Finding Lenin
2007 kicked off with winter action in Pakistan; a prelude of winds of change in the year to come. Ambitions were set higher than ever, while an all out war erupted against fame gained by spins and false claims.
"We have just received an email from a news-desk as follows: Unless we were 'disabled (physically) or our lives were in danger they were not interested'," reported Team n2i from the Pole of Inaccessibility.
Incredibly, they had found Lenin: "He is standing on a chimney of the old Soviet hut about 2 meters above the snow line - he is a shoulder bust of Lenin larger than life size. It is made of some plastic composite - he is totally frost free as if he was put there yesterday. It so, so very surreal,” they reported. Team n2i were greeted like heroes in the Progress Russian base however, and treated to 96% home brewed alcohol.
British Hannah McKeand achieved the fastest unsupported SP trip ever. “As I flew back over the ice I felt an incredible sense of loss and sorrow,” she commented the record which she bagged in difficult conditions.
Winter climbs
“In recent years a total withdrawal from wintertime climbing can be observed in the Tatras, the Alps, and the Himalayas," Krzysztof Wielicki wrote in his manifest, "If you do not take up the challenge, we shall have to take it on our old shoulders, without a guarantee of success." The Polish climbers did exactly that. After climbing for 38 days and 3300m up difficult terrain to 6000m, "Above that point there was only freezing hell,” they finally called off their gutsy Nanga Parbat winter expedition.
Simone's and Shaheen's equally cool attempt on winter Broad Peak ended after climbing without fixed rope in 40 below, howling winds and a 13 hour marathon climb final. Both are back again this season for another try.
Controversies - Golden ice axe
Golden Ice-axe co-founder GHM withdrew from the International Piolet d’Or award, explaining that respect and confidence was lacking between them and Montagne Mag. "Perhaps the award should be divided into different categories,” People's choice winner Pavle Kozjek offered. A big blow came from jury winner Marko Prezelj, “I don’t believe in awards for alpinism” Marko said, calling the award “prostituted.”
GHM suggested that a new trophy be developed, "in harmony with today's generation of leading mountaineers.” Montagne's editor in chief instead said that GMH has proven incapable of noticing the evolution of high level climbing: "Alpine style, no unnecessary risk and the winner a spokesman, not a champion," are the new rules.
November 25, the Russian Piolet d'Or was established. K2 West Face climb won, Jannu West ridge got the second place and a Shingu Charpa climb came third. The Russian Piolet d'Or was chosen in 'Hamburg score' - that is by the climbers themselves.
Everest 2007
Kennedy's words "You must do it not because it's easy but because it's hard," are often met by a "why?" these days. On Everest only one off-normal route climb was attempted this year. Instead, there were even more reality shows made. Stories of thefts and failing oxygen continued; Everest Chinese side also offered armed guards patrolling BC and arrests of protesting Americans in preparation for the Olympic torch to be put on top of Tibet.
Kazakh Vassily Pivtsov and Maxut Zhumayev summited Everest well ahead of any other foreign climber this year – without O2. The two top high altitude mountaineers were instantly criticized by amateur climbers for taking such a risk. Nives Meroi and Romano Benet also summited Everest via the North Col route without supplementary O2 support. This was their 10th, 8000er. Also Luis Felipe Ossa bagged an Everest summit without supplementary O2, becoming the first Colombian to do so.
Those were the few no 02 ascents on the record 526 Everest summits in 2008.
Seven people lost their lives on the mountain, by unclear causes. A 62-year-old Japanese collapsed shortly after starting descent. An Italian went missing without anyone noticing. Only two climbers died in actual falls - on the difficult SW face.
Two high altitude rescues took place: Found almost unconscious on Everest south side at 8300 meters, with severe frostbite and altitude illness, Nepalese Usha was brought down by climbers from another expedition. On Everest north side, Italian mountaineer Marco Epis spent two days unconscious in the snow next to camp at 8300 meters. Unrelated Russian mountain guide Sergey Kofanov lowered him down to the North Col together with a Sherpa and a French female climber.
