The Adventurist: A Call to All Outdoor Writers and Photographers!

I have just put the finishing touches on a new “Submit & Contact” Page here at The Adventurist.  I am hoping that this new feature will be accepted and used by all of my great readers.

This page goes into detail about a few things I am looking for here at The Adventurist–and ways you might be able to get involved.

Do you love Adventure Writing or perhaps Great Outdoors Photography?–Help me share your incredible talents with a much bigger audience!

Head on Over to the “Submit & Contact” Page, found on a tab right up above this article, and Share your Adventures with the World!

Also, if you are looking to put me to work, there is info there as well….

Cheers-

J. Alan Hendricks, Editor

First Pluto is Demoted, and now The Nile?

That is right.  The world we live in and beyond is vastly changing at a rate that not many of us are to fond of.

Pluto has been written off the planet charts (even though I agree with my daughter, most of us will still consider it a planet in our world of “underground” knowledge) by scientists, now it is just a large rock floating in the abyss..

Add to that, the recent unravelings of the World’s Longest River…The Nile, you think?

Think again.  The Amazon.  That is right.  Scientists have recently discovered that the Amazon River is approximately 176 miles longer than originally thought and now extends into the Southern reaches of Peru, making it the NEW world’s longest river.

The 176 miles of new Amazon, will place it at roughly 4, 225 miles long–making it 65 miles longer than the Nile.

Scientists sponsored by The Brazilian Institute of Science and Statistics, have placed the new Amazon beginning in the Southern Mountains of Peru.

This has to be disheartening to at least one individual–Martin Strehl–who laid claim earlier this year to completing the first swim that went the full distance of the Amazon…

This just goes to show that no one is ever happy being in second place..

It will be interesting to see how Egypt takes this news as well..Perhaps the Nile will grow soon, too…

I can slowly see Mr. Martin Strehl’s great accomplishments in the World of River Swimming being wiped off the charts..Perhaps he had swam one river to many..and p’d off the wrong folks…

ExplorersWeb Taking a Stand…The Adventurist: A Call for Change

ExplorersWeb has published a very strong editorial today about people dying on Everest…Here is a question they pose:

“The questions is though, how many times will we have to witness a Kazakh, a Pole, a Spaniard or any other of the world’s foremost climbers rescue people in the death zone while we keep hearing amateur climbers (preferably Anglo-Saxon) and Everest business folks repeating into Discovery’s cameras that it’s impossible? “

This question of Ethics from such a highly public site as ExplorersWeb will definately be reverberated throughout the climbing community in the days ahead.

This Editorial comes on the heels of one I put up yesterday examining the same issue, yet in a slightly different way.

“David Sharp HAD to Die” goes in to detail about how the death of David Sharp is currently influencing the thoughts and a slight change of attitude that I think is taking place, regarding these high-altitude rescues and leaving people to die.

It is a controversial issue, I agree.

ExplorersWeb has called out a couple of people and expedition companies for the way that they handle their “business”, not only on Everest, but in the climbing community in general–when it comes to someone in trouble on the mountain.

I feel like change is starting to take place in the way people are now seeing these incidents–for years people have been told that in the Death Zone, that there is no chance for rescue…

Let me say that they may be right…but, how do you know that a life can not be saved unless you actually stop and give an effort?

Forty People walked by David Sharp.  Forty.  All on their personal mission to the summit.

I like to think that perhaps my editorial influenced ExplorersWeb to also express themselves publicly on this issue, but perhaps it isn’t an “influence”.  Perhaps there are more of us out there that are tired of seeing these people die needlessly–than was previously thought. 

IT IS TIME FOR CHANGE

In 2007, you can not tell me that we can not develope a system to get these people off of Everest or any other mountain where someone has been injured.

The technology is out there if people are willing to put it together in order to save a life.  The way rescues are carried out today is almost the exact same as it was twenty years ago.

A lot of people are influenced by what they hear–when they hear someone can’t be brought down from the Death Zone–they take that as fact, without questioning it, or for that matter, without trying.

The summit is the most important thing to those that are trying their luck at Everest.  Some that have been there say it isn’t, some that fail say it isn’t, but you would not spend that kind of cash to not have a shot at the summit–plain and simple.

Everest brings immediate fame and noteriety to those that succeed.  Everest is still portrayed as inaccessable, yet well over 200 people made it to the top last year alone.

If those 200 people had made a sacrifice of something that will still be there tomorrow–Everest’s Summit–then perhaps they could have saved even one life from perishing.

What is more important, The summit or a life?

