February 2006 – Volume Thirteen, Number Two

EXPEDITION NEWS, now in its 12^th year, is the monthly review of significant expeditions, research projects and newsworthy adventures. It is distributed online 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 following are highlights of our January issue, but this is only part of the story. Click here to subscribe to the full edition. or e-mail us for a free sample copy at editor@ExpeditionNews.com

FOLLOWING THE TRAIL OF THE INCAS

In June, Gregory Deyermenjian, 56, from Boston, and Paulino Mamani, 44, of Peru, will depart on a project called, "The 2006 Paititi Expedition: Beyond the Pantiacolla Plateau and the Furthest Known Reach of the Incas." Their expedition, funded by a National Geographic Expeditions Council grant, will again be carrying The Explorers Club Flag into a largely unexplored area, the outer fringes of the "Meseta de Pantiacolla" which lies some 100 miles north of the ancient Incan capital of Cusco, Peru. Deyermenjian and Mamani will pass the Incan ceremonial platforms they discovered and documented in 1999 and 2004, respectively, at the large highland lake known as the "Lago de Angel," and atop the peak known as "Ultimo Punto." Between the Yavero and the TimpÌa river systems, they will seek information that will be used in finding and definitively identifying the furthest known reach of the Incas in that direction.

In 2007 and 2008, additional plans call for them to further document what is to be found at the end of those trails, as well as to conduct a full survey of all the remote high-jungle and plateau archaeological sites they have found since 1984 throughout the regions known as Mameria, Apu Catinti, Toporake, Callanga, and Pantiacolla. (For more information: Paititi.com/search-for-paititi.html).

EXPEDITION UPDATE

Oceans 8 Around Tasmania: In the Traces of the Devil

The remote and little-known Australian island of Tasmania is the seventh stop of Jon Bowermaster’s Oceans 8 project (See EN, June 2005). Starting early this month, his team will explore the coastline by kayak, mixed with a variety of stops along the way to visit with fishermen and historians, sailors and folkloric legends. Oceans 8 is a long-term project aimed at examining the state of the world’s oceans and the lives of the people who depend on them.

EXPEDITION NOTES

Stay Tuned for the Flyak – Is it a kayak? Is it a hydrofoil? Actually, a speedy new Norwegian invention called the Flyak merges both technologies to create a brand-new sort of vessel. Math teacher and former kayaker Einar Rasmussen has been working together with test pilot Peter Ribe to create the revolutionary kayak, which could potentially beat the current world record of 22 mph for a human-propelled craft on the water. Under current guidelines, the Flyak cannot be used in official kayak competition, but that’s not to say some kayaking expedition could pick up on it. The Flyak could go into production by June. (For more information: FoilKayak.com).

QUOTE OF THE MONTH

(All) “The Captain is a very moral man. Hooray for Captain Spaulding, The African explorer.”

(Spaulding/Groucho) “Did someone call me Shnorrer?”

– Hooray For Captain Spaulding From the film Animal Crackers (1936)

EXPEDITION FOCUS

Trip Report: Omega Foundation Returns from Mapping Antarctica

The Omega Foundation (TheOmegaFoundation.org) is a non-profit scientific organization founded in 1998 that conducts projects in Antarctica. Returning recently from its latest expedition was a team consisting of leader Damien Gildea, 36, from Australia, Camilo Rada, 25, and Manuel Bugueno, 27, from Chile, and Steve Chaplin, 35, from the U.K.

It was Gildea’s seventh Antarctic expedition, his fifth leading an Omega expedition. Before that he guided a 700-mile South Pole traverse in 2000-01, working for ANI, and guided climbers on a Peninsula climbing trip, also for ANI in 2001. Prior to that he wrote The Antarctic Mountaineering Chronology, a reference book on climbing in Antarctica and South Georgia. Excerpts from Gildea’s recent trip report are available to subscribers; e-mail us for a free sample issue.

MEDIA MATTERS

See You Later, Alligator – Scientists at the American Museum of Natural History have discovered a fossil in New Mexico that looks like a six-foot-long, two-legged dinosaur along the lines of a tyrannosaur or a velociraptor. But it is actually an ancient relative of today's alligators and crocodiles. According to a New York Times story by Carl Zimmer (Jan. 26), the discovery is a striking example of how different animals can evolve the same kind of body over and over again.

Lonely Planet Seeks Expeditions – Lonely Planet Television (LonelyPlanet.tv) wants to hear from expeditions in the preliminary planning stages of their journey. LPTV is on the lookout for stories with a strong human-interest element and a solid rationale that will resonate with a global audience. Expeditions seeking a media company with the capacity to deliver cross-platform exposure in print, on-line and on television, should contact David Collins, Head of Content Development, david.collins@lonelyplanet.tv, as early in the process as possible. Lonely Planet Television is an independent production company, wholly owned by travel publisher Lonely Planet Publications.