At 71, Japanese Katsusuke Yanagisawa became the oldest person to summit the peak. At 18, Samantha Larson from California became the youngest 7 summiteer. A no arm attempt was aborted due to crowding and Dutch Iceman Wim Hof set a record by climbing to 7.400 meters in shorts.
AdventureStats about Everest, Solo and World Circumnavigation
Adventurestats analyzed all Everest statistics between 2000-2006 and found 12 facts countering popular misconceptions:

- close to half of the climbers reach the summit;
- two thirds are not part of commercial outfits;
- independent climbers don't die more often than guided climbers;
- independent climbers fare very well on the south side normal route and on the off-normal routes, but less well on the north side normal route.
- while the north side normal route has been deadlier than the south side normal route it seems to have little to do with technical difficulty: Everest climbers who tried off-normal routes (2000-2006) all survived the challenge;
- Sherpas have a much lower death rate than other Everest climbers;
- age is not a significant factor when it comes to fatalities or success on Everest;
- climbing Everest without supplementary Oxygen brings half the success rate and twice the fatality rate;
- climbers on oxygen died on more often on ascent, while climbers without oxygen more often died on descent.
AdventureStats also ran specials on the true meaning of Solo and Earth Circumnavigation.
Himalaya spring 2007
In the past, the Polish were the underdogs. It made them the world's hardest climbers, but far from the most known. Polish veteran Artur Hajzer 45, sat down with ExWeb to talk about old friends and changing times while in Himalaya while a bit away from Everest, "real" mountaineering kicked off.
Korean 14x8000er summiteer Um Hong-Gil summited Lhotse Shar via its south face together with team mates Byung Sung-ho and Mo Sang-hyun, and one climbing Sherpa. This was a sweet success for Um, who was forced back on three previous attempts. Lhotse south has rejected some of the best climbers in history - including the Polish winter masters and Reinhold Messner.
Spaniards bring a particular character to Himalaya. Self-sufficient, they avoid guided climbs, complicated logistics and supplementary O2. “8,000ers are only for those who deserve them,” they say. This spring, Spanish climbers were found on Kangchenjunga, Annapurna and Dhaulagiri.
Iñaki Ochoa summited Dhaulagiri about 24 hours after setting off from BC. This was his 12th 8,000er. Kazakh Denis Urubko also reached the top of Dhaulagiri, after aborting his speed ascent to help another mountaineer. Other Dhaulagiri summiteers were Romanian Horia Colibasanu, Russians Serguey Samoilov, Svetlana Sharipova and Evgeny Shutov; Italians Gian Paolo Casarotto and Cristina Castagna, Swiss Joelle Brupbacher, German Richard Brill and Spaniards Josep Noguera and Roger Sellent.
Horia Colibas and Inaki Ochoa continued to Annapurna, where they, Spanish Edurne Pasaban and Asier Izaguirre decided the conditions were far too dangerous and retreated. But Colombian Fernando Gonzalez Rubio, Ecuadorian Ivan Vallejo and Australian Andrew Lock summited - Annapurna becoming Andrew’s 12th, Ivan’s 13th and Fernando’s 5th 8000er.
“I'm in awe of the climb, the conditions, our success and our survival and can say that this was the most demanding but rewarding 8000 meter climb I've done to date,” Aussie star mountaineer Andrew commented the Annapurna ascent. Things looked promising for Swiss Ueli Steck as he began his way up the tallest part of Annapurna's mighty south face on May 21. But the gutsy solo, alpine style attempt was thwarted by a rock fall.
Amical topped out Manaslu; Ralf’s 12th and Japanese Hirotaka’s 9th 8000er.
Himalaya spring fatalities
3 Spaniards, one Italian, a Slovak, two Koreans and a Nepali woman lost their lives in Himalaya (off Everest) in spring 2007 - six in falls and two in an avalanche.
Italian Sergio Dalla Longa fell to his death on Dhaulagiri, only meters away from the summit. (Sergio’s brother Marco died on Nanda Devi in Indian Himalaya two years ago). Another summit attempt on Dhaulagiri ended in tragedy when Spaniards Santiago Sagaste and Ricardo Valencia were lost in an avalanche in C2.
