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 April issue. For a free sample copy and subscription form, contact: editor@expeditionnews.com
FIRST AMERICAN WOMAN HOPES TO SUMMIT K2
Heidi Howkins, 30, a renowned high-altitude alpinist from Corvallis, Ore., will lead the USA K2 Expedition, a light alpine style ascent of K2, arguably the most difficult peak in the world. The four-person team will ascend the 28,251-ft 8,611-meter mountain without supplementary oxygen or high altitude porters via the Abruzzi (South-East) Spur. One objective of the 60- to 90-day expedition, which departs June 16, is to place the first American woman on the summit during this, the 20th anniversary of the first American ascent.
SEARCH FOR THE CITY OF GOLD
In the 16th and early 17th centuries, a dozen English, German, and Spanish conquistadores led thousands of men through the vast plains and dense forests of northern South America in search of the elusive El Dorado - the legendary city of gold said to lay beside a vast inland lake called Manoa or Parime. Residing in the region, according to legend, were fierce warrior women called the Amazons.
In November 1997, Gregory Deyermenjian, 48, joined Chilean researcher Roland Stevenson, 63, in investigating the story. They led the six-man Brazilian/Italian/North American El Dorado Expedition northward, from Boa Vista, in Brazil's northernmost state of Roraima, where maps up to the early 19th century actually placed a large Lago Parime.
RAFTING EXPEDITION STUDIES INDUS CIVILIZATION
A team of researchers led by a 30-year old Pakistani mountaineering instructor and wilderness guide plan to raft Pakistan's Indus river this summer to study a civilization lost to the effects of time, modern development and industrial pollution.
TWINS EXPLORE CRATERS OF THE MOON
Sometimes even simple, inexpensive expeditions can offer insight into the unique geography of the American West. Forty-year-old twins Richard and Robert Robinson will embark this May to document the Great Rift area of south-central Idaho, including the 83 square mile Craters of the Moon National Monument.
EXPEDITION MARKETING
Everest is "Titanic" of IMAX Film Industry
The Everest IMAX film, produced by MacGillivray Freeman Films of Laguna Beach, Calif., is attracting record attendance at IMAX theaters around the world since its release in early March. The film has been so successful that in spite of its playing on just 20 screens, Everest was the 16th highest grossing film in North America one weekend last month according to Variety's Box Office Chart.
MEDIA MATTERS
Enough Kvetching, Krakauer - Dudley Farfield of Forbes FYI maintains
explorers today can't take a truly awful trip anymore. "Yes, Jon Krakauer's
expedition had a bad day on Everest, but 'Into Thin Air' is thin gruel compared
with the journals of polar explorers." Farfield's story in the Winter
1999 issue relates the "hopefully horrible trips" of a century
ago suffered by "a singularly devoted breed of explorer."
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.