Indonesian Digital News Archive

Looking for a little Monday morning inspiration to get your week off right? Then look no further than the video below which features some amazing timelapse images shot by photographer Enrique Pacheco in all corners of the globe. As we've come to expect from these amazing timelapse videos, there are some beautiful scenes here that will get you in the mood to start planning your next adventure.

Made on Earth from Enrique Pacheco on Vimeo.

As I'm sure everyone knows by now, yesterday Felix Baumgartner was finally able to make his long-planned jump from the edge of space. When he exited his tiny capsule, he was actually above 128,000 feet (39,014 meters) and during free fall he managed to hit speeds of over 725 mph (1166 kph). For those of us who watched it live, it was quite an amazing spectacle, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who had to remind himself to breathe ever once in awhile. In case you missed it however, the YouTube video below will help you catch-up on all the action. It was definitely something to witness, and looks just as great even when it isn't live.

Congratulations to Felix and the entire Red Bull Stratos team on a job well done. Amazing accomplishment!

It is beginning to look like today is the day that Felix Baumgartner will finally get the chance to make his historic jump from 23 miles above the surface of the planet. The winds in Roswell, New Mexico are light this morning and the skies are clear. Liftoff is currently scheduled for 9:00AM local time and it will take Felix approximately three hours to float up to his jumping point in his helium filled balloon. After that, it is five minutes of free fall, during which he'll hit speeds in excess of Mach 1, before he pulls his ripcord and spends 15-20 more minutes drifting back to Earth.

You can watch the entire thing live in the YouTube stream below. It should be quite a show, and after all the delays and setbacks, it is beginning to look like today will be the day.

Good luck Felix! Godspeed!

When you think of locations that would make for a great timelapse videos, the Grand Canyon would seem to be right at the top of the list. This video more than confirms that as it simply captures one of the most stunning landscapes on the planet in the best way possible. The video was made over seven weeks in April, May and June, when more than 80,000 photos were take throughout the Grand Canyon region. The filmmakers even managed to capture the solar eclipse that took place back in May and it all makes for a grand 5+ minute experience.

Grand Canyon : Blink of Time from GOTM Films on Vimeo.

As the weekend draws near, more information is creeping out about the teams that remain on Everest and Lhotse who are hoping to make summit pushes sometimes in the next few days. We've known for awhile now that there is a Japanese climber (identified as Nobukazu Kuriki) and a Korean team on Everest and a Polish squad hoping to summit Lhotse, but beyond that details have been scare. Thanks to Explorers Web, we now have a clearer picture of these teams and their ultimate goals.

According to an update from ExWeb, the Korean team is the 2012 Everest Peace Expedition from the Gang-Won University Alpine Club. The group is led by Himalayan vet Sung-Wook Hong, and includes the following members: Bong-Ha Park, Young-Hoon Oh, Jin-Seok Kim, Joo-Hwan Ahn, Seok-Joo Woo Young-Rae Kim, Jin-Young Jeong, Keun-Young Choi, and Il-Jin Im. Updates from the team have been a bit sporadic, but a few days back they indicated that they were in Base Camp on the South Side of the mountain, waiting out the weather. Their forecasts indicate that a shift could come in the next four days, and they are preparing to make a summit bid when that happens.

The Polish Lhotse team is essentially in the same boat. It is a young squad led by Artur Hajzer who have also been hoping to wait out the weather. ExWeb quotes Hajzer as saying that his considerable experience in the Himalaya tells him the weather won't make a permanent change until late October or into November, and if they stay patient they'll get their opportunity. They're planning on starting for the summit of Lhotse this weekend with an eye on topping out in the Sunday or Monday timeframe. Since Everest and Lhotse share the same route up to Camp 4, they'll likely be climbing in tandem with the Korean team over the next few days.

As for Kuriki, he's making a solo, but supported, climb along the very dangerous and isolated West Ridge. As if that route wasn't challenging enough, he's also going up without oxygen. The latest news from his Facebook page indicates that he is still in Camp 2 today waiting for the weather window to open. He believes that will happen in the next day or two as well. His forecasts indicate the winds will drop on October 15 or 16, providing access to the summit for a short time. If thats true, he'll start to move up tomorrow and Sunday so that he'll be ready to take advantage of the calm (relatively speaking!) conditions.

Seems like it should be an exciting weekend on Everest and Lhotse. Wish these teams luck and lets hope the weather cooperates. In the meantime, check out the latest YouTube video from Kuriki which he posted this morning. It is some beautiful images from the Himalaya that are sure to inspire.

I've said it before, and I'll know doubt say it again. Our world is a pretty amazing place. The most recent example that I've seen of that is the video below which was shot off South Africa by explorer Mike Horn and photographer Chase Jarvis. While sailing there they came across a "super-pod" of dolphins that swarmed around their ship. There are literally dozens of them and it is quite a beautiful site.