Slovak Dodo Kopold's mate Marek Hudák was lost on Shisha Pangma; falling to his death only meters below the summit. Spaniard Iñigo de Pineda fell to his death from the upper sections of Kangchenjunga, while attempting to reach the summit together with team leader Oscar Cadiach.
On the difficult side of Everest, Korean Oh Hee-Joon, 37, 10x8,000er summiteer and Lee Hyun-Jo, 34, fell to their deaths when attempting a new route on the SW face. The two went to Everest with Park Young-Seok (14x8000ers and both Poles) shortly after an attempt to cross the Bering Strait (aborted only 27 kilometers from land).
Sherpani Pemba Doma fell to her death shortly after summiting Lhotse (partially shared route with Everest). Pemba was a celebrated female climber in Nepal, and a double Everest summiteer.
Karakoram
Where Nepal had been the hub of political unrest in 2006, climbers headed for Karakoram found themselves in political turmoil in 2007.
Nilofar Bakhtiar felt forced to resign from her post after a fatwa was issued by Muslim clerics, who considered the female Minister of Tourism had committed an “un-Islamic" act by hugging a male coach after a parachute jump in France, where she was invited by the French Alpine club. Pakistan's Prime Minister however rejected her resignation, "Nilofar is needed in the cabinet and should carry on with her duties," Shaukat Aziz stated.
A bloody clash between Army forces and Islamists bunkered up in Islamabad’s Red Mosque closed the Karakorum Highway. Later 12 persons were killed in a suicide attack in Islamabad. The year ended in tragedy when on December 27, Benazir Bhutto was shot dead in Rawalpindi.
The troublemakers are a very small minority in Pakistan. The fight for democracy and peace will continue and New York Times best-seller Greg Mortenson urged climbers to keep coming:
"Climbers often ask me if it is 'safe to climb in Pakistan'. My answer is that over the last fifty years, about 250 climbers and trekkers have died in the mountains from accidents, injury and illness, and during that same period only three foreigners have been murdered in the northern areas."
Through all the unrest, debriefing sessions were on as usual at ACP; re-elected President Nazir Sabir told ExWeb he is hoping for the development of a Peace Park on Siachen Glacier as a joint effort with mountaineers from India.
The climbs
In the Karakoram mountains mostly Eastern European climbers shot for new routes on K2.
Chinese female climber JiJi grabbed the summit of Hidden Peak for her husband Rena, who perished enroute there two years back. Austrian Gerlinde Kaltenbrunner summited Broad Peak - her tenth 8000er. Spanish Edurne Pasaban followed close behind: Broad Peak becoming her ninth 8000+ summit.
Santiago Quintero, teaming up with Carlos Pauner, topped out BP as well, despite having lost all his toes to frostbite on a previous Aconcagua expedition.
Italian Silvio “Gnaro” Mondinelli bagged his 14th 8000+ meter summit on Broad Peak, becoming only the 13th climber in the world to complete the dangerous quest and the third Italian, after Reinhold Messner and Sergio Martini. Moreover, Gnaro is only the 6th person to have made it without supplementary O2.
Piotr Morawski, Peter Hamor and Josef "Dodo" Kopold reached the summit of Nanga Parbat following a fast and persistent attack. French climber and skier Jean-Noel Urban was on the peak as well, hoping the ski down following his spring Everest summit and some ski turns there. Unfortunately, Jean-Noel was turned back in exhaustion after having to not only climb, but also carry all his skiing gear up the snow-packed slopes of Nanga Parbat.
Italians Karl Unterkircher, Daniele Bernasconi and Michele Compagnoni summited GII via the north spur, traversing down the south side and achieving the first complete ascent of the mountain’s north side. Earlier Karl Unterkircher and Hans Kammerlander summited the 7,350 meters-tall Jasemba on their third straight year attempting the peak. The two men climbed 2,000 vertical meters non-stop to the summit and back, in a 20-hour push.
K2
K2 kicked off with a remarkable joint international summit through the Abruzzi ridge. The Savage Mountain however defeated a number of all-star climbers trying to reach its top later on through the Cesen route.
The Everest north side 2007 first summiteers Kazakhs Maxut and Vassily went for K2's NW ridge but had to retreat after five days in high winds, an unclimbable rock wall, and chest-deep snow high above 8000 meters. The two surrendered only 100 meters below the summit.
