PUBLISHER'S NOTE: Here are highlights from the February issue. If you'd like to receive the complete version of the latest issue and remain informed about leading expeditions and adventures all year long, we invite you to subscribe by sending US$36 / year (12 issues) to Blumenfeld and Associates, Inc., 397 Post Road - Suite 202, Darien, CT 06820 USA. Be sure to include your Postal or e-mail address.
Fossett Forced to Land After Two Days Aloft
Unable to rise above a storm and nursing a failed power system, solo American balloonist Steve Fossett made an emergency landing Jan. 10, just two days into his circumnavigation attempt.
Dutch Team Waits in Netherlands
A second balloon circumnavigation project involves Dutch adventurer Henk Brink and Dutch Air Force Col. Willem Hagerman. At press time, Brink's UNICEF Flyer was moved from Amsterdam to Nijmegen's Goffert Stadium in preparation for a launch expected sometime before March 1.
Virgin Global Challenger Deflated by Moroccan Weather
At press time, the Virgin Global Challenger team - Richard Branson, Per Lindstrand, and Rory McCarthy - was grounded at its launch site in Marrakesh, Morocco, waiting for the weather to improve.
BRIT, RUSSIAN TEAM COMPLETE SOUTH POLE EXPEDITIONS
Hempleman-Adams Overcomes Injury
David Hempleman-Adams, 39, became the first Briton to walk solo and unsupported to the South Pole, where he arrived Jan. 5 after a two-month, 680-mile trek.
South Pole Welcomes Russian Women's Expedition
A team of five Russian women who are no strangers to polar expeditions reached the South Pole Jan. 11, becoming the second Russian expedition to trek to the Pole in 1996.
FIRST UNSUPPORTED GREENLAND TO NORTH POLE SKI TREK
Bjorn Thelin of Sweden and Petter Reuter of Finland will depart Feb. 28 for the first unsupported ski trip to the North Pole from Greenland.
Two Americans set out to climb Argentina's Aconcagua in January as part of their quest to become the youngest climbers to conquer the highest mountain on each of the seven continents.
EARTH magazine's February 1996 edition includes a story on the techniques used in measuring Earth's highest mountains. In "The Measure of a Mountain," writer Larry O'Hanlon states: "Calculating the elevation of a mountain above sea level is incredibly complex and fraught with uncertainties."
IN PASSING
Sir Charles Evans, Deputy Leader of the 1953 Mount Everest Expedition and the first to scale Kanchenjunga (28,208 feet), the world's third highest peak, in 1955, died Dec. 5, 1995, at the age of 77.