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 October 1997 issue. For a free sample issue contact us at editor@expeditionnews.com or 203-656-3300.
FIRST MALE / FEMALE TEAM PLANS
TRANS-ANTARCTICA EXPEDITION 2000
Antarctica holds an irresistible attraction for Sunniva Sorby, a native Norwegian explorer who traveled there in 1993 with the American Women's Antarctic Expedition. Sorby and co-leader Laurie Dexter, a male guide from the Canadian Northwest Territories, plan to leave Berkner Island, Antarctica two years from now, haul 200 lbs. sleds to the South Pole, then continue towards McMurdo Sound via the Axel Heiberg glacier by mid-February 2000.
If successful, Sorby, 36, will become the first woman to ski across Antarctica, and Dexter, 52, will be the first person to ski across both the Arctic Ocean through the North Pole (accomplished in 1988), and the Antarctic continent through the South Pole.
ARCHEOLOGIST PROPOSES EVEREST DIG
Much has been said about the garbage left on Mount Everest by previous expeditions spanning over 70 years. There have even been expeditions to the mountain with the purpose of not climbing, but cleaning up the trash. Now a professional archeologist believes all that garbage isn't necessarily such a bad thing. Gary L. Moore, 55, of Lyons, Colo., proposes an historic archeological dig on Everest.
EXPEDITION UPDATE
International Greenland Expedition Sets Arctic Kayaking Record - In their quest to circle Greenland by kayak and dog sled, the two-man International Greenland Expedition recently set an Arctic kayaking record of 1,250 miles, according to Lonnie Dupre, 36, of Grand Marais, Minn. The IGE team has now completed the first leg of their planned 4,700-mi. journey around the world's largest island (See EN, August 1996).
EXPEDITION NOTES
Branson Will Try Again - Virgin boss Richard Branson will launch a third bid to circumnavigate the world in a hot air balloon this December, accompanied by Swedish balloon designer Per Lindstrand and business partner Rory McCarthy.
Royal Geographic Society Announces Ralph Brown Award - The Royal Geographic Society based in London will launch a new annual 15,000 pound award offered to the leader of an expedition involving the study of inland and coastal wetlands, rivers or shallow marine environments.
Scott Expedition Photos Rediscovered - They have been called, quite simply, the finest photographs ever made of an expedition. A limited edition of 20 hand-finished photographic prints from the archive of Captain Robert F. Scott's 1910-13 expedition to the Antarctic will be shown Oct. 15 at a Royal Geographic Society fund-raiser in London. And judging from an advance preview of the prints, the photography is striking in its composition and absolute clarity. Surely the images must have been in their day the equivalent of taking an IMAX camera to the top of Everest.
Editor's note: As we celebrate our third anniversary, we're gratified by the continued growth of both the newsletter and its Web site. Between the two, we reach approximately 3,000 people a month, representing sponsors, media, expedition leaders, and those we affectionately call "armchair explorers" (the description we usually give ourselves when there's a newsletter to publish every 30 days). The coming year holds great promise: we've expanded our coverage to provide subscribers with telephone and e-mail addresses to learn more about selected expedition projects; we expect to announce a new Web site that will reach thousands more; and talks have begun to supply expedition information to a proposed new television program.
EXPEDITION CLASSIFIEDS
1999 North Pole Tandem Skydiving Expedition - Leaves New York's JFK on April 12, 1999 bound for Moscow, then onto Khatanga, North Circle, Russia for staging to the Northern Geographical Pole. The trip is non-strenuous and no previous skydiving experience is necessary. Contact: Bob Christ, Forum Expeditions, Inc., 115B East Biddle Street, West Chester, PA 19380, tel. (610) 431-3237; fax (610) 431-3895; E-mail forum@chesco.com; Web site www.chesco.com/~forum/np.html.
Christian or Curious? - Solid Rock organizes climbers conferences, outreaches, local events and bible studies; publishes a 1,000 member climbers directory and a quarterly newsletter; and provides fellowship and encouragement to all Christian climbers. Contact us to learn about this great ministry, and/or about the Christian faith and how it can change your life. 630-C Autumn Crest Circle, Colorado Springs, CO 80919. Tel. 719-593-8954.
Incredible Sahara - Race carts through the dunes, ride a camel to dinner, see the oasis from an ultralight and have tea in a troglodyte. Hovercraft over a sea of salt, cool off beneath a bedouin tent and see the sun set from a hot air balloon. Incredible Adventures introduces you to the amazing desert country of Tunisia ... because life is either an incredible adventure or nothing at all. Call 800-644-7382 or see www.incredible-adventures.com for more information.
Fly a MiG in Moscow or a Classic Jet in Cape Town - Incredible Adventures wants to take you to the edge of space, send you twice the speed of sound or let you loop, roll and tailslide. You don't need to be a pilot to fly one of the world's legendary jet fighters. Fly the MiG 21, MiG-29 and MiG-25 in Moscow or the Hawker Hunter T-8, the BAE Buccaneer and the English Electric Lightning T-5 in Cape Town. See our Web site at www.incredible-adventures.com or call us for a free color brochure. 800-644-7382 / 941-346-2603.
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.
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 editor@expeditionnews.com. Editor/publisher: Jeff Blumenfeld. Copyright © 1999 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 ExpeditionNews.com.