the explorers journal - The Explorers Club

the
e x p lor e r s
j o u r n a l
EST. 1921
risk
fall 2009
YVON CHOUINARD
on craft, the environment, and fly-fishing at $100 an inch
John Ge ige r
on risk and the human mind
Apa Sherpa, pete athans, Peter Hillary,
Ken Kamler, Scott Parazynski, & Jim Williams
on the risk and reward of Everest
vol. 87 no.3 I $8.00 I www.explorers.org I

the explorers journal
fall 2009
cover: to the summit of Everest
One step at a time. Photograph by
Scott Parazynski.
risk
risk
features
On Risk
by John Geiger, p. 12
Bob Barth
on life at the bottom of the sea, by Kristin Romey, p. 15
Rich Wilson
bringing high seas adventure into the classroom, p. 18
Not a good day to die
by Stephanie Jutta Schwabe, p. 21
Art Mortvedt
on grizzlies, engine-outs, and what it means to
live the good life in the outback, p. 24
Yvon Chouinard
on craft, the environment, and fly-fishing at
$100 an inch, p. 30
R isk a nd Re wa r d
of Everest
in conversation with those who know the
mountain best, p. 34
the West Buttress of Denali. Photograph by Matt Yamamoto.
specials
regulars
Suicidal Birds
fear, destiny, and the human mind, by
Christopher Ondaatje, p. 48
president’s letter, p. 2
editor’s note, p. 4
exploration news, p. 8
extreme Medicine, p. 54
A Risky Road to Freedom
by Alan Nichols, p. 50
extreme cuisine, p. 56
reviews, p. 58
what were they thinking, p. 64

the explorers journal
Fall 2009
president’s letter
Exploring the rewards of risk
In this issue of The Explorers Journal we explore the topics of risk
and uncertainty from the explorer’s perspective. Although the
world has never been a certain place, uncertainty has become
a prominent mainstay of today’s environment, where we are experiencing
a multitude of rapidly and constantly shifting external
variables, interacting in novel ways, which have proven extremely
difficult to prophesy. Uncertainty pervades almost every aspect
of the way the world business, educational, and other realms
operate today. While such a volatile environment can, at times,
seem threatening, the change it brings can also present fleeting
windows of enormous opportunity. To steer clear of risk also
means shunning the myriad opportunities that risk engenders.
How do we best position ourselves to embrace the opportunities
that such unpredictable change allows
Embracing risk requires an understanding and acceptance of
the challenges that accompany working in an uncertain environment.
In order to take advantage of opportunities as they present
themselves, the explorer must be as prepared as possible.
To successfully ride out any hazards or peril, explorers must
possess a diverse array of talents, an open mindset, flexibility,
and the ability to adapt to new circumstances quickly. It is the
outstanding leaders who demonstrate their ability to master risk
and uncertainty almost as a matter of routine. Despite being
a difficult component to master, there are ways to adapt and
prevail, turning uncertainty into an advantage. The ability to
embrace risk and uncertainty and channel them into productive
actions is what leads to discovery and innovation. Although the
uncertainties of such endeavors might be high, the rewards are
potentially even greater, and the option of not doing anything,
precluding new discoveries, represents the highest risk of all.
galloping across the Tibet Plateau. Photograph by
Robert Roethenmund.
Lorie Karnath, President

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the explorers journal
Fall 2009
editor’s note
Risking it all for a better view
You cannot stay on the summit forever,
You have to come down again.
So why bother in the first place
Just this: what is above knows what is below,
But what is below does not know what is above.
One climbs, one sees. One descends.
One sees no longer, but one has seen.
—René Daumal
Some years ago, when we were pulling together an
editorial tribute to the late Barry Bishop, a member of
the first American expedition to summit Everest, his
son Brent sent us this poem by René Daumal. For him,
these few lines summed up the “why” in why we climb,
or, for that matter, engage in any endeavor that has a
chance of providing us with a better, fuller perspective
on the world we live in.
In addressing the subject of risk this issue, we found
it impossible to avoid discussing Everest, which, in
recent years, has attracted its share of media attention
for the deadly mishaps on the mountain—particularly
in 1996 and in 2006. In discussing the risks posed
by the world’s highest peak—first summited by our late
Honorary President Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing
Norgay in 1953—we have brought together six Everest
luminaries to share their stories and explain why, in
their opinion, the reward outweighs the risk. Their
enlightened discussion begins on page 34.
Beyond the Big E, we have looked in other risky
endeavors—sailing the high seas, living on the ocean
floor, and plying Arctic skies. We hope that in reading
this issue, you will find yourself amply rewarded.
Butter lamps burn in a Himalayan Monastery.
Photograph by Scott Parazynski.
Angela M.H. Schuster, Editor-in-Chief

letter to the editor
In “A Day at the Beach” (The Explorers Journal,
Summer 2009), the author mentions first
aid remedies for the box jellyfish of Australia
and Indo-Pacific areas. He
writes, “Vinegar should be
applied to prevent further
nematocyst discharge, but
pressure immobilization,
administration of box jellyfish
antivenin (obtained in
Australia), and immediate
evacuation are advised.”
To my knowledge, the
pressure immobilization
technique is no longer
recommended to prevent
absorption of box jellyfish
venom. Some experts have
questioned its efficacy and
further noted that large
skin surfaces cannot be effectively
bandaged. Others
have noted that application of pressure might
promote nematocyst discharge, which is believed
to be more harmful than foregoing the
attempt to devascularize the area immediately
below the bandage in order to theoretically
prevent distribution of venom into the general
circulation. Immobilizing (e.g., splinting)
the stung body part would not be harmful,
and might be helpful, but this is not proven.
Recently, the efficacy of box jellyfish antivenin
has been called into question, but there have
not yet been sufficient data and consensus
from experts to provoke a change in current
recommendations for its administration.
The continued controversy about management
of Indo-Pacific box jellyfish envenomation is
highlighted and appreciated in the letter from
Dr. Auerbach, a noted expert
in marine envenomation.
THE
E X P L O R E R S
JOURNAL
EST. 1921
destination moon
SUMMER 2009
BUZZ ALDRIN
BILL “EART HRISE” A NDE RS
P ETER DIAMANDIS
VOL. 87 NO.2 I $8.00 I WWW.E X P LORE RS.ORG I
While the issue about use of
the pressure-immobilization
technique may be evolving,
as noted in the updated
5th edition of Auerbach’s
text, the indexed medical
literature has only one report
that suggests that this
practice may be detrimental
(Seymour J., et al., “The use
of pressure immobilization
bandages in the first aid
management of cubozoan
envenomings,” Toxicon
40(10): 1503–5, 2002). In
Australia, where carybdeid
box jellyfish envenomation
is a problem, topical application of vinegar
remains the predominant first aid measure and
uncertainty exists about the use of pressureimmobilization
bandages (Barnett F.I., et
al., Rural Remote Health 5(3): 369, 2005).
Others also note that box jellyfish toxin is characterized
but remains unidentified (Tibballs
J., Toxicon 48(7): 830–59, 2006), current
antivenin is not likely effective (Ramasamy S.,
et al., Toxicon 41(6): 703–11, 2003), and that
there is a definitive need for uniform, evidencebased
guidelines for management (Barnett F.I.,
et al., Wilderness and Environmental Medicine
15(2): 102–8, 2004).
Paul S. Auerbach, M.D., FN’95
Editor, Wilderness Medicine
Author, Medicine for the Outdoors
Consultant, Divers Alert Network
Michael J. Manyak, M.D., FACS, MED’92,
Professor of Urology, Engineering,
Microbiology, and Tropical Medicine
Editor, Expedition and Wilderness Medicine
(2008).

the explorers journal
fall 2009
the explorers club
President
Lorie M.L. Karnath,
MBA, hon. Ph.D.
Board Of Directors
Officers
PATRONS & SPONSORS
Honorary President
Don Walsh, Ph.D.
Honor a ry Direc tors
Robert D. Ballard, Ph.D.
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Eugenie Clark, Ph.D.
Sylvia A. Earle, Ph.D.
James M. Fowler
Col. John H. Glenn Jr., USMC (Ret.)
Gilbert M. Grosvenor
Donald C. Johanson, Ph.D.
Richard E. Leakey, D.Sc.
Roland R. Puton
Johan Reinhard, Ph.D.
George B. Schaller, Ph.D.
Don Walsh, Ph.D.
CLASS OF 2010
Anne L. Doubilet
William S. Harte
Mark S. Kassner, CPA
Daniel A. Kobal, Ph.D.
R. Scott Winters, Ph.D.
CLASS OF 2011
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Jonathan M. Conrad
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Kristin Larson, Esq.
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CLASS OF 2012
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Lt.(N) Joseph G. Frey, C.D.
Gary “Doc” Hermalyn, Ed.D.
Lorie M.L. Karnath, MBA, hon. Ph.D.
William F. Vartorella, Ph.D., C.B.C.
Vice President, Chapters
Lt.(N) Joseph G. Frey, C.D.
Vice President, Membership
Daniel A. Kobal, Ph.D.
Vice President, Operations
Garrett R. Bowden
Vice President, Research & Education
Julianne M. Chase, Ph.D.
Treasurer
Mark S. Kassner, CPA
Assistant Treasurer
William S. Harte
Secretary
Robert M.T. Jutson, Jr.
Assistant Secretary
Kristin Larson, Esq.
Patrons Of Exploration
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Mr. & Mrs. Donald Segur
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Corporate Partner Of Exploration
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Corporate Supporter Of Exploration
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the explorers journal
EDITORS
President & publisher
Lorie M. L. Karnath,
MBA, hon. Ph.D.
Editor-in-Chief
Angela M.H. Schuster
Contributing Editors
Jeff Blumenfeld
Jim Clash
Michael J. Manyak, M.D., FACS
Milbry C. Polk
Kristin Romey
Carl G. Schuster
Nick Smith
Linda Frederick Yaffe
Copy Chief
Valerie Saint-Rossy
ART DEPARTMENT
Art Director
Jesse Alexander
Deus ex Machina
Steve Burnett
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SAVE
T H E
DATE
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Cipriani Wall Street, New York City
THE PRESIDENT, DIRECTORS AND
OFFICERS OF THE EXPLORERS
CLUB & ROLEX WATCH U.S.A.
Request the honor of your company at the 2009
Lowell Thomas Awards Dinner
On the Brink of Uncertainty, Exploring Risk:
A Survival Guide from the Field
Photo: David Jordan www.lavajunkie.com
2009 Lowell Thomas Award Recipients
Bob Barth, CWO, USN (ret), FN’96
Yvon Chouinard, MN’09
Kenneth M. Kamler, M.D., FR’84
Arthur D. Mortvedt, MN’84
James M. Williams, FN’93
Richard B. Wilson, MN’92
Master of Ceremonies: Miles O’Brien
Guest speakers include
Dennis N.T. Perkins, MBA, Ph.D, author of
Leading at the Edge, Leadership Lessons from Shackleton’s Antarctic Expedition
Also featuring The Calder Quartet and Andrew WK
performing a special composition for The Explorers Club
by Christine Southworth.
Should you risk not attending Avoid this and reserve early. Tickets go on sale June 1, 2009. Seating for the dinner is on a first-come, first served basis. Seating
requests require advance payment. For reservations, please visit www.explorers.org or contact The Explorers Club: 212-628-8383 or events@explorers.org

exploration news
edited by Jeff Blumenfeld, www.expeditionnews.com
Adventurer and aviator
Bertrand Piccard recently
unveiled the first prototype of
the Solar Impulse aircraft HB-
SIA at Dübendorf airfield just
outside Zürich. A later model—
the HB-SIB—will complete the
five-stage circumnavigation
in 2012. Using nearly 12,000
wing-mounted solar panels
and four electric engines,
power will be generated
and stored in accumulators
to allow the plane to fly in
darkness—a breakthrough in
aviation technology.
The prototype aircraft that
Piccard—along with fellow adventurer
André Borschberg—
will be night-flight testing is
one of the most remarkable
airplanes ever made. It has
8
Sol a r Impul se
Unveiled
Piccard’s sun-powered plane prepares for flight
the wingspan of an Airbus
340, but weighs less than a
medium-size car (1,600 kg).
According to aviation expert
Dan Tye of Pilot magazine,
“Nothing this big with such
low weight has been built
before.”
The project has attracted
several big name sponsors,
including chemical and
pharmaceutical multinational
Solvay, Deutsche Bank, and
watch manufacturer Omega,
who provided the cockpit
instrument panel, designed
by Claude Nicollier, a former
European Space Agency
(ESA) astronaut. Omega
also developed a simulation
and testing system for the
airplane’s propulsion chain.
For Piccard, the wider
implications of Solar Impulse
are symbolic. He sees solar
technology as a force for environmental
sustainability and
he’s busy spreading the word.
“We are convinced that a
pioneering spirit and political
vision can together change
society and put an end to fossil
fuel dependency,” he says.
Piccard and Borschberg have
already taken models of Solar
Impulse to China, India, and
the UAE. Along the way, the
explorers have been helped
by high-profile ambassadors,
including Prince Albert II of
Monaco, Buzz Aldrin, Yann
Arthus-Bertrand, Paulo
Coelho, and Al Gore. For information
about Solar Impulse
and to follow its progress, visit
www.solarimpulse.com.
—Nick Smith
K a t h m a n d u F i l m
Festival
documenting mountain environments
The seventh Kathmandu
International Mountain Film
Festival will be held in the
Himalayan city this December
10–14, 2009. The festival
will screen some of the most
recent and exciting films
about mountains, mountain
environments, and mountain
cultures and communities.
The KIMFF seeks to foster
a better understanding of
human experiences as well
as of the social and cultural
Photograph by Nick Smith.

ealities in the highlands of
the world. For information:
www.kimff.org.
E v e r e s t s e a s o n
highlights
new records on the roof of the world
Hahn hits record 11
Rainier Mountaineering, Inc.
(RMI) announced that on May
23, at 6:00 a.m. local time,
Dave Hahn and a RMI team of
climbers summited Everest, an
eleventh summit for the mountaineer
and the most ascents
by any non-Sherpa climber.
Joining Dave were two accomplished
RMI Guides, Melissa
Arnot and Seth Waterfall,
and cameraman Kent Harvey.
Another RMI Everest team,
led by Peter Whittaker and
EXPLORATION NEWS
which included Ed Viesturs,
Gerry Moffatt, Jake Norton,
and John Griber, summited on
May 19. Viesturs, FN’95, the
only American to summit all
fourteen 8,000-meter peaks—
doing so without bottled oxygen—reached
the summit of
Everest for his seventh time.
To boldly Go
American Scott Parazynski,
FN’07, achieved a milestone
on May 20, becoming the first
astronaut to scale Everest.
Parazynski, a veteran of
five space shuttle missions,
reached the summit at 4 a.m.
local time and stayed on the
peak for about 30 minutes.
He tried to summit Everest
last year, but a slipped disc
in his back foiled his plans.
Parazynski’s trip wasn’t
driven purely by the thirst for
adventure. He also was on
a science mission, setting
up instruments “…looking
for evidence of life in the
extreme…the kinds of things
that once existed on Mars or
other planets.”
Apa Sherpa Nails 19
Apa Sherpa re-established
his image as the greatest
living Everest summiteer,
conquering the peak for a record
nineteenth time at 8 a.m.
local time on May 21. This
year, he led the Eco-Everest
Expedition 2009 to draw attention
to the perils of climate
change in the Himalayas.
For more on Scott Parazynski and
Apa Sherpa, see our “Risk and
Reward of Everest” story, page 34.
the explorers journal

EXPLORATION NEWS
In Amundsen’s
footsteps
South Pole centennial planned
Liv Arnesen and Ann Bancroft
will celebrate the 100th anniversary
of Roald Amundsen’s
reaching the South Pole with
an international expedition
scheduled to set off in October
2011. An international team
of six women—one from each
continent—will embark on a
1,400-kilometer (870-mile)
expedition from the Bay of
Whales in the Ross Sea to
the Geographic South Pole.
The collaboration between
the explorers and their native
countries will provide a platform
for millions of children
around the globe to follow the
100-day expedition and learn
that they have a voice in their
community and in the world
to create positive change.
Arnesen and Bancroft believe
Antarctica, a continent
of peace, cooperation, and
science—owned by no one
government—is the perfect
place to stage such an expedition
focused on making the
world a better place through
collaboration and peaceful
cooperation.
The team will depart from
Christchurch, New Zealand,
in October, reach the South
Pole by January 2012, and
be flown to the coast. They
will then travel back to New
Zealand by air. For more information:
Liv Arnesen, +47 901-
37-030, liv@livarnesen.com;
Ann Bancroft, 612-618-5533,
ann@yourexpedition.com.
In plane sight
Fossett searchers seek lost aircraft
Members of the Steve Fossett
search team, Lew Toulmin,
MN’04, and Robert Hyman,
LF’93, have once again joined
forces, this time as members
of the private Missing Aircraft
Search Team (MAST). The organization
recently helped find
Cessna 182 number N2700Q,
missing since September
2006. The Cessna, carrying
pilot Bill Westover and passenger
Marcy Randolph, took
off from Deer Valley Airport in
North Phoenix on September
24, 2006, and headed north.
It disappeared off radar nine
nautical miles southwest of
Sedona. Although a threeweek
search by the Civil Air
Patrol and others came up
empty, efforts by MAST and
the family paid off. “We developed
16 scenarios for the
possible plane crash, refined
them, and came up with three
top candidate areas for the
location of the plane,” says
Toulmin, an expert in emergency
management. “The
plane was actually found in
our highest probability area.”
MAST members include
experts in search theory,
search and rescue, aviation,
aviation archaeology, radar
analysis, emergency management,
law enforcement, communications,
mountaineering,
expedition management, and
wilderness survival.
“As far as we know,” says
Toulmin, “there is no other
group active in this area, trying
to analyze cold cases of
light aircraft disappearing,
applying new technologies
and methods, and then capable
of launching searches
in high probability areas. We
were motivated to do this in
the Steve Fossett case, which
is where we honed our skills.”
For information: roberthy
man@verizon.net.
image courtesy Liv Arnesen and Ann Bancroft.
10

