Video: Tom Sawyer on the Danube

One of the things that I try to stress here on this blog is that adventure comes in many forms. Sure, it sometimes means climbing a big mountain, or traveling on foot to the North Pole. But not all expeditions have to push the edge in order to be life affirming and altering. Case in point, the video below is the teaser for a new film that will be hitting the adventure film festival circuit soon. It is entitled Tom Sawyer on the Danube, and it features Jamie Bowlby-Whiting, and his equally adventurous girlfriend Leah Bostwick, as they attempt to travel from England to Asia, under their own power. That includes walking, cycling, and even rafting the Danube on their own makeshift raft. The film isn't just a story about their journey, but is also about their relationship, and how they grew as people along the way. It looks like an amazing story, and an inspiration for us all to get off the couch, and go seek an adventure of our own.  This is the first film from our friends at Xpedition.tv, and it looks like a good one.

Teaser for "Tom Sawyer on the Danube" from Xpedition.TV on Vimeo.

National Geographic Presents 50 Tours Of A Lifetime For 2014

Earlier this week, National Geographic Traveler has released their annual selection of their Tours of a Lifetime, giving us 50 more amazing trips that we can take in our never-ending quest to explore the world. As in years past, the 2014 edition of this list offers some amazing tours, offered by some of the best adventure travel companies in the world, that anyone of us can book today. Provided we have enough money that is.

As usual, Nat Geo has broken down their selections by geographic categories. That means you'll find options for travel in Africa, Asia, Central and South America, Europe, North America, and the South Pacific and Oceania. This makes it incredibly easy to find new options for travel in a favorite region, or look for options for some place you've never been before. Each of the regions have a plethora of unique trips to choose from, offering up a wide range of choices that any world traveler will appreciate.

The editors of the magazine look for unique offerings that also align nicely with the organization's mission of immersing us in diverse cultures and delivering experiences that can't necessarily be found anywhere else. For instance, for those wanting to visit Africa, one of the suggestions is a trip to Namibia, offered by a company called Adventures in Africa, that sends you off to the Namib Desert to track endangered black rhinos and elephants that have adapted to living in that incredibly dry place. In Asia, there is an excursion from Wild Frontier Travel that takes you along the Trans-Himalaya Highway in India and another from Explore! that take travelers into Iraq (don't ask me why the Middle East falls under the Asia category). Have dreams of South America instead? How about going on a Jaguar safari in Brazil with Wild Planet Adventures?

There truly is something here for everyone, no matter what your style of travel or how you define "adventure." It is certainly fun to read this list and dream about all the possibilities. Of course, not all of them fall into the affordable category, at least not for most of us. Make no mistake, there are certainly some inexpensive trips to be had on this list, but others are quite expensive, putting them well out of there reach of the average traveler. Still, these suggestions are also a good launching point for hatching ideas for our own travels. While Nat Geo's specific suggestions may not always be friendly to our bank accounts, they do allow us to seek other options that are.

Video: China Jam - Big Wall Climbing In The Tien Shan Range

Back in October, I posted a story about an expedition to China to climb big walls in the Tien Shan Range that was dubbed China Jam. In a nutshell, three Belgians, Sean Villanueva O'Driscoll, Nicolas Favresse and Stéphane Hanssens, and one Frenchman, Evrard Wendenbaum, traveled to the Chinese-Kyrgyz border to put up the first ascent of Kyzyl Asker, a 5842 meter (19,166 ft) tower with a 1220 meter (4000 ft) exposed face. It took the team two weeks to complete their objective, but eventually they were successful.

The team is now hoping to complete a documentary of their climb and they recently attempted to raise funds on Indiegogo to help complete the project. Unfortunately, those efforts did not succeed, but they aren't giving up just yet. A new site for taking contributions has popped online, giving us all another chance to help fund the film of this expedition. For a sample of what the footage looks like, take a look at the very impressive images in the video below. It looks stunning and I'd love to see this film get completed.

China Jam - Trailer from Evrard Wendenbaum on Vimeo.

