ANTARCTIC NON-GOVERNMENT ACTIVITY NEWS
Tourism Industry |
Brief news items on Antarctic and sub-Antarctic
non-government expedition activities.
ANAN 70
Wednesday, 10 April 2002
News in this edition:
70-01. Society ready to re-launch its expedition program.
70-02. 'Gambo' group conducts wide-ranging climbing program.
70-03. 'Jules Verne' contender approaches Cape Horn; record in sight.
70-04. Last minute compromise helped plateau marathon to proceed.
70-05. Trio planning Heard Island climb, ski-boarding descent.
70-06. 'Ice Maidens' planning SGP trek in 2003-04.
70-07. New South Georgia web site on line.
70-08. Cable network to screen film on tourist's Peninsula visit.
70-09. Documentary on kayaking venture released, book in preparation.
70-10. Cumulative impacts workshop report available on line.
70-11. 'Clipper Adventurer' aground in Guyana, quickly refloated.
70-12. Coming Events Relevant to Non-Government Activities.
SOCIETY READY TO RE-LAUNCH ITS EXPEDITION PROGRAM
[ANAN-70/01]
US-based tour operator Society Expeditions, which lost its long-serving ship 'World Discoverer' after it struck an unchartered reef in the south-west Pacific in April 2000, is to return to Antarctic operations in November after a two-season hiatus. The delivery of Society's replacement ship next week is a key turning point for the company, and the vessel could carry over 1,000 people to the Antarctic Peninsula region during the 2002-03 austral summer.
Society's new vessel, which has been named after its predecessor, left dry dock in Singapore on 13 March and its $US15 million refit was scheduled to be completed by 9 April. Final sea trials and regulatory inspections are due to be conducted next week and the ship is expected to leave Singapore on 18 April for Darwin, Australia. 'World Discoverer' will leave there on its maiden voyage for the company on 26 April to undertake six months of cruises in the Pacific. Antarctic tour operations are to commence on 20 November when it leaves Punta Arenas, Chile, for the Antarctic Peninsula.
The new 'World Discoverer' is larger than its predecessor and will be operated by a crew of 100 and 13 to 16 expedition staff, including dive masters, while it is working in South Pacific waters. It can carry up to 160 passengers, is 108 m long, 17 m wide, has a draft close to 5 m and is of 6,000 Gross Registered Tonnes (GRT). Its name-sake, which conducted tourist operations in Antarctic waters over 20 austral summers, could carry up to 138 passengers, was 87 m long and of 3,724 GRT.
Society moved to acquire a replacement for its stricken ship immediately after it was declared a 'total loss' in June 2000 (ANAN-25/05, 5 July 2000), however, the intervening period has been a difficult one for the company. A replacement ship was almost purchased in August 2000 in time for 2000-01 Antarctic operations, but negotiations failed at the last minute and that season was subsequently cancelled (ANAN-29/01, 30 August 2000).
In January last year a plan to purchase the 1989-built former passenger vessel 'Dream 21' and refurbish it for world-wide expedition operations was announced, however, on-going problems in finalising purchase arrangements with the ship's then owners, Samsung Industries of South Korea, and other problems led to the 2001-02 Antarctic season also being cancelled (ANAN-58/04, 7 November 2001).
After almost a year's delay, 'Dream 21' entered dry dock at the Sambawang shipyard in Singapore on 12 November last year. Society told ANAN last week that in the five months since, all pre-existing passenger cabins have been replaced with larger staterooms and suites (many with French patios and verandas); all public rooms remodelled; "state-of-the-art electronics" installed for passengers; and new facilities added to handle and launch the twelve 'Zodiacs', kayaks, and the glass-bottom excursion boat that the ship is to carry on most voyages.
'World Discoverer' is scheduled to conduct seven voyages in the South American sector of Antarctica between 20 November 2002 and 10 March 2003. Five of those voyages are 19-day/21-night visits to the Antarctic Peninsula, the Falkland Islands, South Georgia and the South Orkney Islands, while the other two involve 11-day/13-night voyages to the Peninsula alone. The ship is to start and end the season at Punta Arenas, but all other voyages are to depart from and return to Ushuaia, Argentina. If Society is able to attract normal load levels on each of its voyages during the three-and-a-half month season, over 1,000 tourists could visit the Peninsula area on the ship in 2002-03, around 700 of those visiting the islands of the Scotia Arc. A similar series of voyages is planned for the 2003-04 season.
The ship is one of four tourist vessels that are currently expected to visit the Antarctic Peninsula for the first time in 2002-03. The others are the 'Nordnorge', which could carry around 400 passengers on each of its eight planned voyages (ANAN-51/07, 18 July 2001), the 1,380-passenger 'Amsterdam' (ANAN-67/01, 27 February 2002) and the 940-passenger 'Crystal Symphony' (ANAN-69/02, 27 March 2002), which are each conducting a single voyage.