EXPEDITION MARKETING

Climb with Ed – Rainier Mountaineering Inc. (RMI), announced it has signed an exclusivity agreement with high-altitude mountaineer, Ed Viesturs who made history last May by becoming the first American to climb all 14 of the world's 8,000-meter peaks. This new agreement guarantees that Viesturs will guide exclusively for RMI on Mt. Rainier, Mt. McKinley and other international climbs. As part of the agreement, Viesturs will also consult for Whittaker Mountaineering by offering product recommendations and dispatches from his travels.

ON THE HORIZON

American Alpine Club Annual Meeting – George Lowe’s keynote presentation, My Life and Climbs, will be a highlight of the 104th annual meeting of the American Alpine Club, Feb. 10-12, at Attitash Summit Resort, Bartlett, N.H. Registration is about $220, less for AAC members. (For more information: AmericanAlpineClub.org).

Women of Discovery Honored – WINGS WorldQuest’s Fourth Annual "Wings Women of Discovery" Awards are Thursday, March 2, 2006, 6 to 10 p.m. at the New-York Historical Society, 77th Street and Central Park West. WINGS WorldQuest is dedicated to promoting the contributions of extraordinary women explorers, in all fields of study around the world, and to advancing scientific exploration and education.

The 2006 Women of Discovery are: Sea Award: Dr. Edith Widder; Eva Haller Humanity Award: Aquilina Lestenkof; Earth Award: Janine Benyus; Leila Hadley Luce Award for Courage: Dr. Elizabeth Bennett; Henry Luce III Lifetime Achievement Award: Eugenie Clark; WINGS Special Award for Ethnobotany: Isabella Abbott; W.P. Carey Field Research Awards: Sveva Gallman and Juliana Brush. (For more information: (+1) 212-759-1128; WingsWorldquest.org).

What’s Left to Explore? – As the white spaces on the map have grown fewer and far between, that’s what guests will be asking at the 2006 Explorers Club Annual Dinner, Mar. 18 at the Waldorf-Astoria in New York. Speakers include: Biodiversity pioneer Dr. Edward O. Wilson; climber Ed Viesturs; and Andy Skurka, Backpacker Magazine's "Person of the Year,” the first person to hike the Sea-to-Sea Transcontinental Trail across North America, a journey spanning 7,770 miles and 11 months from 2004 to 2005.

Honorees include: J. Michael Fay, National Geographic Conservation Fellow-in-Residence and conservationist for Wildlife Conservation Society, who spent 15 months flying a small plane across Africa to record environmental data; and Valentina Vladimirovna Tereshkova, the famed Russian cosmonaut who in 1963 became the first woman in space. (For more information: Explorers.org).

WEB WATCH

AdventureRabbi.com – Usually the words “adventure” and “rabbi” don’t go together. Thus we were intrigued when we saw a local Denver television story on Rabbi Jamie Korngold, who left her synagogue job to hang out a shingle as the country's first Adventure Rabbi. An extreme skier, she’s competed in Half Ironman triathlons; the Leadville Trail 100 (100-mile trail run); she came in fourth in the 1993 National Telemark Mogul Championship in Breckenridge, Colo.: and has bicycled 4,020 miles from New York to San Francisco.

The 40-year-old Korngold, based in Boulder, Colo., performs Jewish and non-Jewish weddings and prides herself on being able to craft spiritual adventures and ceremonies which are outside the box. A special event in Winter Park Sept. 22-24 will offer hiking, yoga, mountain biking, a high element ropes course, and canoeing. “It is an amazing program mixing outdoor adventure with spiritual journeying,” she tells EN. (For more information: (+1) 303-417-6200; AdventureRabbi.com).

EXPEDITION CLASSIFIEDS

Explore Ancient Turkey – Discover the most magnificent historic sites of Anatolia, led by Marilyn Bridges, renowned photographer and Fellow of the Explorers Club (’88). This is not your typical packaged tour, but includes personalized attention and some off-the-beaten-track adventures. Limited to 10 people. Join the Tour of Ancient Aegean and Mediterranean Turkey, May 13-25, 2006, cost $4,650, and/or the Tour of Eastern Turkey, Oct. 21-Nov. 3, 2006, cost $4,750. Cost is per person double occupancy, including all accommodations in boutique hotels and garden pensions, and travel within the country. Superb Turkish speaking guide. For details and itineraries see MarilynBridges.com

Powering Your Expedition – Electrical power for Scientific, Video and Film operations. Custom and modular systems. Easily portable. Choose from disposable (lightest) to Solar (ongoing supply for base camps) fuel cells and rechargeable systems. Expedition Battery used worldwide for extreme conditions.

Stuart Cody
1-800-472-2248 or (+1) 617-787-4313
srcody@automatedmedia.com
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