SPECIAL REPORT
Antarctica Update
a treaty at 50 and other news
by Kristin Larson, esq., FN’02
This year marks an important
milestone for the continent
of Antarctica—the fiftieth anniversary
of the Antarctic
Treaty. Considering that at its
conception, this treaty was
viewed as both novel and not
likely to survive, it has proven
remarkably resilient, and is
now revered as an exemplary
international accord. This last
point was emphasized by Secretary
of State Hillary Clinton
during her remarks at the recent
Antarctic Treaty Consultative
Meeting (ATCM) held in
Washington, DC, stating that
the treaty “is a blueprint for
the kind of international cooperation
that will be needed
more and more to address the
challenges of the twenty-first
century, and is an example of
smart power at its best.”
For the past five decades,
the treaty has provided the
framework for human engagement
on this remote icy continent,
where science is the lingua
franca and field research
the basis for rapprochement.
As the importance of the Polar
Regions has grown, particularly
as huge outdoor laboratories
for understanding
“whole Earth systems,” so has
the complexity of the treaty.
The number of treaty parties
has grown from the original 12
signatories to 47 nations, representing
nearly 90 percent of
all humankind.
Clinton also addressed the
first joint meeting between
the ATCM and its polar opposite,
the Arctic Council, again
characterizing the Antarctic
Treaty as a “product of farsighted,
visionary leaders…
and a living example of how
we can form a vital partnership.”
Some commentators,
less circumspect than Clinton,
have expressed hope
that the Antarctic Treaty will
help inform the more pointed
interactions now occurring in
the increasingly accessible
and politically strategic Far
North.
In recognition of the Antarctic
Treaty anniversary, the
Smithsonian is hosting an
“Antarctic Treaty Summit” in
Washington, DC, November
30–December 3, 2009, which
will provide a unique international,
interdisciplinary forum
for scientists, legislators, lawyers,
historians, students, and
members of civil society to
interact. For more information,
see www.atsummit50.aq.
The first “zero emissions”
research station in Antarctica
was inaugurated in February,
putting Belgium back on
the Antarctic map after an
absence of 50 years. Their
new base, Princess Elizabeth
Station, located in East Antarctica
not far from the Droning
Maud Land coastline,
will generate its power from
the 150-mile-per-hour winds
experienced at this location
and the 24 hours of sunlight
during the austral summer
months.
Unfortunately, we recently
lost two true Antarctic heroines.
Edith “Jackie” Ronne,
FN’91, was one of the two
women to first winter-over in
Antarctica during the Ronne
Antarctic Research Expedition
of 1946–48. Known as
the “First Lady of Antarctica,”
Jackie spent much of the past
40 years educating the public
about Antarctica, and made
more than 15 trips south of
70°. She was 89.
Jerri Nielsen died a decade
after her daring rescue
from South Pole Station after
diagnosing herself with breast
cancer. She was able to carry
out her duties as the winterover
physician at this remotest
spot on Earth with the assistance
of airdropped chemotherapy
medications and the
intrepid non-medical wintering
crew, who practiced for
her biopsy using needles in a
raw chicken.
the explorers journal

on
Risk
by John Geiger
Many people are cautious, some to the point of
cowardice, and, in the words of the actor Victor
Mature, “wouldn’t walk up a wet step.” Caution,
within reason, is only natural. As Kenneth Kamler
wrote in Surviving the Extremes, “No animal in its
right mind ever intentionally puts itself in danger by
going somewhere it doesn’t belong.” Yet, as Kamler
notes, human beings do go where they don’t belong,
for example, into the 8,000-meter (26,246)
plus death zone of Mt. Everest. He suggests that
human “emotional and spiritual imperatives” sometimes
override the survival instinct. But in a recent
article in the journal Neuron, British researchers
also identified a neurological basis for people going
where they don’t belong. Human beings in their
right mind do put themselves in danger intentionally.
Our brains, it turns out, reward risk.
In an experiment carried out at the Wellcome
Trust Centre for Neuroimaging at University
College London, scientists found evidence that
a primitive part of the brain has a role in making
people adventurous, and is activated when people
choose unfamiliar options, despite the inherent
risks of the unknown. This suggests an evolutionary
advantage for those who explore. Measuring
blood flow in the brain, the researchers found that
the ventral striatum, which is involved in processing
rewards through the release of neurotransmitters
like dopamine, is more active when subjects
shunned the safer options to experience the

unusual. This is called the “novelty bonus.” Risk, it
seems, is part of what it is to be human.
That is not the only explanation for risk: The urge
to explore is also the product of prosperous societies,
like our own. In his groundbreaking study,
The Human Brain in Space Time, about the psychology
of space travel, the neurologist W. Grey
Walter refuted the accepted historical wisdom
that exploration—with all its inherent risks—was a
response to economic and military necessity. To
the contrary, he pointed out that, during great eras
of exploration, expedition-sponsoring countries
were often “hospitable, prosperous, and plagued
only by familiar woes.”
During the Edwardian era, Britain was more
prosperous that at any other time in its history,
and it gave rise to discovery, including the first
South Pole explorations of Robert Falcon Scott
and Sir Ernest Shackleton. The 1950s was one
of the most prosperous eras in American history.
In the United States, unprecedented numbers of
families reached middle class status. It is also the
decade that gave birth to space exploration, and
saw the British conquest of Mt. Everest.
In developed countries, the subsequent six decades
have been highly prosperous, the societies
stable. Home has been a good place to be and, one
would think, to stay. Yet those same comfortable,
seemingly contented populations have produced
large and growing numbers of people who have
placed themselves at great individual risk, engaging
in exploration, extreme sports, and adventure travel.
Voluntary risk has never been more pervasive.
Two billionaires, tied at #261 on Forbes’s 2009
list of the world’s wealthiest people, with fortunes
of $2.5 billion each, embody this point. Virgin
Companies founder Richard Branson and Cirque
du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté can afford lives of
great luxury and comfort, yet Branson has repeatedly
risked his life and come close to dying in attempts
to set distance records in hot air balloons.
Laliberté, meanwhile, is scheduled to blast off on
September 30 aboard a Soyuz spacecraft, becoming
the seventh civilian to fly alongside astronauts
and cosmonauts on the Russian spaceships.
Risk-taking, it seems, is both part of our neurological
makeup and an integral part of contemporary
society. As Walter argued, “The urge to explore
is a part of our nervous equipment…. The human
species is unstable in stable environments.”
There certainly are emotional and spiritual
14
imperatives, as Kamler noted. Exploration is a way
for people to gain insight not just into the world,
but to better understand themselves. Without risk
there is no gain, no gain in scientific knowledge,
no gain either in understanding one’s self.
One of the most intriguing manifestations of
risk is a subject I have been studying for six years.
People at the very edge of death, often adventurers
or explorers, have reported experiencing a
sense of an incorporeal being who is beside them
and who encourages them to make one final effort
to survive. This phenomenon is known as the
“Third Man” factor, and it has been experienced
by scores of people, from Shackleton and aviator
Charles Lindbergh to polar explorer Ann Bancroft,
climber Peter Hillary, diver Steffi Schwabe, and
astronaut Jerry Linenger; in scores of places too,
from Cape Horn to Carstensz Pyramid, from the
Indian Ocean to Earth’s orbit. Kamler, both a skilled
medical specialist and climber, has had many remarkable
adventures—he has devoted himself to
the study of endurance, how our bodies respond
to extremes—so it is not surprising that the “Third
Man” phenomenon was also among them.
While desperately trying to keep a dying Sherpa
alive through a long night high on the slopes of
Everest, Kamler “gradually became aware of a third
person in our freezing tent.” This unseen being guided
Kamler through his patient’s treatment. “When
morning came, I realized my patient would live, and
that my mentor was gone.” It was, for Kamler, an
experience filled with “wonder and mysticism,” and
one that he would never have encountered by staying
at his thriving medical practice in New York.
Risk is innate to human beings, and so much
a part of us that our brains dispense “novelty bonuses”
to encourage us to take the more adventurous
path. Risk is also powerfully influenced by the
great wealth and comfort enjoyed by those of us
lucky enough to live in the West. We seek extreme
and unusual environments to gain insight into the
nature of our planet, but also as a testing ground
of the human spirit.
biography
John Geiger’s book, The Third Man Factor: Surviving
the Impossible, was published on September 1, 2009, by
Weinstein Books. He is Senior Fellow at Massey College
and Fellow of the Explorers Club. For more information,
visit www.thirdmanfactor.com.
Opening spread: Whiteout on Mt. Rainier. Photograph by Steve Romeo.

RISK I
Bob Barth
on life at the bottom of the sea
SeaLab Diver Bernie Campoli, as he appeared on the cover of the Saturday Evening Post, September 5, 1964. Photograph by Bob Barth
Bob Barth has spent more time away from terra
firma than most astronauts—and he’s never even
left Earth. A pioneer in saturation diving, Barth has
logged countless hours underwater as the world’s
premier aquanaut, and is the only diver to have
participated in the U.S. Navy’s groundbreaking
Genesis (1957–1962), SeaLab I (1964), SeaLab
II (1965), and SeaLab III (1969) programs.
The son of an U.S. Army career officer, Barth
was born in Manilla in 1930, joined the Navy at
17, and, by 1960, he had already been a military
diver for 11 years when he was stationed at the
Submarine Escape Training Tank at the Submarine
School in Groton, CT, where he met Navy medical
by Kristin Romey
corps captain George Bond. At the time, the Navy
was interested in developing techniques to extend
the depth and duration of human underwater exploration
through a technique known as saturation
diving, and had put Bond in charge of a program
known as Genesis.
Saturation diving occurs when the partial pressure
of dissolved inert gases in a human body
equal the partial pressure of those in the ambient
atmosphere—i.e., when the tissues of a diver’s
body have absorbed all of the compressed gas
(such as nitrogen or helium) they can and become,
literally, saturated. This generally occurs after diving
for a very long duration or at great depth.
the explorers journal

While the concept of saturation diving was recognized
as early as the beginning of the twentieth
century, technical limitations at the time restricted
divers to depths so shallow 50–100 feet (~15–30
meters) that the applications of saturation diving
were irrelevant. Decades later, however, as humankind
began to push progressively deeper into
the world’s oceans, conventional diving methods
meant that a dive to 300 feet (~100 meters) or
more could allow for only minutes of bottom time
and subsequent hours of decompression—the
time required for the safe removal of the inert
gas, such as nitrogen, inhaled under pressure.
Extreme depth also led to the danger of nitrogen
narcosis due to high levels of dissolved nitrogen in
the blood, and even oxygen toxicity.
What Bond realized was that a saturated diver
could stay underwater for days or even months and
the amount of time required for decompression
wouldn’t change. The challenge, however, was
how to avoid nitrogen narcosis and oxygen toxicity.
Bond received permission from the Navy to study
the effects of mixed-gas blends on mammals at
the equivalent of 200fsw (feet of seawater). After
evaluating the effects of helium-nitrogen-oxygen
breathing mixes on goats and monkeys, he moved
on to his human subjects, including Barth. “In a
situation where you are an experimental diving
subject in a new and unproven concept, you know
the dangers (if there are any) and are prepared for
them when they occur—you knew that something
new and different was just around the corner,
and were expecting it,” says Barth, who remains
unfazed by the days and weeks of pressurized
experimental trials.
With the successful completion of the program,
the Navy, under Bond’s direction, began to
study the practical applications of Genesis with
SeaLab. Along with saturation diving, the SeaLab
experimental habitat programs explored the physiological
feasibility of living in isolated conditions
underwater for long periods of time.
In early 1964, the Navy commenced with the
building of SeaLab I in Panama City, FL, and on
July 20th, the fire-engine-red habitat—constructed
from two large floats—was lowered to a depth of
193 feet (60 meters) off the Bermuda coast. Axles
from railroad cars were among the thousands of
pounds of weights that were placed in large ballast
bins to anchor the structure once it was in place.
Barth and his three colleagues—LCDR Robert
Thompson, MC; GM1(DV) Lester Anderson,
and HMC(DV) Sanders Manning—enjoyed a
successful 11-day stay, performing physiological
experiments while breathing a helium and oxygen
mixture in an environment about equal to the
pressure of seven of Earth’s atmospheres. An approaching
storm cut the planned 21-day project
short; nonetheless, SeaLab 1 proved that man
could survive—and thrive—in an open-sea saturation
diving environment.
In 1965, Barth was one of 28 men divided into
three teams who would spend another 15 days
in the more ambitious SeaLab II program, in 205
feet of water off the California coast. Bond’s team
again looked at the issues of decompression
sickness, inert gas narcosis, and oxygen toxicity,
as well as body heat loss and carbon dioxide
retention. “The gas mixtures in Genesis were
somewhat the same mixtures that deep-sea divers
had been using for years,” Barth recalls, “but what
we needed to know was whether humans could
breath that mixture at deeper depths and for much
longer periods. Genesis and SeaLab provided
that and a few hundred other answers—and the
food was lousy.”
By the time SeaLab III was readied in 1969,
Barth was designated team leader for the program.
However, a leak occurred in the habitat, located in
610 feet (185 meters) of water off California’s San
Clemente Island, just before it was slated to be
occupied. A four-man team, including Barth and
diver Berry Cannon, descended in a diving bell
to fix the leak; Cannon’s dive gear malfunctioned,
which cost him his life.
The Navy subsequently cancelled the SeaLab
program, yet Barth has no regrets for his time
spent participating in the ultimately ambitious, yet
incredibly dangerous, line of undersea research.
“When you enter into this kind of lifestyle, you
know that someone, someday, somewhere, may
not go home that night,” says Barth. “But I think
that’s applicable to a lot of people who take on
risks— it’s certainly not something that is seen only
in the diving community.”
“I have a good friend who once sat on the
pointed end of a big rocket and hung on when
they pushed the “GO” button. His organization is
well known for taking chances and they kept it up
even with some terrible losses of life—think any of
them wanted to quit If we had a perfect world,”
he adds, “it would soon grow stagnant, and no
16

SeaLab III being towed out to sea off the coast of California, 1969. Image courtesy Bob Barth.
one would seek new and rewarding goals.”
Although Barth retired from active Navy duty
in May 1970, the sea still beckoned. He went
on to cofound the commercial dive company
Hydrospace International before rejoining the
Navy Experimental Diving Unit in 1985, as a dive
accident investigator and public affairs officer.
SeaLab program and its aquanauts have been
largely overshadowed by NASA’s Apollo program
of the same decade, but its contributions, not only
to the world of offshore oil and gas drilling, but
also to underwater scientific research and submarine
rescue, have been immeasurable.
The first commercial saturation dive was conducted
in 1965, and the extreme diving technique
opened up a new world to the commercial oil and
gas industry, allowing divers to construct rigs and
infrastructure at depths never before accessible.
Today, saturation divers in the North Sea regularly
dive to depths of 750 feet (~230 meters) or more
and remain underwater for months at a time.
While remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) and
autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) are now
replacing saturation divers for many tasks, there
are still many underwater jobs that require human
dexterity, including pipeline repair and jobs requiring
precise measurement.
SeaLab’s legacy also lives on in the NOAA’s
Aquarius habitat, the world’s only operating underwater
research station, where scientists spend
weeks at a time living and working at a depth of 20
meters off the Florida Keys.
Today Barth, the author of Sea Dwellers: The
Humor, Drama and Tragedy of the U.S. Navy
SeaLab Programs (Doyle Publishing, 2000), still
lives in the Panama City area.
As for all of the dives Barth has made in his
long, illustrious career, it was his first descent on
SeaLab I that brings the biggest smile to his face. “I
can tell you that those 11 days in that habitat were
probably the best diving days I ever made,” recalls
Barth. “Think about it, you travel down to 200 feet
and not have to worry about bottom time, what you
find sitting there is this monster house, (not something
that we see very often). Bright lights, fresh
water, warm showers, bunks, and plenty to eat, and
nobody with a damn stopwatch.”
biography
Kristin Romey, FR’05, is an underwater archaeologist and
former executive editor of Archaeology magazine. She
currently participates with the Universidad Autónoma de
Yucatán’s Cenote Cult Project.
the explorers journal