Images and other details of 'World Discoverer' are available on Society Expedition's web site at: http://www.societyexpeditions.com/Html/Discoverer/Disc.html
Society Expeditions has invited ANAN researcher-writer Martin Betts to take part in the Australian sector of World Discoverer's inaugural voyage (from Darwin to Cairns) in order to become familiar with the ship's facilities etc. The cost of air transport and associated expenses involved in travelling between Hobart and Darwin/Cairns will be met by Mr Betts.
Members of the Antarctic Convergence Zone Project (ACZP) returned to Ushuaia, Argentina, late last month on the 15-m ketch 'Gambo' after a busy ten-week voyage to the Antarctic Peninsula region. The international group, whose aim is to combine adventure activities with serious research, spent the majority of its time climbing and recorded a number of first ascents. Sampling in support of the project's scientific goals was also undertaken (ANAN-48/03, 6 June 2001).
Canadian-registered 'Gambo', left Ushuaia on 22 December with eleven people from Canada, New Zealand, Switzerland, the United States and the United Kingdom on board. The yacht visited Deception Island in the South Shetland Islands before sailing south to Enterprise Island in Gerlache Strait. There, a dozen dives to depths of up to 20 m were made around the sunken whaling supply ship 'Gouvernoren I' over the New Year period. Underwater visibility was described as "superb" and the diving program was reported to have been carried out "without a hitch", with many "rusty bits of junk", including harpoons, much newer mooring lines and a camera lens, being seen.
Most of the next ten weeks was spent in the area around the southern end of Gerlache Strait, a region that has attracted an increasing number of climbers over the last decade (ANAN-16/01, 1 March 2000). 'Gambo' then moved to Wiencke Island where a number of climbs, two of which may have been first ascents, were made during the first half of January. These included: a 900-m peak on the Wall Range; the 1,200-m high northern-most 'sister' in the Fief Range; and 1,400-m Mount Luigi in the same range, the descent from which was made on snowboards (ANAN-65/05, 30 January 2002). Other projects planned on Wiencke Island, but which had to be abandoned due to a prolonged spell of bad weather, included a full traverse of the seven sisters, an extremely technical mixed-rock and ice route on the Wall Range, and a "complete traverse" of 2,760-m Mount Francais on nearby Anvers Island.
Dr Alun Hubbard, ACZP's leader, told ANAN last weekend that the longest weather windows that his group got while they were at Wiencke Island were "rarely more than 18-hours long, and often less than 8 hours". Under such conditions, when the weather deteriorates very quickly, it was often a difficult challenge to retreat safely from committed climbs. The climbers frequently had to retreat out of gully and cornice systems in high winds and zero visibility, accompanied by constant powder and block avalanches as cornices broke off. One long-term observer of the region claimed that the weather in the area in the 2001-02 season "was exceptionally unstable and poor and the worst [he had] experienced for 20 years".
Climbing activities then moved to the Paradise Bay region. Mount Hoegh at the northern end of Paradise Bay was climbed with members of the British Army Antarctic Expedition (BAAE)(ANAN-65/05, 30 January 2002), however, further bad weather led to the abandonment of "numerous other projects" in that area. Ice and weather conditions combined to keep the yacht from travelling further south, so 'Gambo' sailed the short distance north to the Errera Channel from where numerous climbs were conducted over a three-week period.
Two "possible" first ascents were completed there, the first of 1,580-m Stolze Peak on the Arctowski Peninsula to the east of the Channel, and the second the western-most peak of the Laussedat Heights above the Orel Ice Fringe. Both were carried out on skis, although what were reported as "short technical sections" were encountered close to each summit. A third climb, which is also believed to have been a first ascent, was made of 1,160-m Mount Brittania, Ronge Island's highest point. A route up the eastern ridge directly opposite Danco Island was used, although later a second more straightforward ascent via the south-eastern ridge was also conducted.
In addition to those ascents, an attempt was made to ski to and climb 2,200-m high Mount Walker, a snow-covered feature near the northern end of the Forbidden Plateau. After ascending to an elevation some 1,500 m above the Orel Ice Fringe at the southern end of the Errera Channel, bad weather forced the climbers to retreat when they were three-quarters of the way across 'The Downfall', an area close to plateau level near the head of the Arctowski Peninsula. A party from the then British national program station on Danco Island had tried to reach the Forbidden Plateau from the Orel Ice Fringe in 1956, but they were forced to retreat by the very steep slope that was later given the descriptive name of 'The Downfall'.
Mount Walker had also been a tentative target of the BAAE late in December, but weather conditions forced that party to retreat to sea level after they reached Mount Johnston, 10-km travel along the Forbidden Plateau to the northeast (ANAN-63/06, 2 January 2002).