Right now there are at least 4 different people having a lot of issues on Everest, according to their daily reports.  Some of them are so sick that they can do nothing but throw up, yet the summit lingers in their minds.  The summit. 

I can’t put all of the blame on the the one’s not in trouble.  The one’s in trouble sometimes put themselves in the position that they eventually find themselves in.

If you are unhealthy.  If your sickness has lasted longer than 2 days…then get off the mountian.  Your body obviously is already at the breaking point.  Suck it up and make a decision, get down to a lower level, and live to climb another day.

Everest eats people.  If you aren’t prepared in every way possible, you stand a good chance of dying come summit day.

Everyone needs to come together on this issue and take a stand.  People have died needlessly–people have been left behind.  Without making a second guess about these situations, people will continue to die needlessly.

Everest Trash or Treasure? Climbers Debris tells of Historical Past

As most teams are currently in the midst of acclimating and moving between camps, I thought it would be a good time to share a very interesting piece I ran across today..

Jake Norton, two-time Everest summiter and a member of the 2001 Mallory-Irvine Research Expedition has written a very good piece on the historical significance of some Everest “Debris” he ran across while on his 2001 Research Expedition. 

Jake does run his own blog called “The MountainWorld Blog”, filled with some great stories and features not found anywhere else.

This article is very detailed in that it outlines the specific history and what led to this amazing discovery–as well as some history with Everest Expeditions of the past.

I will give you the first paragraph, and if it intrigues you as much as it did me, stop by his blog and read the rest of this great piece!

HERE IT IS:

“Soon, I was scrambling along the crest of the ridge, being constantly wary of the silent killers to my left: huge cornices overhang the great Kangshung (East) Face of Everest… Get too close, and you will pop through their fragile, snowy veneer and take a 10,000 foot sled ride down below. Trying my best to ignore that unpleasant reality to my left, I gazed about looking for more evidence of the climbers of old. Ahead, a familiar object: a long, ribbed oxygen bottle with bright blue paint. I knew this well from 1999 as a 1975 Chinese O2 cylinder. Others lay nearby. I radioed down to Jochen at Basecamp, and he mentioned that I could be near the sight of the 1975 Chinese Camp VII (which was later used by the American Ultima-Thule 1984 Expedition). Sure enough, just on the crest of the ridge in a small snow-and-rock dish lay a tent with thick, old-school aluminum poles and several more blue oxygen cylinders. The Chinese were certainly here in ‘75. I moved along. “

And HERE is the link to the REST of this great article:

Everest Gear Circa. 1933

A word of note:  In a couple of the Everest Expedition Blogs this season, it has been mentioned that people are starting to look around the mountain and see what they find.  Most expeditions from the past had the habit of leaving things such as tents, sleeping bags, Oxygen tanks and items from day to day life on Everest, behind.  Some of these items, if they can genuinely be traced back to an exact expedition could be quite valuable–not only monetarily but very much so in a “historical” perspective as time keeps raging on..Hope you enjoy Jake’s great article and let him know I sent ya–I am sure he will appreciate being acknowledged for the time and effort put in to this article.

The Complete Coverage! Everest 2007!

The Complete Coverage!  Everest 2007!  Click here!

As many of you might know, a couple of months back I mentioned that I would be setting up a Page on The Adventurist for the Everest 2007 Climbing season.

This page will be similar to the page covering the Mt. Hood Tragedy I covered in 2006 offering up all the links and stories as we publish them in one easily located space.

What this does is it allows all of my loyal readers an easier way to follow along with the Everest 2007 season as it happens, as well as lets you keep track of what HAS happened up to the latest story.  At the top of this site, you will now see a headline that reads “The Complete Coverage!  Everest 2007!  Click Here!”, by clicking this, you will now have access to every story concerning the 2007 Everest Climbing season.

I hope you enjoy this convenient way of staying on track with the happenings on Everest this season.  It is really shaping up to be a great season with many stories breaking daily.  You will now find them all here!

The Adventurist: The Top 15 Stories of the First Quarter–2007

2007 is shaping up to be a great year in the world of adventure–The Everest Season is around the corner and Michael Fournier will be skydiving from outerspace!  Yep, you read that right.

Let’s take a look back at the Top 10 Stories featured here during the first quarter of 2007.