The ex-Soviet master climbers showed their true colors: Kozlov’s Russian team nailed the first ascent of K2's West Face. Winning a formidable mind over matter battle, the climbers finally placed almost every member on the summit through the unclimbed, vicious face. All climbers went without oxygen.
Kazakhs Denis and Serguey closed K2 on October 2nd in the first north side summit in 11 years, and the latest ascent of the peak ever. Denis Urubko now has 12 8000ers with only Makalu and Cho Oyu left for all the 14, 8000ers. Serguey Samoilov bagged his 5th 8000er summit (Manaslu twice). In true Kazakh style, the two men climbed alone on the mountain through a full blown blizzard and without supplementary oxygen.
Closing stats and fatalities
In 2007, Broad Peak had the most summits (77) followed by Spantik (44) and K2 (29). Nanga Parbat and the Gasherbrums shared 48 summits.
With the new summiteers; AdventureStats registered a total of 269 summits on K2, and 65 casualties, setting the death to summit rate on 24%. 23 of the mortal accidents on the mountain were due to climbers falling, a much larger number than those (13) who died in avalanches. In 2007, Korean team member Nima Nurbu from Thame fell to his death from the Bottleneck. Italian climber Stefano Zavka went missing after summit, last seen above the Bottleneck without means of communication.
A total of 5 climbers perished in Karakoram this summer; two on K2, one on G1 and two on G2 in an avalanche which left Hirotaka Takeuchi injured.
Himalaya fall 2007
The fall Himalaya season sported very few summits due to serious weather. Shisha Pangma had a handful of summits via the south face, but was left unclimbed on the normal route. Except for that and Cho Oyu, only Jannu was summited, in a spectacular ascent.
Valery Babanov and Sergey Samoilov (the Russian guide who rescued the Italian climber on Everest this past spring) reached the top of Jannu on October 21, placing a new route on the west ridge in alpine style. The final push took place after a night of heavy snow fall spent sitting out in the tent without sleeping bags at 7600 meters.
Tomaz Humar performed a remarkable climb on Annapurna's south side, solo and in Alpine style. Unfortunately, his accomplishment was initially shadowed by criticism, until fellow climbers came to his aid praising the ascent.
Ski descents led to an ExWeb 8000+ ski/board mountaineering gear special: Stay warm and travel light was the message from Italian Emilio, Swedish Fredrik and American Tyler.
Incredibly, all 8000+ climbers survived the fall Himalaya season, except for American Ray Yeritsian who suffered a ruptured artery in Nyalam (3750m) enroute to Shisha Pangma base camp.
Controversies take 2: Famous media spins
Media spin 1: British Rosie Stancer announced to media a solo and fastest trek to the NP, in spite of airdrops and an estimated time 20 days longer than the current record. In the end, Rosie was airlifted from the ice following one of the slowest treks ever.
Media spin 2: Skilled sailors try to adjust sails for the straightest line to their distance. French former ocean rower Maud Fontenoy made wide zigzags but used those to claim double distance and a world sailing record. "The distance requirement for a RTW is the direct route distance,” WSSR pointed out.
Media spin 3: British Rod Baber claimed to have made the first cell-phone call and send the first SMS from Everest summit. However, Chinese climbers claimed to have used a cell-phone from the top already four years earlier.
Media spin 4: British Leo Houlding and American Conrad Anker claimed to be the first people to free climb the North East Ridge of Everest. The two actually climbed the normal route using Himex Sherpas, guides and oxygen and at least 2 mountaineers had free climbed the second step before - both without oxygen.
Media spin 5: British Bear Grylls claimed an over Everest para-motor flight but failed to prove it. Media later also found that Bear had faked scenes in his survival show series.
Media Spin 6: British Lewis Gordon Pugh claimed the first swim at the North Pole. "10 years ago it would have been impossible for all the ice there," he said in an US TV broadcast. ExpeditionNews brought out others who had done it before, including American Edmund Ball, 92, and a woman in a bikini.
Media Spin 7: British Pen Hadow's claim to have sent "the northernmost video through pioneering technology" closed the season. Not only had there been NP videos before, Pen was far from the spot and his technology had been used before.