The majority of the ACZP' scientific work appears to have been concentrated into the 2-3 weeks 'Gambo' spent around King George Island in late February and early March as it headed north towards Ushuaia. "Numerous" field trips were made from the yacht in Maxwell Bay to: "complete a surface and basal topographic survey of the 'Warzawa' Icefield; obtain global positioning system fixes at numerous rock outcrops of Admiralty Bay to ground truth and constrain 1950's aerial photography; collect samples of sub-glacial and supra-glacial water samples for the assessment of minor and trace metals and other run-off nutrients; and to obtain over 50 samples of glaciogenic material for extremeophile microbe analysis".
The data collected are currently being processed by Alun Hubbard as part of post doctoral work he is undertaking at the University of Edinburgh in the UK. Part of the work involves attempting to numerically model the recent past and future response of the 'Warzawa' Icefield to climate warming trends.
This season's voyage to the Peninsula was the first of what was planned as a three-year venture that involves visits to glaciers, ice-caps and glacierised islands in the Antarctic Peninsula and sub-Antarctic regions. Plans announced last year called for 'Gambo' to spend the 2002-03 austral summer visiting the South Orkney, South Georgia, South Sandwich and Bouvet Island areas (ANAN-48/03, 6 June 2001), but Hubbard told ANAN last weekend that while future plans are "open at the moment", 'Gambo' is now likely to return to the Peninsula again in 2002-03.
Hubbard says that while he personally considers the recently completed season to have been a "superb success", future ACZP activity will most likely have more of a scientific focus, and could continue for at least the next four years. 'Gambo' is expected to spend the coming austral winter in Ushuaia.
The maxi-catamaran 'Orange', which is attempting to break the 'Jules Verne' around-the-world record, anticipates rounding Cape Horn late next week-end after a very fast passage across the sub-Antarctic South Pacific. Over the last few days the 'super yacht' has been making over 1,000-km a day at speeds of up to 38 knots, and it is currently nearly 5,000 km ahead of where current trophy holder 'Sport Elec' was when it set the current 71-day record in 1997.
'Orange', which was slowed in its crossing of the sub-Antarctic Indian Ocean by poor weather (ANAN-69/04, 27 March 2002), was able to gradually increase speed as conditions became more favourable for a fast passage as she headed east to the south of Australia during the first few days of April. The craft reached the longitude of Cape Leeuwin, Australia's south-western point on 1 April; 29 days 07 hours and 22 seconds after crossing the start line, a time that bettered, by nearly nine hours, the existing record for that leg set by 'Enza' in 1994.
At that stage the catamaran was making over 700 km a day, even though it had a delamination problem with a part of the aft beam fairing, and two inside bulkheads had been cracked by the "violent slamming of the waves". Orange's skipper Bruno Peyron said at the time that those "little problems could have had more serious consequences". While repairs were eventually made the crew has been monitoring both those areas on a regular basis since that time.
Orange's course to the east took just to the north of sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island on 4 April, a longitude that marked the half-way point of the world-circling journey. The International Date Line at longitude 180 degrees was passed on 6 April. While a far southern route offers the yacht the shortest distance to Cape Horn, the route chosen by Peyron has kept 'Orange' close to latitude 54 degrees south. This is due to reports received from the Bark 'Endeavour' of a sighting of icebergs in latitude 55degrees in mid-Pacific waters in late March, and reports of growlers and icebergs in the same longitudes in February by the fleet of the Volvo Ocean Race (ANAN-66/05, 13 February 2002).
On 9 April 'Orange' was 3,300 km west of Cape Horn. At the same time, 'Endeavour', which was hit by a severe storm last week-end and was driven north-eastwards, was some 700 km to the north-west of the Cape.
'Endeavour' passed the half way mark on her voyage from Bluff, New Zealand, to Cape Horn on 25 March, at one point setting a new 24-hour speed record for the vessel of 8.01 knots (ANAN-69/04, 27 March 2002). During the first half of that journey, wind conditions were, on several occasions, so light that the vessel's engines had to be started several times to maintain progress, and the opportunity was therefore taken on two occasions to launch the ship's rescue boat for training and filming purposes.
The first iceberg of the voyage was sighted on 21 March and snow fell early the next day. Four more icebergs, one measured at 700 m long and 140 m high, were sighted over the next few days, the sightings being passed to Jules Verne contender 'Orange' via ANAN. At about that time what was described as a "huge fish" was snared on a line trailed from the vessel for that purpose and it proved good eating, however, several days later "an albatross" became hooked on the same line and despite attempts by the crew to save it the bird died.
'Endeavour' reached its southern-most latitude of 56 degrees south on 2 April. While the first half of the crossing was made in relatively good conditions, it has had a rougher time over the last week. First, an unusual easterly wind which peaked at 62 knots caused the vessel to hove to for a few hours at one stage to await better conditions, then a few days later southerly winds close to 60 knots pushed her northwards, and she rolled "violently" in the severe conditions.
