were able to jerry-rig a solution to the problem. Aldrin used a pen to push the button in, and the two were able to leave the Moon.
 
Recently, the U.S. has renewed a push to return men to the Moon. On March 26, Vice President Mike Pence announced plans to send astronauts back to the lunar surface by 2024, according to the Associated Press.
 
NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine has also said that placing boots on the Moon is ultimately a step toward the goal of getting astronauts to Mars by the year 2033.
 
Read more here: 

 
*            Boldface Names - For only the second time in about a decade, the dinner received star treatment in the New York Times Style section. Among dinner attendees receiving the boldface name treatment were Aldrin, VP Flags & Honors Bob Atwater, Explorers Medal recipient Dr. Kenneth Lacovara, Kellie Gerardi in a spacesuit, and astronaut Kathryn Sullivan, the first American woman to walk in space. 
 
See the Times coverage here:
 
 
The Next Generation Explorers Network, or NGEN, created in 2017 for younger Club members, also gets a shout-out in the Times. The subgroup has about 200 members, according to this Mar. 22 story by Alyson Krueger:
 
 
 
 
Private astronaut Richard Garriott was rocking a matching Soyuz rocket and tie. 
 
*            Of Mice and Men - Duke, Worden, Cunningham, Schweickart, Aldrin and Collins gathered before a crowd of 800 guests earlier in the day to discuss some of the most hair-raising moments of the Apollo program during a panel moderated by private astronaut Richard Garriott.
 
Collins, the apparent comedian of Apollo 11, shared the expected but unnerving reality of having to stay in quarantine after coming back from space, reports Space.com.
 
"What I was worried about was the white mice, 'cause when we came back from the moon, we were gonna be in quarantine for a couple weeks with a whole colony of white mice. And if one of those poor little things didn't do too well, we were in deep trouble - we might have brought back some pathogen," he said. "This is just one of the many dangers of spaceflight that aren't as obvious as 'what if the rocket blows up.'"
 
Read the story here:
 
 
For an infographic on how the Apollo 11 landing worked, see:
 
 
*            Remembering Magellan - As the 500th anniversary of Ferdinand Magellan's worldwide circumnavigation nears, efforts are underway to pay homage to the Spanish monarchy and its relevant role in the history of exploration. UNESCO Goodwill ambassador Kitín Muñoz, promoter of the initiative, and other Spanish officials presented The Explorers Club with a silver replica of the Nao Victoria, the famous ship that had completed the first circumnavigation. During the dinner, comparisons were made between the first step on the Moon and the first circumnavigation of the globe as two major events in the history of exploration.  
 
Between the 15th and the 18th centuries, and especially during the Great Discoveries period, the Spanish crown organized numerous expeditions led by Spanish explorers or sponsored by the crown. Magellan was a Portuguese explorer who organized the Spanish expedition to the East Indies from 1519 to 1522, resulting in the first circumnavigation of the Earth, completed by Juan Sebastián Elcano. Magellan was killed in 1521 on the island of Mactan in the Philippines.
 
*            Comfort Is Overrated - During a dinner for Club chapter chairs, Explorers Medalist Kenneth Lacovara, Ph.D., who is establishing a $57 million museum in southern New Jersey at the Jean & Ric Edelman Fossil Park at Rowan University, said, "Comfort is way overrated. Sitting on the couch playing video games is comfortable, but you're not going to remember that as much as when you were uncomfortable."
 
Later, Lacovara would tell the dinner, "the brave astronauts of the U.S. space program opened my eyes to exploration and the thrill of the natural world ... I realized I could time travel back to the ancient world by listening to the rocks."
 
Not to be dismissive, Alan Stern, principle investigator of the New Horizons mission to Pluto, jokes in an aside to EN, "Dinosaurs and space are the gateway drugs to a STEM career, but space always wins."
 
 
 
*            Here's the Poop - One of the more unusual items at the silent auction was a piece of coprolite, the scientific term for fossilized feces. They are considered trace fossils, meaning not of the animal's actual body. No matter, it was being offered with a copy of George Frandsen's Coprolites: 100 Portraits of Prehistoric Poops (self published, 2019), wherein individual coprolites are named after the author's friends, such as "John" and "Ashley" and "Mary" and "Fred." Last we looked on Amazon it was America's 1.088 millionth most popular book, so there's no risk of it selling out anytime soon.

Not to get all scatalogical on you, in a related story of a decidedly less fossilized nature, USA Today (Mar. 31) reports that 66 tons of frozen feces left by climbers on Denali is expected to start melting out of the glacier sometime in the coming decades and potentially as soon as this summer, a process that's speeding up in part due to global warming.
 
Climbers generate close to two metric tons of human waste each year, according to the National Park Service. (The average human "deposit" weighs half a pound and the average length of a climber's stay on the mountain is 18 days, which is how researchers got the figure of 66 tons over the course of the past century.) 

Read the story here:
 
 
Looking beyond his fellow Apollo astronauts on the ECAD stage, Rusty Schweickart summed up the memorable weekend best, "Every one of us has a pair of eyes that saw the planet from space. We went to the moon and discovered earth."
 
Tune in this summer for a one-hour television special on The Discovery Channel that will feature ECAD 2019 in a salute to the Apollo program.
 
EXPEDITION FUNDING
 
AWE, Nite Ize and LOWA Sponsor $5,000 Scholarship to Nepal 
 
Sunny Stroeer, founder of Aurora Women's Expeditions (AWE) and holder of various high altitude speed records, is launching a $5,000 scholarship that will defray costs for one hand-picked woman to join a trip to Everest Base Camp and Island Peak in fall 2019. 
Scholarship applications will be accepted through the end of April. 
 
 
 
Sunny Stroeer has a scholarship for one lucky woman.
 
The Summit Scholarship, sponsored by AWE and Nite Ize, with the support of LOWA Boots, will cover one selected woman's complete expedition fee ($3,190) and a $500
stipend for use towards international flights to/from Kathmandu. The scholarship also includes expedition-relevant gear from Nite Ize, and top quality mountaineering footwear from LOWA Boots valued at more than $1,300. The expedition will take place from October 5 to October 26, 2019. 

Qualified applicants must be female, available to travel to Nepal in October 2019, and enthusiastic about challenging themselves physically and mentally in a harsh outdoor environment. Excellent cardio fitness is a must, prior mountaineering experience is not mandatory. The scholarship recipient will be announced by May 15, 2019.
 
Sunny Stroeer, sstroeer@gmail.com
 
WEB WATCH
 
 
 
Expedition guide Françoise Gervais. Originally from Quebec, Françoise is a deep-sea explorer, environmental conservation specialist, polar expedition leader, and cold-water diver. (Photo by Acacia Johnson)
 
Time Magazine Examines Antarctica's Ice Ceiling
 
 In 1914, when British explorer Ernest Shackleton was recruiting for an expedition to Antarctica, he got letters from "three sporty girls" applying to join. "There are no vacancies for the opposite sex on this expedition," he responded.
 
For years, Antarctica was a hostile place for women, and they faced significant political and social obstacles if they wanted to go, according to a Time magazine photo essay posted March 8.
 
In the 1960s, geologist Janet Thomson recalled the reply one female colleague received to her expedition application, which stated that there were "no facilities for women" in Antarctica, including no shops and no hairdresser. Women were even banned from the U.S. Antarctic Research Program until 1969.
 
Since then, the polar gender dynamic has continued to shift, with more and more women taking roles as base commanders, expedition leaders, heavy equipment operators, scientists and researchers.
 
After crossing the Drake channel only twice, which was enough for our sensitive inner ear canal, we can greatly appreciate this comment in the piece: "For guides who work long seasons in Antarctica, the turmoil of the Drake is a regular occurrence - a staff member may cross these waters up to 20 times in the course of a single Antarctic summer."
 
Photographer Acacia Johnson tells Time, "Through images, I want to show the Antarctica that I know - a seasonal home to a growing community of inspiring women, drawn together by this captivating place. I wanted to create portraits that challenge conventional ideas about who works in Antarctica, and how, and why." 
 
See the photo essay here:
 
 
EXPEDITION INK
 
Stay Safe While Exploring
 
By Jeff Blumenfeld
 
Excerpted from Travel With Purpose: A Field Guide to Voluntourism (Rowman & Littlefield, 2019) by Jeff Blumenfeld, editor of Expedition News, travelwithpurposebook.com
 
By its very definition, voluntourism and exploration often take you to places far off the grid, far from reliable medical services, and far from the safe sanitation and food handling practices you've come to expect in the U.S. 
           
Don't I know it. During my last trip to Nepal I was a good boy: drank only bottled water, used Purell hand sanitizer by the gallon, and ate only food that was hot, hot, hot - cooked completely through and through. But I let my guard down.
 
 
 
A lifesaver: don't leave home without it.
           
During literally the last hour in Nepal, at the Kathmandu Tribhuvan International Airport, I convinced myself that the fruit plate in the VIP Executive Lounge could be trusted. Big mistake. In about 20 hours, during the final flight from New York to Denver, digestive distress kicked in, alleviated only once I arrived home and downed some DiaResQ, a natural diarrhea relief aid made with bovine (cow) colostrum. Sounds awful, but it worked. Eating that last snack in Nepal was a rookie move on my part as I realize during my eighth trip to the tiny airplane lavatory. Too much information? Ok, let's move on.
           
There are certain measures I employ that have worked well for me and might also be appropriate for you.
             
*            Depending on the destination, 22 to 64% of travelers report some illness - generally they're mild and self-limited, such as diarrhea, respiratory infections, and skin disorders. But some travelers return to their own countries with preventable life-threatening infections, according to the New England Journal of Medicine. Consult with a medical professional prior to departure, and ensure that your inoculations are current.            
           
Before my first trip to Nepal I became a human pincushion after I decided to get trued up after years of lapsed vaccinations. Your needs may be different, for sure. For me, it took doses of Tdap, Typhoid, hepatitis A and B, meningococcal meningitis, poliovirus and a good old flu shot before I was ready to face the world. 
           
Travel health precautions are available from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), and World Health Organization (WHO). Additional information on vaccines in the form of Vaccine Information Statements (VIS), is available for download.
           
*            Whether traveling with a tour operator, or alone, eat foods that are fully cooked and served hot. Stay away from the salads and tuna fish sandwiches and that tea house cheese plate dotted with house flies that were previously dancing the Alley Cat on some yak dung.
           
 
 
Make sure bottled water has its original seal.
 
*            Drink beverages that have been bottled and sealed, and forget the ice. While you're at it, squeeze the bottle first to make sure it hasn't been resealed (remember the scene from the 2009 Academy Awards Best Picture, Slumdog Millionaire, wherein a water bottle is refilled and the cap was super-glued for resale?). Carbonated beverages are much safer than non-carbonated - flat water drinks can be diluted with local tap water.
           
*            Fruits and vegetables are always questionable, unless you wash and peel them personally. 
           
*            Don't let your guard down in the bathroom. That means rinse toothbrushes only in bottled water and no singing in the shower lest tap water gets into your mouth. Practice for a week before you leave home. It is incredibly easy to slip up and find yourself using tap water out of force of habit.
 
 
 
Bring plenty of hand sanitizer and use it liberally. 
           
*            Hand sanitizer is your best friend. Use it frequently and avoid putting your hands anywhere near your eyes or mouth. Let that hangnail wait for a proper pair of nail clippers.
           
*            Pack some energy bars for sustenance if you arrive late, the restaurants are closed, and Oreos are your only choice in the hotel vending machine. I especially like Bobo's Oat Bars, which, according to its website, is an artisan hand-baked alternative to the over-cluttered snack bar aisle riddled with over-engineered bars made with unrecognizable ingredients. It's best to take a hard pass on those snacks. 
 
 
 
Don't let the bedbugs bite.
           
*            Now for something fairly cringey: check for bedbugs. You can thank me later. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) advises that bedbugs can be found around the bed, they can be found near the piping, seams and tags of the mattress and box spring, and in cracks on the bed frame and headboard. They can also be hiding in the seams of chairs and couches, between cushions, and in the folds of curtains. These are nasty buggers.
           
Look for rusty or reddish stains on bed sheets or mattresses caused by bed bugs being crushed, dark spots about the size of a period pencil point, eggs and eggshells, which are tiny (about 1 millimeter or about the size of a period on this page), pale yellow skins that nymphs shed as they grow larger, and live bed bugs themselves.
           
*            Make a mental note of what to grab in case of earthquake or fire. It happened to me in southern California. I grabbed my laptop, pants, shoes, and wallet; other guests in the lobby were shivering barefoot in their tighty whities. False alarm, but still. 
           
*            Before you leave, set up an international package for your smartphone, or buy a local SIM card so that if you have to use your phone in an emergency, the call doesn't cost dozens of dollars. 
           
*            Carry an inventory of the contents of your checked luggage. That way, it will be easier to file a claim afterwards. 
           
*            Avoid looking too prosperous; leave the real Rolex home and buy a $20 Timex instead. Keep money in three different places on your body and create a throw-down wallet - something with a few dollars that looks like you're handing over your real wallet in case of trouble. 
           
*            Be situationally aware. Stay alert and forego the use of personal headphones when you're walking about. Avoid wearing flashy jewelry and designer clothes. Kathmandu, the capital of Nepal, is a city with a myriad of hazards. There are wild dogs, five lanes of traffic on two-lane streets, a rat's nest of wires hanging from utility poles, open conduits in the sidewalk, and strange locals approaching you to strike up chatty conversations or seeking money for "baby milk" or similar. It pays to know what's going on around you. 
 
ON THE HORIZON
 
 
Symposium on Planet Earth: A Scientific Journey, Stockholm University, 
May 9-10, 2019 
 
The Molecular Frontiers Foundation (MFF) and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, announced that they will be holding a symposium on "Planet Earth: A Scientific Journey," to be held at Aula Magna, hosted by Stockholm University. The program will be co-chaired by Prof. Bengt Nordén, founder of MFF, and Dr. Lorie Karnath, founding member and symposium director. 
 
The program will look at earth from its very beginnings, consider the origin of life and evolution in its various forms. It will also investigate physical earth, offering an assessment of the planet, its current inhabitants and the biodiversity that support these. Registration is required: https://www.planetearthsymposium.org/registration. For queries: Dr. Lorie Karnath, symposium co-chair, lkarnath@yahoo.com, tel. +491723952051
 
 
 
RGS-IBG Annual International Conference 2019 Looks for the Lost, London, Aug. 28-30, 2019 
  
Geographies of the Missing and Lost: Famous Cases and New Developments, the theme for the RGS-IBG Annual International Conference 2019 in London, examines the work of various explorers and researchers trying to solve some of the world's greatest mysteries. 
 
David Concannon (Explorer Consulting, Inc.) will focus on the Search and Recovery of the F-1 Engines for the Apollo 11 First Moon Landing; Kenton Spading (US Army Corps of Engineers) presents on Searching for Amelia Earhart: The Latest Substantive and Technical Developments; and Colleen Keller (METRON, Inc.) will address Using Bayesian Statistical Techniques to Optimize Search Operations for Air France 447 and Malaysia Airlines 370.
 
Among other presenters are Richard Gillespie (The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery {TIGHAR}) who will focus on The 1944 Disappearance of Band Leader Glenn Miller - New Developments; and Llewellyn Toulmin (Explorers Club/Missing Aircraft Search Team) who will talk about Geographical and SAR Analysis of the Disappearance of Jim Thompson, the "Silk King of Thailand."
 
Over 1,800 attendees are expected. One-day registration ranges from £102 to £188. For more information view the conference website: www.rgs.org/ac2019.
 
EXPEDITION CLASSIFIEDS
 
 
 
Travel With Purpose, A Field Guide to Voluntourism (Rowman & Littlefield, April 2019) by Jeff Blumenfeld ­- How to travel and make a difference while you see the world? These are stories of inspiration from everyday voluntourists, all of whom have advice about the best way to approach that first volunteer vacation, from Las Vegas to Nepal, lending a hand in nonprofits ranging from health care facilities, animal shelters and orphanages to impoverished schools. Case studies are ripped from the pages of Expedition News, including the volunteer work of Dooley Intermed, Himalayan Stove Project, and even a volunteer dinosaur dig in New Jersey. 
 
Available now on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and independent bookstores. Read excerpts and "Look Inside" at: tinyurl.com/voluntourismbook @purpose_book, www.travelwithpurposebook.com
 
 
 
Come to Official Launch Party, April 25, 2019, 6-8 p.m., Boulder Fjallraven store -celebrate the launch of Travel With Purpose at a free book launch party. Proceeds benefit the Himalayan Stove Project. For details, see www.travelwithpurposebook.com

 
 
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: 

 
Advertise in Expedition News - For more information: blumassoc@aol.com.
 
EXPEDITION NEWS is published by Blumenfeld and Associates, LLC, 290 Laramie Blvd.,  Boulder, CO 80304 USA. Tel. 203 326 1200, editor@expeditionnews.com. Editor/publisher: Jeff Blumenfeld. Research editor: Lee Kovel. ©2018 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
 

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All Female Expedition to Study Plastic Pollution

May 10, 2019, 4:20 pm
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ALL FEMALE EXPEDITION TO STUDY
PLASTIC POLLUTION ON THE GANGES

An international, all-female expedition team leaves this spring to study plastic pollution in one of the world's most iconic waterways - the Ganges River.

The "Sea to Source: Ganges" river expedition, in partnership with the Wildlife Institute of India, the University of Dhaka and WildTeam, is part of National Geographic's journey to better understand and document how plastic waste travels from source to sea and to fill critical knowledge gaps around plastic flow, load and composition. The expedition will offer an unprecedented and unique opportunity to scientifically document plastic waste in a watershed and develop holistic and inclusive solutions.
The Sea to Source team. Photo by Bhumesh Bharti, National Geographic 

"Working hand-in-hand with local communities, from the Bay of Bengal to the Himalayas, we will explore waste, plastic, its flow through and potential impact on this important ecosystem," said Jenna Jambeck, a professor and researcher at the University of Georgia and a National Geographic Fellow.

Single-use plastic waste is a menacing global problem. The ocean is clogged with an estimated 9 million tons of plastic every year, and rivers play a significant role in this problem as they act as conveyor belts for plastic debris flowing into the ocean.

The "Sea to Source: Ganges" expedition is the first of several international river expeditions planned as part of National Geographic's Planet or Plastic? initiative, which aims to significantly reduce the amount of single-use plastic that reaches the ocean. After an initial expedition to the Ganges this spring, the team plans to replicate the expedition after the monsoon season to capture seasonal variations.

The expedition team of 15 scientists and engineers, co-led by National Geographic Fellows Jambeck and Heather Koldewey, will work with international partners to provide science-based, actionable information to build capacity for local solutions.

EXPEDITION UPDATE 

Jean-Jacques Savin is back on dry land.  

French Man Barrels Across the Atlantic

A French man who has spent more than four months floating across the Atlantic Ocean in a giant orange barrel has arrived at his Caribbean destination. (See EN, January 2019).

Jean-Jacques Savin set off from the Canary Islands, off the coast of Africa, on December 26, 2018 heading west in a barrel-shaped capsule he'd built himself. 

Savin, 71 at the time of his departure, spent the first four months of 2019 inside his barrel, traveling at about two miles an hour with no engine, and relying entirely on the ocean current to guide his journey.

He surprised locals as he came ashore on the tiny Dutch Caribbean island of St. Eustatius (Statia) shortly after midnight on May 4bringing a mammoth, 2,930-mile journey to a close. After 128 days of solitude at sea, the Maritime tanker Kelly Anne collected Savin and brought him ashore. The island lies in the northern Leeward Islands portion of the West Indies, southeast of the Virgin Islands.

Brush up on your French and read more here: http://www.atlantique-tonneau.com

EXPEDITION NOTES
 

Apollo 11 Lunar Module Timeline Book was flown aboard the Lunar Module Eagle and annotated by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin as they landed on the moon.  

Christie's Auctions Apollo 11 Flight Manual  

The Lunar Module Timeline Book, the detailed manual from the Apollo 11 moon landing, is up for auction at Christie's. The manual, "narrates the entire Eagle voyage from inspection, undocking, lunar surface descent and ascent, to the rendezvous with Michael Collins aboard the Command Module in lunar orbit," according to the Christie's listing posted earlier this month. 

The Christie's listing says the book sat between Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, and contains about 150 annotations and checkmarks made by the astronauts. "This book is a unique witness to the first manned lunar landing, one of the most glorious adventures of all time," the listing says. 

The manual goes up for auction July 18 at Christie's One Giant Leap: Celebrating Space Exploration 50 Years after Apollo 11 auction in New York. It is expected to draw astronomical bids of $7 to $9 million.

No more significant document of space exploration history is ever likely to be created, because future manned missions will be more fully digitized and not leave a comparable human trace.

For more information: 


Watch a fascinating video about the Heritage Auctions sales of 3,000 items from the Armstrong Family Collection last fall:


QUOTE OF THE MONTH 

"I think this is the best time in history, the most precious time in history to be a pioneer, to reach out, to seize hold of adversity and challenges we face, to harness energy not only to transform our own lives, but to elevate the world around us."

- Erik Weihenmayer, American athlete, adventurer, author, activist and motivational speaker, and the first blind person to reach the summit of Mount Everest, on May 25, 2001. In 2014, he kayaked the entire 277-mile length of the Grand Canyon along with blinded Navy veteran, Lonnie Bedwell, featured in the film, The Weight of Water (2018), directed by Michael Brown.

EXPEDITION FOCUS  

Trade a Skill and Join the Team 

By Jeff Blumenfeld

Excerpted from Travel With Purpose: A Field Guide to Voluntourism (Rowman & Littlefield, 2019) by Jeff Blumenfeld, editor of Expedition News, travelwithpurposebook.com

One way to join an expedition is to trade a personal skill, such as photography, medicine, or transportation logistics, then volunteer those services to an appropriate expedition. I've known In-Hei Hahn, MD, for three years now, having been impressed by her calm professionalism and dedication to providing volunteer medical support to a number of projects. An emergency medicine physician affiliated with hospitals in Utah, New York City, and California, her subspecialty is medical toxicology. Get bitten by a snake out in the field, and you'll want Hahn by your side.
 
In-Hei Hahn, MD
Being an inveterate traveler has allowed her to explore the world and deliver health care to people ranging from the Indians in the Brazilian Amazon jungle, ultramarathoners racing all over the world, and even race car drivers at the Lime Rock Park NASCAR track in Connecticut.