RISK II
Rich Wilson
bringing high seas adventure
into the classroom
It has been called the most dangerous race in the
world. It is the Vendée Globe, a nonstop, single-handed,
round-the-world voyage in which only the most seasoned
sailors pilot their craft about the southern tips
of Africa, the Americas, and Australia, all the while
skirting the ice-choked waters of Antarctica. For most,
simply completing the race is reward in itself. For Rich
Wilson, the only American contender in a field of thirty
in the 2008/09 race, completing the voyage on March 10
after 121 days at sea had a higher purpose—to bring the
spirit of adventure into the classroom. the explorers
journal recently spoke with Wilson about the legendary
competition and his thoughts on inspiring the next
generation.
EJ: What led you to pursue a career in competitive
sailing
RW: Although I’ve sailed a lot, I don’t consider
myself a professional sailor. I consider myself
a professional educator. I grew up sailing and
racing small boats, and worked my way up to
18
doing ocean races. In 1980, we won the Bermuda
Race, which is the biggest offshore race in the
United States. That was simply a race for competition
and fun, what I would call a recreational
race. However, the three clipper route record
passages—San Francisco to Boston by way of
Cape Horn, doublehanded, 1993; New York
to Melbourne by way of Cape of Good Hope,
doublehanded, 2001; and Hong Kong–New
York by way of Sunda Strait and Cape of Good
Hope, doublehanded, 2003—plus the 2004
solo Transatlantic Race and the 2008–2009
Vendée Globe were all done to provide content
for K—12 school programs through sitesALIVE!
(www.sitesalive.com)
During the Vendée Globe run, sitesALIVE
had 50 U.S. newspapers publishing a 15-part
weekly series written by me while I was at sea
aboard Great American III. The newspapers
then distributed classroom sets of papers to
participating teachers (whom the newspaper
Rich wilson waves to the crowd upon completion of the 2008/09 Vendée Globe in Great American III, Images courtesy Rich Wilson.

around the world Nonstop
Upon his completion of the 2008/09 Vendée Globe on March 10,
Rich Wilson and the 60-foot Great American III had sailed 28,590.2 NM in
121 days, 41 minutes, and 19 seconds.

had recruited by its marketing of our program, and
whom had received our Teacher’s Guide with 15
weekly classroom activities). We reached 7 million
readers weekly and some 250,000 students
with this program. Plus we had a team of more
than a dozen experts—including Longitude author
Dava Sobel; Jan Witting, a specialist in oceans
and climate; and Ambrose Jearld of the National
Marine Fisheries Service—who wrote for the series
and answered students’ questions online.
EJ: Sailing in these races—with the weather and
sea conditions and only one or two on board to
handle the craft—is no mean feat. Have you had any
particularly challenging or frightening moments
RW: In 1990, during our first effort at the San
Francisco-Boston race, we were capsized 400
miles west of Cape Horn in 65-foot seas. We
were upside down for 90 minutes before a wave
re-righted the 60-foot-long, 40-foot-wide trimaran.
This was the first time in history that a capsized
trimaran has been re-righted by a wave.
EJ: What was the first thing that went through your
mind at that moment
RW: Getting into the survival suit, setting off the
EPIRB [Emergency Position Indicating Radio
Beacon], wondering how to make this dire situation
better…
EJ: How did you respond to the situation
RW: Got into the survival suit, set off the EPIRB,
cracked the emergency hatch to act as a pressure
release valve for the compressing/decompressing
of air in the cabin due to the waves surging
into the cabin, sit on an upside down shelf to get
out of the 40º F seawater.
EJ: Had you prepared for such a situation
RW: No. I had talked with several sailors who had
been capsized in trimarans. And I had read about
those situations. But there was no information on
a capsized trimaran being re-righted, because it
had never happened. And, being back upright was
worse. Upside down, we had shin-deep water in
the cabin. Re-righted, we had neck-deep water in
the cabin. So we moved flares, life raft, EPIRBS,
etc., to the sail locker forward, and bailed out the
4 feet of water, and took refuge there.
EJ: Did the event change your approach to sailing
RW: Not a lot. We had the gear that we needed
close at hand. We’d picked a superstrong boat that
survived the somersaulting double capsize. We’d
try to do that again. Plus, we wouldn’t change how
lucky we were to have the New Zealand Pacific
[at the time, the world’s largest refrigerated container
ship] find us, with a breathtakingly skilled
and experienced crew aboard that executed an
unimaginable rescue in appalling conditions.
EJ: We know the risks inherent in what you do are
formidable. What intellectual, spiritual, or emotional
rewards you have garnered in the process
RW: The sole reason to do these most risky voyages
has been to create programs ashore, primarily
for schools, secondarily for asthmatics. I’ve had
asthma since I was a one-year-old. For the Vendée
Globe, our most recent race, we also added senior
citizens to our program outreach as I was 58 at
the start and thought they would be able to relate.
I’m a very conservative sailor, and risk management
is accomplished by knowledge, experience,
and preparation. I’m a professional educator, not
a professional sailor, and I’ve raced the riskiest
event in the world, the Vendée Globe. More than
3,000 people have climbed Everest; 500 people
have been astronauts; 50 have sailed solo nonstop
around the world. Yet, I deem the potential benefits
ashore for schoolchildren or asthmatics to be worth
the personal risk to me offshore.
EJ: Tell us about the impact of sitesALIVE.
RW: SitesALIVE has produced 75 live, interactive,
full-semester (12 weeks) programs for K–12 in the
past 16 years. These have come from rainforest
research centers, marine biology institutes, other
sailing ships at sea, etc.; of the 75 programs, five
have been my voyages. The concept is to excite
and engage kids with the adventure, and if they’re
excited, they pay attention, and if they pay attention,
then the science, math, geography flows freely and
with purpose. It connects them to real people doing
real things in the real world.
EJ: What advice would you have for someone following
in your footsteps
RW: Work your way up the knowledge and experience
curve deliberately and slowly. Talk to those
who know more than you do, read everything,
prepare meticulously, ask questions, and, most
important, listen to the answers.
20

RISK III
not
a good day to die
The Author makes her way through a grove of stalactites—several 100,000 years old—in the “Wedding Hall Room” within Lucayan Caverns, Grand Bahama, The Bahamas. Photograph courtesy Stephanie j. Schwabe.
I can almost hear my black wetsuit and the 100
pounds of metal equipment I have donned sizzle
like a hot frying pan under a cold tap as I jump
into the water. The sound is quickly downed out
by the mass of air-bubbles exiting my dive-gear.
If I had not jumped then and there into to the watery
entrance of Guardian Cave—a fracture cave
located on the southern end of the North Island of
Andros—I would gladly have grabbed a knife and
cut myself out of my suit. Removing the wetsuit
in the conventional manner would have taken far
too much time, rendering me unconscious with
heatstroke from the high-noon Bahamian sun.
I am not normally this stressed before a dive,
but today I was working with a documentary film
team from Japan. There had been a lapse in translation
of what was to happen before entering the
cave and I ended up standing in the sun with all
my gear on for nearly 20 minutes as I waited for
the other two divers who were accompanying me
into the cave to get into the water.
As the cool water made its way into my wetsuit,
my body responded quickly and I began to calm
down, my heartbeat no longer audible to me. As I
focused on my surroundings, I saw the two divers
below me. They seemed to be okay. I then looked
by Stephanie Jutta Schwabe
for the down-line, which held our decompression
gasses and extra bottles of compressed air. I
saw the line in the shadow of the rock overhang
above and swam over to it. I moved down the line,
checking that each bottle was at the appropriate
depth and that each was pressurized and ready
for use in a moment’s notice. As I descended, the
water became darker and cooler, cool enough that
I began to think, let’s just get on with the dive.
I am not a cold-water diver by choice though
most divers would not consider these waters cold.
However, I learned early on that, given enough
time, any body of water that doesn’t match your
body temperature can induce hypothermia. It may
take longer for it to happen in these waters but
when you get out, your lips are purple and you
shake like a leaf, begging for the sun’s embrace.
As I finished checking the last bottle, I turned
around to look for the two other divers, I spotted
them with their eyes glued on me. I signaled to
them to come over and when they arrived, I began
my decent to find the south leading guideline that
had been placed in the cave earlier by other divers.
I now hoped that the two divers would remember
the plan we had discussed earlier and stick to it.
I consider Guardian Cave a relatively simple
the explorers journal

cave to dive. The passage heads straight south,
pinched out nearly 300 meters from the entrance.
The exit, which was our entrance, progressed
downward at a nearly 45º angle, demanding that
divers constantly clear their ears. About 50 meters
in, the passage opens up and the ceiling begins to
cantilever away, enabling us to level out and swim
without being forced to go deeper because of the
angle of the ceiling. It had its deep parts, 55 meters
to the top of the sediment on the floor, but the
main passage was in shallower water so unless
there was a plan to collect floor sediments, as I
had hoped, most of the dive would be in shallower
water, making this a rather body-friendly dive.
As we made our way in, I felt the heat of the
filming lamps on my backside. That was the signal
for me to open up my plankton net and shine my
dive light into it, making for more dramatic viewing.
As I went deeper into the cave, the water—which
near the entrance tends to be greenish brown
because of organic input—became almost invisible.
If it weren’t for the fact that I was floating and
could feel the water, I wouldn’t know it was there.
It is breathtaking and always dramatic in its otherworldly
beauty. This is why I dive these places.
The walls, which seemed to continue endlessly
above and below me, revealed beautiful curtain
stalactites. Although they were formed when sea
level was some 200 meters lower, about 125,000
years ago, their structures appear undisturbed
by the change of events, sparkling in perfection
except for the endless attack of bacterial acids.
The entire wall is covered in holes nearly twocentimeters
in diameter; even nature’s perfect
crystal formations weren’t spared. This is what
I was looking for—more evidence to support my
biogenic hypothesis that bacterial acids are responsible
for dissolving the limestone and enlarging
fracture caves, not rainwater acid, a theory still
being taught today. Excited by my find, I wanted
swim over and examine the dimpled cave formations.
Closer scrutiny, however, would have to
wait. I was here to help the film crew. The science
was just a sideline, my sideline.
The plan was for me to swim along the eastern
wall, slowly make my way to the center, and descend
to the cave floor to collect a quick sediment
sample. As I folded up my plankton net and made
my way down, the two divers filmed my progress.
I collected my sample quickly and was about to
begin my trip back to the guideline and out of the
cave when one of the cameramen signaled that
he had hit “thirds” and it was time to leave. The
rule of thumb for successful caving diving is that
you only use a third of your air supply to get into
the cave, a third to get out, and have a reserve
third should all hell break loose.
I signaled back to him that we were heading
out. I led the way back to the guideline. When I
floated up to the guideline, the cameraman suddenly
rose up in front of me, giving me the index
finger across the throat to signal that he was “out
of air.” I was surprised as we had only been in
the cave for about 15 minutes. I looked at him
and handed him the regulator I had in my mouth.
He shook his head indicating that he didn’t want
it. Surprised and disturbed by his response, I offered
him the regulator on my other bottle, which
had a shorter hose and, much to my surprise,
that seemed okay. The only problem was that he
needed to be on the two-meter hose so that he
could follow behind or swim ahead of me through
the cave as the entrance was too narrow for us
to travel side by side. The cameraman seemed to
be pretty calm after a few breaths. Once again, I
offered him my two-meter hose and this time he
took it, much to my relief.
While we were playing switch regulators, we
had drifted into the ceiling well above the guideline
that would lead us out. The ceiling in this
segment of the cave is like the tip of a triangle,
not flat, which actually may have helped save
our lives. In the wedge, I had him close to me,
in control. The moment I grabbed the shoulder
harness of his buoyancy compensator to guide
him down to the guideline below us, however, he
flipped out. With eyes as big as dinner plates he
began to fight me. I grabbed him again by the
harness, this time under his chin. At the same
time I looked at my air supply and realized that he
had breathed down nearly one bottle of gas and
now I was in a near out-of-air situation.
Taking my eyes off of my pressure gauge and
locking them onto the cameraman, I could suddenly
hear my heart beat in my ears and I felt the
blood begin to pulse in my head. We were in very
deep trouble. The diver who was still squirming
in my grip suddenly found himself slammed
against the wall with my hand in his face bubbling
at him to stop! At the same time, I was yelling at
myself internally that this was not a good day to
die, not that I can think of any day being good
22

for that. I also remember thinking that I was not
going to do this to my mother who was so scared
every time she knew I was going cave diving.
She had lived through the loss of my husband,
Robert John Palmer, and three months later a
friend of ten years, whose body I had to recover.
I had promised her that I was going to be careful
and here I was with a dive instructor, boisterous
about his diving skills although I had told him that
cave diving was dangerous and that I didn’t want
to take them into a cave because they were not
experienced enough. Now I too was in danger of
dying Hell no! Not on my shift.
I didn’t know where the other diver was but I
knew that if he was in trouble, there was nothing
I could do about it. I had my hands full. As
for my current charge, I snatched him off the wall
and pushed him down to the guideline, trying in
bubble words to explain that we needed to get to
the guideline to get out. He seemed to submit to
my command. Once on the line, I looked for the
plastic line arrows that pointed the way out. In
what would be considered a “Hail Mary” moment,
I choose a direction, and very lucky for us, I had
chosen the right one and we began to swim out
with every bit of reserve energy that I had.
I controlled my breathing by focusing on my
swimming pace, breathing deeply and exhaling
slowly, all the while shouting words of encouragement
to the cameraman, although I think some of
the words were for my benefit as well.
Just when I thought that we were not going to
make it, I saw the light-green glow of the entrance
and then saw something that gave me the greatest
hope of all, the other diver was swimming to us
with a spare bottle. He didn’t realize that not only
was his buddy out of air, but that I was about two
puffs away from being in the same situation. The
cameraman grabbed the bottle and began breathing.
I guided him to the down-line and instructed
him to stay. I swam up to the next available bottle
of much needed air.
I realized that I did not have enough air on the
down-line for three people in an out-of-air situation.
However, we had enough air for me to think how
I was going to resolve this huge problem. Once
everyone, including myself, was calm and breathing
normally, I began to make my move. I knew that
if I got this part of the dive wrong, I might get the
bends. I went back down to the divers below me
on the line and tried to explain that they were to
stay where they were. I checked their air supply
and made a mental note of how much air there
was. I moved up to the pure oxygen bottle and
spent about ten minutes breathing 100 percent
oxygen. I then glided up to the surface and without
a hello, instructed the rest of the film crew to
get the other bottles rigged up with regulators. I
needed them yesterday and that I would be up in
a few minutes to collect them. Then I disappeared
below the water surface to return to my decompression
station. A few minutes later I returned to
the surface expecting to have bottles handed to
me but what I got was a full bottle of air without a
regulator and was informed that they didn’t have
a spare regulator. I won’t repeat what I said, but it
was not helpful.
I vanished below to surface again, without the
air, and thought about how I was going to solve
this problem. I decided to cycle the divers onto
100 percent oxygen and take the bottle they
were breathing off of to the surface and have
them change out the regulators. That worked, so
I ended up doing that for two other bottles. I now
was worried about decompression sickness.
Eventually everyone was able to fulfill their decompression
obligation, including me. Needless
to say, I spent a fair bit more time in the water
than the rest. Unfortunately, when I got out, I was
told that one of the cameramen had dropped
the half-million-dollar HD camera and needed it
back. There were no spare HD cameras. Without
the camera, their entire trip was a bust.
An hour later I found myself alone, diving back
into what almost become my watery grave to recover
a camera that was so gangly that it was like
swimming with a slippery buffalo. Again, I got a
workout that I didn’t need. I was incredibly lucky
not to get bent.
Thinking about the events later, I realized I had
been given another chance. I allowed myself to
be talked into breaking my own rules about cave
diving, and that would never happen again.
biography
A professor in the Department of Earth and Environmental
Sciences at the University of Kentucky, Stephanie Jutta
Schwabe Ph.D., Esq., is Founder and Director of the Rob
Palmer Blue Holes Foundation, www.blueholes.org. She is the
author of the recently released Living in Darkness (National
Speleological Society, 2009).
the explorers journal

RISK IV
Art Mortvedt
on grizzlies, engine-outs, and what it
means to live the good life in the outback
It has been 40 years since Art Mortvedt laid eyes on
his first airplane. Today, with more than 5,000 hours
of extreme Arctic flying under his belt, he has become
a legend in the field of polar exploration and wilderness
survival. the explorers journal tracked down
Mortvedt at his Brooks Range home to find out just
what it takes to beat the odds—so long as the game
lasts.
24
EJ: What was it that led you to pursue a career in
polar exploration and aviation and eventually to
bush flying in the Alaska outback
AM: It “evolved.” I grew up on a small farm in
central North Dakota, with ample opportunities
to explore as a young boy. Our one-room schoolhouse
on the prairie was about a mile or so from
our farm; and on the way, walking, I could explore
Art Mortvedt in notrhern greenland..