1. Mt. Everest 2007:  What Does a Climb Cost?
2. Grizzly Man Timothy Treadwell:  Adventurist or Idiot?
3. The Adventurist:  The David Tait Interview
4. I am 17, Going to Climb Mt. Everest Next Year….
5. Everest Back-to-Back:  The David Tait Double-Traverse Expedition 2007
6. Who Should Pay for Search and Rescue?  The Controversy Ends…
7. A Guide for the Extreme Sports Enthusiast:  What are some of these?
8. OuterSpace Extreme: Michael Fournier and the 130,000 Foot Skydive
9. River Swimming The Amazon
10. The Laneo Phenom
11. To Hell and Back:  Life and Death on Mt. Everest
12. The Mt. Everest Chronicles:  Who was Sir George Everest?
13. Ueli Steck Annihilates Eiger Speed Record
14. Super Sherpas!  The Quest for Everest
15. The Khumbu Icefall

And there you have it.  I hope you enjoy taking a look back at some of the excitement that has been happening around here thus far in 2007 and will keep coming back for all of your adventure needs.

Got an Adventure to Tell? Tell Your Story Here!

Once in awhile I like to open up a post to let you, my readers, have a voice….I want to know YOUR Personal Adventure Story.  This is your chance to let the world know how cool you are and at the same time, maybe it will influence others to go out there and live that Adventure they have been dreaming about!

You may post ANY adventure, not just climbing…I am looking for hiking, kayaking, extreme sports, hunting, fishing,…anything outdoors that you had a great time doing and discovering… Read more

The Laneo Phenom

Editor’s Note:  I came across Laneo through another site–actually the reason I “clicked” was because of the very unique look of their ads…and since I run an “Adventure” website, well it was natural for me to check out what it was about.  Folks, this is a great company trying to do something for this World.  There is no money involved–I do not support advertising on this site–but, to me, this is not advertising as they are not selling a product.  This is one way you can help change the world without spending a dime!  Something that I think all of us have an issue with is making sure that this planet is around for quite a few more generations, and by joining this site and placing an “ad”, you too can be a part of making a difference. Now about the company. Read more

Filed Under #3, 100 Greatest Adventure Books, ABC News, Adventure, Adventure Blogs, Adventure Consultants, Adventurist Books, Alzheimers Research, Ama Dablam, Amazon River, Andi Orgler, Animals, Antarctic Sun, Antarctica, Apa Sherpa, Asian Trekking, Austria, Austrian, Avalanche, BBC, Bear Grylls, Bhudism, Bible Scriptures, Big Pig, Bill Clinton, Biology, Blogger, Blogroll, Books, British, British East India Company, Cairo, Canada, Cancer, Cancer Research, Carstensz Pyramid, Censorship, Charlie Fowler, China, Cho Oyu, Christians, Christie's, Christine Boskoff's Body Found, Christmas, Civil Rights, Climbing, Coleman Everest Team, Colorado, DailyLit, David Sharpe, David Tait, Davy Crockett, Dawa Sherpa, Dead Czech Climber, December 2006, Deer, Denali, Dhaulagiri, Discovery Channel, Dolly Parton, Donate, Double-Traverse Everest Expedtion, Earthrace, Ecology, Ed Visteurs, Editorial, Egypt, Elizabeth Hawley, Elton John, Endangered Species Act, Environment, Environment/Conservation, Environmental Issues, Ethiopia, Everest 1933, Everest 1952, Everest 1996, Everest 2006, Everest 2007, Everest 2007 North, Everest 2007 South Col, Everest 2008, Everest Basecamp, Everest Double-Traverse, Everest Expedition 2007, Everest Expedition Companies, Everest South Col, ExplorersWeb, Firefighters, First Ascent, Fox, Fox News, Free, Funny, Gay Marriage, Gear, Gearge W. Bush, Geodes, George W. Bush, Golden Eagles, HIMEX, Hanggliding, Help Support The Adventurist--Check out The Adventurist, Hillary Clinton, Historical, Hollywood, Hurricane Katrina, IMG, India, Internet, Iraq, Jorge Egocheaga, Kanchenjunga, Katrina, Kilimanjaro, Laneo, Lewis & Clark, Lhakpa Gelu Sherpa, Lhotse, Life, Liza Minnelli, Madonna, Malaysia, Martin Strehl, Maxut and Vissily, McDonald's, McDonald's Corporation, Mecca, Michael Bane, Michael Jackson, Michel Fournier, Moby Dick, Montana, Mostafa Salameh, Mountain Disaster, Mountain Tragedy, Mt. Aconcagua, Mt. Denali, Mt. Elbrus, Mt. Everest, Mt. Everest History, Mt. Everest Summit, Mt. Hood, Mt. Hood 2006, Mt. Kilimanjaro, Mt. Kosciuszko, Mt. Rainier, Mt. Vinson, Music, Muslim, Muslims, Nanga Parbat, Nascar, Nation, National Geographic, National Geographic:Adventure, National Tragedy, Nature, Nepal, Nepal Protests, New Discovery, New York, News, News Broadcasters, Newspaper Editors, Nintendo, Nintendo Wii, North Korea, North Pole, North Ridge Route, Norway, Norwegian, Nuclear Energy, Outside Magazine, Painted Frog, Painting, Paintings, Park Young-Seok, Paul Adler, Personal, Peter Whittaker, Pirates of the Caribbean, Playstation, Playstation 3, Police, Police Station, Politics, President, President Bush, President Clinton, Primitive Camping, RSS feed, Religion, Restraunt, Restraunts, Ricardo Valencia, Roald Amundsen, Rob hall, Rocks, Rowing, SAR, Save the Planet, Scott Fischer, Search and Rescue, Sergio Dalla Longa, Seven Summits, Sherpas, Sir Edmund Hillary, Slovakian, Sony Playstation, Sotheby's, South America, South Pole, Sports, SuperSherpas, Switzerland, TV, Technology, Tennessee, Tent, The Adventure Blog, The Adventurist, The Alarm, The Eiger, The Everest Chronicles, Trekking, UK, USA, Uncategorized, Vacation, Video games, Vietnam, Vietnam War, WWII, War in Iraq, Warhol Foundation, Websites, Wildlife, World, World Record, World Trade Center, World War Two, World's Fastest Ascent of Everest, World's Youngest 7 Summiter, bible, blog, blogging, bouldering, breaking news, climb, climbers, climbing community, death, equipment, extreme sports, family, firefighter, fishing, food, halal, headlines, hiking, hope, humor, jail, leadership, meditation, military, mountain biking, mountaineering, sex, ski, sking, snowshoe, soldier, soldiers, swimming, taxpayers, trailrunning, travel, violence, war |  

