From The Adventure Blog…

Here’s a video that I came across a week or so back and forgot about, but a friend was kind enough to remind me of it earlier today. It’s a first person perspective of a couple of hikers exploring the El Camino del Rey in Spain. The name means “The King’s Pathway”, and the trail offers access to a popular climbing location, but just getting there is part of the adventure, as you’ll see.

From The Adventure Blog…

John Wilton-Davies has announced his intentions to go solo, and unsupported, to the South Pole later this year. Of course there always a number of explorers each year that make that expedition, and a few even go solo and unsupported as well. However, once John reaches the South Pole, he’s only halfway to his destination!

That’s right, he’s not only going to the Pole, but he’ll also turn around and return to Hercules Inlet where he began. Solo and unsupported the whole way. It what is being called the Last Great Challenge, John hopes to become the first man to ever accomplish this amazing feat. He predicts that it will take approximately 77 days to make the historic round trip journey on skis, pulling his sledge behind him.

On his website you’ll find more information about the Last Great Challenge, including a bio of John, a list of Frequently Asked Questions, a general overview of the expedition, a photo gallery, and much much more.

Of course, my personal favorite section is his gear list which has a complete run down of all the equipment he plans on taking with him. When looking this over, keep in mind that he’ll be pulling it all behind him on a sledge that will be 2 1/2 times his own body weight. He’ll also need to average roughly 20 miles per day, through some of the most in hospitable terrain on the planet, in order to stick to his schedule. Piece of cake!

You may remember John from his solo and unsupported 2006 expedition to the South Pole. Back then he reached 88.5º S before running out supplies and time. He truly gave it everything he could, and came up just a bit short, but clearly he learned a lot, and feels he has unfinished business at the bottom of the world, and he’s going back with a vengeance.

Good luck John! We’ll be following your adventure and rooting for you come November.

From The Adventure Blog…

The Wend Blog, official blog for Wend Magazine posted this amazing video clip of snowboarder Terje Haakenson making the first descent of Peak 7601 in Alaska. Terje is delivered to the summit via a helicopter and then rides a near vertical face down the side of the mountain. It’s a crazy and thrilling ride to be sure. I’d have probably made it down about three meters while still on my board. The rest of the “first descent” would be on my face. Enjoy!

via The Adventure Blog… 

You know the old adage “What goes up, must come down”? Well, that applies to mountaineering as much as anything. However, I don’t think they considered someone stepping into a pair of skis at 24,688 feet, then dropping off the top of a perfectly good summit with nothing but 9000 feet of vert to contend with when they coined the phrase.

A few days back I posted a link to a special edition of the Rest of Everest podcast in which producer Jon Miller chatted with climbers Ben Clark, Josh Butson, and Tim Clarke. At the time, the three men were preparing to leave for Kathmandu where they were embarking on their Annapurna IV Expedition.

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Famed mountaineer Ed Viesturs and renowned polar explorer and dog musher John Steston will be heading back into the Arctic this Friday, April 25th. The two men will be heading to Baffin Island, where they’ll pull their sledges for 150 miles, over the course of 20 days, as they explore some of the most remote, and untouched regions of the Canadian Arctic, in an effort to raise awareness about global climate change.

In what’s being called the “Healthy Planet = Healthy People” expedition, Viesturs and Stetson intend to document the effects of global warming on Baffin Island by visiting remote Inuit villages and interviewing the people that live there, much the way that Will Steger did last year with his Global Warming 101 expedition.

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Elk Mountains Grand Traverse

March 29, 2008 - Crested Butte/Aspen, Colorado

By Craig Stein

While the calendar says it’s officially Spring, the Colorado Rockies are still enveloped in the deep snows of Winter. It is 12:00:01 AM and the race has just started with temperatures hovering around 32 degrees Fahrenheit. 125 teams of two have assembled in Crested Butte for the 11th edition start of the Elk Mountains Grand Traverse (EMGT). A mere 40 miles of Colorado back country lie ahead for participants before they reach the finish line at the base of Aspen (Ajax) Mountain Ski Resort. The course traces the 1880’s mail route between the once booming mining towns of Crested Butte and Aspen Colorado. The front running teams hope to have an incident free night in order to reach the finish in under eight hours but that is not typically what the EMGT doles out. Anything from gale force winds and extreme avalanche danger to equipment failures potentially await teams as they race into the dark. 

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Primal Quest presents another posting from The Adventure Blog!

I mentioned a week or so back that two kayakers were attempting to cross the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand less than a year after Andrew McAuley lost his life attempting the same thing.

Today we have an update from Australia’s The Age newspaper with word that the two men have struggled in their endeavor. Australians Justin Jones, 24, and James Castrission, 25, set off on their journey on November 9th in attempt to become the first to successfully kayak those open waters, however they have encountered rough seas, with 5 to 6 meter swells, that had them seeking shelter inside their kayak’s specially designed cabin. The confinement to that small space, the poor weather, and the lack of progress has made things difficult on the them, although they are still determined to reach Auckland and the finish line. The past few days have seen improved weather and better paddling conditions.

You can read more about their historic kayak crossing on their official website which includes a GPS tracking of their progress as well as photos, news, and more information on the expedition itself.

Primal Quest presents another posting from The Adventure Blog!

British legend Sir Ranulph Fiennes will be returning to Everest in the Spring to attempt to become the oldest Brit to top out on the mountain. According to this story over at MountEverest.net, Sir Ran will be once again looking to raise money for the Marie Curie Cancer Care Foundation.

Dubbed the “World’s Greatest Living Explorer”, Fiennes has lead quite an interesting life of adventure. He’s gone up the White Nile via hovercraft, visited both Poles, discovered a lost city in Oman, completed 7 marathons, in 7 days, on 7 continents, and at the age of 62 he climbed the Eiger. Not bad, but that doesn’t mean he’s slowing down just yet. He also participated in the Victoria Falls Expedition celebrating the 150th anniversary of the discovery of the falls by David Livingstone. (Dr. Livingstone I presume!)

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