The attempt was dubbed Expedition Earth and on November 12, 2008 Carmichael set out from Patriot Hills in the Antarctic in pursuit of his goal. There were set backs almost from the start. Bad weather slowed his progress, and by the end of the first week, the bindings on his skis were broken, and beyond repair with what little equipment he carried with him. Things looked grim, and the prospect of actually walking all the way to the South Pole, rather than skiing, didn’t seem all that promising. But walk he did, dragging his heavy sled behind him the entire way. 

The old record for the solo, unsupported South Pole Trek was 39 days, 9 hours, and 33 minutes, set back 2006 by British adventurer Hannah McKeand.  Todd arrived at the South Pole on December 21st, exactly 39 days, 7 hours, and 49 minutes after he had started. After nearly 40 days out on the ice, he broke the record by 1 hour and 44 minutes, a difference of just .2% of their total time out on the ice, the equivalent of a photo finish for this type of endurance challenge. 

Congratulations to Todd on this amazing achievement. Not only has he become the first American to go solo and unsupported to the Pole, but he also did it record time.

According to the post, Roz arrived in Hawaii at 5:55 AM local time on the 1st of September. The first stage of her journey took 99 days, 8 hours, and 55 minutes, and the last few hours were marked by a very rapid row into shore. In fact, it was so rapid that Roz beat her estimates and arrived in the wee hours of the morning, before any of the press were there to welcome her. She says that she arrived in Hawaii in much the same fashion as she had spent her time at sea, namely, all alone.

With this stage behind her, Roz will now return home, rest, and recuperate, before beginning the second stage of her journey, sometime next year, when she’ll set out from Hawaii and make way for Tuvalu Island, a distance of some 2,620 miles. Then, in 2010, she’ll complete the Pacific crossing by rowing from Tuvalu to Australia, an additional 2,324 miles.

Roz is now the first woman to row solo from California to Hawaii, and for that she should be incredibly proud. But I also know that this is only step one towards her goal, and it won’t be long until she’ll be looking ahead to her next stage. Congrats Roz! Job well done!

According to this story, over at the Guardian, the Matrix Shackleton Centenary Expedition is looking for someone to join them later this year, as the six team members, who include Shackleton’s great-grandson Patrick Bergel, will walk in the famous explorers footsteps. But, they’re also looking for someone to join the team. Someone with a zest for adventure, a love of life, and the ability to work with the team. You’ll have to be in tremendous shape and be prepared to endure the challenging Antarctic conditions. To apply to join the team, just head over to this website for more information and to apply.

The journey will begin in October, and it is expected to last about 80 days. The team will fly to the Ross Ice Shelf from Punta Areneas, where three of them will set out to cover 900+ miles to reach the point where Shackleton and his team turned back. At that point, the four other team members will join them, and they’ll attempt to continue on to the Pole, completing the journey that Shackleton was unable to finish.

Hmm… they’re looking for someone with a sense of adventure, is in good physical condition, and works well as part of team. Sounds like an adventure racer to me. I’m sure any number of racers from Montana could fill the position. Perhaps this is your chance to go to the South Pole as part of a historic team.

My favorite part of the Guardian article is in the first paragraph, where they publish the original message that Shackleton posted when looking for crew members for his original expedition. I’ve quoted it below. Great stuff!

“Men wanted for hazardous journey. Small wages. Bitter cold. Long months of complete darkness. Constant danger. Safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in case of success”

In a recent edition of

Along the course of their journey, Rob and James had to, at varying times, employ the use of sledges, bicycles, and sailboats. The used the sledges in the polar regions, traded them in for bikes when traveling through warmer climes, and then transitioned to the ship when out on the open water. Their journey brought them plenty of challenges, as Adventure notes, they faced “a fall through the ice, king-sized storms, and a capsized boat” along the way.

Check out the expedition’s official website, which is extremely well done and offers all kinds of information about the trip. The slick interface alone is worth the trip over, but you’ll also find a well done, interactive map, a blog of the journey, information on the team, and a whole lot more. Seriously, this site should be the model for all expedition websites. Really great stuff.

Congrats to Rob and James for completing their journey. Well done guys. Now enjoy a much deserved rest. (Photo courtesy of ExWeb)

The Appalachian Assault

To follow his progress, head over to WheresKarl.com, where you’ll find daily blog updates, a photo gallery from the trail, and satellite tracking provided by SPOT, whose Satellite Messenger was featured so prominently at Primal Quest Montana. 

Good luck Karl. Just 44 more days and 2,052 miles to go!

As I’ve posted before, Lisa’s 810 is the ultra-runner’s goal of raising fund and awareness for the plight of children in Africa who have become orphans due to the aids epidemic on that continent. In the first stage of the 810, Lisa ran from Las Vegas, NV to Badwater in Death Valley, covering nearly 160 miles. Once there, she transitioned directly into Stage 2, which was running the Badwater itself, which is another 135 miles. Not content to stop at the Mt. Whitney Portals, like everyone else in the Badwater, she chose to 10 miles to the summit of Mt. Whitney itself. When she was done running, she had covered more than 300 miles in the process.