Ethical shakedown
Unchallenged media spins have been a serious problem in the past but this year an ethical shakedown took place on internet. "It [false and inflated claims] has to stop now," adventurers said.
Oscar Cadiach got a chance to defend his honor at ExplorersWeb with the aid of his climbing Sherpas mailing in from Nepal.
Grylls got his share of criticism from fellow explorers: “The worst thing about it is that anybody who genuinely wants to fly over the mountain will never be able to raise the money because any sponsor will say Bear Grylls has done it. And he hasn’t,” commented British Brian Milton, the first person to fly a micro-light around the world.
In addition to the brand new Russian Piolet d'Or and French GHM jumping the ‘international' version; British Long Riders' Guild adventure horsemen posted a black-list of false adventure claims, and also polar skiers chimed in:
At Cape Flora, Borge Ousland and Thomas Ulrich spoke of courtesy, honesty, the aim for excellence and the spirit of adventure vs. PR-stunts and airlifts across the ice. "If it's not from BC to the top, then it's not done. It's simple as that," said Thomas.
Minnesota polar Explorer Lonnie Dupre said (about polar crossings and last degrees): "Some guides and adventures purposely being vague and not being specific or clear on where they went and how they got there. We do not want this to water down the great jobs done by past explorers."
ExplorersWeb left the National Geographic Advisory Board after their Adventure of the Year award was given to Richard Branson.
The media
The general public will need major help from mainstream media to know true from false - a no mean feat - as a survey revealed that a third of Britons think Mount Everest is in the UK or the Alps.
Can we trust the press, though? Among world news of Yeti tracks and an 80 year old woman free-climbing Everest with her dog last year; also a report by AP this fall that Paris Hilton is supporting elephant alcoholics checked out wrong. "It's as AP would say - this story is too good to be fact checked," commented a FOX TV newscaster.
And then came the Tontine reality show offering $10 million to adventurers willing to "do anything to win." Named after an outlawed money scheme, Tontines have been banned in Britain and the United States due to the incentive for investors to kill one another.
Nangpa la - to be continued...
In a large Men’s' Journal article titled "Murder at 19,000 feet", details were printed about last year's events on Nangpa La. "Paul told me you sent an email to ExplorersWeb," Russell Brice yelled at Luis Benitez according to the article, "Are you fucking crazy?"
“A climb without humanity is not a climb anymore,” Pavle Kozjek said, referring to Nangpa la. Word is there were shootings in the pass also this fall Cho Oyu season, but the rumor is unconfirmed.
ExplorersWeb's special story about Nangpa La and the upcoming Olympic Everest event spurred tons of emails. Meanwhile, another report showed that the battle between ambition and humanity continues on the commercialized 8000er mountains:
"At my usual rest spot, just below the big ice cliff, I saw a man hunched over sort of whimpering or crying," Chris from Field Touring Alpine reported from Cho Oyu. "He told me he had just summited and that his partner had fallen and broken his leg while descending."
Chris spotted an unrelated expedition lowering the injured climber down a steep slope. He aborted his summit push and offered to help. "Alex (Abramov) handed me a rope and in his thick Russian accent said 'you short rope him, keep head up hill'." The rescue went on while many climbers, including a mountain guide walked past without a word and two supposedly 'very famous' alpinists passed going up without even turning their heads.
Medical, tech and science news
Spot Blanc? Neurologists at the University Hospital in Zaragoza, Spain, performed an MRI on a number of high altitude climbers. "Though the expedition suffered no major mishaps, only one of the 13 climbers returned with a normal brain scan," said a New Scientist article. However, the climbers' MRI scans actually were abnormal already before the Everest ascent - and unchanged after. More than anything, the study showed the importance of proper acclimatization - ignorance of which is still killing far more people than altitude itself.
Live and let die on Everest: Bolivian/New Zealand medical doctor and mountaineer Erik Monasterio submitted a 4-year risk- and personality study of climbers and base jumpers: 1/3 of killed base jumpers died of other adventures or drugs/suicide. When confronted with uncertainty and risk both groups (climbers and jumpers) tend to be confident and relaxed; they are less responsive to danger; have good self-esteem and self-reliance and therefore tend to be high-achievers. As for trauma-related psychological complications; mountaineers had only 10-20% the rate of psychological disturbance to that experienced by fire-fighter and army personnel. Only 3% of mountaineers developed Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, whereas rates in firefighters are up to 20%.
