Articles tagged “adventure travel”

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Spanish climber sets new speed record on Kilimanjaro

by Kraig Becker on

Kilian Jornet, a Spanish mountain climber and endurance athlete, set a new record for the fastest climb of Mt. Kilimanjaro earlier this week, making his way from the base to summit, and back again, in just 7 hours and 14 minutes. The previous record for the climb was held by Tanzanian Simon Mtuy, who made the round-trip journey in 8 hours and 27 minutes.

Standing at 19,340 feet, Kilimanjaro is the tallest mountain in Africa and a popular trekking destination amongst adventure travelers. Most hikers who go to the summit take six or seven days to complete the trip, which means Jornet was moving at a pace of roughly one days worth of climbing per hour. A pretty impressive feat no matter what the trail conditions are.

Jornet set out on his record-breaking attempt at 8AM local time on Tuesday and reached the summit just five hours and 23 minutes later. Running past the famous Uhuru Peak sign, he immediately started back down the mountain, finishing up an hour and fifty minutes later.

Kilimanjaro is famous for its five climate zones that begin in at the base on the savannah, which gives way to cloud forests and then marshlands. From there, climbers proceed up into high alpine desert and finally arctic conditions at the top. Jornet had to not only deal with those changes in climate along the way, but also large fields of rock left over from the last time that the volcanic Kilimanjaro erupted.

Upon reaching the finish line after his record breaking run, Jornet was greeted by the previous record holder who embraced the man who just shattered his old mark by an hour and thirteen minutes. I guess even he was impressed by this amazing display of strength and endurance.

[Photo credit: Muhammad Mahdi Karim via WikiMedia]

REI delivers new adventures for 2011

by Kraig Becker on

REI Adventures, the travel arm of the popular outdoor gear retailer, has announced a number of new adventure travel offerings for 2011, opening up a host of new destinations and exotic locations.

The company has offered a wide variety of adventure experiences in the past, allowing travelers to trek, backpack, and cruise their way to remote corners of the globe. But new for this year are ten cycling adventures, allowing the active traveler an opportunity to see some amazing places while on the back of a bike. Amongst those trips are a 12 day journey from Saigon to Angkor Wat and a six day ride that challenges riders to conquer the slopes of the Pyrenees in France.

Other new offerings include two Alaskan cruises to go whale watching along the Eastern and Western Coves, a seven day backpacking trip through Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, and a four day bike ride through Death Valley. REI has also added a new trek through the Himalaya with a lodge to lodge hike to Mt. Everest that is about as luxurious as you can get in the Khumbu Valley.

With these new offerings, REI Adventures now has more than 140 different trips in their catalog, with adventures on each of the seven continents. As you might expect from REI, their travel philosophy is an environmentally friendly one, offering up trips that are carbon neutral. They also take sustainability very seriously, patronizing local guides, lodges, and restaurants when ever possible.

Each of these new trips is ready to book now, with plenty of departures available through 2011. It’s never too early to start thinking about your 2011 travel plans.

The spooky Stanley Hotel celebrates the 30th anniversary of ‘The Shining’

by Annie Scott on


Everyone knows Stephen King’s The Shining as a terrifying tale of isolation and horror, and Kubrick’s epic interpretation featuring creepy twins and the freakiest Jack Nicholson moments of all time (so far), but did you know that the novel which inspired the film was actually based on The Stanley Hotel overlooking Rocky Mountain National Park (above)? This legendary Colorado hotel, located about an hour from Denver, was built in 1909 and openly boasts the presence of “otherworldly residents.”

“Flora Stanley, the first owner’s long-deceased wife, can still be seen and heard, late at night, either tinkling the piano keys in the music room or wandering around the lobby. Plus, the entire fourth floor (once the servants’ quarters) teems with strange after-dark commotion: if you stay in room 418, you might hear children playing outside your door, but find nary a soul in the hallway. For the ultimate scare (or inspiration), stay in room 217 — where [Stephen] King himself laid his head.”

