the explorers journal the global adventure issue - The Explorers Club

the explorers journalWinter 2007/2008president’s letterour honorable tradition continuesThe Explorers Club was originally conceived as an association ofexplorers who gathered for regular meetings that, in 1904, the foundersreferred to as smokers. While a lot has changed since then, ourdedication to our original mission of promoting exploration by sharingour accomplishments with the general public and the educational andscientific communities is stronger than ever. This year, I have been privilegedto attend many inspiring educational programs at which I was ableto share some of our club’s history and current activities with scientists,educators, and students. I would like to highlight a few of those for you.In April, I spoke at a symposium dedicated to the future exploration ofEarth and space. This event was held in conjunction with the launch ofArizona State University’s new School of Earth and Space Exploration—thefirst institution to unite Earth and planetary scientists with astronomers.In June, I hosted a seminar on exploration at Morehouse College inAtlanta as part of the student-mentoring program, Adventures of theMind. Other members in attendance included Nobel Prize winner MurrayGell-Mann, Ph.D., FN’79, and Kenneth Mark Kamler, M.D., FR’84.In August, I was invited to appear on Bloomberg’s Night Talk withMike Schneider, which gave me the opportunity to share the historyof our club with the public, as well a chance to talk about some of theamazing accomplishments our members have achieved since the foundingof our club more than a century ago.In October, I moderated a symposium, Risk and Exploration II—Earthas a Classroom, at Lousiana State University in Baton Rouge. There, Iwas once again joined by Kamler and our club’s honorary president, JimFowler, who spoke at the event. A webcast of the symposium, establishedby astronaut Leroy Chiao, FN’05, can be seen in its entirety atwww.riskexplore2007.com.Thank your for the opportunity to serve during this past year as yourpresident. It has been a privilege and an inspiration to represent the clubon these momentous and groundbreaking occasions when history andexploration are still revered. It is also rewarding to know that after 103years, our mission is as relevant today as it was at our founding.Sincerely yours,Daniel A. Bennett

the explorers journalWinter 2007/2008editor’s noteA Global AdventureThis issue we set foot on literally every continent on Earth.In our lead story, Jon Bowermaster invites us along on hisOceans 8 expedition, which, as of this writing, is boundfor Antarctica’s Larsen Ice Shelf to complete the final legof a journey that has taken the avid kayaker to some of themost remote parts of our globe. Paddling through sharkinfestedwaters and treacherous seas, Bowermaster is ona quest to focus international attention on the plight of ouroceans, which are threatened by global warming, pollution,and overfishing.As part of our ongoing celebration of the InternationalPolar Year (see http://www.ipy.org/) we continue to highlightpioneering research in the polar environments. Thisissue, Kenneth L. Smith of the Monterey Bay AquariumResearch Institute shares his work unraveling the secretlives of Antarctica’s icebergs. Once thought to be littlemore than inanimate islands of frozen water, icebergs havebeen found to host complex independent ecosystems thatplay a critical role in the drawdown of carbon dioxide andorganic replenishment of our oceans. In the Arctic, Geoffrey Clark providesfresh insight into the events that unfolded during Adolphus W.Greely’s tragic Lady Franklin Bay Expedition of 1881–1884.We are also privileged to publish selections from a rare portfolio ofimages that have lain dormant since the 1968 publication of RobertGardner’s Gardens of War: Life and Death in the New Guinea StoneAge and snapped by none other than Michael Clark Rockefeller onlymonths before his mysterious disappearance while documentingthe Asmat of southern New Guinea in November 1961. Taken duringGardner’s famed Harvard-Peabody Expedition to the Baliem Valley, thephotographs—some 4,000 in all—chronicle the daily lives of the warringDani, who, despite the encroachment of the modern world—continue topursue their traditional lifeways.an elegant manta ray swimsbeneath Jon Bowermaster’s kayakOff the atoll of Fakarava in theTuamotus. Photo by Peter McBrideAngela M.H. Schuster, Acting Editor-in-Chief

THE EXPLORERS CLUB TRAVELERSA World of AdventuresFEATURED JOURNEYHidden AlaskaPrivate Lodges in Denali, Fox Island& the Kenai Peninsulawith Explorers Club PresidentDaniel A. BennettJuly 8–19, 2008Travel with Explorers Club members and friends onluxurious adventures far off the beaten path in thecompany of distinguished and engaging leaders. Take a floatplane to the world famousBrooks Falls to view brown bearsfeeding on migrating salmon; Cruise aboard a private boat throughthe Kenai Fjords National Park toview sea otters, puffins (and manyother bird species), harbor seals, Stellersea lions, and whales; Stay deep within Denali National Parkand enjoy excursions to view caribou,moose, Dall sheep, grizzly bears, andresident & migratory birds. Experience the thrill of rafting through theKenai National Wildlife Refuge; Optional flight-seeing tours of Mt.McKinley (Denali) and its adjacent glacialcanyons; Our small group of no more than 14participants will stay at some of Alaska’sfinest backcountry lodges.SELECTED JOURNEYSimage courtesy of © 2007 Will Steger FoundationPlease contact us at:800-856-89519am - 6pm Mon-Fri, ETToll line: 603-756-4004Fax: 603-756-2922Email: ect@studytours.orgWebsite: www.explorers.orgUltimate Serengeti SafariFebruary 12–24, 2008 (13 days)Himalayas by AirMarch 21–April 7, 2008 (18 days)The Best of Melanesia & MicronesiaPapua New Guinea, Trobriand Islands, Yap & PalauMay 8–24, 2008 (17 days)Fire & IceJapan to Kamchatka, June 7–21, 2008 (15 days)Kamchatka to Alaska, June 19–July 3, 2008 (15 days)

the explorers journalwinter 2007/2008the explorers clubPresidentDaniel A. BennettBoard Of DirectorsOfficersPATRONS & SPONSORSHonorary ChairmanSir Edmund P. Hillary,KG, ONZ, KBEHonorary PresidentJames M. FowlerHonor a ry Direc torsRobert D. Ballard, Ph.D.George F. Bass, Ph.DEugenie Clark, Ph.D.Sylvia A. Earle, Ph.D.Col. John H. Glenn Jr., USMC (Ret.)Gilbert M. GrosvenorDonald C. Johanson, Ph.D.Richard E. Leakey, D.Sc.Roland R. PutonJohan Reinhard, Ph.D.George B. Schaller, Ph.D.Don Walsh, Ph.D.CLASS OF 2008Garrett R. BowdenJonathan M. ConradKristin Larson, Esq.Margaret D. Lowman, Ph.D.Robert H. WhitbyCLASS OF 2009Daniel A. BennettKenneth M. Kamler, M.D.Lorie KarnathTheodore M. SiourisAlicia StevensCLASS OF 2010Anne L. DoubiletWilliam HarteKathryn KiplingerDaniel A. Kobal, Ph.D.R. Scott Winters, Ph.D.Vice President, ChaptersRobert H. WhitbyVice President, MembershipLynda RoyVice President For OperationsGarrett R. BowdenVice President, Research & EducationMargaret D. Lowman, Ph.D.TreasurerMark KassnerAssistant TreasurerKevin O’BrienSecretaryDaniel A. Kobal, Ph.D.Assistant SecretaryAnne DoubiletPatrons Of ExplorationRobert H. RoseMichael W. ThoresenCorporate Partner Of ExplorationRolex Watch U.S.A., Inc.Corporate Benefactors Of ExplorationLenovoRedwood Creek WinesCorporate Supporter Of ExplorationNational Geographic SocietymastheadEDITORSActing Editor-in-ChiefAngela M.H. SchusterManaging EditorJeff StolzerContributing EditorsJeff BlumenfeldJim ClashClare Flemming, M.S.Michael J. Manyak, M.D., FACSMilbry C. PolkCarl G. SchusterNick SmithCopy ChiefValerie Saint-RossyART DEPARTMENTArt DirectorJesse AlexanderDeus ex MachinaSteve Burnettthe explorers journal © (ISSN 0014-5025) is publishedquarterly by THE EXPLORERS CLUB, 46 East 70th Street,New York, NY 10021, telephone: 212-628-8383, fax:212-288-4449, website: www.explorers.org, e-mail: editor@explorers.org. The views and opinions expressed hereindo not necessarily reflect those of THE EXPLORERS CLUB orthe explorers journal. Subscriptions should be addressedto: Subscription Services, the explorers journal,46 East 70th Street, New York, NY 10021.Subscriptionsone year, $29.95; two years, $54.95; three years, $74.95;single numbers, $8.00; foreign orders, add $8.00 per year.Members of THE EXPLORERS CLUB receive the explorersjournal as a perquisite of membership.PostmasterSend address changes to the explorers journal, 46 East70th Street, New York, NY 10021.SUBMISSIONSManuscripts, books for review, and advertising inquiriesshould be sent to the Editor, the explorers journal, 46East 70th Street, New York, NY 10021. All manuscripts aresubject to review. the explorers journal is not responsiblefor unsolicited materials.All paper used to manufacture this magazine comes fromwell-managed sources. The printing of this magazine is FSCcertified and uses vegetable-based inks.THE EXPLORERS CLUB, the explorers journaL, THE EXPLORERSCLUB TRAVELERS, WORLD CENTER FOR EXPLORATION, and TheExplorers Club Flag and Seal are registered trademarks ofTHE EXPLORERS CLUB, Inc., in the United States and elsewhere.All rights reserved. © The Explorers Club, 2007.50% RECYCLED PAPERMADE FROM 15%POST CONSUMER WASTE