Her favorite assignments are the annual paleontological expeditions to the Gobi Desert in Mongolia and Transylvania, Romania. As a volunteer expedition physician, she has been called upon to treat heat stroke, seizures, dehydration, head trauma, infections, severe bleeding, diarrhea, and what sounds simply ghastly: foreign body extraction. She's there to help volunteers and locals alike, whomever needs medical attention.

Constantly trying to improve her skill base, she is currently working to acquire her fellowship in Wilderness Medicine.

"My goal is to be able to take care of anyone everywhere. As an emergency physician, it appears as if I can volunteer almost anywhere project leaders need to ensure the health and safety of their participants. I enjoy being part of a team and love taking care of people in their specialty environment, especially serving as expedition physician to a group of 'rock star' paleontologists from the departments of paleontology at both the American Museum of Natural History and the Smithsonian Institution," Hahn tells me.

"The challenge to develop a system of having the maximum amount of medical capability with the minimum amount of gear is unique and allows me to think outside the box whenever an emergency arises. I am passionate about learning about new fields, meeting amazing people, and travel.

"Variety is important. It's what keeps me going and avoid burnout. I'm reminded about a favorite quote from mythologist and writer Joseph Campbell: 'If you follow your bliss, you put yourself on a kind of track that has been there all the while, waiting for you, and the life that you ought to be living is the one you are living.'"

Hahn adds, "My volunteer medical work is incredibly gratifying. I'm so glad I have a skill that project leaders value. What's more, I get to hunt for dinosaur fossils, which is pretty fun and cool."

MEDIA MATTERS

Glacial Melt is Uncovering Everest Bodies 

Mount Everest expedition operators are finding increasing numbers of climbers' dead bodies on the world's highest peak as high temperatures melt glaciers and snow. 

More than 200 mountaineers have died on the peak since 1922, when the first climbers' deaths on Everest were recorded. The majority of bodies are believed to have remained buried under glaciers or snow.

"Due to the impact of climate change and global warming, snow and glaciers are fast melting and dead bodies are increasingly being exposed and discovered by climbers," Ang Tshering Sherpa, former president of Nepal Mountaineering Association, told CNN (Mar. 21).

"Since 2008 my own company has brought down seven dead bodies of some mountaineers, some dating back to a British expedition in the 1970s."

Read about Everest body recoveries here:

 
Thanks for Nothing Jeopardy

The category is 1960s America. Two of three contestants, when shown a picture of the late astronaut Alan Shepard on a March 25, 2019 broadcast of the hit game show Jeopardy,couldn't identify the first American to travel into space. And we thought those contestants were smart. We have friend Steve Cohen of Briarcliff Manor, N.Y., to thank for a homemade video of the segment you can see here:

EXPEDITION FUNDING

Use Points to Travel to Antarctica

With the right combination of rewards, points and cash back, Antarctica is within reach. We usually ignore hand-out content, but recent advice from CreditCards.com actually makes some sense for traveling to a rather pricey place on the planet.

A holiday in Antarctica takes some serious planning. There are no commercial airports, the number of visitors is regulated, the season is short ..... and you have to travel as part of an organized expedition, writes Stephanie Zito.

 

Hooked on credit cards? Use them to your advantage to redeem points to Antarctica.  
However, the primary reason travelers don't make it to Antarctica is trips to the frozen continent don't come cheap.

Depending on the number of days you want to explore and the level of luxury you're after, it costs from $5,000 to $50,000 for a voyage to visit the icebergs and the penguins. Add to that another $1,000 for airfare to Ushuaia, Argentina (USH), the primary jumping off point.

Zito advises you'll need a two-part credit card rewards earning strategy to cover your main Antarctica costs. Pay your airfare with points or miles earning cards. Cover expedition costs with cash back.

The two airlines that fly into USH are LATAM, a partner in the oneworld alliance, and Aerolineas Argentinas, a member of SkyTeam.

Flights on LATAM are bookable with American AAdvantage miles, British Airways Avios or Alaska Mileage Plan points. Flights on Aerolineas Argentinas are bookable with Delta Sky Miles or Flying Blue points (KLM/Air France).

"There is not yet a credit card that offers a 'travel to your seventh continent for free benefit.' Cash back points are your best bet to offset the cost of your Antarctic expedition," Zito advises.

Earn points on a cash back card with a fixed-rate redemption or "travel eraser" like the Capital One Venture Credit Card or the Barclaycard Arrival Plus World Elite Mastercard.

When you charge your expedition to your credit card you'll be able to redeem your cash back as a statement credit against the purchase.


EXPEDITION INK 
Leonard David 
"Moon and Mars Exploration: Where are We Headed?"

As a follow-up to the most successful Explorers Club Annual Dinner in the organization's  history - a March 2019 space-themed dinner that attracted 1,700 attendees and raised $600,000-plus - the Club's Rocky Mountain chapter hosted Leonard David, the renowned space journalist reporting on space activities for over 50 years. 

"Never have we seen as much space activity as we have in recent years," he told Club members and their guests on April 16, 2019. "There's space exploration everywhere."

David recently completed a new book for National Geographic: Moon Rush - The New Space Race. He is author of Mars - Our Future on the Red Planet published by National Geographic in October 2016. The book is the companion volume to Mars - a National Geographic Channel television series from executive producers Brian Grazer and Ron Howard. Leonard is co-author with Apollo 11's Buzz Aldrin of Mission to Mars - My Vision for Space Exploration released in May 2013 and published by the National Geographic Society.

He foresees that 3D printing will be used in space to create habitats, and expects people will return to the Moon within five years. 

"The Moon looms. It's big. It's in our face. ... But we don't know about the moon. Just because we sent Neil and Buzz, we still don't know enough."

He is sure Mars hosts life. "It's there, it's deep in aquifers." But he worries, "what right do we have to change a planet and turn it in our image?"

In regards to climate change, David remarked, "If we destroy the launch pad we're not going to be able to go anywhere else."


WEB WATCH
Mallory's Body Discovered 20 Years Ago, But Where's Irvine and the Camera?

Climber Jake Norton was with Conrad Anker 20 years ago when the body of George Mallory was discovered on Mt. Everest. Norton writes on Facebook (May 1), "Once on site and all together, we began investigating the body, looking for evidence that would inform our understanding of the climbers' final days and hours on the mountain. After a bit of time, I noticed that while much of his clothing had been destroyed by rockfall over the years, his shirt collars were still intact, and I thought perhaps the manufacturer's label might still be there. 

"I turned them over, and in addition to the company label was a small laundry label reading: 'George Mallory.' Here was proof-positive we had found one of the biggest legends of Himalayan mountaineering, an icon and a hero and an inspiration for so many."

Norton continues, "I still get goosebumps, chills, and a lump in my throat remembering the time we spent with Mallory and the things we learned about he and Irvine's final days and hours on the mountain."

 
The Vest Pocket Kodak Model B used by Mallory and Irvine on Everest. 

The mystery of whether Mallory and his partner Sandy Irvine summited Everest still remains as explorers hope to return to the mountain to find the Vest Pocket Kodak Model B camera the two were known to carry, a camera that could reveal the first successful summit of Everest, almost 30 years before Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay. 

Read the Facebook post here:


IN PASSING
Jim Fowler (1930-2019)
Jim Fowler, the longtime host of TV's Wild Kingdom, who wrangled beasts and braved crocodile-infested waters for audiences across the nation, has died in Norwalk, Connecticut, his family announced on May 8. An honorary director and beloved member of The Explorers Club, he was 89.

The zoologist worked alongside Marlin Perkins on the Emmy-winning Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom beginning in 1963 until his retirement in 1985. Fowler then went it alone for a few years and returned to the show when it was revived in 2002.

He also appeared more than 100 times on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and served as a wildlife correspondent for NBC's Today. Fowler is survived by his wife, a wildlife artist, and their children Mark and Carrie.

Explorers Club president Richard Wiese writes in a May 9 email to members, "A giant of exploration, Jim died peacefully in his sleep, surrounded by family. We all met Jim in our living rooms, probably in our pajamas, but generations of conservationists, scientists and explorers were inspired by his words and deeds for decades. The world was a better place because of Jungle Jim Fowler, and he left a legacy for many to uphold."

A memorial service is tentatively planned for later this month. 

Take a moment, as we did, to review some of his many TV clips on YouTube. He appeared on The Dick Cavett Show in 1971 with a rose-eating sloth and wisecracking Groucho Marx:


On an episode of Seinfeld, he appeared with a hawk as a guest on a talk show hosted by the character Kramer out of his apartment:


Jim Fowler was a relentless advocate for the natural world.

 

Jess Roskelley (1982-2019)

Jess Roskelley, along with his climbing partners David Lama, 28, and Hansjörg Auer, 35, perished in a massive avalanche in the Canadian Rockies on April 16 after summiting Howse Peak via the difficult M16 route. These three young alpinists, who were among the best in the world, had already summited another peak on this trip, Mount Andromeda via Andromeda Strain, before attempting M16. 

Searchers in a helicopter reported seeing signs that the three were swept off Howse Peak by an avalanche. The bodies have since been recovered.

Jess, the son of renowned alpinist John Roskelley, was the youngest American to climb Mount Everest when at the age of 20, he and his father summited the world's highest peak on May 21, 2003 (it was subsequently summitted in 2010 by Californian Jordan Romero at age 13).

Since then, Jess had become known as one of the best climbers in the world as he forged innovative new routes, most notably in the mountains of Alaska, according to a statement by LOWA Boots on whose behalf he served as a member of its Pro Team. 

In Jess's words: "Mountains help me navigate what is most important to me. They balance the chaos that is regular life. Balance is what I strive to accomplish with climbing - a balance of life, love and mountains. Alpine climbing is a life-long commitment. I live and breathe it." 

Jess Roskelley, who was married, was 36.  

A celebration of life is planned for May 17 at the Crosby Theater in Spokane, Wash.

ON THE HORIZON
Global Exploration Summit, Lisbon, July 3-5, 2019
On the 500th anniversary of the first circumnavigation of the Earth, and the 50th anniversary of the Moon landing, explorers from every continent will gather in Lisbon to proclaim their commitment to preserve nature and its wildlife through scientific inquiry and their inspiring stories.

The Explorers Club's Global Exploration Summit (GLEX) will bring together the world's leading explorers for an unprecedented gathering, where they will share cutting-edge technology and innovations.

Set in the stunning backdrop of the Champlimaud Center for the Unknown, the University of Lisbon, and the Lisbon Aquarium, the summit will showcase the latest discoveries, plan future expeditions, and connect with the public through mass media and audience participation. 

For more information: http://www.glexsummit.com

EXPEDITION CLASSIFIEDS

Join the Unconventional Travelers - Unconventional Travelers is a small personalized tour company that focuses on inspiring travelers to visit the world in a new way by experiencing first hand other cultures and lifestyles. These stimulating photographic explorations inspire and connect people with some of the world's most beautiful places.  It's owned by international documentary photographer and explorer Daryl Hawk. Trips for 2019 and 20120 will take place in Cuba, Patagonia, Peru, Colombia, and Ecuador. For more information: www.unconventionaltravelers.com. 

 
Travel With Purpose: A Field Guide to Voluntourism (Rowman & Littlefield, April 2019) by Jeff Blumenfeld ­- How to travel and make a difference while you see the world? These are stories of inspiration from everyday voluntourists, all of whom have advice about the best way to approach that first volunteer vacation, from Las Vegas to Nepal, lending a hand in nonprofits ranging from health care facilities, animal shelters and orphanages to impoverished schools. Case studies are ripped from the pages of Expedition News, including the volunteer work of Dooley Intermed, Himalayan Stove Project, and even a volunteer dinosaur dig in New Jersey. 
Available now on Amazon. Read excerpts and "Look Inside" at:

 tinyurl.com/voluntourismbook @purpose_book

 
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.

Advertise in Expedition News - For more information: blumassoc@aol.com.
EXPEDITION NEWS is published by Blumenfeld and Associates, LLC, 290 Laramie Blvd.,  Boulder, CO 80304 USA. Tel. 203 326 1200, editor@expeditionnews.com. Editor/publisher: Jeff Blumenfeld. Research editor: Lee Kovel. ©2018 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
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The Everest Mess; Submersible Dive Sets World Record

June 13, 2019, 2:19 pm
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EVEREST ROUND-UP 

Examining the Everest Mess 
We would be hard-pressed to think of an Everest climbing season since the May 1996 disaster when Everest received as much negative publicity as it did this year. The Everest mess last month saw hundreds of successful summits, but at the expense of 11 deaths this season alone.    
            
As a professional speaker, mountaineer and Alzheimer's advocate Alan Arnette, founder of The Blog on AlanArnette.com, so aptly put it, "Everest 2019 will go down as the year Everest finally broke."

Writes Arnette, "It's easy to place blame and deny responsibility, no matter how shallow. I did my best to look at all sides but the facts tell the story. Yes, we have seen many of these factor before, but not in such magnitude, with such callous disregard, such blatant disrespect and with so little urgency to enact change.

"The state of Everest has rarely been so poor."

This image of the 2019 Everest conga line shocked the world. Taken May 22, 2019, it shows mountain climbers lining up to stand at the summit.

While there were successful summits across four 8000-meter peaks in Nepal and Tibet, "it became clear that too many people were totally unprepared to attempt these serious peaks. However, several extremely qualified climbers also lost their lives, many choosing to forgo supplemental oxygen," according to Arnette, who reports that beginning on May 22, hundreds summited early each morning for several days and once again death was in the air.

"May 23, Nirmal "Nims" Purja, got his place in history with a shocking photo of a line of climbers on the Hillary Step (above). The photo came as the death toll on Everest inched up to 11."

In an interview on the PBS News Hour on May 28, Arnette says of Everest, ".... it's the pinnacle, it's the dream. They (climbers) grew up watching 'National Geographic' or documentaries on PBS about climbing Mount Everest or read books. And it's a childhood dream.

Jostling for the Top

"And as the world improves in its economic status, the middle classes have more money, we're starting to see more and more people try to go there," Arnette commented.

Later he says experienced mountaineers would never jostle for the top. "And that tells me that this year we had a lot of novices up there that honestly needed more support and more experience before they arrived."

Watch the interview here:


Arnette, who has climbed Everest four times, tells CNN that Nepal issued a record number of permits to foreigners this year. Because each of them requires a Sherpa guide, there were about 800 people trying to climb from the Nepalese side, he said.

In addition, bad weather made it so that there were only five days when people could climb toward the summit.

"So you have 800 people trying to squeeze through a very small window," Arnette explained.

Last year, Everest hosted a record 802 people on her summit from both sides, according to Arnette. The death toll was five, about the same each year for the past 10 or so. Both summits and deaths were higher in 2019, which will be confirmed later this year by the recognized authority for such things: the Himalayan Database (www.himalayandatabase.com)

Aspen mountaineer Mike Marolt, renowned for climbing and skiing high-altitude peaks from the Himalayas to the Andes, tells John Meyer of the Denver Post (May 28), "The harrowing activity of sleeping in a tent at over 27,000 feet was probably the scariest thing I've ever done.

"I'm just blown away that more people don't get killed on that mountain."

Marolt continues, "If you're not willing to invest the time on expeditions to build up to it, and on the actual expedition itself, what's the point just to stand on top?

"We might as well just build a tram to the top and supply oxygen, eliminate the death and eliminate the trash. If we had a tram, we could haul the bodies and the trash off and everybody would get to stand on the top and see the view and get a selfie."

Jake Norton of Evergreen, Colorado, who returned from his eighth trip to Everest, posted his thoughts via social media from the Tibetan plateau last month. Norton wrote he was "haunted" by what he saw on the mountain and read in media reports.

"The Everest I know has forever been a place of triumph and tragedy, where beauty and horror commingle in the subtle hues of its very landscape," Norton wrote. 

"Sadly, the drama usually outshines the normal, and the tragedy of death or poor decisions outplays the successes and the beauty and the human spirit that is on the mountain daily. If anything, Everest is a dramatic microcosm of humanity."

Read the Denver Post story here:


Pollution Adds to the Danger 
To make matters worse, Mount Everest and its surrounding peaks are increasingly polluted and warmer, and nearby glaciers are melting at an alarming rate that is likely to make it more dangerous for future climbers, a U.S. scientist who spent weeks in the Everest region said recently.

Prof. John All of Western Washington University said after returning from the mountains that he and his team of fellow scientists found there was lot of pollution buried deep in the snow, and that the snow was surprisingly dark when they processed and filtered it.

"What that means is there are little pieces of pollution that the snow is forming around, so the snow is actually trapping the pollution and pulling it down," All said in Kathmandu, Nepal's capital.

All and his team spent weeks testing snow on Everest and its surrounding peaks, as well as plants on the foothills. He said because the glaciers are getting thinner and smaller, it is making it more dangerous for climbers.

The team had been planning to climb both Everest and sister peak Lhotse, but crowding on Everest forced them to change their plans. They climbed up to the last camp at 8000 meters (26,240 feet), the last point the two mountains share, and only reached the top of Lhotse.

The scientists said the samples and data would be processed once they return to United States, and they would then issue a report on their findings. They had done similar research in the area in 2009.

Read the story here:

RGS Offers Platinum Prints of 1921 Expedition Images

In a related story, the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) has recently collaborated with the Salto Ulbeek studio in Belgium to create the first-ever limited edition series of platinum prints from the 1921 Everest expedition, created from negatives in the Society's Collections, including newly digitized fragile silver nitrate negatives, housed in specially controlled conditions for the Society by the British Film Institute.

 
"Mountain shapes are often fantastic seen through a mist: these were like the wildest creation of a dream ... Gradually, very gradually, we saw the great mountain sides and glaciers and arêtes, now one fragment and now another through the floating rifts, until far higher in the sky than imagination had dared to suggest the white summit of Everest appeared." 

- George Mallory, from his account in the official publication of the expedition: Mount Everest: the Reconnaissance (Edward Arnold & Co Ltd., 1921). 
These museum-grade prints are hand-made to order by the master printmaker Georges Charlier and his team at Salto-Ulbeek in Belgium to provide greater clarity and detail in every print.
Taken by George Mallory, Charles Howard-Bury, Alexander Wollaston and Edward Oliver Wheeler with Abdul Jalil Khan, the photographs were originally intended to complement the purpose of the expedition - to carry out new and more detailed survey work in the region. The selection also includes some of the finest panoramic photographs of any high mountain region ever taken.  
See the images here:


Purchase information here:


The images are stunning and may have the unintended consequence of attracting even more inexperienced climbers to Everest. 
EXPEDITION NOTES
Record Set for World's Deepest Dive

For the fourth time, the Five Deeps Expedition has successfully dived to the bottom of one of the world's five oceans. The team completed a mission to reach what is commonly known as the deepest point on planet Earth: Challenger Deep within the Mariana Trench.

Victor Vescovo set a new deep-diving record and is the first human to make multiple dives, solo, to its hadal depths in the DSV Limiting Factor (Triton 36000/2 model submersible), the world's deepest diving, currently operational submarine. It was the deepest dive in history - the expedition reached a maximum depth of 10,928 meters/35,853 feet deep, 16 meters/52 feet deeper than any previous manned dive.

Neat Trick - Rob McCallum holding a styrofoam cup compressed during its visit to the bottom of the Mariana Trench while aboard Limiting Factor's record setting dive. Oceanographers take advantage of crushing, deep-sea pressure to make decorated, shrunken Styrofoam cups as souvenirs and for science outreach, images perfect for the twitterspere. Photo: Reeve Jolliffe/EYOS Expeditions

On board the DSSV Pressure Drop for this historic accomplishment was legendary American oceanographer, explorer and marine policy specialist, Dr. Don Walsh (Captain, USN Ret.), who made the first successful decent into the Mariana Trench in 1960. The maximum depth achieved was measured and later corrected to be approximately 10,916 meters.

For more information:


Read Vescovo's Forbes.com (May 14) interview by Jim Clash here:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/jimclash/2019/05/14/businessman-victor-vescovo-sets-new-world-depth-record-for-mariana-trench-dive/#2179264fd0b3

What lies beneath?

New York Divers Get Wrecked

Hundreds of wrecks lay scattered around New York, one of the busiest cities in the world, just waiting for divers to explore the less-popular underworld of New York/New Jersey harbors and waterways. Searching for these underwater treasures is especially important now - before storms like Sandy become more frequent and accelerate the disappearance or deterioration of these underwater time capsules.

NYC Wrecks seeks to uncover and document what lies beneath New York and New Jersey harbors by utilizing open-sourced databases, local historians, maps, trusted contacts and new technology. Any collected data and imagery will be provided free of charge to those interested. In the future, school groups will be invited to use tools and technology to explore identified wrecks from shore as educational excursions. Curriculum and worksheets will be provided, according to Kate Sutter, a New York-based open water SCUBA instructor and research assistant.

Relatively accessible wrecks will ideally be visited as field trips where students of all ages can pilot drones (and hopefully an ROV). Assignments will be provided to teachers for follow-up. This will provide a better understanding of local history as well as ignite excitement for exploration. 

Sutter is looking for divers and teachers who would be interested in collaborating. Donations are appreciated as the project is currently self-funded. 
For more information:


Antarctica Cruise Ships Watch Out for Each Other, Pledge to Reduce Plastic Waste

Everest isn't the only place on the planet to visit for bragging rights. There's also the seventh continent.

The Antarctic travel season may still be months away, but responsible Antarctic tour operators from across the globe experience their busiest day of the year in early June when the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators' (IAATO) Ship Scheduler opened. It's a database which has used IAATO and Antarctic Treaty System requirements to set limits on time, number of passengers allowed, and number of daily visits to visitor sites around the Antarctic coast for almost two decades.


The 278 ft. Ushuaia 
is home base for the StudentsonIce.com high school trip to Antarctica.

Each year in June or July, outside of the Antarctic travel season, the 116 IAATO members log their desired landings for the Antarctic season ahead using the scheduler. The ship scheduler, which was introduced in the early 2000s, provides the basis for coordination between IAATO member vessels. Each vessel knows where the others will be and the visits are planned and confirmed well in advance of the start of the season. No more than 100 passengers can be ashore at any one time, with a minimum staff to visitor ratio of 1:20. 

The majority of Antarctic coastal visitor sites also have Antarctic Treaty System approved site guidelines that set a maximum daily number of ship visits.

For more information about Antarctic site guidelines, visit:


The group has also pledged to turn the tide on plastics with new guidelines set to reduce single-use plastic use among visitors to the white continent.

The new guidelines, announced on World Environment Day (June 5), encourage visitors to prepare for their journey by avoiding the use of disposable items, such as wet wipes, bottles and razors, cosmetics containing microbeads, and to continue environmental efforts on their return home.

