The North Pole has long fascinated adventurers, each one eager to set new records. But being first is no longer the holy grail of Arctic exploration. Polar explorer Eric Larsen shares what expeditions are like now—when the finish line is melting.
“It’s not about being first,” polar explorer Eric Larsen tells me, before we embark on a overnight winter camping trip with a group of other cold-weather loving adventurers. “It’s about being last, and seeing these places before they’re forever changed.”
Category: Adventurers & Explorers (Page 7 of 7)
Kateri Jochum and Michelle Franzen, writing for ABC News:
New Jersey teenager Oliver Crane became the youngest person to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean early Sunday, when he arrived on the Caribbean island of Antigua to a crowd of cheering friends and family.
The 19-year-old broke the previous record for the youngest solo crossing, set in 2010 that was held by then-22-year-old Katie Spotz.
Crane completed his 3,000-mile voyage in 44 days after starting in the Canary Islands on Dec. 14
Mountaineer Katie Sarah has now summited not only the highest mountain on every continent, but also the seven highest volcanic peaks – a feat referred to in mountaineering as the ‘Seven-Seven’.
The 49-year-old became the eighth person to join the elite – previously men’s only – club when she successfully summited Mount Sidley in Antarctica on January 14.
There are 14 peaks above 8,000 metres (26,246 feet) in the world. All of them are in the Himalayas. Ibrahimi wants to climb them all by 2023. Through her adventures she hopes people to view life as possibility to reach peaks, no matter the challenge.
Utalaya - The 14 Peaks of the Himalayas
Die Morina, writing Balkan Insight:
The first part of her mission, entitled ‘14 Utalaya Himalaya’ is expected to start on April or May this year, and will see her climbing the 8,516-metre Mount Lhotse, located between Nepal and Tibet, the fourth highest mountain on earth.
Later this year, she plans to also climb the world’s second-highest mountain, K2, at the border between China and Pakistan.
“K2 is known as the most dangerous peak in world,” Ibrahimi said.
Wonderful story. This is already a victory for Kiko and the medical staff that saved her life.
Learn more about Kiko Matthews and her efforts to raise funds for King’s College Hospital where she received life saving care. Her site includes a live GPS tracker where we’ll all be able to follow her progress on her world record attempt.
10 years ago, on 11 January 2008, Sir Edmund Percival Hillary, the New Zealand mountaineer, explorer, and philanthropist, passed away. He and Tenzing Norgay were the first to conqueror of Mt Everest.
Seth Sicroff, writing for Nepali Times:
During the 1960s and 70s Nepal was known as the recreational and spiritual jewel of the world, a destination that was on everyone’s ‘bucket list’. In large part, that allure was due to the achievements and the promotional effort of Edmund Hillary. The so-called hippies matured into the generation that fought to protect the environment, promoted recycling, and planetary sustainability. They were inspired by Nepal, but Hillary was the catalyst.
Hillary’s son Peter Hillary, a world-class adventurer and humanitarian in his own right, wrote of the liberating effect of his father’s achievement on Mt Everest: ‘While Ed Hillary and Tenzing Norgay just wanted to climb the mountain because no one had reached the summit, it never occurred to them that this daring climb into the physical and physiological unknown expanded the realm of possibility for every one of us down near sea level the fact that we too could climb the world’s highest mountain if we wanted to … we are all liberated by the successes of others, because their successes show that it can be done.’