EXPEDITION NEWS HIGHLIGHTS
July 1997 - Volume Four, Number Seven

EXPEDITION NEWS is a 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 of our July 1997 issue. Please contact us for a free sample issue of the complete, printed version of the newsletter.


EXPEDITION OUTREACH BEGINS
ANDES-AMAZON TRAVERSE

Massachusettes State Trooper Michael E. Coyne, 32, and his wife Christine, 31, the assistant team leader, leave this month for a three week Andes - Amazon Traverse of Bolivia. They will land in La Paz, climb a nearby volcanic plug outside of La Paz called Devil's Molar, cross the Altiplano desert in a 4WD vehicle, then kayak Lake Titicaca (at 12,500 feet it's the world's highest navigable lake).

Once arriving at Copacabana on the eastern shore, the team will then attempt technical ice climbs of Bolivia's Condoriri (18,688-ft.), and Pequeno Alpamayo (17,700-ft.). From there, they'll fly to the Upper Amazon Basin where Coyne plans to descend the Mamore River on a wakeboard. Total distance for the effort is estimated at 400-500 miles.

DIVING EXPEDITION STUDIES
BATTLE-DAMAGED PACIFIC CORAL REEF

Tarawa, an atoll in the Pacific Ocean, suffered heavy damage to its coral reefs during a major WWII battle in 1943. Yet even today, researchers find it difficult to determine whether those reefs have regenerated in the past 54 years. The answer is masked by the atoll's chronic pollution caused by overcrowding, and lack of sewage treatment or garbage disposal facilities.

Next month, a team led by Harry Brooks, 50, a Marine Corps veteran in Atlanta, plans to study reef regeneration at a nearby island that also received short-term cataclysmic, man-made destruction, but has remained virtually untouched.

EARTH TRAVERSE 2000 COMMEMORATES NEW MILLENNIUM

A number of expeditions are being planned to celebrate the millennium which, technically speaking, starts at midnight December 31, 2000, but will receive most of the celebratory attention a year before.

Antarctica's Balleny Island is the exact spot on the globe where the dawn will rise on the next 1,000 years (See EN, January 1997), and one expedition plans to witness it nearby, albeit 12 months early. Martyn Williams, 50, a founder of Adventure Network International, is seeking $5-$6 million for Earth Traverse 2000 which involves cross-country skiing from the North Pole, traversing the globe, and then skiing to the South Pole.

EXPEDITION UPDATE

Tested Positive Team Summits McKinley

A team of four cancer survivors, ages 27 to 41, reached the summit of Mt. McKinley on June 25.

British Explorers Trek From Russia to North Pole

Two British explorers - Dr. Stephen Martin, 41, of Ashbourne, Derbyshire, and David Mitchell, 34, of Wasdale, Cumbria, battled three months of cracking ice and temperatures of minus 50 degrees F. to become the first British expedition to complete an unsupported walk to the North Pole (See EN, September 1996).

Free At Last

The Japanese/New Zealand North Pole Polar Free team arrived at their top-of-the-world destination on May 31, just 90 days after departing from Ward Hunt Island, NWT (See EN, December 1996).

Japanese Man is First to Solo Across Arctic Ocean

Japanese adventurer Mitsuro Oba, 44, completed the world's first solo crossing of the frozen Arctic Sea.

EXPEDITION NOTES

Eight Win AAC Mountaineering Fellowship Fund Grants - Eight young American climbers are one step closer to achieving their objectives thanks to Mountaineering Fellowship Fund Grants awarded recently by the American Alpine Club (AAC).

MEDIA MATTERS

Everest Backlash - New evidence appeared last month that people are tiring of the continuing controversy surrounding guides who take relatively unskilled clients to the top of what is arguably an unguidable mountain. In a scathing illustration, political cartoonist Pat Oliphant pointed his poison pen away from Washington towards the Himalayas. He drew a tour bus climbing the side of Everest, with crowds of tourists already on the summit, one eating an ice cream cone in his plaid shorts, another enjoying the sights while supported by a cane. In a corner of Oliphant's nationally-syndicated feature, a cartoon character asks Sir Edmund Hillary why he doesn't climb Everest anymore. His reply: "Because they're there."

Explorers Club Launches Web Site - The Explorers Club, the prestigious professional society based in New York, has launched its official Web site at
www.explorers.org.

IN PASSING

Veteran French oceanographer and prizewinning filmmaker Jacques-Yves Cousteau, who revealed mysteries of the ocean that seemed more fantastic than science fiction and fought to protect the environment, died June 25 at the age of 87.

EXPEDITION CLASSIFIEDS


Zegrahm Expeditions - Offers small group travel to unusual destinations in the company of the world's leading experts. Destinations include: Antarctica, South Georgia and The Falklands; Antarctica The Far Side, including Kerguelen Islands, Crozet Islands, and Heard Island; Seychelles, Madagascar, Comoros and Zanzibar; Australia's Kimberley; the first-ever circumnavigation of Baffin Island; Aleutian Islands, Kuril Islands, and Kamchatka Peninsula; snorkel and diving expeditions to Palau and Yap; and many more. Look for an announcement in the fall of 1997 regarding our VOYAGES TO SPACE. Address: 1414 Dexter Avenue N #327, Seattle WA 98109; Phone: 800-628-8747; Fax: 206-285-5037; E-mail:
zoe@zeco.com; Web site: www.zeco.com. To be put on an interest list for our Space Voyages, call 1-888-SPACE66 or access www.spacevoyages.com.

Weber Malakhov Expeditions - Weber and Malakhov are the only people to have skied to the North Pole and back completely unsupported. They offer advice, planning, training and outfitting. Contact them for unique Arctic adventures in small groups both summer and winter via skiing, hiking, mountain biking and sea kayaking. 819-827-4732;
iceweber@aol.com

Adventurous Traveler Bookstore - The world's most complete source of outdoor travel books, maps, videos and CD-ROM's. Over 5,000 titles for climbing, hiking, biking, kayaking and more in stock and ready to ship! See us on the Web at
www.adventuroustraveler.com or call 800-282-3963 for a free 48-page catalog!


EXPEDITION NEWS is published by Blumenfeld and Associates, Inc., 28 Center Street, Darien, CT 06820 USA. Tel. 203-656-3300, fax 203-655-7710, e-mail blumassoc@ aol.com. Editor/publisher: Jeff Blumenfeld. ©1997 Blumenfeld and Associates, Inc. All rights reserved. Subscriptions: US$36 /yr.; international postal rate US$46/yr. Highlights from EXPEDITION NEWS can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.microship.com/Expedition_News.


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