Cool Vid: Quicksilver Kelly Slater Extreme Surfing ATP White Lies

Today’s Discussion: What’s One Book That Influenced Your Love Of The Outdoors?

All of us have been influenced at one time or another by an individual or book that we thought best represents the way we feel.  Many of us who partake in the great outdoors on a regular basis probably owe more than we realize to a perceptions first brought about by reading a great outdoor adventure or how-to guide.  Perhaps the biography of John Muir set you off on a path of conservation and discovery.  Maybe Jon Krakauer’s “Into Thin Air” influenced you to go climbing that first mountain.  Whatever the book (or article) I would love for you to share these influences with the rest of my readers. Please comment after the ‘jump’.

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Wildlife Alert: Nambia Begins Auctioning Ivory For First Time In Decade

The African nation of Nambia is raising some eyebrows over a recent decision to host the first public auction of Ivory in over 10 years.  Over recent days Nambia has, and will be, auctioning off more than 108 tons of elephant tusks–roughly the equivilent of 10,000 elephants–to Japan, China, and other Asian nations.  Much of the tusks will be sold into the Asian medicine market in a one-time sale.

In 1989, Africa banned the ivory trade to cut down on endangered animals being poached, namely the Rhinos and elephants of Africa.  Most of the ivory put up for auction by Nambia is suppose to be ‘old’ ivory, meaning that it was already there before the ban, or came from animals that died on their own in the wild.  Many wildlife organizations and African nations fear that this new auction for ivory will spark a new attempt by poachers to cash in on the trade.

The money raised by the sale of Nambia’s ivory is suppose to go to elephant conservation projects, or be used by the locals, whose area the elephants have devastated.  Three other nations have been authorized to make substantial auctions of Africa’s ivory alongside Nambia.  They include Botswana, Zimbabwe, and South Africa-the substantial range where Africa’s 600,000 elephants now reside.

To read more on the current ivory situation in Nambia, the Times-Online has put up a great article with quite a bit more detail.

Photo:  Lukas Vermeer via Flickr

Ski Resorts Put The Ban On Burton Snowboards

A few days ago, I touched base on a controversy surrounding two new lines of Burton snowboards.  The two lines of snowboards feature characterizations of mutilation and a graphic tribute to Playboy magazines of the past.  These two lines of boards have sparked an outcry in the outdoors and political communities.  Protests have been ongoing at Burton headquarters in Burlington, Vermont throughout this past week, and now comes news that some ski resorts are banning the new boards for their ‘inappropriate ‘ graphics.

Smuggler’s Notch, a well-known Vermont ski resort, has put a ban in place to forbid it’s employees from using any boards from the new Burton lines.  Vail Resorts, who oversee five sperate ski resorts in Colorado and one in California, has also followed suit in banning the boards from being used by resort employees.

While this is not a full-scale ban of the Burton boards on these slopes, it does represent the first time that a board manufacturer has been banned for the graphics of it’s boards by resort officials.  All resorts involved suggest that the latest information on the banning of the Burton boards should not be looked upon as their dislike of the product line.  All officials are suggesting that this same ban does not only apply to Burton, but to all companies who put out a product that could be suggestive or involve inappropriate content to it’s family-based business ethics.

Burton, who manufactures the snowboards, along with a full line of outdoor recreational equipment and gear, stands by their decision to market these boards and will not be pulling them from sale any time soon.  They suggest that these boards represent ‘freedom of expression’ and are only two lines, out of many, that the manufacturer markets publicly.

It will be interesting to see where this controversy goes.  On one hand, these graphical boards will definitely be construed as controversial in a family atmosphere.  On the other hand, Burton snowboards have been one of the top brands of boards on the market for a long time.  Only time will tell if these boards will get the acceptance of the public, or be banned in the USA.

>>For the latest and greatest updates on big adventure expeditions and outdoors recreation, please think about signing up for The Adventurists’ free email newsletter–delivered daily.

