The Adventurist Weekend Shakedown–July 18-21, 2008

The Adventurist Weekend Shakedown –Week 1–Vol. 1

Adventure News and Notes:

The week started off with a bang as famed Everest guide and mountaineer Dave Hahn was nominated for an ESPN ESPY award.  Dave accomplished his 10th Mt. Everest summit this year becoming the first non-Sherpa climber to reach that plateau.

On a more solemn note, I received word from a fellow climber about the recent deaths of two climbers on Denali.  Mitch Lewis, who sent in his special report to The Adventurist, was actually on Denali when both incidents took place.  On July 4th, climber James Nasti collapsed and died on the summit of Denali.  Just days later, an Indonesian climber, Pungas Tri Baruno would die while descending.  Two deaths in a very short period of time.  Mitch Lewis, who was climbing with Alaska Mountaineering School, went in to some detail about the two incidents, including his guides working to try to revive Baruno just a few feet away from Mitch’s tent.

Lance Armstrong made the news this week for his recent Livestrong Challenge event.  The 7-time Tour de France champion helped raise $1.5 million dollars for his Livestrong charity organization.  Over 3,000 participants took part to try to raise money and awareness by biking for cancer research.

American climber William Brant Holland was brandished with a two-year climbing ban from Nepal’s government for having a pro-Tibet flag/banner/tshirt in his possession.  It was one of the three, depending on which report you have seen.  Anyways, Holland won’t be allowed to climb any of Nepal’s Himalayan peaks, for sparking a bit of controversy, during China’s bid to take the Olympic torch to the top of the world.  With only two summits to go for Holland to claim the famed 7 summits, this had to be a devastating decision.

The Adventurist also reported on Lewis Gordon Pugh’s attempt to become the first person to kayak to the North Pole.  Pugh drew some controversy in 2007 when he reported that he was the first to swim at the Pole.  ExplorersWeb quickly shot down that notion, quickly listing others who had done the same.  Much like last year, I have seen where ExplorersWeb is once again questioning Mr. Pugh’s facts, with another list of those that have kayaked to, from, and around the North Pole.  Pugh’s expedition hasn’t even taken place yet, but already questions are arising.

Even with all of the exciting adventure action going on, I was also able to write a small editorial piece called “10 Reasons Why Higher Gas Prices Could Be A Good Thing“.  This editorial laments on some of the benefits of higher fuel prices.  As you can imagine, this piece has sparked a heated discussion here at The Adventurist, with many people chiming in with their own thoughts.  Go read it and add to the discussion.

The Adventure Hall of Fame

We had our second official inductee in to the Adventure Hall of Fame.  This is an ongoing project to recognize those who inspire us through their work, to get out and explore on our own.  The inductees have pushed the boundaries in their respective field and inspired many of us to do the same.  This weeks voting process came down to two individuals:  Yuri Gagarin and John Muir.  Go read the article to see who finally took the top spot and became our second inductee.

Adventurist Launches a New Contest

Over the course of this last week, I was also able to introduce the very first Adventurist contest.  The rules were simple.  Write about The Adventurist in any way, shape, or form–include a link back to this site, or to a specific post, then let me know through my contact page.  If you do all of this and subscribe to my email newsletter, you will be up for a cash or gift prize of at least $20-I am actually shooting for $100.  If you would like to get involved, check out some of the other posts that have entered, then go HERE to read about this contest further.  Here are some of the current contestants:

• The Adventurist Is An Adventurer And A Dad–from SillyDad.com
• Friday Morning Random Ten–Music Dedicated to The Adventurist –from Thinking Outside
• The Adventurist Ventures Into An Adventure–from the Black Bear Blog
• Picture of the Year –from Help 4 Hunters
• J. Alan Hendricks–The Adventurist from Summit Stones & Adventure Musings

Hopefully, I haven’t left anyone out.  If I have, add a comment to this post and I will put up the link.

Remember this is an ongoing contest.  You can still join and still win.  All of the posts have been great, with the Black Bear Blog even offering up a fictional take on a very real issue.  Nice work to everyone who has taken part, and I encourage the rest of you to join in the competition.  Remember, all you have to do is link to The Adventurist or an article posted here through a small blurb on your website or blog– then drop me a comment through my CONTACT page.  If you are happy with the free link to your site and the traffic, that is fine.  BUT, in order to get in the money, you must subscribe to my email newsletter-I also want to make sure that everyone understands that they need to contact me through The Adventurist contact page.  This is being done for simple record-keeping so I can keep track of everyone who enters.

Other News and Notes

I am currently in the process of signing up and exploring a few social media groups.  I should have up my LinkedIn and Myspace pages up shortly, as well as a couple of other fun groups to get more in touch with my readers.  I will talk a bit more about that in the coming days..

Also, in the coming week, The Adventurist will be talking more about another project of Todd Carmichael’s.  You may have seen my recent interview with Todd in U.S. Outdoors Today.  I will be posting this up…in full…yes, there were some questions I didn’t share in the first article, as well as sharing some recent news that Todd has forwarded along to me.  Just to let you know, Todd Carmichael will be attempting to become the first American to go solo and unsupported to the South Pole.

I am also currently working on a couple of other BIG adventure expeditions and will be delving a bit more on that information, as well.  Next week should be a big week.  Make sure you tune in, or subscribe to my RSS feed or Email newsletter to catch all the latest updates.