If she is able to maintain her present rate of progress 'Endeavour' may, along with 'Orange', pass Cape Horn during the coming weekend and could arrive at Stanley in the Falkland Islands just after mid-April, several weeks later than originally planned.
Meanwhile, Australian company Ocean Frontiers' yacht 'Arctos', which had planned to visit sub-Antarctic Kerguelen Island in early April, has cancelled those plans and is now headed for Hobart, Australia, where it will end its circumnavigation of Antarctica. A report on Ocean Frontier's web site says that the decision not to stop at Kerguelen was taken at a "crew meeting" as those on board were "too eager to get home". The yacht did, however, get within a few kilometres of the island on 8 April, but the crew could only just make out its outline due to driving rain and winds which reached 60 knots at times.
A last minute decision by two of the runners in US tour company Adventure Network International's (ANI) 'South Pole Marathon' late last January to only attempt the half marathon distance, was a key factor in allowing the full race to proceed after several weeks of weather-related delays. Details of the race and interesting insights into the event from the point of view of its winner, Irishman Richard Donovan, in an article written for the Antarctic on-line news service '70 South' last week.
The inaugural plateau marathon was scheduled to take place on 8 January, but a long period of bad weather meant that the five runners involved could not be flown to the field camp near the start line 42 km from the Pole until 18 January (ANAN-64/04, 16 January 2002). There they spent several days acclimatising to the 3,000 m elevation and the race finally got under way in "relatively bright and pleasant" conditions on 21 January South Geographic Pole (SGP) time.
Just three kilometres into that run, however, whiteout developed and the three motor toboggans being used to monitor the runners and provide them with water and other aids, ferried them back to the field camp. Donovan says in his article that despite this set back the aborted race provide competitors and support personnel with "useful lessons", although at the time there was "widespread concern that the event might never be run" for the summer season on the high plateau was drawing to a close.
Alternative scenarios that would enable the race to be conducted safely were "earnestly discussed" that evening. According to Donovan, the original plan called for the Basler/DC3 support aircraft to fly from the start line to the race's half-way point to act as a mobile field camp in case one of the runners should experience "serious difficulties". One of the problems with that approach though was that weather conditions had to be 'close to ideal' in order that the aircraft could land at what would have been an unmarked site 21 km from the SGP. At the Pole itself station buildings and other markers meant that the landing could be made in less favourable conditions.
At that point, two of the runners, Ute Gruner of Germany and Don Kern from the US, made what Donovan says was an "extremely generous gesture". As they felt they were likely to run the 42-km race at a slower pace than the other three competitors, they opted for a half-marathon along an "out and back" course from the SGP itself , thus improving the chances of the full marathon being run in the likely time available.
That decision meant that the DC3 could now fly directly to the SGP from the start line, leaving two motor toboggans to monitor and support the three remaining runners (Donovan, Dean Karnazes [US] and Brent Weigner [US]), as they ran towards the Pole. As only two toboggans now remained to support the three, ANI's race organisers decided that "if one of the athletes had to abandon the race, whether through injury or through being a victim of the conditions", the race would have to be halted as there "would [then] not be enough [safety] cover for the [other two] athletes".
Another key concern according to Donovan was that runners could be strewn along the course "with large gaps between them", a scenario he says "would be a support and safety quagmire in what is a very volatile and changeable [weather] environment". As a result, it was agreed that the race would be run "expedition style" over most of the course, the three runners staying close to each other until they broke into a competitive sprint a few kilometres from the finish.
Given the now tighter support limits, Donovan says that he decided to run with snow-shoes as he had a slightly injured knee and wanted to reduce the chance "of falling victim to a 'surprise' deep patch of snow", injuring himself, and thus ending the race for both himself, Karnazes and Weigner. Medical advice provided at the time was that Donovan's injury was such that he had only "a 50 per cent chance of completing a regular marathon [under normal] road conditions". Brent Weigner also chose to use snow-shoes but Dean Karnazes did not.
On 21 January, the day began with the sun blocked from view, the wind chill equivalent temperatures was -50 °C and there was a headwind of 7-10 knots for the runners. The "only option" in the circumstances was for the motor toboggans to cover the entire 42 km of the race, therefore the DC3 flew directly to the SGP with Gruner and Kern for the half marathon and to prepare for the arrival of the three full marathon runners at the finish line.
Donovan claims that plans to run 'expedition style' were quickly forgotten when "the competitive instinct took over", Karnazes starting early and establishing a "very considerable" lead before the other two had started. At first he gradually increased his lead, but Donovan resolved "to run conservatively and [to stick] to [his] twenty minute per mile plan [that he believed] would reap dividends over the longer term" on the race. He says that "the cold and altitude were simply not conducive to faster running" as that would have increased the "possibility of hitting the wall early and being unable to continue", thus bringing the entire event to an end. Brent Weigner appears to have made a similar choice to conserve his energy in those early stages, running close to Donovan during that time.