The new guidelines will be available to visitors this summer, ahead of the Antarctic travel season, which begins in October.  

Amanda Lynnes, IAATO Head of Environment and Communications, said:

"Traveling to Antarctica is a privilege and we hope that by taking guests there they return as ambassadors for its ongoing preservation and protection."

QUOTE OF THE MONTH 
"The climbing of earth's heights, in itself, means little. That men want and try to climb them means everything. For it is the ultimate wisdom of the mountains that man is never so much a man as when he is striving for what is beyond his grasp, and that there is no battle worth the winning save that against our own ignorance and fear."

- James Ramsay Ullman (1907 - 1971), American writer and mountaineer. (Source: Becoming a Mountain: Himalayan Journeys in Search of the Sacred and the Sublime by Stephen Alter (Arcade, 2015)

MEDIA MATTERS
It's believed the 124-foot ship discovered by NOAA is a schooner or brig built in the mid-19th century, with its hull sheathed in copper.

NOAA Experiences a "Eureka" Moment
A previously unknown shipwreck from the mid 1800s was found by accident as National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) sea floor explorers were testing equipment in the Gulf of Mexico on May 16, according to the Charlotte (N.C.) Observer.
NOAA says the "unexpected and exciting discovery" was first picked up on sonar, then verified with a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) sent to the sea floor.
It was found roughly 160 miles off shore along the Florida Escarpment, and sits 1,460 feet down, NOAA officials told the newspaper.

Emily Crum, a spokeswoman for the NOAA Ocean Exploration and Research, told the Observer the main focus of the expedition was to test equipment so finding the shipwreck by accident "was certainly a surprise."
"Typically when we find/explore shipwrecks, we have some basic information that allows us to search for a target," she said.
"In this instance, there was no information to suggest the wreck was there. The team just 'stumbled' upon it... Because it wasn't a planned exploratory dive, we had to quickly rally marine archaeologists to join the dive via the live video feeds and they were able to provide some preliminary observations," she said.

Read the story and watch expedition video here:
EXPEDITION FUNDING


How 16 Explorers Paid for Their Trips     
       
The web has such a massive, unsatiable appetite for content that MSN.com recently assigned a writer to prepare one of those click-baity slide shows about exploration. The subject for this one explains how 16 explorers who changed the world paid for their expeditions, a topic near and dear to our hearts.

The May 10 post by Jordan Rosenfeld explains Ferdinand Magellan was funded by Spain's King Charles I, but only after he moved to Spain; Charles Darwin was supported by Robert FitzRoy, captain of the ship HMS Beagle; Amelia Earhart raised funds through advertising and endorsements; and Columbus received money from King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella of Castile, Spain (he obviously spent money on a great publicist - his name is everywhere: Columbus, Ohio, Columbus Circle, and an entire country).

See the slide show here:


EXPEDITION INK
 

Searching for Lake Ontario Wrecks Takes a "Touch of Madness"

Speaking of shipwrecks, the National Museum of the Great Lakes book titled Shipwrecks of Lake Ontario: A Journey of Discovery, contains stories of long lost shipwrecks and the journeys of the underwater explorers who found them, written by Jim Kennard with paintings by Roland Stevens and underwater imagery by Roger Pawlowski.

For decades, teams of shipwreck enthusiasts have been searching for sunken ships in the New York State waters of Lake Ontario. Using SCUBA equipment, simple depth finders, sophisticated side-scan sonar equipment and eventually with remote operated vehicles, they set out to unlock the secrets of the past.

Shipwrecks of Lake Ontario: A Journey of Discovery details the history and discovery of over 26 shipwrecks in Lake Ontario, many of which have connections to other communities across the Great Lakes including Toledo, Cleveland, Buffalo, Detroit and Chicago.

Author Jim Kennard has been diving and exploring the lakes of the northeast United States since 1970. He's found more than 200 shipwrecks in the Great Lakes, Lake Champlain, the New York Finger Lakes, and in the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers. Significant discoveries include the two oldest shipwrecks discovered on the Great Lakes, the 1780 British warship HMS Ontario and the sloop Washington lost in 1803. In 1983, he found a unique horse powered ferryboat in Lake Champlain. All of these discoveries received worldwide attention in the news media. 

"Searching for ships in the Great Lakes demands hours spent on research; large expenditures for technical equipment; weeks, months and sometimes years looking for a wreck; plus a touch of madness that keeps a team together on an elusive quest," writes Kennard.

For more information: 


ON THE HORIZON  

 

The Bowers Museum

Explorers Club WECAD, June 22, 2019, Bowers Museum, Santa Ana, Calif.

Hosted by the Southern California Chapter of the Explorers Club, and held at the Bowers Museum in Santa Ana, Calif., the West Coast Explorers Club Annual Dinner (WECAD) on June 22, 2019, will present the Ralph B. White Memorial Award for Ocean Exploration and Conservation of the Seas to the legendary Jean-Michel Cousteau. 

Since first being "thrown overboard" by his father, Jacques Cousteau, at the age of seven with newly invented SCUBA gear on his back, Jean-Michel Cousteau has been exploring the ocean realm.  

A new award will honor the memory of the late champion of wildlife Alan Rabinowitz; the first Alan Rabinowitz Memorial Award for Wildlife Conservation will be awarded to Joseph "Joe" Rodhe in recognition of his leadership in animal conservation through his creation of Disney's Animal Kingdom over two decades ago and more recently his work with James Cameron in creating Pandora - The World of Avatar.

Keynote speaker for the evening is Jim Williams, an award-winning, professionally certified wildlife biologist working for Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks for over 27 years. Open to the public; tickets $150 per person. For more information: ddolan@explorers.org, 949 307 9182. 


EXPEDITION CLASSIFIEDS
Expeditions in Croatia, Ukraine, The Baltic and Israel with Chris Nicola

July 4 - July 13: Visit Israel and explore the world's longest salt cave, Jerusalem (both below and above ground), climb Masada, swim in the Dead Sea, and camp with Beduoins under the starlit skies of the Judean Desert. July 25 - Aug. 4: Work with local cavers in the mountainous area of Croatia locating and mapping deep pits (Note: rope climbing/rappelling experience necessary). August 6 - Aug. 13: - Visit Western Ukraine, and explore some of the world's longest caves. Also see those towns and caves featured in the documentary, No Place On Earth which tells the story on how five Jewish families survived the Holocaust by taking refuge in a cave system for over a year (www.noplaceonearthfilm.com). For more information: chrisnicola@juno.com, www.chrisnicola.com

Travel on an Expedition to Pitcairn Island 
Author Alexandra Edwards has been invited by the Pitcairn Islanders to organize an
expedition to Pitcairn, one of the single most remote and inaccessible islands on the planet and landing spot of nine HMS Bounty mutineers. The expedition will be conducted under the auspices of the Pacific Islands Research Institute with Capt. Lynn Danaher in late summer 2020. Purpose will be to explore petroglyph sites and conduct forensic archaeology tests in what is presumed to be a historical burial site in Adamstown of some of the original mutineers. 
Organizers anticipate two teams of two weeks each, a maximum of eight participants per team. This will be a self-funded expedition with an initial budget of approximately $15,000 per person. This is a true remote expedition into a rugged difficult place with limited amenities. It involves flying to Mangareva from Tahiti and taking a small ship to Pitcairn via a 32-hour passage embarking via long boat thru surf. Must be fit and have a positive attitude for adventure. To apply for consideration: Capt. Lynn Danaher, Pacific Islands Research Institute, 808 755 8045, 4islandexplorer@gmail.com
 
Travel With Purpose: A Field Guide to Voluntourism (Rowman & Littlefield, April 2019) by Jeff Blumenfeld ­- How to travel and make a difference while you see the world? These are stories of inspiration from everyday voluntourists, all of whom have advice about the best way to approach that first volunteer vacation, from Las Vegas to Nepal, lending a hand in nonprofits ranging from health care facilities, animal shelters and orphanages to impoverished schools. Case studies are ripped from the pages of Expedition News, including the volunteer work of Dooley Intermed, Himalayan Stove Project, and even a volunteer dinosaur dig in New Jersey. 
Available now on Amazon. Read excerpts and "Look Inside" at:


 
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.

Advertise in Expedition News - For more information: blumassoc@aol.com.
EXPEDITION NEWS is published by Blumenfeld and Associates, LLC, 290 Laramie Blvd.,  Boulder, CO 80304 USA. Tel. 203 326 1200, editor@expeditionnews.com. Editor/publisher: Jeff Blumenfeld. Research editor: Lee Kovel. ©2019 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 
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SPECIAL EDITION: 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FIRST MOON LANDING

July 7, 2019, 7:31 pm
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The World Pauses to Remember the First Moon Landing
 
Welcome to the first Special Edition of Expedition News in our almost 25-year history. When it comes right down to it, what exploration was more momentous than man's first moon landing?
 
We are of a certain age that we remember watching Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin live during a July 1969 broadcast of the first Moon landing. It was 10:56 p.m. ET on July 20, 1969, when Armstrong uttered one of the most famous quotes in human history: "That's one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind." Although a grainy image viewed on a black and white television during our summer course at SUNY Geneseo near Rochester, it nonetheless was an inspiration for our then budding interest in exploration. 
 
Expect to see numerous stories in the media later this month commemorating this audacious 8-day feat for mankind. What we like to focus on in EN are some of the sidebar stories that perhaps won't get as much attention later this month. 
 
As we anticipate NASA's projected manned mission to the Moon in 2024 (with a planned sustainable human presence there by 2028), let's consider some facts about the 50th anniversary you might not read elsewhere. 
 
 
The Apollo 11 landing site, as imaged by the LROC camera aboard NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter spacecraft, decades after the first Moon landing.

Say Cheese

The Moon landing sites continue to be monitored by NASA's long-lived Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) since it entered into orbit around the Moon in June 2009. 
 
According to Leonard David's Moon Rush (National Geographic, 2019), "High- resolution imagery of the six landing spots, from Apollo 11's 1969 landing to Apollo 17 in 1972, reveals the lunar module descent stages sitting on the Moon's surface, left behind by the departing astronauts, as well as lunar surface experiment packages and parked rovers. Faint trails of the astronauts' footprints show up, including observable tracks from the last three Apollo landing excursions as those crews rolled across the Moon's surface in their rovers."
 
An effort is underway to preserve the landing sites, including the artifacts left behind by Apollo 11 astronauts: a mission patch to commemorate the lives of astronauts lost in a 1967 pad fire; boot coverings; food wrappers; a hammer; urine and defecation collection devices; and those momentous first boot prints, according to David's book. 
 
Tranquility Base and the other landing sites are historic landmarks. The concern is that subsequent robotic and manned spacecraft to the Moon could cause significant damage to this lunar legacy. Rocket exhaust plumes, for example, might blast away the celebrated footprints and rover tracks. 
 
"There has never been historic preservation off our planet. It's a really difficult subject," says Michelle Hanlon, a law professor and space law expert at the University of Mississippi who co-founded For All Moonkind, Inc., a nonprofit group devoted to protecting historic sites in space. (www.forallmoonkind.org)

 
The USGS geologist Joe O'Connor wears an early version of the Apollo spacesuit during testing in the fall of 1965, at Apollo mesa dike in the Hopi Buttes volcanic field in Arizona. This rarely seen image was too good not to share. (USGS photo). 

*            When Arizona Stood in for the Moon
 
Throughout the 1960s, NASA scientists and technicians worked relentlessly to train their astronauts for the Apollo missions to come. Locations throughout Arizona were selected by the United States Geological Survey's new astrogeology branch to serve as lunar analogues-the Moon right here at home. Arizona had plenty of existing craters, exposed canyons, volcanic cinder cones, and lava fields to test NASA's people, suits, vehicles, and equipment. And to make things even more lunar, a field north of Flagstaff was loaded with explosives and blown to bits to create a cratered landscape complete with ejecta, the underlying rock excavated and flung onto the surface by the simulated meteor impacts.
 
Read the story in The Atlantic, June 20, 2019:
 
 
 
 
*            Party Like It's 1969 in Washington, D.C. 
 
The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum plans a "The Eagle Has Landed" Late-Night Celebration on July 20 from 8 p.m. top 2 a.m. It will include a rebroadcast of the Moon landing and first steps, Apollo 11-themed music, a Spacesuit Fashion Show  and stargazing. Best of all, it's free. 
 
Thanks in part to a Kickstarter campaign, Armstrong's Apollo 11 spacesuit goes back on display on July 16 for the first time in 13 years. 
 
Learn more here:
 
 
 
Travel to Seattle to see the Real McCoy
 
*            Lunar Block Party in Seattle 
 
The Museum of Flight in Seattle is hosting a Lunar Block Party, July 19-21. Somewhat incongruously, it features American Idol Live in Concert with winner Laine Hardy, runner-up Alejandro Aranda and the 2019 finalists; a Beatles tribute band; and 1969 themed games. 
We'll skip those and focus instead on the command module Columbia - the actual spacecraft from the first Moon landing mission. The exhibit features a 3-D tour of the module's interior made with high resolution scans from the Smithsonian.

"This is the not the first time Columbia has traveled the country. In 1970, NASA organized a tour that took Columbia to each of the 50 states," explains Michael Neufeld, senior curator for space history at the National Air and Space Museum.

Learn more at:
 
 
 
Restored Mission Control Console 
 
*            Apollo Mission Control Center Restored in Houston 
 
Space Center Houston and Johnson Space Center debuted a totally restored Apollo Mission Control Center. This is the facility where NASA monitored nine Gemini and all Apollo lunar missions, including the historic Apollo 11 trip to the Moon and the final Apollo 17 trip to the same lunar body. It is located in Building 30 of NASA Johnson Space Center.

To make it look exactly like it appeared in the 1960s, the museum hand-stamped the ceiling tiles with original patterns, ordered a period-appropriate coffee pot on eBay, restored the flip tops of ashtrays with 3-D printers, and returned flight control consoles to their original Apollo configuration.   
 
Learn more about the restoration here:
 
 
*            Cosmic Birth 
 
Cosmic Birth is an upcoming 2019 Icelandic documentary film about mankind's journey to the Moon and the experience of viewing the Earth from a quarter of a million miles away. The film also looks into the role that Iceland played, along with other locations around the world, in the training of the Apollo astronauts for the first manned missions. 

The documentary will be released simultaneously in cinemas and on TV in Iceland on July 20, 2019, in celebration of the 50th anniversary. An event commemorating the historic significance of Apollo 11 will take place in the documentary cinema Bíó Paradís in Reykjavík before the premiere of the film.

Cosmic Birth is written and directed by Exploration Museum founder Örlygur Hnefill Örlygsson and filmmaker and musician Rafnar Orri Gunnarsson with original score by Andri Freyr Arnarsson and Óskar Andri Ólafsson. Expedition News makes a brief cameo. 

Watch the trailer here:


 

This Omega Speedmaster Moonwatch Professional Chronograph sells for an astronomical $5,350. 

*            Prices Take off for Omega Moonwatch 

As nostalgia for the Apollo 11 mission builds, prices for the most sought-after vintage Speedmasters have taken a trip into orbit, fueled by a booming market for vintage watches and a cult following on social media (see #SpeedyTuesday), according to the New York Times (June 5)

According to writer Alex Williams, at a Phillips Geneva auction last year, a first-generation Speedmaster from 1958 sold for nearly $410,000, a price typically associated with the finer vintage Rolex Daytonas.

 

Part of the draw is Speedmaster's no-nonsense, action-watch heritage. With its minimalist black dial recalling an old Porsche speedometer, the chronograph oozes stealth-wealth allure, according to the Times story.

Read the story here:



*            Own a Small Piece of the Apollo 11 Command Module

And we do mean small. Mini Museum is offering a fragment of mission-flown Kapton foil which provided thermal protection for the astronauts aboard the Apollo 11 Command Module. The specimen measures approximately 1mm x 1mm and is enclosed in an acrylic cube with a magnified lid for easy viewing. Perhaps a free microscope would have been better.

Upon the return of Apollo 11, sections of the Kapton foil were removed from the Command Module and affixed to acrylic squares for presentation purposes. These acrylic squares were also presented to certain NASA employees, including Production Control Engineer W.R. Whipkey. Whipkey received this foil in 1969 and it remained in his possession until purchased for use by the Mini Museum in late 2017 at public auction.

Started via Kickstarter in 2014, Mini Museums are micro-sized versions of full-size museums dedicated to curating artifacts of cultural, historical, and scientific importance. Rather than marble halls, the collection of specimens are arranged inside transparent plastic in a form small enough keep on a desktop.

Buy it here:


 
Warhol's phallic Moon Museum image is in the upper left corner. 

*            Warhol Sneaks Penis Image Onto the Moon

In another little known fact we unearthed while researching EN's first Special Edition is the Moon Museum, not to be confused with the aforementioned Mini Museum.

Moon Museum is a small ceramic wafer three-quarters of an inch by half an inch in size, containing artworks by six prominent artists from the late 1960s and placed on Apollo 12. The artists with works in the "museum" are Robert Rauschenberg, David Novros, John Chamberlain, Claes Oldenburg, Forrest Myers and Andy Warhol.

Warhol created a stylized version of his initials which, when viewed at certain angles, can appear as a rocket ship or a penis. "He was being the terrible bad boy," said fellow wafer artist Forrest Myers in an interview.

 
*            Armstrong Spacesuit Zip-Hoodie

There's no shortage of 50th anniversary memorabilia. If a tiny flown piece of Apollo 11 doesn't interest you, geek out in this 50th Anniversary 3D Armstrong space suit Zip Hoodie for just $48. Order it here:
 
 
 
Martha Stewart experiences weightlessness with ZERO-G.
 
*            Fly With an Astronaut on the Vomit Comet 
 
To commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing, Zero Gravity Corporation (ZERO-G) will partner with Space Florida to take space fans on two weightless flights on July 20, 2019. Departure point is Space Florida's Launch and Landing Facility (formerly the NASA Shuttle Landing Facility) at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. 
Flyers will float effortlessly alongside former NASA astronaut Scott Kelly.
 
The anniversary flight in a specially modified Boeing 727 will demonstrate the feeling of exploring the Moon's surface by recreating lunar gravity and allowing participants to float with the ease of carrying one-sixth their normal body weight.

ZERO-G pilots will perform a series of parabolic arcs for 90 to 100 minutes while flying in FAA-designated airspace. At the top of each arc, participants will soar through the plane in a floating playground, and perform effortless tricks and flips. The flight will also include several zero gravity and Martian gravity parabolas.

To avoid motion sickness, Dramamine and Meclizine are most commonly used by flyers. It also probably helps not to scarf down a 1200-calorie Chipotle burrito beforehand. 

The cost to participate on one of the anniversary flights is $6,000. For ticket and flight information, visit (www.gozerog.com).

EXPEDITION NOTES
 
Black Toilet Paper and Other "Innovations" Come to Outdoor Retailer Show 
 
Three times a year the outdoor industry convenes in Denver for the four-day Outdoor Retailer trade show and conference. In June, over 25,000 industry professionals packed the Colorado Convention Center to learn what's new in outdoor gear, much of it a mainstay of exploration, from 1,400 exhibiting brands. It's the largest trade show of the year in the 584,000 facility. Ever since the show started in the early 1980s, we've been trolling its aisles looking for unusual products to take outdoors. This year's trade show didn't disappoint. 
 
 
 
*            Wearable Fan Looks Like Headphones
 
The W Fan is a wearable dual-headed fan that looks like a pair of headphones around your neck, but instead of speakers there are two adjustable five-bladed fans that run on rechargeable lithium batteries and provide a constant cooling breeze. Adjustable fan heads turn in any direction. The company says its perfect for sports, camping or menopausal women. ($35, www.timeconceptinc.com)
 
 
 
*            When Dinner is Done, Burn the Grill 
 
This eco-friendly, disposable biodegradable grill uses a natural bamboo grate instead of metal, plus cardboard, lava stone, and bamboo charcoal cakes that are easy to light without the need for any lighter fluids. The manufacturers says it can maintain 60-plus minutes at 600 degrees F. When finished, throw it into a campfire or bury it. Ingenious. ($19.95, www.casusgrillusa.com)

 

*            PowerWatch Runs on Body Heat 

The jury is still out on the world's first smartwatch powered by body heat. At the core of every Matrix PowerWatch is a thermoelectric generator that captures body heat to power up. No charging is required. Not sure if this is the best choice for polar exploration. Clever, but you'll have to try it for yourself. (starts at $199, www.powerwatch.com)

 

*            Black Towelettes Help You Hide in the Woods

One slightly creepy product on display were Combat Wipes Commando bio-degradable outdoor cleansing and refreshing wipes. What separates these moist towelettes from, say your everyday Huggies Baby Wipes is the color - it comes in black for "ultimate camoflauge." 

The manufacturer says it's for "anyone experiencing the outdoors who does not have access to a shower or fresh water, yet wants to stay clean, refreshed and environmentally conscious." Although the color choice is somewhat icky, it's for those who are hunting, on night photo safaris, or on an outdoor mission and need a camo-wet wipe. ($7.20 per 25-sheet pack, www.combatwipes.com/commando)

QUOTE OF THE MONTH 
 
"You've been trying not to pee in your pants your whole life."
 
- Retired astronaut Scott Kelly, who wore a diaper for liftoff and landing on all four of his space missions wherein he spent a total of 520 days in space. Kelly later said that after returning from his final, 340-day mission, he suffered nausea, fatigue, swelling, muscle and joint soreness, hives and rashes. 

Of his return to earth, he said, "You suddenly have a million choices, and it's confusing. It's probably very similar to what it feels like to be released from prison."  Source: May 5 New York Times Magazine interview by Malia Wollan. 
 
EXPEDITION FOCUS  
 
What are the Odds of Dying While Mountain Climbing?
 
By Chuck Patton
Special to Expedition News
 
I wish I could climb like Edmund Hillary, write like Jon Krakauer, or explore undiscovered parts of the world, and survive as Shackleton did. I have sampled their worlds and, in so doing, gained a healthy respect for their achievements. Few explorers reach the pinnacle of public esteem that these men have achieved and those few who do, have done so with great peril and the luck of the gods. Only a few climbers have attained true notoriety. The vast majority climb in obscurity unless they achieve the kind of notoriety they didn't seek - by dying in the process.
 