the creeks and ditches for various sorts of wild
creatures and their tracks. When I was old enough
for my own trapline and to carry a gun—probably
at age 7 or 8—I began trapping, the money from
which provided more outdoor gear, school
clothes, etc. On a couple occasions, after having
caught skunks in the morning, the teacher sent
me home with the suggestion that I take another
bath or two. Our farm happened to be located on
the banks of the Missouri River, an area where the
Hidatsa, Mandan, and Arikara peoples had lived
or traveled through. Finding campsites and artifacts
from these cultures, I believe, prompted my
keen interest in traditional cultures all around the
world. My father was an explorer in his own right;
but raising four kids kept him from branching out
particularly far—in person; but he read everything
he could get his hands on. This included a magazine
called The Alaska Sportsman. Dad read it,
dreaming about the Far North, as did I. I didn’t
actually head “North” until many years later; but
the seed had been planted.
One day, in a horse pasture adjacent to our
nearest town—Stanton, North Dakota—a man
called John Morton landed an Aeronca Champ,
coming to town to service the local pinball
machines. When I saw the airplane go over town,
I pedaled my bicycle out to the horse pasture and
met Morton. I remember his name because he
said, “My name is Morton, just like the salt you
know.” Then he said, “Kid, would you like to go for
a ride” Wow, I thought, what an opportunity. So I
hopped in, and we went for my first airplane ride.
A number of years later, a local woman who lost
her husband in an aerial crop-spraying accident
offered a scholarship to learn to fly. I received
that scholarship. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough
to complete the private license; so I shelved the
idea until I had been living in the Alaska bush for
a number of years. My wife and I had gone there
initially to teach Inuit kids above the Arctic Circle
in the small village of Shungnak. I took a year off
from teaching to live in the Alaska wilderness,
train a dog team, hunt, fish, and trap—essentially
starting to live the dream that had gone to seed
with my dad and myself on the farm. I went to a
place called Selby Lake in the Brooks Range to
repair a cabin that a grizzly bear had trashed in
exchange for staying there for a year. That year
has turned into 35 years already!
After living in the bush, and chartering aircraft
for a number of years, I decided that I definitely
needed my own aircraft. So, after talking with local
pilots, I decided that what I needed was a 90 hp
7EC Champ with no electrical system. I wanted
something that was light enough that I could handle
alone in deep snow. So I put an ad in Trade-A-
Plane; and a guy in Atcheson, Kansas, had exactly
what I was looking for. I hopped on the jet, flew
to Atcheson, looked at such a beautiful airplane;
and got the owner to agree to keep it for a month
until I could return with a pilot’s license. So I again
hopped on the jet, flew to Mesa, Arizona, where
I took flight instruction twice a day and studied
ground school in the interim. I finished my license
in 28 days, flew back to Atcheson, bought my new
airplane, and headed for Alaska. I well remember
the first flight; because with no radio I had no idea
just how strong the wind had developed. When
the gas gauge said zero, I landed in a farmer’s
field, spent a couple days building calf pens, going
to local events, etc., and proceeded on when
the wind died down. I used that airplane in the
Alaska bush for many years.
After having lived in the bush for a few years, I
took a trip down to Christchurch, New Zealand.
One afternoon while I was there, I learned a bit
about the American Antarctic Program. I decided
that was another part of the world that I wanted
to explore. So after I got home, I bought a ticket
to Newark, NJ—near Paramus where ITT Antarctic
Services was located—and then phoned the company
to give them my arrival details. At that point,
I asked when I could schedule an interview. They
knew I was serious. I got the job with no problem
and with quite a bit of Arctic experience already
under my belt.
After several seasons working in Antarctica,
I had no problem getting positions in the High
Arctic—based out of northern Greenland—working
on Department of Defense research projects.
Each spring, our team would spend a month or
two living in tents in drifting pack ice of the Arctic
Ocean. One of our illustrious visitors was Al Gore.
So then, after considerably more Arctic experience,
I kept going back to the Antarctic. I have
gone there now 20 or so times.
In 1999, as part of my work with Adventure
Network International, I was tasked with flying a
French woman, Laurence de la Ferrière, to the
South Pole to begin her skiing expedition north to
the coast of Antarctica. I was flying a bright orange
the explorers journal

ooks range rainbow
A rainbow arches across Selby Lake in the Brooks Range of Alaska
where Art Mortvedt and his planes, including a Cessna 180 on floats,
are based. Photograph by Damaris Mortvedt.

Cessna 185 fondly called the “Polar Pumpkin.” I
thought even then—while at the pole—“why not fly
this airplane to the North Pole someday.” As luck
would have it, Adventure Network—now Antarctic
Logistics and Expeditions—decided to use only
twin-engine aircraft and put the Polar Pumpkin
up for sale. I bought the aircraft. I am now making
preparations to fly it to—and land it at—the
Geographic North Pole in April 2010.
Instead of just making the flight and burning up
a bunch of gas for nothing, I am working with two
of the world’s great microbial scientists—Birgit
Sattler in Austria and Michael Storrie-Lombardi
in California—to collect
laser images of life in
the ice as I fly across
the Arctic Ocean
(www.polarflight90.
com). Hopefully, this
technique can be applied
in the search
for life on Mars and
other planets. Sattler
and Storrie-Lombardi
were members of an
international team of 15
persons that I guided
to Queen Maude Land,
Antarctica, during
the austral summer of
2008–2009 (www.
expedition.tawanifoundation.org).
So, to
make a long story short,
I still live in the Arctic
(67’N 155’W), run a
lodge called the Peace
of Selby Wilderness (www.alaskawilderness.
net), and use a bush plane daily, like a rancher
would use a pickup truck. The vastness, purity,
and mystery of the polar regions still captures my
imagination; and I suppose I will keep going there
until I am physically unable to do so.
EJ: What has been, in your estimation, the most
challenging or frightening moment of your exploration
career
AM: Perhaps the most challenging/frightening moments
in my exploration career occur when there is
the need to traverse rush-hour traffic in some of the
world’s great cities. Otherwise, there have been
28
a few memorable moments. The hair on the back
on my neck still begins to rise when I think about
the time my partner and I accidentally got close to
a coastal brown bear female with two cubs. The
female bear put the cubs up a nearby tree, turned
on her heels, and came charging at us full steam—
pitting, snarling, and tearing up the ground. My
partner and I each had guns; and were poised to
shoot if the bear jumped the creek in front of us.
The bear didn’t, we didn’t shoot; and about the
time we started to relax a little bit, the bear turned
and did the same thing twice. Perhaps I have a
grey hair or two from that experience. I’ve only had
two engine failures in
my flying career; and in
both cases, I was able
to find a place to land.
In one of those cases,
I had at least 300
pounds of moose meat
in the back seat, so I
was prepared to camp
for quite a prolonged
period! Much of the
time in the bush, I travel
alone. I fell through the
ice of the Kobuk River;
and it tried to suck me
under. I had two dead
branches as handholds
to keep me from being
swept under. In his
excitement, my partner
on that trip broke one of
those handholds. I told
him to “relax, reach in
the water, grab my belt,
and pull me out,” which he did, so I’m here and
able to write about it. Actually, that incident was
only a small part of a very bad trip. We got stuck
in our tents for days by a huge dump of heavy wet
snow. By the time we got back to the cabin, the
heavy snow on the top of my airplane wings had
collapsed the wings. As a result, I had a couple
days of work getting the wings put back in shape,
struts splinted, wing spars inspected, etc., before
I could fly it out to a proper mechanic.
The Arctic Ocean is a dynamic environment—
always freezing, cracking, refreezing—and, in one
case, the ice floe on which we were camped
splintered into pieces. Tents and gear were
art mortvedt and the Polar Pumpkin, a cessna 185, at 85ºS 82ºW. he spent 6 days there, riding out a storm on a return from the south pole. Self portrait.

floating every which way. We managed to get
our team on the same piece of ice—next to our
survival sleds—and we relocated to a safer position.
Finding myself less than ten feet from three
polar bears, on another of our Arctic Ocean
projects, may have produced another grey hair or
two. There was a time when I was snowshoeing
with a pack basket of traps on my back; and I
broke through the ice. The weight of the pack
tried to pull me under backwards; so I was trying
to compensate for that, and at the same time get
out of my snowshoes. That got to be a bit tricky
for a while. Relative to thin ice, my dog team—and
a particularly fabulous lead dog named Punnik—
saved my neck more than once. Realistically,
perhaps the most challenging and/or frightening
moment in my exploration career will be the moment
of realization that I am no longer physically
able to explore this amazing world into which we
were so fortunate to be born.
EJ: What went through your mind during some
of your more challenging moments and how did
you respond
AM: In the “close to death” moments that I have
experienced, I have done my best to not be frightened.
In most cases, there hasn’t been time to
be frightened anyway. Perhaps the first thought
is, “Am I prepared to handle this situation, have
I done my best” If I have done my best, all is
fair and I should be prepared to accept the fate
and power of Mother Nature—or, if you will, God.
Wilderness and nature somehow, within me at
least, have developed a certain peace and acceptance
if I have honestly done my best to live within
their awesome parameters.
Of course, each situation is different. As I mentioned,
there is so little time to be frightened in a
really serious situation; therefore, I believe that a
proper response must be “instinctive.” If one were
well prepared, one would logically expect that
an instinctive response would be proper. If that
response is not proper, it may mean death. But
people have been dying for some years now; so it
should be no surprise.
EJ: How have you prepared for your work in such
harsh environments
AM: I suppose that most of my training has been
OJT—“on the job training.” On some projects
sponsored by the National Science Foundation,
we were required to complete a cold-weather
survival course. Otherwise, in my background, my
“cold weather survival course” has been surviving
in the cold. These days, I conduct the occasional
survival course for expeditions into the Polar
Regions. Whenever I’m out in the bush—guiding
or alone—I try to observe behavior: behavior of the
weather, moose, bears, wolves, etc.; so when the
chips are down, I may best respond to whatever is
presented to me.
Experience implies knowledge and knowledge
implies opportunities for expedition preparation
in greater detail. Of course, attitude is key. One
must always keep that cup half full. Adaptation
is also of paramount importance. I always say
that, in the Polar Regions, “the only constant is
change.” A human lifespan is really such a short
period of time that I believe we must make each
day of our lives an “expedition”—a time to explore
and discover meaningful concepts, places, and
people so that at the end of our days, we’re not
confronted with the profound disappointment
that life has passed us by.
EJ: Overall, how would you weigh the risks inherent
in what you do with the intellectual/emotional
rewards you have garnered in the process
AM: Clearly life is a risk. Those of us that have
been so blessed to be born must accept that
risk. Leaders incur more risk than followers. Life is
“safer” in a windowless room; but how is the view
But to accept the risk, calculate, and proceed
provides intellectual and emotional rewards that
far surpass life in the closet. The “risk quotient”
in what I do, at various remote parts of the world,
perhaps is a bit higher for me than for some. But I
believe my rewards may also be much higher than
for some. It’s the price I pay. Perhaps one day I
will not prepare correctly or I will not be physically
able to handle a situation and I will die. But
in the meantime, I will experience profound joy,
fulfillment, and peace—and, hopefully, wisdom—in
this great exploration adventure of life. For me, the
risks, without a doubt, are worth the rewards.
EJ: What advice would you have for someone following
in your footsteps
AM: Our Explorers Club friend and colleague Norman
Vaughan stated it well when he said, “Dream Big,
and Dare to Fail.” No matter what, keep that glass
half full. Half empty will simply not do!
the explorers journal

RISK V
YVON CHOUINARD
on craft, the environment,
and fly-fishing at $100 an inch
Yvon Chouinard, whose name—along with those of Royal
Robbins and Tom Frost—is synonymous with Yosemite
climbing, is a legend in the world of mountaineering. In
addition to historic first ascents of El Capitan’s North
American Wall in 1964 (done without the aid of fixed
ropes) and Muir Wall in 1965, he has made numerous
notable climbs in the Karakoram range, the Himalayas,
and his beloved Patagonia. In the process, Chouinard
literally reinvented the climber’s toolkit, changing
the attack heads on ice axes and stiffening up crampons
to afford better purchase. He also pioneered the
use of a new type of piton, which he hand-forged in
a workshop and sold out of the back of a car. When
pitons proved damaging to the rock in which they were
placed, Chouinard pulled them from his offerings. In
30
their place, he developed a new type of climbing protection
in the form of camming devices—hexcentrics
and stoppers—that are removed upon completion of a
climb. This launched the clean climbing movement and
set Chouinard on a lifelong path with a leave-no-trace
mantra.
Chouinard, who founded Patagonia, Inc., in 1973, recently
penned, Let My People Go Surfing (Penguin Group,
2005), a how-to guide for staying in business without
selling your soul. The Explorers Journal caught up
with Chouinard—who at 71 is as honest as ever with
regard to the world of adventure and risk—to discuss
his views on climbing, environmental responsibility,
and what he sees as the cultural degradation of the
outdoor experience.
Yvon Chouinard in his blacksmith shop, Ventura, CA. Photograph by Tim Davis.

seventeenth pitch
Yvon Chouinard traverses to the Black Dihedral, the seventeenth pitch
of El Capitan’s North American Wall, 1964. Photograph by Tom Frost.

EJ: This issue, we are focusing on risk: why we, as
explorers, tend to take risks and, at the end of the
day, what we get out of it all. You have taken risks.
Care to tell us about any of them
YC: I believe in living life on the edge, exploring
the edge in all of its intensity, but don’t try to cross
it. Never exceed your limits. I have been caught
in avalanches, set off avalanches. I say, do your
homework, know when the time/conditions are
right and when they are not and plan accordingly.
So many accidents are the direct result of laziness
and/or stupidity. Whenever I have run risks, it was
usually because I didn’t do my homework. Years
ago, I was hiking in Colombia with a friend. We
had come to a bridge across a river. My friend
jumped into the river, the water was nice. I decide
to dive in, only, where I hit the water, it happened
to be less than a foot deep and I broke my neck. It
was just stupid really.
EJ: In addition to your historic ascents, you have
made quite a mark on the outdoor industry. Has
your outdoor experience had an impact on how
you run your business
YC: Just as you would want the best team possible
on a climb, you look to pull together the best possible
team in business. I have always looked for
self-motivated people who can handle situations
on their own. Unfortunately, most people with
careers today are bound to them such that they
cannot be away from business. They constantly
have to call in or be called. Otherwise, they feel
worthless. All of the cell phones and PDAs and
such have only made the situation worse. In my
world, if the business burns down, so be it. There
really is not much I can do about it. Besides, I
trust that the people I have put in charge would
make the best possible decisions in such circumstances.
So worrying about it is a waste of time.
EJ: It sounds as though you might be a bit “antitechnology.”
YC: Perhaps. I think in so many areas, technology
has replaced craft. No one has the time or bothers
to take the time to learn a craft so they replace
technique with equipment. We have a huge problem
in America, namely the emasculation of the
American male, who is forced to buy cars he can
no longer fix. Their confidence and self-esteem
become all wrapped up in all the gear they have
on display. They go fly-fishing with a $1,200 fly
rod to catch a 12-inch trout, which works out to
about $100/inch. We’ve all seen the guy on the
tennis court who, after a series of missed shots,
shoots off some blasphemies and then pulls out
another racket with different weight and tension
as if that was the problem all along. Same thing
goes for skis and climbing gear.
EJ: That seems like a rather odd set of comments
from a leading outdoor gear manufacturer.
YC: Again, this gets back to craft. If you know your
craft, having excellent gear can only help refine it.
My point here is that without an underlying skill
set, the best gear in the world is useless.
EJ: In this issue we have brought together several
Everest legends to discuss the risk of climbing the
world’s tallest mountain. Have you attempted to
climb this formidable peak
YC: No and I never wanted to. For me, Everest
today is in many ways symbolic of everything that
is wrong with adventure. Everything is taken care
of for you. Weather reporting comes from a guy in
Austria, while ropes and ladders are put in place
by the Sherpas, who push and pull you to the top.
It’s a lot like being chauffeured around New York or
London. Your mind is disengaged. There is a loss
of awareness of the weather, the actual conditions
on the mountain, your fellow climbers.
Most on the hill today are not able to make
weather decisions on their own or set their own
ladders, or even put up a tent once camp had
been reached, much less prepare the expected
cup of tea. To do this on one’s own would require
far more conditioning, skill, endurance, and mental
fortitude; for a modest price it can be farmed
out to others. Most climbers who summit Everest
today wouldn’t even know where to begin if they
had to do it on their own. In my view, the adventure
travel guides who take you there tend to be a
bunch of enablers and manservants who are there
to guarantee that you do not have an adventure.
For some, I suppose simply putting one foot in
front of the other is a challenge in itself. The whole
purpose of an adventure is to gain some spiritual
or emotional insight. When you compromise the
process, you compromise the gain.
EJ: As explorers, do you feel that we have a
greater environmental responsibility than the
average citizen
32

Yvon Chouinard between fishing sessions on the Gaula River, Norway. Photograph by Bill Klyn.
YC: As people who tend to depend on the natural
world for fulfillment, I think we have a greater responsibility
with regard to the environment and the
condition of our planet. Most people tend to look
at wildlife as some remote thing, forgetting that
we too are large mammals and part of the food
chain. As explorers, we have the luxury of seeing
firsthand what is going on in the world rather than
just hearing about it on the news.
I also think, as humans, we need to remain in
yarak, a falconry term that means “super alert,”
and, in the case of birds of prey, “ready to hunt.” It
all comes down to having a heightened sense of
awareness, environmental awareness, awareness
of our personal impact on the planet and those
with whom we share it.
Unfortunately, saving the planet ranks nineteenth
on the list of most pressing needs for most
Americans, well behind things such as resolving
the Mid-East conflict, fighting world hunger, and
providing healthcare. Unfortunately, none of the
18 “more important” items on the list can be done
with out saving the planet first.
EJ: If you had three bits of advice to impart to your
fellow explorers, what would they be
YC: One, learn a craft that requires using your
hands, and learn it well. If you can work with your
hands you will never be helpless.
Two, become aware of your world, not just the
immediate surroundings but also the wider world
around you—other peoples, cultures, and environments.
In short, find out what is really going
on on this planet. Edward O. Wilson and others
have predicted that the end is near—that we are
doomed to compete with each other in resource
wars for the last drop of oil or potable water or the
last patch of topsoil to till. Prepare yourself not to
be a casualty. It could get nasty. I would like to be
more optimistic, but we really are out of time. In my
own way, I have done little things, like drink from
nearly every trout stream I fish, knowing I have a
wider range of acceptability in the “potable” water
category than most.
Three, do something. If you have money, support
people carrying out research or working to clean
up the environment. Volunteer your time. Be a part
of the solution, not the problem. You will save your
soul that way. As I have said before, there is little
business to be done on a dead planet.
the explorers journal

RISK VI
The Risk and Reward of
Everest
in conversation with those who
know the mountain best
This past winter, an international team of experts in
medicine, physiology, and meteorology examined all of
the known deaths on Everest, reporting the results
of their study in the online edition of the British
Medical Journal. The team’s findings (see page 39) have
shattered commonly held notions about what leads to
deaths on the mountain. While many believe those who
perish on the 8,850 meter (29,035 foot) peak tend to do
so because of avalanches, falling ice, and pulmonary
edema, the study has pinpointed the most critical factors
in climber death, noting that severe deterioration
in weather and late starts have played far more
important roles than previously thought.
34
the explorers journal brought together six
Everest luminaries to weigh in on the recent findings
and share their thoughts on climbing the world’s
highest mountain. Joining us in the discussion are
Apa Sherpa, who, in May, summited Everest for the
nineteenth time; Pete Athans, who has summited seven
times; Peter Hillary, the son of Sir Edmund Hillary and
a noted climber in his own right; Kenneth M. Kamler,
whose medical expertise has saved numerous lives on
Everest; astronaut and physician Scot t Par a z ynski, who
summited this past spring; and renowned big mountain
guide Jim Williams, who, after numerous expeditions to
the big E, stood atop the roof of the world in 2000.
Everest, Lhotse, Nuptse as seen from Camp I on Pumori at 19,100 feet. Photograph by Scott Parazynski.

