Indonesian Digital News Archive

One of the big adventures we've been following this summer is the Arctic Row 2012, during which Paul Ridley, Collin West, Neal Mueller and Scott Mortensen were attempting to travel from Inuvik, Canada to Provideniya, Russia by rowboat. This was to be the first crossing, of sorts, of the Arctic Ocean by a rowing team, but bad weather conditions have conspired agains the crew, forcing them to call off the expedition altogether.

The journey was originally expected to cover some 2100km (1300 miles) and take approximately 30 days to complete. When they set out back in mid-July conditions were actually better than expected and  progress was good. But as the days rolled on things took a turn for the worse and unusually powerful storms began to develop in the Arctic. Those storms proved to be impossible to row in, which slowed progress to a crawl. On more than one occasion, the team had to take shelter in a lagoon, sometimes for days, in order to wait out the heavy seas and high winds that were blowing through their area.

The delays proved costly and a journey that was expected to take about a month began to drag on much further. Today was their 41st day at sea and with their supplies dwindling and more storms on the horizon, they decided to go ashore at Point Hope, Alaska.

In a lengthy blog post last night the team talked about the trials and tribulations of their voyage. It hasn't been an easy one to say the least and for four men who have been stuck inside the tiny cabin of a small ocean rowboat, I'm sure it felt good to come ashore yesterday.

I'm sure we'll hear more about their story in the days ahead, as for now they are likely eating and catching up on their rest. It was a valiant attempt on their part, but the Arctic Ocean proved a bit too strong for these men. At least for now.

EpicTV continues their onslaught of great videos, serving up an interview with mountaineer Andy Houseman today. Andy and his partner Nick Bullock just completed the sixth ever ascent of the Slovak route on Denali in Alaska. In the interview Andy talks about that climb extensively as well as what's up next for him and Nick. He also briefly touches on the importance of climbing in his life and why he loves doing what he does.

EpicTV Interviews: Alpinist Andy Houseman On Denali's Slovak Direct from EpicTVAdventure on Vimeo.

The Revelation Mountains are a sub-range of the Alaska Range and for the most part they are largely unexplored. Rugged and remote, the region is known for its unpredictable weather which can bring abundant snow. Those mountains are the subject of a new Slovenian documentary film entitled Aurora Polaris which was made when a small team of adventurers visited the Revelations for some climbing and skiing. The trailer for the film can be viewed below and the full documentary is scheduled for release in November. Looks like an amazing place!

Looking for a beautiful way to start your morning? Then look no further than the video below. It is a fantastic timelapse of the beautiful winter landscapes near Anchorage, Alaska that was shot between October 2011 and April of this year. Simply beautiful.



Anchorage By Winter from Zan Butler on Vimeo

It was a rough weekend on the tallest peak in North America when it was announced that four Japanese climbers were killed on Denali after being swept off the mountain in an avalanche. The team of five was ascending the West Buttress at 3496 meters (11,800 ft) when they were hit by the snow, knocking all of them into a crevasse. One member of the team, 69-year old Hitoshi Ogi, managed to survive the fall and climb out.

The incident actually occurred last Wednesday, but it wasn't until Thursday that Ogi managed to make his way down the mountain for help. Search teams were organized immediately with the hope of finding other survivors, but that search was called off last night. Rangers on the mountain were able to descend into the crevasse, and found what could be remnants of the team's gear, but there were no sign of survivors. The heavy snow and ice also made the recovery of bodies impossible.

There have now been six deaths on Denali this year. Early in the season one climber fell to his death after chasing his backpack down a steep slope, while another perished when he fell on his descent a week later. With a few more weeks left to go in the Denali season, lets hope that there aren't any more fatalities.

My condolences go out to the friends and families of these Japanese climbers.

As I mentioned in my earlier piece on Everest, now that the spring Himalaya season has wrapped up, its time to turn our attention to Denali, where there have already been a number of successful summits this year. But this story is about an important expedition that is actually scheduled to take place next year. One that has goals that reach far beyond the mountaineering world and could impact a number of young people.

In 2013 the National Outdoors Leadership School (NOLS) is organizing a team to travel to Alaska to attempt to climb the highest peak in North America. Denali (also known as Mt. McKinley) stands 6196 meters (20,327 ft) in height and is a notoriously difficult to climb due to both its technical challenges and famously bad weather. Even at the height of summer, high winds and heavy snows can cause problems on the mountain and it is often used as a tune-up for Everest, even though it is 3000 meters lower in height.

Of course, there are dozens of expeditions that attempt the mountain each year, but what sets this one apart is that NOLS is hoping to create a team consisting of all African American climbers to give it a go. The hope is that through their efforts, these climbers will inspire young people in minority groups, especially African American youth, to get outside and become more active stewards of wilderness environments.

Dubbed Expedition Denali, the project is still in the early stages of planning and the team behind it is still looking for sponsors. Still, it is moving ahead and plans for making the climb in 2013 are well underway. I have little doubt that this will be a highly successful venture for all of those involved. To find out more about the project and how you can take part, check out the expedition's official website here.

The number of young people in the U.S. who are actively taking part in outdoor activities is falling dramatically and that drop off is even more pronounced amongst minorities. I am a big supporter of doing anything we can to get young people outside and inspired to pursue their own adventures – great or small. Projects like this one remind us how important that is and I look forward to following this project in the weeks and months to come.

Expedition kayakers Keirron Tastagh and George Shaw have set out on a 1500-mile (2414km) journey through the Aleutian Islands that will provide plenty of challenges and adventure in the weeks ahead. The duo not only plan on exploring the remote islands, which stretch between Alaska and Russia, but they also hope to collect important data on the what is causing a significant decline in the population of North Sea Otters.

Keirron and George began their journey back on May 10th and have been posting regular updates, along with plenty of photos, to their blog ever since. As you can imagine, the Aleutians aren't the most hospitable of places at the moment, and so far they've been dealing with high winds, cold temperatures and plenty of snow and rain. They report steady headwinds of 20 knots (23 mph/37 km/h) for much of the journey thus far and is isn't unusual for them to wake up to find their tents, boats and other gear buried under a fresh blanket of snow.

Fortunately they have also been encountering sea otters on their voyage as well, which is encouraging for their research although it doesn't explain why the populations are in such sharp decline. Keirron and George say they're determined to conduct as much research as they can and haven't ruled out the possibility of actually paddling across the Bering Sea all the way to the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia if they have to. Their journey is self-supported, so they'll maintain their diet by catching fish as they go, and by resupplying in some of the tiny villages in the Aleutians they can potentially maintain the expedition for weeks or months.

Follow their updates through this epic and wild place by reading their blog here.

I was very reluctant to post this video, mostly out of jealousy. You see, I was invited to go along on this GoPro trip to Alaska to study the Aurora Borealis, but had to decline due to a schedule conflict. I really, really want to join the team, but it was a fairly short trip that was overlapping with one that I had already signed on for. So, watching this video is just a reminder of what I missed out on, which isn't easy to take. Beautiful scenery, cool premise and amazing adventure. Maybe next time!

I came across this video this morning over at the Alpinist website. It is a really well done short film that focuses not just on an amazing climb in Alaska, but the prep work that goes into doing a light and fast, alpine style ascent. Climbers David Burdick, John Frieh and Zac West spent three days putting up a new route on the Burkett Needle, which Alpinist lists as approximately 2590 meters (8500 ft) in height.

The entire expedition was just three days in length and is a good demonstration that not all adventures need to be long to be epic. Good stuff!