To anyone who’s been logging on and wondering where I’ve been. I’ve been a busy Ben for past 6-7 months and something had to give.
Alas it was the blog.
Anyway obviously I have a little more time on my hands now if I’m writing this post. Look forward to more updates soon!
Today Australia’s Jessica Watson marks thirty days at sea as she continues on her quest to become the youngest person ever to sail solo around the world. After sailing from Sydney on October 18 Watson has been heading roughly north east towards the equator in a bid to tick off the first of many requirements necessary for her voyage to qualify for ‘around the world’ status.
Watson and her yacht Ella’s Pink Lady must cross the equator at least once during the voyage spending time in both hemispheres. From there Jessica intends to travel a further 200 nautical miles north rounding Kiribati Island before again turning south towards Cape Horn.
On Melbourne Cup long weekend 2009 I headed out to Mt Arapiles for what was intended to be the first of many climbs in my planned three day conversion from hiker/skier/mountaineer to rock climber - but it wasn’t to be. Instead I received an introduction of another kind. I got a first climb that, if not for some level headed decisions, could have been my last and one that eventually ended with my lead being rescued three pitches into a five pitch route. For anyone who was there on the day here is the story behind all those emergency vehicles driving in and out of the park.
Although I’ve placed hand and foot on many a rock face before it had always been in gloves and snow boots - sometimes even crampons. Everything I knew about pure rock climbing I learned at climbing gyms and by reading books. So as you can imagine I didn’t know much at all. Some would say I effectively knew nothing and that’s certainly the attitude I was taking with myself. But before rolling your eyes at the suggestion one can learn something of rock climbing from books, read on. The fact is that the first chapter of David Roberts’ On the Ridge Between Life and Death played an important role in my decision making on the day. In Robert’s story it ended with the death of Gabe the seconder leaving the lead climber behind to write the story. Thankfully in my experience the seconder (in this case me) and the lead both live to tell the tale. I’m here to write it down in the hope that it can serve as a lesson for those who choose to read it.
On Tuesday, 20 October, 2009 (6.00pm) Australia’s Jessica Watson reports all is well aboard her yacht Ella’s Pink Lady on day three of her around the world voyage. If successful she will become the youngest person in the world to complete the quest. Last month her yacht collided with a cargo ship off southern Queensland and last weekend one of her mentors, Andrew Short, was killed in a yachting accident. All this makes her recent departure an emotional and worrying one for her family, friends and supporters.
To succeed Watson must adhere to a number of rules for around the world record attempts including:
The journey will likely cover over 23,000 nautical miles (about 38,000 kilometres) across some of the world’s most tretcherous oceans.
RemoteAdventurer.com will be covering the story at every turn. Subscribe to the RSS feed or check back regularly for updates.
In February of this year 121.5 MHz EPIRBs stopped being detected by the Cospas-Sarsat satellite system making them effectively obsolete. Despite this the units are still detectable by many commercial aircraft and, if activated, can result in a full scale search and rescue operation. Due, in part, to a rise in false alarms from this type of beacon they will become illegal to use one for any purpose after 1 February 2010.
Mountaineer Andrew Lock has been honored by the Australian Geographic Society as the 2009 Australian Adventurer of the Year.
On Friday 2 October 2009 Lock stood on the summit of Tibet’s Mt Shishapangma making him just the 18th person in the world to climb all the Earth’s 8000+ meter peaks and the first Australian to ever join this exclusive group of mountaineering’s super elite. It puts Lock in a group almost as exclusive as the 12 men to ever stand on the surface of the moon. Yet this awesome moment of Australian achievement has so far been at risk of passing practically unnoticed by mainstream media and, as a result, the public at large.
Amongst daily news of socially troubled footballers being traded left right and centre and Lindsay Lohan’s latest indiscretion it’s a wonder why this genuinely hard won achievement could rate such little public attention. Even our Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, who apparently has enough time on his hands to twitter and flickr his eating of a biscuit hasn’t yet taken a moment to publicly congratulate this true Australian achiever. We can only wait in hope. In my opinion the Australian Geographic Society’s award couldn’t come at a better time and hopefully it goes some way towards promoting Lock’s hard work.
Police were alerted to the plight of a trio missing in Lerderderg State forest yesterday evening when one of the group dialed triple-0 for help. Police say the phone call cut out before the female caller could give their position.
SES and Police are now searching the area for the two men aged 23 and 33 as well the female caller aged 20. The two men were apparently riding trail bikes and the woman driving a four wheel drive.
Lerderderg State Park comprises 20,546 hectares and stretched around 20km between Bacchus Marsh and Blackwood. Its close proximity to Melbourne makes it popular with trail bike and four wheel drive enthusiasts.
I had a feeling something might have been going wrong… Here’s breaking news of what happened on Andrew Lock’s climb of Tibet’s Shishapangma. His ultimate climb on his quest to summit all the worlds fourteen 8000+ meter peaks was almost his last.
The full press release follows:
MOUNTAINEER, Andrew Lock, became the first Australian to summit all 14 of the world’s highest peaks when he stood atop Tibet’s Mt Shishapangma on Friday night but his elation was short-lived when his descent was delayed by a storm and he was forced to spend the night huddled on an icy shelf at 7600m fearing for his life. Read the rest of this entry »
Until last week only 17 men in the world had succeeded in climbing all fourteen 8000 meter plus peaks (known to climbers as 8000′ers). It’s the ultimate climbing pilgrimage that has become the holy grail for mountaineers the world over. At exactly 5:05pm on Friday 2nd October, however, Australian Andrew Lock officially joined the world’s mountaineering super elite by making himself the 18th.
This amazing video posted on You Tube documents the frightening ordeal of skier Chris Cardello who’s helmet cam captured what he surely thought were the final moments of his life.
Fortunately Chris was wearing a Black Diamond AvaLung which saved his life. To quote Black Diamond directly:
The Black Diamond AvaLung allows you to breathe fresh air directly from the snowpack, buying you precious time during a rescue. Rebreathing exhaled air when youre buried causes suffocation because the air becomes oversaturated with carbon dioxide and depleted of oxygen. The AvaLung diverts the exhausted air away from your fresh-air intake zone, considerably extending the time your partners have to conduct a successful recovery.
The footage, shot in Haines Alaska, shows Chris’s own eye view of him dropping in on a steep piste which quickly gives way beneath him. We follow him down the slope as he eventually comes to rest buried under many feet of snow. You can hear the AvaLung working as he struggles for breath whilst rescue crew above work furiously to free him.
When you hear Chris’s deep distress under the snow it’s sobering to think that some of the final moments in this video must go some way towards representing what it’s really like for those avelanche victims who don’t make it.
