Safer Everest Rescues with Unmanned Chopper

by Justin Glow on

I can’t ever imagine climbing Mt. Everest myself, but that hasn’t stopped me from living vicariously through John Krakauer in his book, Into Thin Air, one of my all-time favorites. The dangers of climbing the world’s tallest mountain are unparalleled; the 2006 climbing season alone saw the deaths of fifteen people — that’s one in every ten successful summits.

New Zealand based organization, Everest Rescue Trust, is looking to make climbing Everest a little bit safer by building an unmanned helicopter capable of rescuing the injured from the mountain’s high elevation and extreme terrain. The organization’s “goodwill ambassador” is none other than Mark Inglis, the first and only double amputee to climb Everest and star of the amazing Discovery Channel show, Everest: Beyond the Limit, which featured a group of climbers as they made their 2006 bid for the summit. Mark, along with a few other members of the group, stirred up controversy for the decision to forgo a rescue attempt on an injured, dying climber they found on their decent. “If you’re above 8,000 meters, and you can’t walk, you can’t live,” he told a reporter in a television interview for the Everest helicopter project.

Even if the project is successful, it won’t be the first time a helicopter has been to the top of Mt. Everest. On May 14th, 2005, a Eurocopter (with pilot) flew to the the summit and briefly landed just long enough to give it a world record for the highest take off ever — one that’s impossible to beat, unless another mountain mysteriously grows taller than Everest in the next few million years.

So wait, why can’t one of these Eurocopters rescue someone? In short, the winds on Everest are far too dangerous and unpredictable at high elevations — so much so that any attempt to land in such conditions is a huge risk for the pilot. This is where the unmanned chopper idea really shines. With the pilot controlling the helicopter from the safety of base camp, the only risk in a rescue attempt is damage to the machine.

The success of this project could mean a lot for the safety of future Everest mountaineers, but it could also mean an influx of even more inexperienced climbers, whose lack of experience and skill is often replaced with money in the bank. Some say the recent rise in Everest’s amateur climber population is responsible for the growing number of deaths.

What might potentially save the climber could, in fact, end up killing him or her.

[via Engadget]

Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu

by Justin Glow on

No, I didn’t smash my face against the keyboard — the title of this post is actually the shortened name of a hill in New Zealand, and what the Guinness Book of World Records calls the longest place name in the world, clocking in at a full 92 letters. For the sake of formatting, I’m going to refer to it as Frank from now on, OK? Frank the hill. Great.

According to Wikipedia, Frank translates to, “The brow [or summit] of the hill [or place], where Tamatea, the man with the big knees, who slid [down], climbed [up] and swallowed mountains, [to travel the land], [who is] known as the land eater, played [on] his [nose] flute to his loved one.” Just check out how long the caterpillar-like sign is:

If you’d like to visit Frank, you’ll have to travel to the southern coast of the North Island of New Zealand. Don’t get your hopes up, though. “There is nothing [there], just a sign to mark the place,” notes one traveler. Sounds like fun.

Branding Countries: The Art of Tourism Advertising

by Neil Woodburn on

When it comes right down to it, choosing a country to visit for your vacation is much like choosing a product at the grocery story; there are many similar items with comparable attributes and you’ve got to narrow down your choices to just one.

Advertising has grown fat and wealthy from the cognitive dissonance which develops over so many choices in our world. Painting a product in a positive light so that it becomes more attractive to potential consumers, and consequently consumed is the very essence of the advertising world.

So, it comes as no surprise that advertising agencies do the same for entire countries in order to attract tourists. According to a fascinating article in this month’s Travel & Leisure, advertising execs in charge of a country’s tourism campaign treat countries in the same manner as they treat cars, bottles of ketchup, or sports shoes. They must brand their “product” and create a “reputation and perception” in the minds of the consumer (i.e. tourist) which is unique, appealing, and consistent. Just as Volvo has spent years trying to make the word “safe” pop into your mind every time you think of their car, the brain trust behind tourism advertising seeks to evoke similar positive attributes associated with places like Portugal, Norway, and Alaska.

Author John Cook provides two examples which you should easily recognize. What do you think of when you hear “New Zealand?” Is it The Lord of the Rings? The national tourism board has spent millions of dollars showcasing the kiwi nation as the location of Middle Earth and in the process, increased tourism by 50%.

Cook also discuses the great advertising campaign touting Spain. I’ve been seeing the same hip ads for a number of years now with the same cool Joan Miró swirl. Every time I see this “trademark” I immediately think of Spain (just as the Nike trademark makes me think of running shoes). This probably explains why I’ve been harboring a nagging urge over the last few years to return to Spain as soon as possible.

So, whether you realize it or not, marketing is indeed alive and well in the world of tourism. And don’t forget, the target of such intricately planned advertising campaigns and manipulative branding efforts is you, the potential tourist.

BT’s Movies That Inspire Travel

by Erik Olsen on

My favorite movie of all time also happens to be one of the movies that most inspires me to travel: Raiders of the Lost Ark. Yes, I may be giving away state secrets here, but that movie rocked my world as a youngster and filled my head with notions of far off lands as places where exotic tribes keep hidden treasures and every encounter is fraught with excitement and a splash of danger.

But this is not the only film that gets me thinking about travel. There is also the English Patient, numerous Bond films, the Beach and Easy Rider, all of which use the particular place as a character in the set, the establishing stage upon which the events in these films transpire. Only one of these films I mention here made it onto Budget Travel’s list of great travel movies, perhaps a reflection of varied taste or just the sheer magnitude of possibilities, since so many films are shot overseas these days. But whatever the difference, I won’t quibble for the most part with what they’ve selected here.

It’s a fine list that includes both new films and old. And for me, at the very least the list made me realize I need to finally see the Whale Rider shot in New Zealand) since that makes the top spot on the list. Check it out for yourself here.

Gonewalkabout Blog

by Adrienne Wilson on

Like most travel blogs created to update family while trekking in far away countries this Gonewalkabout site started much the same. In Owen’s case he started off posting photos, but little captions or descriptions to help others (not to mention himself) pinpoint where he was exactly. That was the past though and as Owen sets out on a new two-year journey through Australia, New Zealand and hopefully a stop in Fiji he promises to do a much better job not just capturing pictures of these places, but providing some detail. In any case if you’re curious about Australia and New Zealand or even Portugal which is also featured in the photo gallery, head over to this site. He’s certainly got enough photos up to keep one busy until the blogging fully kicks in though there are a few recent entries.