The 6th AnnualExplorers ClubFilm FestivalJune 13-14, 2008Celebratingthe Spirit ofExplorationCall for Submissions: December 1, 2007Deadline for Submissions: February 15, 2008Best Exploration FilmBest Science Exploration FilmBest Adventure FilmBest Conservation and Wildlife FilmBest Environmental FilmBest Expedition FilmBest Film by an Explorers Club MemberFestival Director’s Choice—An Explorers Club Flag Expedition Film.For more information: www.explorers.orgSir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, courtesy the Royal Geographical Society Everest Archive

exploration newsedited by Jeff Blumenfeld, expeditionnews.comA r c t i c S e a i c erecord Lowfabled Northwest Passage open for shipping?square kilometers per year.One factor that contributedto this fall’s extreme declinewas that the ice was enteringthe melt season in an alreadyweakened state. Accordingto NSIDC research scientistJulienne Stroeve, “Spring of2007 started out with lessice than normal, as well asthinner ice.” Another factorwas an unusual atmosphericpattern, with persistent highatmospheric pressures overthe central Arctic Ocean andlower pressures over Siberiathis past summer—clear skiesunder the high-pressure cellpromoting strong melt. Atthe same time, the patternof winds pumped warm airinto the region. While thewarm winds fostered furthermelt, they also helped pushice away from the Siberianshore.Recycle thoseropesArctic ice has shrunk to thelowest level on record, newsatellite images show, raisingthe possibility that theNorthwest Passage will becomean open shipping lane.According to the NationalSnow and Ice Data Center(NSIDC), the average seaice extent for the month ofSeptember was 4.28 millionsquare kilometers, the lowestSeptember on record, shatteringthe previous record for8the month, set in 2005, by 23percent. At the end of the meltseason, September 2007 seaice was 39 percent below thelong-term average from 1979to 2000. If ship and aircraftrecords from before the satelliteera are taken into account,sea ice may have fallen by asmuch as 50 percent since the1950s. The September rateof sea ice decline since 1979is now approximately ten percentper decade, or 72,000extend your lifelineSterling Rope has launcheda rope recycling program inpartnership with Rock/CreekOutfitters, ClimbingGear.com,and the Triple Crown BoulderingSeries. Until the end of theyear, Sterling will be collectingand recycling used ropesof any brand, rewardingthose who participate witha discount on a brand newrope. Sterling feels that in cooperationwith climbers, they

fields and rugged icepackin uncharted territory. Forinformation, visit: www.beyondshackleton.com.Brightest SupernovaEver Spottedis one coming to a galaxy near you?The brightest stellar explosionever recorded may be a longsoughttype of supernova,according to observationsby NASA’s Earth-orbitingChandra X-ray Observatoryand ground-based opticaltelescopes in Hawaii. Thisdiscovery indicates that violentexplosions of extremelymassive stars were relativelycommon in the early universe,and that a similar explosionmay be ready to go off in ourown galaxy.“This was a truly monstrousexplosion, a hundred timesmore energetic than a typicalsupernova,” said NathanSmith of the University ofCalifornia at Berkeley, who leda team of astronomers fromCalifornia and the Universityof Texas in Austin.First detected in September2006, the SN 2006gy explosionoccurred in a galaxyknown as NGC 1260, some240 million light-years away.It brightened over the course10EXPLORATION NEWSof 70 days, and at its peakemitted more than 150-billion-Sun’s worth of light.Scientists estimate thatamong the 400 billion starsin the Milky Way, there areonly a dozen or so as massiveas SN 2006gy. The star thatproduced SN 2006gy apparentlyexpelled a large amountof mass prior to exploding.This large mass loss issimilar to that seen from EtaCarinae, a massive star 7,500light-years away in our owngalaxy, raising suspicion thatit may be poised to explodeas a supernova. An unstablestar, Eta Carinae is currentlyradiating about five milliontimes more energy than ourSun and is undergoing eruptionson its surface that aresimilar to what scientiststhink happened on the starthat produced SN 2006gyjust before it blew.“Eta Carinae’s explosioncould be the best star-showin the history of modern civilization,”said Mario Livio of theSpace Telescope ScienceInstitute in Baltimore,” notingthat despite its relativelyclose proximity to us, EtaCarinae’s death is not likelyto pose any significant threatto life on Earth.Scientists believe thatafter the violent collapse ofstars such as SN 2006gy,runaway thermonuclear reactionsensue and the explodingstars spew their remains intospace rather than completelycollapsing to a black hole astheorized. “In terms of theeffect on the early universe,there’s a huge difference betweenthese two scenarios,”said Smith. “One pollutesthe galaxy with large quantitiesof newly made elementsand the other locks themup forever in a black hole.”Information and images of thesupernova are available at:http://chandra.nasa.govSo What’s in a Comet?not the kitchen sinkThe heart of comet Tempel-1,which spurted out some ofits contents during the DeepImpact spacecraft encounterin July 2005, contains amixture of materials usuallyfound in very different environments,scientists report.Carey M. Lisse of JohnsHopkins University AppliedPhysics Laboratory in Laurel,MD, and colleagues tracedthe mineral compositionof the ejecta from infraredspectra taken with theSpitzer Space Telescope.The mixture included highlyvolatile organic ices, clays,and carbonates formed inenvironments with waterpresent, and highly crystallinesilicates formed at temperaturesexceeding 1,000degrees Kelvin. “Some typeof global mechanism formixing these materials musthave been available duringthe solar system’s earliestdays,” says Lisse.

EXPLORATION NEWSGene SavoyAndean research loses a pioneerThe world of Andean exploration lost one of its mostcolorful and controversial pioneers on September11. Douglas Eugene “Gene” Savoy, FE‘69, oncedubbed the “real” Indiana Jones by PEOPLEmagazine, died of natural causes, age of 80, at hishome in Reno, Nevada. In addition to his lifelonginterest in Andean exploration and archaeology, hewas deeply religious and eventually founded theInternational Community of Christ in Reno.Beyond the circle of hisfamily, friends, and religiousfollowers, Savoy is best rememberedfor his Andeanexploits. His life of adventurebegan in 1957. At theage of 30, following a failedfirst marriage, he left theUnited States to seek hisfortune in Lima. There hemet and married a prominentPeruvian lady, foundedthe Andean Explorers Club,and began his lifelongsearch for the “lost cities”of the Amazon. In 1964, herevisited Hiram Bingham’sruins at the Plain of Ghostsin the Amazonian rainforestand correctly identified them as Vilcabamba, theIncas’ final redoubt. Several years later, he wasamong the earliest to visit the remote Chachapoyasite of Gran Pajatén in northern Peru. His claimsof “discoveries” in both cases were later disputedby others, setting a pattern that would plaguehim throughout his career. Antisuyo, his 1970book describing both expeditions, neverthelessbecame a cult classic among aspirant amateurexplorers, inspiring many, myself included, tohead off into the jungle.Savoy returned to the United States in 1971 andtook up residence in Reno, where he married fora third time and founded the Andean ExplorersFoundation & Ocean Sailing Club. True to the lattername, he went to sea often between 1977 and 1982on a ten-meter schooner and attempted variousKon Tiki-style sea adventures on rafts of ancientAndean design. Like Thor Heyerdahl before him, hewas pursuing a strong belief in oceanic diffusionamong the Precolumbian cultures of the Pacificcoast. His 1974 book, On the Trail of the FeatheredSerpent, recounted some of these voyages.In later life, he refocused on Peru and renewedhis efforts in the jungles ofChachapoyas, where hepursued his unorthodoxbelief in Amazonian originsfor Andean civilization.Stone tablets unearthedthere in 1989 showed evidence,he thought, of OldWorld writing. Eventually,he announced discoveriesof more than 40 “new”lost cities, including GranVilaya and Gran Saposoa,each composed, he said,of thousands of ruins. Onceagain, his claims were metwith derision by some colleagues,who noted thatmany sites presented in thepress as startling new finds had been previouslyrecorded by himself and others.The Peruvian government belatedly recognizedhis long years of exploration with several medalsin the late 1980s and the city of Reno proclaimed“Gene Savoy Day” in October 1996. Gene Savoy’swork continues under the direction of his son, Sean,also a member of The Explorers Club, but the passingof the “real” Indiana Jones leaves a large gap inthe Andean scene that will not soon be filled.biographyVincent R. Lee, FN ‘90, is an architect, explorer, and author ofForgotten Vilcabamba: Final Stronghold of the Incas.the explorers journal

