DUBLIN, IRELAND (Team Geared Up) - Well Lewis Gordon Pugh is the guy who has been swimming in the North and South Pole waters before so at least he’ll be used to the cold. He plans to kayak for 10 hours a day in which he hopes he will cover 100km a day. When he reaches the most Northerly point possible he plans to raise the flags of 192 nations to show that everyone has an effect on the melting ice caps. Check out his own personal website here and the expedition website to keep up to date with latest news.

Lewis on his Website:

On the 27 August I will attempt to become the first person to kayak all the way to the North Pole. I will start on the Island of Svalbard (just north of Norway) and paddle 1,200km across the Arctic Ocean, into the ice packs, and along cracks in the ice, till I get to the North Pole.

I am undertaking this expedition to show the dramatic loss of sea ice in the Arctic Ocean.  It shouldn’t be possible to kayak all the way to the North Pole.  It should be frozen over.  But a number of scientists are predicting that this year will be the first year the North Pole will be ice-free.  I hope they are wrong, and I do not get all the way there!

-Eoinod-

What’s involved in the race:

In December 2008 international teams will race over 400 miles to the Geographic South Pole. Almost 100 years after Scott and Amundsens historic race, in the Amundsen Omega 3 South Pole Race of the new century teams of 3 will ski pulling 200lb pulks over the same route, with the same equipment, starting from the same start line.

-Aisling-

Image and qoute from SimplyDecide.
Earlier TGU story here.

CHICAGO, UNITED STATES (Team Geared Up) - We’ve talked about it for over a year. It was time to just get it moving! In this first episode of the Team Geared Up Podcast I talk with 22 year old Julie McElroy about her trip to the Andes with the BBC documentary Beyond Boundaries (great article in the Times last month).

The series follows a team of physically disabled adventurers as they take on some of the toughest expeditions on the Planet under the guidance of EX SAS Major Ken Hames.

10 physically disabled teenagers cross the Andes, one of the highest mountain ranges in the world. Over a period of four weeks and 400km, these young people will have to fight their way from the edge of the Amazon Basin, climb to over 5000m to reach the snowline on Cotopaxi, the highest active volcano in the world, and then descend to sea level, wading through miles of swamp before reaching the Pacific Ocean.

Julie’s achievements are huge. She motivates people all over the world to overcome their troubles and achieve things for themselves.

Episode 1 - Show Notes
00:00 Julie talks about the Beyond Boundaries trip
01:30 Weather in the Amazon
02:35 A typical day was 8km pushing a wheelchair
03:36 What strengths did different people have?
05:28 Julie continued work with the BBC
06:30 What piece of gear did Julie miss most?
08:32 How did locals react to the Beyond Boundaries group passing through?
09:36 What’s the next challenge?

Click play below, listen to the show in iTunes, or download here.

Julie is looking for her next challenge. Please leave suggestions in the comments :-)

Make sure to subscribe to future episodes in the TGU Podcast in iTunes (or directly).

-Robin

DUBLIN, IRELAND (Team Geared Up) - The Kazakh climber Maxut climbed his 12th 8000er today. He topped out on Manaslu at 10am their time. I also forgot to comment on Ueli Steck and his first ascent of the Northface of Tengkampoche with Simon Anthamatten in Alpine style. They are using this as a ‘warm up’ for their attempt on Annapurna’s Southface. I will try and keep you updated with news as i hear it.

After calling his wife, Olga, from the summit she reported:

“Not surprisingly, Max had been breaking trail and arrived to the summit alone. Other climbers are still going up, quite slowly but steadily.”

-Eoinod-

DUBLIN, IRELAND(Team Geared Up) The first climber from the South side of everest has been sent packing after authorities found a Tibetan flag on the man. The banner was found on the man at B.C. Earlier this week Nepalese soldiers had been given the authorization that they are allowed to shoot protesters on Everest. It is certainly going to be an ‘memorable’ season to be on Everest.

From MountEverest.net:

The mountaineer has been footed from the peak after police found a Tibetan flag on him. The American reportedly joined permit with the Everest ECO expedition, led by Dawa Sherpa whose dad Ang Tshering owns the popular climbing agency Asian Trekking. The American climber has not been named and is probably just sharing the team’s Everest climbing permit.

It’s not clear if he flew it or if he was searched for it. The officials immediately told the mountaineer to pack up and currently enroute back to Kathmandu; to many this American is coming home a hero.

-Eoinod-

SINGAPORE (Team Geared Up) - Antarctic explorers Robert Falcon Scott and Ernest Shackleton left them here in their way to the South Pole, at the beginning of the last century. I’ve read Scott’s biography (twice, in two different forms) and it is truly amazing that these physical objects are still there since the 1900’s when they left them to return the following year - neither did.

The shelves are still stocked with tins of cabbage, veal or onions. All these objects have been preserved by cold for the last 100 years. This is when ice is you friend!

Unbelievable! You can see lots of photos and some commentary on this blog. Very well worth a visit.

To make this post a double bonus - here’s a picture I’ve been looking to post for some time now, but didn’t merit its own post. This is what Antarctica will look like when we have come to the end of this iceage. This is what the landmass under the ice is actually like.

I wonder has that image taken into account of what height the sea levels will be at due to all the melting ice, or is it done based on our current median sea-level?

-Robin.

(Image Credits: Unknown original sources.)