Paris Hilton Signs Up For Virgin Galactic’s First Sub-Orbital Space Flight

Paris Hilton has signed on to be a passenger of Virgin Galactic’s maiden voyage into the sub-orbital hemisphere.  Paris will be joining the likes of William Shatner, Tom Hanks, and Sigourney Weaver on the newest venture by billionarire adventurer Richard Branson, the Virgin Galactic passenger space program.

I’m very scared to do it. What if I don’t come back? With the whole light years thing, what if I come back 10,000 years later, and everyone I know is dead?

Luckily for her, 10,000 years should be a sufficent time for a new crop of Hollywood boyfriends to emerge-

Paris’ latest venture comes as a surprise to many people associated with this flight-including herself.  William Shatner had Star Trek, Tom Hanks had Apollo 13, and Sigourney Weaver has slayed a few Aliens in her day, but Paris Hilton’s interest in space has not been so straight forward-especially when it comes to spending $230,000 for a seat on the first voyage.  Anybody believe she paid this?

If it were me, I would like to have the seat between Sigourney Weaver and Paris Hilton.  If there were aliens, Sigourney would have my back.  If they get through her, at least I would die in good hands..

2,500 Marathon Runners Lost, Found, and Finally Rescued During UK’s ‘Original Mountain Marathon’

More than 2,500 people had to be rescued over the weekend during one of the U.K.’s annual adventure marathons.  The annual “Original Mountain Marathon’ began even after stern warnings had been sent out in regards to bad weather in the area.  Authorities are confident that this event should have been cancelled prior to the start, but event organizers tried to keep everything on pace and put on a good event.

After the start of the marathon, the weather took a turn for the worst.   Huge sheets of rain flooded down on participants resulting in hypothermic competitors and flash flooding through the U.K.’s rugged Lake District.  Roads were washing out and competitors had to worry about crossing areas in waist-deep water.  Event organizers soon called the race off due to weather and flood dangers and sent in the search and rescue after all 2,500 competitors.

By the end of the evening all runners had been accounted for and no major injuries were reported.  This situation, while pretty dire looking (watch this video), at least had a better outcome than what could have taken place under such circumstances.  Competitors and race organizers all suggested that they were warned before the start that things could get ugly.  Perhaps they all seen this as a new challenge before the race, but now think of the situation quite differently.  Let’s hope that the next time warnings are given, that participants will take notice…

It is not known whether race organizers or participants will be charged for this latest search and rescue, but we do know that it will definitely be debated with this many people involved.  To join in the debate and discuss this latest issue on search and rescue, please follow this link.

A Picture Worth A Thousand Words: October 25, 2008

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Burton’s Playboy Themed Snowboards: The Business of Controversy

Burton Snowboards have come under some heat for the recent launching of it’s ‘Coalition Love Playboy Models’ series of snowboards.  These boards, while highly engineered to Burton standards, offer a graphical side to what is acceptable in the mainstream and in what consumers are willing to buy.

These snowboards offer graphics of a ‘playboy sexual’ nature with barely clad (do socks count?) female graphics and a litle eye teaser on the backside.

These snowboards, which I do refuse to show here, offer up a highly argumentative conversation on what the ‘decency’ standard for such equipment should be.  Should we accept these boards as a person’s ‘freedom of self-expression’, or should they be disallowed (dare I say banned) due to their graphic nature and the possibility that children will see them?  Some would argue that the younger crowd is the exact aim of the highly graphical snowboards.

The corporate headquarters of Burton has been inundated with more than 100 protesters arguing their case against the latest Burton line.  The protesters included women’s groups and a group of men who fight against domestic violence.  The Burlington, Vermont company says that it’s latest two lines (another snowboard line being protested includes graphics of self mutilation) is a freedom of expression for the company. They have refused to pull the two lines of snowboards.

Since these two lines of snowboards have been released to the consumer market, Burton has found itself losing some public prominence and influence with some of the better things it is involved with.  Burton sponsors a program to help disadvantaged kids to get outside and learn about the sport of snowboarding.  Some of the fellow sponsors of Burton’s program have now backed out of the deal and refuse to support a company that does not have their consumers best interest at heart.