12Fossett Searchcontinuesmissing planes of the past foundIf it’s possible that somegood could come out of thepresumed death of missingadventurer Steve Fossett, 63,it’s this: searchers have spotteda half-dozen unchartedcrash sites that, once they’reinvestigated, might bringsome solace to families offliers who disappeared decadesago. According to theReno Gazette-Journal, some15 to 20 private planes havevanished in the wildernes areasince 1950. Searchers combinga 53,000-square-kilometerarea have yet to find signsof Fossett, who is thoughtto have crashed in northernNevada on September 3 as hewas scouting out locations forhis next adventure—an attemptat the land-speed record.M o n e y o n t h e M o o n ?private robot companies wantedInternet giant Google said itwill give $20 million to the firstprivate group to land a rovingrobot on the lunar surface.The purse is being offeredby the X Prize Foundation,which awarded $10 million in2005 to a group that includedMicrosoft co-founder PaulAllen for launching a humaninto space. In the 1970s, theSoviets launched the onlyrobotic rovers to have negotiatedthe Moon. Budget woesforced NASA this spring tocancel its lunar-rover plan. Towin the $20 million, a vehiclemust ramble a quarter-mileand send video back to Earth.EXPLORATION NEWSThe goals are “incrediblyfeasible,” said Peter Worden,director of NASA’s AmesResearch Center. “Most ofthe components could be purchasedoff the shelf.” NASAplans to send astronautsback to the Moon by 2020and establish a lunar researchcamp, but Worden said thecontest doesn’t threaten theagency. Such private spaceexploration “is exactly whatwe hoped would happen,” hesaid. “NASA is pretty excitedabout this.”Young Climbers at Riskstudy warns against hard trainingA review of the scientificliterature on young climbers—recently published by AudryMorrison and Volker Schöffl inthe British Journal of SportsScience and posted to theAmerican Alpine Journal websiteby Dougald MacDonald(www.americanalpineclub.org)—suggests they maybe at risk for serious injury.Morrison and Schöffl defineyoung climbers as those betweenages 7 and 17. Theylooked at 50 climbing studiesand large-scale physiologicalstudies of the development ofyoungsters, and although theauthors point out that thereis a “paucity” of research onyoung climbers, their reviewallowed them to draw someconclusions:• Climbers under 16 should not dointensive finger strength training.• A young person’s final growth spurt(usually around age 14 or 15) is associatedwith increased risk of injury.Growth charts (height and shoe size)may help in identifying spurts.• A force producing a torn ligamentin an adult is likely to produce moredamage in a growing youngster.• Up to around age 12, children havea limited capacity to benefit fromintensive strength training, but possessan accelerated capability formotor development. This suggeststraining at this age should focuson volume and diversity of climbingroutes to improve technique andmovement skills, rather than purestrength.• Wearing excessively tight climbingshoes is not recommended in growingfeet to help prevent foot injuriesand deformities.• Climbers should be educated inthe importance of appropriate dietand timing of meals for health andperformance.• Knowledgeable and qualified personnelshould monitor young climbers’training. When training intensityis increased, it should employ safeand effective exercises for a givengender and biological age, independentof any competition calendar.According to two UK-basedwebsites, www.ukclimbing.comand www.thebmc.co.uk, theInternational Federation ofSport Climbing implicitlyincorporates some of theseguidelines in its rules, whichprohibit international competitionat the adult level forclimbers under 16. But asthe popularity of competitionclimbing grows—and as more14- and 15-year-olds performat an adult level—the pressureon talented young climbersto train harder is likely to increase,according to the AAC.Its abstract, titled Review ofthe Physiological Responsesto Rock Climbing in YoungClimbers, sellsfor $12.

EXPLORATION NEWSDr. Ballyhoo,I Presume?by Jeff WozerThe word expedition is the Frank’s RedHot Sauceof the English language. Add it to any outdoorendeavor—kayaking, camping, snow-shoeing—andit immediately transforms the activity into a worldclassadventure.I reached this conclusion after attending a climbingpresentation sponsored by an outdoor club. Thespeaker—a short, stocky guy with the body of a bigtoe—detailed with humdrum photos and monotonecommentary a summit he and three longtime climbingbuddies completed in the Canadian Rockies.During the presentation he repeatedly referred tothe climb as an expedition when it sounded andlooked more like a vacation among three friends enjoyingan escape from middle-age responsibilities.I then wondered to myself, if his talk had been advertisedas a reportage on climbing vacation, as opposedto a climbing expedition, would I, or anyone,have attended? In my case, the answer was clearlyno. But from a marketing standpoint it made puresense. As I pedaled home from the presentationother questions thumped through my skull: Howmany other noted expeditions, when shucked of thehype, were little more than disguised vacations?I began researching expeditions, past and present,and realized that, until the mid-twentieth century,they possessed a clarity of purpose—adventurersopening territories and minds with their daringand delving. Today, articulated purpose no longerranks as the defining standard for expedition classification;the goal, instead, is being photographedshouldering a backpack in the presence of peaks,puffins, penguins, or pygmies.With less uncharted turf to explore, a keenereye is required to discern relevance from folly.True expedition aces such as Michael Fay, WillSteger, and Wade Davis, who still roam thefringes, are proof that expeditions, in the honestsense, can still exist without relying on false hypeor gimmickry.To help sift the true from the trite, the planetneeds a World Expedition Court, presided over bythe honorable Sir Edmund Hillary. There would beno hearings, only exams. Each applicant would berequired to answer a series of questions related tohis or her specific endeavor. Questions like:1. You hope the photos snapped on your trek will:A. Aid scientific researchB. Inspire others into a life of adventureC. Attract new friends on MySpace2. You embarked on this adventure because:A. You wanted to bring attention to the Antarctic’s diminishingice shelvesB. You wanted to study indigenous mountain culturesC. You wanted to further delay finding a real job3. While stargazing with your expeditionary partyA. Every constellation in the Northern Hemisphere was identifiedB. Debate raged over Pluto’s doubtful status as a planetC. A commuter plane was mistaken for a meteor4. During your trek, most of your time was devoted to:A. Gathering soil samplesB. Collecting ice coresC. Snapping spirited photos of yourself with the hope of appearingin Patagonia’s upcoming fall catalogue5. The greatest scientific discovery made during your trek was:A. Concluding that Bering Sea tides are diurnalB. Finding ammonite fossils in Nepal’s Kali Gandaki ValleyC. Seagulls love CheetosAnyone answering “C” to any of the questionswould be denied use of the word expedition formarketing purposes. And, as a penalty for wastingSir Edmund Hillary’s time, get whacked acrossthe shins with a Leki trekking pole and forcedto watch a PowerPoint presentation of someoneelse’s mountain vacation.biographyJeff Wozer (www.jeffwozer.com) works as a nationally touringstand-up comedian based in Denver.the explorers journal

Oceans 8around the worldby kayakby Jon BowermasterIf there was a single moment that launched myquest to kayak around the world, one continent ata time over eight years, it came in 1999 during anexpedition to the Aleutian Islands, on a tiny rockoutcropping in the Bering Sea called Chuginadak.Four of us had come in a pair of six-meter-longkayaks to a region known as the Birthplace of theWinds. Constant fog, 2ºC water, and ripping windsthat reached 95 kilometers per hour had doggedus for weeks. It was the end of the trip, and we hadsuccessfully navigated among five snow-cappedvolcanoes and climbed to one 1,800-meter peak,and now, after 30 days at sea, we were waiting tobe picked up by fishing boat.As I sat on the black volcanic sand, strainingto hear the welcome putt-putt-putt of our boatthrough the fog, I tried to imagine what it had beenlike for the Aleuts, who populated these islandsthousands of years before and had been amongthe first to use sea kayaks—same frigid seas, samedense fog, same big winds, very different technology.Instead of Kevlar and Gore-Tex, the Aleutshad relied on whalebone and sealskin.As I watched the cold surf pound the shore, I realizedthat despite the differences in our craft, theAleuts and I had one thing in common: a great lovefor being on the sea, in small boats, wanderingfreely, reaching hidden coves and tiny beachesinaccessible to the rest of the world. I was cold,tired, and anxious to be back in civilization, yet allI could think as I sat on that beach was: where togo next.The answer came quickly: the coast of Vietnam.For me, it was a logical leap. A voyage therewould be completely different from the Aleutianexpedition, during which we had seen no oneand endured long days of cold but relatively shortpaddles in the frigid water. In Vietnam, we would14