After a while, Karnazes started to slow and Donovan eventually caught him at the 10-km mark just as the course entered an area of difficult sastrugi. The sastrugi lasted from there to the 21-km, or half-way, mark of the race and by then Donovan led his two rivals by over a kilometre. From then on he continued to widen his lead, for by this time Karnazes had slowed even more and he and Weigner were running together at the former's request.
Thirty kilometres into the race, and 12 km from the finish, Donovan was leading by over 3 km, and with the weather clearing to a sunny day he felt that it "would be impossible for [him] to be caught unless some kind of disaster struck".
With 5 km to go, however, he lost his way for a short time, for no route markers, which had been set up every 200 m along the course, could be seen and "light fog" obscured his view of the Amundsen-Scott station. After waiting for five minutes in the hope that he would either sight a flag or that a toboggan would arrive, he decided to follow some toboggans tracks, but a few hundred metres further on it "became obvious" that he was heading in the wrong direction. He then "luckily" caught a glimpse of a flag, and although it was not a route marker for the race, it eventually led him in the right direction.
On crossing the finish line, Donovan's hip seized, he was "shaking uncontrollably", and he said that he "succumbed to hypothermia". His toes were frost bitten, the tips of his fingers were numb, and he had a "mild dose of snow blindness as a result of neglecting to wear [his] goggles throughout the race". He was given some food and hot drinks straight away, and was later put on an intra-venous drip and given a "few litres" of fluid to make up for the fluid that he had lost during his nine-hour run.
Despite all this, he was in good enough condition soon after to run another 3 km to complete the 45-km ultra-marathon distance ten minutes after Weigner. However, Donovan's web site says that he had to miss a planned run in the New Zealand 160-km Championship on 16 February, three-and-a-half weeks after the SGP event, as circulation had still not returned to his toes.
Donovan says that he wore three layers of clothing for the race. What he described as "a thin silk-type layer" that was designed to absorb perspiration was worn closest to his body. The middle (second) layer was a thicker fleece and the outer (third) layer a windproof shell complete with ventilation zips. On his head he wore a balaclava and mask in order to protect his face, ears and nose from frostbite and windburn.
Three kilometres into the race his upper body temperature was "comfortable" but heating forced him to stop and remove the middle layer of thermals from his leg, but by then his fingers had already begun to numb at the tips. He lifted his goggles on to his forehead and removed the facemask so that he could see and breathe more easily and lowered the balaclava's right side in order to more easily place carbohydrate jellies into his mouth. This eventually led to the exposed side of his face becoming iced up and his nose hurt from windburn. As he neared the finish line he took off the balaclava to run what he thought was the last 100m, but he misjudged the distance and actually had 400 m to go; as a result his left ear got frost nip.
According to Donovan the running surface for three-quarters of the 42-km course consisted of snow compacted to a depth of around10 cm, the remainder being a field of sastrugi near the half-way mark.
Late last week Donovan, who says that he hopes to be the first person ever to run seven ultra marathons on seven continents in the same calendar year, ran the first marathon at the North Geographic Pole. Details are available at: http://www.sevencontinents.ie/.
Full details of Donovan's experiences in competing in what was the first full-length marathon on the high plateau of Antarctica are available on line at: http://www.70south.com/resources/expeditions/southpolemarathon/rdonovan.
The '70 South' web site is interactive and up-dated daily with the latest news and information on Antarctic and related issues and can be accessed at: http://www.70south.com/.
Three European-based adventurers are proposing to travel to sub-Antarctic Heard Island later this year to climb, ski and snowboard down the island's 2,745-m ice-covered peak and photograph and "explore" the area.
The three men involved, who operate under the name 'Pure Adventure', are Stian Hagen, an alpine skier and mountaineer from Norway, Xandi Kruezeder, a German mountaineer and photojournalist, and Todd Mason, a snowboarder and mountaineer from Australia. The three men are planning to make a documentary film of their proposed expedition and to publish articles and photographs via a wide range of media outlets.
According to their web site, the trio are planning to leave Fremantle in southwestern Australia on a yacht next August and complete the expedition "in a total of one month". Given the distance involved and the time of year such a timetable is considered ambitious by those who know the island. Due to the prevailing winds, yachts can take up to three weeks to reach the island from Fremantle, and weather conditions on the island late in the austral winter and early spring are frequently very bad.
Another challenge for the trio could be to find a suitable, affordable yacht for the venture. No details of the yacht to be used have yet been announced and Australian group 'Beyond Expeditions', which has been trying to organise a climbing expedition to Heard over the last two years, has twice postponed its attempt because it was unable to find such a craft in the Australasian region (ANAN-60/11, 21 November 2001).