EJ: For you personally, what has been the greatest allure of
Everest
Peter Hillary (PH): All of our circumstances are
so different and consequently so are the incentives
and rationales for climbing. I assume for
Apa it is his career, although I know he loves
being up there and it was great that his first
ascent was made as a member of our expedition
19 years ago. I have heard similar comments
from Jamling Tenzing about his father, Tenzing
Norgay’s rationale for ascending into the “death
zone.” For others, perhaps it makes all the toil of
our professional careers worth it so that we get
the Everest opportunity.
I became the first second-generation Everester
to tag the top back in 1990, and, given that my
father and Tenzing were the first to summit the
mountain in 1953, that success has been amplified.
I know many people think that someone like
Brent Bishop or myself may well be carrying out
some family edict rather than being passionately
drawn to the mountaineering experience for its
own sake. But the reality is I have been climbing
all my life. I climbed McKinley last year, Kilimanjaro
a few weeks back with my daughter, and plan to
climb Mt. Cook in the Southern Alps. And let’s
face it, no one is surprised that medical families
produce more doctors and business families more
business types. The mountaineering influence is
transgenerational as well.
Apa Sherpa (AS): Ironically, summiting Everest
was never a personal goal for me. My father died
when I was 12, leaving me and my family to fend
for ourselves. In 1988, I was able to find work as
an expedition porter to earn money to support
my family. It turns out I really took to the mountain.
But then again, I come from Thame, Tenzing
Norgay’s hometown, so perhaps it is only natural
that climbing is in my blood and that I thrive in an
exhilarating high-altitude environment.
Ken Kamler (KK): The first time I saw Everest it
was like seeing a famous movie star. Everest is
not the hardest mountain in the world to climb
nor is it the most beautiful, but it’s the one
surrounded by the most legend and the most
symbolism. “Climbing Everest” has become
synonymous with taking on any difficult, nearly
impossible, challenge. The greatest discovery an
explorer can make is to find those unexpected
strengths we all have within ourselves.
Jim Williams (JW): As a young person in the 1960s,
I read about the American West Ridge climb of
Mt. Everest and was above all intrigued by the
Sherpas. I was taken by their culture and work
ethic. I always wanted to be like a Sherpa in the
mountains…the most trusted person in the background…the
one who had an intimate knowledge
of the mountain environment. As for making the
summit—the reason after a while is not to make the
“summit” for any other reason than to end the discussion
of “Have you climbed Everest” Others in
the mountaineering business with less experience
and skill have “summited” and are given credit
beyond yours if you have not “summited” Everest.
Unfortunately, standing on the summit is not nearly
as rewarding as the years spent in the process of
climbing with Sherpas and others on the mountain
in their backyard; learning respect and life lessons
for some honest and hard-working folks.
Pete Athans (PA): No other mountain has this
powerful or as deep an allure—an allure, which,
for the most part, is a combination of awe, challenge,
and curiosity. With its high altitude and
technical challenge of rock, snow, and ice, it is
a natural attraction for mountaineers. It is also a
symbol for greater personal achievement and
self-actualization. The allure of Everest is further
amplified by the mountain’s sacred nature for the
people of Nepal—the Sherpas especially.
Scott Parazynski (SP): The adventure and audacity
of Hillary and Norgay’s successful first ascent, amplified
by my imagination after reading many different
accounts of their climb (and almost every other
climb I could find in print), captured me at an early
age. I’ve been climbing in earnest since I was 15,
gradually increasing the difficulty and commitment
associated with each peak. I began rock scrambling
on crags in Greece during my high-school years,
followed by more substantial rock in California and
Colorado, and eventually moved into snow and ice
in North and South America. The Himalayas, and
Everest in particular, are the ultimate test piece.
Many people assume that someone who flies
in space, flies aircraft, rides a luge, dives under
the sea, or climbs big mountains is a risk taker or
daredevil. Although my vocation and hobbies are
the explorers journal

A s c e n t t h r o u g h t h e i c e f a l l
Climbers enter the lower reaches of the treacherous Khumbu
Icefall, one of the most dangerous stretches of the Everest climb
from the Nepali side. Photograph by Scott Parazynski.

a bit outside the norm, I am extremely respectful
of risk. I study, train, and prepare for risks in the
environments I visit, and manage them carefully.
With respect to Everest, I took a very measured
approach to the mountain, only considering it after
many years of “apprenticeship” on lesser mountains
of the world. You need to make your mistakes
on lower, more forgiving peaks before taking on
the Big E. I knew from prior climbs that I had the
wherewithal to turn back from a coveted summit
100 meters from the top when bad weather set in,
and that I had the technical skills to take care of
my teammates and myself if the going got tough.
Unfortunately, many Everest aspirants fast-track
their way to the mountain, and run into serious
difficulties because they haven’t been tested
before.
EJ: Are you aware of the risks posed by the peak and the
number of deaths on the mountain
KK: I’ve been to Everest six times and each time,
people have died there. I’m a cautious climber,
well aware of the risk of Everest and of the “sport”
of mountain climbing in general. The risk is part
of the attraction—not in any thrill-seeking way but
rather as a way to test yourself. You need to be in
control, totally focused and concentrated, and the
results of your efforts are evident immediately.
PA: Having completed 16 expeditions and having
summited seven times, I think I have a succinct
understanding of the inherent risks.
AS: I have to say that when I read the British
Medical Journal report, I was not at all surprised
by the disproportionate number of Sherpa deaths
on the lower reaches of the mountain, particularly
in the Khumbu Icefall, one of the most dangerous
parts of the Everest climb. Sherpas tend to make
four to five times as many traverses through this
deadly zone as the climbers who hire them for
an expedition. They have to set the ladders and
ropes and transport the heavy loads of equipment
needed for the higher camps. Western climbers
might go through the icefall four or five times for
acclimatization purposes. A Sherpa’s risk on an
individual traverse through the Khumbu is probably
lower than the average climber, but the 15 to
20 passes they must make through the icefall during
an expedition increase that risk severalfold.
JW: To be honest, mountain climbing is unsafe.
There is nothing you can do to make it safe. What
you can do, however, is learn the skills necessary
to reduce the risk to an acceptable level and to
mitigate disaster by being prepared for the unexpected
things that happen in the mountains. I
believe the fascination with death on Everest is
because it is “sexy” to discuss death as a function
of risk on the world’s highest mountain.
SP: I’ve tracked the stats on Everest for many
years via Liz Hawley’s reporting, and more recently
online via the AAC and British Medical
Journal articles. The risk of death after summiting
has been shown to be roughly equivalent to that
of perishing on a Space Shuttle flight. Attempting
to summit without supplemental oxygen increases
the odds substantially, so I never considered
doing it without O2.
EJ: In looking at the statistics, do you believe you may not be
at as great a risk as other climbers because you are better
prepared to deal with such danger and risk
JW: Most of those who die after summiting die as
a result of poor leadership, poor preparedness, or
abandonment of good decision-making. Everest
has become a test piece for fitness and determination
rather than the culmination of years and years
of solid mountaineering training. This is to a large
degree the result of guiding on Everest, but one
must remember that guides only provide a service
that a certain part of the population requests. I
believe as a well-trained guide you should not be
sucked into the “summit at all cost” mentality. I
often ask my clients to think about this one question:
“Would you be here climbing on Everest if you
could not return home and share it with others”
SP: I think it’s most important to be humble before
the mountain, meaning you need to check your
ego at the base of the Khumbu Glacier. Both of
my seasons on Everest, I had trained to the limit of
my physical ability, and with my background as an
astronaut, I had refined my ability to manage risk
and make good decisions under pressure—even
if it sometimes meant failing to attain my goals. I
didn’t ever think I was beyond danger or risk, or
that I was somehow a better or stronger climber
than others, but I did believe that I’d be able to
identify if and when it was time to turn back.
38

PA: No one eliminates risk on Everest, although
excellent preparation and knowledge do assist
in mitigating many of the risks. Some of the more
capable mountaineers and guides on Everest
have perished for a variety of reasons and some
of the least experienced climbers ever to go to the
Himalaya have climbed Everest unscathed. I’ve
been fortunate in that I am innately a conservative
climber and I implicitly trust the Sherpas with
whom I work, plus I have great patience.
EJ: What do you look for in fellow teammates—in terms of
overall fitness, psychological makeup, and training Who in
your estimation is the ideal person for the peak And, who
should stay far far away from it
KK: Although I’ve never led an Everest expedition—
I’ve had enough to do just taking care of my medical
responsibilities—I do have input in evaluating
potential climbers. The people who do best on the
peak are those who early on show a willingness
to work hard and remain cheerful, carry an extra
load without looking for recognition, and don’t
complain when the going starts to get rough. As
for training, one should be in the best shape of
one’s life. No one comes down from Everest saying
it was easier than they thought.
JW: As a guide on Everest, I am concerned about
the motivation of the team members. If the motivation
is “summit at all costs,” I am less interested
in having that person on my team. I am also less
interested in those who are looking for the “best
budget deal.” Climbing Everest should not be
bound by unattainable goals and budget constraints
that affect the way one approaches the
project.
SP: While I didn’t lead my two expeditions on
Everest—I climbed with a personal Sherpa but
without a guide—I have led a number of expeditions
to other parts of the world. Moreover, working off
the planet in confined spaces, I have a pretty good
feel for the types of people who can thrive as team
members in extreme environments. Having a good
sense of humor, a ready willingness to pitch in and
help, road-tested judgment, and technical competence
are the top four things I look for in climbing
partners. You can be the most fit climber-athlete
in the world, but if you are lacking in any of these
categories, no one will want to tie in with you.
Death on Everest
the cold, hard facts
An international team of experts, led by Paul Firth
of Massachusetts General Hospital, has examined
known deaths on the world’s tallest mountain.
Their study—published in the online edition of the
British Medical Journal—sheds some light on what
makes Everest among the most dangerous places
on Earth. Of the 14,138 mountaineers (8,030
climbers and 6,108 Sherpas) who have participated
in expeditions on Everest between 1921 and 2006,
3,058 have made it to the summit; 212 have died.
· The mortality rate above basecamp on Everest
was 1.3%. This is significantly higher than the
death rate on mountains attempted by similar
populations of climbers, including the Himalayan
peaks of Ama Dablam (6,814 m) and Cho Oyo
(8,201 m), which have respective death rates of
0.46% and 0.64%. The death rate among climbers
on Denali (6,194 m) in Alaska is 0.03% and
0.02% for Rainier (4,392 m) in Washington.
· For deaths above 8,000 meters, cognitive
impairment and ataxia or cerebral edema were
often present where pulmonary edema was not.
· Marked fatigue, late summit times, and the
tendency to fall behind companions are common
among nonsurvivors.
· The death rate among foreign climbers is higher
than among Sherpas. Sherpas tend to die on the lower
slopes, particularly in the region of the Khumbu
Icefall. Most foreign climbers die above 8,000 meters,
usually during descent from the summit.
· A typical expedition to Everest lasts a minimum of
60 days, but more than 80% of climber deaths occur
the day of the summit bid or shortly thereafter.
· Severe deterioration in the weather played a role
in 25% of all deaths.
The team, which included researchers from
Britain, Canada, and the United States, hopes
that their findings will provide a foundation for
improved safety, for both mountaineers and
Sherpas. A copy of the full report can be downloaded
from our website at www.explorers.org.
For more information, contact Kent Moore of the
University of Toronto, a co-author of the paper,
at gwk.moore@utoronto.ca.
—AMHS with additional reporting from Jeff Blumenfeld
the explorers journal

Topping out in the Khumbu
Climbers close in on Camp I at the top of the Khumbu Icefall on the
South Col route to the summit. Photograph by Scott Parazynski.

AS: The expeditions that hire me tend to make their
own selections in terms of team makeup. Having
been on the mountain for as long as I have, however,
I can tell just by watching climbers on their
first pass through the Khumbu who has what it
takes to succeed and who will likely fail based on
how they negotiate the cravasses and constantly
shifting ice. I can also tell you that weaker climbers
definitely increase the overall level of risk to
their fellow team members.
PA: Sometimes what makes the most successful
businessman, doctor, or attorney, does not always
equate to being a successful mountaineer. People
with Type A behavioral traits are often frustrated in
the high-mountain environment
where factors
beyond one’s immediate
control can preclude
success. Anyone who
doesn’t have the presence
of mind to walk
away from a summit
day that is inopportune
should not attempt the
peak.
EJ: Do you believe most people attempting Everest have an
unrealistic expectation of making the summit
AS: I do think people come to the mountain believing
climbing Everest is easier than it is. I have
turned back several times. In 1989, I was on an
expedition with Gary Ball, Rob Hall, and Phinjo
Sherpa. We got up to Camp 4 at 26,000 feet
when Rob began having stomach problems.
Pressing on made no sense so we turned back.
I also turned back in 2001 during an expedition
with a Japanese team, the members of which
were all over 55. They were not physically able to
go beyond Camp III. I could have told them that
further down below.
JW: As leaders of an expedition, it is up to the guides
to ensure that members of the team have realistic
goals and expectations. In 1995, we had reached
high above the Balcony on a glorious “summit day”
in very deep snow, which slowed our progress. We
realized that we would be unable to summit and
return safely, so we turned the entire team around
at 9:00 a.m. It was a great disappointment to us all
42
but all realized it was the correct decision in light of
the conditions and the amount of available oxygen.
There was no need to high point.
SP: Most of the climbing team members I’ve shared
Everest with had a reasonable chance of making it
to the top. But I was appalled to see a “climber” on
another team, descending the Khumbu Icefall, who
had to be coached on rappelling, one of the most
fundamental of mountaineering skills. On both
my seasons on Everest there were climbers who
successfully summited, but then failed to descend
because of exhaustion. Obviously this is a far cry
from success. You absolutely have to keep enough
gas in the tank to make a round trip!
EJ: Both 1996 and 2006
were particularly deadly
years on the peak. Were the
well-publicized incidents on
the mountain those years a
matter of chance, accidents
waiting to happen, or the
result of unusual circumstances,
or were there risks
taken in those years that
were some how atypical
PA: All the above. Given the competitive nature
of the commercial activities on Everest and the
increase in sheer numbers of teams approved to
climb, it is easy to argue that the accident was
imminent. Although the storm appeared violently,
such storms are not unusual on this mountain.
Everything went well until summit day and, when
the summit was within sight, the collective wisdom
of generations of Everest climbers had little or no
value. In the case of Rob Hall’s team, Doug Hansen
was simply obsessed and chose not to observe the
guidelines to which previously he had agreed. I’ll
never understand why Rob chose to follow Hansen,
with the rest of a weak team to manage in descent,
to say nothing of the imminent birth of his daughter.
What could one more summit have meant to
someone who had already climbed it 5 times This
strikes me as “atypical.” Had I been in Rob’s shoes,
I would have let Hansen go and brought the rest of
my team to the South Col. This one decision would
have saved probably 4 lives. Scott Fisher should
not have climbed that day. The effects of altitude
were cumulative and his performance lagged that
a warning sign outside Kunde Hospital. Photograph by Scott Parazynski.

