Articles tagged “adventure travel”

Filter the Adventure Travel category by popular activities:

Biking, Camping, Climbing, Hiking, Paddling, Scuba diving, Skiing, Surfing

Chairlift collapses at Maine ski resort, sending six to hospital

by Kraig Becker on

What started as a great day on the slopes at Sugarloaf ski resort ended in disaster yesterday when a chairlift collapsed, sending seven guests to the hospital and leaving more than 200 others stranded above the snow for hours.

Located in Maine, Sugarloaf is considered one of the top ski resorts in the northeast United States. Yesterday, the slopes were filled with skiers and snowboarders taking advantage of the holiday season for some quality time on the snow. But reportedly many of them were riding the chairlift when the accident occurred. Passengers on the lift reported feeling a few sudden lurches before it came to a complete stop, amidst the screams of tumbling skiers.

The Spillway East lift ran into problems when one of its cables derailed sending five of the machines chairs falling 25-30 feet to the ground below, taking their passengers with them. Those passengers were treated on scene then taken to a nearby hospital in Portalnd. Their injuries were described as non-life threatening.

Meanwhile, the other 200 guests on the lift had to be slowly brought down off the lift by the resort staff. That process required them to slide more than 40 feet to the ground in a special swing that is not unlike a climbing harness. That process went without incident, although it did take some time to get all of the stranded passengers down.

The resort hopes to have the lift back in operation soon, and thanks to the recent east coast snow storm, there is more than 20 inches of fresh powder on the mountain. There are still several days of holiday break left for many of us, and now is as good a time as ever to hit the slopes, despite this accident.

Is this pretty much every skiers nightmare? Who hasn’t been on the lift and wondered how often an accident like this happens? Thankfully no one was seriously injured in this collapse, but I know what I’ll be thinking about the next time I get on a lift.

[Photo credit: WCSH-TV Maine]

Climber hopes to make solo summit of Denali in January

by Kraig Becker on

Standing 20,320 feet in height, Alaska‘s Denali, also known as Mt. McKinley, is the tallest mountain in North America. Due to its extreme weather conditions throughout most of the year, it is typically only climbed in June and July, when the short Alaskan summer allows for the best access to the summit. But in January, mountaineer and polar explorer Lonnie Dupre will attempt the unthinkable – a solo summit in the dead of winter.

The 49 year old Dupre is no stranger to cold climes. He has spent much of his adult life exploring the polar regions of our planet on foot or by kayak and dogsled. During his illustrious career Dupre has visited remote regions of Siberia, completed a Northwest Passage crossing by dogsled, circumnavigated Greenland, and visited the North Pole.

But a solo summit of Denali in January will be a completely different kind of challenge. In fact, only 16 people have ever reached the summit in winter at all, and it has only been successfully climbed in January on one other occasion when a team of three Russian mountaineers topped out back in 1998. Additionally, there have been six deaths on Denali as a result of attempted climbs during the winter.

As you would expect, January is the coldest month of the year on the mountain, but adding to the challenge is the perpetual darkness that shrouds the region during the long Alaskan winters. To avoid the cold, dangerous winds, Dupre plans to take shelter in ice caves that he’ll dig himself and won’t even carry a tent along on the climb, something that the Russian team did on their successful climb as well. He’ll also have to deal with 24 hours of darkness during his climb, which adds to the psychological challenges as well.

If everything goes as planned, Dupre should depart from his home in Minnesota today for Talkeetna, Alaska, where he’ll put the finishing touches on the preparation for his expedition. He hopes to reach the summit of Denali before January 31st.

[Photo credit: Bob Webster via WikiMedia]

British team sets new speed record for Antarctic crossing

by Kraig Becker on

In late November, a group of British adventurers and scientists set off on a mission to the interior of the Antarctic continent in specially designed research vehicles. Their plan was to undertake several environmental research experiments while journeying through one of the most in hospitable environments on the planet, but they also managed to set a new speed record for an Antarctic crossing at the same time.

Dubbed the Moon-Regan Transantarctic Expedition in favor of its two organizers, Andrew Moon and Andrew Regan, the plan was for the team to conduct research along the way. For example, they collected samples of the Antarctic snow in order to test the impact of pollutants in the atmosphere of the Southern Hemisphere on the frozen continent itself. They also drove a specially designed snow buggy, powered by biofuels, in order to see how those experimental fuels performed in extreme conditions.