On the downside of this debate, and one of the reasons that Burton is probably refusing to pull these lines of boards, is that any controversy, especially a freedom of expression (or freedom of speech) issue, is that these controversies draw attention and sales from the consumers to the company.  Sometimes the marketing of such items are used specifically to draw an interest in the product.  As they say, bad publicity is still publicity and ANY publicity usually garners a few more sales than none at all.

Mt. Adams Survivor: “Ants Taste Like Hot Tamales..”

Some of you may be aware of a recent incident that involved a climber on Mt. Adams.  His survival tale, of 5 days stranded on the side of a mountain, has made some national headlines over the past couple of days.  Today, that survivor, Derek Mamoyak, sat down with reporters and began to tell his amazing tale.

Mamoyak, speaking to a KGW reporter Eric Adams, said he can fondly remember slipping, then hearing a ’snap’.  That snap would be Mamoyak’s leg and ankle breaking on impact.  For five days Mamoyak suffered through an ordeal that to many people would seem remarkable.

He talks of being forced to eat ants and centipedes for nourishment, of trying to keep his mind focused on surviving, and of a near rescue only two days in to his ordeal that failed to find him.

I am not really mentioning this saga for the facts surrounding Mr. Mamoyak’s near death experience.  All of that has already been written.  What I would like to do is point out a few of the things that Derek was able to do to be to give himself a better shot at being able to survive during this unfortunate event.

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“Everest: A Climb For Peace” Wins Mt. Shasta Film Festival and Obtains Television and Distribution Deal

Everest: A Climb For Peace has won another film festival and has picked up a television and distribution deal in the process.  Lance Trumbull’s award wining film took home the gold at the recent Mt. Shasta Film Festival.  The award doesn’t surprise me.  I still feel that this is an amazing film and one that everyone should have the opportunity to see.  And now you might get that opportunity.

Along with the news of the Mt. Shasta Film Festival Award, comes news that Everest: A Climb For Peace has been picked up by APT (American Public Television).  APT will be representing and distributing this film to a worldwide television audience through television and DVD distribution.  The first public broadcast of this film will take place in November when Canadian television will be showing this in it’s entirety across the country.

This is some very big news for my friend Lance Trumbull, who has been busy the past two years promoting and pushing this work to a larger audience through film showings, festivals, and the lecture circuit.  Lance is the producer and directer of this film, and also the founder of the Everest Peace Project, a non-profit organization used to support peace and peace projects worldwide.

To paraphrase an early film review that I posted back on April 22nd:

Everest: A Climb for Peace takes a look at some of these issues through the eyes of fellow climbers that are at odds politically, but through social interaction have the chance to come away with a bigger, better, and more profound knowledge about the world they live in.  The message is not about the climbers, it is not about political issues and condemnation, It’s not even about Everest.  It is about something much bigger that encompasses everything we have seen, heard, or felt about some of the cruelest places in the world.  It is about surviving.  It is about thriving.  It is about Peace..

To read more about this film, be sure to check out the Everest: A Climb for Peace website.  You may also find the link to the Everest Peace Project in my right-hand sidebar on this site.  To get the ultimate “pre-show” trailer of this fantastic film, you have to do nothing more than click the video found just to the right of this post.

The Everest Peace Project is having international, multi-cultural Peace Climbs on mountains across the world. In harmony with the United Nation’s fundamental goals - our vision, through the example of international cooperation is to promote a Global Community that strives for peace and compassion.

To learn more about the Everest Peace Project, or to get involved, I highly recomend you swinging by the website.  The EPP has also teamed up with Room To Read to help in the building of local and school libraries in Nepal.

Did I mention that Orlando Bloom narrates this film and that it has garnered the support of the Dalai Lama?  Yes, it is THAT good..check it out.

By the way, be sure to leave some congratulatory remarks for Lance.  I know he visits the site quite regularly.  I am sure he would love to hear your support.

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