Patagonia is one of the most beautiful places on Earth, bar none. Climbers Michi Lerjen and Jorge Ackermann traveled there recently to climb a new route on Fitz Roy, perhaps the most famous peak in an already famous region. Michi and Jorge share their adventure with us in this 20 minute short film that gives you a sense of that spectacular wilderness and the efforts they went through to climb there.

This is a fantastic little film about a big adventure. Enjoy.

Patagonia Winter from Royal Family Productions on Vimeo.

Virgin, Utah played host to this year's Red Bull Rampage freeride mountain bike competition, in which some of the most talented, and dare I say crazy, riders in the world went head-to-head. The video below features highlights from the event which included some of the biggest drops, flips and jumps that you could ever hope to see. This event is definitely not for the faint of heart, as you'll soon see. I think my stomach dropped a few times just from watching this. Wow!

The Pinarello Dogma 2 road bike frame is the one that Bradley Wiggins rode to victory at the 2012 Tour de France earlier this year. It costs in excess of £10,000 (roughly $16,000) and is a rolling testament to how far cycling technology has come. The frame is made out of carbon fiber and weighs a mere 920 grams (2 pounds), which gives you a sense of just how light the Tour bikes actually are.

In the video below, rider Martyn Ashton take the Pinarello Dogma 2 out for a spin, putting it to the test in places and situations it was never meant to be used in. The results are a pretty entertaining video that shows off his own unique brand of cycling skills that don't resemble Wiggins much at all.

Update: Bumping this to the top of the articles list as it happens live.

Update 2: And now the attempt has been scrubbed for the day. Felix was ready to go, but winds picked up at the last minute and mission control decided to pull the plug. They'll attempt to give it a go tomorrow, although weather forecasts aren't promising for then either. It may be a few days before Felix can make another attempt.

Austrian sky diver Felix Baumgartner is hoping to make his historic jump this morning, provided the weather cooperates. You may recall that Baumgartner is attempting to make the highest and fastest dive in history when he leaps from a small capsule, carried aloft by a helium filled balloon, from 23 miles above the surface of the planet. That's pretty much right on the edge of space and three times higher than the altitude that commercial jets fly. On the descent, Felix will free fall for as much as five minutes and is expected to reach speeds in excess of 690 mph (1110 km/h), becoming the first person to break the sound barrier without a vehicle. After that, he'll pull his ripcord and slowly drift back to Earth, taking somewhere between 15-20 minutes to complete the entire dive.

The jump was scheduled to take place yesterday but cold weather moved into the New Mexico launch site, delaying lift off until today. As I write this, they are in yet another weather delay, but Felix and his team are hoping that things will warm up later this morning and they'll be able to get underway. You can watch the entire event live in the streaming YouTube video below. It should be an amazing site to see when it actually does happen.

Wyoming is such a wild and beautiful place with wide open vistas, wind swept plateaus and rugged mountains. The essence of the place is captured all too well in the video below, which is a timelapse of some of the most stunning and unforgettable landscapes that you'll ever see.

Breathtaking to say the least.

Wyoming Wildscapes from Nicolaus Wegner on Vimeo.

For many adventure travelers climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania is one of the big items on their bucket list. After all, it isn't every day that you get to trek to the top of the highest peak in Africa. But next year a select group of travelers will not only get the opportunity to do just that, but they'll also get the chance to mountain bike back down the mountain, something that has never been done by commercial travelers before. Best of all, this unique opportunity will be used to raise funds for a very important cause.

In 2013, for the first time ever, adventure travel company Trek Travel will be offering their new WorldServe Kilimanjaro Bike Tour. The 12-day itinerary, which begins February 22, includes a visit to the Serengeti that includes a hot air balloon ride above the plains while the Great Migration plays out below. Travelers will also visit a traditional Maasi village and explore other cultural excursions throughout the area. But of course the real highlight will be a six-day climb of Kili that will culminate with a mountain bike descent. Prior to the climb, each participant will also be sent a brand new Trek mountain bike that they can use to train on before the climb begins. That same bike will then be shipped to Africa for the ride. After the climb is over, the bike is theirs to keep.

This special Kilimanjaro Bike Tour is limited to just 20 people and is designed to be used as a fundraiser to support several projects that will deliver clean drinking water to more than 150,000 people living in Tanzania. As such, the price tag for the trip is quite high, although 90% of the funds are going directly for the cause. Trek Travel is offering three tiered pricing of $25,000, $55,000 and $85,000. The main difference in those levels is simply how much cash goes to the water projects. Of course, the ideal way to go would be for an adventurous traveler to sign up for the tour and raise funds from sponsors to help cover the costs.

