Photo of the day (7.23.10)

by Alex Robertson Textor on


A travel mascot injects levity into a journey. Photographing one’s mascot in various exotic locations is an often hilarious way to articulate a narrative string for a journey. This image of a tiny robot on the Great Wall by cjthekid is playfully awesome. It neatly juxtaposes the old and the contemporary; the durable and the disposable.

Poke around cjthekid’s Robot Travel Association 5000 photo set and you’ll find additional images of this little robot in China and Mongolia. I look forward to seeing where this little robot will show up next.

Anyone with similarly whimsical images of mascot-like objects perched on popular tourist sites or elsewhere for that matter should submit said images to the Gadling Flickr Pool. You might just have your image selected as our Photo of the Day.

Adventurer trekking solo across Mongolia

by Kraig Becker on

British adventurer Ripley Davenport is in the middle of a spectacular solo journey. One that if he finishes, will put him the record books for the longest solo and unsupported trek in history. But before he’s done, he’ll face harsh weather conditions, inhospitable terrain, and one of the most demanding routes ever undertaken by man.

Ripley’s adventure is dubbed the Mongolia 2010 Expedition. His plan is to travel alone for 1700 miles across the vast, open wilderness of Mongolia, a country that boasts one of the lowest population densities on Earth. Along the way, he’ll travel on foot across the Eastern Mongolian Steppe, through the Gobi Desert, and over the Altai Mountains, while pulling all of his gear and supplies behind him in a specially designed cart that is the lifeline for his trek.

The expedition initially began back in April, but just three days in, the cart broke down on the harsh terrain. Undaunted however, Ripley returned home, made some important modifications to the design, and returned to the trail once again in late May. Since that time, he has completed the trek over the Mongolian Steppe, and is now nearing the end of the Gobi. According to his latest blog posts, Ripley has entered the foothills of the Altai Mountains, which will present an entirely new set of impediments to his progress.

At the moment, the former British Army officer is roughly halfway through his expedition, with plenty of challenges yet to overcome. But his spirits are high, he is focused and determined, and after more than 40 days on the trail, he is confident in his skills and equipment. The redesigned cart is working well, and is vital to Ripley achieving his goal of going solo and unsupported. Traveling by himself, he has the solo part well covered, but in order to achieve “unsupported” status he needs to finish the expedition without resupply or outside aid of any kind. His cart not only carries his gear, but also his food and water too, and without it, the journey wouldn’t be possible at all.

Check in on Ripley’s blog for regular updates from the field as he shares his adventure with the rest of us.

[Photo credit: Ripley Davenport]

Radisson Blue Coming to Mongolia

by Tom Johansmeyer on

It’s time to go to Mongolia! Almost. In winter 2011, the country will welcome the Radisson Blu Hotel Ulaanbaatar, the first Rezidor Hotel Group property to hit Mongolia. This will increase the company’s tally to 61 countries, says Rezidor president and CEO Kurt Ritter. You’ll find the new Radisson Blu right in the heart of the country’s capital, Ulaanbaatar, walking distance from Sukhbaatar Square and Peace Avenue, and it will be adjacent to the Choijin Lama Temple, which is home to an eighteenth century gold-covered statue of Buddha Shayaryamuni.

The property will have 175 guestrooms, three restaurants (including a microbrewery) and a wellness center – not to mention close to 5,000 square feet of conference and meeting space. Needless to say, this will be helpful in accommodating the increasing number of tourists to Mongolia, which has been growing at a compound annual rate of 15 percent since 2006.

So, if you’re looking to check out the temple or trod some of the same dirt as Genghis Khan, you’re about to get another lodging option.

National Geographic announces Adventurers of the Year

by Kraig Becker on

Way back in November we told you how you could help National Geographic Adventure select their Adventurer of the Year for 2009. The list of contenders featured ten of the most amazing athletes, explorers, and scientists from around the globe, each doing exciting and unusual things in their field. Now, after three months of balloting and more than 20,000 votes, the winner has been announced. Well, make that winners, as once the ballot box was closed, and all the votes were tabulated, two names emerged victorious, with explorer Albert Yu-Min Lin and climber Marc Hoffmeister earning the title of Adventurer of the Year.

The two men share an adventurous spirit and a love of challenges, but aside from that, they couldn’t be more different. Yu-Min is working within Mongolia’s “Forbidden Zone”, located in the northern part of the country, in an attempt to find the long lost tomb of Genghis Kahn, the legendary Mongol warlord who terrorized much of Asia and Europe in the 13th century. Hoffmeister, on the other hand, earned his honors on the steep slopes of 20,320 foot tall Denali in Alaska, where he led a team of soldiers up the treacherous West Buttress Route. Many of the soldiers, including Hoffmeister himself, were injured in the war in Iraq, with some of them even missing limbs.
Both men expressed gratitude and humility after being told that they had won the award, and each of them stressed that they were just one small part of a team that made their individual adventures possible. You can read more about Yu-Min and exploration of the remote regions of Mongolia by clicking here, and his reaction to being told that he won here. Similarly, this story details Hoffmeister’s epic climb up Denali, the tallest peak in North America, and his reaction to winning can be found here.

These awards are handed out in the wake of the announcement last December that National Geographic would cease to publish Adventure as a traditional magazine. The organization promised that we would continue to see the Adventure brand being used in a variety of ways however, including future Adventurer of the Year competitions. After a taking a short hiatus, the Adventure blog has also recently returned to life, with regular updates from the world of adventure travel and outdoor activities.

Mongolia’s first ski resort opens for business

by Kraig Becker on

Aspen, Colorado, Chamonix, France, Zermatt, Switzerland, three destinations that have earned a reputation for great skiing, pulling in thousands of visitors from around the globe each year. Now you can add Ulan Bator, Mongolia to that list, as Sky Resort opened late last month, becoming the first ski resort in that country.

Located on Bogd Khan Uul Mountain, a World Heritage Site found not far from Mongolia’s capital city, Sky Resort is a far cry from those global skiing meccas mentioned above. The mountain stands just 3000 feet in height and offers only a modest amount of vert. Snow is at a premium as well in the arid Mongolian climate, so the resort uses two Italian engineered snow guns to fill the slopes with powder. Still, it is a welcome respite from the long, very cold, Mongolian winters, and the locals are happy to have it.

The resort features five different runs, varying in length from 800 to 1070 meters. Most are designed for beginners and intermediate skiiers, but one is rated as a “Black Diamond”, or expert route. There are also two rope tows and two chairlifts to deliver visitors to their various destinations on the mountain, and the on property restaurant seats 300 guests, while serving a variety of Mongolian, Korean, and European dishes. Full day lift tickets cost roughly $12 on the weekends, making Sky a relative bargain for foreign visitors, while remaining quite expensive for most Mongolians.

The Sky Resort owners aren’t resting on their laurels when it comes to finding uses for the property in the off season either. Next summer, a golf course will open at Sky, with plans to host a PGA Tour event in the near future as well. It seems that while the country remains a good choice for adventure travelers, it is looking to expand its appeal to more mainstream travelers as well.