September 2003 – Volume Ten, Number Nine
September 2003 – Volume Ten, Number Nine
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 SEPTEMBER 2003 ISSUE.
For a free sample issue of our complete version, available monthly for $36/year, please drop us an
e-mail note. - The Editor, editor@ExpeditionNews.com
STEGER PLANS 3,000 MILE NUNAVUT EXPEDITION
Will Steger, arguably the most experienced polar explorer alive, is planning a six-month, 3,000-mi. dog sled expedition in December across Nunavut, the new Canadian Inuit province that was split off from the Northwest Territories.
According to an Aug. 29 story in Steger's hometown newspaper, the Timberjay News (Ely, Minn.), he and five others will verify satellite data on snow depths and densities with on-site readings, a process called "ground-truthing." Such data is crucial to understanding and documenting recent human-influenced climate change, what most now call "global warming."
EXTREME 2003 EXPEDITION'S PACIFIC HYDROTHERMAL VENTS WILL BE JUST A CLICK AWAY
The University of Delaware's College of Marine Studies is gearing up for "Extreme 2003: To the Depths of Discovery," a deep-sea expedition to 3000 m deep hydrothermal vents on the Pacific Ocean floor. The expedition is scheduled from Nov. 29 to Dec. 21.
Extreme 2003, led by UD researchers aboard the research vessel Atlantis and making use of the untethered submersible Alvin, is noteworthy because scientists take thousands of students from around the world with them through Internet and telephone connections.
EXPEDITION NOTES
Inflatable Boat Crosses Atlantic – Last month, a British explorer completed an epic 3,050-mile journey from Canada to the U.K. in an open-top rigid inflatable boat (RIB).
Bear Grylls and his three-man crew arrived at John o'Groats, Scotland, on Aug. 14, after reportedly completing the first unassisted high latitude crossing of the North Atlantic, just south of the Arctic Circle.
How Do You Say "SHARK??!!!!" – Diving expeditions can be such a solitary affair, there are times when explorers wish they could communicate with each other down below.
Well, listen up: a dive shop in California is teaching a form of underwater communications called SeaSigns that promise to teach divers how to string words together like, "Your BCD tank strap is loose. Want me to fix it?"
The California Dive Center in San Bruno promises that after three hours in a high-tech classroom and a brief pool session, divers will become a SeaSigns Safety Signer. (For more information: www.cadive.com)
QUOTE OF THE MONTH
"I don't have to be faster than the grizzly; I just have to be faster than you." – Survival theory for travel through grizzly country, according to Dandelion magazine, Vol. 1, No. 2, www.dandelionmag.com
EXPEDITION FOCUS
Titanic Wreckage Rapidly Disintegrating
The Titanic is quickly being claimed by the icy waters in which it sank as man and nature cause rapid disintegration some 18 years after the wreck's
discovery off the coast of Canada.
A team of researchers, scientists and explorers returned last month from a trip aboard the world's largest research
vessel, the Russian Akademik Mstislav Keldysh, to the site of the Titanic, discovered in 1985 in international waters off the Newfoundland coast.
Researchers said the ship's mast, boat deck and the officer cabins have all collapsed in the last couple of years.
EXPEDITION MARKETING
Pipin Shares His Life Story – Twentieth Century Fox has acquired for Lightstorm Entertainment the rights to the life story of legendary freediving champion Francisco "Pipin" Ferreras, 41, for filmmaker James Cameron to direct.
The planned feature will focus on Pipin's relationship with his late wife Audrey Mestre, a freediving star in her own right who died last year attempting to beat her own "No Limits" diving record off the coast of the Dominican Republic (See EN, November 2002).
The "No Limits" category is the deepest, most extreme and most dangerous of all freediving categories.
On October 12 – commemorating the first anniversary of Audrey's death – Pipin will travel to Cabo San Lucas to attempt to match Audrey's world record single-breath dive of 170 meters (557.7 feet).
Pipin's attempt will be witnessed and recorded by Cameron using two manned submersibles that will follow Pipin's trajectory along the cable on which a mechanical sled carries him down and back to the surface once the designated depth has been reached.
Thrifty Climbers – There's a publication for everyone – even, can you believe it, a newsletter about expeditions. When seeking exposure for a project or sponsor, media-savvy explorers should look deep within themselves for publicity targets. Sometimes, it helps to check your own wallet. Belong to the AAA? There's a magazine that might be interested in your next expedition, especially if it involves wheels. Have you blown by the age of 50? Maybe there's still hope for you yet in Modern Maturity magazine.
Costco, the home of the 20 lbs. Cheerios box and quart-size jars of mustard, has a magazine called Costco Connection that recently profiled climber - and longtime Costco member - John Roskelley, 54, of Spokane.
His expedition to Everest with his son, Jess Roskelley, 20, was profiled in the July issue of the magazine in a section called "The Member Connection."
Jess recently received a modicum of fame when he became the youngest American to summit Everest (for more information: www.GenerationsOnEverest.com)
ON THE HORIZON
Explorers Club Exhibits Historic Images – The Explorers Club in New York will unlock its treasure trove of vintage photographs on Sept. 17 with a show titled, "Exposing 100 Years of Photography," prepared by Clare Flemming, M.S., curator of research collections.
The event, at Club HQ (46 E. 70th Street in New York), will also include an exhibition of finalists and announcement of winners of the EC's Centennial Photography Competition. Admission is $15 to the public. (For more information: www.explorers.org)
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, Ice Challenger across the Bering Strait, and David Hempleman-Adams' Atlantic balloon crossings and first solo and unsupported expedition to the Geomagnetic North Pole.
Alex Foley & Associates Ltd.
London, UK
alexfoley@btinternet.com
www.AlexFoleyPR.com
Tel: (+44) 207-352-3144
Mobile: (+44) 797-671-3478.
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