Unarmed on Everest 2007

Norwegian Climber Cato Pedersen is planning his first attempt to summit Everest in this years upcoming climbing season–Pedersen has already climbed the likes of Cho Oyu and been on an Expedition to the South Pole–all while having no arms.

The upcoming “Everest Unarmed 2007″ Expedition will be a celebration of the achievements that Cato has made all while being disabled.

Cato lost his left and half of his right arm in a high-voltage accident in 1973 at the age of 12,  but that has never slowed him down.  Cato has previously won 11 gold medals in the disabled Olympics–1980-1984-1988..He has traversed to the South Pole in 1994 while pulling a 240 lb sled–and just last year, taught himself to climb a rope.

Everest will be the third peak that Cato has attempted, with a successful climb of Cho Oyu last year. 

His team consisting of fellow Norwegians will attempt the North Col Route.  He will be arriving in Katmandu on April 1 to begin his Expedition.

The Adventurist would like to wish him and his team the best of luck in achieving success.

You may find Cato Pederson’s personal website here, but be forwarned–it is in Norwegian.

Filed Under Adventure, Adventure Blogs, Adventurist Books, Ama Dablam, Amazon River, Andi Orgler, Animals, Antarctic Sun, Antarctica, Asian Trekking, Avalanche, Bible Scriptures, Blogger, Blogroll, British East India Company, Cairo, Canada, Carstensz Pyramid, Censorship, China, Cho Oyu, Civil Rights, Coleman Everest Team, David Sharpe, Dawa Sherpa, Denali, Earthrace, Ecology, Editorial, Egypt, Environment, Environmental Issues, Ethiopia, Everest 1933, Everest 2007, Everest 2007 North, Everest 2007 South Col, Everest Basecamp, Everest Expedition 2007, Everest Expedition Companies, Everest South Col, ExplorersWeb, First Ascent, George W. Bush, Hollywood, India, Internet, Kanchenjunga, Kilimanjaro, Life, Madonna, Moby Dick, Montana, Mostafa Salameh, Mt. Aconcagua, Mt. Denali, Mt. Elbrus, Mt. Everest, Mt. Everest History, Mt. Everest Summit, Mt. Hood, Mt. Kilimanjaro, Mt. Kosciuszko, Mt. Rainier, Mt. Vinson, Music, Nanga Parbat, Nation, Nature, Nepal, Nepal Protests, News, News Broadcasters, Newspaper Editors, Nintendo Wii, North Pole, North Ridge Route, Norway, Norwegian, Nuclear Energy, Outside Magazine, Painting, Personal, Pirates of the Caribbean, RSS feed, Ricardo Valencia, Roald Amundsen, Rob hall, Save the Planet, Scott Fischer, Seven Summits, Sherpas, Sir Edmund Hillary, Slovakian, Sony Playstation, Sotheby's, South Pole, Sports, Switzerland, TV, The Adventurist, The Everest Chronicles, USA, Uncategorized, Warhol Foundation, Websites, World's Fastest Ascent of Everest, blog, blogging, family, fishing, hiking, hope, humor, leadership, ski, sking, swimming, travel |  

