ANTARCTIC NON-GOVERNMENT ACTIVITY NEWS
Tourism Industry |
Brief news items on Antarctic and sub-Antarctic
non-government expedition activities.
ANAN 57
Wednesday, 24 October 2001
News in this edition:
57-01. Group plans skiing, snow boarding descents of South Georgia peaks.
57-02. Eclipse target of 2003 East Antarctic voyage.
57-03. Shackleton re-enactment expedition book released in English.
57-04. Coming Events Relevant to Non-Government Activities.
GROUP PLANS SKIING, SNOW-BOARDING DESCENTS OF SOUTH GEORGIA PEAKS
[ANAN-57/01]
Members of the 'Beyond Endurance' expedition plan to scale a number of South Georgia's highest peaks and make what will be very steep skiing and snow-boarding descents to sea level from them over the next three weeks. The six-person group, which is scheduled to arrive at Grytviken sometime in the next few days on board the Falkland Islands-based commercial yacht 'Golden Fleece' (ANAN-21/03, 10 May 2000), proposes to utilise the internet to provide near real-time up-dates on its activities.
All six members of the climbing / snow boarding, group are from the United States and each has significant mountain and remote area experience in many parts of the world. The expedition's leader, Doug Stoup, has been involved in several Antarctic ventures over the last two years and has other ventures planned in the future (ANAN-40/09, 31 January 2001). The others involved are Rick Amstrong, John Teaford, Hilaree Nelson and Chris Patterson, who are named as 'skier mountaineers', and John Griber, described as a 'snow-board mountaineer'. Stroup and Armstrong are also described as 'videographers', Patterson as director-cameraman and Teaford as writer-producer.
First target for the party after they arrive at Gtytviken is to be the island's highest peak, 2,933 m high Mount Padget, which they plan to ascend after trekking on skis up Nordenskjold Glacier from Cumberland East Bay. The expedition's web site says that each person will pull thirty-five kilogram sledges and carrying twenty-five kilogram packs during the climb, but that once they reach the mountain's headwall they will remove their skis for crampons and ice climbing gear for the final push to the top. From the summit they propose to make the "first ever" snow-board and ski descent down a "difficult and unpredictable fifty-five degree pitch" on the southern side of the mountain to sea level where 'Golden Fleece' is to be stationed to pick them up.
2,244 m Mount Roots, which was climbed for the first time earlier this year (ANAN-41/07, 14 February 2001), is the second target and other climbs and descents in other parts of the island are proposed. At the end of the expedition, around mid-November, the six plan to make an attempt on Sir Ernest Shackleton's famous 1916 crossing route from King Haakon Bay to Stromness. That route has proved to be a popular attraction for both adventurers and tourist groups over the last two years (ANAN-46/05, 9 May 2001).
The expedition says that it plans to provide "ground breaking" streaming audio and video dispatches, digital still images and audio reports on a daily basis during their venture.
According to its web site the group is expecting considerable interest by the general public in its achievements. It points out that internet dispatches sent to Mountainzone.com during a similar venture by Stroup to the Antarctic Peninsula region in the 1999-2000 austral summer resulted in "upwards of four to six million hits" (ANAN17/02, 15 March 2000). In addition to the near real-time dispatches, a film is to be shot for airing sometime next year on the US broadcaster OLN-TV's 'Global Adventure' series and via other outlets. Magazine articles are also proposed about the expedition.
'Beyond Endurance' expedition members are due back in Stanley towards the end of November. Details of the expedition are available on line at http://www.xstreamclimb.com/.
A company that specialises in tourism that is linked to astronomical events is offering its clients the chance to observe a total eclipse of the sun off the East Antarctic coast in 2003.
US-based Astronomical Tours and the Antarctic tour operator Quark Expeditions recently announced their plan for a month-long voyage of the icebreaker 'Kapitan Khlebnikov' that aims to be in the limited area of totality of the 24 November 2003 event. 'Khlebnikov' is one of only two tour ships that currently operate in Antarctic waters that is capable of handling the heavy ice conditions that are often found off the East Antarctic coast in the austral spring.
The narrow area where the moon's shadow, or totality, will pass over in 2003 is predicted to start south-east of Heard Island in the southern Indian Ocean soon after sunrise local time on 24 November. From there, landfall on the coast of Antarctica is near Russia's Mirny station, where totality is expected to last for just under two minutes. The path then curves inland over the Antarctic plateau before exiting the continent in the vicinity of India's Maitri and Russia's Novolazerevskya stations several hours later (ANAN-3/08, 1 September 1999).
The East Antarctic pack-ice zone experiences frequent periods of solid cloud cover during the austral spring, particularly in the early morning hours when the eclipse is timed to occur, and organisers of Khlebnikov's voyage will be hoping for abnormal conditions so that the solar event can be seen in full.
'Khlebnikov' is scheduled to leave Port Elizabeth, South Africa, on 5 November 2003 for the event and complete the journey in Hobart, Australia, on 3 December. The voyage is very similar to those that the ship has undertaken on numerous occasions in the Indian Ocean sector during the southern hemisphere spring over the last decade.