The chances of dying on Everest are between 1 in 15 including Sherpas, or 1 in 23 excluding Sherpas. The chance of dying on Denali is 1 in 78. The chances of dying on Kilimanjaro is 1 in 3,333, obviously a much safer mountain but still, 9 to 10 people die on it each year and 1,000 need to be evacuated. The overall chance of succeeding at summiting on K2 is 22% while on Kilimanjaro it is 75%. The average chance of summiting for the top six mountains is 60%. The chance of dying on the other mountains in Nepal ranges from 1 in 3 on Nanga Parbat to 1 in 18 on Manaslu.
 
Would you accept those odds? Seeing that the risk of mountain climbing is so high, this raises the age-old question, why do climbers climb? I have a sense of the rationale from my own very limited experience and from knowing some serious climbers, like Dick Bass (first to climb the Seven Summits and one of the authors of the book with that title) and a Sherpa working on Mt. Rainier in the summer.
 
In my opinion, climbers don't climb because "It's there." They don't climb because they have a death wish. They are not crazy or even misguided. They are adventurers that's for sure. Each has his or her reasons and, I imagine, there are a few who haven't thought about why they climb at all.
 
Climbers may climb because they would rather die doing something challenging than living a long life of "quiet desperation." Others may climb in search of "Flow," that mesmerizing state where your mind must stay focused on five minutes ahead and less than 30 seconds behind.
 
Some may climb because they like the satisfaction of achieving something most others haven't, won't or can't. Perhaps they climb to satisfy that human desire to be different, to be special, to be respected, to be unique. Even if it is only by a small community of other like-minded people. And being around people who relate to climbing is another reason. Maybe they "want to be somebody" or hang-out with like-minded friends.
 
Non-climbers or amateur climbers may think climbing to be a way to fame and fortune. Can you name one person who died on Everest last year? Climbing does not earn notoriety by itself; only by spectacular death or achieving one of those dwindling "Firsts" will a climber get recognized, and fortunes are not made that way.
 
The odds of becoming rich and famous are much smaller than the odds of dying. Jon Krakauer is the only one I know who made a lot of money, but more so because he is a great writer and less so because of his fame as a climber.
 
Every climber reaches their limit by quitting or dying. Four people died on Rainier while I was there, including two experienced rescue climbers. No one is exempt, on any mountain, from the possibility of a random trip and fall, avalanche, cascading rock, deep snow-covered crevasse, altitude sickness, or who knows what.
 
I reached my limit coming down from Kilimanjaro - not my physical limit but my "why am I doing this?" limit. After a nice accomplishment I had to ask myself "what's next?" Start training for Everest? Knock off Denali or a couple of highest continental trophies like Aconcagua or Mount Elbrus?
 
In considering if more climbing was in my future, I was smart enough to realize that, from my perspective, more climbing wasn't the right next step for me. The highest and best use of my time on earth, I concluded, was to start a business. Next time you think of climbing a mountain, figure your odds and act accordingly.
 
 
 
Charles Patton, 76, summited Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Mt. Washington in New Hampshire, and Mount Santis in Switzerland. He is a resident of Orlando, where he is Senior Vice President - Business Development for VacayHome Connect, a vacation accommodation distribution company based in Chicago. He can be reached at generalp2@aol.com
 
WEB WATCH
 
Climbing Everest Looks Like the Line at Trader Joe's

Comedian John Oliver, who hosts Last Week Tonight on HBO, examines May's Everest mess in a 22-minute humorous tirade on June 23. Claiming that climbing Everest looks like the line at Trader Joe's, he calls Everest a fecal time bomb and mocks stunts like the world's highest cellphone call. 

Join the over five million who have already viewed the video and watch it here: 


MEDIA MATTERS

Skydiving, Mountain Climbing and Other Ways Execs Terrify Their Shareholders

"For companies, trying to curb top executives who are prized for walking the knife edge between calculated risk and recklessness is a dilemma. Tell them to stop flying airplanes, racing cars, horse jumping, skydiving, smoking, running with bulls or bungee jumping and they could leave. Let them go along their merry way, and you might lose them another way," writes John D. Stoll in the Wall Street Journal (June 22).

Micron Technology chief Steve Appleton's fatal crash in 2012 while piloting an experimental plane prompted a discussion in boardrooms about whether daredevil CEOs are worth the risk.

"Boards have to consider whether the same thing that made that person a successful CEO, for instance, also led them to engage in highly risky hobbies," said David Larcker, a professor who leads Stanford Graduate School's corporate governance research initiative. But, as Mr. Larcker has written, succession plans and disclosures may need bolstering if a key manager likes to live dangerously.

Larcker says that no matter how many safeguards are in place, companies can't entirely police their senior leaders. "How deep do you want to get into someone's private life?" he asks.

Andy Wirth's near-death skydiving accident occurred about three years into his run as CEO of resort operator Squaw Valley Ski Holdings. Wirth came into the job as a risk-taker, having spent time rappelling off cliffs and skiing treacherous slopes.

His partners were aware of his plane-jumping tendencies. He had trained for certifications and took precautions, according to Stoll's Journal story. But nothing could prepare the company for an accident that ripped off Mr. Wirth's arm and required 25 operations over 50 hours and a substantial hiatus.

Read the article here:

 
BUZZ WORDS
 
Earthrise 1: Historic Image Remastered. Image Credit: NASA, Apollo 8 Crew, Bill Anders; Processing and License: Jim Weigang. Little known fact: In 1966, Lunar Orbiter 1 took a picture of Earthrise two years before William Anders took this more famous image.

The Overview Effect
 
A cognitive shift in awareness reported by some astronauts during spaceflight, often while viewing the Earth from outer space. In one instance, a single photograph of Earth taken from space by Williams Anders, on Apollo 8, in 1968, served as an icon for the entire environmental movement. 

People who have seen the Earth from space, not in a photograph but in real life, pretty much all report the same thing. "You spend even a little time contemplating the Earth from orbit and the most deeply ingrained nationalisms begin to erode," said Carl Sagan. "They seem the squabbles of mites on a plum." Source: New York Times Book Review, June 23, 2019.

EXPEDITION CLASSIFIEDS 

 
 
Travel With Purpose: A Field Guide to Voluntourism (Rowman & Littlefield, April 2019) by Jeff Blumenfeld ­- How to travel and make a difference while you see the world? These are stories of inspiration from everyday voluntourists, all of whom have advice about the best way to approach that first volunteer vacation, from Las Vegas to Nepal, lending a hand in nonprofits ranging from health care facilities, animal shelters and orphanages to impoverished schools. Case studies are ripped from the pages of Expedition News, including the volunteer work of Dooley Intermed, Himalayan Stove Project, and even a volunteer dinosaur dig in New Jersey. 

Read the latest review here:


Available now on Amazon. Read excerpts and "Look Inside" at:


 
 
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.

 
Advertise in Expedition News - For more information: blumassoc@aol.com.
 
EXPEDITION NEWS is published by Blumenfeld and Associates, LLC, 290 Laramie Blvd.,  Boulder, CO 80304 USA. Tel. 203 326 1200, editor@expeditionnews.com. Editor/publisher: Jeff Blumenfeld. Research editor: Lee Kovel. ©2019 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 
 
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Bob Ballard Searches for Amelia, Seeking Young Explorers

August 7, 2019, 4:52 pm
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Scientists measure the concentration of bio-microplastics accumulated by mussels and determine the content of pollutants in its tissues. Photo by ©Elodie Bernollin / Tara Ocean Foundation

TARA OCEAN FOUNDATION STUDIES 10 RIVERS TO 
UNDERSTAND SOURCE OF OCEAN PLASTIC 

Where does plastic waste originate? How does it arrive in the ocean? Where should efforts be concentrated to stop the flow of this waste? What impacts do plastics have on marine biodiversity? Recent estimates find that 80% of plastic waste found at sea originates on land.

The Tara Ocean Foundation and the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) have been involved in this research since 2010. Mission Microplastics 2019, based on the schooner Tara, is now traveling through several regions in Europe for six months, exploring 10 major European rivers. The journey began last May in Lorient, Morbihan, France, Tara's home port.
 
In 2014, Tara focused on plastic pollution in the Mediterranean Sea. Then in 2017, the team discovered an important zone of plastic accumulation in the Arctic Ocean, and in 2018, identified the biodiversity associated with microplastics in the north Pacific vortex.

Rain running down roads and gutters into lakes, water flowing in streams and rivers -  are vectors of the plastic waste which eventually winds up in the ocean. Tara will stay close to the coasts, conducting this new investigation to determine the exact origin on land of the plastics found at sea.

An interdisciplinary team of about 40 scientists - marine biologists, ecotoxicologists, oceanographers, mathematicians/modelers, chemists and physicists - will lead this mission. Sampling is planned at the mouth of 10 major rivers in Europe: the Thames (England); the Elbe and Rhine (Germany); the Seine, Loire, Garonne and Rhone (France); the Tagus (Portugal); the Ebro (Spain); the Tiber (Italy).

What they found on the Thames, their first stop, makes us gag. Jean-François Ghiglione, scientific director, reports: 

"Under the microscope, microplastics are present. By the hundreds. Many are microbeads used in cosmetics. There are so-called 'mermaid's tears,' granules that come directly from plastic manufacturers. There's much more plastic than what the team usually observes at sea. Fibers from clothing, expanded polystyrene pellets from food trays, pieces of plastic bags. 

A lollipop stick and some candy packages are the only 'big' garbage collected. Micro plastics (< 5 mm) make up more than 90% of the harvest. The first observation of this mission: most plastics arriving at sea from the Thames are already in the form of micro plastics." 

For more information: fondationtaraocean.org

EXPEDITION UPDATE 
 
Robert Ballard will bring his proven undersea search strategy and high-tech research vessel, E/V Nautilus, to the hunt for Amelia Earhart. Photo by Emily Shur. 

Bob Ballard Joins Search for Amelia Earhart 

Deep-sea explorer Bob Ballard, who in 1985 made headlines for his discovery of the remains of the Titanic, has announced plans to solve another of history's greatest mysteries: What happened to missing-in-action aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart who disappeared on July 2, 1937. (See EN, April 2007)

Setting sail this month, National Geographic explorer-at-large Ballard and National Geographic Society archeologist-in-residence Fredrik Hiebert will lead a team of Earhart experts, scientists and technicians on a month-long journey that will take them from Samoa to a remote Pacific atoll called Nikumaroro in the Republic of Kiribati. The team is predominantly female.

"We have every piece of technology you can possibly have and we'll be using it as the battle unfolds," Ballard said of the project during the recent National Geographic's Television Critics Association press day in Beverly Hills.

The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR), has sent 13 expeditions to the island, including one with National Geographic that brought forensic dogs to search for Earhart's remains. The dogs homed in on an apparent campsite where a human may have died and decomposed long ago. No bones were found, but soil samples were collected and DNA testing is ongoing.

"I fervently hope the expedition is successful," says Ric Gillespie, TIGHAR's executive director. He considers the Nikumaroro hypothesis long since proven. But, he says, "the public wants a piece of plane."

The project is jointly funded by National Geographic Partners and National Geographic Society. It will be part of a two-hour special titled "Expedition Amelia" that will premiere October 20 on National Geographic.

In the sizzle reel for the broadcast, Ballard says, "... it's not the Loch Ness monster, it's not Bigfoot, that plane exists which means I'm going to find it."

Read more and watch the video here:

 

Disheartening News About Neil Armstrong

Extensive news coverage surrounding the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing included disheartening news that Neil Armstrong possibly suffered a premature death due to medical malpractice. What's more, controversy has arisen over the family's efforts to sell memorabilia relating to the space hero's celebrated career.

The family of astronaut Neil Armstrong was paid $6 million by a hospital as part of a wrongful death settlement, according to a report in the New York Times.

Mercy Health-Fairfield Hospital, outside Cincinnati, reportedly paid the secret settlement in 2014, two years after Armstrong's death in 2012 at age 82. Probate documents confirm the funds were distributed as part of a wrongful death and survival claim.

His family attributed his death to complications from coronary bypass surgery saying at the time, "We are heartbroken to share the news that Neil Armstrong has passed away following complications resulting from cardiovascular procedures."

The New York Times reported last month that Armstrong's sons believed that his death was due to incompetent post-surgical care at Mercy Health - Fairfield Hospital and threatened legal action against the hospital.

Although the hospital defended its actions and the care Armstrong received, they ultimately decided to pay out the settlement and avoid a legal battle.

Read the story here:


In a related story, Heritage Auctions of Dallas conducted a three-day sale of Armstrong memorabilia in conjunction with the 50th anniversary. 

The auction netted over $2.4 million, largely through the sale of Armstrong's gold medal, which flew with him to the moon. The 14-karat-gold piece sold for $2.05 million.

 
Neil Armstrong's Apollo 11 Lunar Module-flown 14K-gold Robbins Medal sold for over $2 million. 

Aside from that giant leap, other smaller steps from the auction have included an American flag that flew aboard Apollo 11, which sold for $137,500; Armstrong's personal copy of NASA's "Preliminary Apollo 11 Flight Plan," which went for $112,500; and his own NASA flight suit in the agency's trademark dusty blue, which sold for $81,250.

Read about the auction in ArtNews (July 18):


The auctions were not without criticism, according to a July 27 New York Times story by Scott Shane, Sarah Kliff and Susanne Craig. Numerous auctions netted  $16.7 million in sales by late July.

Some relatives, friends and archivists find the sales unseemly, citing the astronaut's aversion to cashing in on his celebrity and flying career and the loss of historical objects to the public.

"I seriously doubt Neil would approve of selling off his artifacts and memorabilia," said James R. Hansen, his biographer. "He never did any of that in his lifetime."

Countered son Mark Armstrong during a CBS This Morning interview, "You just hope that people get positive energy from these things." He told the New York Times they had "struggled with" what their father might think of the auctions. "Would Dad approve? Let's see what positive things we can do with the proceeds," he said.

Armstrong continues, "I think he would judge us not on whether we auctioned items or not, but rather what we do with the proceeds and how we conduct our lives. Dad said that he wanted to leave the world a better place than he found it. I intend to follow his example and teach my children to do the same."

He and his wife, Wendy, said they were using auction proceeds to create an environmental nonprofit in honor of Mark's parents, called Vantage Earth, that Wendy said would work "to preserve and protect the earth from the damage done to it by its own population ­- a concern raised by Neil upon looking back at the earth from the moon."

Read the Times story here:

  
EXPEDITION NOTES
USS Grunion Bow Section

Bow of a World War II Submarine Discovered Off Aleutians  

The bow of WWII Submarine USS Grunion (SS-216) has been discovered in 2,700 feet of water off the Aleutian Islands by a team pioneering robotic ocean exploration. The ongoing WWII submarine discoveries lead by ocean explorer Tim Taylor are applying comprehensive 3D imaging pioneering a new frontier in ocean exploration.

The historic discovery was made utilizing a combination of autonomous underwater vehicles (AUV's) and advanced photogrammetry imaging. These ground-breaking new technologies and methods are at the forefront of underwater business technology and are forging a new frontier in subsea exploration.

The finding of the lost bow section of the USS Grunion completes a vital missing part of the puzzle and answers the questions posed on many expeditions undertaken 13 years ago by John, Bruce and Brad Abele, sons of the USS Grunion captain, Mannert L. Abele, USNA class of 1926.

USS Grunion was a Gato-class submarine commissioned on April 11, 1942. On her way through the Caribbean to her first posting in Pearl Harbor, she rescued 16 survivors from USAT Jack, which had been torpedoed by a U-boat. Her first war patrol was, unfortunately, her last. Sent to the Aleutian Islands in June 1942, she operated off Kiska, Alaska, where she sank two Japanese patrol boats.

Ordered back to the naval operating base in Dutch Harbor, Alaska, on July 30, the submarine was never heard from again. She was declared overdue from patrol and assumed lost with all hands on October 5, 1942. She is the final resting place for 70 sailors.

The project is taking the large data sets collected on their discoveries and having them processed into 3D archeological photogrammetry models. This scientific approach extracts geometric information from equipment that is already integrated in most of the modern underwater remote filming systems, advancing imagery collection into high-quality 3D data sets that will be used in archeological research, historical archives, virtual and augmented reality, and educational programs and applications.

"This goes so far past video or still imagery, it truly is the future of recording historical underwater discoveries. Spending minimal time on site collecting a comprehensive 3D historical baseline model allows archaeologists and historians to spend months back home performing detailed research," states Taylor who coordinates his discoveries with the Naval History and Heritage Command.

The USS Grunion Expedition is part of the ongoing Lost 52 Project supported in part by STEP Ventures and has been recognized by JAMSTEC (Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology) as the first and most comprehensive offshore underwater archaeological expedition in Japanese waters.

This expedition marks the fourth WWII Submarine discovery by Tim Taylor, CEO of Tiburon Subsea and founder of Ocean Outreach, Inc., based in New York.

For more information:

Watch a video of the discovery here:

QUOTE OF THE MONTH 

"One touch of nature makes the whole world kin."

- William Shakespeare's tragedy Troilus and Cressida, Act III, Scene iii - Ulysses speaking to Achilles. 

EXPEDITION FOCUS  
 
Rangers Without Borders Studies Eastern Europe Wildlife Protectors 

Rangers Without Borders, led by Joshua Powell of London, recently completed the first-ever comprehensive study of the work of wildlife rangers in Kyrgyzstan and Azerbaijan, as part of a program of scientific expeditions across Central Asia, the Caucasus region and Eastern Europe.

The conservation research program, funded by National Geographic and donations from members of The Explorers Club, organizes its research around three main themes vital to the effectiveness of wildlife rangers: ranger livelihoods, equipment and training; poaching threat and anti-poaching capability; and trans-boundary cooperation. It uses this research to provide free, impact-driven, consulting services for ranger forces.

Outside of the global focus on the work of wildlife rangers in Africa, rangers in the Eurasia region work in a range of challenging and varied environments, with species that are equally charismatic and important for global conservation. 

Sites of particular interest included Hirkan National Park on the Azerbaijan-Iran border and refuge for the Caucasian leopard (Panthera pardus saxicolor) and Sarychat-Ertash State Nature Reserve in the military border zone between Kyrgyzstan and China, which is thought to be significant for snow leopard (Panthera uncia) and where there was documented examples of snow leopard poaching in the 1990's.
 
Rangers Without Border's Caucasus expedition team (left to right: Elizabeth Streeter, Joshua Powell (Expedition Leader), Peter Coals, Afag Rizayeva, Laurie Hills). The entire team is under 30. Photo credit - Elizabeth Streeter/Rangers Without Borders

Powell, 25, was part of the original Adventure Canada-The Explorers Club Young Explorers program in 2016, as was cameraman Aleksandr Rikhterman, 27, and credits The Explorers Club's NGEN (Next Generation Exploration Network) group and board member Milbry Polk as being a significant source of inspiration and support for Rangers Without Borders (see related story).

Indeed, the whole team is under 30 and Powell says this was an important aspect of the program's development, describing a personal desire to offer opportunities to young conservationists. Powell has become a member of the Queen's Young Leaders community, representing the UK, for his work to lead Rangers Without Borders and was recently named the Scientific Exploration Society's Explorer of the Year for Inspiration & Scientific Trail-blazing (2019).

To find out more, use the hashtag #RangersWithoutBorders on all social media platforms, or visit https://www.joshua-powell.com/rangers-without-borders

MEDIA MATTERS

Every summer at least 20,000 people attempt the 15,776-foot summit of Mont Blanc. The majority spend a night in the Gouter Refuge on the French side.

A Safety Tunnel for Mont Blanc?

The Gouter Refuge - a futuristic structure that clings to a cliff at 12,516 feet - is, for many people, the final stop en route to the top of Mont Blanc, the highest mountain in Western Europe, straddling the border between France and Italy, according to a New York Timesstory by Paige McClanahan (July 26).

Every summer at least 20,000 people attempt the 15,776-foot summit. The majority spend a night in the Gouter Refuge, on the French side, which welcomes climbers from late May through September. Local officials and guides say the number is growing, and that today's climbers are less experienced, even as warmer temperatures are increasing the risk of rockfall and transforming once-snowy ridges into treacherous sheets of ice. A small number of climbers also appear to be unwilling to respect the rules - or even pay for their accommodation.

More than half a dozen routes lead to Mont Blanc's summit, but just two - the Three Mountains Route, which starts from Chamonix, and the Normal Route, which starts from the neighboring community of Saint-Gervais - are accessible to climbers with only a moderate amount of experience. While the majority return from the summit unscathed, both itineraries entail risk.

The Normal Route - chosen by about three quarters of the climbers aiming for the summit - goes across the Grand Couloir, a steep, narrow gully that acts as a sort of bowling alley for falling rocks. Near the top, the path leads onto a narrow ridge of snow and ice, about 100 yards long and just a couple of feet wide, that's flanked by steep drops. If you stumble there, you can fall to your death, according to writer Paige McClanahan of the Times. 

Alternatively, the Three Mountains Route, a more technical itinerary that accounts for most of the remaining quarter of climbers, goes below a series of towering ice cliffs that occasionally - and very unpredictably - slough off enormous quantities of snow and ice onto the path below. Both routes are threatened with avalanches, and both cross glaciers laced with crevasses: yawning gaps in the ice that can swallow climbers whole.

The Three Mountains Route has become steeper and icier, while rockfall in the Grand Couloir on the Normal Route, is becoming more frequent and voluminous, especially in the afternoon. The Petzl Foundation once proposed building a small tunnel to protect people crossing the gully, but the suggestion was opposed by many guides and local authorities. This is a wild landscape, not an amusement park, opponents said. Signs have been erected along the route to warn people of the risk, but many still choose to cross the gully at the most dangerous time of day.

The peak time for rockfall is also the peak time for people crossing the couloir.

Read the story here:

Ricardo Pena of AlpineExpeditions.net is a mountaineer based in Colorado who recently  climbed the Three Mountains Route, which he found more technical than the guidebooks suggest, then descended via the Normal Route to the Gouter hut (pictured above).

When asked for comment on those who attempt Mont Blanc without the necessary experience, he tells EN, "Personally, I would vote in favor of a tunnel or changing the route to avoid that Grand Couloir even if it means adding a new via ferrata (a protected climbing route).

"It is a total gamble with your life. It is very dangerous and it doesn't seem to be a matter of crossing at certain hours to be safe anymore. Guides are risking their lives, even more than everyone else since they have to do it so often. I'm normally in favor of climbing all mountains in their natural state and by your own means as much as possible, but this is one case where I think it is a good idea to build a tunnel or do something to avoid that ridiculously dangerous couloir. Especially considering how many people attempt this peak each year.