If it goes ahead, the Heard Island visit will be the third Hagen, Kruezeder and Mason have conducted together under the 'Pure Adventure' banner. Two years ago they free-climbed 6,368-m Illampu in Bolivia, then descended the hard ice of the north face, whose pitch varies between 40 and 70 degrees, by snowboard and alpine skies. Last year the trio climbed and skied down 2,277-m high Beerenberg, the highest point on the island of Jan Mayen in the north Atlantic. Beerenberg is an ice-covered volcanic peak very similar in nature to Heard Island. Transport to and from Jan Mayen was provided by a 13-m yacht, the one-way journey taking just under a week.
The summit of Heard Island was last reached by a four-person climbing group in January 2000 (ANAN-14/01, 2 February 2000). The first ascent was made in 1965 by members of the South Indian Ocean Expedition along a ridge in the southeast of the island and the second by climbers from the yacht 'Anaconda' who ascended via Long Ridge in the northeast in 1983 (ANAN-4/03, 15 September 1999).
Heard Island is an Australian possession and activity there is governed by a management plan and entry to the area requires a permit. Climbing and other adventure pursuits on the island are permitted, but they and all other activities carried out on the island are subject to environmental impact and other assessments.
Further information about Pure Adventure's Heard Island plans and the men's previous expeditions and experience is available on line at: http://www.pure-adventure.com/.
Five women from Australia, who are calling themselves the 'Ice Maidens', are planning an unsupported trek along the now relatively well-trodden route from the Patriot Hills, Ellsworth Land, to the South Geographic Pole (SGP) in 2003-04. The women say that their inspiration for the venture partly came from 'South Pole 2000', a book about five UK women who completed a similar journey to the SGP from Hercules Inlet in Ellsworth Land in January 2000 (ANAN-26/05, 19 July 2000).
The 'Ice Maidens', who describe themselves as "ordinary working women in their forties with families", are Michele Bloomcamp, Julie Boros, Lynne Dore, Sandra Floate and Jane Yeadon. All except Yeadon, who is from New Zealand, are Australians.
Jane Yeadon told ANAN last week that planning for the traverse is in its "embryonic" stage and that she and her colleagues are currently "looking for sponsors, talking to people, fact finding, examining requirements, and getting fit". The group meets every two weeks to discuss and plan arrangements for the journey, and one weekend a month has been set aside for what the five call "serious training".
Australian adventurers Peter Bland (ANAN-67/09, 27 February 2002) and Yvonne and Jim Claypole (ANAN-46/08, 9 May 2001), who have all conducted their own ventures in coastal parts of Antarctica, have been contacted by the five. Yeadon says that all three have "been extremely supportive and have agreed to act [as the] group's mentors and help where they can".
The five women are planning to leave the Patriot Hills in mid-November next year, arrival at the Pole being anticipated early the following January. They plan to contract US-based company Adventure Network International (ANI) to fly them to and from Antarctica and provide search and rescue cover during their journey. They estimate that their venture could cost around $US500,000 in total, most of the monies involved going towards ANI support.
The group do not yet have a web site but they can be contacted via e-mail at: icemaidens@ozemail.com.au.
A comprehensive new web site that aims to bring together information on the sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia, and further raise awareness of the need to manage it in an environmentally sensitive way, went on line on 2 April.
The near 100-page site contains South Georgia's current management plan and provides details of its wildlife, natural and human history, geography, fishing and tourism. It also has a searchable 'photo gallery' that includes previously unpublished photographs taken by Frank Hurley, Shackleton's photographer; a 'news' page that is designed to provide details of on-going activity on and around the island; and a map that provides access to 360-degree panoramic landscapes of selected sites to be viewed.
Environmental challenges such as rodents, illegal fishing and global warming are also detailed, and a 'discussion board' is available so that visitors can ask questions and express their views. The site can be used as an educational resource for students studying environmental sciences and has interactive features that include down-loadable games for children, a quiz, puzzles, and a demonstration of the formation of lenticular clouds over the island.
The new site has been developed by researchers at the University of Dundee in the UK as 'Project Atlantis'. Support for the project to date has come from the UK government, the Government of South Georgia and South Sandwich Islands (GSGSSI), and the University itself.
Project Atlantis' director is David Nicholls, a mountaineer, who first visited the island in 1999 when he was serving in the South Atlantic with the UK Defence Forces, but who is now working as a management consultant. Artistic direction is provided by Elaine Shemilt, a senior lecturer in the School of Fine Art at the University, while Steve Ellis, who has designed and built a number of high-profile web sites in the UK, is the graphic designer.
Nicholls, Shemilt and Ellis say that they expect potential visitors to the site to include "research scientists, explorers, adventurers, media representatives, environmentalists, conservationists, artists, tourists, ex-whalers, yacht crews, contractors, military personnel, government representatives, the communications industry, the education sector and bodies like the South Georgia Association (ANAN-62/11, 19 December 2001)".