The third, and final, stage of Lisa’s 810 will be in October, when she’ll once again return to Death Valley to ride in the Furnace Creek 508, a long distance bike race through the lowest, and hottest, place in the Western Hemisphere.

When she’s all done, Lisa hopes to have raised $500,000 for the Aid’s Oprphans Rising fund, and she is reportedly half-way to her goal. To contribute to the cause, click here, and to read more about Lisa’s efforts, as well as her thoughts on the Badwater Ultra, check out her personal blog here.

The ALCF has several humanitarian projects, including the Magic Yeti Library located in Khumjung, a small village in Nepal. The library has been so successful in promoting literacy and encouraging the children of the village to read, that three more libraries will open in other villages soon. The ALCF has also contributed to putting a new roof on the Chhulemu Primary School in Chhulemu Village in the Solu Khumbu region of the tiny Himalayan country. Babu Chirri Sherpa, who perished on Everest back in May of 2000, had intended to build new schools in that region, and the ALCF plans to continue working toward that dream.

Perhaps the most visible of the ALCF projects is the Khumbu Climbing School. Hosted in Phortse, Nepal, the Khumbu Climbing School is designed to be a hands-on, vocational trade school, that focuses on teaching the technical skills of climbing and mountaineering to the men and women of Nepal who make their living working in the high alpine regions of that country. The school offers instruction for beginner, intermediate, and advanced climbers alike, with top Sherpa guides joining western mountaineers in providing the students with invaluable training that they simply won’t get anywhere else. 

Launched in 2003, the KCS has recently completed it’s fifth successful year of service. Many of the students of the school have gone on to work on Everest, Annapurna, and any number of other Himalayan peaks. The skills they learn while at the KCS include technical rock and ice climbing, rope management, and high altitude mountaineering, allowing them them to climb more safely then ever before. The students also receive instruction in mountain rescue techniques, wilderness first aid, environmental responsibility, and English language skills. As a result of this excellent and unique combination of training, students from the Khumbu Climbing School are amongst the most sought after climbing guides in the Himalaya.

The Sherpa people are at the heart of any Himalayan expedition. They tend to be the ones fixing lines on the mountain and establishing high camps that the other mountaineers will use when they make their summit bids. As a result of this, the Sherpas also tend to take the brunt of the casualties as well. The Khumbu Climbing School is hoping to change that by instilling technical skills into the students that they would never have had an opportunity to learn before. This not only makes it safer for the Sherpas, but for the clients they are guiding as well. 

Alex Lowe was a mountaineer of exceptional ability, who put up first ascents on mountains in Pakistan, Alaska, and Antarctica, amongst others. Alex topped out on Everest, K2, the Matterhorn, and many other notable peaks. But what really set him apart was his indomitable spirit for adventure and his deep connection with the people he met on his expeditions. The ALCF was founded with that same spirit and the hope to continue Alex’s work towards providing sustainable community-based humanitarian programs that can directly improve the lives of the people living in the mountains that he loved so dearly. The lasting legacy of this great mountaineer is that, through the foundation that bears his name, the Nepali people continue to see their lives changed in very direct and positive ways.

You can learn much more about Alex, his wife Jennifer, and their incredible relationship with each other and their friend Conrad Anker in Jennifer’s new book Forget Me Not – A Memoir available for purchase directly from the ALCF website. 

Primal Quest salutes the ALCF for all the incredible work they do. 

The event is known as the Tour Divide , a 2711 mile long, self supported mountain bike race, which is celebrating it’s 10th year of competition. Riders set out from Banff yesterday and will continue until they reach the U.S.-Mexican border in Antelope Wells, New Mexico. The tops racers are expected to arrive in roughly 20 days, after facing challenging climbs, crazy drops, and miles of single track. 

The Tour Divide Leaderboard provides tracking from SPOT, the same team that will bring their sophisticated tracking to Primal Quest and is the race’s presenting sponsor. Expect a more advanced version of this leardboard when PQ gets underway in a little over a week. And to follow the Tour Divide, watch for updates to the Race’s Official Blog. 

Photo by Will Ramos

Explorer Todd Carmichael will set out in November to make a solo speed trek, unsupported, to the South Pole. He hopes to become the first American to make that trek, and he hopes to do it in just 38 days. This excellent video, which I came across over at the Best Hike Blog (welcome back Rick!), pretty much says it all.

You’ve got to love how Todd introduces himself in the video. “I’m Todd Carmichael, and I explorer.” That ranks right up there with: “My name is Bond. James Bond.” in my book. You can learn more about Todd’s Trek here, and you can bet I’ll be following his adventures in November. For now, have a look at his video.