"The mountain is definitely getting more dangerous and it's true more and more inexperienced people are coming making for a very dangerous situation," Pena said.

EXPEDITION FUNDING

Apply for the Adventure Canada-Explorers Club Young Explorers Program

By Milbry Polk
Special to Expedition News

In 2016, The Explorers Club and Adventure Canada launched the Adventure Canada-Explorers Club Young Explorers Program. As of this summer the program has 35 outstanding graduates of the program run by Stefan Kindberg and myself of The Explorers Club, and Cedar Bradley Swan of Adventure Canada. 

The purpose of the Young Explorers Program is to encourage and facilitate the spirit of exploration through the pursuit of science, cultural studies, art and conservation. The program aims to encourage personal growth for young people age 20 to 30 who will benefit from direct experience, academic study and cultural exchange in the North. It is our hope that the Alumni will be leaders of next generation explorers.

Each Young Explorer participant has a project to be completed during a selected Adventure Canada Expedition Cruise. To date some of the projects have included assessing emergency medical response, traditional boat building, profiles of Inuit carvers, fishing, traditional storytelling, poetry, seaweed surveys, plastics, geology, robotics, and climate policy.

This work has resulted in films, PowerPoint presentations, podcasts, cook books, art shows and reports. Some of the graduates have gone on to become Emerging Explorers at National Geographic, some have won prestigious awards based on the work they began in the Arctic, others have created new programs based on what they learned.

All graduates present their work at the Explorers Club Polar Film Festival held in New York in January. They also join The Explorers Club NGen, a core group of younger members.

For more information on the graduates and their projects visit the website built by graduates Trevor Wallace and Brianna Rowe:

Applications for the 2020 season will be available in late Fall 2019 through explorers.org.

WEB WATCH


Jelle Veyt 

Watch POV Footage of Everest 2015 Avalanche           

Belgian adventurer Jelle Veyt shows what it was like to be in an avalanche at Everest Base Camp in 2015. The horrifying footage was shot following the earthquake that year on the mountain that killed almost 20 people.

As a former street kid Jelle and his sponsors Vayamundo and Secutec are funding different projects in the world for him to undertake.

This month he will start on a cycling expedition from Belgium to Kilimanjaro, Tanzania, a journey of 10,000-plus miles using only human power. By July 2020 he expects to start the Kili climb - part of a bigger project he calls  Human Powered 7 Summits of Happiness.


View the video at:


EXPEDITION MAILBAG

What are the Odds of Dying While Mountain Climbing?

Carl Schuster of New York writes to comment on Chuck Patton's story in the July 2019 issue of EN wherein Patton believes, "Non-climbers or amateur climbers may think climbing to be a way to fame and fortune. Can you name one person who died on Everest last year? Climbing does not earn notoriety by itself; only by spectacular death or achieving one of those dwindling 'firsts' will a climber get recognized, and fortunes are not made that way."

Schuster opines, "Chuck, you have solved a 78 year old mystery! '... your mind must stay focused on five minutes ahead and less than 30 seconds behind.' The most succinct, precise and profound piece of self awareness. I've been trying from the beginning to understand this. Now I do."

EXPEDITION CLASSIFIEDS 

 
Travel With Purpose: A Field Guide to Voluntourism (Rowman & Littlefield, April 2019) by Jeff Blumenfeld ­- How to travel and make a difference while you see the world? These are stories of inspiration from everyday voluntourists, all of whom have advice about the best way to approach that first volunteer vacation, from Las Vegas to Nepal, lending a hand in nonprofits ranging from health care facilities, animal shelters and orphanages to impoverished schools. Case studies are ripped from the pages of Expedition News, including the volunteer work of Dooley Intermed, Himalayan Stove Project, and even a volunteer dinosaur dig in New Jersey. 

Read a review here:


Available now on Amazon. Read excerpts and "Look Inside" at:


 
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.

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

EXPEDITION NEWS is published by Blumenfeld and Associates, LLC, 290 Laramie Blvd.,  Boulder, CO 80304 USA. Tel. 203 326 1200, editor@expeditionnews.com. Editor/publisher: Jeff Blumenfeld. Research editor: Lee Kovel. ©2019 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 

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Amelia's Plane Still Missing, Testing Mars Suit in Iceland, Transgender Woman Attempts Seven Summits

September 3, 2019, 3:30 pm
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EXPEDITION UPDATE 
Amelia Earhart's Lockheed Electra 10E continues to elude searchers.  

Amelia's Plane Remains Missing 

The search for Amelia Earhart's Lockheed Electra 10E Special is over for the summer, and the plane remains missing. 

As we wrote in August, National Geographic explorer-at-large Bob Ballard and National Geographic Society archeologist-in-residence Fredrik Hiebert traveled to the remote Pacific atoll Nikumaroro, Republic of Kiribati, to solve the mystery.  

Boulder, Colorado, resident Andrew McKenna reports there were two ships in the vicinity last month, one was Bob Ballard's deep sea research vessel R/V Nautilus, and the other the M/V TAKA out of the Solomon Islands. The TAKA's crew conducted field work ashore, including forensic dogs again, looking for more evidence related to what they think was the castaway's partial skeleton found in 1940.  

"If we're lucky we'll find more bones that can be analyzed for DNA," McKenna writes.

Something intriguing was recovered from the ocean floor with technology beyond any that had ever been used in the search for Amelia Earhart. Yet it wasn't what Ballard and his team were looking for.

The full story will be told Oct. 20 during a two-hour National Geographic Channel special. 

Read about the latest search here: 

EXPEDITION NOTES

Glacial guide Helga Kristin Torfadottir stares out from inside the Grimsvotn volcano towards the Vatnajokull glacial ice cap. Photo credit: Dave Hodge Photography @davehodgephoto

Prototype Mars Suit Tested in Iceland's Most Martian-Like Environment 

A team of renowned explorers and researchers journeyed inside an Icelandic volcano and across the country's Vatnajokull ice cap, during harsh weather conditions and unstable terrain, to test the MS1 Mars analog suit in a martian-like environment. This was an Explorers Club flag expedition involving suit designer, Rhode Island School of Design's (RISD) Michael Lye, a senior critic and NASA coordinator, and Benjamin Pothier, who studies I.C.E. (Isolated, Confined, and Extreme) for the Iceland Space Agency (ISA). 

The RISD Mars Suit 1 (MS1) features a hard upper torso and soft lower torso design, with rear suit entry. At roughly 50 pounds, the suit is similar to what a planetary exploration suit would weigh in Martian gravity. 

The data collected will assist in habitat and spacesuit design that can be used to train astronauts on Earth. Future research in Iceland will focus on identifying signs of Martian life, using geothermal energy, and exploring how sources of frozen water at the polar regions of the Moon and Mars can be repurposed for rocket fuel, oxygen, hydroponics, and long-term human habitation.  


Expedition team members pose on the Vatnajokull glacial ice cap with Explorers Club flag #60, first taken on an expedition in 1935. They lived together in a small one room research hut for ten days testing the Mars suit. Photo credit: Dave Hodge Photography @davehodgephoto

The team traveled to the remote location and lived for six days in the Grimsvotn Mountain Huts, which had one room of bunk beds, no running water and long days of work during almost constant sunlight. The group endured a few weather events and multiple technical failures yet consider the mission overall a success with the data collected. 

The Iceland Space Agency (ISA) led the successful mission to one of Iceland's most remote terrestrial analogs. Terrestrial analogs are areas on Earth that mimic the conditions of other planets and moons and may inform how Martian life can exist on the planet today. 

The mission of the Iceland Space Agency (ISA) is to facilitate discourse and coordinate operational logistics between the Icelandic government, foreign organizations, academia, and domestic enterprise as they relate to the fields of space science, exploration, and business in and around the country of Iceland and with ISA teams globally. 

For more information: 


FEATS
 
Erin Parisi (Photo: Tahvory Bunting, Denver Image Photography)

Transgender Athlete Hopes to be First to Complete Seven Summits 

The nonprofit TranSending.org, based in Castle Rock, Colo., is using mountain climbing as a metaphor for what it means to be "trans," and reverse a long-held misconception that being transgender should be a detriment to personal growth.

To that end, the group is placing its Executive Director Erin Parisi, 42, a transgender athlete, on a quest to complete the Seven Summits. Reportedly, while about 80% of finishers are male, and 20% are female, it has yet to be finished by an openly transgender woman.

According to the group's website, "We will boldly proclaim, from the highest point on every continent, that we are proud, able, and will hide no longer."

She was born Aron Parisi in Clarence, New York, and played football at Clarence High School, graduating from there in 1995 and the State University of New York at Buffalo in 1999. Today Parisi is a real estate asset manager for a regional telecom.

After announcing her transition, questions arose within herself, friends, and family on whether she would be able to continue her passion for adventure sports and travel at the same pace she had in her past life.
 
Parisi recently appeared in an advertisement in 5280 Magazine for TranSending7 sponsor Hair Sciences Center, Greenwood Village, Colo. 

Few doubt her now: to date she has completed four of the Seven Summits in under 12 consecutive months with ascents in Australia, Africa, South America, and Europe. 

"With three summits left (Denali, Vinson Massif, Everest), we're now looking at limited seasonal climbing windows that are dependent on geography and larger fundraising needs. We took the rest of this year off to fundraise, train, and strategize the next summits - and enjoy the mountains and friends here at home," she tells EN. 

"Staying ended up being a good move. A very well known climber donated his arctic expedition sled to my next training and summit bids; American Alpine Club and The North Face underwrote a Live Your Dream Grant to provide further alpine training; and we have a few partnerships/sponsorships in development."

For more information:

QUOTE OF THE MONTH 

"If you think adventure is dangerous, try routine. It is lethal."
- Paulo Coelho (1947- )Brazilian lyricist and novelist, best known for his novel The Alchemist.

MEDIA MATTERS



HMS Erebus and HMS Terror weathering a gale in an ice pack. In 1845, the HMS Erebus and HMS Terror departed England in search of the coveted Northwest Passage - but it ended in disaster.

New Evidence Sheds Light on Ill-fated Northwest Passage Attempt

Evidence recovered from beneath the bitter cold of Canada's Arctic Ocean will shed new light on the final days the ill-fated expedition of the British polar explorer Sir John Franklin, who disappeared with his crew in 1845.

Parks Canada and Inuit researchers recently announced the results of a study of the HMS Terror - including "groundbreaking" new images from within the well-preserved ship - and raised the possibility that logs and maps have remained intact and legible after nearly 170 years underwater, according to The Guardian (Aug. 28).

Over several weeks in early August, the researchers launched 3D-mapping technology to survey the wreck site off the coast of King William Island in Nunavut.

For the first time ever, the team was also able to make seven trips inside the ship by piloting a remotely operated vehicle through the ship. Nearly 90% of the ship's lower deck - including the areas where the crew ate and slept - were accessible to the vehicle. In total, the expedition was able to study 20 separate rooms.

Recent excavations on nearby islands suggest a combination of scurvy, hypothermia - and potentially cannibalism - killed the crew after they abandoned the two stranded vessels.  
Since the monumental discovery, Parks Canada has set about studying both ships in detail, with the aim of better understanding the lives of those aboard - and the final months of the voyage.

Read the story here: 


 
New rule addresses world's highest garbage dump. 

Everest to Ban Many Single Use Plastics 

In early May, a volunteer clean-up team collected three metric tons of garbage from Everest in just two weeks, lending support to the claim that Everest is becoming the "world's highest garbage dump." 

Among the trash that was hauled from Everest were empty cans, food wrappings, plastic bottles and climbing gear. Now, as the BBC reports, Nepal is trying to tackle the problem by banning single-use plastics in the Everest region, according to a Smithsonian.com story by Brigit Katz (Aug. 28). 

Due to take effect in January 2020, the ban will apply to bottles and plastics that are less than 30 microns (0.0012 inches) thick. Local shops will be prohibited from selling products that fit these criteria, though plastic water bottles will be an exception to the rule. 

"We will soon find a solution for that," Ganesh Ghimire, chief administrative officer of the Khumbu Pasang Lhamu municipality, the region that encompasses Everest, tells CNN'sSugam Pokharel and Julia Hollingsworth. But for now, the exemption is a logical one.

"People have to drink a huge amount of water up there," Catherine Heald, a travel specialist at Remote Lands, explains in an interview with Megan Spurrell of Conde Nast Traveller.

"To refill water bottles from larger containers would be a challenge. They need more time and infrastructure to be set up to do that."

Plastics do not quickly biodegrade, but instead break down into smaller and smaller pieces.
In a related story, Nepal's government announced that it would crack down on permit rules in an effort to limit the number of climbers on the mountain.

Now, those who wish to ascend Everest must have previous experience scaling at least one Nepali peak that is more than 6,500 meters (or 21,325 feet) high. And the fee for climbing Everest has been raised from $11,000 to $35,000.

Read more:


 
Marriage is tougher than Everest.             

Think Everest is Tough? Try Marriage.

Caroline Louise Gleich and Robert James Lea were married Aug. 10 at the Snowbird Resort in Little Cottonwood Canyon, Utah. The bride, 33, is a professional ski mountaineer and adventurer based in Park City, Utah. She graduated from the University of Utah. 

The groom, 38, is a Realtor at Berkshire Hathaway Home Services in Park City. He is also a professional athlete who has already completed two-thirds of what he called his "self-created, ultimate world triathlon," by climbing Mount Everest and swimming the English Channel, according to the New York Times Vows story by Vincent M. Mallozzi (Aug. 10). 

As months of dating rolled by Gleich came to regard Lea "as a person I could trust and depend on, someone who was always there for me," she said. "He was a real man, not a man-child or one of those Peter Pans out there who never wanted to grow up."

They also believed in many of the same causes, and became activists together, fighting climate change and advocating for the nation's national parks. They have also embarked on a social media campaign "to raise awareness about the gender gap in outdoor recreation," Gleich said.

In Sept. 2018, after dating for four years, Gleich proposed to Lea - "I asked his mom for permission," she said - at the top of Cho Oyu, the sixth highest mountain in the world at 26,906 feet.
"I guess she got tired of waiting for me to ask," Mr. Lea said, laughing.

Eight months later, they climbed Mount Everest together. "It was a wonderful but very stressful experience," Gleich said.

Asked what their next big challenge might be, Gleich pointed to what she considered the most challenging and slippery slope of all: marriage.

"It's the scariest and biggest adventure either of us could have ever imagined being a part of," she said. "Of all the adventures we have been on, marriage is definitely the one with the most uncertain outcome."

Read the wedding page story here:


EXPEDITION MARKETING 
 
The alley behind The North Face in Boulder, Colorado 

Photography Matters 

Say what you want about Tweeting from the top of Mount Everest. Go ahead, and FaceTime Live from the Amazon. Want to Snapchat your expedition? Knock yourself out. Photography still matters. It mattered when Shackleton's expedition photographer Frank Hurley dove into the Weddell Sea to rescue exposed glass plates sinking with the Endurance in 1915, and it matters today. 

This became evident to us while walking in a back alley near our headquarters in Boulder, Colorado, only to stumble upon this photo on the rear of The North Face store. 

Salespeople in the store had no clue what the image depicted until we told them it was titled, "Lunch is no Picnic in the Antarctic," and documents the International Trans-Antarctic Expedition (1989-90), the first non-mechanized crossing of the continent. And by "crossing" we mean from one end to the other, not a pie-shaped wedge from one coast to the other. The project was co-led by American Will Steger and French doctor and explorer Jean-Louis Etienne. 

The image, taken by Steger, shows three teammates as windblown snow pelts their faces, coating beards and eyelashes with ice crystals and denying them even the modest comfort of rest.

Richard Weber of Vernon, British Columbia, a member of the 1986 Steger International Polar Expedition, the first confirmed expedition to reach the North Pole without resupply, tells EN, "That is one of the best, maybe the best expedition photo ever."

We're told it appears in the vicinity of other North Face retail outlets, a testimony to the enduring impact and importance of expedition photography. 

WEB WATCH

Nice looking engine vs. bad looking engine. 

Field Researchers Locate Damaged A380 Aircraft Engine in Greenland 

It's any travelers' worst nightmare: flying in an aircraft that lands with less engine than it had on take-off. 

In September 2017, an Air France A380 (with the registration code F-HPJE) bound from Paris to Los Angeles diverted to Goose Bay, Canada, after losing an engine part somewhere over Greenland.

Damage to the aircraft was confined to the No. 4 engine and its immediate surroundings. A visual check of the engine had shown that the fan, first rotating assembly at the front of the engine, along with the air inlet and fan case, had separated in flight.

The picture of the engine in flight was horrifying. Fortunately the plane landed safely. 
In late June, just under two years from when the incident occurred, the engine part was finally recovered in Greenland by BEA (the Civil Aviation Safety Investigation Authority) working for the Danish Accident Investigation Board.

Investigators knew early on that the incident occurred about 150 km Southeast of the city of Paamiut, located in Western Greenland. The primary motivation for recovering it was being able to conduct a proper investigation to prevent a reoccurrence.

The search was conducted by an aerial campaign using synthetic aperture radars to detect and locate the missing parts on the ice sheet under the snow layer. It also involved a ground campaign using ground penetrating radars. 

A tip of the hat to dedicated researchers working in harsh conditions with modern search technology.    

Read the full 68-page report here: 


Or better yet, watch the video:


 
Sam Neill 

Bad Hair Day

New Zealand actor, winemaker and friend of the late Sir Edmund Hillary, Sam Neill, marveled at the ordinariness of Sir Edmund Hillary during the Sir Edmund Hillary Centenary Celebration in New Zealand this summer. The Jurassic Park actor said Hillary's haircut was so bad it looked like someone tried to murder the top of his head.

 
Sir Ed on a bad hair day. 

Neill called the famous climber an "ordinary man with an ordinary haircut ... so ordinary, no one has ever looked like Sir Ed before or since."

Neill continues, "He was a shy ordinary, insecure schoolboy in a brutal school system."
The actor was struck by the ordinariness of one gesture on the summit of Everest when Hillary shook the hand of Tenzing Norgay, and the Sherpa climber embraced him in return, pounding him on the back.

"That handshake at the top of the world I found completely touching ... ordinary gestures so ordinarily human and beautiful ... Ed insisted on being ordinary until the day he died."

View the seven-minute video here:


EXPEDITION CLASSIFIEDS 


Travel With Purpose: A Field Guide to Voluntourism (Rowman & Littlefield, April 2019) by Jeff Blumenfeld ­- How to travel and make a difference while you see the world? These are stories of inspiration from everyday voluntourists, all of whom have advice about the best way to approach that first volunteer vacation, from Las Vegas to Nepal, lending a hand in nonprofits ranging from health care facilities, animal shelters and orphanages to impoverished schools. Case studies are ripped from the pages of Expedition News, including the volunteer work of Dooley Intermed, Himalayan Stove Project, and even a volunteer dinosaur dig in New Jersey.

Read a review here:


Available now on Amazon. Read excerpts and "Look Inside" at:


 
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: 

Advertise in Expedition News - For more information: blumassoc@aol.com
EXPEDITION NEWS is published by Blumenfeld and Associates, LLC, 290 Laramie Blvd.,  Boulder, CO 80304 USA. Tel. 203 326 1200, editor@expeditionnews.com. Editor/publisher: Jeff Blumenfeld. Research editor: Lee Kovel. ©2019 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 
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Our 25th Anniversary Issue!

October 4, 2019, 12:42 pm
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EXPEDITION NOTES

Nina Williams appears in In The High Road (Photo by Brett Lowell)

REEL ROCK 14 Begins Film Tour

REEL ROCK Film Tour, featuring exceptional climbing films for the past 14 years, returns this fall with a new collection of world premiere films. 

Founded in 2005 by filmmakers Josh Lowell and Peter Mortimer, REEL ROCK has grown into the premier global platform for award-winning climbing films that weave bold action, humor, heart, and soul into larger-than-life human stories for a wide audience, from the core climber to the armchair mountaineer.

This year, the films include:

*            In The High Road, the powerful and bold Nina Williams tests herself on some of the highest, most difficult boulder problems ever climbed.

*             United States of Joe's - Climbers collide with a conservative coal mining community in rural Utah, to surprising results.

*            The Nose Speed Record - Climbing legends Tommy Caldwell and Alex Honnold battle Yosemite dirtbags Jim Reynolds and Brad Gobright in a high stakes race for greatness.

Attend the tour in dozens of U.S. cities this fall, as well as Australia, Canada, Chile, Germany, Switzerland, and elsewhere.

View the trailer here:


For more information:


 
Filmmakers: Enter The Explorers Club Polar Film Festival

Entries are now being accepted for the Polar Film Festival, scheduled for Jan. 24-25, 2020, at The Explorers Club headquarters in New York.

The event will showcase a diverse collection of feature films, documentaries and shorts about the Arctic and Antarctica. The films explore the history and grandeur of Earth's polar regions as well as the environmental challenges they are facing.

Attendees will have an opportunity to rub elbows with polar explorers, filmmakers and special guests who will share their stories and imagery. Entry deadline is Nov. 1, 2019.

To enter:


QUOTE OF THE MONTH 

"You cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage to lose sight of the shore."
- Andre Gide (1869-1951), French author and winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature (1947).

EXPEDITION FOCUS  

Expedition News Celebrates 25 Years of Exploration and Adventure Storytelling 

By Jeff Blumenfeld, editor and publisher

It was October 1994, 25 years ago to be exact. It was the birth of Expedition News, a monthly review of significant expeditions, research projects and newsworthy adventures. 
            
Today, 300 issues and an estimated 1.2 million words later, we're still at it, having never missed a single month. Still at it celebrating the field of exploration and adventure, with an emphasis on those projects you might not read in National Geographic or anywhere else for that matter. 
EN editor and publisher Jeff Blumenfeld celebrates 25 years of exploration and adventure storytelling.
                        
For a quarter century, we've been fascinated by projects that stimulate, motivate and educate. We've been inspired, as well, by the steadfast determination of people such as Norman D. Vaughan, determined to climb a mountain in Antarctica named after himself. Or by Reid Stowe, an artist and sailor who completed history's longest non-stop, self-sufficient sea voyage - 1,152 days without once coming ashore. 
            
To avoid taking ourselves too seriously, we've written about the quirky side of this business of always trying to discover what's over the next hill, to see the unseen. We've gently covered Sir Edmund Hillary's spectacularly bad haircuts; Andy Warhol's phallic image left on the moon by Apollo 12; and peak baggers upset that Rhode Island's 812-ft. highpoint is on private property. 
            