of everyone else as a result. Everyone in his team
managed to make it down safely, thanks to Neil
Beidleman and ‘Toly Boukreev. Scott’s death was
senseless and entirely avoidable. To this day, it is
difficult to accept it happened.
KK: On both my ‘95 and ‘96 summit bids, Rob Hall
and his team were one day ahead of us. In ‘95,
Rob came down without summiting, having turned
around because, as he put it, “It was a bit of a
hard go.” My team and I made an attempt but also
turned around, just 900 vertical feet below the
summit. The following year, ‘96, we were all back
at it. Jim Williams and I were in a tent at 24,000
feet as we listened on our radios for news of Rob’s
summit team above us. Summit attempts always
have turnaround times but it seemed that day that
many of the climbers were behind schedule and
summiting late. When you’re close to the summit
there’s a very strong upward pull that leads climbers
to cut their safety margins thinner and thinner.
Sometimes you can get away with it but sometimes
you can’t—like when a violent storm suddenly rolls
in. In retrospect, of course, they should have turned
around sooner, as we all did the year before. I often
think that had we not done so then, the disaster
would have been in ‘95 rather than ‘96.
AS: Rob Hall had invited me to be part of his 1996
Everest team but my wife, Yangji, asked if I would
stay home that season and build the house I had
promised her. I truly believe my wife and God saved
my life that year, the only year I wasn’t on Everest.
JW: In 1996, in my opinion, the issue was competition.
The problems that developed were the result
of expedition leaders making business decisions
before making solid mountaineering/guiding decisions.
The two main players in 1996 believed that
they had a great deal to gain by getting various
celebrities to the summit. They focused on achieving
those objectives and forgot that their first
responsibility was to all their members and to their
own well-being. In the end these decision tracks
lead to their own demise. The storm and weather,
although bad, were not unusual or unexpected. I
do not know much about the 2006 year. I suspect,
however, that the conditions in 2006 were not unexpected
by those with many years of experience
on Everest. I think at the ‘96 disaster decade mark,
the media was looking for a story on Everest and
eventually found one in the poor choices being
made by a few misguided individuals constrained
by budgets and self-imposed rules, which all led
to a well-publicized turn of events.
SP: I think ’96 was a significant catalyst for change
on the south side of Everest. A more global acceptance
of having and adhering to a turnaround
time, earlier departures from high camp, generally
better screening of guided clients, and a team approach
to fixing the route before the big wave of
climbers attempt to summit has improved success
and safety on the mountain. Satellite internet access
to better weather forecasting has also been
a factor, but the overall risk remains. There will
always be people willing to take on Everest, and—
unfortunately—there will continue to be deaths in
the endeavor.
EJ: Ken and Scott, as doctors who have dealt with injuries
on Everest, what do you believe would increase the survival
rate those climbing
KK: There’s a saying in mountaineering: “There
are old climbers and there are bold climbers, but
there are no old, bold climbers.” The more cautious
you are, the more likely you are to survive,
but the less likely you are to summit. As a doctor,
I’m constantly observing my teammates for early
signs of medical problems, especially fatigue and
breathing difficulties, but if I sent down every
climber who was tired or coughing, no one would
ever climb Everest. Risk and reward must be balanced.
We have to always remember how much
more we have waiting for us below than we have
at the summit.
SP: I think better preparation, both technically and
extending over a greater length of time, would
increase the odds of success as well as reduce
the mortality on Everest. Climbing gear has improved
dramatically since 1953, but technology
can only protect a climber so far. Ultimately, skill,
physical conditioning, and well-honed decision
making are required to make a safe round trip to
the summit.
In the space business, we often say, “train like
you fly, and fly like you train.” What this means in
the context of Everest is that the more you can
climb in snow and ice environments before you
come to the Himalayas, the better your odds will
the explorers journal

e. Being comfortable on steep snow and ice, as
well as living on a glacier for weeks on end is best
learned on other climbing expeditions—on Denali,
Aconcagua, and other Himalayan peaks like Cho
Oyo, which are excellent preparation for Everest.
JW: Although I am not a doctor, I have dealt with
a great number of medical emergencies on this
and other mountains as well as some very remote
areas in the world. The determining factor that I have
come across that most influences the outcome of
potentially serious medical problems is how prepared
and knowledgeable the group is. There is
a new program, “Doctors on Everest,” which was
launched to better prepare those attempting the
summit. Despite its good intentions, it is actually
reducing the number of trained medical personnel
on expeditions, who have been replaced by those
with only the most basic first-aid training. This has
further eroded the depth of knowledge needed to
climb Everest, thus weakening the overall experience
of teams on the mountain.
EJ: Scott, with your training as an astronaut, is there anything
you might want to add in terms of training for extreme
environments Ken, you too might want to comment here.
SP: There are many corollaries between the spaceflight
environment and high altitude mountaineering:
living and working in a remote and often harsh
environment, often with limited resources, and a
small team. Margins for error are often slim, so participants
must be extremely well trained. Gearing
up for a summit push on an 8,000-meter peak is
very similar to suiting up for a spacewalk. You’re
wearing a full down suit, an oxygen mask, a backpack,
and thick gloves in a very thin atmosphere,
just like being outside a spacecraft. We use analog
environments to prepare future flight crews
for the rigors of spaceflight, including National
Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS) training in
the Wind River Range and elsewhere. We often
send crews to the Aquarius underwater habitat
off the Florida Keys for saturation dives, and have
also sent astronauts along with science teams
to the Atacama and to Antarctica. Future space
explorers on the Moon and Mars will benefit from
living and conducting field research under these
difficult conditions.
KK: The Aquarius missions are not physically
44

the summit in sight
From Camp III at 24,500 feet, the summit of Everest rises on the
far side of the Lhotse Face. Photograph by Scott Parazynski.

Apa Sherpa Scott Parazynski peter hillary
demanding like Everest but there are similarities in
the mental demands. You have to work and think
clearly in a hostile environment from which there is
no easy escape. If a problem develops, you have
to solve it—you can’t just leave.
EJ: What was your most frightening/challenging moment on
Everest How did you respond to it
PA: Effecting the rescue of Beck Weathers and
Makalu Gau and dealing with issues well documented
in Into Thin Air was both frightening and
surreal. I worked to make their rescue a success
as did so many others at the time.
KK: My most challenging moment on Everest
was undoubtedly the ‘96 disaster. I was the only
doctor high up on the mountain when the storm
hit. It was my fourth trip to Everest and by then
I had spent a combined total of one year on the
mountain. I had seen deaths from all sorts of injuries
and illnesses, but this was the first time my
friends were injured and dying. I had to detach
myself from any personal thoughts and just concentrate
on being a doctor.
I was at 24,000 feet with Jim Williams and
we knew it would be hours before any survivors
reached us. That gave me time to collect my
thoughts—not easy to do at that altitude—and
plan for every injury I thought I might see. We
gave preliminary treatment to the survivors, then
Jim led me down to Camp 2, at 21,000 feet,
where we set up a field hospital to provide more
sustained treatment. It wasn’t until the most severely
injured climbers were helicoptered out the
following day that my emotions came flooding
forward and I allowed myself to realize I had lost
some friends.
AS: The first time I was ever on Everest it was difficult.
I really wasn’t aware of the danger posed by
the mountain. Simply, I wasn’t prepared.
SP: The lowest point for me on Everest was May
21, 2008. I was at Camp III (24,500 feet) when
I had to abort my summit bid because of severe
low back pain. Although I didn’t know I had
ruptured a disc in my lumbar vertebrae, I knew
that the summit in my plain view was not to be,
and that I had an excruciating descent ahead of
me. Thankfully, I had an unlimited supply of ice! I
literally laid down every 20 or 30 minutes to ice
my back on the way down the Lhotse Face and
Western Cwm. On my summit this past spring,
the blowing snow on the South Col and unconsolidated
powder on the Triangular Face were
demoralizing. To make matters worse, we had
just a sliver Moon and our meager headlamps
to illuminate the climb ahead. On a typical summit
day, you can see your target, and judge your
progress. During my ascent, it seemed that I was
taking two steps up and one step back due to
the powder on the steep slope. I’d ask Danuru,
my friend and Sherpa sidekick, how much further
to the Balcony, and he would say, “We’re almost
there.” After hearing this four or five times, I began
to lose confidence in his assessments! We were
actually making exceptionally good time, but not
knowing this, I considered turning around a few
times. I persevered and we were able to see the
equivalent of an orbital sunrise from the summit!
EJ: So is Everest really worth the risk ultimately
KK: Climbing Everest reduces life to its essentials—food,
water, and shelter. You live intensely
and naturally. You plan your day according to the
46

Jim Williams Ken Kamler pete Athans
weather, not according to the day of the week. It’s
a more harmonious and satisfying way to live.
JW: Frankly, it is not worth anything. No one cares
in daily life if you have or have not climbed Everest.
For me, the experiences and lessons learned while
climbing with friends and Sherpas on Everest have
made the entire experience worthwhile.
SP: I consider my 30 minutes on top of Everest
as one of the defining moments of my life. Not
only was it the fulfillment of a boyhood dream, the
“delayed gratification” of summiting after the prior
year’s failure was pure exhilaration.
PA: Everest offers the opportunity to ascend not
only a mountain of rock, snow, and ice, but to enter
the landscape of myth and to plumb the depths
and ironies of the human mind.
AS: I think it is important that people realize
Everest will always be there and it is more important
to keep all team members safe than to put
people at risk. I never planned to set records. If
I could have planned my life differently, I would
gladly have given up the world records for a university
education. If you must know, I would rather
have been a doctor. I do think I have been able to
help my people in some small way. My past three
expeditions—including this year’s Eco Everest
Expedition—have been carried out to benefit the
Sherpa people and highlight the threats global
warming and environmental degradation pose
for the Himalayan people. I think that if I can effect
change for the better by raising awareness
of the extraordinary yet fragile environment in
which we live, it will certainly have been worth it
for me and my people.
PH: To push yourself to the edge and then make
it home again is life-changing stuff. Not just on
Everest, but on any mountain. It’s not everybody’s
cup of tea but for those of us who choose it, the
experience is hard to beat. Perhaps the best thing
about climbing is the camaraderie, the intensity,
the ‘“laughing at the storm that might kill you”
feeling, that fleeting moment of living life to the
maximum, of being in an incredible other-worldly
place that few others will ever know.
As the statistics show, Everest is a dangerous
place for mortals. But while climbers line up
now for positions on expeditions to the South
Col and North Ridge routes, it is clear that not
all Everest summits are equal. In the world of
evaluations—and this is a world of evaluations—I
would give my father and Tenzing a score of ten
out of ten for going where none had gone before
and ten points to [Doug] Scott and [Dougal]
Haston for their 1975 ascent via the South West
Face, ten to [Reinhold] Messner for climbing the
North Face solo and without oxygen in 1980,
and ten to [Erhard] Loretan and [Jean] Triollet
for their audacious 1986 alpine style ascent,
and ten to Tom Hornbein and Willi Unsoeld for
traversing the mountain via the fearsome West
Ridge in 1963—believe me, it is fearsome. I have
climbed most of it, but not all of it and that is
another story. I would only give a guided climber
on Everest’s standard routes one point. To be
sure it is an Everest point but it just isn’t the
same as the climbers whose ascents pushed
the envelope of human capacity and showed us
all what was possible. Still, if you make a mistake
it doesn’t matter whether your climb gets one
or ten points for its skill, audacity, or horizonexpanding
qualities—you die. The journey better
be worth it.
the explorers journal

Suicidal Birds
fear, destiny, and the human mind
by Christopher Ondaatje
The birds come in the thousands—hundreds of
thousands—to Jatinga, a tiny village on a ridge in
the North Cachar Hills district in southern Assam.
Rare and exotic birds: the Red Headed Trogon,
the Spangled Drongo, Blue Breasted Quail, the
Khalij Pheasant, Watercock, the Eurasian Curlew,
the Paradise Flycatcher, Mountain Imperial
Pigeons, Maroon Orioles, Crested Serpent
Eagles, Red Junglefowl, Veenal Hanging Parrots,
Scimitar Babblers, the Silver Eared Mesia,
the Blue Winged Minia, Woodcock, Doves,
White Throated Kingfishers, and a host of Ashy
Woodswallows. There are others. It is a mysterious
phenomenon that happens every autumn at
the end of the monsoon months, and always on
moonless and foggy late dark evenings between
7:00 and 10:00 p.m. Flying birds come crashing
to the ground with no warning. At first, the local
tribes interpreted this unnatural happening as a
sign sent by spirits to terrorize them. But now the
villagers light torches to further attract and confuse
the birds, killing them for food.
The mist and fog hang like a veil around the
beautiful face of a young woman over Jatinga,
which is located on a spur of the Haflong Ridge—
an offshoot of the main ridge of the Borail Range.
Curiously, the doomed birds do not attempt to fly
away after they land near the lights. Dazed and
dishevelled, they fall easy prey to the villagers,
some of whom use bamboo poles to bring down
the hovering birds. Records maintain that almost
fifty different bird species are attracted each year
to the Jatinga ridge. Invariably, they fly in only from
the north and, when the winds fly against them,
from the south. The suicidal activity of the birds
has never been explained. It is inevitable that the
birds get caught up in the fog and the wind and
get disorientated. But still they come and die—
year after year after year. Why
Curiously, it was Arne Naess, the Norwegian
mountaineer, who asked me whether I knew of
the suicidal birds when we were on a flight back
to England from Bermuda in 1985. We talked
through the night despite his being in a very weak
state as he had only just returned from leading
a successful Norwegian assault on Mt. Everest,
which included the English mountaineer Chris
Bonington. It was one of the most successful expeditions
ever. All 17 members made the summit
from the South Col–South East Ridge. He had
lost an awful lot of weight and his voice was reduced
to a faint, high-pitched whisper. He talked
a lot about death. “You know, Christopher, they
say you have to give 100 percent in order to climb
48

Everest. But they are wrong. You have to give 120
percent nearly all the time. And death is always
around you: frozen bodies, discarded oxygen
tanks, graves. Oblivion is only inches away. And
permanent exhaustion. You are forever fighting the
elements and yourself. There are others there but
this is a lonely business. You know that if you do
not have the will to survive it is a simple matter of
having to chose between life and death.”
Naess, who was born Arne Raab in 1937,
was the son of a German ski-jumping coach and
Kikki Naess, a member of one of Norway’s most
prominent families. His uncle Arne Naess, after
whom he was named, was a famous mountaineer,
ecologist, and philosopher who, in 1950, had led
the expedition that made the first ascent of Tirich
Mir in Pakistan. When his parents’ marriage broke
up after the Second World War, the eight-year-old
moved to Norway with his mother and his name was
changed to Naess. Picked on at school because he
spoke German in a nation still bitter about the Nazi
occupation, he eventually won the admiration of his
peers for his daredevil exploits. It is rumored that he
celebrated his last day at school in 1956 by climbing
the National Theater buildings in Oslo, leaving
his school cap on the building’s spire. Later he
was introduced to serious climbing by his uncle—a
passion that absorbed him for the rest of his life.
He eventually left Norway to work in New York for
another uncle, Erling Naess, who taught him about
the shipping business. By the late 1960s, when I
met him and he became a director of my Canadian
publishing company, he was estimated to be worth
$100 million. By then he had led a 1979 Norwegian
expedition to Numbur, a mountain 50 kilometers
south of Everest. This was followed by several other
important climbs. The passion endured but Everest
always remained his main focus.
It was curious that Naess mentioned Jatinga and
the suicidal birds. But, after the exhausting experience
of the successful Everest expedition, death
was very much on his mind. He had several close
calls and asked me point-blank during our long conversation
whether I had ever contemplated suicide.
I said I hadn’t, although I had written about it in a
1970 novel Fool’s Gold, about a young financial
adventurer who loses everything in a stock market
venture. He seemed fascinated. Then he explained
that he himself had never actually considered suicide
but, like the Jatinga birds, had forever felt the
urge to flirt with death and, if necessary, strive for
and achieve the impossible. It was like a magnet
for him. He never thought he would succeed in the
Everest experience. Even if he achieved the summit,
he never thought he would ever actually get
back to basecamp. The effort was beyond anything
he could have imagined and it changed his life.
We remained friends—even after I had sold all
my North American business interests in 1988
and returned to England to concentrate on writing
and exploration. By then, Naess had left his
first wife to marry the American singer Diana Ross
who he had met in the Bahamas. That turbulent
marriage would end in 1999.
I saw Naess for the last time in 2003 at The Royal
Geographical Society’s 50th Anniversary movie
of the first ascent of Everest by Sir Edmund Hillary
and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay in 1953. As usual we
talked about the good old times together, turmoil
in the financial markets, and our climbing and writing
ambitions. He told me he had met and fallen
in love with a Norwegian girl, Camilla Astrup, but
had no intention of giving up his mountaineering
career. “There are still more peaks to conquer,” he
laughed. “Some of them never climbed before.”
He seemed very happy and at ease with himself.
Therefore it was an awful shock when I learned,
first on the radio in England and then in the next
day’s newspaper, that on January 13, 2004, while
visiting his good friend, Johan Rupert, in South
Africa, he had died in a freak climbing accident
while descending a peak in the Groot Drakenstein
Mountains near Franschoek outside of Cape
Town. His companions said it was an accident
and I am convinced it was not anything else. They
had recommended that a local mountain guide
accompany him on the climb but he had refused.
According to police reports, Naess’ anchoring
equipment loosened from the porous mountainside,
and he fell a hundred meters to his death.
Arne Naess died doing what he enjoyed most
in his life. But I never forgot that curious emotional
conversation I had with him after his Everest expedition,
when he asked whether I knew about the
suicidal birds of Jatinga.
biography
A Fellow of The Explorers Club since 1994, Sir Christopher Ondaatje
is the author of nearly a dozen books, including Journey to the Source
of the Nile and The Man-Eater of Punanai: A Voyage of Discovery to
the Jungles of Old Ceylon and Four Stories of the East.
the explorers journal

a risky road
to freedom
in the footsteps of His Holiness,
the 14th Dalai Lama
text and images by Alan Nichols
Lhasa • Lhasa river
norbulinka •ramadan
to mt. kailas
• Shigatse
• chela pass
Brahmaputra river
tsethang •
The Valley of the Kings
Dalai Lama’s escape route, March 1959
flag° 186 expedition
lhuntse dzong •
Mt. Everest
“freedom in exile” •tawang
Brahmaputra river
50
It has been 50 years since His Holiness the 14th
Dalai Lama fled his homeland during Chinese
suppression of the March 1959 Tibetan Uprising,
a revolt carried out in the response to nearly a decade
of occupation and fears that the Red Army
had plans to abduct the spiritual leader.
With CIA support, Tibetan Freedom Fighters
had been working to fend off the Red Army, especially
near and south of Lhasa. And although the
Dalai Lama asked his people not to resist Chinese
authorities, ordering them to lay down their arms,
they chose not to obey. When thousands of
loyal Tibetans surrounded his summer residence at
Norbulinka near the capital to protect His Holiness,
Chinese troops soon moved in.
Terrified of being captured, the Dalai Lama
disguised himself as a Tibetan army soldier and
The author atop a white horse on the Chela.