The site is to be managed and up-dated on an on-going basis by its three creators, funding for that work coming from the GSGSSI. It is anticipated that it will be three years before the site needs a major overhaul to keeps it up to date with ongoing environmental management strategies and developments in information technology. Feedback on the site is welcome so that it can be constantly improved and developed (e-mail contact: comments@sgisland.org).
The new South Georgia site is available at: http://www.sgisland.org.
This week the US cable television channel Outdoor Life Network (OLN) is to screen a film on a tourist's visit to the Antarctic Peninsula region on the tour ship 'Explorer'. Titled 'A Voyage to the Final Frontier', the 47-minute program is hosted by Alicia Calaway a contestant on the high-rating US television program 'Survivor: The Australian Outback' that screened last year.
Calaway travelled south on US company Abercrombie and Kent's vessel in the first half of December last year. The film starts in her apartment in New York and follows her from there through an 11-day 'Explorer' voyage that departed from Stanley in the Falkland Islands, visited areas in the West Falklands, spent four days in the South Shetlands and north-western parts of the Antarctic Peninsula, and ended in Ushuaia, Argentina.
OLN says in its publicity material for the program that Alicia "survived a lot of unusual things during her stint on 'Survivor II', however, nothing could prepare her for Antarctica". ANAN has been told by a source who knows 'Explorer' well and who has seen the program, that it is "upbeat and lively" and provides a "pretty accurate" impression of life on board the ship to the Peninsula region. The film provides basic details of Antarctica as well as interviews conducted with the ship's staff, crew, and passengers.
The program is scheduled to go to air in the US at 9 p.m. Eastern Time and 9 p.m. Pacific Time on 10 April. No plans for the film to be shown elsewhere in the world have yet been announced.
DOCUMENTARY ON KAYAKING VENTURE RELEASED, BOOK IN PREPARATION
[ANAN-70/09]
A documentary on the 700-km, self-supported kayaking journey conducted along the western side of the Antarctic Peninsula by three New Zealanders early last year went to air recently on the Outdoor Life (cable) Network (OLN) in the United States. Titled 'Colder than Ice', the 45-minute film is expected to be shown elsewhere in the world during the next few months. A book on the five-week venture is scheduled to be published later this year.
'Adventure Philosophy' kayakers Graham Charles, Marcus Waters and Mark Jones paddled from Hope Bay at the northern end of the Antarctic Peninsula to Adelaide Island in the south over a five-week period in January-February 2001 (ANAN-42/03, 28 February 2001). While kayakers have been visiting Peninsula waters for over ten years, the men's journey is by far the longest unsupported trip yet made via that mode of transport in the Antarctic region.
"Colder Than Ice' was filmed by the kayakers during their trip. Additional footage was shot by a professional film crew who travelled south on the yacht 'Tooluka' to pick up the adventurers after they had reached Adelaide Island. Following its premiere on OLN, the film is expected to be shown on television in other parts of the world later this year, as well as at a number of adventure film festivals, although no details are currently available about just where and when it is to be screened.
Video copies of the film (in NTSC format only), which was directed by New Zealander James Heyward, can be obtained for $US20 plus postage from American Adventure Productions at: http://www.adventurevideos.com/ or via e-mail at: info@adventurevideos.com.
In addition to the film, a book on the kayaking feat is also being prepared. Titled 'The Frozen Coast', the full-colour book is due to be released by Craig Potton Publishing of Nelson, New Zealand (http://www.craigpotton.co.nz/), in July this year. They are hoping that the book, which is expected to feature many photographs, will be published in conjunction with a US company in order that it can be released on the North American market. The cost of the book is unknown at this time.
CUMULATIVE IMPACTS WORK SHOP REPORT AVAILABLE ON LINE
[ANAN-70/10]
The report on the proceedings of the June 2000 workshop that looked at ways in which the possible cumulative impacts of tourist visits to sites in the Antarctic Peninsula region might be identified, is now available on the web and can be down loaded online.
The workshop, which was held in the United States and was organised by that government's National Science Foundation (NSF) and Environmental Protection Agency, together with the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators (IAATO), brought together scientists and others from a number of nations who had first -hand knowledge of tourist operations and the physical and biological features of sites commonly visited by tourists in the Peninsula region (ANAN-23/01, 7 June 2000).
Those taking part included: researchers in the field of wildlife ecology, disease transfer, terrestrial biology, and environmental chemistry; representatives from environmental groups; members of the tourism industry; and personnel from government agencies who work in such areas as environmental management, research program development and coordination, and policy formulation.
During the three-day workshop the difficulties of identifying tourist-induced impacts against the background of natural environmental change, and the need to coordinate any future monitoring of tourist sites with existing national and international data collection programs, were emphasised.
While the time available and complexities of the issues involved meant that outcomes from the meeting were, of necessity, limited, suggestions contained in the workshop report include: basic measures that might be taken to avoid or minimise impacts; ways in which sites might be monitored; that site-specific guidelines and codes of conduct be developed for activities such as scuba diving, whaling watching and other programs that currently have none; and that basic qualification standards for deck officers, expedition leaders, naturalists and observers be introduced.
