January 2003 – Volume Ten, Number One
January 2003 – Volume Ten, Number One
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.
Welcome to EXPEDITION NEWS Highlights for January 2003. This
represents just a few excerpts from our complete edition, available for a
yearly subscription charge of $36 for e-mail or domestic postal delivery/$46
via international mail. – The Editors
DENTIST SEEKS THE WHOLE TOOTH
There’s something poetic about a dentist launching an expedition to
study the 6-10 foot tusk of the narwhal, one of the rarest whales in the
oceans. The Narwhal Tooth Expedition will depart for the edge of an ice floe
in northern Baffin Island this spring, carrying an Explorers Club flag.
Leading investigators in the fields of dental research, marine biology,
genetics and mathematics have been assembled to uncover the mystery of
nature’s most intriguing tooth.
Principle investigator is Harvard School of Dental Medicine clinical
instructor Dr. Martin Nweeia of Sharon, Conn., who plans a 30-day expedition
to study the narwhal, an animal that author and explorer Ivan T. Sanderson
calls "…the most extraordinary of all living mammals."
The Narwhal Tooth Expedition will study the narwhal from a small boat on an ice floe several hours by snowmobile outside Pond Inlet on the northern tip of Baffin Island. Harvested narwhal will be studied as well as skeletal material housed in the U.S., Canada, Denmark and Greenland.
"No one has come up with an accepted function and use for this tooth nor has any explanation been given for its unusual spiral, why it is only expressed in males and why only the left tooth has this elongated expression," says Dr. Nweeia.
YOUNGEST TEAM PLANS NORTH POLE EXPEDITION
This March, a group of five British youth, ages 18 to 20, will attempt to
achieve three world records - the youngest team, the youngest male and the
youngest female to reach the North Geographic Pole on-foot.
Lead by Canadian polar explorer Richard Weber, the
expedition will conclude the team’s year of training in Spitsbergen,
Norway, prior to departure from Ward Hunt Island for the 55-day trek. The
team expects to arrive at the North Pole in early May, traveling the 477
miles (770 km) straight line distance at an average of nine miles (15 km) per
day.
EXPEDITION UPDATE
Stoup Plans Polar Bike Ride – U.S. adventurer Doug Stoup, 38, is planning to test his specially engineered "extreme terrain bike" on a 136-mi. (220 km) round-trip journey from the Patriot Hills in Ellsworth Land.
This month’s Ice Bike Expedition, scheduled for Jan. 16-26, is designed both to test the bike and to help generate funds for a ride to the South Geographic Pole late next year (See EN, January 2001).
EXPEDITION NOTES
British Centenary Expedition Places Youngest at South Pole –
A 27-year-old became the youngest Briton to reach the South Pole on-foot. Tom
Avery's arrival at the Pole marked the end of the British Centenary
Expedition, a grueling 702-mile trek across the Antarctic.
Good Will Walking – Will Cross, 35, of Pittsburgh, is well on his way to becoming the first man with Type 1 diabetes to walk to the South Pole. He and his partner, Jerry Petersen, 36, also from the Pittsburgh area, have arrived at the Thiel Mountains on their "NovoLog Ultimate Walk to Cure Diabetes." The expedition plans to conduct first-time medical research into muscle function and metabolism in a Type 1 diabetic under extreme conditions.
MEDIA MATTERS
Fossett Feat Credited in Vanity Fair – Chicago options trader Steve Fossett, 58, was credited with achieving the first solo round-the-world balloon flight in the December issue of Vanity Fair. The magazine writes, "Because he is neither seeking thrills nor courting danger; his lone goal, he claims, is personal achievement based on skill and effort, which explains why he refuses to bungee-jump and loathes roller coasters."
Retracing Great British Explorers – Granada Media in London is planning to retrace the footsteps of great British explorers and seeks help from exploration experts. They hope to create a documentary that involves some drama in a destination both striking and accessible, particularly in the East or the Middle East. (For more information: Tom Whitrow, Granada Media, tel. UK (+44) 207-633-2698, tom.whitrow@granadamedia.com, www.granadamedia.com).
ON THE HORIZON
Yeager and Fossett Help ECAD Celebrate
Flight – The Explorers Club Annual Dinner in New York on Mar. 22
will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Wright Brothers historic flight.
Honored at the Waldorf-Astoria event will be General Charles "Chuck" Yeager
who set the first supersonic flight in 1947, followed by another
record-setting feat in 1953 – piloting of the rocket-powered X-1A to a
record 1,650 mph (Mach 2.44). In addition, Steve Fossett will speak about
achieving the first around-the-world balloon solo flight.
The Club is trying
something new this time around: an "After ECAD Gathering" among the exhibits.
Members will cozy up to round tables to "tell tall tales." (For more
information: (+1) 212-628-8383; www.explorers.org).
AAC Annual Meeting in Boston – The American Alpine Club 2003 Annual Meeting visits Boston this year, Friday, February 28 through Saturday, March 1 at the Westin Waltham-Boston Hotel. Friday night's program will celebrate the 40th anniversary of the first American ascent of Mount Everest, with slide show presentations by Jim Whittaker and Tom Hornbein. Whittaker was the first American to summit Everest, while Hornbein was part of the duo that first climbed the West Ridge and did the first traverse over the peak.
Saturday evening's speaker will be Carlos Carsolio, the Mexican alpinist who was the fourth person ever to climb the 14 8000-meter peaks, several of which he climbed via new routes or solo. (For more information: www.AmericanAlpineClub.org).
Planning Begins for Mars Expedition – Apparently, it’s not too soon to start planning an expedition to 15-mile-high Olympus Mons on Mars, the largest mountain in the solar system. On Feb. 24, the British Interplanetary Society in London will host a seminar titled, "Martian Expedition Planning."
Expedition planning on Mars requires an understanding of polar ice caps, deserts, mountains and subterranean systems. The purpose of this symposium on the 70th anniversary of the Society and 50th anniversary of the climbing of Everest is to bring together scientists interested in these environments on Earth and Mars and to investigate the similarities and differences that govern the planning of expeditions on both planets. (For more information: British Interplanetary Society, tel. (+44) 20-7735-3160; bis.bis@virgin.net; www.bis-spaceflight.com).
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
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!
Daniel Mazur
summitclimb@earthlink.net
www.summitclimb.com
Tel: (+1) 206-329-4107
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editor: Jessica Brown. ©2002 Blumenfeld and Associates, Inc. All rights
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