Off AlaskaWe paddle toward the volcanic island of Uliaga, one of theIslands of Four Mountains we kayaked to and climbed in theheart of the Aleutian chain. Photo by Barry Tessman.the explorers journal

in croatiaWe paddle beneath a 12-meter, horseshoe waterfall onCroatia’s Zrmanja River, which flows into the Adriatic. Photoby Peter McBride.

have long, hot days of paddling and were guaranteedto see hundreds, thousands of peopleeach day. What’s more, one third of Vietnam’s77 million people lives and depends on thesea, and I had long been fascinated by Vietnam,especially the north.With that transition from the cold BeringSea to the warm South China Sea, the ideafor OCEANS 8 was born. Our the goal wouldbe to visit each of the seven continents, plusOceania, by sea kayak. Team rosters, whichvaried from trip to trip, included photographers,videographers, environmentalists, andlocal experts. To date we’ve completed sevenof the eight expeditions. As you read this, wewill have embarked on our eighth and final journey,to Antarctica’s Larsen Ice Shelf.So far, the eight-year project has taken usfrom the Aleutians to Vietnam, to the TuamotuArchipelago—78 coral-reef atolls in the SouthPacific—to the high, arid Altiplano of SouthAmerica, on a circumnavigation of Gabon’sfirst national park and, most recently, an explorationof the 1,200 Adriatic islands off thecoast of Croatia.Our experiences have been marvelously variedthroughout our journeys, from paddling infour-meter swells off a barely visible coral reefin the South Pacific to facing down wadinghippos off the coast of Gabon. We’ve been inspiredby the lives of the people we have met,from the commercial squid fishermen in Vietnam’sHa Long Bay to the solitary urchin-diversoff Antofagasta in northern Chile. In 2006, wewent halfway around Tasmania, ending in itsremote Furneaux Group of islands in the BassStrait, where we encountered the wildest seasyet–yet because Antarctica may offer us ourgreatest challenge, with its frigid temperaturesand kayak-crushing icebergs.The fact that the world’s oceans face mountingenvironmental challenges, from globalwarming, pollution, and overfishing, has addedresonance to each expedition, making our finaljourney to Antarctica all the more important.If the surface of the Earth is truly onesingle, complex system, then Antarctica is itsheart, the slowly beating pump that drives thewhole world. Each austral winter, an 18-million-

square-kilometer halo of sea ice forms aroundthe continent, and each spring, trillions of tonsof fresh water are released into the ocean as itthaws. This is the planet’s great annual climatecycle, the thermodynamic engine that drives thecirculation of ocean currents, redistributing thesun’s heat, regulating climate, forcing the upwellingof deep-ocean nutrients, setting the tempo ofthe planet’s weather. The Antarctic affects all ourlives, but through forces so deep and elementalthat we’re not even aware of them.Our Larsen Ice Shelf Expedition will providean empirical look at how the seventh continent ischanging and evolving and dramatically influencingthe world’s oceans. The eastern side of theAntarctic Peninsula is seldom seen either by scientistsor explorers, because it is more exposed tobig seas and rapidly changing weather, unprotectedby big islands as are the better-known parts ofthe western side of the peninsula.In March 2002, scientists watched the Antarctic’s500-billion-ton Larsen-B ice shelf shatter intothousands of tiny icebergs before their eyes. Itsbreak-up was an early warning sign. The peninsularice shelves are considered among the firstindicators of global warming. What happened sodramatically to the Larsen Ice Shelf suggests therest of the peninsula’s ice may one day calve ordeteriorate. No one knows how quickly that willhappen. All this warming and shifting is also havingclear and extremely troubling impact on lifearound its shores. We intend to get as close aswe can to what remains of the Larsen Ice Shelf, todocument from sea level how it is today.The thread running through all of my expeditionshas been the kayaks, which serve as floating ambassadors.It wouldn’t be the same to approachthese places by Zodiac or fishing boat, or by road.In the kayaks we have been able to reach seldomseencorners of the world, examine the health ofthe oceans from sea level and come face-to-bowwith people whose lives are inextricably tied tothose oceans.Each expedition has been a unique adventure.The logistical challenges have been enormous,leading to the occasional snafu—such as havingthe boats mistakenly delivered to Ho Chi MinhCity rather than to Hanoi. We’ve struggled tonavigate through ice, through fog, through stormyseas, and through politics. No one, for example,had previously sought permission to take kayaksalong the coast of northern Vietnam. When I approachedthe Foreign Press Center in Hanoi forpermission in 2000, I was greeted by a directorwith a smile and a cloud of cigarette smoke.“That… will…be…quite…impossible,” he said.The year that followed was full of tense, on-again,off-again negotiations with the government, whichultimately led to an arrangement whereby I wouldpay a healthy fee for a “filming permit” to be allowedto bring the kayaks and the team into thecountry. We also had to agree to take along anofficial monitor—a non-swimming, ocean-hating,Elvis-loving, pro-Communist monitor named LinhCua, who kept to his post for every paddle strokedown 1,800 kilometers of coastline, from the Chineseborder to Hoi An.While Linh was a slightly disconcerting additionto the team, Vietnamese-born social worker andtranslator Ngan Nguyen was a delight. I’d foundNgan, who grew up in New Orleans, through aninternet site read by resettled Vietnamese refugees.Her father had been a helicopter pilot withthe South Vietnamese Air Force, and on the lastday of the war in 1975 he’d helped shuttle Americansfrom Saigon to a waiting ship. As a reward,he was allowed to bring his family aboard; Nganwas three years old. She grew up to graduatefrom Tulane, then receive a master’s in internationalrelations from Tufts, and she had returnedto Vietnam several times, including a trip in 2000as part of the delegation that accompanied PresidentClinton.Though Ngan admitted she wasn’t an experiencedkayaker, we welcomed her to our teambecause of her knowledge of the country. Andbecause she was a southerner traveling for thefirst time in the north, each day was a revelationfor her, and thus for the team, especially when wepaddled the Ben Hai River, which was the dividingline between north and south. As we slipped thekayaks into the river that day, I noticed Ngan wascrying. Rubbing the back of her hands across hercheeks, she explained there were two reasons forher tears: first, she had always imagined arriving inthe north from the south, as a victor, and second,because this man-made line, drawn in a Genevaconference room in 1954, had in part resulted inthe deaths of more than three million Vietnamese,from both sides of the tragic conflict.By contrast, on our Oceania trip, we found theTuamotus to be sparsely populated and remote.18

In the South Pacific we saw sharks every day, including this pack off the coral reef of Rangiroa. Photo by Peter McBrideTwelve thousand people live among the 78 coralatolls spread over 2,600 kilometers. Known as the“Dangerous Archipelago” by seafarers going backas far as Magellan, who first sighted the chain in1521, the low-lying reefs have sunk countlessships. Our biggest worry during our two-monthexploration of paradise was the daily presence ofour companions through the coral: sharks.Whether we were diving to 50 meters or justkicking through crystal shallows among the reefs,the sharks were with us. Most were of the nonaggressivereef variety, but we were occasionallyvisited by big lemonsand grays. One day,off an atoll called Rangiroa,we swam amid300 of the three-meterlongcritters as theybumped our kayaks andour legs and nibbled atpaddles.Phase four, theSouth American trip,took place in the fallof 2003, when I took ateam of six—two Americans,one Kiwi, oneBriton, two Chileans—on a nearly 4,000-kilometerloop throughSouth America’s Altiplano(northern Chile,northern Argentina,southern Bolivia), aplace where the seaused to be. We beganthe expedition at sealevel, paddling in roughwater along the 60-meter-high limestone cliffs offthe coast of Chile and ended it atop the 5,915-meterLicancabur Volcano on the Bolivian border.After leaving the water to make the climb to thepeak—pulling our kayaks behind us on a portagecart—we found evidence of prehistoric ocean everywhere,from remnants of coral and shells mixedin with the high, dry sand to the biggest salt lakein the world, Salar de Uyuni, which is spread overmore than 12,500 square kilometers in Bolivia.Searching for water in the driest place on Earth,dragging kayaks into the 4,300-meter-high desertmay seem quixotic, but we were drawn by theintense beauty of the high, mineral-rich lakes, aswell as by the thought that every step we took hadonce been covered by ocean.Each expedition has brought its own hardships.In the cold seas of the Aleutians, we figured that ifwe capsized we had 15 minutes to live. The SouthPacific, as blue and perfect as it was, delivereda nasty staph infection that spread to four of ourfive team members. The Altiplano was high anddry, sucking air from our lungs as we paddled andclimbed. In Croatia, camps on the 1,200 islandswere few and far between, which meant sleepingon tiny spits of rockand sand, or on cementboat docks. Butby far the most physicallyexhausting wasour fifth trip, in 2004,when photographerPeter McBride, environmentalistJ. MichaelFay, and two Africans,Sophiano Etouck andAime Jessy, joined mein Gabon.In this small WestAfrican nation, wecircumnavigated thecountry’s first nationalpark, Loango. The combinationof unrelenting38ºC heat; little food;long, long days on theocean; and a three-dayjungle portage took aheavy toll. For me, thephysical challenge washeightened by the factthat I was traveling with Fay, who had gained acclaima few years back for spending 453 daysstraight walking across the Congo.Yet, as always, there were astonishing rewards.After paddling into high winds across wide lakes,then up a 70-kilometer river—spending one nightsleeping in our kayaks in a flooded forest—wespent several days on the ocean. The typical dayended with a beautiful equatorial sunset formingbehind us, and we sat in the surf zone, not quiteready to paddle in to the beach, despite havingbeen in the kayaks for eight hours. As we backpaddled,being gently pushed toward the sandythe explorers journal