We wrote about an adventurer who hit 510 golf balls 1,319 miles across Mongola (a par 11,880); a Polar Capsule, once thought lost, that floated from the North Pole to the northern coast of Ireland three years later; an adventurer in a pedal boat who achieved the fastest human-powered west-to-east crossing of the Atlantic (40 days); and the environmentalist who drove from London to Athens on nothing more than cooking oil that he begged from restaurant French fryers and schnitzel shops along the way. 
            
Were these significant expeditions, which I define as trips with a nobility of purpose? Hardly. But Expedition News nonetheless honored their persistence and dedication to fulfill a personal dream. 
            
We've been profoundly saddened right down to our very core by the untimely demise of explorers and adventurers we've met and have come to admire. Japanese adventurer Naomi Uemura, British mountaineer Alison Hargreaves, American alpinist Jeff Lowe, and freediver Audrey Mestre who tragically died before our eyes at a competition in 2002. 
            
After meeting polar explorer and environmental educator Will Steger in 1985, who four years later agreed to be my Explorers Club co-sponsor, it occurred to me that the hundreds of excellent expedition proposals I used to review as a public relations representative for The Du Pont Company, needed to continue circulating once the textile giant took a pass. 
            
In our business plan, I wrote that Expedition News would shine a light on well-developed sponsorship proposals and provide credit for sponsors who find value in demonstrating product performance of their expedition gear and apparel in extreme conditions. 
            
So it was that Expedition News began as a modest fax, then became a printed edition mailed each month. An early form of e-mail called MCI Mail was also used to communicate with subscribers. 
            
Today, through direct e-mail distribution, a website, blog, Twitter account, and excerpts in The Explorers Club Explorers Journal, we reach an estimated 10,000 explorers, adventurers and corporate sponsor each month. 
            
While not particularly remunerative, publishing Expedition News for so long did lead to book deals with Skyhorse Publishing in 2008, and Rowman & Littlefield in 2019. It also resulted in three separate invitations to serve as a guest speaker on cruises to the Mediterranean, Western Caribbean, and Canary Islands. It was an opportunity to take over the main stage on three Celebrity cruise ships, sharing the success and failures of numerous explorers and adventurers with hundreds of passengers. 
            
Had the talks not conflicted with bingo games, or handbag sales, there would have been hundreds more cruisers in the audience. But still, being a cruise ship lecturer was a great gig. 
            
Lessons Learned
            
So what have I learned these past 25 years? 
            
*            Fully Embrace Social Media - Every project needs to fully embrace social media, if for no other reason than to provide maximum exposure for sponsors. Typically, an expedition leader is entering into a marketing agreement with a sponsor. You want funding? Your benefactors will want to receive credit and assistance in selling their product or service. 
            
*            Everest is an Annual Train Wreck - It's the mountain the media loves to cover. Much as I try to avoid writing about it every spring, to paraphrase the character played by Al Pacino in The Godfather: Part 3, just as I thought I was done writing about it, the mountain pulls me back in. 
            
Want to impress someone? Tell them you climbed the world's second tallest mountain. We admire mountaineers such as Vanessa O'Brien who became the first American and first British woman to climb K2 (as a result of her dual nationality). Everest has been summited over 5,300 times, according to National Geographic. K2 and dozens more challenging peaks, not so much. 
            
*            There's Never a Shortage of Expedition News - Our initial concern that we would be struggling for material has proven unfounded. There are always more projects than we can jumar into each issue. There are new firsts to cover; historic mysteries to solve such as the disappearance of Amelia Earhart or loss of Mallory and Irvine's Vest Pocket Kodak (VPK) camera on Everest; and an entire category called cryptozoology that relies on exploration techniques to solve unexplained phenomena (yes, we're looking at you Bigfoot). 
            
*            The So What? Rule Still Applies - A tourist comes back and tells you about all the countries he or she bagged; an explorer will mention countries, but more importantly, will explain why those visits mattered. 
When it comes to seeking sponsorship, there needs to be a reason for the trip. A news hook, perhaps. Or a charitable tie-in. Or legitimate scientific study. Otherwise, sponsors ask why they should sponsor your vacation. 
            
*            Firsts Still Count - Scoff though you may that the list of firsts is being sliced thin. However, stories of fighting adversity to become the first to summit blind or disabled or as a transgender, still matters to the millions who are blind, disabled or undergoing a change in their sexual orientation. Summiting a mountain continues to be a metaphor for overcoming adversity. 
            
*            The Expedition Isn't Over Until the Last Powerpoint - Unless you were self-funded, or the project was funded through donations with no payback expected, explorers and adventurers have a duty to tell the rest of us, those who didn't get to go, how they overcame adversity and why the project mattered. 
            
Climbing that peak, crossing Antarctica, or descending the Amazon was the hard part; captivating the audience with your unique perspective of that part of the world should be the most rewarding, especially as it relates to inspiring future explorers. 
            
Thus has it always been. Whether through magic lanterns, Kodak slide carousels, or Powerpoints, the public still loves a great adventure story well told. 
            
Hopefully, our storytelling journey will continue for the next 25 years.

MEDIA MATTERS

TIGHAR Inspires National Geographic Oct. 20 TV Special About Earhart Search

If there is one thing about the Earhart mystery that everyone can agree on it's that it will take a conclusively identifiable piece of the plane to close the case. This past August, evidence uncovered in more than 30 years of science-based investigation by TIGHAR (The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery) convinced Dr. Robert Ballard to try for that goal in the waters off Nikumaroro Island in Kiribati (See EN, September 2019). 

The expedition, sponsored by National Geographic Partners, concluded in late August without finding the plane. A two-hour National Geographic TV special to air October 20 will chronicle his search and the TIGHAR discoveries that inspired it.

According to Richard Gillespie, executive director, TIGHAR's plans for further operations at Nikumaroro await a thorough review of the data collected by Ballard. Meanwhile, TIGHAR continues to research the possibility that a conclusively identifiable piece of the plane has already been found, a 24 by 18 inch section of aluminum aircraft skin, that washed up on the island in 1991. 

Analysis by the National Transportation Safety Board laboratory confirmed the physical material was right, but attempts to match the artifact's complex combination of features to a Lockheed Electra, or any other aircraft, invariably ended at best in close-but-no-cigar. 

"It was only when we began testing the hypothesis that the artifact is a fragment of the one part of Earhart's Electra that was absolutely unique did we make real progress," Gillespie says. (See EN, March 2019, for more information about the patch). 

Is the patch the sole surviving part of Earhart's plane? 

Gillespie tells EN, "Such a claim would be extraordinary and, as astronomer Carl Sagan was fond of saying, 'Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.' Our investigation of the artifact must, therefore, be extraordinarily rigorous." 

Learn more at tighar.org


A pair of archival images from the mid-1940s that showed off a new invention of the day: a "pressurized suit for airmen of tomorrow," which, by allowing pilots to fly safely to altitudes of up to 62,000 feet, literally helped human beings attain new heights in travel.  (Photo: U.S. Department of Defense)

We Go to Extremes 

"Humans can hardly survive anywhere. It is both terrifying and comical, how vulnerable we are. We live comfortably, sort of, under exactly one condition: in the temperate patches of a very thin crust on a relatively small planet in a tiny corner of the known universe," writes Sam Anderson in the New York Times Magazine (Sept. 29).

"Transport us anywhere else, and we will basically instantly die. Other planets will choke us; black holes will crush us. Even our own modest planet's oceans will drown us, and its poles will freeze us, and its deserts will dry us into leathery husks.

"And yet: We still want to go everywhere," Anderson writes.

"... a real voyage, by most definitions, requires our actual bodies. And if the destination is sufficiently extreme, we may find ourselves making use of one of the most venerable technologies in the history of human innovation: the big, clunky suit. I'm talking about B-movie, Frankenstein's monster, stumbling and bumbling, aggressively inelegant, vaguely humanoid Bubble Wrap. Clunky suits are the modern version of knight's armor: artificial shells designed to ferry us through alien zones."

See more images of the clunky suits that enable exploration here:


Can Climbing Everest Help Sell a Handbag?

Top luxury brands have been compelled to look beyond traditional advertising - driven in part by consumers' desire for companies with a sense of mission. Premium marketers are looking to the ends of the earth, from the depths of the South Pacific to the peak of Mount Everest, to set them apart, according to a story in WSJ Magazine (Sept. 2019).

 
Cleanup Crew - A Bally-sponsored effort this May helped rid Mount Everest of litter as part of its Peak Outlook initiative. (Photo: Samir Jung Thapa) 

Last spring, the Swiss fashion house Bally sponsored a mission to remove garbage from the slopes of Mount Everest, even in the so-called Death Zone above 26,000 feet. In September, Italian watch manufacturer Panerai will take about 15 customers diving off the island of Moorea in French Polynesia, hoping to catch sight of whales. 

And from August through December, the Swiss watchmaker IWC Schaffhausen will underwrite a round-the-world flight for a restored Spitfire airplane that first went into production in 1943.

"Premium marketers have been compelled to look beyond traditional advertising, driven in part by consumers' desire for brands with a sense of mission," writes Nat Ives.

"Rarefied land, air and sea environments fit luxury marketers' ambition to project an aura of exclusivity. None of these brands are cleaning up Times Square, after all, or crossing the country in an Amtrak train." 

Read the story here:

EXPEDITION MARKETING 

 
Ulyana N. Horodyskyj, Ph.D.  

Adventure Scientist Featured in Cannabis Beer Video

Ulyana N. Horodyskyj, Ph.D., mountaineer, scientist and founder of Science in the Wild based in Broomfield, Colorado, was recently honored as a Colorado taste maker, featured in an original video series for CERIA, the state's first THC-infused beer. An online contest also features a guided Rocky Mountain hike by Horodyskyj up one of Colorado's 58 14ers (peaks over 14,000 feet).
                        
CERIA Brewing, based in Arvada, Colorado, was co-founded by Keith Villa, Ph.D., creator/brewmaster of Blue Moon craft beer before he retired from MillerCoors in early 2018 after 32 years.
           
See the Horodyskyj video here:

WEB WATCH


Juko's Doodle

On Sept. 22, the Google Doodle celebrated the 80th birthday of the late Japanese mountaineer Junko Tabei, the first woman to summit Mount Everest. She was also the first woman to climb the Seven Summits. She passed away in 2016 at the age of 77. 

Tabei is celebrated for breaking stereotypes about women, both in her culture and internationally.

The whimsical animation is a high honor indeed. In 1998, Google's co-founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, were on their way to Burning Man and wanted to message their trip to the world. So they took Google's signature logo, which greets visitors to the company's homepage, and replaced the second "o" with an image of the festival's icon. They considered their "out-of-office" message a public inside joke.

This is how Google Doodles began - and the company, only a few months old, wasn't even incorporated yet. 

Now, 21 years and several thousand Doodles later, the daily sketches are the quirky face of one of the world's most powerful companies, seen as part of five billion searches per day.  

See the Doodle here:


 
Don't look down 

The Scariest Bus Ride EVER? 

A Himalayan bus route that shows terrified tourists peering down into a valley three miles below has always amused us. We've been on some scary Nepal highways, but none this vertiginous. Since we first saw this post in 2014, it has been seen over 11 million times.
The Alwas-Killar Road bus route in India's remote Pangi Valley could well be one of the most dangerous, and certainly terrifying bus rides ever - as this video shows. The road has been nicknamed by some wags the "Almost Killer Road."

As a busload of scared travelers traverse the rocky mountainsides at an altitude of 14,500 feet, one of them records the experience as he keeps up a priceless running commentary and shrieks of terror and nervous laughter are heard in the background.

It's a good time waster to view while you're sitting there at work. 

See it here:


BUZZ WORDS
 
Low-Head Dams 

When Kenneth R. Wright, P.E., an Explorers Club member from Boulder, won an award from the Association of State Dam Safety Officials (ASDSO) for his work in low-head dam safety, it made us wonder what makes these structures such drowning machines - so far in 2019, over 37 deaths have occurred nationwide, according to the association.

We've seen low-head dams all over the world on various expeditions.

A low-head head dam is a structure that generally spans from one side of a riverbank to the other, partially blocking the waterway and creating a back-up of water behind the dam. As water reaches the wall, it flows over the drop off, which can be anywhere from 6 inches to 25 feet.

The low-head dam is the most dangerous type of dam - they may not be easily spotted because the top can be several feet below the water's surface. Because of their small size and drop, low-head dams do not appear to be dangerous. However, water going over a low-head dam creates a strong recirculating current or backroller (sometimes referred to as the "boil") at the base of the dam. Even on small rivers, the force of the backroller can trap your canoe or kayak against the face of the dam and pull you under the water - even while wearing a personal flotation device.  

We've seen these all over the country and parts of the world, and thanks to Ken Wright, who often testifies as a dam safety engineering expert in drowning-related lawsuits, we will be treating them with lots more respect.

Learn more and see safety videos at:


ON THE HORIZON
 
David L. Mearns 

Sea Stories Returns to The Explorers Club, Nov. 9, 2019

On Saturday, November 9, 2019, The Explorers Club located at 46 E. 70th Street in New York, will host its annual Sea Stories, a day focused on ocean exploration, scuba diving and marine life at its headquarters in Manhattan. Speakers include:

Choy Aming - "Secrets of the Tiger Shark Highway"

Randall Arauz - "From Science to Policy: Changing the Tide for Endangered Marine Species in the Eastern Tropical Pacific."

David L. Mearns - "The Golden Age of Shipwreck Hunting"

Beth Neale - "Breathless Exploration - Discovering Your Inner Freediver."

Robbie Schmittner - "Sac Actun: Exploring the World's Largest Cave."

Admission $70; must be purchased in advanced. For more information:

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12 Questions for Pluto Explorer; Wings Over Tanzania

November 13, 2019, 5:26 pm
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Osa and Martin Johnson

WINGS OVER TANZANIA

Long before the very first wildlife documentary, an American couple named Martin and Osa Johnson captured the public's imagination from 1917-1937 through their films and books of adventure in exotic and far-away lands. The Johnsons were the quintessential models of the golden age of exploration. They were cut from the same cloth as the boldest of innovators, explorers and entrepreneurs. They were people with big ideas and the courage to make those ideas reality.

Through years of work in the field they innovated wildlife film techniques and made documentary movies that were superior to others at the time. It's estimated that they exposed about a million feet of film during their lives and they believed their footage would be an irreplaceable record of our "unspoiled" natural world.

In 1933, Osa and Martin Johnson took two Explorers Air Yachts (Sikorsky S-39 and S-38) to Africa to create the first flying safari documentary of the continent. They flew from Cape Town to Cairo over the course of two years. Most of their time was spent in East Africa, capturing the very first aerial and some of the first conservation footage of Mt. Kilimanjaro, Serengeti, and many areas of Tanganyika (Tanzania).
 
A modern-day filmmaker will recreate the Johnson's flights throughout Tanzania.

Fast forward to today: director and explorer, Haley Jackson of Delta, Colorado, will lead a team of explorers and filmmakers on a modern day flying expedition to retrace the Johnson's flights of the 1930's throughout Tanzania. Using the replica Sikorsky aircraft from the original flying safari, the team will film an aerial expedition of Tanzania's 16 National Parks. The 10-week effort is scheduled to begin in 2020.

Using the pilot's journals and the Johnson's footage and photos, the team will film the same landmarks, landscapes, and animal herds that the Johnsons filmed nearly one hundred years ago.

Using IMAX's large-format 3D camera equipment, they will create unparalleled images of the wildlife, landscape and people that call it home. By juxtaposing new footage with the matching shots from the Johnsons, the project, called "Wings Over Tanzania," will create a doorway into the past, to experience the abundant wildlife, landscape, and people as it was in the 1930's. The flying safari will accomplish four objectives; help wildlife conservation, inspire science and aviation, boost wildlife sanctuaries, and ignite hope.

The $5 million project is seeking sponsorship. For more information and to watch early Johnson film footage, view http://www.haleyjackson.com/tanzania-beyond-the-wild/

Contact: Haley Jackson, haleyjack@gmail.com, 310 487 7803

EXPEDITION UPDATE 
 
Reid Stowe

Marathon Sailor/Artist Back in the News

Reid Stowe, the marathon sailor and artist we've been covering for 20 years, is back in the news. Credited with the longest nonstop ocean voyage in recorded history (1,152 days), today Stowe is raising a family in suburban North Carolina and driving a 2005 Chevy Malibu. But he has also obsessively been making giant abstract paintings, most of them using the weather-beaten sails that carried his schooner across the globe (See
EN, July 2010).

He was recently back in New York to visit the Chelsea gallery that is showing his art, according to the New York Times story by Alex Vadukul (Oct. 27).

"All this time later, I'm still trying to tell the world the story of what I went through," said Stowe, 67, during his recent stay in Manhattan. "I've departed the touch of earth longer than anyone else. All my paintings carry the vibrations and significance of that journey."

In 2007, he and his girlfriend departed from Hoboken on a boat stocked with six tons of nonperishable provisions and a sprout garden. On Day 15, a freighter hit their schooner. Around Day 300, his partner, Soanya Ahmad started feeling sick, and a boat picked her up near the coast of Australia. Communicating by a satellite phone, Stowe soon learned that she was pregnant. On Day 457, Soanya gave birth to Darshen in New York. Mr. Stowe met his son for the first time when he arrived on the Hudson two years later.

Currently, while residing in Greenboro, N.C., he takes care of his father who has Alzheimer's and is also trying to publish a memoir.

Read the entire story here:

EXPEDITION NOTES

Kelvin Kent image by Jim Pisarowicz

Kelvin Kent Talks About Being at Altitude

Kelvin Kent, a member of Chris Bonington's British teams for Annapurna (1970) and Everest (1972) spoke to an Explorers Club chapter in Montrose, Colorado, last month about his climbing career. Kent considers the 1970 Annaurna climb, "the last of an era of logistical sieges," and believes there are phenomenal climbers today who are almost like ballet dancers. In regards to the rigors of climbing above 8000 meters, Kent said, "After being at altitude for long periods of time, no one can tell me this isn't doing damage to one's brain cells."

He recalls how team members had to warm their Mallory batteries in saucepans to get a few minutes of radio broadcast time out of them.

In regards to the unspeakable weather experienced in the Himalayas, he said, "Human beings can withstand wind and can withstand cold, but they can't withstand both .... but regardless, human beings will always try to do things they haven't done before."

In 1971, Kent was deputy leader of the British Trans Americas Expedition which took two Range Rovers from Anchorage to Terra Del Fuego in southern Chile. Kent is a charter council member of the Scientific Exploration Society and Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. He is the author of five books and remains active on five boards in the Montrose/Ouray/Ridgway areas, including the nonprofit Western Colorado Friends of the Himalayas (westerncoloradofriends.wordpress.com/mission).

QUOTE OF THE MONTH 

"It is not true that people stop pursuing dreams because they grow old, they grow old because they stop pursuing dreams."

 - Gabriel Garcia Marquez (1927-2014), Columbian novelist, short-story writer, screenwriter and journalist.

EXPEDITION FOCUS
 
EN Travels to Iceland in the Footsteps of Apollo Astronauts      
    
Neil Armstrong worked hard and played hard during Apollo geology field exercises in Iceland. (Photo by Sverrir Palsson courtesy of the Exploration Museum).
 
On one of the world's most remote island nations, in a windswept North Iceland town of 2,300 hardy souls 30 miles south of the Arctic Circle, a small private museum devoted to exploration is making a name for itself honoring space exploration.

The idea behind The Exploration Museum dates to 2009 when Husavik locals realized the role Iceland's otherworldly lava flows in the country's Highlands played in training almost three dozen Apollo astronauts. NASA had found a parallel lunar landscape: no vegetation, no life, no colors, no landmarks.

Last month EN was privileged to be part of the annual Explorers Festival which brings explorers and adventurers together for a series of talks by explorers, art and photo exhibitions, poetry readings, concerts, and film screenings.

Over the years since its inception in 2014, the tiny museum at the top of the world has hosted presentations about the Jeff Bezos-funded recovery of the Apollo 11 rocket engines; awarded astronaut Scott Parazynski (veteran of five Space Shuttle flights and seven spacewalks) and Harrison Schmitt (Apollo 17) its Leif Erikson Exploration Award; and also hosted Walter Cunningham (Apollo 7), William Anders (Apollo 8), Rusty Schweickart (Apollo 9), and Charlie Duke (Apollo 16).

Through the efforts of its founder, Orlygur Hnefill Orlygsson, a monument honoring the Apollo astronauts that trained in Iceland in 1965 and 1967 is located outside the museum, unveiled in 2015 by the grandchildren of Neil Armstrong.

Orly Orlygsson (l) and Explorers Festival director Francesco Perini are dressed for success Iceland-style.

Orlygsson is an expert in exploration history and a space exploration enthusiast, with a range of experiences including journalist, photographer, filmmaker and parliamentary assistant, as well as his current ownership of the Húsavík Cape Hotel. Turn on the hot water in the rooms and it smells of sulfur; flip the handle to "cold" and the water is the world's best-tasting, the same liquid bottlers ship to the states and sell for $3 a throw.

Orly, as he is affectionately called, is the director, writer and star of a quirky, charmingly eccentric Icelandic film called Cosmic Birth about space exploration that premieres at The Explorers Club on Nov. 15, 2019 (see below). 

Mark Armstrong and son Andrew in the Exploration Museum holding a sweater worn by Neil Armstrong during a visit to the North Pole with Sir Edmund Hillary in 1985.

In a talkback after a screening in Reykjavik, Mark Armstrong, 56, son of Neil, explained how he consulted on the 2018 film First Man, particularly the dining room scene where his father, played by Ryan Gosling, discussed the risks involved in his space mission.

The younger Armstrong remembers, "We were confident because our father seemed so very confident in the mission." Later he said, "Our mother was the true actor. She must have been terrified but didn't let on to us."

Mark believes the U.S. was letting space slip away. "The country's leadership in space exploration came at tremendous cost in terms of dollars and lives. The space program has been languishing but it's starting to pick up - there's a lot of cause for optimism right now."
In reference to the Apollo program, he said, "Apollo proved that if we apply ourselves, amazing things can happen. Apollo gave people hope that achievements are possible beyond our dreams if work at it together."

The festival included presentations by the Iceland Space Agency (ISA) regarding efforts by the Ohio-sized country to join the European Space Agency (ESA).

"Sure, we have an inflated sense of self, but we realize how insignificant we are," says space strategist Thor Fanndal. "But we punch well about our weight considering we only have 350,000 citizens. What kind of country our size would be this well known everywhere? We want to become part of something grander than ourselves."

