Antarctica 2014: Newall Hunter at The South Pole!

The Antarctic expedition season is starting to draw to close, with just a few more weeks to go before it wraps up for another year. While it hasn't been quite as active on the frozen continent has it has been in recent years, there have still been some tremendous efforts put forth by the skiers heading to the South Pole, and elsewhere. While most of us enjoyed the arrival of the New Year with friends and family, the explorers in the Antarctic have continued to press ahead towards their goals. That includes one skier completing his journey at last, while others are starting to draw near as well. 

Yesterday, solo-skier Newall Hunter arrived at the South Pole after spending 40 days out on the ice. He wrapped up his journey at approximately 3:30 AM local time, which mean he reached 90ºS only to find the entire research station there asleep. Fortunately one of the liaison officers noticed his arrival, and actually went out into the cold to meet him and snap a few photos. Newall than went inside where he found some cookies, a Coke, and a comfortable chair waiting for him. It was the first time he had sat down on a piece of furniture since he set out on his journey. He now plans to fly back to Union Glacier later today, and then wait for a flight to Punta Arenas, Chile before heading home. 

Congratulations to Newall on a job well done. He managed to ski from Hercules Inlet to the South Pole in just 40 days. That's a solid effort to say the least.

Meanwhile, Ian Evans reports that his team is nearing the end of their journey as well. As of Friday, when he made his last dispatch, the squad was a mere 49 miles (79 km) from the Pole, which means they could arrive as early as today. That arrival won't come soon enough, as Ian has indicated that the expedition has taken its toll, and he is feeling physically worn down from the challenges of skiing for hundreds of kilometers across the harsh, unforgiving landscape that is the Antarctic. 

Elsewhere, kite-skier Frédérick Dion is on the final approach to Hercules Inlet, and is picking up speed in the process. In his most recent dispatch, Fréd reports that he covered 190 km (118 miles) in a single day, which left him just 410 km (254 miles) to go before he is done. That report came last Friday, which means if the winds held over the weekend, he could very well be back on the coast today or tomorrow. Hercules Inlet will mark the end of a remarkable journey for the Canadian, who began by first traveling to the Pole of Inaccessibility from the Russian Novo Station, then proceeding on to the Geographic South Pole, before heading back to the coast at Hercules. It will certainly have been quite a whirlwind tour of the Antarctic. 

Fellow kite-skier Faysal Hanneche is finding the winds blowing more favorably for him in recent days as well. After struggling through the early stages of the journey, he is now picking up speed greatly. In his latest dispatch he indicates that he covered 125 km (77 miles) in single day, which is a massive increase over what he has been doing previously. With the clock ticking on the Antarctic season, he needs to continue to capture these winds, as he still has quite a long way to go before he is done. He has however, passed the point of receiving assistance from his logistics company operating out of Novo. That means that if he reaches the South Pole, he'll have done so unassisted, something that he can be greatly proud of. 

Finally, the trio of Are Johnson and Stéphanie and Jérémie Gicquel are now 52 days into their expedition and are on the return trip from the South Pole back to the coast. Today they picked up their second re-supply, and enjoyed some fine snacks and treats as a result. The return journey is going much better as they are now heading down hill. As a result, they skied 41 km (25 miles) today, and are feeling very strong and in good spirits. 

That's all from the Antarctic today. More updates soon. 

Winter Climbs 2014-2015: Updates From Nanga Parbat and Denali

Now that the holidays are officially behind us, and we're all returning to a more typical routine, it seems fitting that we start a new week with an update on the winter climbing expeditions that are underway in Pakistan and Alaska. Over the past few weeks, the teams have been getting settled into Base Camp, and have started the challenging work of acclimatizing to the altitude and the cold temperatures. Soon, the real work will begin, with each of the teams hoping to make history in the weeks ahead.

We'll start on Nanga Parbat, where three teams are looking to make the first winter ascent of that peak. The Russian squad of Nickolay Totmjanin, Valery Shamalo, Serguey Kondrashkin and Victor Koval arrived in Pakistan just before Christmas, and set out for BC on the Rupal side of the mountain almost immediately. They established Base Camp on December 27, and have been shuttling gear up the slope ever since. As of yesterday, they have reached 5900 meters (19,356 ft), and have firmly established Camp 1 at that location. They are currently back in BC resting up before they head up the mountain once again.