shore by two-meter seas, first one, then anotherforest elephant lumbered onto the beach.We bobbed and watched as a pair of hipposheaded into the surf for a swim. A moment latera small family of buffalo waded into the water.“Damn!” said Fay. “Noah’s ark, right there infront of us. For sure, no one has ever seen sucha sight from the seat of a kayak!” That’s beenour goal. To use the kayaks to go to places wecouldn’t get to otherwise.acknowledgmentsThe author would like to acknowledge the support of theNational Geographic Society’s Expeditions Council andseveral loyal corporations, including Mountain Hardwear,Werner Paddles, Necky Kayaks, Timberland/Mion, O.R.,who have made the Oceans 8 expedition possible.biographyFellow of The Explorers Club, Jon Bowermaster is postingupdates on his expedition at www.jonbowermaster.com.20

In GabonOur run-ins with large animals were the most spectacularpart of our paddling days. Here, a herd of elephants cross alagoon just in front of us. Photo by Peter McBride.the explorers journal

sir WallyHerbertmaster of the icetext by Nick Smithpaintings by sir wally herbertWhen Sir Wally Herbert died earlier this year, tributespoured in for the greatest polar explorer since thegolden age of Scott and Shackleton. He was also anaccomplished artist, whose paintings have just beenpublished in a new book, The Polar World.“You have to understand,” says Kari Herbert, theexplorer’s daughter, “while Dad was fiercely proudof his achievements, records didn’t mean much tohim unless they were underpinned by geographicalresearch. The whole point of the British Trans-ArcticExpedition back in the late 1960s wasn’t to be thefirst to reach the North Pole. But on the other hand,while you’re up there…”Inevitably Sir Wally Herbert’s fame will rest on thefact that he was the first to make a surface crossingof the Arctic Ocean along its longest axis. This feathas never been repeated, leading some historiansto call it “the last great journey on Earth.”During this expedition in the late 1960s he alsobecame—along with his three companions, FritzKoerner, Allan Gill, and Ken Hedges—the first man22

Self-portrait, facing page, endurance, aboveto walk to the North Pole. Unlike Edmund Hillary’sfirst ascent of Everest or Roald Amundsen’s attainmentof the South Pole, Sir Wally’s achievement hastaken longer to pass into the annals of exploration.Maybe it was because events at the top of theworld were overshadowed by the lunar landings,or by the contested claims of Admiral Robert E.Peary or Dr. Frederick A. Cook, but recognitionfor the success of Sir Wally and his men has beena slow burner. In the 1980s, he took matters intohis own hands when he published the meticulouslyresearched Noose of Laurels, an analysisof Peary’s claims concluding that the commanderhad not reached the pole. The polar communitynow accepts that April 6, 1969, is the date thatcounts, a date Sir Wally hammered home in histhe explorers journal

polar bear on the icethe explorers journal

painting North Pole Group No. 1, 6th April 1969.It may seem unfair, but the sheer scale of SirWally’s achievement is not widely recognizedoutside the exploration community. Yet the factsof his career as a polar explorer are simply extraordinary.Over the span of half a century he traveledwith dog teams and open boats more than 40,000kilometers—over half of that distance through virginterritory. A formidablecartographer andsurveyor, he mappedsome 75,000 kilometersof new countryin Antarctica andretraced the routes ofsome of the greatestexplorers in history.Few have contributedmore to ourunderstanding of thenative Inuit of northwestGreenland. Hepublished ten books, received many medals andawards, including the coveted Explorer’s Medal in1985, and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II onthe last day of the second millennium “for servicesto polar exploration.”What is not so well known is that he was anextraordinary artist, which his last book, The PolarWorld, makes clear. Nearly all of Sir Wally’s paintingshave been brought together for the first time.Nearly all, says Kari, because there are “four orfive paintings that are either lost or are hard totrack down. I’d like to hear from anyone who hasone that is not reproduced in The Polar World.”Sir Wally was a commercial artist in the sensethat he painted for a living—this means much ofhis work has disappeared into private collections.Reinhold Messner commissioned both Everestand The Landfall of the James Caird on SouthGeorgia, included in the book, despite having noobvious polar association. Kari remembers as achild watching the paintings grow over time only tosee them packed up and shipped off to the client“almost before the paint had dried.” Sir Wally wasin the habit of commissioning high-quality, largeformatplate photography of his finished work andit is from these transparencies that much of thebook has been assembled.And yet Sir Wally might never have becomean artist, despite showing a talent for drawing26at school. Kari explains, “When dad retiredfrom expeditions in the early 1980s, he officiallybecame a full-time writer—that’s how he earnedhis living. But the book deals dried up a bit.”Despite his fame, he met with little successwhen hawking his book proposals. “He was gettingfed up with being rejected and I think mumthought it would be a good idea for him to takeup painting again torelieve the stress.”Reluctant to do thisat first, he soonfound that his childhoodaptitude forart had coalescedwith his professionalexpertise indraftsmanship andcartography to producepaintings thatnot only attracted acommercial market,but gained the attention of the likes of HRH thePrince of Wales, who in Kari’s words, “becamedad’s biggest fan.”His “biggest fan” has described Sir Wallyvariously as a “genius” and “a national treasure,”but to Kari, who is an accomplished writer andphotographer in her own right, “my dad was theembodiment of the polar world and so it follows heshould paint it.” The Polar World is an extraordinaryepitaph to a man of many gifts—writer, painter,genuine explorer of the old school, and one of thegreat men of the twentieth century.informationCopies of The Polar World are available from Polarworld Booksin standard hardback edition (£35) or in two special limitededitions: leather hand-bound, £499 and cloth, £240. Forinformation, contact: kari@kariherbert.combiographyA Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, Nick Smith isa writer and photographer specializing in exploration andtravel. He is also literary editor of Bookdealer magazine. Hiswork has appeared in publications from the Daily Telegraph toCountry Life.North Pole Group No 1 6th April 1969

a pioneering journey: Sir wally herbert in his own wordsFour men, four teams of dogsIn this extract from The Polar World, Sir Wally describedthe tensions on the eve of setting out on the first surfacecrossing of the Arctic Ocean.On 20th February l968: “I signalled the pilot of the Dakotawith a nod. Our mission was to find a way onto the driftingpack ice, and our position at that time was about 80 miles[129 km] of ENE of Barrow. He eased the plane into a turnand took one last look to the north. The vast expanse ofdrifting ice was awesome—limitless. To the south, weak raysof sunlight pierced the clouds and scattered the ice withpatches of light. Cracks and open leads caught the sun likemolten silver and darted around on the surface of the packbefore turning into jet black scars that marked the blue-greyskin of the frozen sea. It was a moment of profound relief—the moment of decision. Tomorrow, four men and four teamsof dogs would set out on a journey from which there couldbe no turning back.Our proposed journey along the longest axis of the ArcticOcean would be a pioneer journey—a horizontal Everest thatwould mark each one of us for life. Our beds, most nights,would be on ice no more than two meters thick (and oftenvery much thinner); ice which might at any time split orstart to pressure. There would not be a day during the next16 months when the floes over which we were travelling,or sleeping off our fatigue, would not be drifting with thecurrents or driven by the winds. There would be no end tothe movement; no rest, no landfall, no sense of achievement,no peace of mind, until we reached Spitsbergen. Most importantly:there was no possibility whatsoever of rescue.By midnight on the eve of our departure the pace of preparationhad slackened, and on that day I received a parcel fromhome containing the Union Jack and a note from my father,which simply read: ‘You forgot your flag—good luck.’ I was sotouched by this correction that I took it on the journey. Thatlast night at Barrow I remember very well—it felt like the eveof a battle—still, clear, cold, silent, with no one sleeping; anatmosphere heavy with private thoughts. I felt as though I wasin a trench in the First World War along with the others—wefixed our bayonets and just waited for the first weak light ofdawn and for the young lieutenant to blow his whistle, whereupon,almost numb, we would all scramble out to face our fate.I was physically sick with fear, and the weight of the trust thatmy three companions had in me. Which of these two was thegreater, I still do not know—even to this day.I unlatched the huge doors of the warehouse and spreadthem open. The night was almost over. It was calm, clear,and very cold. The sledge moved over the floor on rollers,bit the snow, and slid forward, out into a deserted streetsmoke-grey in seeping twilight. I left it facing north-east atthe end of two rows of day-bleached lights that pointed aperspective arrow south-west down the main street. Therewas not a breath of wind to dissipate the plumes of vapourthat hung over each box-like building—the camp was still andsleeping and the only sound was of the throbbing warmthwithin each man-made shelter.”And so the scene was set at Point Barrow, Alaska, on 21stFebruary l968 for the final farewells, and the start of whatmost historians now regard as the “last of the great pioneeringjourneys made on the face of the Earth.”the explorers journal

