Interesting
Odds and Ends
National Parks Adventure, a 2016 documentary that was originally screened in IMAX theaters, follows three travellers who set out to explore some of the vast landscapes of the U.S. national parks. Those adventurers include explorer Conrad Anker, climber Rachel Pohl, and photographer and filmmaker Max Lowe.
The MacGillivray Freeman film, narrated by Robert Redford, is available on Netflix for the first time this month.
Dani Arnold climbs one of the hardest and most dangerous ice routes in the Alps.
Beta Block Super is a 1,000-foot ice climb above Kanderstag, Switzerland that features frozen columns and waterfalls.
And he did it on-sight, without climbing it before, in just over an hour. Awesome.
https://youtu.be/laY3kExWP_k
Elisabeth Revol, a French climber stranded on top of one of Pakistan’s most deadly Himalayan mountains, nicknamed Killer Mountain, is safe after a dramatic rescue operation. The search for her Polish climbing partner, Tomasz Mackiewicz, has been called off.
An elite Polish climbing team, attempting the first winter ascent of nearby K2 came to the rescue, scaling Nanga Parbat overnight to rescue Ms Revol.
Ms. Revol was airlifted to a hospital in Islamabad. It has been reported that she has severe frostbite on her hands and feet.
The BBC has more info.
McGillivray’s inner drive to not only attempt but complete such big events is unmatched.
”Why scale Mount Everest? Why run across the country?” he said. “People want to be challenged. Some people, like myself, need to be challenged.
“For me, a lot of this is self-esteem, self confidence,” he said. “It’s important for me to set a goal, achieve it — getting it done and feeling good about myself.”
Isabella Gomez and David Williams, writing for CNN:
So when she skied to the South Pole earlier this month and became the youngest person to ever pull off the Polar Hat Trick, she delivered a delightfully snarky message to those internet haters:
She posted a photo of her holding a plate with a ham and cheese sandwich.
“I made you a sandwich (ham & cheese),” she wrote. “Now ski 37 days and 600km to the South Pole and you can eat it.”
Elizabeth Hawley, who chronicled hiking expeditions on the Himalayas for over 50 years, has died in Nepal aged 94.
The US journalist was a leading authority on the world’s highest mountain, Mount Everest, despite never having reached its base camp.
She was seen as a key person to authenticate climbs, keeping meticulous records and verifying claims about successful expeditions.
And
Sad to hear that the Oracle of Himalayan climbing, Elizabeth Hawley passed away yesterday aged 94. Kathmandu will be a lesser place without her and her original VW beetle. pic.twitter.com/Z7jRuzRN8a
— Kenton Cool (@KentonCool) January 26, 2018
Alex Hutchinson, writing for Outside:
In February 2006, Robert Hewitt was scuba diving near Mana Island, off the coast of New Zealand’s North Island. Hewitt was an experienced navy diving instructor with 20 years in the service, and he told his dive buddy that he would swim back to shore himself. Instead, when he next surfaced, he had been pulled several hundred meters away by a strong current. The dive boat had moved on, and Hewitt was left alone, the tide pushing him farther and farther from shore.
and
The most pressing challenge facing Hewitt was the water temperature of 61 to 63 degrees Fahrenheit (16 to 17 degrees Celsius), well below body temperature. According to physiological models, when water is 59 degrees Fahrenheit (15 degrees Celsius), the median survival time is between 4.8 and 7.7 hours. Amazingly, Hewitt spent the next 75 hours in the water, drifting back and forth over a distance of nearly 40 miles before he was spotted by Navy diving friends and rescued.
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