After leaving South Africa, the vessel is expected to visit the sub-Antarctic islands of Crozet, Kerguelen and Heard in the southern Indian Ocean, before it heads south towards the Antarctic coast in the vicinity of the Larsemann Hills in Princess Elizabeth Land where a visit to the Chinese station Zhong Shan is proposed. Australia's Davis station, in the Vestfold Hills to the north-east, is also listed on the itinerary, after which the vessel is to travel eastwards to an area in the pack-ice north of Mirny to observe the eclipse. A visit to that station is not mentioned in the schedule at this time, although one to Australia's Casey station in Wilkes Land (on the final leg of the journey to Hobart after the eclipse), is mentioned.
Interest has also been shown by several groups in observing the 2003 eclipse from a specially organised tourist overflight from Australia, similar to those that have been operating routinely now for seven seasons (ANAN-42/09, 28 February 2001). To date, however, no announcements have been made about such a proposal.
The Mirny region is well within the range of such an overflight, although the aircraft would probably have to stage out of Perth in Australia's west and there would be added costs of positioning the aircraft there from its home base in Sydney (on the east coast). Such a flight would, however, negate viewing problems caused by cloud as there would be a very high probability that the aircraft would be flying well above any weather in the area.
The cost of participating in the 'Khlebnikov' voyage ranges from $US18,995 to $US35,995 depending on the type of cabin chosen. These figures do not include airfares to South Africa to join the vessel or from Australia at the end of the voyage. Details of the proposed 2002-03 voyage are available on line at: http://www.astronomicaltours.net/.
SHACKLETON RE-ENACTMENT EXPEDITION BOOK RELEASED IN ENGLISH
[ANAN-57/03]
A book that details the 'Shackleton 2000' expedition's re-enactment, early last year, of Sir Ernest Shackleton's famous 1916 boat journey and crossing of South Georgia early last year has been translated into English and has now been released world-wide. The re-enactment was led by Arved Fuchs of Germany (ANAN-16/03, 1 March 2000).
The book on the expedition was originally published earlier this year as 'Im Schatten des Pols' ('In the Shadow Of The Pole') by the German publishing House Delius Klasing Verlag (224 pages, 158 colour and black and white photographs, ISBN 3-7688-1228-6). Its English title is 'In Shackleton's Wake' and it is being jointly published by Sheridan House, a company with offices in the United States, Australia , New Zealand, and Adlard Coles Nautical of the U.K.
The English translation is 208 pages long, has colour and black and white images and retails for around $US25. Its ISBN number is 1-57409-138-7.
COMING EVENTS RELEVANT TO NON-GOVERNMENT ACTIVITIES
[ANAN-57/04]
Please forward notice of events via e-mail to: tourism@aad.gov.au. Up-dates are made to ANAN's web site at http://www.antdiv.gov.au/goingsouth/tourism/Research/BibConf/Confer/default.asp as soon as new information comes to hand.
YEAR 2001
12-16 November (Wilton Park, U.K.)
Conference: "40 Years On: The Antarctic Treaty System in the 21st Century".
Participation by invitation only.
YEAR 2002
4-11 January (South Geographic Pole)
High Plateau Marathon.
Contact: general@adventure-network.com
2 March (King George Island, Antarctica)
Fifth Antarctic Marathon and Half Marathon.
Contact: marathon@shore.net (Thom Gilligan).
Last week of June [Dates/location to be set] (Europe).
IAATO year 2002 annual meeting.
Contact: iaato@iaato.org (Denise Landau)(invitation required).
15-26 July (Shanghai, China).
XXVII SCAR (Scientific Committee for Antarctic Research).
15-26 July (Shanghai, China)
COMNAP XIV (including the sub-committee on Tourism and Non-Government Operations).
Contact: jsayers@comnap.aq (Jack Sayers).
3-14 September (Warsaw, Poland)
Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting XXV
YEAR 2003
July [Dates to be set] (Seattle, United States).
IAATO year 2003 annual meeting.
Contact: iaato@iaato.org (Denise Landau)(invitation required).
23 November (Queen Mary and Dronning Maud Land regions).
Total solar eclipse (See ANAN-3/08, 1 September 1999).
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Next edition issued on Wednesday, 7 November 2001 @ 0600 UTC.
Deadline for items: Sunday, 4 November 2001 @ 2359 UTC.
ANTARCTIC NON-GOVERNMENT ACTIVITY NEWS (ANAN)
ANAN's aim is to provide a periodic summary of non-government activities in Antarctica. It is prepared from contributions from company, governmental, academic and private individuals with an interest in this area of endeavour on or around the southern-most continent.
EDITOR: Dave Moser (David.Moser@aad.gov.au).
POSTAL: Australian Antarctic Division, Kingston, Tasmania, Australia 7054
TELEPHONE: +61-3-6232-3347 (2200-0600 UTC).
FACSIMILE: +61-3-6232-3500.
RESEARCH/WRITING: Martin Betts (Martin.Betts@aad.gov.au)
TELEPHONE/FACSIMILE: +61-3-6267-4790 (2200-1100 UTC).
FACSIMILE: +61-3-6232-3500.