IAATO tabled a copy of the executive summary from the report, whose title is 'Assessment of the Possible Cumulative Environmental Impacts of Commercial Ship-Based Tourism in the Antarctic Peninsula Area', as an Information Paper at last September's Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting. The report recommends that an "independent steering group" made up of appropriate experts should be established to further examine the issues involved and provides examples of the type of work such a body might tackle. No plans to follow-up on that suggestion are known at this time, however.
The full copy of the report can be obtained from the NSF's site at: http://www.nsf.gov/cgi-bin/getpub?nsf02201.
'CLIPPER ADVENTURER' AGROUND IN GUYANA, QUICKLY REFLOATED
[ANAN-70/11]
The tourist ship 'Clipper Adventurer', which spends several months each year in Antarctic Peninsula waters, ran aground on a sand-bank in Guyana's Essequibo River on 26 March. The ship, which was under a local pilot at the time of the incident, was refloated on the high tide the following day with the help of three tugs provided by the Guyanese Government. The ship's operators, Clipper Cruise Line of the US, told ANAN last week that there was no damage to the vessel, all passengers were safe, and that its on-going schedule will not be affected.
COMING EVENTS RELEVANT TO NON-GOVERNMENT ACTIVITIES
[ANAN-70/12]
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 2002
29-30 April (Aspen, United States)
IAATO intersessional meeting on Antarctic tourism (see ANAN-69/01, 27 March 2002)
Contact: iaato@iaato.org (Denise Landau)(invitation required).
1-5 July (Cambridge, U.K.)
IAATO year 2002 annual meeting.
Contact: iaato@iaato.org (Denise Landau)(invitation required).
15-19 July (Shanghai, China)
COMNAP XIV (including the sub-committee on Tourism and Non-Government Operations).
Contact: jsayers@comnap.aq (Jack Sayers).
15-26 July (Shanghai, China).
XXVII SCAR (Scientific Committee for Antarctic Research).
10-20 September (Warsaw, Poland)
Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting XXV
YEAR 2003
4-11 January (South Geographic Pole)
High Plateau Marathon (ANAN-65/02, 30 January 2002).
Contact: general@adventure-network.com
3 March (King George Island, Antarctica)
Sixth Antarctic Marathon and Half Marathon (ANAN-68/09, 13 March 2002).
Contact: marathon@shore.net (Thom Gilligan).
July [Dates to be set] (Seattle, United States).
IAATO year 2003 annual meeting.
Contact: iaato@iaato.org (Denise Landau)(invitation required).
24 November (Queen Mary and Dronning Maud Land regions).
Total solar eclipse (See ANAN-61/09, 5 December 2001).
Next edition issued on Wednesday, 24 April 2002 @ 0600 UTC.
Deadline for items: Sunday, 21 Month 2002 @ 2359 UTC.
ANTARCTIC NON-GOVERNMENT ACTIVITY NEWS (ANAN)
IN READING PLEASE NOTE: This newsletter is produced in the interest of improved information sharing in the Antarctic and sub-Antarctic community. Inclusion of information in it should not be taken to imply endorsement, by the publishers of ANAN News, of any company, program or associated activity that is listed, nor that the activity has necessarily completed all environmental impact assessments required under the legislation of the 'home' nation concerned.
Links provided in ANAN stories are working at the time of first publication.
AVAILABLE ON LINE TWENTY-FOUR HOURS A DAY:
ANAN archive (including this issue with its built in links):
http://www.antdiv.gov.au/goingsouth/tourism/News/default.asp
Coming events related to non-governmental activity:
http://www.antdiv.gov.au/goingsouth/tourism/Research/BibConf/Confer/default.asp
Links to tourist industry web sites:
http://www.antdiv.gov.au/goingsouth/tourism/Industry/default.asp
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: +61-3-6232-3357.
RESEARCH/WRITING: Martin Betts (Martin.Betts@aad.gov.au)
TELEPHONE/FACSIMILE: +61-3-6267-4790 (2200-1100 UTC).
FACSIMILE: +61-3-6232-3500.
© Commonwealth of Australia 2002
All images, text and downloadable files in ANAN are copyright ©Commonwealth of Australia 2002 or respective authors where indicated. You may down load, display, print and reproduce this material in unaltered form only (retaining this notice) for your personal, non-commercial use or use within your organisation. Source credit must be given as follows: © 2002 Australian Antarctic Division, Kingston Tasmania 7050
Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, all other rights are reserved.
Requests for further authorisation should be directed to:
The Editor, ANAN
Antarctic Treaty and Government Section
Australian Antarctic Division
KINGSTON TAS 7050
AUSTRALIA
or by email to tourism@aad.gov.au