Couple Spends Eight Years Cycling The World

If you're going to take your time touring the world you might as well do it on the back of bicycle. That seems to be the approach that Richard and Stani Velomad have taken since they left their home in France more than eight years ago on their second epic cycling journey. The married couple's journey recently took them to Islambad, Pakistan, where they now estimate that they have covered more than 150,000 km (93,205 miles) on the back of their bikes.

Richard and Stani made their first long distance cycling trip back in 1996 when they started riding from Alaska to Argentina. It took them nearly four years to complete that ride which took them through the U.S., Canada, Mexico, Belize, Guatemala, Honduras, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Chile along the way. By the time they had finished, they had completely run out of cash and had to return home to France in order to earn some cash to fund their next ride.

They spent the next four years working 85+ hours a week and saving every penny they could. The bought a house, fixed it up and then sold it, all so they could get back out on the road. In 2004 they set out again and have been on the road ever since.

Their second cycling tour has taken them to such places as Morocco, Tunisia, Italy, Slovenia, Bosnia, Austria, Germany, Russia, Mongolia, China and into South East Asia. They've ridden across Viet Nam, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia before turning south to New Zealand and Australia. They've since returned to Asia to ride through Burma and back into China, which is where they crossed the border into Pakistan. They say they don't know how long they'll keep riding, but their on their way to India now, in a roundabout fashion.

Obviously living on the road hasn't been without its challenges. They've faced all kinds of dangers along the way, including hostile locals and the threat of being shot (in the U.S. of all places). But they've also experienced the kindness of strangers and interacted with some amazing cultures. While in Burma for instance, they were surprised to find that everyone offered them tea no matter where they went and they remarked on how welcoming and friendly the people of Pakistan have been as well.

Eight years seems like an incredibly long time to be on the road, but the lifestyle seems to be working for them. Who knows how long they'll keep it up, but looking over the list of places that they've been, it seems they haven't explored too much of Africa just yet. That should keep them busy for another eight years at least.

Thanks to my friend Zeeshan Nawaz Kahn for sharing this great story with me!

Video: Expedition Gobi Teaser Trailer

In June, ultrarunners Ray Zahab and Ferg Hawke will travel to the Gobi Desert where they will attempt to run more than 2300 km (1430 miles) through one of the most demanding environments on the planet. They plan to cover roughly 70 km (43.5 miles) per day while a support team tries to keep them supplied with plenty of food and water to keep them going, something that will be a logistical challenge to say the least.

In preparation for the start of the run, which is still a month off, the team released the teaser video below. It serves the dual purpose of both inspiring us to pursue our own adventures while also giving us a glimpse of the challenges the runners will face along the way. This will certainly be a challenging endeavor for Ray and Ferg and fascinating for the rest of us to follow.

World Expedition Gobi Trailer from GOi2P on Vimeo.

30 Great Adventure Travel Destinations For 2013

We're now just about halfway through the month of February, which means we're far enough into the new year that we should be thinking about our own adventures for the year ahead. Our friends over at The Active Times are here to help with this task, offering their selection for the 30 Best New Trips for 2013.

The AT broke their list of suggested destinations and activities down into region, offering the best options for Africa, The Americas, Asia, Australia and Europe & The Middle East. Each of their selections in those regions is a wild adventure that is far from the norm and decidedly not for the traveler who likes to sit on the beach watching the world go by. On the contrary, these are active, often demanding, journeys that will be reward adventurous travelers with once in a life time experiences and satisfying cultural, physical and historical encounters.

For instance, one of the options for intrepid trekkers is a 100-mile long hike through Kenya's Tsavao National Parks. The trek takes 11 days to complete and guarantees some memorable animal encounters along the way. Other options include new backpacking options in Patagonia, exploring the Mongolian Steppe on horseback and mountain biking the Himalaya in Bhutan. No matter what activity or destination you love, there are some good suggestions here, most of which will fill your adrenaline quotient while also providing plenty of amazing experience that simply can't be found elsewhere.