SINGAPORE (Team Geared Up) - Spotted on GO Blog, here’s a movie I will be queuing up to see. Blindsight the documentary/movie follows the gripping adventure of six Tibetan teenagers on their journey to climb a mountain in the shadow of Everest.

Lhakpa-Ri peak, the goal of the expedition, is 23,000 feet high. The expedition leader is blind climber Erik Weihenmayer. On May 25, 2001, Erik became the first blind man in history to reach the summit of Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak.

In 2002 I shared a pint with Erik’s climbing sherpa from that expedition in Kandersteg, Switzerland. He was on a hut exchange where he ran a swiss alpine hut for a summer while a swiss guide helped out in a Nepalese one. I can’t remember his name, but I swooned in awe when I saw his Everest Summiteers Association membership card. Not only had he helped Erik place his hands & feet up the Hillary step, but he had also carried the IMAX camera to the summit on his back during ‘Everest’ movie (and was wearing the cap to prove it in the bar!).

Watch the Blindsight trailer:

There’s a nice line in there by an American:

The difference between westerners and easterners, we want to stand on top… it’s just ingrained in our make up.

Eastern response:

Get one person to the summit and everyone succeeds.

Very true of the east from my experiences.

Nice… see you there with the popcorn.

www.blindsightthemovie.com

-Robin.

DUBLIN, IRELAND (Geared Up Blog)- This years mens race was won by Korean Byeung Sik Ahn in a time of 4:02:37 and Cathrine Due of Denmark won the womens race in a time of 5:37:14. Congeratulations to both Peter Ferris and Wayne Pollock from Ireland you finished the tough course in 6:12:05 and 7:10:22 respectively. I’ve heard of people doing their training in industrial size freezers for these cold marathons. I wonder did any companies in Ireland let Peter or Wayne use theirs?

The men’s race was a close event over the initial stages before Ahn’s persistent pressure on the frozen ice floes finally began to reap dividends. He developed a widening gap over his opponents during the second half of the race and crossed the line in a winning time of 4:02:37. Meanwhile, the Lithuanian Ignas Staskevicius overhauled Charles Sanders of Great Britain for second position. Ahn will receive a special Kobold expedition watch for being the outright winner.

Cathrine Due and Margit Andersen, the two Danes in the women’s event, battled thoughout. However, Due proved the stronger in the latter stages to take the women’s title. Kirsty Devonport of Great Britain was third.

Results Below courtesy of www.npmarathon.com

Mens Race
Name Time
1. Byeung Sik Ahn (Korea) 4:02:37 Bib No. 1
2. Ignas Staskevicius (Lithuania) 4:19:05 Bib No. 25
3. Charles Sanders (Great Britain) 4:21:27 Bib No. 23
4. Jurgen Heilbock (Germany) 4:50:01 Bib No. 17
5. Hans-Wilhelm Hamke (Germany) 5:21:07 Bib No. 14
6. Craig Davis (Australia) 5:47:50 Bib No. 8
7. Darius Jurgaitis (Lithuania) 5:54:18 Bib No. 19
8. Peter Ferris (Ireland) 6:12:05 Bib No. 12
9. Steve Bicknell (Great Britain) 6:27:10 Bib No. 6
10. Christer Klingspor (Sweden) 7:01:10 Bib No. 20
11. Wayne Pollock (Ireland) 7:10:22 Bib No.27
12. Hans-Jacob Berntsen (Norway) 7:22:08 Bib No. 5
Womens Race
Name Time
1. Cathrine Due (Denmark) 5:37:14 Bib No. 11
2. Margit Andersen (Denmark) 5:53:10 Bib No. 3
3. Kirsty Devonport(Great Britain) 6:12:05 Bib No. 9
4. Alison Gill (Great Britain) 6:44:08 Bib No. 13
5. Marie-Hamren Larsson (Sweden) 7:04:32 Bib No. 16

-Eoinod-

DUBLIN, IRELAND (Geared Up Blog) It looks like the permanent permits for the South side of Everest have been issued for this year. However climbers will not be allowed move above camp 2 until the 1st of May and they will have to take a ‘rest’ at Base Camp between the 1-10th of May. This is due the fact China are trying to carry the Olympic torch to the summit between these dates. The question this year appears to be however will a ‘Free Tibet’ banner appear on the summit as has been rumoured? Below a picture of the gear the torch relay team will be wearing on summit day!

The Kazakh national team decided to abandon their attempt at a Lhotse-Everest traverse a while back but had said they may attempt just Lhotse. This is unlikely now with the mountain not effectively open until the of 10th of May.

-Eoinod-

Wayne Pollock is doing just that. His biog on the site goes like this:

A former Ireland U-21 rugby international but first time marathon runner. Wayne will follow up on his debut at the North Pole Marathon by attempting the Antarctic Ice Marathon & 100k later in the year. Aged 42, Wayne works in the travel business and lives in Coleraine, Northern Ireland. Together with his running colleague, Peter Ferris, Wayne hopes to raise €150k for cancer charities in the process. He has also set a longer term goal of running 100 marathons on all of the continents.

Peter Ferris has run almost 300 marathons according to the site. If they complete it they’ll join a list of superheroes who’ve done it before including Sir Ranulph Fiennes, Everest summiteer and previous winner Sean Burch and Irish novelist Michael Collins. The fun starts next week, 26th March and there are strong Irish connections with race director Richard Donovan and last year’s winner Thomas Maguire.

-Aisling-