Here are highlights from our August issue. This is only one-third of what we write each month. If you'd like to receive a free sample of Expedition News, send a long self-addressed stamped envelope (33 cents) to the below address. International readers can request a free sample by e-mail. Then if you decide you can't live without EN each month, send us $36 for a year's subscription ($46 USD for international postal delivery). - The Editors
is a monthly review of significant expeditions, research projects and newsworthy adventures. It is distributed online and by mail to media representatives, corporate sponsors, educators, research librarians, explorers, environmentalists, and outdoor enthusiasts. This forum on exploration covers projects that stimulate, motivate and educate.
The English traveler John Stanley, who visited Iceland in 1789, commented: "What the Icelanders can enjoy deserving the name of happiness during the long winter I cannot imagine." According to the Insight Guide (1999, Apa Publications), the Icelandic winter is a cold, long and miserable affair, made worse by high latitude darkness. Nonetheless, an archaeologist from Portland, Ore. named Cameron M. Smith, 33, has spent five years planning an approximately 100-mi. ski crossing of the Vatnajokull Icecap, alone and in the winter season this December. Although Smith will be traveling solo in this reportedly first-ever trek, thousands of virtual high school-age companions will follow his progress via the Internet as part of the Mars Millennium Project, a nationwide initiative to educate and inspire future explorers of Mars.
There's a 10 sq. mi area of the Antarctic polar plateau near Patriot Hills that's rich in meteorites. The region is so rich, in fact, that an expedition by the Planetary Studies Foundation in January 2002 refuses to say exactly where they're going. On ice, space rocks tend to stick out like the proverbial sore thumb, and an estimated 50 to 300 in the area are there for the taking. "You can never have enough meteorites to study because each can reveal new secrets," says meteoriticist Paul Sipiera of the PSF. "We have rivals. We're afraid commercial organizations might beat us there if they knew where we were going."
-JanSport is spearheading a fund-raiser for Cate Casson, 38, a senior guide with Rainier Mountaineering, Inc. (RMI) in Washington State who was severely injured on Mount Rainier last May. The lip of a cornice broke away beneath Casson, trapping her between huge blocks of ice and causing severe trauma to her spine. For 15 years, Cate has guided all over the world. In 1995, she was a summit team guide on the successful Expedition Inspiration climb of 22,841-ft. Mount Aconcagua in Argentina, an expedition to raise funds for breast cancer research sponsored by many outdoor companies. She has 124 summits of Mount Rainier under her belt, a woman's climbing world record. Casson's injuries are still too extensive for doctors to determine whether or not she will walk again. Confined to a wheelchair, she faces a number of physical, emotional and financial challenges in the coming months.
To support the Cate Casson Fund, JanSport will host an industry party at the large Outdoor Retailer Summer Market in Salt Lake on Aug. 12. Other industry supporters include: Duofold, Du Pont Nylon, Helly Hansen, Marmot, Moonstone, Mountain Hardwear, New Balance, Outside Magazine, REI, Smartwool, Teva, The North Face, Trails Illustrated, and Woolrich.
(For more information: Gigi DeYoung, JanSport, Gigi_de_Young@vfc.com; send donations to: Cate Casson Fund, c/o Bank One Utah N.A., Attn. Gordon Kuan, 80 West Broadway, Salt Lake City, Utah 84101).
-Hewlett-Packard supplied hand-held Jornada personal digital assistants to an expedition this month to the 6000-meter peaks of Kyrgystan's Eastern Zaalay Mountains. The multi-tasking PDA's feature global positioning systems and will be used for writing the trip's diary, e-mail downloads and web surfing at base camp breaks. Gore-Tex is also contributing by supplying clothing. The team is made up of leader Tom Avery, George Wells, Patrick Woodhead, Scott Jamison, Nick Stopford and two NOW.com producers who will remain at base camp to relay news of the climb. The five climbers are all Bristol University graduates, and are all in their 20s except Jamison, who is 33.
-Land Rover supports the Border to Border Expedition Society, a not-for-profit organization promoting the spirit of adventure "inherent with ownership of the world's most durable and versatile four-wheel-drive vehicles." There's cool stuff to buy at www.bordertoborder .com, a magazine called "Tracks," and news about Rover-only expeditions - such as the Vintage Rovers Across Africa project, a February 2001 adventure from northwest to southeast Africa.
-While many mourn the demise of LIFE Magazine after over 60 years, members of its editorial staff continue at Time, Inc. in various capacities. The editors, in fact, are preparing a look at "The Greatest Adventures of All Time," a Time book set for publication this fall. Editor Robert Sullivan promises a 176-page, hardbound coffee table book with 30,000 words of text and extraordinary photos.
-Inexpensive, well organized. 7000 and 8000 meter peaks. Beginner and expert routes. Tel: 406-363-7747, e-mail: himalaya_inc@cybernet1.com.
: www.shishapangma.com and www.nojintangla.com
- Costa Rica's dual coasts are featured in the exclusive "Rain Forests & Reefs" expedition, a 16-day odyssey encompassing five Central American countries, two oceans and the "Eighth Wonder of the World" - the Panama Canal. Sailing aboard the sleek four-masted Wind Star, explore Panama, traverse the historic canal, visit remote coastal islands off Nicaragua and Honduras, and experience the stunning cays of Belize. From howler monkeys, dart frogs and scarlet macaws, to a rainbow of butterflies, it's a journey filled with nature's vivid wonders. February 2001.
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is published by Blumenfeld and Associates, Inc., 28 Center Street, Darien, CT 06820 USA. Tel. 203 855 9400, fax 203 855 9433, blumassoc@aol.com. Editor/publisher: Jeff Blumenfeld. 2000 Blumenfeld and Associates, Inc. All rights reserved. ISSN: 1526-8977. Subscriptions: US$36/yr.; international postal rate US$46/yr. Highlights from EXPEDITION NEWS can be found at www.expeditionnews.com; credit cards accepted through www.mountainzone.com/news/expedition. Layout and design by Nextwave Design, Seattle.