Over ont he Diamir Face, the first team of climbers in BC as well, with Tomek Mankiewicz and Elisabeth Revol sharing space with Daniele Nardi. While the trio are officially on the same permit, they aren't intending to do much climbing with one another, as Daniele is looking for a solo summit, while Tomek and Elisabeth join forces on their attempt at the first ascent. According to Russian Climb, they reached Camp 1 on January 2, so they are making solid progress thus far. Meanwhile, Daniele is just getting settled in Base Camp today.

A third team consisting of Iranian climbers Reza Bahadorani, Iraj Maani and Mahmoud Hashemi is preparing to depart for Pakistan. The trio intends to arrive on the mountain next week, and begin their expedition as well.


Over on Denali, Lonnie Dupre is forging ahead with his attempt at a solo-summit in January. Conditions remain very cold, but the weather has improved over the past few days, allowing him to move more than 160 lbs (72 kilograms) of gear up to 13,600 feet (4145 meters). Yesterday he planned to go up to 14,000 feet (4267 meters), where he will build a large snow cave that will serve as one of his high camps. Once that job is done, he'll begin carrying gear up to 16,000 ft (4876 meters), which will mark his next major campsite. At the moment, all seems to be going well, and Lonnie is happy with his progress.

Finally, it appears that Dupre won't be the only climber making a solo-summit bid on Denali this winter. British mountaineer Andy Kirkpatrick is also in the final stages of planning his own expedition to the mountain, and intends to arrive their in February. Kirkpatrick says that he has been thinking about this climb for 14 years, and he is now ready to make it a reality. We'll certainly be following his efforts closely in a few weeks as well.

That's all for today. Expect regular updates on each of these expeditions in the weeks ahead. It should be an exciting time on both Nanga Parbat and Denali. Perhaps this year could see the first winter ascent of Nanga at long last.

Video: We Are Capable Of Greatness

This video combines excellent footage of the first test flight of the new Orion Spacecraft with narration provided by the late-great Carl Sagan. His words of inspiration express why man should continue to explore the stars, where he – and many people – believe our future will lie. Orion is the next step in that process, and while it is still several years away from going into service, we as a species are continuing to forge ahead as explorers, even in the 21st century.

Humans Explore: We Are Capable of Greatness from Space City Films, Inc. on Vimeo.

Video: Tommy Caldwell Climbs the Four Hardest Routest at The Monastery in a Single Day!

Tommy Caldwell is one of the best climbers working the rock today. He proves that once again in this video, in which he takes on four of the hardest climbs at The Monastery in Colorado in a single day. Each of these routes is incredibly challenging in their own right, but doing all of them in one day only adds to the difficulty. Caldwell uses the experience to help prepare him for his ultimate project – climbing the Dawn Wall on El Capitan, a project he has been working on for five years.

Tommy Caldwell Climbs The Four Hardest Routes at the Monastery, In a Day!!! from BlueWater Ropes on Vimeo.

Alan Arnette Announces Project 8000 for Alzheimers

The New Year always brings new opportunities, and yesterday Alan Arnette used the arrival of 2015 to announce a major new endeavor. In a blog post to his website Alan has announced Project 8000 for Alzheimer's which will be his attempt to climb all of the 8000 meter peaks in an effort to raise funds and awareness to combat that debilitating disease.

As you may recall, in the summer of 2014 Alan made the journey to Pakistan to climb K2, the most difficult mountain in the world. He was successful in that attempt, but it took just about every ounce of skill and strength he had at his disposal to reach the top. After completing that incredibly difficult expedition, he began to think about what he had learned on the mountain, and what he wanted to do next. After some time at home, and a bit of reflection, he decided that he wanted to climb all of the 8000 meter peaks, of which he already has three on his resume.

