The following are Highlights from our July 2001 issue. If you'd like to receive a free sample issue of the entire newsletter, send a long self-addressed stamped envelope (34 cents postage) to Jeff Blumenfeld, ed. and publisher. See adddress at the end of the newsletter or log onto www.expeditionnnews.com.
EXPEDITION NEWS 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.
TEENS PLAN MCCLIMB IN VIETNAM
A dedicated group of red-blooded British teens turned to their nearby fast
food restaurant for sponsorship of a learning expedition to Vietnam. This
month, eight students from the Banbury School in Banbury, Oxfordshire, plan
to walk north to south 2,000-miles through Vietnam, climbing the country's
tallest peak, Mt. Fan Si Pan (10,312-ft./3143 m) in the remote northwestern
highlands. Sponsors include the home of the Big Mac, the Banbury McDonald's
which provided gift certificates for free meals to give away as prizes at
fund-raising events. Team member David Glover, 18, said, "I used to work for
McDonald's and approached them during my term of employment."
EXPEDITION UPDATE
Voyage to the Bottom of the Top of the World - Former Explorers Club
President Capt. Alfred S. McLaren, U.S. Navy (Ret.), Ph.D., has postponed his
planned deep submersible dive to the sea bottom beneath the North Pole for
one year, until August 2002 (See EN, May 1998). As he searches for additional
sponsors for the estimated $1-2 million project, he participated last month
in the first manned dive of the German battleship Bismarck, sunk on May
27,1941, about 380 nautical miles southwest of Ireland.
EXPEDITION NOTES
Fuel Cells Will Power Antarctica Crossing - A team of adventurers in Japan
are planning to cross Antarctica in late 2002 on fuel cell-powered vehicles
to demonstrate the usefulness of the new energy source. Up to six members of
Challenge Antarctica 21 will take part in the seven-week, 1,674-mi. adventure
via the South Pole, according to team leader Mikio Chiba, a 51-year-old
freelance journalist.
EXPEDITION FOCUS
Midnight Sun Means More Hours for Exploring
What's with this midnight sun thing, we wondered the morning of our first day
180 miles north of the Arctic Circle in Ilulissat, Greenland? Traveling to
the world's largest island on business, we were looking forward to
experiencing the midnight sun for only the second time. However, we found the
experience quite disconcerting for someone from the temperate zones. Here
you are, after a big day, ready for some shut-eye. The clock says 12:15 a.m.,
yet the sun is streaming through your hotel window. The body refuses to
sleep, thinking instead it's just laying down for a little nap. The only
solution is to tightly draw the shades and wear a sleep mask pilfered from
your flight over there. The end result: you spend five days dragging your
butt in a constant state of sleep deprivation.
Is this agony just for newsletter editors? Apparently. Professional explorers
don't seem to mind 24/7 sun in the least. Canadian explorer Richard Weber of
Canadian Arctic Holidays in Chelsea, Quebec, thinks perhaps this midnight
agony is all in our head. He writes, "I have never had much trouble sleeping
in the sun. I sometimes pull my hat down over my eyes. If I am on an
expedition and am tired at the end of a day, a little sun is not going to
keep me awake.
"Perhaps, it is just experience," Weber continues. "I spend almost three
months each year in 24-hour sunlight. The hardest part is stopping and going
to bed. With 24-hour sun, I just want to keep going. I love to go on 26 to 28
hour days. Isn't that everyone's wish? To have more hours in the day?"
EXPEDITION MARKETING
Armchair Adventure at its Fiennes - We're not sure what the attraction is,
but polar explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes OBE is leading the first public
overflight from the United Kingdom to the North Pole. This shirt-sleeve
"armchair adventure" requires no more skill than it takes to open a bag of
peanuts. Goodwood Travel Ltd. is running the Flights of Fantasy "expedition"
as a day flight in an all-club class Boeing 747 luxury jet with its "business
class leather cradle seats, each with a massive 68-in. first-class pitch."
The aircraft will fly a figure eight pattern over points of particular
interest to give those on both sides of the aircraft a good view.
MEDIA MATTERS
It's About Time - The last time Mt. Everest made the cover of the
newsweeklies, a tragedy had to occur. Thus it was gratifying to see a good
story this time: Time magazine's June 18 cover feature on blind climber Erik
Weihenmayer titled, "Blind Faith."
Karl Taro Greenfeld writes about Erik's trip through the famed Khumbu
icefall, "For a moment (Erik) flashed on all those cliches about what blind
people are supposed to do - become piano tuners or pencil salesmen - and
thought maybe they were stereotypes for good reason."
Kanchenjunga, Ama Dablam, plus trekking peaks. Kilimanjaro, Mt. Kenya Rock Climb. Low Prices. All Abilities.
E-mail: africa_inc@cybernet1.com, himalaya_inc@cybernet1.com
Web: www.himalayaclimb.com, www.kilitrek.com, www.kenyaclimb.com,
www.nojintangla.com
tel: 406-363-7747
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.
©2001 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.