The Adventurist: Global Visitors Debugged

I posted a day or two ago about how I added a new feature to “The Adventurist” called Global Visitors.  What this does is it allows me to see where The Adventurist is being read by state and country.

Well, the first day I had it up–it worked smooth for about an hour, then it lost contact with my site…I had to go back through and redo everything–

The good news is that it is working great now–you may view this new feature by scrolling down the left-hand sidebar till you see “Global Visitors”.  This gives you a list of where everyone comes from that has viewed this site.

Just going on today’s stats alone, “The Adventurist” has recieved visitors from 16 different U.S. states and five foreign countries including Spain, France, India, Canada, and the UK.

Also, the same day I added this new feature to The Adventurist, I also added the “Blogtopsites” button just below the Global Visitors.  This is a ranking of the top sites in a few given catagories–”The Adventurist” being listed in the Sports catagory…at listing time, this site was raked 399th–we are now sitting at 243rd–an advancement of 156 spots in only two days.  The Adventurist is also ranked 5th in the “Adventure” catagory overall.

This site is starting to get the following and become pretty well known for being the best adventure blog on the net.  Thanks to all of you readers for helping me try to achieve my goals with this site.  Hope you will enjoy your stay–checkout the archives if you like–and possibly learn something you didn’t know before stopping by.

Cheers-

J. Alan Hendricks, Editor “The Adventurist”

Filed Under 100 Greatest Adventure Books, Adventure, Adventure Blogs, Adventurist Books, Ama Dablam, Amazon River, Andi Orgler, Animals, Antarctic Sun, Antarctica, Asian Trekking, Austrian, Avalanche, Bhudism, Bible Scriptures, Biology, Blogger, Blogroll, Books, British East India Company, Cairo, Canada, Carstensz Pyramid, Censorship, China, Cho Oyu, Civil Rights, David Sharpe, Dawa Sherpa, Denali, Dhaulagiri, Earthrace, Ecology, Ed Visteurs, Editorial, Egypt, Elizabeth Hawley, Elton John, Environment, Environmental Issues, Ethiopia, Everest 1933, Everest 1996, Everest 2007, Everest 2007 North, Everest 2007 South Col, Everest Basecamp, Everest Expedition 2007, Everest Expedition Companies, Everest South Col, First Ascent, Fox, Fox News, Free, Funny, George W. Bush, Hanggliding, Hillary Clinton, Historical, Hollywood, India, Internet, Iraq, Jorge Egocheaga, Kanchenjunga, Katrina, Kilimanjaro, Life, Liza Minnelli, Madonna, Maxut and Vissily, Michael Bane, Michel Fournier, Moby Dick, Montana, Mostafa Salameh, Mt. Aconcagua, Mt. Denali, Mt. Elbrus, Mt. Everest, Mt. Everest History, Mt. Everest Summit, Mt. Hood, Mt. Kilimanjaro, Mt. Kosciuszko, Mt. Rainier, Mt. Vinson, Music, Nanga Parbat, Nation, National Geographic:Adventure, National Tragedy, Nature, Nepal, Nepal Protests, New York, News, News Broadcasters, Newspaper Editors, Nintendo Wii, North Korea, North Pole, North Ridge Route, Nuclear Energy, Outside Magazine, Painting, Personal, Pirates of the Caribbean, Playstation, Politics, President, RSS feed, Religion, Restraunts, Roald Amundsen, Rob hall, Save the Planet, Scott Fischer, Sergio Dalla Longa, Seven Summits, Sherpas, Sir Edmund Hillary, Slovakian, Sony Playstation, Sotheby's, South America, South Pole, Sports, Switzerland, TV, Technology, The Adventure Blog, The Adventurist, The Everest Chronicles, USA, Uncategorized, Warhol Foundation, Websites, Wildlife, World, World Record, blog, blogging, death, equipment, extreme sports, family, fishing, food, hiking, hope, humor, jail, leadership, meditation, ski, sking, snowshoe, swimming, travel |  

Next Page »