In addition to K2 (8611 m/28,251 ft), Alan has also summited Everest (8848 m/29,029 ft) and Manaslu (8163 m/26,781 ft). That leaves Kangchenjunga (8586 m/28,169 ft), Lhotse (8516 m/27,940 ft), Makalu (8485 m/27,838 ft), Cho Oyu (8201 m/26,906 ft), Dhaulagiri (8167 m/26,795 ft), Nanga Parbat (8126 m/26,660 ft), Annapurna (8091 m/26,545 ft), Gasherbrum I (8080 m/26,444 ft), Broad Peak (8051 m/26,414 ft), Gasherbrum II (8035 m/26,362 ft), and Shishapangma (8027 m/26,335 ft) left to be climbed.

Alan has set an ambitious schedule for himself to complete the remaining 11 mountains over a 5 year period that begins this spring. In a few months time, he'll head back to Nepal to attempt Lhotse, the neighbor of Everest. Those two peaks share much of the same route, so it will be familiar ground for Alan, who has a double summit of Shishapangma and Cho Oyu scheduled for the fall. After that, he hopes to methodically knock off each of the remaining mountains in his effort to become just the second American to climb each of these mountains. At the moment, Ed Viesturs is the only other person from the U.S. to accomplish that feat.

Alan's previous attempts to using mountaineering as a vehicle to raise funds to fight Alzheimer's have proven to be very successful. His K2 climb engaged more than 5 million people, and raised $70,000 in just six weeks time. He'll be tapping into that same experience as he moves forward with Project 8000, which will once again raise funds for the Cure Alzheimer's Fund.

In his blog post, Alan also indicates that he is looking for sponsors to join him on this quest. Climbing these mountains will obviously be an expensive endeavor, but it will also bring a lot of awareness to the organizations and brands that partner with Alan on this endeavor. This is a truly great opportunity to not only be a part of a project that is seeking to end an agonizing disease, but also make climbing history. It will certainly be a highly visible platform for anyone who joins the team.

Expect to hear a lot more about Alan's quest to climb these mountains – and conquer Alzheimer's – in the months ahead. As usual, I'll be posting updates on his progress while he is on his expeditions, the first of which will begin this spring. It should be an amazing experience to follow.

Antarctica 2014: Skier Evacuated From the Ice

I'll be making just a few posts today as we head into a long post-holiday weekend. But there are a few stories that I want to share none the less, including some updates from Antarctica where one skier has called for an evacuation. 

ExWeb is reporting that Swiss skier Vincent Piguot, who is traveling to the South Pole with a guided team, has asked to be picked up from the ice. Vincent is part of a group that includes guide Robert Smith, and teammates Paula Reid, Arabella Slinger, and Julian Thomas. According to the report, Vincent isn't in an emergency situation, he simply can't take the grind that comes along with skiing for miles across the frozen landscapes of the Antarctic day in and day out. The team has stopped for a few days to wait for a plane to come pick him up, while the rest of the group will continue on towards 90ºS. 

Elsewhere, Frédérick Dion continues his journey to Hercules Inlet. After visiting both the Pole of Inaccessibility and the Geographic South Pole, he now heading towards the coast, where he will complete his traverse of the Antarctic continent which began at the Russian Novo Station. A few days ago he managed to knock off 143 km (88 miles) in a single day, and as of his last update, he had about 607 km (377 miles) yet to go. Yesterday he enjoyed the New Year with a rest, but he should be back on the trail today. 

Fellow kite-skier Faysal Henneche continues to struggle to catch the wind however, although he has now elected to try a different strategy. Faysal is attempted to use longer ropes on his kite, with the hope that it will allow him to float the sail a bit higher, and pick up some breezes that have eluded him so far. This brings some risks with it, but at this point of the expedition he is more concerned with making progress. As of his most recent dispatch, Faysal should have crossed the 80th degree by now, which means he still has 10 degrees to go before he is done. That is still a long way to travel, and the days of the Antarctic season are starting to run short. 

That's all for today. Next week I'll get back to a regular posting schedule, and share updates on more of the skiers in the Antarctic. 

Happy New Year From The Adventure Blog

I just wanted to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Happy New Year and thank you all for dropping by my little corner of the Internet from time to time to see what is happening in the world of adventure. Hopefully 2015 will be filled with all kinds of opportunities to put more adventure to your lives as well.