February 2003 – Volume Ten, Number Two
February 2003 – Volume Ten, Number Two
EXPEDITION NEWS is the monthly review of
significant expeditions, research projects and newsworthy adventures. It is
distributed online and by mail to media representatives, corporate sponsors,
educators, research librarians, explorers, environmentalists, and outdoor
enthusiasts. This forum on exploration covers projects that stimulate,
motivate and educate.
HERE ARE HIGHLIGHTS FROM OUR FEBRUARY ISSUE. FOR A FREE SAMPLE OF THE
COMPLETE ISSUE THIS MONTH, AND SUBSCRIPTION INFORMATION, SEND AN E-MAIL TO
editor@expeditionnews.com
UNLOCKING THE MYSTERIES OF THE GREENLAND ICE SHARK
The Greenland shark is one of the most bizarre sharks known - over 20 feet
long, with poisonous flesh, and the only known polar shark living in frigid
(28.5 degrees F.) Arctic waters.
Determined to solve the baffling riddles
surrounding this mysterious and little-known creature is an experienced team
of researchers and filmmakers from the U.S. They plan to launch an expedition
called the Ice Shark Project to study the prehistoric-like shark, which lives
beneath the seven-foot-thick Arctic ice, near the northern reaches of Baffin
Island, approximately 300 miles from the Magnetic North Pole. The effort will
begin during summer 2003 and extend to spring 2004.
FOUNDATION ORGANIZES EXPEDITION TO HIGH ARCTIC
Wilderness Research Foundation, Inc., a new,
not-for-profit organization based in New York, plans to raise money in the
private sector to subsidize multidisciplinary expeditions restricted to
Ph.D.'s and doctoral candidates. The first project, an expedition to
southern Axel Heiberg Island in the Canadian High Arctic, is scheduled for
the summer of 2004.
EXPLORING INDIA'S ZANSKAR VALLEY
This winter Dave Anderson, Andrew Chapman and Anthony
Chapin will spend a month exploring the cultural and ice climbing attractions
in the Zanskar Valley located in the Kashmir region of India.
EXPEDITION UPDATE
Father-Son Diabetics Reach South Pole – Former Royal Air
Force officer Mike Cross, 60, and his son, Will, 35, became the first father
and son team as well as the first people with diabetes to reach the South
Pole over land (see EN, January 2003). In so doing, the pair raised tens of
thousands of pounds for research into diabetes.
Mike Cross, who lives in Lincolnshire, UK, joined his son
earlier last month with Dr. Bret Goodpaster, a medical researcher from the
University of Pittsburgh, for the final 120-mile leg of the 730-mile journey.
Their Ultimate Trek to Cure Diabetes was sponsored by NovoNordisk,
manufacturers of insulin, and LifeScan Europe. Iridium Satellite LLC,
Breitling and a host of other equipment partners contributed. (For more
information: www.curewalk.com).
QUOTE OF THE MONTH
"Discovery is important to modern life and needs to be encouraged among
the younger generation that is being challenged everyday. Our cultural task
is to integrate an element of discovery in students." - Iceland President
Olafur Ragnar Grimsson, 56, upon the opening of "Vikings: The North Atlantic
Saga." Produced by the Smithsonian Institution, it is ending its two-year
North American tour at the Science Museum of Minnesota in St. Paul.
It is the most extensive exhibition ever created to demonstrate in a
concrete way how the Vikings came from Iceland to Greenland and then
discovered the North American continent in the year 1000. "If Americans want
to celebrate Columbus' discovery of 1492, they can go right ahead," he later
said. "But to us, he was a latecomer."
BUZZ WORD
Umbraphile – Eclipse chasers who drop everything and head for the Path of
Totality - the only place on earth where a total solar eclipse appears, well,
total. "I think it's probably the most spectacular natural event you can be
witness to, perhaps comparable only to a volcanic eruption," says umbraphile
Fred Espenak, an astrophysicist at NASA's Goddard Flight Center in Maryland.
Get your ski buggies ready: the next total eclipse, in November 2003, will
make landfall only over Antarctica. (Source: Patrick Joseph, Universal Press
Syndicate).
ON THE HORIZON
Women of Discovery Awards – Wings Trust, a not-for-profit foundation
dedicated to researching, promoting, and celebrating contributions of
extraordinary women explorers around the world, will present the 1st Annual
Women of Discovery Awards on Mar. 12, 2003. The ceremony will take place at
the National Arts Club, New York City. The Women of Discovery Award is the
one of the first awards that specifically recognizes the work of women
explorers.
The award - $10,000 cash - will be given in four categories: Earth, Sea,
Air and Space, and Human Life.
EXPEDITION CLASSIFIEDS
Expedition Public Relations – Alex Foley &
Associates specializes in expedition PR. Alex Foley is honorary secretary
of the Explorers Club British Chapter and has executed PR programs for many
ventures including the 1996 Titanic Expedition, David Hempleman-Adams Chase
de Vere Atlantic Challenge, David Hempleman-Adams and Josh Wishart's Polar
Race, and Ice Challenger, the Bering Strait expedition flying Explorers Club
Flag 176A last March. www.IceChallenger.com
Alex Foley & Associates Ltd. (London, UK)
alexfoley@btinternet.com
Tel: (+44) 207-352-3144; Mobile: (+44) 797-671-3478
Affordable Himalaya with Daniel Mazur – Please tell your
friends. Announcing new lowered prices due to recent events. These are full
service expeditions, including Sherpa and all costs inside Nepal: Amadablam
2003-06, $3,950; Manaslu 2003, $6,950; Dhaulagiri 2004, $6,950; Pumori
2003-06, $3,950. We offer our new low-budget expeditions: Mustagh-Ata
2003-06, $1,450; Cho-Oyu 2003-06, $4,650; Everest 2003-06, $6,000. Everything
for the novice, intermediate and expert since 1987. Ask about our treks. We
give slide shows too!
Daniel Mazur
summitclimb@earthlink.net
www.summitclimb.com
Tel: (+1) 206-329-4107
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