Abandonedin the ArcticAdolphus W. Greelyand the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition, 1881–1884by Geoffrey E. ClarkOn March 27, 1935, a small contingent of mounted General Adolphus W. Greely. It was only the fourthcavalry leading a military band, and a government time in the nation’s history that the medal had beenlimousine flying the flag of Secretary of War George presented for peacetime service. Few of the neighborsH. Dern pulled up in front of a modest house on “O” surrounding the porch had any idea why the honor wasStreet in the quiet Georgetown section of Washington, being bestowed and they were not enlightened whenD.C. As newsreels captured the event, Secretary Dern the citation was read. It made no mention of the pivotalpresented the Congressional Medal of Honor to an chapter in Greely’s career: his three years as leaderelderly, but erect retired military officer, Major of the fateful Lady Franklin Bay Expedition.Greely at the wheel of the rescue ship Thetus in 1884, courtesy NARA28

An Illustration from Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper shows the dead being brought aboard the Bear in 1884In 1881, Greely and a group of 25 men establisheda frigid outpost they named Fort Conger, just725 kilometers from the North Pole on EllesmereIsland. They conducted scientific research andexploration as part of the first International PolarYear. When in 1883, a ship failed to appear tobring them home, Greely and his men fell back ona pre-arranged plan to retreat 400 kilometers southalong the coast of Ellesmere to Cape Sabine onPim Island, where a year’s worth of supplies, if nota ship, was to await them.The retreat south proved to be an agonizing,two-month ordeal over treacherous, moving ice.When Greely and his men finally arrived at CapeSabine in mid-October, they were horrified to findnone of the promisedsupplies had been left.In preparation for thecoming winter, they constructeda stone house,which they christenedCamp Clay. The monthsthat followed broughta descent into a frozenhell of starvation, madness,and suicide. Allbut one man managedto survive the winter,but with the coming ofspring the men began torapidly die of scurvy orstarvation. Unbelievably,two relief expeditionsorganized by the U.Sgovernment to re-supplyand then retrieve the Greely expedition had failed,leaving the men’s fate unknown. When a navalrescue mission—instigated in part by a determinedHenrietta Greely and led by Commander WinfieldScott Schley—finally reached the men on June 22,1884, the few remaining members of Greely’sparty were within hours of death. Tragically, theworld would soon learn that only Greely and six ofhis men had managed to survive.When the expedition returned to the UnitedStates on August 4, 1884, the survivors andtheir rescuers received a tumultuous receptionin Portsmouth, New Hampshire, very unlike themodest ceremony on “O” Street 50 years later.Greely’s men had not only completed their missionand brought back all of their data—includingmeteorlogical measurements, observations oftides, magnetism, and gravity, as well as biologicaland ethnological studies—they had also claimed anew record for the furthest north, which had beenheld by the British for 300 years.Within days of the joyous welcome home, however,ugly stories began to appear in the newspapers,alleging that the expedition’s dead had beencannibalized to support the living. Despite the factthat the rescuers had found at least six corpsesstripped of their flesh, the survivors, to the end oftheir days, denied any involvement. Greely’s onlycomment was, “I know no law of God or man thatwas broken at Cape Sabine.”Sadly, the Lady Franklin Bay Expedition’s heroicchapter in Arcticexploration slipped intoobscurity, clouded byaccusations of governmentincompetence,needless loss of life,and the ultimate taboo.During Greely’s lifetime,other polar explorers,particularly Robert E.Peary, avoided himand years later in 1961,Wilhjalmur Stefanssonrecalled that a hushwould fall wheneverGreely entered theroom. The last livingperson to meet the general,Thaddeus Thorn,recalled him beingreferred to by the neighborhood boys as, “eat ‘emalive Greely.”So what is the real truth about this fascinating,accomplished man, who, among other things,served as the first president of The ExplorersClub? Should he be remembered as a hero, avictim, or a villain?These were the questions that came to mindwhen I read Greely’s account, Three Years ofArctic Service, in preparation for a 1988 campingtrip with my wife and eldest son on the shores ofLake Hazen—the largest lake north of the ArcticCircle—which was some 80 kilometers northwestof Fort Conger. This story of heroism and villainy,personality conflicts, and coincidences, as well aspolitical shenanigans, seemed more like a work ofthe explorers journal

fort congercarl ritterellesmeregreenlandcape sabine on pim island

fiction than a factual account. During our trip,we had an opportunity to visit Fort Conger andsee the remains of Greely’s camp—the artifactswell preserved in the cold dry climate. It wasthen that I realized I wanted to bring this importantepisode in the history of Arctic explorationto the public’s attention in a documentary film.In the summer of 2000, I joined a kayak triporganized by Steven Smith, a professionalguide, outfitter, and field biologist, to kayakfrom Alexander Fiord to Pim Island to see thesite of Greely’s winter camp near Cape Sabine.When I first asked Steve whether it would befeasible to retrace Greely’s retreat from FortConger to Cape Sabine with a documentarycrew using inflatable boats, he dismissed theidea as being impractical and extremely hazardous.But, after further consideration, hethought it possible if he could assemble an expertcrew using kayaks, which could be moreeasily hauled over the ice.While doing historical research for the project,I was fortunate to meet many of Greely’sdescendants, all of whom were very enthusiasticabout their ancestor, “The General.”Greely’s great-grandson, David Shedd ofBartlett, New Hampshire, suggested that hisson James, then a senior in college, participatein the expedition as a representative of the family.The organizing structure of the film quicklyfell into place: we would not simply present thehistorical material, but rather, actively engagethe viewer in the drama by telling Greely’s storythrough the eyes of his great-great-grandson,James Shedd. At the same time we would putthe viewer in touch with the spectacular environmentas James retraced the party’s arduousjourney down the coast of Ellesmere.But James’ ability to participate was by nomeans certain: the expedition would be a challengeto the most experienced guide and hisexperience as an outdoorsman was limited tocamping in the White Mountains with his fatherand skiing. To his credit, James enthusiasticallyundertook preparing himself for the challengeby kayaking in the Pacific Northwest and undertakinga very strenuous backpacking trip in theHigh Arctic. Ultimately, Steve agreed to takehim on and subsequent events would provethat James more than met the challenge.In many ways the success of both the filmand expedition depended on logistics andcareful organization. Fortunately, the projecthad engaged the services of two seasonedprofessionals: Steve Smith and Gino DelGuercio of Boston Science Communications.Gino has created award-winning documentariesfor PBS, NOVA, and the DiscoveryChannel. While he was an avid outdoorsman,he had never been to the Arctic. Other expeditionmembers included professional guideswho had worked with Steve for many years.The most difficult step would be arrangingthe transport of the team and its equipment toFort Conger, as well as the teams subsequentresupply en route. Fuel for the Twin Otters andthe helicopters used for aerial photographywould need to be cached along the coast andthat in itself would require expensive transportationand additional fuel.The expedition component of the documentary—afive-man, one-woman team using threekayaks—would retrace Greely’s journey downthe coast from Fort Conger to his winter campat Cape Sabine. Since the kayaks could notcarry sufficient food and supplies for the anticipatedsix- to seven-week expedition, Gino,Tom Stere, and I would serve as the supportteam: leapfrogging down the coast by planeto resupply the team, filming from shore andhelicopter, as well as providing a communicationslink. We would be aided by Scott Simper,a professional adventurer videographer, whowas one of the kayakers. The kayak team alsohad a small video camera that it would use torecord the members’ private thoughts duringthe trip. Gino had arranged for another cameraman,Simon Reeves, to do filming when theteam arrived at Cape Sabine.While the route and the environment wouldbe much the same as Greely encountered,there were many important differences: wewould be using the very latest in outdoorequipment, and we had access to communicationsvia satellite-phone and high frequencyradio between team members, the supportcrew, and the outside world. Perhaps the mostimportant difference was the time of year:the explorers journal