slipped out of the Norbulinka at midnight, virtually
unnoticed. The Freedom Fighters fought off the
pursuing Chinese army and, traveling by night on
horseback, escorted His Holiness to India. The
Freedom Fighters later returned to fight and die in
Tibet. In India, the Dalai Lama, as he wrote in his
autobiography, Freedom in Exile, did indeed find
freedom, completed his education, and rose to
become the world’s foremost advocate for peace.
I have been drawn to the world’s most sacred
mountains, including those in areas adjoining
Tibet—China, India, Ladakh, Bhutan, and Nepal—
and in 1981, became the first Western pilgrim to
circumambulate Mt. Kailas in southwestern Tibet
after China opened the country to foreigners.
There, I was able to walk the kora around that holy
mountain counterclockwise in the ancient shamanistic
Bonpo tradition, which predates Buddhism
in Tibet. Mt. Kailas is the home of Shiva and his
consort Parvati to all Hindus and the connection
between heaven and Earth to Buddhists.
It was on that trip that I became stranded alone
in a blizzard on the Dolma La at 5,670 meters. I
survived thanks to the generosity of a lama in Lhasa
who insisted on giving me his heavy full-length
wool coat; the mountain that cleared the skies for a
morning sun; and two Bonpo priests who rescued
me, warming me with a yak-dung fire and providing
me with food and water.
The risks of my expeditions into Tibet over the
past 25 years pale in comparison to the risks ordinary
Tibetans face every day—at worst, torture
and death; at best, marginalization in the form
of joblessness, fear, poor education, and nonexistent
civil rights. Tibetans continue to risk their
lives escaping Tibet, traveling over 5,800-meter
passes in ill-fitting tennis shoes in the middle of
winter. In pondering their plight, I could not help
but think about the narrow escape of His Holiness
that spring in 1959.
Based on CIA records—updates provided to
then President Dwight D. Eisenhower by CIAtrained
Tibetan Freedom Fighters—the Dalai
Lama’s own writings, and archives at Stanford’s
Hoover Institute and Library, I was determined to
reconstruct the route—the exact roads and trails—
his party traveled. It was my hope to follow his
perilous route firsthand.
In centuries past, the biggest danger in Tibet
was falling prey to bandits. Today, banditry in Tibet
is still carried out, but largely by the government,
which extracts money from visitors through an
elaborate and ever-changing permit system. One
needs a permit to board a train to Lhasa and multiple
permits to leave Lhasa. These are obtained
from the army, police, foreign ministry, and local
officials, and require great amounts of time,
money, and patience. In the Tibet Autonomous
Region, foreigners’ travel is not ruled by laws but
by officials’ whims.
Officially, my wife Becky and I have journeyed to
Lhasa to visit the Potala, the historic home of the
Dalai Lama and seat of the traditional Tibetan government,
and the Jokhang, Tibet’s central Buddhist
shrine, and other important Buddhist sites, many
rebuilt in recent years by the Chinese government.
We would also be trekking around sacred Mt.
Kailas and in the vicinity of the Everest basecamp.
Unofficially, we had come to Tibet, carrying
Explorers Club Flag Nº 186, to retrace and
document the Dalai Lama’s historic flight out of the
Himalayan nation five decades ago and, in the process,
explore the various mountain passes between
Tibet, India, and Nepal, which Buddhist pilgrims
and Tibetan refugees continue to use today.
Suffice it to say, permits do not exist for what
we had planned to do. Much of our travel would
be with the aid of trusted friends, some of whom
would be risking their lives by mere association.
We took the new train some 4,050 kilometers
from Beijing to Lhasa, a journey that took 47 hours
and 20 minutes. Built at a cost of $4.2 billion, the
train travels over the highest tracks and tunnels
in the world hewn out of the Himalaya at more
than 5,000 meters. They solved their communications
problems with a $1 billion contract with a
Canadian company and they stabilized areas of
permafrost by refrigerating more than 640 kilometers
of the track bed. Although the passengers and
the train staff were all Han Chinese, I managed to
find one car, separated from the rest of the train,
full of Tibetans. We exchanged songs; I sang my
“Streets of Old Lhasa” (apologies to Loredo). We
enjoyed ourselves but afterwards the train was
locked down to keep foreigners away.
The views from our train windows rekindled my
love for Tibet—wide-open country, green rolling
hills, pure blue skies, puffy white clouds, and the
bright sun. Within the train, conditions got quite
raunchy with urine on the bathroom floors, grease
oozing out from the dining car, and cigarette
smoke filling the air.
the explorers journal

From years of travel throughout China by bike,
I was fully aware that my telephone calls would
be intercepted, my internet messages monitored,
my mail opened, my rooms searched, and anyone
I talked to or spent time with interrogated. Police,
uniformed and plain-clothed, are everywhere here.
While we are in Lhasa, a German woman in
our hotel is arrested and immediately deported
for handing a picture of the Dalai Lama to a lama
at Sera Monastery. She was fortunate. Tibetans
are routinely thrown in
prison and tortured for
possessing that picture.
The man to whom she
had given the picture
was not a lama but a
policeman in disguise.
For journeys outside
Lhasa—to the area of
Mt. Kailas and Everest—
we would be assigned
an official governmentlicensed
guide and a
driver who would take
care of the various assessments
and security
checkpoints. We were
careful not to tell them
our intention to follow
the Dalai Lama’s route of flight or locate refugee
passes over the Himalayas. I was careful to mention
only tourist book interests. As they are regularly
questioned about what we are up to, guides
try mightily to keep us in the usual tourist track.
As a result, we often end up in filthy rooms for
the night and eating suspicious foods because
our guide and driver refuse to camp even though
we have brought ample gear and provisions. “Too
cold…too dangerous…and, most of all, not approved,”
they tell us.
We began our pilgrimage at the Norbulinka,
which is open to the public as a tourist attraction.
It is easy to re-create that first night of the Dalai
Lama’s escape. Now, as then, the Chinese presence
is ubiquitous. Police are everywhere. We
even found mortar shrapnel from the 1959 attack
in the Norbulinka gardens. The blown-up remains
of the temple the Dalai Lama last visited, where
he left his scarf as a promise he would return, are
still there. Surreptitiously, we photographed the
bedroom where he spent his last night and the
52
pathways to the south gate through which he fled.
Although there is now a new bridge across the
Lhasa River, we were able to video the Ramadan
village and ferry where His Holiness crossed the
water with the Freedom Fighters.
After a two-hour rest the night of his flight,
the Dalai Lama was escorted on a white horse
over the Chela, which separates Lhasa from the
Yarlung River Valley to the south toward India. He
reported this was his last sight of Lhasa.
I’m determined to
experience it for myself.
While still in the
capital, I find a Tibetan
who introduces me to
an old man who that
night had scouted the
Dalai Lama’s flight
over the pass. To avoid
police, my contact and
I leave Lhasa at 3:00
a.m. and hike the pass
at first light. Halfway
up, that same scout
brings up a white horse
for me to ride, just as
he did for the Dalai
Lama 50 years earlier,
further deepening my
experience. They guide me to the top and give
me lunch. They also tell me part of the story the
Dalai Lama didn’t know. The Chinese troops,
frustrated by the Tibetan guerillas and unable
to capture the Dalai Lama, burned the homes
and killed the families of anyone suspected of
aiding the Dalai Lama’s escape, including the
family with whom the Dalai Lama rested before
riding up the pass. Since they won’t let me pay
for their time and risk, I just stuff money in their
pockets and leave.
Standing atop the pass in the early morning sun,
I could understand how the Dalai Lama must have
felt looking down the long river valley and over the
distant ranges where he must travel to get to India,
knowing the People’s Liberation Army would soon
come after him—freedom so seemingly far away.
He writes that he looked back toward Lhasa, his
home, for the last time, knowing the suffering his
people would endure without him.
Becky and I then drove along the Yarlung River,
where he rode his horse, to Tsethang and scouted
Pilgrims near Lake Paiku on the road to Mt. Kailas in southern Tibet.

Dirapuk Monastery and the 18,600-foot Dolma La en route to Mt. Kailas in the background.
the ferry near Samye Monastery, where he crossed.
While the two previous roadblocks had been no
problem, the police were apparently suspicious
about what we were doing in that area and held us
for three hours. Luckily, our guide convinced them
we just wanted to visit the Chongyre Royal Tombs
in the Valley of the Kings, many kilometers toward
the Indian border. After all, these seldom-visited
tombs included the burial site of Songsten Gampo,
the founding Warrior King of the Tibet nation.
About 60 miles from the Indian border, our luck
ran out. The Dalai Lama made it but we didn’t. The
army had sealed the area and no amount of bribery
would work with our driver and guide. We then head
for my holy Mt. Kailas, but that’s another story.
I had my first audience with the Dalai Lama in
1972, 13 years after he found his freedom. We
talked about sacred mountains. It took courage for
His Holiness to leave Tibet, ill, traveling by night,
fearing the horror of capture, and facing a dangerous,
unknown world. His successes, however,
have unexpected consequences for the Tibetans.
When we got back to Lhasa, I personally witnessed
the lockdown and punishment of lamas
at Drepung Monastery for their celebration of the
awarding of the Medal of Honor by the United
States Congress to the Dalai Lama.
Tibetans are desperate for the return of the Dalai
Lama after all these years. It will take great courage
for him to be with his people but he knows the
way…and so do I.
Acknowledgments
Thank you to my fantastic wife Becky for taking a chance
with me and to the Sacred Mountain Foundation for financing
the expedition.
biography
A Fellow of The Explorers Club since 1984 and current chairman of its
Northern California Chapter, Alan Nichols is a Tibetologist. His latest
article in Tibetan World outlines a unique proposal to resolve the Tibet
occupation. This is his sixth flag-carrying expedition.
the explorers journal

Extreme medicine
your health and safety in the field
The Remote
possibility of RISK
best to be informed and unarmed
Expeditions have inherent risks for injury and exposure
and knowing what to expect is essential
to preparation. While one cannot be prepared
for a swine flu outbreak, one can be informed
about known local health problems and security
issues. Surprisingly, says Warren Young, director
of security for the International Monetary Fund,
which employs a staff of 2,500 in 185 countries,
the most common mistake travelers make is not
educating themselves about risks in a destination
country. Scott Harrison, former CIA station
by Michael J. Manyak, M.D., FACS
chief in China and founder of risk management
company PSA Inc., concurs with Young that
many travelers have only limited knowledge of
local realties or the ability to weigh ground truth
against common perceptions. It is often a case
of not knowing what you don’t know.
We asked these experts to share with us what
they consider their tips on travel security.
For sources civilian travelers can use to determine
risk in a location, they recommended several
important websites containing basic travel
A car loaded with explosives detonates after a fender bender in Baghdad. Courtesy Mike Shiley, Inside Iraq: The Untold Stories (2004).
54

information, particularly with regard to health
conditions and civil unrest:
• World Health Organization (WHO), Center for Disease
Control (CDC), and Red Cross
• U.S .Department of State (http://www.state.gov/travel)
• The UN, UK, Australia, and Canadian government country
travel advisory websites are a good way to triangulate differing
opinions on Third World destinations.
“The U.S. State Department travel advisory site
has been criticized for being overly politicized,”
says Young, noting that their advisories do err
in favor of worst-case conditions. However, human
nature assumes bad things only happen to
others. If concerned, a long distance call to the
Regional Security Office of the pertinent embassy
will provide additional information. “People on
the ground in a country are often more attuned
to the immediate situation,” adds Harrison, who
says “any local source can be quite helpful.”
Departure for an expedition often is from a
city in a Third World country, which might have
safety issues. Our experts offered us several
recommendations for safety during hotel stays
in such places.
• Fire safety is a major concern in developing countries. Stay
on a floor above ground level but low enough for fire fighting equipment
to reach (floors 2 to 7). Know where fire exits are.
• Request a room that does not face the hotel front to mitigate
bomb blast impact if in a country with political volatility.
• Use a rubber “door stop” to supplement the door lock while
in your room.
• Have adequate communications.
• Be alert to clever scams initiated over the hotel room phone.
• Ensure that somebody (embassy contact, someone at home)
knows where you are each day.
When we asked about what to do during an
outbreak of violence in the city in which you are
staying, both Harrison and Young agree that the
best course of action in most cases is to stay in
your hotel. “Most hotel staff,” says Young, “are
more finely attuned to local conditions than visitors,
heed their advice.” If one is out, vacate the
immediate scene of violence or protest by the
fastest, safest route. If it is impossible to retreat
to one’s hotel, seek sanctuary in a building likely
to afford protection from the swirling events. “If
pinned down due to violence,” says Harrison, “a
workable cell phone may be your best means of
alerting others and rescue.”
So how realistic is it to expect help from one’s
embassy during an outbreak of violence or unrest
in a foreign country
“Embassies do not have resources to rescue
people from routine dangerous situations on a
daily basis,” Harrison told us, but registering with
your embassy upon arrival is always prudent so
they know of your presence in their jurisdiction.
In cases of natural disaster or a calamity involving
large numbers of foreigners, embassies are
usually very helpful in organizing evacuations.
Both Young and Harrison concur that if you are
arrested rightly or wrongly, international consular
law allows embassy access to imprisoned
citizens.
We asked if those traveling to a troubled area
should get visas for surrounding countries in
case of need to evacuate rapidly.
“This is actually a very good idea,” says Young,
“one we often use for IMF travelers. Open airline
tickets avoid scrambling for a ticket during an
emergency. Determining evacuation contingencies
before travel is also very prudent.”
So how real is the risk of being kidnapped in a
Third World country or remote area
The risk of being kidnapped is very real in certain
countries, especially in a remote area where
insurgencies abound or crime syndicates thrive.
“Kidnapping is often a crime of opportunity and
not well planned in advance like in the movies,”
says Harrison, noting that grinding poverty may
be the motivator for someone seeing an easy
payday from a well-heeled hostage. Many corporations
have kidnap and ransom (K&R) insurance
for employees, which ensures a negotiated
release, but it may be prohibitive for individuals.
AIG Insurance is a global leader in K&R, extortion,
and unlawful detention coverage.
So should one be armed in a troubled area
Young and Harrison both say that travelers
should avoid carrying firearms. It is nearly impossible
today to travel abroad with weaponry.
Carrying a weapon while traveling generally
creates more problems than it solves. If there
are reasons to be armed, secure armed security
specialists at the travel destination. If you really
need armed security, you are probably traveling
to the wrong place. Bad things can happen to
good people so don’t tempt fate.
the explorers journal

Extreme Cuisine
food for the epicurean adventurer
solar-baked Bread
by Linda Frederick Yaffe
“Here with a Loaf of Bread beneath the Bough,
A Flask of Wine, a Book of Verse—and Thou
Beside me singing in the Wilderness—
And Wilderness is Paradise enow.”
—Omar Khayyam, The Rubaiyat, ca. a.d. 1120
Astonish your camping party: present them
with a loaf of fresh bread. Include in your gear
a portable solar panel cooker, in which you can
cook or bake. It will also heat and pasteurize
water…all without the smoke, pollution, safety
concerns, and constant tending that accompany
campfire cooking. The following recipes
are swiftly prepared in one bowl, in one step.
Place the loaf in the solar cooker for about an
hour and a half between 10:00 a.m. and 2:00
p.m. on a sunny day—and serve with pleasure.
solar yeast bread
makes one 8-inch round loaf
1. Oil an 8-inch-diameter pot.
2. Stir together in a large bowl or pot, beating well after each addition:
• ½ cup warm water
• 2 tablespoons (2 packages) active dry yeast
• 5 ounces (1 small can) evaporated milk
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• ½ teaspoon salt
• teaSpoon black pepper
• 1½ cups whole wheat flour
3. Add 1 cup unbleached white flour and knead briefly in a bowl to form
a smooth 7-inch diameter loaf.
4. Place the loaf in the oiled pot, cover, and place in solar cooker for
1½ hours, or until light brown.
56