A psychological investigation released by The Lancet determined that intense stress but ultimately a massive boost to self-esteem awaits polar skiers. The experience breeds a long list of mental negatives, such as depression, anxiety, irritability, impaired cognition, intellectual inertia and a spaced-out condition called "Antarctic stare." The up-side is enhanced self-sufficiency, improved health and personal growth.
Interestingly the study found a difference between Last Degree (short term) trips and the full (coast to pole) expeditions. Last degrees sports adventurous high-achievers, with low susceptibility to anxiety. Full trips require emotionally stable 30+ people who are rather introverted, with no great need for social interaction but also sensitive to the needs of others, and who would not become bored easily, the study concluded.
BCMD Dr. Luanne Freer said that the Khumbu Cough is the biggest health problem on Everest's south side. The cough is easily prevented: Check in at HumanEdgeTech for the hard to get JonaSport wire mesh facemasks now carried by HET.
Global warming check: European winter no-show turned Daone Ice Master into a dry-tooling competition. The weirdest winter in decades with no snowfall and high temperatures forced the organizers to re-design the climbing wall to mixed dry tooling.
Loads of snow was instead reported in western Himalayas and the Arctic Ocean sported frigid temperatures down to 50 below at the start of the skiing season. On Peak Lenin however the warming effect resulted in victims of the 1990 avalanche (43 international climbers trapped in camp at 5300 meters) surfacing in the melting glacier. Kazakh Alexander Chechulin reported his expedition had found a large number of bodies at 4200 meters.
At HumanEdgeTech, Solar Blazt came back in stock, and new products were introduced such as new sat phones but also heat pads, face masks and other hard to find items for extreme exploration and climbing. A quick guide was published on what satellite phones to bring to the Seven Summits, and how to get smart with Thuraya charges. There was a big series on expedition technology including everything from filming HD on altitude, helmet cams, power and how to write great dispatches. Sat comm problems not acknowledged by the providers were frequent this year; the serious network issues suffered by Thuraya seems to be fixed however.
The North Pole
The North Pole was a quiet place this Polar Year. Only four expeditions went for it, three from the Canadian side. Ann Bancroft, Liv Arnesen and Rosie Stancer all aborted. Richard Weber’s team made it with a resupply. Belgians Alain Hubert and Dixie Dansercoer skied Siberia to Greenland after airlift over troubled ice and a resupply.
Norwegian Børge Ousland and Swiss Thomas Ulrich reached the coasts of Franz Josef Land in Russian territories from the North Pole with no re-supplies in just 45 days, covering a distance of nearly 900km and crossing over very broken ice close to the coast. Ulrich and Børge retraced Nansen's and Johansen’s legendary North Pole quest in 85 days.
Sarah, Eric and Curtis of the Pittarak Greenland expedition kite-skied across Greenland from south to north, without resupplies.
The biggest surprise came at the end of the year, when Matvey Shparo and Boris Smolin took on one of the greatest remaining adventure challenges yet: On 22 December 2007, helicopter pilots launched the explorers on the glacier of the Arktichesky Cape for a North Pole Winter Expedition.
The Oceans
Spanish authorities started banning rowing boats from departing the Canary Islands on Atlantic crossings, under unclear allegations. Captain Phil's dream - along with his ship the Amazon Queen - went down into the cruel depths of the muddy Amazon River. Phil took a job in Iraq to find money to fix his boat.
Hungarian siblings Gábor & Andrea built their rowing boat entirely by themselves and crossed the Atlantic beach to beach missing the current record by only 4 hours. With a broken oar, no electricity, no radio, no rudder, and 200 km to go - when Bhavik Gandhi capsized he was committed to self-sufficiency. “Don’t want rescue. Will try to manage,” read his SMS. Soon after, Indian Ghandi became the first Asian to row across the Atlantic - solo, and beach to beach.