we did not want to risk starting out at the end ofAugust with the imminent approach of winter. Wechose to embark on our expedition in June, at thebeginning of the brief Arctic summer when thereis still-solid sea ice, knowing that after the first fewweeks, the kayak team would be able to paddlefreely in open water. Greely and his men, who leftalmost three months later, encountered just theopposite—ever-worsening ice conditions as theyretreated further south.We gathered in Yellowknife, capital of theNorthwest Territories, packed kayaks, gear, andfuel into a chartered De Havilland transport planeand set off for the northernmost regular airportat Resolute in the district of Nunavut. We thenregrouped, picked up a Canadian park ranger andcontinued on to Fort Conger in the Twin Otter. Avery large area of Ellesmere Island, including FortConger, is in Canada’s northernmost nationalpark, and people are not allowed to visit the siteof Greely’s camp without official supervision. Welanded in a dry stream bed near Fort Conger,where the foundation of the station and much ofGreely’s equipment remains to this day.The team set out on the summer equinox—theanniversary of Greely’s rescue in 1884—pullingtheir kayaks over 16 kilometers of sea ice across32Lady Franklin Bay. Meanwhile, Gino, Tom, and Itook off to set up our first basecamp at Carl RitterBay. While the others were exerting themselves,we lived in relative luxury in a huge, six-meter dometent with most of the comforts of home.All went according to plan until July 4, when anaccident occurred that could have been tragic forthe expedition. As Scott attempted to come ashorein his kayak, he became pinned between “the icefoot”—ice frozen firmly against the shore—and arapidly moving ice floe that was being pushed upand against the foot by the incoming tide. Scott’skayak was crushed and he was severely injured.If the ice had closed in any further, Scott wouldhave undoubtedly been killed, but fortunately, itstopped just in time for his kayaking companionsto pull him out.While the team waited anxiously for the helicopterfor his immediate medical evacuation, they foundthemselves floating offshore on a cracking ice floe inever-thickening fog, a haunting reminder of Greely’smen drifting in Kane Basin. Thanks to modern communications,the Canadian Army detachment atthe Eureka weather station, and Peter Jefford, ourhelicopter pilot, Scott was plucked from the ice;transported to Iqualuit, the capital of Nunavut; andthen to Ottawa for intensive medical treatment—allThe east coast of Ellesmere Island, photo by James Shedd

Geoffrey E. Clark, third from left, and his party unfurl the explorers club flag at Greely’s Camp Clay at Cape Sabine. Photo by Gino Del Guerciowithin seven hours of the accident in one of the mostremote spots on the planet. Scott’s accident clearlydemonstrated that even with modern equipment, wewere still at the mercy of the elements—conditions asunforgiving today as they were in Greely’s time.Meanwhile, the team questioned whether theyshould continue with the expedition. Fortunately,Scott’s injuries were limited to “only” a puncturedlung, five fractured ribs, a dislocated clavicle, andsevere soft-tissue trauma. From his hospital bedScott urged his team mates to continue—whichthey did, albeit shorthanded.Steve paddledthe damaged kayakalone, and James Shedd,who had already provenhimself an accomplishedstill photographer, tookup Scott’s video cameraand continued shootingen route. The rest of theexpedition’s long stretchesover open waterproved to be uneventfulexcept for numerous encounters with enormous,easily provoked walruses; the team was acutelyaware of their unpredictability and how easily theycould destroy a kayak.After six weeks of kayaking down the coast, theteam arrived at its destination on Cape Sabineand met up with Gino, Tom, Simon, and me. Wewere all very moved to see the remains of CampClay where so many men had suffered and died inmisery. As a final tribute to Greely and his men, weheld a brief ceremony on Cemetery Ridge wherethe first of the many to die were buried.I read a passage to the team from Greely’sown Book of Common Prayer—lent to us by JaneGreely—which he had used to conduct Sundayservices and to bury his party’s dead. Our lastact before leaving was to unfurl the ExplorersClub Flag at the plaque placed at Camp Clay byCommander Donald Macmillan for the NationalGeographic Society in 1924.To this day, the question of cannibalism andwho participated remains unresolved. We foundGreely’s tent site and the burial ground—CemeteryRidge—only a few meters apart. It seems inconceivablethat bodies could have been neatly dissectedwithout being observed by at least some of the survivors.Perhaps Greely himself was so incapacitatedthat he was unable to get out of the tent. We willnever know for sure just what happened.From our retrace of his route, it was clearthat Greely’s expedition was a extraordinary accomplishment,considering the time of year, thelimitations in equipment, and the relative inexperienceof Greely and his men. In his memoir, ThreeYears of Arctic Service, Greely noted, “The retreatfrom Fort Conger to Cape Sabine involved overfour hundred miles’ travel by boats, and fully ahundred with sledge and boat; the greater partof which was madeunder circumstances ofsuch great peril or imminenceof danger asto test to the utmost thecourage, coolness, andendurance of any party,and the capacity of anycommander.”Despite a great dealof subsequent criticism,the fact remains thatGreely accomplished hismission, bringing all of his records and supplies toCape Sabine. His records, meticulously tabulatedin a large two-volume report, were eventually compiledby NOAA, along with data collected by theother expeditions of the First International PolarYear—information contained within the baselinefor studies now being carried out under the aegisof the Fourth International Polar Year. Had theWar Department completed their mission and leftthe promised supplies, Greely no doubt wouldhave been able to winter over without loss of life.As late as 1924, an article in the New York Timescriticized the expedition as being a tragic wasteof time. In a furious response Greely replied thatit was not a “pole-seeking adventure,” but a scientificenterprise, and “the Greely expedition was anextraordinary success. The relief expeditions managedfrom Washington were ghastly failures.”biographyA member of The Explorers Club since 1988, Geoffrey E. Clark,M.D., is a retired gastroenterologist and entrepreneur fromPortsmouth, NH. He has traveled extensively in the CanadianArctic doing research and reconnaissance for the productionof the highly acclaimed film, Abandoned in the Arctic.the explorers journal

j o u r n e ya m o n gthe Danitext by Kevin Bubriskiphotographs by michael clark Rockefeller34

A dani war leader exhorts his men Photographs © the president and fellows of Harvard CollegeIn the fall of 2005, I was invited to Studio7Arts inCambridge, MA, to examine a collection of imagespreserved in a dozen or more faded pale-greenbinders labeled New Guinea, 1961, Black andWhite and marked with the roll numbers of thecontact sheets they contained. Not since RobertGardner’s book, Gardens of War: Life and Deathin the New Guinea Stone Age, was published in1968 have these images—a majority of them takenby none other than Michael Clark Rockefeller inthe months before his mysterious disappearence—been allowed to tell their tales.As I reviewed each of the 350 contact sheets,I made note of those images that had particularstrength and visual integrity and soon began tounderstand elements of his extraordinary journeyinto the Dani culture—Rockefeller’s rapport andpersonal connection with the men, women, andchildren he photographed. It was clear that therehad been enough film on hand, and enough time,for Rockefeller to go beyond his official mission ofrecording the major events among the Dani—theirritual wars with rival groups—and to find the inbetweenmoments in the course of daily life.Gardner took Rockefeller on the expedition tothe Baliem Valley to serve as his soundman forthe documentary on the Dani culture that wouldbecome the celebrated film Dead Birds. Thiswas the beginning of the era of the Nikon 35mm camera—a solid instrument that would becomeknown for its bullet-deflecting capabilitiesin Vietnam—and Gardner made sure there wereplenty of them to go around. Rockefeller, Gardner,anthropologists Karl Heider and Jan Broekhuyse,novelist and naturalist Peter Matthiessen, medicalstudent Samuel Putnam, and Life magazinephotographer Eliot Elisofon all participated in“shooting” that season. Their collective portraitof the Dani—made over a 152-day period—is deepand rich. Indeed, it’s sometimes nearly impossibleto distinguish which photographer took which imagethat year. Luckily, Rockefeller took more than4,000 frames of black-and-white film, a body ofwork in which his personal style and growing fluencyin the language of the camera is evident.Some two decades ago, at Makalu Basecampin Nepal, documentary filmmaker Peter Getzelstalked with me at length about the value he placedon filming in conflict conditions. This, he believed,provided the best opportunity for observing aculture expressing itself unselfconsciously, inthe presence of outside observers. In this sense,Gardner and his team found fertile ground forcultural display among the Dani. Absorbed withwarfare, grieving losses, and celebrating victories,they allowed their observers to go about theirwork. Equally absorbed by events, the expeditionmembers, too, often wandered into the frame,showing up in production stills, allowing us tolook behind the camera and across the boundarybetween observer and observed.Rockefeller knew, or learned as he went along,that a black-and-white photograph allows for ascrutiny of natural forms that is more penetratingthan what can be achieved in color. Gone are theblues and grays of the sky with smoke and cloudsmoving through it, the deep moist greens of theforest, the screaming yellows and reds of a bird’splumage as it flies through the trees. What is leftis an abstraction of sky, forest, flight, a distilledexperience, a souvenir carefully selected fromthe continuum of life. The bodies revealed in hisimages play on our visual memory, echoing imagesfrom the long history of human art from the8,000-year-old paintings of hunters and herdsmenin Algeria’s Tassili Plateau to the ancient Greekstatues of athletes and warriors. In nakedness, wesee revealed the full gestural quality of the humanbody as it appears in those who live in close proximitywith nature. At the same time, they exposeus to new and unfamiliar ways of being. Today,some 45 years after Rockefeller’s death whilejourneying among the Asmat, his way of seeingand understanding the visual world is a gift to usthat endures.informationA limited edition portfolio of these images—collected foran exhibition and book titled Michael Rockefeller: New GuineaPhotographs, 1961—is available from the Peabody Museum andStudio7Arts in Cambridge, MA. For information on portfoliopurchase, call Kevin Bubriski, 802-442-4516biographyA Fellow of The Explorers Club, acclaimed photographer Kevin Bubriskiis the author of Portrait of Nepal (1993), Power Places of Kathmandu(1995), Pilgrimage: Looking at Ground Zero (2002) and most recently,Michael Rockefeller: New Guinea Photographs, 1961, a companionvolume to the show he curated.the explorers journal

