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.

Read the rest of this entry »

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. 

Read the rest of this entry »

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!)

Read the rest of this entry »

ad·ven·ture
n.

1. An undertaking or enterprise of a hazardous nature.
2. An unusual or exciting experience.
3. Participation in hazardous or exciting experiences: the love of adventure.

Primal Quest would like to introduce you to Kraig Becker and The Adventure Blog. Kraig’s blog is a great source for news, commentary, and insights on adventures and adventurers from around the globe. Becuase the topics he covers are more or less first cousins to adventure racing we are happy to announce that selections from Kraig’s blog will be available on the Primal Quest website.

To kick off our latest feature, we bring you a recent interview with Primal Quest Director Don Mann. Read the full interview below and see what new things Don has to say about Primal Quest 2008 as well as learn about his recent mountaineering exploits and future plans.

Read the rest of this entry »