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 from our March issue. For a free sample issue, e-mail your postal address to: editor@expeditionnews.com
DISABLED CLIMBER RETURNS TO EVEREST
In this era of sound bite journalism, climber Tom Whittaker has it nailed.
"I'm a one-legged Welshman who's going to climb Everest," he told
an ABC video crew at a recent outdoor industry trade show. But what he failed
to say was that accompanying his expedition, at least as far as base camp,
will be seven disabled people, including a paraplegic, and a non-ambulatory
man with cerebral palsy.
Through his Ester-C Everest Challenge 98, which leaves in mid-March, Whittaker,
49, hopes to change the way children view the disabled.
MEASURING THE HIMALAYAS
Everest as an arena of human endeavor is apparently far from exhausted. While Tom Whittaker sets his sights for the top of Everest, another team, the American Mt. Everest Expedition 1999, will attempt to determine just how high is high. Or more precisely, the extent to which Everest is drifting north due to Tectonic motion. As Dr. Bradford Washburn puts it, "Nepal is getting a little bit of China each year without any wartime maneuvering at all."
CAR WITH KARMA SUPPORTS BREAST CANCER CLIMB
The recently reintroduced Volkswagen Beetle will help support a group of five breast cancer survivors and seven disease-free young women who plan a June ascent of Alaska's Mt. McKinley (20,320-ft.). Starting June 20, the new Beetle Bug will tour the 50-city Lilith Fairs - the all-woman concerts in North America established by pop singer/songwriter Sarah McLachlan.
EXPEDITION UPDATE
Russian Polar Team Departs - An international expedition departed from the Arctic Cape, the northernmost point of Russia's Severnaya Zemlya archipelago, for a skiing expedition on floating ice through the North Pole to Canada (See EN, December 1997). Expedition leader Vladimir Chukov said that the team's goal is to cross the Arctic Ocean via human-powered, self-sufficient means.
Tough Sledding for British Musher - The concept was simple enough: dog sled 6,000 miles across the top of North America - from the Atlantic Ocean to the Bering Sea - to raise money for international cancer charities (See EN, December 1997). Now, almost four months after their departure from Searsport, Maine, the team led by cancer survivor Wendy Smith, 36, is chronically short of cash, and is picking up from what could have been a potentially disastrous truck accident.
EXPEDITION NOTES
Cook's Endeavour Tours East Coast - A replica of the Endeavour, the
vessel that British Captain James Cook sailed around the world, will visit
cities along the East Coast starting this month.
First U.S. Showing of Antarctic Photography - EN will sponsor the first U.S. showing of 20 hand-finished limited edition photographic prints from the archive of Captain Robert F. Scott's 1910-13 expedition to the Antarctic (See EN, October 1997). The event, at Geary Galley, 576 Post Rd., Darien, Conn., will be held from 5 - 8 p.m. on Mar. 14 and benefit The Explorers Club Young Explorers program. The collection includes "Ice Cave," the most famous image of expedition photographer Herbert George Ponting, a pioneer in the use of photography as an art form. In it Ponting captures two explorers at the mouth of a cave with Scott's ship, the "Terra Nova", in the far distance framed by a fringe of long icicles. Darien is 45 miles from New York City. (For more information: Geary Galley, 203-655-6633).
MEDIA MATTERS
Pass the Grey Poupon - The habit of Explorers Club members to snack
on exotic hors d'oeuvres at their annual dinner was covered in February's
Quest magazine. Over 1,400 members of the worldwide exploration community
will assemble at the Waldorf=Astoria Hotel on Mar. 28 for the 94th annual
Explorers Club dinner titled, "Pushing the Limits." Sen. John
H. Glenn, 77, will review the past year's achievements in exploration and
describe his plans to return to space as the oldest astronaut in history
aboard the Discovery Space Shuttle in October.
EXPEDITION CLASSIFIEDS
Learning Outfitters and Adventure Online - Seek notable adventures and expeditions to partner with for K-12 curriculum development (print and online). Expeditions must offer suitable educational content. Send project summaries via fax (612-645-0240) or e-mail: info@learnout.com.
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. Zegrahm's Space Voyages division has begun taking reservations for our space experience travel program. Address: 1414 Dexter Avenue N #327, Seattle WA 98109; Phone: 800-628-8747; Fax: 206-285-5037; E-mail: zoe@zeco.com; Website: www.zeco.com. To receive information about 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 are also located at www.mountainzone.com/news/expedition where you can order a subscription to the full edition with your credit card.