Ultrarunner To Attempt Round-Trip North Pole Expedition On Foot

by Kraig Becker on

While one famous British explorer prepares to take on the Antarctic in the dead of winter, another is gearing up to challenge himself in the Arctic instead. Last week, endurance runner Tim Williamson announced that in 2013 he will attempt to travel solo and unsupported to the North Pole and then return to his starting point – completely on foot. If successful, he’ll become the first person to complete such a journey.

Williamson intends to launch his expedition in mid-January, setting out for the North Pole from Resolute Bay in Canada. That tiny Inuit village is one of the most northerly communities on Earth and a common starting point for explorers heading to the top of the world. Most of those other explorers depart from that point by first taking a chartered flight out to the remote Ellesmere Island, saving themselves hundreds of miles on what is an already long journey. But Williamson intends to begin and end in Resolute Bay, which means that if he is successful in this venture, he’ll cover more than 2200 miles on his round-trip journey.

As if covering all of those miles in the Arctic weren’t challenging enough, Tim believes that he can complete the expedition in just 100-120 days. Considering the extreme challenges he’ll face out on the ice, that would be a blazingly fast time. Those challenges include high winds, sub-zero temperatures, whiteout conditions, dangerous blizzards and wandering polar bears. Additionally, the Arctic pack-ice isn’t as thick as it once was and there are now large sections of open water that he’ll need to either navigate around or swim across. Traveling during the winter will help alleviate those obstacles to a degree, but the longer he is out on the ice, the more of an issue it will become.

Williamson says this is the kind of expedition that he is built for and his aptitude at long distance running will serve him well in the Arctic. That may be true, but this will be a challenge unlike any he has ever undertaken. Over the past two Arctic seasons, not a single person has managed to travel the full distance to the North Pole, let alone back again.

[Photo courtesy Tim Williamson]

Photo Of The Day: NYC Skyline

by Elizabeth Seward on

I don’t usually take Photos Of The Day as an opportunity to display my own work, but today’s photo of the NYC skyline is different. While riding to Brooklyn over the weekend, I looked out the passenger side window of my car and saw the evening sun casting shining beams of light between Manhattan’s buildings, silhouetting the skyline. I managed to capture what I saw and feel compelled to share the photo with you today. And so here it is, New York City at sunset.

Have a photo you’d like to submit for Photo Of The Day? Drop it into the Gadling Flickr Pool and we’ll take a look!

Aircraft Boarding Challenges Bring Innovative Designs

by Chris Owen on

Boarding commercial aircraft, from a traveler’s point of view, is all about getting to our seats, stowing gear and getting underway. We hope to have overhead bin space available, a reasonably comfortable seat and an on-time departure. Airlines are right there with us on the getting to our seats part and getting underway; they could not agree more. It’s a major issue so aircraft designers devote a lot of time and resources to making the whole process efficient.

Airlines want the boarding process to go as fast as it can for a couple big reasons. They want to stay on time, sure. But the less time they spend boarding passengers, the more flights they can fit in a day. As airlines cut back on the number of flights, choosing to insure full, profitable planes, they are constantly looking for ways to increase that efficiency.

One way might be slider seats that promise quicker boarding.Using the new Molon Labe Designs approach during boarding, the aisle seat slides on top of the middle seat, creating a 43-inch wide aisle. That gives boarding passengers much more room to navigate, stow gear and be seated. When boarding on each row is completed, the aisle seat then slides back into position.

The manufacturer promises they can cut loading time in half, adding up to 120 minutes flying time every day. Good news for airlines that could fly the same number of passengers with up to 15 percent fewer aircraft. But what about passengers?

“I’m not going to tell you it’s a comfortable seat,” Hank Scott, founder of the company said in a LA Times article. “It’s a quick, turn-around seat.” A prototype is due in November and the company has presented the idea to Boeing and Airbus.

Like it or not, aircraft seating is a huge topic to designers. The amount of time it takes to board passengers is on the table for discussion. To those with mobility issues, its also about the indignity and discrimination they face boarding aircraft.

Air Access is a concept designed by Priestmangoode that speeds up the boarding process for passengers with reduced mobility by enabling an easier transition from gate to aircraft. Air Access is a detachable wheelchair the passenger gets in at the departure gate or on the jet way. After seating, the passenger is wheeled onto the plane where the chair slides sideways and locks into the fixed-frame aisle seat without the passenger needing to get up.

On arrival, ground staff unlocks the seat, slide it out into the aisle and wheel the passenger to the jet way or arrival gate as we see in this video:




[Flickr photo by Slices of Life]

Gratis Hotel Rooms To Celebrate The End Of The Mayan Calendar

by McLean Robbins on

It’s the end of the world as we know it … or at least the end of the Mayan Calendar. On December 21, 2012, the day the Mayan Calendar resets the date to “zero,” Expedia has partnered with 11 Mayan area hotels to offer special $0 rates.

From the Grand Melia to the Intercontinental Presidente and Hyatt Regency in Cancun, some of these names are on the luxe side. The deals even extend to a few all-inclusives. We’re sure the rates will go fast, so we’d suggest booking asap.

“The Mayan region has always been a fascinating destination, but interest is up this year for reasons that might be obvious. In fact, travel to this part of the world is up over 10% this year over last,” said Joe Megibow, Vice President and General Manager, Expedia.com in a release.

Can’t make it then? More than 100 hotels throughout Cancun, Cozumel, Riviera Maya, Merida, Guatemala, Belize and El Salvador are going to be around 40% off from today through March 2013 in celebration.

[Flickr via Mike_Fleming]

Get Your Free Museum Day Tickets Here

by Chris Owen on

Museum Day Live is an annual event hosted by Smithsonian magazine, coming up this weekend on Saturday, September 29, when participating museums across the country give free admission to anyone presenting a Museum Day Ticket.


Smithsonian magazine hosts the annual event to encourage people to revisit their favorite local museum or try a new one in the area. The deal is simple too. Go to the Museum Day website and register to download a free ticket good for free admission for two people at one of the museums on the list.

Finding a participating museum is also easy. Just visit the Find a Museum page to locate a participating museum in your area.

In addition to the Smithsonian facilities in Washington, DC, free every day of the year anyway, a number of museums all around the United States are participating in Museum Day. Among them is the Aerospace Museum of California exhibiting 40 military and civilian aircraft, an engine collection from early aircraft to rockets, motion ride simulator, F-16 simulators, art, aviation and aerospace exhibits. In Florida, the Harry S Truman Little White House in Key West is included too. Used as Truman’s residence for 175 days of his presidency, Presidents William H. Taft, Franklin Roosevelt, Dwight Eisenhower, John Kennedy, Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton also called the place home.

Special exhibits, parking and Imax presentations are not included.

The Smithsonian is a diverse organization with many interests and surely worth a visit if not a lifetime of study. This video, typical of the Smithsonian’s diversity, features “Photography Changes Everything,” a new book from the Smithsonian and the Aperture Foundation, which uses the visual assets of the museum to explore how photographs impact our culture and our lives.




[Photo-Chris Owen]