Yellowstone opens for winter season

by Kraig Becker on

One of America’s premiere national parks, Yellowstone opened for the winter season yesterday, with the South Entrance granting visitors access to the pristine backcountry that already seen plenty of snow this year. The East Entrance and Sylvan Pass will both December 22nd, offering even more access to this winter wonderland.

In recent years, it has become increasingly popular to explore Yellowstone’s stunning landscapes during the winter months, with many visitors taking in such sites as Old Faithful and the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone with a fresh blanket of snow on the ground. But with so much snow in the region, travel by car is out of the question, which means that most will climb aboard a snowmobile to make the journey to those iconic places. The park puts strict limits on the number of such vehicles that are allowed in the park each day, and all riders must be accompanied by a commerical guide.

In preparation for the winter opening, Yellowstone employees have been very busy grooming roads and trails for winter travel. The park is already covered in various amounts of snow this season, with some areas remaining lightly covered for now, while others have experienced heavy snowfall already. Considering winter doesn’t officially begin for a few days yet, there is already plenty of the white stuff to play in.

For those that would prefer a more eco-friendly approach to visiting Yellowstone in the winter, there are other options besides snowmobiles and coaches. Snowshoeing and cross country skiing are not only great ways to explore the wilderness area, they are an excellent workout as well. The local park rangers also lead a number of great winter programs, which can be found by clicking here.

If you’re planning a winter escape to Yellowstone and would like to travel by snowmobile or snowcoach, you’ll find a complete list of authorized operators in the various regions of the park by clicking here.

Just because winter is about to set in doesn’t mean we have to give up on our outdoor adventures. Check out Gadling’s cold weather gift guide for plenty of winter gear to keep you warm all season long.

Martina Navratilova succumbs to altitude sickness on Kilimanjaro

by Kraig Becker on

Last week we reported that tennis great Martina Navratilova was climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa to raise funds and awareness for the Laureus Sport for Good Foundation. She was setting off to reach the top of Africa’s tallest mountain, which stands 19,340 feet in height, and hoped to hit a few tennis balls off the summit to celebrate her success. But as the week wore on, she began to struggle, eventually turning back as she developed the very serious symptoms of pulmonary edema, also known as altitude sickness.

After struggling for several days on the trail, Martina was forced to turn back last Thursday when her lungs began to fill with liquid. She reached a height of 14,800 feet, but was too weak, and taking too great of a risk, to continue any higher. Instead, she was helped back down the mountain by a group of porters, who took her to a nearby hospital in Tanzania. From there, she was sent to a larger facility in Nairobi, Kenya, where she was treated for three days before being released on Sunday.

Before starting up Kili, Navratilova has never been to an altitude higher than 12,000 feet, but living in Aspen, Colorado she believed that she could acclimatize to the altitude quickly. She even went so far as to call the trek “just a basic hike.” After being released from the hospital she was singing a bit of a different tune however, saying “This was supposed to be fun, but nobody had fun. It was just survival. It is not an experience one would enjoy.”

Each year, a number of trekkers underestimate the challenge of climbing Kilimanjaro, which results in numerous evacuations from the mountain. Most are not as serious as this one however, and had she continued higher, Navratilova ran the real risk of death. Fortunately, her guides knew when to take her back down and get her the medical attention she needed.

If you’re planning a Kili climb of your own, don’t let this story dissuade you. Do your best to prepare ahead of time, getting in some good cardio workouts and go on a few distance hikes carrying a pack. When you get to Tanzania, listen to your guides, and take their advice to go “Pole! Pole!”, which means “Slowly! Slowly!” With that in mind, you’ll have a good chance of reaching the fabled snows of Kilimanjaro.

[Photo credit: Chris Jackon/Getty Images]

Book Review: Underground England

by Sean McLachlan on

England is a land of countless half-forgotten legends and secret hidden places.