Over the past week or two I've been lamenting the fact that I've been home for far too long. Lots of work and a few bumps in the road of my personal life have kept me firmly rooted at by base of operations for far longer than I would like. I'm hoping to change that soon, as the wanderlust is certainly becoming harder to ignore. I see plenty of tempting options on this list for places I'd love to visit and experiences I'd like to add to my travel resume. It's time for me to choose my next adventure. How about you?

Journalist Plans 7-Year Round-The-Word Trip On Foot

Journalist Paul Salopek is preparing to set off on an amazing journey that he expects to take roughly seven years to complete. Along the way he'll be covering more than 22,000 miles (35,400 km) almost entirely on foot, as he attempts to trace the route that our earliest ancestors took as they migrated away from Africa and went out to settle the rest of the world. He calls this expedition the Out of Eden Walk.

The two-time Pulitzer Prize winning writer is planning to start his ambitious project in January when he'll set out on a grand trek from the Great Rift Valley in Ethiopia. The valley is the place where most scientists believe man had his origins, spending some time there before spreading out across the globe. After departing Africa, Salopek will then walk across the Middle East and Asia before hopping across the Pacific Ocean to Alaska. At that point, he'll already have covered thousands of miles and spent months on the road, but he'll hardly be finished yet. The next stage of the expedition will take him south  all the way to Patagonia at the extreme end of South America.

Salopek says that this is a very personal project for him and he intends to tell numerous stories from the road, chronically the people that he meets and the places that he sees along the way. The list of topics he intends to cover while on this journey includes climate change, the impact of foreign aid from the west on various locations, cultural change in the 21st century and much more.

The Nieman Journalsim Lab at Harvard posted a story about the journey earlier today garnering some insights into what Paul hopes to accomplish and what gear he expects to take with him when he gets underway. Amongst the items he'll be taking with him are a MacBook Air, cameras from GoPro and Sony, a handheld GPS unit and a satellite phone. Fairly standard gear for an expedition of just about any length.

This looks like it will be a fascinating journey to follow and it certainly will be long enough. I look forward to reading Salopek's reports from the road. I'm sure they'll be fantastic.

Man Completes 5000 Mile Trek Around Asia For Charity

For more than a year American Winston Fiore has been wandering around Southeast Asia, crossing through nine countries and covering more than 5000 miles (8046 km) on foot. The former U.S. marine undertook this journey to raise funds for a charity that he started called Smile Trek, and yesterday he completed his walk having raised nearly $66,000 for the organization.

Smile Trek was launched to raise money to help repair cleft palates on children in developing countries.  A cleft palate is a birth defect in which a child is born with a permanent gap in his or her lip that requires reconstructive surgery to repair. It isn't an especially difficult thing to fix but in poor and under developed nations most children who are born with a cleft palate never receive the medical attention they need to close the fissure. Through his efforts, Fiore hopes to help change that for at least some of those children.

His journey started last October in Singapore and led him into Malaysia, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, China, Taiwan, the Philippines, and Brunei. Since he was walking the entire way, he needed good maps and directions to help navigate through that part of the world and he apparently relied heavily on Google Maps for his directions. I came across his story on the Google Blog, which included the video below. That video comes across a bit like a commercial for G-Maps, but it is also very well done and shares some moments from the trek too. 

Covering 5000 miles in just 408 days is fairly impressive. I can't imagine all of the amazing and wonderful encounters he had along the way. I love Winston's story, his sense of adventure and his dedication to a good cause. 

China Closes Borders To Tibet Again

According to the Telegraph, China has once again closed the borders to Tibet, barring any foreign travelers from visiting the country. The move comes just a few weeks after two protestors set fire to themselves outside of a temple in Lhasa in protest of Chinese occupation of the Himalaya country and as a new round of unrest is expected there.

Unlike in previous years when Tibet's borders were shut down, this move comes after the busy Himalaya climbing season. But the peak travel season is just about to begin and this move will have an impact on those who hoped to travel there this summer. The popular Saga Dawa festival is also set to begin today, although it seems outsiders won't be participating.