Iceland is back in the space training business: this past summer NASA returned to the country to test the prototype of a self-driving rover truck set to explore Mars in 2021.
Learn more about the Exploration Museum at: https://www.explorersfest.com/the-exploration-museum

Cold as Ice

Colorado Explorers Club members broke out their polar expedition gear on Nov. 1, 2019, to visit the National Science Foundation Ice Core Facility in Denver, the world's largest such facility which stores, curates and studies ice cores recovered from the planet's polar ice sheets. Over 21,000 meters (about 13 miles) of core samples are stored from Antarctica, Greenland and the high mountain glaciers of the world. The laboratory provides the opportunity for scientists to examine ice cores without having to travel to remote field sites.
 
13 miles of ice cores are stored in Denver
 
The Denver Federal Center repository was dedicated in August 1993 and is one of only three such facilities in the world. Some of the cores being stored were extracted from as far down as 3,000 meters (9,842 ft.) and date back 2-1/2 million years. The frigid samples are used for scientific research related to climate change and other disciplines. Interestingly, once cores are extracted, they are protected for shipment in the kind of plastic wine bottle netting used by your local wine retailer.
 
The lab uses a specially designed keyboard to accommodate heavy gloves.

The tour was conducted in both the "warm" exam room (minus 10 degrees F.), and the main storage room chilled down to minus 32 degrees F., which was for many visitors, including about 25 local schoolchildren, the coldest temperatures they've ever experienced.

By the time ice cores arrive for study, it's estimated that each meter of ice is valued at approximately $25,000. Outdoor gear companies often test their cold weather apparel within the space.
 
Mr. Freeze with assistant curator Richard Nunn. The 1997 Batman & Robin movie character, played by Arnold Schwarzenegger, is the lab's mascot. 

"It takes a special kind of crazy to work in these temperatures," admits assistant curator and tour guide Richard Nunn. "By studying ice cores, we can start piecing together what's happening to our planet. It provides information on the rate of change which can help us better understand climate." 
For more information: www.icecores.org

MEDIA MATTERS


South slope of the Grandes Jorasses, with the Planpincieux Glacier on the left.

Glacier Collapse Would be Size of Four Epcot Spaceship Earth Spheres    
          
The Italian side of a Mont Blanc glacier is at risk of collapsing due to increased ice melt linked to climate change, scientists and local officials warn. A massive chunk of the Planpincieux Glacier on Grande Jorasses peak of the Mont Blanc massif is the cause of concern. About two feet of its ice melts per day due to high temperatures.

According to a radio interview with Peter O'Dowd of public radio's Here & Now (Sept. 27), if the popular hiking spot collapsed, 250,000 cubic feet of ice could launch down the mountain.
Glaciologist and Colorado College visiting professor Ulyana Horodyskyj climbed Mont Blanc in summer 2018 and says, "If you've ever been to Walt Disney World, there's the Epcot Spaceship Earth, you know that golf ball structure. Imagine four of those," Horodyskyj says. "That's how big this volume of ice is."

Although it's nearly impossible to predict just how imminent the collapse of Mont Blanc is, Horodyskyj says scientists are doing what they can to monitor just how quickly ice is slipping down the slopes. She says scientists can utilize radar, satellite images and even time-lapse cameras to keep a close watch on the ice melt.

An "alarmingly wide" crack was detected in the glacier this year, she says. The glacier's fracture is common during the high heat of summer, she explains, but was wider than usual this year.
"Glaciers, in general, are highly sensitive to rising temperatures and when you're talking about temperate glaciers, it means the glacier [is] already at its melting point," she says.
As the potential for a catastrophic collapse looms and the urgency surrounding climate change action grows, Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte warned world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly recently that Mont Blanc's future "must shake us all and force us to mobilize."

Listen to the five-minute interview here:

Like Electronic Crack on Kilimanjaro

We're all addicted to our technology, even more so on expeditions. Relatively easy climbs on Mt. Kilimanjaro are no exception according to the story by Anupreeta Das in the
Wall Street Journal (Nov. 9-10, 2019). The writer asks whether she can survive on the mountain if her phone died.

To fight the cold she snuggled her smartwatch, AirPods, two digital cameras, a headlamp, charging cables, three power banks and several dozen spare batteries inside her bag.

She writes, "Gadgets, especially smartphones and devices powered by lithium-ion batteries, respond poorly to extreme cold. They can freeze or develop glitches. Batteries drain alarmingly fast. (On day two, as we climbed from 11,550 feet to 12,540 feet, my phone's battery went from 100% to 72%. In airplane mode.)

Eddie Frank, a longtime Kilimanjaro guide writes in a blog post advising climbers on ways to stay connected, including buying a local SIM card, "We're addicted to our personal technology so let's not have a philosophical discussion about going cold turkey on technology while on our Kilimanjaro climb."

Das adds, "But here's why I couldn't let my iPhone die. It was my main camera, my alarm clock, my mirror in selfie mode, my flashlight, my electronic diary - and as I discovered, my pedometer even without a connection, allowing me to track my progress in miles walked, steps taken and floors climbed."

Read the story here:


OUT THERE
 
Alan Stern says Pluto is everyone's favorite planet.
12 Questions for Alan Stern

S. Alan Stern, 61, is an American engineer and planetary scientist and principal investigator of the New Horizons mission to Pluto and beyond. Stern has been involved in 29 suborbital, orbital, and planetary space missions, including 14 for which he was a principal investigator.  
It's the now familiar snowman-shaped object four billion miles from the sun that has been extensively studied. While Voyager and Pioneer had a head start and are the furthest manmade objects from Earth, thanks to New Horizons, Arrokoth is the furthest world ever explored.  
He and David Grinspoon are co-authors of  Chasing New Horizons: Inside the Epic First Mission to Pluto (Picador, 2018).

We recently caught up with Stern for dinner near his home in Gunbarrel, Colorado, and posed a few brief questions.

EN:            What was your dream growing up?
SAS:            I wanted to be an astronaut since probably age four. While I was named to NASA's short list, I'm disappointed that I never made the final cut. I feel sorry for NASA (ed. note: he says in jest).

EN:            So who is your favorite astronaut?  
SAS:           Hand's down, the late John Young, the astronauts' astronaut. He did it all: piloted and commanded four different classes of spacecraft: Gemini, the Apollo Command and Service Module, the Apollo Lunar Module, and the Space Shuttle. Oh yeah, he also flew twice to the moon and walked on it.

EN:            There hasn't been a moon landing since 1972. What's up with that?
SAS:           I find it unbelievable, but that dry spell is going to end soon.

EN:            How soon?
SAS:          Certainly in the 2020s. In fact, I'd bet the next decade is going to be another Roaring 20s as far as space exploration is concerned.

EN:             Why even return to the moon? Why not go straight to Mars?
SAS:           Because the moon is our training ground. Considering no landings for almost 50 years, we're out of practice.

EN:            Will Mars eventually be colonized?
SAS:           It's going to happen, just wait and see, and with some people who are alive today. We need to provide this kind of inspiration to children today, exciting them about science and engineering careers, and the sheer audacity of exploration of all kinds.

The most detailed images of Arrokoth (MU69) obtained just minutes before the New Horizons spacecraft's closest approach at 12:33 a.m. EST on Jan. 1, 2019. It's said to be the most primitive object ever encountered by a spacecraft (NASA photo). 

EN:            If Voyager and Pioneer satellites are the furthest manmade objects from Earth, how is Arrokoth the furthest world ever discovered?
SAS:          Voyager and Pioneer have traveled further than New Horizon, but there's really nothing out in their area of deep space to visit. It's like driving through western Kansas!

EN:             In 2015 we received our first-ever high definition images of Pluto thanks to New Horizons. How's the satellite probe doing these days?  
SAS:            It's performing perfectly. It's taking data, sending data, and we're making plans for what we expect it will do next. Stay tuned.

EN:             Pluto: Planet or Dwarf Planet?
SAS:           It's a planet, and a lot of peoples' fave planet - the Solar System saved the best for last. Next question?

EN:             What's this we hear about a space elevator?
SAS:            It's b.s. for now. But come back to me in the 22nd century when technologies are more advanced and we'll see what's possible.

EN:            How about High Altitude Platforms Stations (HAPS) that would enable wireless broadband deployment in remote areas, including in mountainous, coastal and desert areas?
SAS:          This is going to be a huge business. In fact, I'm in a related business myself.

EN:            So, tell us, are we alone?
SAS:          Very likely not. And I think it won't be long before we know. Even if all we find are some extraterrestrial slime or fish, it would be profound ..... and great fodder for late night comics.

In the Nov. 10 Wall Street Journal, Stern says he is starting to think about another mission to Pluto, one that probably wouldn't be launched until at least 2027 and thus won't reach its destination until the mid-2030s. 

Read the story here:


BUZZ WORD
You don't need to go to space to experience the Overview Effect. 

Overview Effect 

When astronauts have the opportunity to look down on Earth from space they experience a sensation that can produce a lasting effect on their psychology. This shift is commonly referred to as the Overview Effect.

Recent studies suggest that exposure to this vantage point leads to an overwhelming sense of emotion, a stronger connection to all living beings, and a greater appreciation for the planet. (Source: Benjamin Grant, author of Overview: A New Perspective of Earth [Amphoto Books, 2016] who uses mesmerizing satellite photography to provoke the same feeling of overwhelming scale and beauty in each of us.

For more information: https://www.over-view.com/book/ 

EXPEDITION MAILBAG

Department of Shameless Self-Aggrandizement 

Among the many letters of congratulations we received upon celebration of our 25th anniversary, were these three that humbled us.

"A quick note to congratulate you on a quarter century of producing the finest expedition newsletter out there! I hope all's well, and here's to the next 1.2 million or so words..."

- Ben Saunders, English polar explorer, endurance athlete, and motivational speaker.

"Congratulations on a quarter century of serving the exploration world through Expedition News! Having a 'transmission belt' between the explorers and the public to explain what we do is a vital part of our world." 

- Don Walsh, American oceanographer, explorer and marine policy specialist.

"First of all a HUGE CONGRATULATIONS on your 25th anniversary. Yours is an amazing story. You have truly created an iconic communications medium and have every right to be massively proud of your accomplishment. I greatly appreciate what you do, as obviously do so many thousands of others. I look forward to every issue and hope to continue to do so for another decade or two (from my perspective, hopefully much longer from yours)." 

- Chuck Patton, former climber who summited Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Mount Washington in New Hampshire, and Mount Santis in Switzerland.

ON THE HORIZON

U.S. Premiere of Icelandic film, Cosmic Birth, The Explorers Club, Nov. 15, 2019, 46 East 70th Street, New York

An Icelandic documentary film about mankind's journey to the Moon and the experience of viewing the Earth from a quarter of a million miles away. The film also looks into the role that Iceland played in the training of the Apollo astronauts for the first manned missions to another world. It aired nationally on Icelandic TV and appeared in Iceland theaters on July 20 to mark the 50th anniversary of the Moon landing.

For more information:

EXPEDITION CLASSIFIEDS
 
Explore Pitcairn with Pacific Islands Research Institute
 
Our mission is to explore the most remote islands in the Pacific and discover their secrets.
Due to our long-standing friendships with some of the residents of Pitcairn Island, we have been invited by the islanders themselves to spend a month on Pitcairn exploring petroglyph sites and conducting forensic archaeology. We will be the first to test for DNA at a historical burial site in Adamstown.  We anticipate two teams of two weeks each, maximum six participants per team, plus guides, researcher and forensic anthropologist.

Timing: June/July 2020.

This is a self-funded Expedition at $16,900 pp. 

For more information: Capt. Lynn Danaher, FN'05, Pacific Islands Research Institute, 808 755 8045, 4islandexplorer@gmail.com

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Ten Questions for Underwater Explorer Barry Clifford

December 3, 2019, 3:06 pm
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EXPEDITION UPDATE
 
Members of the 1990 International Polar Expedition met with Kyoto Mayor Daisaku Kadokawa (center) and the city's environmental minister, Takeshi Shimotsuma (far right) to discuss the city's role in developing the IPCC Kyoto Guidelines to support and implement the Paris Agreement. The expedition team urged the Mayor to continue his leadership role, and he congratulated them on their accomplishments on and off the ice. Team members from left to right: Geoff Somers, Great Britain; Will Steger, USA; Jean-Louis Etienne, France; Keizo Funatsu, Japan; Victor Boyarsky, Russia; and Cathy de Moll, expedition manager.

1989-1990 Trans-Antarctica Team Celebrates 30th With New Climate Declaration

On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the historic 1989-1990 Trans-Antarctica Expedition across Antarctica, the six expedition team members reunited in Japan recently to share their concern for the continent's future, and their commitment to the world's young people who will be most affected by the climate change that is now occurring.

The 1990 International Trans-Antarctica Expedition was the first-ever non-mechanized crossing of Antarctica and the longest-ever traverse (nearly 4,000 miles). The international team of six included Will Steger (USA), Jean-Louis Etienne (France), Victor Boyarsky (Russia/Soviet Union), Qin Dahe (China), Geoff Somers (Great Britain) and Keizo Funatsu (Japan), plus three sleds and 40 sled dogs. The expedition's purpose was to bring world attention to the international cooperation that managed this continent of science, and to lobby the world's leaders to ban mineral exploration and continue uninterrupted the international Antarctic Treaty.
 
1990 Trans-Antarctica team member Will Steger (USA), left, speaks to a crowd on November 10 at the Tokyo International Forum about the vital importance of international cooperation in stemming the precipitous melting of Antarctica's ice shelf and in addressing a growing global climate crisis. Also pictured: Victor Boyarsky, Qin Dahe, and Geoff Somers.

In November's appearances in Hokkaido, Kyoto, and Tokyo, Japan, the team issued a mission statement updated from the one they read on December 11, 1989, at the South Pole, noting that their expedition would no longer be possible due to the melting of the Antarctic ice shelf, and emphasizing the ever-increasing urgency for international research and cooperative action to address the growing crisis. The team also met with Kyoto Mayor Daisaku Kadokawa, an international leader in climate action.

The Trans-Antarctica anniversary events in Japan were sponsored by the DAC Group, North Face Japan, and Gore-Tex Japan. A similar celebration is scheduled in Lanzhou, China, in March, 2020 on the 30th anniversary of the expedition's completion, March 3, 1990.

The full transcript of the expedition's 2019 mission statement can be found at:

Read the Antarctic Treaty here:

EXPEDITION NOTES
Scripps professor Jeff Severinghaus (Photo courtesy of Scripps Institution of Oceanography)

Search Begins for World's Oldest Ice

A group of local scientists from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego are in Antarctica to search for the world's oldest ice. The reason? To understand more about Earth's climate history by looking at ice caps, according to Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

The research team will be seeking an entire ice sheet, about two miles thick, to use as a sample, according to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography. The problem? A standard drill could take five years to dig deep enough to find the necessary ice sheet sample, according to researchers with Scripps Institution of Oceanography. That's where San Diego's team of researchers come in.

Paleoclimatolgist Jeff Severinghaus believes he has a faster way to find the ice sheet - a drill that could take just 48 hours, instead of five years. Severinghaus is working with a geologist at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, John Goodge, to design a drill, according to Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

This month, the team will use the drill in Antarctica, in hopes of learning more about Antarctica's history from ice sheets, according to Scripps Institution of Oceanography. Severinghaus will return from San Diego in the spring with his discoveries, according to the Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

Learn more here:

FEATS

Colin O'Brady

Celebrity Adventurer and Neophyte Rower Leads Drake Attempt

The Drake Passage is one mother of a body of water, named for Sir Francis Drake who in the sixteenth century called it ". . . the most mad seas." When the cold air of the Antarctic ice cap collides with the warmer maritime air over the ocean surrounding the continent, the result is a vicious storm belt of blizzards and dense fog spanning 600 miles from the southern tip of South America to the South Shetland Islands.

On the best of days the ocean is turbulent and, on the worst of days, impassable in smaller vessels. Mariners have long called this region the "Roaring Forties,""Furious Fifties," and "Screaming Sixties," referring not to decades, but lines of latitude.

In March 1988, the late American Ned Gillette, then 43, and his team set out against the currents to row the Drake assisted by a small sail and fueled by 6,000 calories per day of energy bars and shakes. For fourteen days, the four-man team muscled their hardy heavy-gauge aluminum Sea Tomato 684 miles from Cape Horn to Nelson Island in the South Shetlands, just off the Antarctica peninsula. 
This month, celebrity adventurer Colin O'Brady, 34, an American professional endurance athlete, motivational speaker, adventurer and former professional triathlete, and his five teammates, will embark on The Impossible Row, an attempt to complete the world's first completely human-powered crossing of the Drake.

Main sponsor The Discovery Channel said the crew will not use any motors or sails and must work around the clock to complete their mission.
 
Home away from home for six extreme endurance rowers.

O'Brady, from Portland, Oregon, tells his 11,400 Twitter followers on Nov. 17, "Up until I started training just a few months ago, I'd never rowed a boat before. But I've been strengthening the most important muscle for years; my mind. Mindset is the key for any of us to fully unlock our potential and make the impossible possible."

O'Brady was on The Tonight Show to talk with Jimmy Fallon about his partnership with the Discovery Channel.

"Get this," he said to Fallon. "I've never rowed a boat anywhere in my life."

Watch his Nov. 16 appearance here:


In 2018, the neophyte rower completed a 930-mile expedition on foot across the Antarctic continent in a controversial 54-day journey (see EN, January 2019). The then 33-year-old documented his journey - which he called The Impossible First - on his Instagram page.

For more information: www.Discovery.com/theimpossiblerow 

QUOTE OF THE MONTH

"Our earth is a raft in the sea of the universe. The more we learn, the more we realize how fragile it is. We need to engage everyone in preserving the wonders of our raft."

-  Milbry Polk, Explorers Club Sweeney Medal recipient, awarded at the 115th annual dinner in New York on March 16, 2019. Learn more about her work here: www.milbrypolk.com

MEDIA MATTERS

Bombardier Blood

A new documentary focuses on mountaineer and severe hemophiliac Chris Bombardier's attempt to climb the Seven Summits. Bombardier Blood follows his summit of Everest where he and his medical team overcome frozen veins, fatigue, and the omnipresent fear of life-threatening bleeds - to raise awareness and critical funds for the global hemophilia community.

Chris Bombardier is a mountaineer and outdoorsman with severe hemophilia B living in Salem, Mass. The documentary is an inspiring and heart-warming adventure film that cinematically highlights both what is and is not possible when living with this rare disease. It is available for community screenings.

Watch the trailer here:

OUT THERE
Barry Clifford

Ten Questions for Barry Clifford, Underwater Archaeological Explorer

In May 2014, Barry Clifford, now 74, one of the world's most renowned underwater archaeological explorers, reported he found the wreck of the Santa Maria, flagship of Christopher Columbus, off the coast of Haiti. Over 90 people crowded into the historic Clark Room of The Explorers Club for the announcement. The news was carried worldwide.

The newest adventure for Clifford is the 12,000 sq. ft. Whydah Pirate Museum on Cape Cod that houses a full-scale replica of Samuel Bellamy's Whydah Gally, a pirate ship that sank in 1717 off Wellfleet, Mass.

Clifford discovered the wreck and its accompanying treasure in 1984, helped in part by family friend John F. Kennedy, Jr., who was part of his dive team. To this day, the Whydah remains the only fully authenticated pirate ship ever found. At the heart of Clifford's museum is an interactive lab where visitors can watch archaeologists work their way through recovered pirate artifacts piece by piece.  
We caught up with him recently in Boston, across Massachusetts Bay from his home in Provincetown.

EN:             How can you be sure you discovered the wreck of the Santa Maria off Cap Haitian?

BC:            We spent several years surveying the Bay of Cap Haitian, eliminating over 560 anomalies before discovering the eight and ninth 15th century lombards (cannons), ever discovered in the Western Hemisphere.

Coincidentally, it was the exact distance (1.5 leagues) as described in the Columbus Dario (diary) from the wreckage of the Santa Maria to Fort Navidad, the fort Columbus built, in part, from the wreckage of his beloved flagship.

Most recently, even more compelling evidence came to light when fellow explorer Dr. Charles D. Beeker, director of Indiana University's Center for Underwater Science and Academic Diving Program, discovered evidence that the "Columbus Anchor" uncovered in the 1960's, which Columbus purportedly used in an attempt to kedge (winch) off the sand bar on which they had "silently" grounded, was located within anchoring distance of the wreck we had discovered.

EN:            Not everyone believed this discovery, did they?        

BC:            Sadly, both lombards, and a variety of compelling artifacts were looted from the site after UNESCO rejected our discovery without consulting our archaeologists, or, examining a word of our research.

UNESCO still disputes the findings. But I take comfort in that the same people who said I didn't find the Santa Maria also didn't believe that we found the Whydah in 1984..... until our team pulled up a ship's bell upon which was cast in block letters THE WHYDAH GALLY 1716.

The bell inscribed THE WHYDAH GALLY 1716

EN:             Do you have plans to return to Haiti to conduct conclusive research?

BC:             We'd love to, but it depends upon the government of Haiti. Right now, it's one of the most dangerous countries on earth and we've yet to receive permission to return. 

EN:             Historical revisionism in the modern era has made Columbus somewhat of a controversial figure. Instead of Columbus Day, some states celebrate Indigenous Peoples' Day. Why the on-going effort to conclusively prove the location of the wreck?

BC:            Right or wrong, this ship and the Columbus expedition changed the course of human history. He was an explorer who followed his dream and I have great admiration for him.

EN:            Where's the money coming from to continue this quest for the Santa Maria?

BC:            I received some funding from various television shows, lectures, and early funding, but otherwise it's all been funded by myself and a dear friend. I've yet to sell any recovered artifacts from a career of underwater exploration.

EN:            Why not? especially if the proceeds will support more exploration?

BC:            I started out exploring for treasure, but when I realized these recovered artifacts came from slave ships and some were used to pay for people, I decided I could never wear that around my neck or sell it.

EN:             How did JFK, Jr. become involved in the search for the Whydah?

BC:            I knew Caroline Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. from skiing in Aspen, and agreed to add JFK, Jr. when he asked to join our Whydah search in 1982. He was an important member of the team and a terrific young man, then about age 22. Around that time, his diving compass was snagged and broke off. We later found it in 2007 and it's now on display in our Cape Cod museum.


JFK, JR.'s compass lost in 1984, recovered in 2007. Note initials in the upper right corner.