The Shining was released 30 years ago, and to celebrate, you can take a Historic Ghost Tour at The Stanley Hotel for $15 per person. You’ll visit the hotel’s most haunted places (like room 217, right), hear tales of actual sightings and the connection to The Shining, and take a tour of the hotel’s spooky underground tunnel (reservations required, call 970-577-4110).

For the more adventurous thrill-seekers, the hotel also employs a professional paranormal investigation staff, and for $50 you can join them on a five-hour ghost hunt using all the equipment you see the pros use on TV: K2 meters, cell sensors, real time EVP recorders, a spirit box and a laser grid. Now that’s a Halloween plan.

Rates for those brave enough to stay at The Stanley Hotel start at $199 through October 31, then drop to $99 per night for the off-season.

Let us know if you find out what was up with that bear suit.

World’s lightest bike weighs 6 pounds, cost $45,000

by Kraig Becker on

Last weekend the 2010 Interbike Expo was held in Las Vegas. Each year the show highlights all the latest innovations and updates in the biking industry, with major players, such as Trek and Specialized, on hand to show off their latest models. But this year, it was a little known company called Fair Wheel Bikes, based out of Tuscon, Arizona, that made the headlines by introducing an incredibly lightweight, but incredibly expensive, bike.

The new prototype features ten speeds, both front and rear brakes, a carbon fiber frame, and titanium spokes. When fully assembled, the unit weighs in at a mere six pounds, which makes it the lightest bike ever built, but it just might come with the heftiest price tag. Fair Wheel has spent $45,000 building this particular model, and while it isn’t available to purchase yet, they hope to move it into production in the future.

As a point of reference, the bikes that are ridden at the Tour de France weigh in at roughly 15 pounds, which is the minimum accepted weight by the Union Cycliste Internationale, the governing body of professional cycling. This new design from Fair Wheel weighs in at less than half of that, and yet the company says that it remains durable and tough. The company has logged more than 20,000 miles on the prototype, testing its strength, and its still going strong.

While it may be some time before the technology behind the six-pound bike comes to market, there are already avid cyclists drooling over this machine. The thought of shaving ten pounds from their current rides probably has more than a few of them reaching for their credit cards and looking for a way to contact Fair Wheel to place their order.

Louisiana to host new endurance race ending at Mardis Gras

by Kraig Becker on

Some people will do anything to get to a party. Case in point, the endurance runners who will be taking part in the inaugural Rouge-Orleans Ultramarathon scheduled to take place in Louisiana on March 4-6, 2011. The race also happens to fall on the same weekend as Mardi Gras, which has prompted race organizers to adopt the slogan “come to run, stay to party.”

The race is a true test of endurance even for supremely conditioned athletes. The course begins at the Louisiana State University Veterinary School in the state’s capital of Baton Rouge and then runs for 126.2 miles along the Mississippi River levee, before ending at Audubon Park in New Orleans. The route winds its way passed sugarcane fields, southern plantations, and mysterious swamplands as it follows the course of the river south through the Louisiana countryside. The trail rarely crosses a road along the way either, which means that the runners won’t have to worry about traffic as they go.

Competitors can enter the race in several categories, including as an individual or on relay teams consisting of two, three or six runners. On the first day of the race, there will be several wave starts to get things going, with individuals hitting the trail with runners who share a similar pace. Once out on the course, they’ll have 40 hours to complete the entire 126.2 miles, which means they’ll need to average more than 3 miles an hour in order to finish ahead of the mandatory cutoff.

Once the runners reach the finish line in New Orleans however, they can join the party at Mardi Gras. After running for more than 126 miles, I’m sure they’ll want a few adult beverages to help ease the pain in their legs and feet. Completing an event like this takes a great deal of stamina and determination, so a celebration will definitely be in order for those who manage to complete the course.

[Photo credit: Robeter via WikiMedia]