In Underground England: Travels Beneath our Cities and Countryside, Stephen Smith explores these places, worming his way through damp caves and exploring haunted tunnels under crumbling castles. While he starts with natural caves, of which England is blessed with more than its fair share, he soon veers off into man-made places, trying to puzzle out the history hidden beneath a mass of legend.

Smith discovers that the Green and Pleasant Land is in fact the Damp and Dark Honeycomb. Stately homes have secret rooms under the stairs to hide once-illegal Catholic priests. Cold War governments created massive bunkers to save themselves (but not us) from their folly. And there are follies of a different sort–fake grottoes created by the rich and bored, like that of the infamous Hell Fire Club, which Smith reveals as far more notorious than nefarious. Eccentric Englishmen indulging their whims.

A bit like Smith himself. He’s obsessed with anything subterranean, anything weird or hidden. Burrowing under England with him is like being cornered for hours at a country pub by an uncommonly interesting local wit. Even his language fits the bill–a mixture of double entendres, pop culture references, and bizarre words. Lots of bizarre words. Appurtenances? I knew that one. Demesne? No problem. But to deckle? Prelapsarian? Thank God for the Oxford English Dictionary! I respect a man who can teach me two obscure words in the first six pages without slowing down the prose. And he doesn’t let up for the next 284.

You won’t find much on London’s underworld, however. Its wartime shelters, abandoned Tube stations, and vanished rivers are covered in Smith’s earlier book Underground London. If it’s anywhere near as good as Underground England, I’m buying it. Smith offers us a true glory hole (in the mining sense of the word). A brave traveler could make a whole under-the-road trip out of the contents of this book.

Russian climber BASE jumps from remote Antarctic peak

by Kraig Becker on

Last week a Russian climber and BASE jumper by the name of Valery Rozov climbed to the summit of Mount Ulvetanna, a 9616-foot tall mountain located in a very remote region of Antarctica. After spending a couple of weeks preparing for the climb, Rozov wasn’t content to just stand on top of the peak however. Once on the summit, he proceeded to don a specially designed wingsuit, leap from the summit, and glide through the cold air, which registered a chilly -22 degrees Fahrenheit on the thermometer.

BASE jumping continues to grow in popularity with adventurers and daredevils around the globe. Participants put on a pre-packed parachute and then proceed to climb up, and leap off, some fixed object such as buildings, antennas, spans, and the Earth itself, hence the “BASE” that give the sport its name. Wingsuits have been added in recent years to allow the jumper to glide through the air for a period before they open their chute and end their flight.

This particular flight lasted all of 45 seconds before the Russian pulled his parachute and gently glided back Earth, but as you can tell from the video below, it was one heck of a ride while it lasted. Watching this video, it seems clear that all climbers should use this method for returning to base camp, as it sure is a lot faster than descending the old fashion way.

[Photo credit: Thomas Senf]


Quark Expeditions offers $1500 airfare credit for Antarctic travelers

by Kraig Becker on

The Antarctic travel season is now officially in full swing, with cruise ships carrying adventurous travelers across the Southern Ocean and around the Antarctic coastline. For many, a journey to the bottom of the planet is the trip of a lifetime and very high on the list of “must see” places. But a trip to the frozen continent can also be a prohibitively expensive one, which is why Quark Expeditions is currently offering airfare credits to help make the trip a reality for more travelers.

Quark, which is one of the top adventure travel companies in the world, is offering a USD $1500 credit per person for flights to Ushuaia, Argentina, the southernmost city in the world and the launching point for most Antarctic cruises. The offer is good for all Antarctic travel booked with the company between January 16 and February 26, 2011.

Quark offers three unique itineraries for adventure travelers to choose from. They range in length from 12 to 20 days and each gives access to a variety of destinations and experiences on the Antarctic continent. For more details on this great offer, and to review the various itineraries that Quark has to offer, click here.

If Antarctica is high on your list of destinations, then perhaps this is the time to make a New Year’s resolution to visit that place at last. Let Quark Expeditions help make that dream a reality and take advantage of the $1500 credit in the process.

[Photo credit: Quark Expeditions]