EN:             You're somewhat of an expert on pirates. When did pirates start saying things like "aye matey" and "arghhhh?"

BC:            Those are Hollywood inventions. But if you're curious about why men and women went under the skull and bones, watch Poldark, the PBS Masterpiece show streaming on Amazon Prime.

EN:             So what you're saying is that pirates have been much maligned?

BC:            Pirate society was an early exercise in democracy where former slaves were experimenting in democracy with Europeans, often being elected as officers, and sharing equally in the plunder. Crew members were elected to higher positions based upon what they contributed to the brotherhood and well-being of the ship. It wasn't about skin color.

EN:            What's next for you?

BC:            I'm working on a book of short stories, planning additional tours for our museum tour of pirate artifacts, and hoping to expand our Cape Cod museum. I have no plans to retire until I'm 92 to correspond to the year Columbus "sailed the ocean blue."

Learn more about the Whydah Pirate Museum here:


EN'S HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE

It's our favorite time of the year, a time for us to share with you some, ahem, quirky gifts to give to the explorer in your life. After all, soap on a rope won't do for this group of alpha males and females. They'll be looking for gifts with some gravitas. We respectfully submit our top five for the holiday season, a time when we all know, money is no object. Whoop whoop.

Behind every successful explorer is a substantial amount of coffee.

Rocket Fuel

For the rocket man (or woman) in your life, the one who dreams of joining the space program, consider these rocket fuel ceramic mugs. Coffee doesn't ask silly questions. Coffee understands. ($19.99, https://shop.amnh.org/rocket-fuel-ceramic-mug.html).


The Vermonter Therma-Phone is made of Johnson Woolen Mills outer fabric.

Smartphone Cozies

Therma-Phone's Mobile Phone Survival Kits are perfect for explorers who can't survive without constantly posting from the trail.  They're like cozies, but instead of your favorite THC-infused brew, they protect those addictive pocket brains we all carry. The phone protector is an engineered heat-reflective, insulated soft case that retains and reflects heat back to the phone to keep it warm, thus extending battery life five to 10 hours, or so they claim. ($39.95, www.therma-phone.com)

   
The Moki is a Step Up

A Step Up

Yes, there is a way to stand on a tire to reach a rooftop rack, but it's a lot more convenient using a Moki Door Step that attaches to those U- and D-shaped door latches found in most every SUV. The rubber coated hook withstands 400 lbs., although we suspect a 400 lb. explorer or adventurer will be tall enough to reach the rack regardless. ($44.95, www.rightlinegear.com)

 
The motorized wiener machine.

To Everything (Turn, Turn, Turn)

When the weather warms up, it's the perfect season for cooking hot dogs on a camp grill. But after a hard day digging up dinosaur bones, the last thing a hungry explorer wants to do is stand there manually turning his foot long sausage meat. That's why the Rotisserie Kit just had to be invented. It attaches to any portable drill and is perfect for roasting pigs in a blanket, assuming you can dial back on the drill speed. (Coming soon, price TBD, www.imaginecamping.com)


The BMW NIGHT SKY, a feasibility study by BMW Individual.

It Came From Another World

For the love of all things holy, there's no better way to shower your largess on a friend or loved one than gifting a luxury car with meteorites embedded in the dashboard. The BMW Individual M850i NIGHT SKY was created as a feasibility study by the experts of BMW Individual in a manual process lasting several weeks.

They quilted cosmic patterns into the merino leather seats and roof lining, created starry constellations in the central console, and applied a series of mosaics - from the 4.5 billion-year-old material of a genuine meteorite. The small mosaics cut from an iron meteorite are only 0.35 mm thick. Starting price is an astronomical $111,900. Your recipient can hop into this bad boy the next time he or she drives to the Fortress of Solitude. 


For more gift ideas, check out TheExploreStore.com for a host of clever products based on an exploration theme. Among its many items are books including EN's Get Sponsored: A Funding Guide for Explorers, Adventurers and Would-Be World Travelers (hint, hint).

IN PASSING

 
Barbara Hillary was the first African-American woman on record to reach the North Pole, and first to reach both the North and South Poles.

Barbara Hillary (1931-2019)

Barbara Hillary, an African-American woman with a deeply ingrained sense of adventure, passed away in Far Rockaway, New York, on Nov. 23 at the age of 88. It's said that her body lived hard, and it simply wore out.

Many people know the major storyline of Barbara's expeditions to the North and South Poles in her 70s - feats of pure grit and determination. Barbara made one final, epic expedition, to Mongolia, earlier this year. She accomplished that trip, too, against the odds, and with tremendous support from friends, guides, sponsors, journalists, and the hospitable people in Mongolia.

Back when we knew her, she would like to say, "Wouldn't it be better to die doing something interesting than to drop dead in an office and the last thing you see is someone you don't like?"

Her friend Deborah Bogosian writes, "Everything about her was fascinating, convention-breaking, and confounding. Her record-setting treks, her defeat over cancer, her arduous fight to get her house back after Hurricane Sandy. Her years as a nurse, her gigs as a taxi driver and in sundry other jobs that gave her more than a few stories to tell. Her appreciation for archery, guns and knives, big trucks and big dogs. The roses and miraculous tomatoes she grew."

Learn more about her life and read her New York Times (Nov. 27) obituary at:

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Researchers Find 2,600-Year-Old Brain; Explorers Club Explores Deal with Discovery

January 15, 2020, 6:37 pm
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 EXPEDITION NOTES


Citizen of the World is a very highly modified Twin Turbine Commander 900

Citizen of the World Aircraft Expedition Aims For the Poles

An aircraft titled Citizen of the World, began the call of adventure last November on a six-month 26,000 nautical mile flight that will, according to its chief pilot, connect the South Pole and the North Pole and everyone in between on a mission of global peace.

The aircraft is a very highly modified Twin Turbine Commander 900 with predator drone engines, custom 5-bladed nickel-tipped scimitar composite props, and a sophisticated avionics suite. The Citizen is intended to complete a Polar Circumnavigation this year.   

Pilot Robert DeLaurentis, 54, with the help of 95 sponsors, hopes to generate greater awareness for aviation safety, technology and education. According to DeLaurentis, author of Zen Pilot: Flight of Passion and the Journey Within (Flying Thru Life Publications, 2016), new technology is an integral part of the expedition, creating first-time records and science experiments, such as:

*    Citizen of the World is reportedly the first aircraft in history to be tracked globally with the new Aireon Space-Based ADS-B Flight Tracking using the Iridium NEXT Satellite Constellation of 66 satellites that have just come online.

*    Citizen will also reportedly be the first aircraft in history to use biofuels to fly over the North and South Poles.

*    The aircraft will be carrying two science and technology experiments onboard including a proof-of-concept Wafer Scale Spacecraft for NASA, as well as a plastics/microfibers collection experiment for Scripps Institution of Oceanography.

Celebrity ride-alongs are being sought to add to the project's global brand impact.
 
DeLaurentis, who resides in San Diego, reports in his latest blog on Dec.16, 2019, successfully completing the project's South Pole flight from Ushuaia, Argentina, in just under 18 hours. "It was a very challenging flight which included loss of navigation many times, extreme weather, the risk of fuel gelling, pilot fatigue and shortage of fuel." Learn more at:


A documentary is planned. See the teaser here:

 
Gregg Treinish wants your roadkill

Roadkill is Gold for Citizen-Scientists 

Wherever explorers and adventurers travel these days, there are scientists and researchers back home desperate for hard-to-obtain environmental data that would otherwise be unavailable for conservation.

That's the premise behind the formation of Adventure Scientists (AS) in 2011, a nonprofit that equips partners with data collected from the outdoors that are crucial to addressing environmental and human health challenges. As such, it serves as an invaluable connection between the conservation and outdoor communities.

Founder Gregg Treinish of Bozeman, Montana, spoke to the public last month at the Fjallraven store in Boulder, Colorado, and explained that AS studies some of the world's most pressing issues where the collection of field data is crucial. Data collection can be expensive, time consuming, and physically demanding, which limits the role that science currently plays in the conservation process. Adventure Scientists tackles this problem by recruiting, training and managing individuals with strong outdoor skills - such as mountaineering, diving or whitewater kayaking - and empowering them to retrieve hard-to-obtain data from the far corners of the globe.

Take the crisis of microplastics, pollution you can't actually see without a microscope. Adventure Scientists has created one of the largest libraries of microplastic pollution in the world, according to Treinish, who conceived of the idea of conducting field research while hiking the Appalachian Trail. "I decided I wanted to dedicate my life to service and do it outdoors," he told the chapter. "I finally felt I was using my outdoor skill set to make a difference."

The problem of wildlife-vehicle collisions is global. AS asked cyclists, runners and long-distance walkers to make roadkill observations to aid transportation officials and protect the lives of humans and wildlife.

As part of its timber tracking initiative, the group also collects samples of bigleaf maples to build a genetic reference library to help confirm that the wood, popular in guitar making, is harvested legally. The tonewood is highly prized for its complex beautiful grain, to the extent that poachers are illegally cutting down bigleaf maples in the Pacific Northwest.

National Geographic named Treinish an Adventurer of the Year in 2008 when he and a friend completed a 7,800-mile trek along the spine of the Andes Mountain Range. Since then he has undertaken several epic long-distance treks, served as a field technician on diverse expeditions, and guided others to experience the wild firsthand.

The list of Adventure Scientists projects is extensive, all supported by hikers, bikers, skiers, and photographers from all walks of life who have chosen to make a difference by donating their time in the field.

Learn more at:


EXPEDITION FUNDING


Explorers Club Explores Relationship with Discovery Channel



Many Explorers Club members were caught unawares earlier this month when a confidential board document was leaked to the New York Post. According to the Jan. 2 story by investigative reporter Melissa Klein, The Discovery Channel is contemplating a multi-million dollar, multi-year relationship with the New York-based Club established in 1904.

The story reports Discovery would provide the Club with approximately $1 million a year for a fund that would support exploration. Some $2 million will be spent to renovate the headquarters building; and $300,000 per year would be paid to rename the Club's headquarters located in a 1910 Jacobean townhouse on the Upper East Side. The building is currently named for former Club member and renowned broadcaster Lowell Thomas (1892-1981).

News of the proposed deal, which is still under negotiation, was generally well received by the members we spoke to, with the exception of strong pushback over renaming the building.
In a Jan. 15 letter to members signed by president Richard Wiese, Development Committee Chair Richard Garriott, and Dr. Janet L. Walsh, Chair of Ethics and Governance, the Club emphasized that it has a team of experts working on this sponsorship.

"Our Club's most outstanding leaders including members of our Board, our Club's attorneys (including expert outside attorneys), media and television specialists, communication professionals and tax experts - all (are) working to make a potential Discovery sponsorship a beneficial relationship for each of our members. From our perspective, this team's attention to detail, dedication to the Club's mission, vision, and values, has been indispensable to Club stewardship," the letter states.

It continues, "At the root of any of our existing sponsorships is our ability to provide expedition funding for our members, advancement of our Club's mission and support for youth activities and grants. .... at no time would we ever compromise our mission, our vision, and the values we hold as a Club."

If it goes through, this would be a win for both Discovery - which seeks more awareness and exclusive content - and the Club which would receive welcome revenue - possibly upwards of $20 million this decade - to continue its support of exploration.

The media giant has a successful history supporting exploration-related nonprofits including an almost 20-year relationship with the Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Arizona, where Pluto was famously discovered. In that sponsorship deal, the media company provided major funding to build the 4.3-meter Discovery Channel Telescope (DCT) near Happy Jack, Arizona.

The DCT project got underway in 2003, when Discovery founder and former CEO John Hendricks proposed what would become a $16 million gift to Lowell Observatory from his foundation and from Discovery Communications. In return, Discovery received naming rights to the telescope and first right of refusal to use images from the telescope in their online and broadcast educational programming. As of last year it was the fifth largest telescope in the continental U.S. (https://lowell.edu/research/research-facilities/4-3-meter-dct/)

The media company's reported interest in The Explorers Club seems like a perfect match. But as they say, the devil is in the details.


Full disclosure: EN editor and publisher Jeff Blumenfeld is a member of The Explorers Club.
 
QUOTE OF THE MONTH

"When asked if I am pessimistic or optimistic about the future, my answer is always the same: If you look at the science about what is happening on earth and aren't pessimistic, you don't understand the data. But if you meet the people who are working to restore this earth and the lives of the poor, and you aren't optimistic, you haven't got a pulse."

- Paul Hawken (1946 -), American environmentalist, entrepreneur, author, and activist.  Source: Commencement Address to the Class of 2009, University of Portland (Oregon).   

MEDIA MATTERS


PBS Born to Explore Renewed

Born to Explore hosted by Richard Wiese, a half-hour television series produced by Explorer Films, LLC, in partnership with WGBH Boston, has been renewed for its eighth season. The show travels worldwide to celebrate world cultures, encounter rare and endangered wildlife and discover the wonders of the planet.

Wiese and co-executive producer Mercedes Velgot have produced over 200 shows and has received two Daytime Emmy Awards and 14 Emmy nominations, as well as 35 Telly Awards, 4 Parents' Choice Awards and a CINE Golden Eagle. Primary funding is provided by Aggressor Adventures.

Earlier this month, The Explorers Club announced that Wiese was re-elected president by its Board of Directors. This will be his third term in that leadership role.

Learn more about the show here:



Folds and grooves still visible in this 2,600-year-old brain. Photo: York Archaeological Trust

He Lost His Head; Researchers Find it 2,600 Years Later

Nearly 2,600 years ago, a man was beheaded near modern-day York, in northeast England - for what reasons, no one  knows - and his head was quickly buried in the clay-rich mud. When researchers found his skull in 2008, they were startled to find that his brain tissue, which normally rots rapidly after death, had survived for millennia  - even maintaining features such as folds and grooves, writes Rodrigo Pérez Ortega in Science Magazine (Jan. 7, 2020).

Now, researchers think they know why. Two structural proteins - which act as the "skeletons" of neurons and astrocytes - were more tightly packed in the ancient brain. In a year-long experiment, they found that these aggregated proteins were also more stable than those in modern-day brains. In fact, the ancient protein clumps may have helped preserve the structure of the soft tissue for ages, the researchers reported earlier this month in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface (https://royalsocietypublishing.org)

Read the story here:



Borge Ousland and Mike Horn. (Photo courtesy Borge Ousland) 

Borge Ousland Says "Leave Your Fears Behind"

Borge Ousland is the first person to have completed an unsupported solo crossing of the Antarctic via the South Pole. Last month, Ousland, 57, and fellow explorer Mike Horn, 53,  completed a grueling, 87-day expedition across the Arctic Ocean in the dark of the polar night, experiencing temperatures below minus 40 F.

In an interview with Jim Clash, contributor to Forbes.com (Jan. 8) Ousland says, "Mike and I wanted to do a classical, old-style polar expedition, crossing the North Pole by entering and exiting the ice by boat. The last time this was tried was when Fridtjof Nansen and Hjalmar Johansen left the polar ship Fram in 1895. Nansen and Johansen did not, however, reach the North Pole, so this challenge remained undone up to now. It was a battle from day one, but we made it unsupported.

"No one has completed a trek across the polar ocean in this style before, and no one has done an expedition up there that time of year. We probed unknown territory, so to speak."

When asked how he managed fear, Ousland replies, "You have to leave your fears behind on a trip like this. The focus is on survival. There is only room for that fear that keeps you safe and alive, and that helps you deal with immediate danger. We were beyond rescue for most of this trip, and wouldn't have made it if we were going to be afraid all the time."

Read the story here:


EXPEDITION MARKETING

 

Guide Service Celebrates 100th Polar Expedition

For years we've met amateur adventurers who say they've skied to the North or South Pole, while in reality what they accomplished was the so-called "Last Degree"  about 60 nautical miles. We often congratulate them for the effort, while cautioning them to qualify their claims for the sake of their own credibility.

One company that has led exactly 100 Last Degree amateur expeditions to date is Chicago-area-based PolarExplorers. In a recent promotional email to EN, they proudly announce that despite strong winds, limited visibility and extremely cold temperatures, a five-person international team reached the South Pole on Jan. 12.

The team skied the Last Degree of latitude from 89° degrees S to 90 degrees S. This 60 nautical mile (111 km) journey was the second polar expedition for four of the five team members who have already skied the Last Degree to the North Pole.

Annie Aggens, director of PolarExplorers, points out that the South Pole is more predictable than skiing across the frozen sea that surrounds the North Pole. "There is no open water within hundreds and hundreds of miles of the South Pole. There is no ocean drift. Where you fall asleep is where you wake up. And there are no polar bears."

Another important difference is that while there is nothing at the North Pole, the South Pole is home to the permanent Amundsen Scott South Pole Station as well as a small seasonal basecamp for explorers who arrive by ski. PolarExplorers guide Keith Heger adds, "It's incredibly satisfying to see the station appear like a small dot on the horizon and to watch it get bigger knowing that it is your destination."

PolarExplorers organizes annual expeditions to the North Pole, South Pole, Greenland, Svalbard, Iceland and other destinations in the Arctic and Antarctic. Their 101st expedition will be to the North Pole in April. Their polar expeditions may be just 60 n.m., but it's still no walk in the park.

For more information: www.polarexplorers.com

EXPEDITION INK



Labyrinth of Ice by Buddy Levy (St. Martin's Press, December 2019)

Reviewed by Robert F. Wells

A bit of context. As a teenager in 1861, Adolphus W. Greely enlisted in the 19th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. Soon, his mind was marinated with imagery of the horrific battle at Antietam. Then he was off to the Dakota Territory in the early 1870's as the country's top meteorologist  - while the world became enveloped in the financial crash of 1873.

In 1879, a good friend, George DeLong, commander of the ship USS Jeannette, was lost without a trace while on an attempted voyage to the North Pole. In the face of this backdrop, Greely set off on a revolutionary scientific mission in 1881 to reach "Farthest North" - and establish a critical weather station as part of an "International Polar Year (IPY)" effort.

Early goings were routine. "Leads," or sea lanes of navigable water, brought the expedition through dreaded Melville Bay - known as a "mysterious region of terror."  An outpost dubbed Fort Conger was set up as polar darkness settled in... and by mid-May of 1882, the goal of "Farthest North" was achieved. Along the way, impressive scientific data was recorded.  Then all hell broke loose.  It lasted for literally two more years.

Resupply missions never arrived - thanks in part to Secretary of War, Robert Todd Lincoln, who thought Arctic exploration was an utter waste of money. Greely's ship Proteus was "nipped" in ice, crushing its hull and sending it to the bottom. A "devil's symphony" of grinding ice from colossal paleocrystic floes relentlessly taunted the crew with combinations of moaning, thunder and shrieking. Temperatures often plummeted to  minus 50 degrees F. Gales became norms.

Meanwhile, the crew abandoned Fort Conger with its shelter and supplies to seek help farther south at Cape Sabine. Suffering was severe. Frostbite was common. Food ran out. At one point, the crew sat down to a meal of "a stew composed of a pair of boot soles, a handful of reindeer moss, and a few rock lichens."  All drifted in and out of deliriousness... as 19 died. And all hope nearly died with them.

Copious notes somehow survived - which became the chronicle narrated in this book.  The acute misery of each day splayed out, page after page. The tale is brutal, as men slipped into unconsciousness and beyond to death. Then, miraculously, a rescue mission in July 1884 found seven survivors clinging onto wisps of life, and brought them home.  Commander Greely survived.

And after a short burst of acidic press claiming rumors of cannibalism during the venture, Greely survived to become a richly-deserved hero. He carried on for decades  - giving speeches (where he never accepted a penny, in deference to those who died at Cape Sabine) ... and he was one of the founders of both the National Geographic Society and the Explorers Club.

If you want excitement, as recreated three decades later by Sir Ernest Shackleton's venture in Antarctica, this is your book.  Just make sure you've got your "woolies" on.

Robert F. 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 the director of a steel band (www.blueflamessteelband.com) and in 1989, at the age of 45, traveled south by road bike from Canada to Long Island Sound in a single 350-mile, 19-hr., 28-min. push.

ON THE HORIZON


New York Wild Film Festival, Feb. 27-March 1, 2020, New York City

Through powerful, exhilarating films and conversations, the festival presents an opportunity to exchange ideas, celebrate the wild and effect change. New York Wild is a platform to create excitement, identify critical issues, build partnerships, and reach audiences that care about exploring, discovering and protecting our planet.

The kick-off reception at The Paley Center for Media is Feb. 27; film showings begin Feb. 28 at The Explorers Club, 46 E. 70th Street, New York, and continue through the afternoon of March 1. There's also a special showing of family-friendly films for ages 7-plus that Sunday afternoon.

For more information:




AAC Annual Benefit Weekend, March 13-15, 2020, Denver

The American Alpine Club will host the 2020 Annual Benefit Dinner (ABD) weekend March 13-15, 2020 in Denver. Since 1902, the Annual Benefit Dinner has served to convene the climbing community and garner support for the Club's work around the protection of wild places.

This year's ABD will be presented by Patagonia and will feature a keynote by Kris McDivitt Tompkins, Former CEO of Patagonia and current president of Tompkins Conservation.
Tompkins is a longstanding defender of wild places and a champion for the planet. 

She will speak March 14, 2020, at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts (1101 13th St, Denver). She and her late husband Doug Tompkins turned millions of acres across Chile and Argentina into National Parks in an effort to restore and re-wild landscapes.

For more information:

www.americanalpineclub.org/annual-benefit-dinner

EXPEDITION CLASSIFIEDS



Space Available for John Huston's Ski Expedition to Svalbard
 
Colorado polar explorer John Huston is organizing a short expedition March 15-22, 2020,  to Svalbard, Norway - a scenic mountainous archipelago located in the North Sea at 78 degrees N. His co-leader is long-time friend and expedition colleague Harald Kippenes, a Norwegian who owns and operates Yourway Adventures & Expeditions.

Harald and John have worked closely together since 2005 when they were teammates re-staging Roald Amundsen's race to the South Pole for a BBC/History Channel film production.

The route is stunning - beginning east of Longyearbaen, travel is via stunning glaciers, mountain passes, and mountain-lined valleys and ends back in town. There is a chance of northern lights occurring. Participants will sleep in tents and haul sleds with all the necessary gear and food.

Huston is a professional polar explorer and veteran of the first American unsupported expedition to the North Pole. He has completed major expeditions to the South Pole, on Greenland, and to Canada's fabled Ellesmere Island. 

Cost is $4,750 pp. For more information: http://www.johnhuston.com/svalbard  
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