According to several travel companies that book tours to Tibet, the Chinese government has instructed them to stop accepting foreign visitors for an indefinite period of time. That could mean that the disruption of travel in Tibet could last just a few weeks or it could go on for some time.

Unfortunately a large segment of the population there makes its living from tourism and travel. Any disruption means that they will struggle to find work and provide for their families. Lets hope that this closure doesn't last long and that not only will they all be back to work soon, but the travelers who have been dreaming of visiting Tibet will get their opportunity to go there soon as well.

Walking Home From Mongolia: Still Walking!

It has been a few months since I last checked in on Rob Lilwall and Leon McCarron, those crazy adventurers who have been Walking Home From Mongolia since last November. In this case "home" refers to Hong Kong, a destination that is more than 5000km (3106 miles) away from where the trek actually began.

Rob and Leon have now been traveling for nearly five months and they have made considerable progress towards their goal, although there is still plenty of distance to cover if they hope to finish up in May as they have planned. Their journey began in Ulaanbattar, the capital of Mongolia and continued Southeast to Hohhot in China. From there, the duo had planned to use inflatable kayaks to paddle parts of the Yellow and Pearl Rivers, but those waterways were frozen solid and prevented them from launching. Undaunted, the men carried on to Xi An, where they rested for a time before resuming their travels. They are no en route to Guilin, their last major stop before proceed on to the finish line in Hong Kong.

The expedition's blog has been updated on a regular basis and contains lots of good information about the trek. It seems the winter was a cold and challenging one for Rob and Leon and yet they have managed to put the worst of it behind them and they are now enjoying spring in China. They are planning on paddling the last leg of the journey from Guilin to Hong Kong, and something tells me they'll have no problems accessing the water on that phase of their journey.

If you're looking for some good reading on an on-going adventure, then you'll definitely want to check out the Walking Home From Mongolia website. Good luck to the boys as they enter the home-stretch.

Everest 2012: Base Camp Arrivals and The Challenges of Kathmandu

As expected, the first teams of climbers began arriving in Everest Base Camp over the weekend where they found the Sherpa teams had already established the locations that would be their homes for the weeks ahead. While they began to settle in and started planning for the climb ahead, other teams continued to work their way up the Khumbu Valley or have started their journeys into Tibet for approach from the North Side of the mountain.

One of the first squads to arrive was the Peak Freaks who reached BC on Saturday. This year they've expanded their operations to include two kitchen and two dining tents, one for the climbers themselves and another for the Sherpa teams who prefer to prepare and eat their food at different times. Upon arrival, the team was surprised to learn that the Sherpa guides have already been up to Camp 2 on the mountain where they've claimed a spot for their tents at that location. It'll be several weeks yet before the western climbers make their way to that point, but it seems their guides have already begun shuttling supplies in preparation.

Ian Ridley arrived in BC yesterday where he reports the temperatures are still on the cool side. Over night temperatures fell to -16ºC/3ºF and while the sun brings warm conditions inside the tent (21ºC/70ºF) as soon as it falls back into the shade, those temperatures drop to just 2ºC/35ºF. He also notes that the constant creaking and cracking of the glacier has made it a bit unnerving to sleep in the tent thus far.

Phil Purdy has updated his blog from Base Camp as well, reporting on his own Easter Sunday arrival. He notes that his team will now rest for the next three or four day before they proceed through the Khumbu Icefall and up to Camp 1 as part of their first round of acclimatization. He says that he also expects their Puja ceremony to take place in the next day or two as well. Each team goes through a Puja before starting their climb, and during that ceremony Buddhist monks bless them and their gear, and ask the mountain to grant them safe passage to the summit.

Further down the valley, the Himex team spent a few days in Pheriche as part of the acclimatization process. They report that heavy snow hit the area, which made for some beautiful sights but cold conditions. As a result, most preferred to stay inside close to the fire while they were in the little village, but those comfortable conditions didn't last long and today the team is trekking up to Lobuche camp where they'll spend a few more days acclimatizing before moving on to BC.

