Indonesian Digital News Archive

It has been awhile since we had a really great wingsuit video. The one below will certainly change that however. It features GoPro athlete Alexander Polli floating through the air above New Zealand, Switzerland and Norway as he effortlessly soars through canyons, buzzes rock towers and generally plays chicken with gravity. Consider this your shot of adrenaline for the day.

Ever wonder what the paddling scene in Norway is like? Well wonder no more. The video below, which comes our way courtesy of the White Box magazine, will not only give you a good indication of some of the kayaking options in that country but may also have you booking a trip of your own. The scenery is simply amazing and the rivers look extraordinary.


WHITE BOX - Ticking Boxes - Norway Update 2 from Adrian Kiernan on Vimeo.

Norwegian explorers Audun Tholfsen and Timo Palo have completed their arctic adventure at last. The two men, whom I've written about a couple of times throughout their journey, arrived at Longyearbyen a few days ago, closing out a 1600km (994 mile) expedition that took 72 days to finish.

The two men launched their excursion on April 23, starting at 90ºN and heading south towards Svalbard. Using skis and kayaks they crossed vast open areas of ice and ocean, enduring incredibly bad weather, daunting surface conditions and the occasional polar bear while en route.

Audun and Timo estimate that of the 1600 or so kilometers that they covered in their journey about 400km (248 miles) of that was done in a kayak. The rest of the time they were on skis and pulling their gear, including the kayaks, behind them. That's a lot of miles to cover on foot in some of the toughest conditions on the planet.

Now that they've been back for a few days the two men report that they are in good physical condition and recovering nicely from the challenges of the expedition. They say that they've missed hot showers and pizza the most, and I suspect that they are enjoying both right now. They promise to share more information on their adventure once they've had a chance to rest and settle in, so be sure to watch their website for any future updates.

Congrats to both Audun and Timo on a job well done. Those pizzas and hot showers have been well earned mates.

It has been over a month since I posted an update on the progress of Audun Tholfsen and Timo Palo, the two Norwegian explorers who were dropped off at the North Pole back in April and have been making their way south ever since. The boys have had their struggles over the past weeks, but they continue to make good progress and are slowly, but surely closing in on the finish line at last.

While on their journey, Audun and Timo have traveled by ski and kayak as they make their way towards Longyearbyen, on the island of Svalbard. The entire excursion will cover approximately 1400km (870 miles) once it it completed and will mark the longest and most challenging North Polar expedition of the year by far. As of yesterday the duo were at about 82º30' north latitude, which would put them squarely in the Arctic Ocean. But since the area is still mostly frozen, they continue to use a combinations of skiing and paddling to make progress.

The two explorers have been making periodic updates to their blog in which they share the experiences of their travels. Those experiences have included nasty storms that have lasted for several days, dealing with broken equipment, polar bears, difficult terrain and more. All of those things have made the journey a challenging one, but they are still on track to finish sometime late this month, provided they don't encounter more unexpected challenges.

Its great to see that one of the North Pole expeditions is doing well and continuing forward. It's beginning to look like more expeditions will be starting at 90ºN in the future instead of ending there.