EXPEDITION NEWS is the 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.
Here are Highlights from our November issue. For a free sample copy of a previous issue, send a long self-addressed
stamped (37 cents) envelope to the below address. Reprints of our November issue are available at the single issue
price of $4. - The Editors
SAILING ACROSS ANTARCTICA IN SKI BUGGIES
Two British explorers in Antarctica hope to cut what would normally be a 60-day expedition from the South Pole
to Patriot Hills down to seven days using specially designed ski buggies connected to kites. The late December
expedition by Brian Cunningham, 59, and Jamie Young, 50, will be sponsored by Nestle Kit Kat, the candy bar.
The hero of the Kit Kat Ice Kites Expedition are custom-made ski buggies designed and built by Kieron Bradley,
owner of Parastorm UK, a kite buggy company. The ski buggy is approximately 10-ft. by 10-ft. and will use five
kites each from Advance Kites of Switzerland - the biggest being 108 sq. ft. which will pull them in any winds
over five knots.
The 60 lbs. ski buggies have independent suspension to cope with the expected conditions and have been designed
with safety margins in mind. In the event of a serious buggy failure, both members of the expedition, plus all
their gear, can safely be carried on a single buggy.
EXPEDITION NOTES
Buhler Summits Sepu Kangri - American climbers Carlos Buhler and Mark Newcomb made a successful first ascent of
Sepu Kangri (22,821-ft.) in Tibet, according to a report from their sponsor, bootmaker Tecnica of West Lebanon,
N.H. The summit was reached Oct. 2 in a rapidly building blizzard. Buhler writes, "The mountain's wild and
unpredictable weather made for difficult going. Our weather windows were short and usually followed long build-ups
of snow on Sepu's dangerous avalanche terrain.
Lost WWII Fliers Recovered Along "Aluminium Trail" - The remains of four American airmen killed during
World War II were recovered recently during an expedition to eastern Tibet, according to the Associated Press.
No one is certain yet who they are, though the U.S. military has the crew manifest of the C-46 transport that went
down in March 1944 along the "hump route," named for the spectacular lumps of snow-shrouded mountains
pilots see when crossing high above the Himalayas.
Explorers Club Awards Documentary Films - The Explorers Club announced the winners of its first annual Documentary
Film Festival, scheduled at the Club's New York headquarters on Nov. 3. Award recipients include:
The Shaman's Apprentice - Best of Festival/Best Field Research Film - Deep in the rainforests of Suriname, a
scientist races against time to save the ancient healing knowledge of Indian tribes from extinction.
Ice Island - Best Exploration Film - A team of scientists and explorers races to the bottom of the world to intercept
the largest iceberg in recorded history. The odyssey takes them above, below and inside islands of ice.
Endangered Species - Best Conservation Film - The struggle of a group of inner city kids to clean up the polluted
Anacostia River and return the endangered bald eagle to its nesting home in the nation's capital.
EXPEDITION FOCUS
Climbing for Dollars
In honor of our eighth anniversary as the monthly review of worldwide expeditions, EN is pleased to present an updated
round up of expedition sponsorships we first published in May 2001. Despite the troubled economy, we're pleased
to report 11 grants totaling thousands of dollars per year are available through various programs. See information
above on how to order a copy of our grants review.
Featured grant programs are:
BALANCE Bar Grants
Banff Centre for Mountain Culture Grant
Earth and Space Foundation
The Explorers Club
Helly Hansen Mountain Adventure Award
Malden Mills Polartec Challenge
Mountaineering Fellowship Grants
Mugs Stump Award
National Geographic Expeditions Council
Rolex 2004 Awards for Enterprise
W.L. Gore Shipton/Tilman Grant
MEDIA MATTERS
McLaren Heads Back North - Dr. Alfred S. McLaren of New York has probably spent more time than anyone else in the
twilight zone beneath the earth's northern ice, measuring its thickness, probing dark waters below, investigating
its life and mapping the plains, crags and fissures of its seabed, according to an Oct. 29 story in The New York
Times.
Now, at 70, he is happily making plans to go back.
In April, McLaren, president emeritus of The Explorers Club, will help lead an expedition to Canada's northern
isles and seas, diving through the ice in a tiny two-man submersible to explore the northernmost known shipwreck
in the world, the H.M.S. Breadalbane, a British barque lost in 1853. His ultimate goal by 2004 is to become the
first person to dive to the seabed beneath the North Pole and explore a nearby ridge that bears hints of hidden
volcanic fire - and, perhaps, lush ecosystems.
IN PASSING
Ebullient Swedish Adventurer Goran Kropp Dies - Well-known Swedish adventurer Göran Kropp, who had been living
in Issaquah, Wash., the past six months, was killed Sept. 30 in a rock-climbing accident in central Washington
state.
An elite climber, skier and cyclist, Kropp, 35, is most famous for an unusual adventure in 1996, when he rode a
bicycle 7,440 miles from his home in Jönköping, Sweden, to Kathmandu in Nepal, where he climbed Mount
Everest. (See EN, September 2001).
Freediver Drowns - Freediver Audrey Mestre, 28, died in a freediving accident on Oct. 12, approximately 2-1/2 miles
off the southeast coast of the Dominican Republic. A member of The Explorers Club, she was attempting to officially
break the world freediving record with a dive of 557.7 feet (170 m), a depth she achieved unofficially during a
practice dive three days before. The cause of the accident is still being investigated. Mestre is survived by her
husband, freediver Francisco "Pipin" Ferreras of Miami.
Mestre was attempting to break the record in the "No Limits" category, which involves riding a weighted
sled down the length of a vinyl-coated stainless steel cable.
EXPEDITION CLASSIFIEDS
Expedition Public Relations
Alex Foley & Associates specializes in expedition PR. Alex Foley is honorary
secretary of the Explorers Club British Chapter and has executed PR programs for many ventures including the 1996
Titanic Expedition, David Hempleman-Adams Chase de
Vere Atlantic Challenge, David Hempleman-Adams and Josh Wishart's Polar Race, and Ice Challenger, the Bering Strait
expedition flying Explorers Club Flag 176A last March. (www.IceChallenger.com). Contact: Alex Foley & Associates
Ltd. (London, UK), alexfoley@btinternet.com Tel: (+44) 207-352-3144; Mobile: (+44) 797-671-3478.
Affordable Himalaya with Daniel Mazur - Please tell your friends. Announcing new lowered prices due to recent events.
These are full service
expeditions, including Sherpa and all costs inside Nepal: Amadablam 2003-06,
$3,950; Manaslu 2003, $6,950; Dhaulagiri 2004, $6,950; Pumori 2003-06, $3,950. We offer our new low-budget expeditions:
Mustagh-Ata 2003-06, $1,450; Cho-Oyu 2003-06, $4,650; Everest 2003-06, $6,000. Everything for the novice, intermediate
and expert since 1987. Ask about our treks. We give slide shows too! 206-329-4107, summitclimb@earthlink.net, www.summitclimb.com