Teams are starting their migration to the Tibetan side of the mountain as well. We already knew that the 7 Summits Club planned on flying to Lhasa on Thursday of this week, where they'll begin their overland journey to Base Camp on the North Side of Everest. Joining them there will be the Altitude Junkies, who now say that they'll begin their journey to Tibet starting tomorrow. They hope to be in BC by Saturday or Sunday of this week, where they'll begin their prep work for going to the summit as well.

It hasn't been an easy couple of days in Kathmandu where a number of teams are still finishing up their last minute planning before officially launching their expeditions. The storms that dumped snows across the Khumub this weekend resulted in rain in Nepal's capitol city. Those rains flooded streets and made things a bit of a mess for a time. Waters have receded now, but residents and visitors are now in the midst of a "bandha" or strike today, which means traffic isn't moving in or out of the city and protestors have taken to the streets. These strikes generally last just one day however, and business should return to normal tomorrow. For those caught up in the action, which happens on an annual basis, it can be a bit frustrating, but most plan around the protests making them mostly a minor inconvenience.

Finally, there have been reports from ExWeb and Alan Arnette about a couple of oxygen tanks exploding while being tested with masks over the past few days. Obviously most climbers make the ascent while using supplementary oxygen and the system needs to be working perfectly in order for them to actually have a chance at reaching the summit. The bottles in question were supplied by a company out of the U.K. called Summit Oxygen, who are a relatively new competitor to Posisk, which held a monopoly on bottled oxygen in the Himalaya for years. Fortunately, the exploding bottles have resulted in mostly minor injuries thus far, but this is obviously a volatile situation and one that will leave teams feeling a bit uneasy about their choice of bottled O's. Let's hope that these are a few isolated incidences and that there will be no further problems moving forward, particularly when the oxygen is put into action in a few weeks time.

Winter Climb Update: Alex Still Alone in BC?

Now that spring has officially arrived, the winter climbs in the Karakoram are officially over and nearly everyone has gone home. But Basque climber Alex Txikon may be the only one left in Base Camp as he patiently waits for a helicopter to finally come pick him up.

As you may recall, Alex was on Gasherbrum I where he was part of an international team that had hoped to open a new route while achieving the first winter summit on that mountain. Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned and teammates Gerfried Goschl, Cedric Hahlen and Nisar Hussein all went missing on that expedition.

While those three were making their summit bid, Alex first attempted to follow along behind, but when that proved impossible, he switched his attention to the nearby Gasherbrum South. Conditions weren't right for that summit either and ultimately he ended up back in BC. But while he struggled to make his climb he managed to catch frostbite on several fingers and toes, which would have made the trek out to civilization a lot more painful. With that in mind, he decided to stay in Base Camp and wait for a helicopter to pick him up instead, but the weather hasn't been all that cooperative so he has waited in BC with just a skeleton support crew, while the rest of the team made their way home.

In a blog post yesterday we received word that the weather forecast called for better conditions today and they were expecting two helicopters to be sent to Gasherbrum I at last. One of those helicopters would pick-up Alex and fly him to safety while the other would conduct one last search for the missing climbers. There is no word yet on whether or not this has happened, but as you can probably imagine, Alex is anxious to head home. He has been way from Spain since December and it has been one long and trying expedition to say the least.

Hopefully as I write this he is already off the mountain, but if not it should be soon. His departure will put an end to the winter climbing coverage and now we turn to the spring season, which promises to be as active as ever.

Everest 2012: Conrad Anker Leads Nat Geo/North Face Expedition

As I mentioned a few days back, we're just a few short weeks away from the start of another spring climbing season on Everest. Even now there are climbers across the globe who are busily packing their gear, making last minute arrangements and preparing to set out for Kathmandu. One of those climbers is Conrad Anker, who will lead an expedition sponsored by National Geographic and The North Face.

Anker and his team, which will include Corey Richards, Kris Erickson, Hilaree O’Neill, Emily Harrington and Sam Elias, will be taking on the West Ridge, which is a more technically challenging climb. The expedition looks to celebrate the first ascent of that route back in 1963 and Richards will film the entire climb for a documentary film project.