The Abora III experiment finished 550 miles away from the Azores; storms, breakage, speed and time all were issues virtually from day one onboard the prehistoric-style boat made of reeds. The crew finally dismantled the boat a few days after it split in two out at sea.
M/S Explorer was completing a 19-day whale- and penguin watching tour of Antarctica and the Falkland Islands, when the cruise ship hit ice in the Antarctic Ocean, took on water and 90 minutes later ordered the 100+ passengers to abandon ship. Tourists and crew took to lifeboats and were picked up by a Norwegian cruise ship.
Onboard Babouche - a 7,5 m ice catamaran designed to sail on water and slide over ice - Sebastien Roubinet and his friends connected the Pacific to the Atlantic by the north of Canada; claiming the first Northwest Passage made without engine in one year. The passage took 3 months and 21 days, and spanned 4500 miles.
Solo kayaker Andrew McAuley unexpectedly went missing only a few days short from his record breaking destination. Wife Vicky monitored Andrew closely. The couple had endured unfair criticism and with only hours left of the adventure; Vicky eagerly anticipated her mate's arrival in NZ. When his kayak was found empty and adrift, Vicky went to pieces.
Six Russian adventurers went missing during a canoeing trip in the Xinjiang-Uigur Autonomous Region, in the country’s Northwest. The men were to paddle down the Yurungkax River on August 22 through September 2. Contact with the group was lost soon after their departure.
Other adventure news
Russian X-gamer Valery Rozov, 41, Base jumped off the 1400-m face of Torres del Paine in Patagonia - the first Base jump in the region. The climb was done by no less than Alexander Ruchkin, Alexander Odintsov, Valery Rozov, Denis Provalov and Vladimir Kachkov.
Swedish Janne Corax compiled a list of the six highest yet unclimbed peaks in the world - and submitted a number of other cool suggestions.
German Michael Beek crossed Karakoram from Shimshal to Baltoro, across Braldu and Muztagh valleys including the virgin Moni Pass.
TIME Magazine selected, ‘Three Cups of Tea' by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin as an Asian 2006 “Book Of The Year” Award. The book has been a New York Times bestseller (nonfiction paperback) for 47 weeks since its January 30th release, and sold over 850,000 copies.
In 2005, Byron Smith brought a lawsuit against the American Alpine Club over data entered in their publication The Himalayan Database. On August 21, 2007, the case was "Dismissed with Prejudice" by the U.S. District Court in Colorado."
AAJ's John Harlin III followed his father’s steps on Eiger's north face, in a guided climb filmed in IMAX format for the resulting documentary titled "The Alps." Also Ranulph Fiennes climbed the peak with British guide Kenton Cool, in preps for an Everest return in 2008.
The Everest Peace Project movie was released after 4 hard years - hailed a "Tremendous Achievement," by Dalai Lama and narrated by Hollywood star Orlando Bloom.
Tim Cope, 28, finished his 3 year, 6,000 mile ride in the hoof steps of Genghis Khan. His first time in the saddle, “Tim has proved that anyone can take a life-changing equestrian journey,” the Long Rider’s Guild said. Tim's final steps through Hungary read like a story out of Lord of the Rings. In the evenings, tall, powerful horsemen with almond eyes shared tales of the Huns to goulash cooking slowly over camp fires. Tigon the dog swam across the Tisa river, and both travelers were treated to a stay in a castle where they were led up to a ‘royal’ guest room with red quilted king size bed and views over the gardens.
After 13 years, Jason Lewis completed the first ever human-powered world circumnavigation since Magellan 500 years ago.
Other lost explorers
The world of mountaineering lost its ultimate cartographer legend; Bradford Washburn died of heart failure at age 96. Brad made countless maps and pioneered the high-resolution, large-format aerial picture. He measured and mapped Everest in 1992 and 1999, and took stunning images of Denali.
Ernest Hofstetter, member of the 1952 Everest expedition which opened the route to the South Col, died on June 1, at 95 years old.
British polar icon Wally Herbert died at age 72. The third expedition to walk to the North Geographic Pole, Wally and his men continued across the Arctic Ocean; in a monstrous trip that included over-wintering on the ice.