Rosemary-onion
focaccia
makes one 10×15-inch flatbread
1. Combine in a medium bowl, beating after each addition:
• 1 cup warm water
• 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
• 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1¼ cups whole wheat flour
• 1 cup unbleached white flour
2. Let stand in a warm, draft-free place for 1 hour, or until doubled
in bulk.
3. Oil a 10×15-inch rimmed baking sheet. Flour your hands, punch down
the dough, and press the dough to fill the baking sheet. Let rest for
20 minutes.
4. Sprinkle over the dough and let rest for 20 minutes longer:
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh (or 1½ teaspoon dried) rosemary
• cup finely chopped red onion
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
5. Press fingertips all over dough, forming indentations. Place
uncovered in solar cooker for 1½ hours. Serve warm or at room
temperature.
makes one 8-inch loaf
lemon
gingerbread
1. Combine in a medium bowl, beating after each addition:
• ¾ cup warm water
• 2 tablespoons dark molasses
• juice of 2 fresh lemons
• ¾ cup brown sugar
• ½ cup canola oil
• 1½ cups whole wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons ground ginger
2. Pour into an oiled 8-inch round or square pan. Cover and place in
solar cooker for 1½ hours or until a toothpick inserted in center
comes out clean. Serve as is or with cheese.
Biography
A California-based writer, Linda Frederick Yaffe is the
author of Backpack Gourmet, High Trail Cookery, and the
recently released Solar Cooking for Home and Camp.

eviews
edited by Milbry C. Polk
Living in Darkness
184 pp • Alabama: National
Speleological Society; 2009 •
ISBN-10: 1879961326, ISBN-13: 978-
18799613265 • $19
by Stephanie Jutta Schwabe
with contributions by G. Thomas Rea
Steffi Jutte Schwabe, one
very brave scientific cave
diver, has been making some
exceptional discoveries
in the Blue Holes of the
Bahamas and testing new
theories about cave formation.
How she found this
path in life and her adventures,
from the euphoric to
the tragic, are chronicled
in her new book, Living in
Darkness. A competitive
swimmer, Schwabe was
intrigued when she saw a
class learning how to dive in
her college pool. Never one
to hang back when presented
with a challenge despite
complicating factors—in this
case a chronic ear problem—
Schwabe joined the class.
Before long, she was diving
in the ocean and then
in caves, which became
her passion and led her to
pursue a graduate degree in
science at the University of
Mississippi. It was there that
she met her future husband,
famed cave diver Rob Palmer.
Together, they founded the
Blue Holes Foundation to
study and to preserve the
fragile and unique Blue and
Black “Holes” or caves of the
Bahamas. Despite, or perhaps
spurred by, the tragic
underwater death of her
husband, Schwabe went on
to get her law degree to more
effectively fight to preserve
this unique cave system.
Schwabe pulls no punches in
the book and through her we
learn what a tough yet exciting
path she has chosen for
her life.
58

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Wildflower
An Extraordinary Life
and Untimely Death in Africa
by Mark Seal
256 pp • New York: Random House,
2009 • ISBN-10: 1400067367, ISBN-13: 978-
1400067367 • $26
Some of the best-known conservationists
in Africa have
been attacked in recent years
for their crusading efforts on
behalf of wildlife. It is a problem
that is due to the critical
competition between human
overpopulation and animals
over basic resources like
water and land. In Wildflower:
An Extraordinary Life and
Untimely Death in Africa,
writer Mark Seal has documented
the life and death of
one of the latest victims, Joan
Root, who was half of the
well-known Root documentary
team. For decades Joan
and Alan Root created some
of the best documentary films
on the wildlife of Africa. After
their divorce, Joan worked to
save a small piece of Kenya’s
beautiful countryside. In 2006
she was murdered. She was
likely targeted because of her
REVIEWS
valiant efforts to save what
once was a stunningly beautiful
lake teeming with wildlife
but had over the past decades
become a choked toxic body
of water nearly devoid of fish
and wildlife.
Born in Kenya to a safari
guide and coffee planter,
Joan grew up in the country.
When she found and nursed
a baby elephant she won
the heart of a rough young
Alan Root, who was eager
to make his mark in the film
world. Together they made
spectacular documentaries
of some of the most unusual,
little seen, and dramatic of
Africa’s flora and fauna. Their
audiences saw stunning imagery,
including the beautiful
Joan as she made a perfect
swan dive into crocodileinfested
pool or as she was
spit at repeatedly (looking for
the perfect shot) by a lethal
giant Egyptian cobra. But
Joan was far more than the
glamorous model, she was
the logistician and producer
for their complicated films
some of which took a year of
more to make. Joan and Alan
spent decades in the bush
doing what it took to create
their award-winning films.
Sadly, the team fell apart
when Alan’s philandering
went too far. Joan was bereft.
Always the one in the background
to the more flamboyant
Alan, she had to find her
own voice and interests apart
from her husband.
She became a passionate
crusader for animals and the
environment. Left after the
divorce with the ramshackle
house on Lake Naivasha that
the explorers journal

they had purchased early in
their marriage, Joan watched
their remote paradise become
filled with homeless
migrants, hoping for a job in
the booming new business of
growing roses—plantations of
which now encircled the lake
pouring fertilizers and waste
that choked the waters. Joan
employed poachers to catch
other poachers and to protect
the animals. But she could
not stem the tide. Shockingly,
this quiet, lovely, woman was
murdered in a hail of bullets in
her bedroom on the lake.
Seal captured her voice and
story in his excellent biography
of a crusader in the mold
of her friends Dian Fossey and
Joy and George Adamson, all
of whom paid with their lives
for their attempts to save the
land and animals they loved.
60
C o n f e s s i o n s o f a n
Alien Hunter
by Seth Shostak
320 pp • Washington, DC: National
Geographic, 2009 • ISBN-10: 1426203926,
ISBN-13: 978-1426203923 • $27
REVIEWS
Aliens have always been
among us—so millions believe.
Some see enigmatic ancient
rock paintings as proof, others
believe tales of “abduction,”
and thousands of otherwise
credible people claim to have
seen strange space vehicles
hovering, flying in an odd
manner, emitting bizarre lights
and sounds. Books, films, and
TV shows have tantalized and
terrified us with the possibility
of benign, benevolent, or
vicious creatures from lightyears
away, intent on getting
something from our blue
Earth. But are they really out
there For several decades
The SETI Institute (Search for
Extraterrestrial Intelligence)
has been systematically and
scientifically trolling the universe
for some kind of sign.
For 25 years, Seth Shostak,
a senior astronomer, has
been one of the searchers.
He chronicles his years on
the hunt in a fascinating new
book, Confessions of an
Alien Hunter: A Scientist’s
Search for Extraterrestrial
Intelligence.
Most scientists, it turns
out, do believe life exists in
the universe. Not only has
the recent discovery of the
prerequisite of life—water—on
Mars, the moons of Jupiter,
even our own Moon, but also
the discovery of the existence
of hundreds of planets rotating
around distant stars given
credence to the existence of
life throughout the universe.
But what is the nature of that
life Can it communicate
Science exists on proof, not
belief. SETI has been searching
for that proof. Specifically,
they are listening. Decades
of radio and television broadcasts
have streamed from
Earth into space. Likewise,
SETI astronomers believe
other intelligence may be
deliberately or otherwise
streaming their communication
into space. Shostak and
his colleagues are looking
for not random interstellar
noise but what Shostak calls
“cosmic company.” Linked to
large radio arrays around the
world, SETI computers are
downloading and analyzing
packets of sound. And more
than a million private citizens
are helping by downloading
these packets from SETI@
home, onto their own computers
to aid the search. Shostak
tells us that SETI’s method
has a much better chance of
success than that of the few
spacecraft we have sent aloft,
which can only move relatively
slowly over space and time.
Results from their explorations
will take countless years
to reach Earth, by which time
we will all be long gone.
Shostak reviews of our
evolving understanding of both
the place of the Earth in the
universe and the complexities
of life on our own planet that
informs how we search for it
in the universe. He dismisses
most theories about aliens
among us. How could beings
who are obviously much
more advanced than we can
imagine, be content to doodle
crop circles or even abduct
a few humans Shostak reminds
us that science needs
facts. Finding a signal would
be the proof we need. As
our technology improves so

T H E E X P L O R E R S C L U B c h a p t e r c h a i r s
46 east 70th street, New York, NY 10021 I 212-628-8383 I www.explorers.org
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ensure a future for the world
center for exploration!
REVIEWS
do our chances of a discovery.
But what, he asks, would be
our reaction if SETI picked up a
true signal It will be, he warns,
a profound moment for all humanity.
This is an engaging and
thought-provoking book that will
have us all looking up into the
night sky with renewed curiosity,
understanding, and wonder.
The Lowell Thomas Building
buy a brick campaign
Founded in 1904 “to promote exploration by all
means possible,” The Explorers Club © has become
the premier resource for expedition planning and research.
This fabled venue has also played a primary
role for those pushing the limits of knowledge and
human endurance as a place to share the results of
their expeditions with the greater public.
Today, we have embarked on a multiphase restoration
of our historic headquarters and the extraordinary
archives it houses—phase 1 will cost an estimated
$1.5 million. To underwrite this effort, we are offering
for sale “virtual bricks.” The purchase of bricks—which
cost $50 each—will enable us to procure the necessary
materials and expertise to carry out this important
project. Directors and Officers of the Explorers Club
have already purchased more than $1,200 worth of
bricks toward the capital campaign, which has been
generously funded by a $300,000 grant from the
estate of Richard H. Olson (FN’79). To learn more,
please contact committee co-chairs President Lorie
M.L. Karnath or Director Will Harte at 212-628-8383,
or e-mail: president@explorers.org.
the explorers club
46 East 70th Street, New York, NY 10021
212-628-8383 www.explorers.org
Blood River
A Journey to Africa’s Broken Heart
by Tim Butcher
384 pp • New York: Grove Press, 2008
• ISBN-10: 0802118771, ISBN-13:978-
0802118776 • $25
London Daily Telegraph correspondent
Tim Butcher’s new
book, Blood River: A Journey to
Africa’s Broken Heart, explores
a modern-day blank spot; not
the geographical swaths of the
last century, rather the darker
depths of humanity. In 2000,
against the wishes of everyone
he knew, Butcher embarked on
a perilous journey to retrace
the route of Livingstone along
the Congo. The reason for his

REVIEWS
suicidal journey was that he
“wanted to do…something that
had not been done for decades
to draw together the Congo’s
fractious whole by travelling
Stanley’s 3,000-kilometer route
from one side to the other.” The
Congo—along with the Amazon,
Earth’s lungs—is a repository
of countless species hidden
beneath its vast green canopy
and a rich storehouse of cobalt,
diamonds, gold, and timber. It
has been engulfed for decades
in a paroxysm of brutality. The
Congo of Stanley’s 1877 expedition
and of Butcher’s own
mother’s 1950s idyllic train trip
across the country is long gone.
Years of war have destroyed the
infrastructure of the country.
The poor are desperately poor;
the rich have guns and foreign
bank accounts. Life has little
value. The dead lie unburied.
You know things are going
to be bad from the outset. The
Congo airport Butcher lands in
is a real-life portal to hell. His
entire trip is one long terror ride
through regions ruled by ruthless
drugged young fighters
who would like nothing better
than to shoot him for his shoes.
Yet amid the despair, he meets
a number of good souls who
help him through some very
rough patches. The Congo he
portrays is a forlorn land with
crumbling memories of a better
place and time: a train station
with no trains, a villa with no
doors or windows, a school
without children. “It is a terrible
place where terrible things happen,”
a Congolese priest told
him. The only hope is that this
journey took place in 2000 during
the civil war and perhaps
things are better now.
T HE E X PL OR E RS CLUB
LEGACY SOCIETY
Thank you for your support!
Robert J. Atwater
Capt. Norman L. Baker
Barbara Ballard
Robert D. Ballard, Ph.D.
Samuel B. Ballen
Mark Gregory Bayuk
Daniel A. Bennett
Josh Bernstein
John R. Bockstoce, D.Phil.
Bjorn G. Bolstad
Capt. Bruce M. Bongar, Ph.D.
Garrett R. Bowden
Harry Davis Brooks
Lt. Col. Jewell Richard Browder*
August “Augie” Brown
John C.D. Bruno
Lee R. Bynum*
Virginia Castagnola Hunter
Julianne M. Chase, Ph.D.
Maj. Gen. Arthur W. Clark,
USAF (Ret.)
Leslie E. Colby
Jonathan M. Conrad
Catherine Nixon Cooke
Constance Difede
Mr. & Mrs. James Donovan
Col. William H. Dribben, USA
(Ret.)*
Sylvia A. Earle, Ph.D.
Lee M. Elman
Michael L. Finn
Robert L. Fisher, Ph.D.
John W. Flint
Kay Foster
James M. Fowler
W. Roger Fry
Alfred C. Glassell, Jr.
George W. Gowen
Randall A. Greene
Jean Charles Michel Guite
Capt. Robert “Rio” Hahn
Allan C. Hamilton
Scott W. Hamilton
O. Winston “Bud” Hampton,
Ph.D.
Brian P. Hanson
James H. Hardy, M.D.
Judith Heath
Robert A. Hemm
Gary “Doc” Hermalyn, Ph.D.
Lotsie Hermann Holton
Charles B. Huestis
Robert Edgar Hyman
J.P. Morgan Charitable Trust
Robert M. Jackson, M.D.
Kenneth M. Kamler, M.D.
Prince Joli Kansil
Lorie M.L. Karnath
Anthony G. Kehle, III
Anne B. Keiser
Kathryn Kiplinger
Thomas R. Kuhns, M.D.
Hannah B. Kurzweil
for additional
information contact
Carl C. Landegger
Michael S. Levin
Florence Lewisohn Trust
J. Roland Lieber
Michael Luzich
James E. Lockwood, Jr.*
Jose Loeb
John H. Loret, Ph.D., D.Sc.
Margaret D. Lowman, Ph.D.
Robert H. Malott
Leslie Mandel
Robert E. McCarthy*
George E. McCown
Capt. Alfred S. McLaren, Ph.D.,
USN (Ret.)
Lorus T. Milne, Ph.D.
James M. Mitchelhill*
Arnold H. Neis
Walter P. Noonan
Martin T. Nweeia, D.D.S.
Dr. John W. Olsen
Kathleen Parker
Alese & Morton Pechter
William E. Phillips
Prof. Mabel L. Purkerson, M.D.
Roland R. Puton
Dimitri Rebikoff*
John T. Reilly, Ph.D.
Adrian Richards, Ph.D.
Bruce E. Rippeteau, Ph.D.
Merle Greene Robertson, Ph.D.
Otto E. Roethenmund
James Beeland Rogers, Jr.
Rudy L. Ruggles, Jr.
Gene M. Rurka
Avery B. Russell
David J. Saul, Ph.D.
Willets H. Sawyer, III
A. Harvey Schreter*
Mr. & Mrs. Donald Segur
Walter Shropshire, Jr., Ph.D.,
M.Div.
Theodore M. Siouris
William J. L. Sladen, M.D., D.Phil.
Susan Deborah Smilow
Sally A. Spencer
Pamela L. Stephany
Ronnie & Allan Streichler
Arthur O. Sulzberger
Vernon F. Taylor, III
Mitchell Terk, M.D.
C. Frederick Thompson, II
James “Buddy” Thompson
Marc Verstraete Van de Weyer
Robert C. Vaughn
Ann Marks Volkwein
Leonard A. Weakley, Jr.
William G. Wellington, Ph.D.
Robert H. Whitby
Julius Wile*
Holly Williams
Francis A. Wodal*
* Deceased
the explorers club
46 East 70th Street
New York, NY 10021
212-628-8383
development@explorers.org

WHAT WERE THEY THINKING
great moments in exploration as told to Jim Clash
Going Supersonic
with Andrew Green
Fifty years after Chuck Yeager broke the sound barrier
in an airplane, Andrew Green did it in a car. On
October 15, 1997, he set a land-speed record of 763.035
mph Piloting ThrustSSC down a measured mile (and back,
within an hour) at Nevada’s Black Rock Desert. We caught
up with the RAF pilot, 47, who is preparing to break his
own record in another car, Bloodhound, in 2011.
JC: Take us back to your record day.
AG: We’re at the end of a huge engineering
project. Everybody has done their bit, and I have
to do mine: Get the car through the first measured
mile supersonic, then help the guys turn it
around and drive it back through the mile again
supersonically, all within an hour.
JC: You had broken the land-speed record two
days earlier, but didn’t get the car turned around
fast enough for it to count, right
AG: We missed by 49 seconds! This time it went
perfectly. We had 8 minutes to spare.
JC: What is it like when you know you’ve done it
AG: Once I have the car going back [up the
mile course] supersonically, with both afterburners
in, I’m looking at speed. Apart from
timekeepers—who aren’t talking—I’m the only
person who knows we’ve achieved it. But, of
course, I’m still driving over 700 mph, so I’m focusing
on delivering the last bit of the contract.
JC: Surprised your mark has lasted 12 years
AG: We were genuinely concerned we might have
killed off the record [by setting the bar so high].
I am delighted there are three or four teams now,
including ourselves, having a go at it.
JC: What challenges does 1,000 mph present
AG: The power required goes up with the cube of
speed, so if you’re going 30 percent faster you
need at least twice as much power. The load on
the wheels goes up to 50,000 times the force
of gravity, so we’ve got to build wheels that can
handle that. We will need to keep Bloodhound
on the ground from slow speeds to Mach 1.4.
JC: Ever fear for your life
AG: Yea, every time I do the Cresta Run [St.
Moritz skeleton sled race].
More of Jim Clash’s columns and videos can be found at www.
forbes.com/tothelimits or www.youtube.com/jimclash.
64

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image by Cristian Donoso, diving in western patagonia

ed viesturs
High-altitude mountaineer.
Eco-conscious philanthropist.
Summited the world’s 14 tallest
peaks, without supplemental oxygen.
A man on a mission.
Obviously, he’s not out of breath.
rolex. a crown for every achievement.
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