This sounds like a fantastic way to visit two of my favorite places on Earth in Kilimanjaro and the Serengeti. Tanzania is a great destination and this would be a way to experience some unique activities while also contributing greatly to improving the life of the people that live there.


KiliClimb Trek Bike Video from WorldServe International on Vimeo.

The Red Bull 400 is only 400 meters in length, and yet it just might be the toughest race of that distance in the world. Competitors race up the side of a mountain in Plancia, Slovenia in a grueling test of speed, strength and endurance. But just telling you about it really doesn't do the race justice. You'll need to watch the video below to see what I'm really talking about.

My legs hurt just watching it. Brutal!

Here's a video that will surely bring a smile to your face. It features a 4-year old mountain biker who makes his first descent of a trail called Hellion at the Highland Mountain Bike Park located in New Hampshire. Malcolm, our intrepid hero, happens to have a helmet cam attached as he makes his big run, and listening to him get stoked as he rolls along is fantastic.

We've all been here at one time or another. Malcolm is just getting started a bit earlier that most of us and has some cool technology along to record the fun. Enjoy!

Yesterday I posted an update on West Hansen's Amazon Express expedition, reporting on the team's progress along the Earth's mightiest river. Today, EpicTV follows that up with an interview with kayaker Rafa Ortiz, who joined West on the Amazon for a brief time. In the interview, Rafa talks about their experiences in the early whitewater sections high in the Andes Mountains. For Rafa, this was his first experience with expedition paddling, so much of it was new to him as well. The interview is accompanied by some great photos from the journey as well, which give us an opportunity to see what the remote Peruvian Andes - the source of the Amazon - actually looks like.


EpicTV Interviews: Rafa Ortiz Back From The Amazon from EpicTVAdventure on Vimeo.

The tragic avalanche accident that occurred on Manaslu last week has cast a large shadow over this fall's Himalayan climbing season. As operations on that mountain wrap up for the year, I'm sure we'll be hearing more about that awful experience. But today we have a video that was put together by Himalayan Ascent that shows some of the rescue efforts that were made in the wake of the accident. The footage gives us all an idea of what it was like on the mountain as search and rescue teams combed  Manaslu looking for survivors and assisting the injured.

Speaking of the impending ski and snowboard season, here's a little video to help get you in the mood. It comes our way courtesy of our friends over at Mountain Hardwear and does a great job of showing the evolution of freeskiing and the making of these kind of films. To say things have changed over the past couple of decades is an understatement to say the least.

Superheroes of Stoke Trailer from MSP Films on Vimeo.

Just in time for the start of the impending ski season, Zeal Optics is introducing a new set of goggles that come equipped with a camera built right in. The new iON HD Camera goggles are capable of capturing both 1080p and 720p video and can take 8 megapixel still images. An in-goggle viewfinder helps you to know exactly what you're shooting at any given time and the oversized buttons make the iON easy to control even while wearing gloves. Videos and images can be easily edited and shared on Facebook, Twitter and social networks as well, so you can brag to your friends about your best powder days.

The 3-hour battery life doesn't sound all that great for long days on the slopes, but this does seem like a fun option for making ski and snowboard videos. The goggles run $399, which is a bit on the expensive side. Particularly when you can buy a GoPro HDHero 2 for less money and it would be far more versatile of a system.

Then again, these are some great looking goggles.

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While teams continue to wrap up their summit bids on Manaslu and other wait for another chance on Makalu, it seems a summit push has begun on Dhaulagiri. If the weather holds and things stay on schedule, there should be several teams topping out on the mountain in the next few days.

Amongst those teams is the SummitClimb squad who spent yesterday resting in Camp 2 at 6560 meters (21,517 ft). They should be proceeding up to C3 today and if the schedule holds they may be able to top out as early as Thursday or Friday of this week.

Similarly, ExWeb is reporting that 73-year old Carlos Soria is on his summit push and could reach the top of the mountain later tonight. Carlos' home team shared that news earlier in the day and posted the video below. While the entire thing is in Spanish, it does feature some nice shots from Dhaulagiri and gives us all an idea of what conditions are like on the mountain.

Like Annapurna and Manaslu, Dhaulagiri is also very avalanche prone. Conditions are said to be stable on the upper slopes, but lets keep our fingers crossed for the climbers who are headed up in the next few days. With a  little luck and good judgement, they'll all get down safely.

Remember that video from a year ago in which a mountain biker was hit by an antelope while riding in South Africa? (If not check it out here!) Well now we have a similar accident, although this time it took place during a down hill skateboarding race. In this case, a deer ran out onto the road and collides with a longboarder, with all of the action being caught on helmet cam of course. I certainly hope the guy is alright, as it looks like he got the worst of the collision. Ouch!

Thanks to Adventure Journal for sharing.