American record pilot Steve Fossett went missing after failing to return to an airstrip at a southern Nevada ranch while piloting a light aircraft solo.
American Charlie Fowler's remains were found at 5,300 meters on a 6,204m peak belonging to Genyen massif, Sichuan Province. Christine Boskoff's remains were found later this spring. The climbers were presumed to have been killed by avalanche.
After a winter summit Spanish climber Guillermo Mateo (47) fell to his death while descending from the summit of Ama Dablam on January 19. Guillermo Mateo fell to his death down the west face of the mountain; his body ending up somewhere on a crevassed glacier making a rescue attempt impossible. “To our disbelief, back in Kathmandu our garbage deposit was refused to us,” a team member reported to ExplorersWeb. “Apparently, dead bodies which can not be retrieved are considered garbage!”
Liu Xinan, a well-known climber in China, died after summiting Dangchezheng (5,833m) in western Sichuan. As most Chinese climbers, he was not known in western countries, but his death shocked the large Chinese climbing community.
US rock climber Michael Reardon perished in Ireland. After scaling a cliff, Reardon was swept out to sea by a wave.
2008 preview
Chinese 1975 Everest climber Xia Boyu lost both his legs in un-selfish act on the mountain. Xia's climbing spirit would get a serious reality check in the 30 years of hardship and pain that would ensue. Yet when a number of amputees began to scale Everest in recent years; Xia was urgently watching. The 55-year-old climber now wants to return to the peak; facing a challenge that may prove tougher than the climb itself: To find support and sponsorship in a political and financial climate not exactly famous for its interest in disabled people.
Only three Americans have done it before - and no American woman yet: But next fall, American Tonya Riggs and high altitude filmmaker Brad Clement will take their chances on the highly dangerous Annapurna. The two recently summited Everest together.
Nepal announced reductions in climbing fees off-season. Pakistan's reduced climbing fees will continue in 2008. China will be strictly vetting each and every Everest expedition; 3 nationalities per expedition including Nepali staff are allowed, all documentation has to be sent at least two and a half months in advance, and only well organized, well supported and fully equipped teams will be allowed to climb is the word.
Simone La Terra and Mehrban Karim have aborted their attempt for a winter ascent of Nanga Parbat. Simone Moro is once again teaming up with Shaheen Baig in an attempt to bag Broad Peak's first winter ascent. A joint Kazakh/Italian team will depart on December 5, 2008, for a winter attempt on Makalu.
The Himalayan Trilogy dream team (Piotr Pustelnik, Piotr Morawski and Peter Hamor) are coming back to Himalayas next spring. Over only 2 years; they plan the north-west face of Annapurna; a long G1/G2/G3 traverse; all Broad Peaks; a new route on the east face of Everest; the north face of Manaslu and the north-west ridge of Rakaposhi, "following the climbing spirit and dreams of my mountain guru, Woytek Kurtyka," Piotr told ExplorersWeb.
With only Everest left to go, Norbert Joos is the strongest candidate to become the next member on the 14x8000er list.
March 6th 2007 Polish Tomasz Lewandowski kicked off his single-handed, non stop global voyage against the prevailing winds. The mega sail is a lifelong dream comes true, following a wrecked marriage, emigration to America, and fishing for money in New Bedford, the Kodiak Island, and the Bering Sea.
Reid Stowe and Soanya Ahmad are on board the 70’ Shooner "Anne", decided not to set foot on land for 1,000 days.
Henk de Velde's "Never-ending voyage" will do exactly that - never end. Erden Eruc’s voyage at least feels like it: Out in the middle of the Pacific, Erden has been rowing for 175 days now. Arctic expedition ship Tara is breaking free at last, after a 2 year long voyage across the North Pole.
"Mars is not a first, it's the beginning. We hope that the way we do it will throw Space wide open to you - our fellow explorers. That's why, above all, we'll fight to travel lightweight and cheap..." stated ExplorersWeb founders and set up a goal to travel to Mars in 2014.
Lightweight explorers discovered the farthest corners of our earth and Space is next, that's why we need - and must encourage - true adventure on Earth. So here is to all explorers in 2008: Believe in yourself and kick ass!

منبع : Explorersweb.com