In support of the expedition, Nat Geo has launched a new website that has everything you would want to know about Everest and then some. That includes a great piece on how the gear used to climb the mountain has evolved over the past fifty years. The site's blog will also provide insights into the climb leading up to its start and will host dispatches and progress reports directly from the team starting around mid-Apriil. Even more extensive coverage will be available in real time directly from the National Geographic Magazine iPad app, which will be released on April 16. That is likely about the time that they'll be establishing Base Camp on the mountain.

In addition to climbing the mountain and documenting the ascent, the expedition team has some other goals in mind as well. They'll be working closely with a team of geologist who will be in BC throughout the expedition as well, taking samples from the region and exploring the unique geography and geology of the region. Some of that work will also be applied directly towards developing a new curriculum to be used with fifth graders.

This will be yet another exciting expedition to follow this season. The fact that Conrad is a part of this and Corey is filming means that we should get a good look at the West Ridge route, which is seldom seen and not nearly as well known as the routes along the North and South Faces, which are used so commonly.

Watch for updates from the team starting soon.

Winter Climb Update: Search Called Off on GI

On Monday of this week I posted a story about three climbers who had gone missing while attempting a new route on Gasherbrum I. At the time, a number of mountaineers were gathering in Base Camp to begin searching the mountain for their missing friends, but bad weather was preventing the use of helicopters to aid in the search. Now, just a few days later, that search has been called off altogether and all hope is lost for the missing trio.

Last Thursday, Gerfried Goschl, Cedric Hahlen and Nisar Hussein all set off for the summit of GI in good weather. They were hoping to not only complete the new route but also the first winter ascent of the mountain and they even called home to say that they were only 450 meters from to top and that they felt confident that they would make it. The worst was behind them, or so they thought. What happened next will likely remain a mystery. The support team never heard from them again, although they held out hope that the battery could have simply died on their sat-phone.

The following day the talented Polish team that had also been working the mountain accomplished their goal of claiming the first winter summit of Gasherbrum I. When they returned, Adam Bielecki, Janusz Golab and their two Pakistani guides, Ali Sadpara and Shaheen Baig, claimed to have spotted Gerfried, Cedric, and Nisar from the summit. They said the three men were still climbing after they appeared to have bivouacked high on GI the night before. Presumably the tree men met an untimely fate after that.

Over the past couple of days, climbers have gone as high as Camp 2 on the normal GI route and have seen no sign of their companions. Had they been successful on the summit, the team was expected to descend along that path. Eventually the weather did clear, allowing the helicopters to join the search at last, but they too have turned up no trace of the missing men. So it was with heavy hearts today that the search teams announced that they were calling off the operation. They have accepted that Gerfried and company have succumbed to the mountain.

My condolences to the friends and families of these three men.

Everest 2012: A New Season Is Nearly Here!

Spring. Who doesn't love that season? It is a time for renewal. A time to put away the trappings of winter and prepare for the warmer months ahead. Of course, if you happen to be a blogger with a penchant for adventure, it also means a time to look to the Himalaya and the start of another climbing season. And while the start of that season is still a few weeks off, climbers and guides across the globe are busily putting the finishing touches on their preparation for an early April launch to their expeditions.

Of course, the mountain that is the biggest draw is also the tallest. Everest always holds an undeniable allure for mountaineers of all types, including the armchair variety. With that in mind, over the next few months we'll be hearing a lot about the teams climbing that peak, as well as a number of others in the region.

One of the expeditions that I'll be following closely this year is the First Ascent team that will attempt to recreate the 1963 American expedition that not only completed a traditional climb up the South Col, but also pioneered a new route along the seldom visited – and much more challenging – West Ridge. That expedition not only put the first American, Jim Whittaker, on the summit, it also featured the first traverse of an 8000 meter peak.