By all accounts, those research elements came off very well, but the real success of the mission was the speed crossing. It took the team just 13 days to drive from the Union Glacier Base to the Ross Ice Shelf, by way of the South Pole, on the far side of the continent. The expedition covered 1209 miles in 303 hours, using specially designed ground penetrating radar to help them avoid crevasses and other obstacles.

The expediton actually reached their destination back on December 9th, but then turned around and made the return trip so that the 10-man team, along with all their research vehicles and gear, could be plucked from the ice by Antarctic-Logistics and Expeditions, a company that specializes in delivering explorers to Antarctica. That happened last week, when the team was returned to Punta Arenas, Chile before making their way back home in time for the holidays.

Taking just 13 days to cross Antarctica is quite an impressive feat. While the team did indeed use motorized vehicles to do it, the terrain that they crossed is quite brutal on any kind of machine and the cold weather played havoc with their engines at times. Throw in the very real danger of driving into a crevasse, and you can start to appreciate the challenges of such a drive. This just might have been the most challenging road trip ever.

[Photo credit: Moon-Regan Transantarctic Expedition]

My year in adventure travel: a look back and a look forward

by Sean McLachlan on

Happy Boxing Day everybody! As I sit here stuffed with my mother-in-law’s cooking after a traditional Spanish Christmas, I’m thinking back on all my travels in 2010 and looking forward to 2011. One of the best parts about my travel year has been sharing it all with you. I love the comments you’ve sent suggesting sites to see and trails to take, and was especially amazed by the outpouring of support I got from Ethiopians and Somalis for my series on their countries.

Early in the year I took my wife on a road trip in Ethiopia for our tenth anniversary. I have always wanted to go there and it didn’t disappoint. A combination of nice people, good food, awesome coffee, and tons of historical and archaeological sites shot it right to the top of my list of favorite destinations. So much so, in fact, that we’re going back in 2011! We haven’t finalized our plans, but we’ll be doing another road trip to a different part of the country and then I’ll spend a month or so in Harar, a fascinating city I want to learn more about. So expect a series about Ethiopia in 2011, including at least one trek to a certain remote castle in the rugged Ethiopian highlands.

Harar is the gateway to Somaliland, an emerging nation that has broken away from the chaos in the rest of Somalia. My two weeks there shattered every preconception I had about the region. Somalilanders are working hard to build a peaceful nation in a region notorious for war and corruption. Since they aren’t recognized as a country, they’re receiving very little assistance from the outside world. I’m proud that my series of articles helped in a small way to publicize their efforts.

As regular readers will know, I always celebrate my birthday with a long-distance hike. When I turned forty I hiked the Hadrian’s Wall National Trail. This year for my 41st I hiked the East Highland Way, Scotland’s newest trail. For my 42nd (moan) I plan to return to Scotland. I’m not sure where I’ll go, so I’m hoping one of you can help me decide. I want a hike of about a hundred miles over beautiful but rough terrain, with a steady diet of historical and archaeological attractions. Any ideas?

All these wanderings really filled up my hard drive. The gallery features some photos that didn’t make it into the original series. I hope you like them.

There were some less-adventurous trips in 2010, such as exploring the tombs of Rome, the sights of Yorkshire, and the legend of Jesse James. I’ve also had plenty of wonderful armchair adventure travel courtesy of my fellow Gadlingers. Two of my favorite series have been Andrew Evans’ amazing trip around Greenland that left me green with envy, and Catherine Bodry’s exploration of Yunnan, China, graced with her beautiful photos.

It’s been a wonderful year with a great team and great readers. I’m looking forward to 2011!

%Gallery-112022%

A December hike along the Lost Coast Trail

by Kraig Becker on

The Lost Coast Trail is a spectacular hike along northern California‘s Pacific Coast. The trail is roughtly 25 miles in length, running from Shelter Cove to Mattole Beach, and is only accessible by a few narrow, twisty roads. It is a rugged, lightly traveled route that alternates from Pacific beaches to mountain passes, with more than 8000 feet of elevation gain over the course of its length.

For many trekkers, the Lost Coast Trail is one of the top hikes in all of North America, and it was with that in mind that filmmaker Ryan Commons and three of his friends, set out to trek the challenging route over a seven day period earlier this month. The result is the great video below that captures the essense of the Lost Coast from it’s chilly beaches to its sprawling mountain ridges.

For remote hikes it is difficult to beat the Lost Coast Trail. As you can see from the video, it is aptly named and a worthy hike for any backpacker looking for solitude on their next adventure.

[Photo credit: Rick McCharles via Flickr]


The Lost Coast Trail from Ryan Commons on Vimeo.