Later this spring, Dave Hahn and Melissa Arnot will guide Leif Whittaker, the son of Jim, to the top of Everest via the South Col route. Meanwhile,  Jake Norton, Brent Bishop, Charley Mace, and Dave Morton will be tackling the West Ridge, which remains the most challenging climb on the mountain to this day. If successful, Hahn will notch his 14th summit of Everest, extending his record for the most climbs of the mountain by a non-Sherpa. Arnot can make history of her own, as a successful summit on her part would bring her total to four, the most by any non-Sherpani in history as well.

The two teams, along with many others, will be setting out for Nepal before the end of March. You can learn more about their plans by clicking here and follow their dispatches on the First Ascent blog.

Video: The Conquest of Everest

We all know the story of Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay becoming the first men to summit Everest, but this video is still just too great not to share. It is an hour plus long documentary that was put together not long after that historic climb and it is as much fun to watch for the nostalgia as it is for learning about the actual climb. This is definitely a throwback to a different era and well worth watching in its entirety. Great stuff!

Winter Climb Update: Climbers Still Missing On GI

Last Friday seemed like a triumphant day on Gasherbrum I, as the Polish team that has struggled on that  mountain for more than two months, notched the first winter ascent of the mountain. But the joy of that climb has been tempered with the fact that three climbers from another team have gone missing and there has been no news on there whereabouts for the past two days.

Late last week Gerfried Goschl, Cedric Hahlen and Nisar Hussein were the first to set out from Base Camp on GI to take advantage of a weather window that could give them access to the summit along a new route. Late in the day on Thursday they called home to report that they were just 450 meters (1476 ft) beneath the summit and that they felt good about their prospects of topping out. Their support team hasn't heard from them since.

When the Poles went to the summit along the normal route the following day, they reported that they saw the three climbers continuing their ascent along the mountains East Ridge. That was the last anyone has seen of the men and what has become of them after that remains a mystery.

The brief weather window has now closed and high winds and bitterly cold temperatures have returned to  the Gasherbrums. Those conditions have made if very difficult to launch a search and rescue mission at the moment, as all helicopters in the region have been grounded. There are a number of climbers standing by to begin the search, but for now they are waiting for a some kind of break in the weather. That break may not come for another few days.

Alex Txikon, who was part of the missing climbers' team, is back in Base Camp after his attempt to summit went awry late last week as well. He and Tamara Stys gave up on their GI climb but attempted to summit nearby Gasherbrum South, which wasn't successful either. It seems likely that the Basque climber will now try to lend some aid to finding his missing friends, but all further attempts to climb Gasherbrum I are done.

Finally, the Poles have posted a summit report from their successful climb last week, which you can read here. They also posted the video of the climb, which you can see below. It gives us an indication of how challenging the final push was and what kind of weather they were dealing with even at the end. Congrats to that team on a job well done.

Lets keep our fingers crossed for Gerfried, Cedric, and Nisar that they are found alive and well.

Winter Climb Update: Summits on GI But Climbers Still Missing

The last 24-hours have been a roller coaster ride of emotions on Gasherbrum I. We now have confirmed summits, the first ever on the 8080 meter (26,509 ft) mountain during the winter season, but we are still awaiting word on the whereabouts of one team that hasn't been heard from since yesterday morning.

We'll start with the good news. The Polish team that we've been following over the past few months successfully reached the summit of GI this morning at 8:30 AM local time. The two Polish climbers who made history were Adam Bielecki and Janusz Gołąb and they were joined by two Pakistani guides, Ali Sadpara and Shaheen Baig, as well. The team made the ascent along the "normal" Japanese route, and all the climbers are now reportedly safely back down in Camp 2 and will likely return to BC tomorrow.

Yesterday I posted the news that the international team led by Gerfried Goschl was last heard from when they were just 450 meters (1476 ft) beneath the summit. They seemed in good spirits and were confident that they would top out amidst improving weather, but after that report there were no further updates and those of us following along at home began to worry. Today we get the news that the Polish team spotted their tent from the summit and it appears that Gerfried and friends are still trying to make their way to the top.

The team is climbing a new route so they may have run into some unexpected problems that have slowed them down. The weather remains good, by winter Karakoram standards anyway, so hopefully they'll get the opportunity to complete the new route and stand on top as well. For now, keep your fingers crossed that all is well, and that they get back down the mountain safely.

There is no official word yet on where Alex Txikon is on GI, although his plan was to attempt the summit today as well. ExWeb is reporting that he and Polish climber Tamara Stys attempted to ascend Gasherbrum South, a secondary peak nearby, but were turned back along their chosen route. If that is true, they may be headed back to Base Camp as well.

Stay tuned for more updates as we get them.

Winter Climb Update: Summit in Sight on GI!

Today is the day that the climbers on Gasherbrum I have been waiting for. For the past few months, the teams on that mountain have struggled o fix ropes, build camps and acclimatize. They've also had to be very patient while they waited for the weather to cooperate. That may have finally happened, as a projected weather window has opened and teams are now moving towards the summit. In fact, as I write this, one group of climbers may have already stood on top and are already making their way back down.

According to ExWeb, and his own expedition site, Gerfried Goschl, who is leading a group of international climbers, which includes Alex Txikon, may have already topped out on GI. We're still waiting for confirmation, but the team's last dispatch indicated that they were just 450 meters (1476 ft) below the summit and that dispatch was sent hours ago. The group intends to descend on the opposite side from which they climbed, completing a traverse of the mountain, but that descent is expected to be a challenging one so we all wait with bated breath for news on their safe return.

Meanwhile, Alex isn't a part of this first summit team but according to his website he should have been in Camp 2 yesterday and move up to C3 today. That would put him in position to go for the summit tomorrow as well and since the forecast indicates lessening winds and clearing skies, as long as he's physically feeling up to the task, there is a good chance he'll stand on top tomorrow.

Finally, the Polish team on the mountain have reportedly moved to Camp 3 yesterday and should soon be on their way to towards the summit as well. Their plan is to leave late this evening and reach the summit in plenty of time tomorrow as well.

Stay tuned for news on each of these expeditions. We could be watching history unfold as the first winter climb of Gasherbrum I is successfully completed.

Adventurers Push Boundaries on Long Distance Equestrian Expeditions

Thanks to my friends at the Long Riders Guild, I've been made aware of two fantastic long distance expeditions that are gearing up to get underway, both of which will use horses as an integral part of their journey.

The first of those expeditions will be undertaken by Long Rider Filipe Leite, who is planning to travel 16,000km (9942 miles) on horseback from Toronto, Canada to his home town of Sao Paulo, Brazil. Filipe is calling his expedition the Journey America and he estimates that it will take him roughly 2 years to finish the ride, crossing through 11 countries in the process. Along the way, he'll be shooting a documentary of his experiences as he travels across North, Central, and South America. He'll take two horse with him on this trip which is slated to get underway later this spring.

The second expedition isn't scheduled to begin until May of 2013 but is even more ambitious than Filipe's journey. Dubbed One Steppe Ahead, this expedition will send Brits Matt Traver and Jamie Maddison on a 30,000km (18,641 mile) journey on foot, bike, rail, and horseback across the Eurasian continent. Their path will follow that of British explorer Howard Bury, who was the leader of the 1921 Mount Everest Reconnaissance Expedition which eventually paved the way for climbers like George Mallory and Sandy Irvine to visit that mountain. Bury's travels took him all over Asia however, and Matt and Jaime intend to explore much of the same territory, including the Jungar Alatau mountain range, the wilds of Eastern Kazakhstan, remote regions of Russia, and much more. It should be an exciting expedition to follow next year.

Because these two expeditions have the Long Riders Guild seal of approval you know that the horses that they use on these journeys will be treated well and cared for throughout their journey. They are amazing animals that can travel for many miles provided they are treated well along the way. The Guild's Hall of Shame is filled with the names of other riders who haven't been so kind to their mounts.

Good luck to Filipe and Matt and Jaime on their respective expeditions. Both should be amazing journeys to follow.



An Introduction by Matt and Jamie from Ugly Monkey Productions on Vimeo.