learning the art of warBoys with toy spears learn the art of warfare through gamessuch as “kill the hoop.”

Coming HomeA wounded warrior is brought back to his village on theshoulders of his companions.

Keeping watchA lone sentry climbs a watchtower to scan the horizon forneighboring enemies on the attack.

Preparing a FeastDani villagers prepare a stone-lined cooking pit in which theywill steam pig and staple crops such as sweet potatoes.

Bonds of friendshipChildhood friends embrace. By the age of five, they will haveexperienced and participated in all aspects of life—magic,death, war, gardening, house building, and pig keeping.

Secret Lifeoficebergstext by Kenneth L. Smith, Jr.photographs by Rob SherlockDrifting islands of ice, sculpted by fragmentation,erosion, and melting, icebergs have become harbingersof climate change. And nowhere on Earth are theymore prevalent than in the Southern Ocean along theAntarctic Peninsula, a curved finger that juts out tothe northeast from the main ice-shrouded continent,separating the Amundsen Sea to the west from theWeddell Sea to the east. It is along the eastern boundaryof the Antarctic Peninsula that a major northerlyflow from the southerly reaches of the Weddell Seahas been dubbed “iceberg alley. “The recent breakup of the huge ice shelves alongthe western boundary of the Weddell Sea has calveda large number of icebergs. These sculptures of blueand white ice, tens of thousands of years old, occurin an endless variety of tabular and pinnacle forms asthey proceed along iceberg alley on a northerly “deathmarch” into the warmer waters of the Scotia Sea andSouth Atlantic.46I have been fascinated by icebergs since my firstoceanographic cruise to the Antarctic more than30 years ago. I reasoned that as guardians ofthe ice-shrounded continent, these magnificentfrozen sculptures, with their large underwatermass, would be havens for enhanced marine life.Indeed, on many subsequent cruises I have observeda preponderance of seabirds associatedwith most icebergs.In 1992, one of my post-doctoral students,Ron Kaufmann, and I decided to place a seriesof upward-looking acoustic arrays moored tothe sea floor of the Weddell Sea to observe anddocument the pelagic communities associatedwith the advancing and receding of the seasonalpack ice. It became clear from the data we collectedthat icebergs drifting north through clearwater, free of pack ice, did not travel alone butwith an entourage of zooplankton and nekton.The author prepares to deploy an ROV from the deck of the RV L.M. Gould

seabirds such as Cape Petrels were more abundant around icebergs than in the open waters of the Weddell Sea. The waterfall behind them is meltwater from the iceberg, which nourishes its surrounding waters .Delighted with our findings, I asked colleaguesinterested in icebergs if they would be willing tolaunch a multidisciplinary study of these driftingislands in the Southern Ocean. The scientificreviewers of my grant proposals, however, werenot convinced that icebergs could influence thepelagic ecosystem. Despite my enthusiasm for theresearch project, it failed to generate any significantinterest. Eventually, we succeeded in obtaininga small grant for exploratory research from theNational Science Foundation (NSF) for a modest,month-long research expeditionto the WeddellSea. Our team of sevenconsisted of BruceRobison (Monterey BayAquarium ResearchInstitute), who wouldstudy the communityof organisms undertheice surface; MariaVernet (University ofCalifornia, San Diego),who would study thephytoplankton; RonKaufmann (Universityof San Diego), whowould study the macrozooplanktonandmicronekton; Tim Shaw(University of South Carolina), who would studythe detrital material associated with the icebergs;John Helly (UCSD), who would study icebergstructure and assess iceberg populations fromsatellite imagery; and Robert Wilson (UCSD) andHenry Ruhl (MBARI), who would study seabirds.On November 27, 2005, our group departedfrom Punta Arenas, at the southern tip of Chile,aboard the RV L. M. Gould, a 76-meter researchship with an orange ice-strengthened hull. Onboard were laboratories and expansive deckspace to conduct over-the-side sampling. Theship was outfitted with a large multiple openingclosingtrawl system and a CTD, a device thatcould be lowered into the water to record salinityand temperature with depth, and a variety of watersamplers. A remotely operated underwater vehicle(ROV) was also on board for observing andsampling under the icebergs. Over the course ofa month, we were able to study two free-driftingicebergs in the Weddell Sea.The smaller iceberg was approximately twokilometers long and 41 meters high, with a submergeddepth greater than 300 meters. To documentchanges in flora and fauna associated withthe iceberg, we put the ship on a spiral track thatbegan at 20 meters out from the island of ice. Wethen began circling it, taking samples at ever-increasingdistances from it up to nine kilometers.The second iceberg was some 21 kilometerslong and 30 meters high, with a submerged depthof more than 230 meters. This iceberg was far toolarge for us to embarkon the spiral samplingused on the smallerone, so we put the shipon a course of paralleltransects along eachlength of the iceberg,out to a distance ofnine kilometers.As the icebergsslowly melt, they shediron-rich terrigenousmaterial, likely pickedup as wind-blowndust and from glaciallyground bedrock whenthe ice was forming.Nutrients from thisterrigenous materialincreased phytoplankton growth in the vicinity ofthe iceberg. Elevated concentrations of phytoplankton,being at the base of the pelagic foodchain, in turn nourished the zooplankton (krill)around the iceberg, which were significantly increasedin number compared to more peripheralwaters. The highest level of the food web, the seabirds—dominatedby Cape petrels and Antarcticfulmars—were also substantially higher in numberaround the iceberg, feeding on the abundant krill.Watching the real-time video from the ROV,secured to the ship with a 300-meter electromechanicaltether, we observed something quiteunexpected—extensive “fields” of attached algae(diatoms) growing on small fragments of volcanicrock embedded in the surface of the submergedice. These algae bloomed where down-wellinglight was sufficient for growth to depths as deepas 60 meters. We also saw swarms of krill andother zooplankton associated with crevasses andoutcrops on the undersurface of the ice.the explorers journal

Iceberg W-86Researchers found abundant marine life in waters aroundeven small icebergs such as W-86 in the Weddell Sea.

We returned from our cruise enthusiastic aboutthe preliminary results from the expedition, whichshowed that icebergs have a significant influenceon the surrounding pelagic ecosystem. BenTwining (USC) joined our efforts at this stageto study the impact of collected iceberg detritalmaterial on laboratory phytoplankton incubations.Phytoplankton grown in media enriched withiceberg-borne terrigenous material we collectedgrew at significantly higher levels than thosegrown in unenriched media, strongly suggestingthat the iron-rich material was indeed responsiblefor the high growth rates we observed aroundthe icebergs. The next step was to estimate howimportant this study was regarding the wholepopulation of icebergs in the studied region of theWeddell Sea. The “biological halo” around the twoicebergs studied extended out to about four kilometers,substantially increasing the pelagic areainfluenced by these drifting islands of ice. A radarsatellite image taken about the time of our studyand covering more than 11,000 square kilometersof the sea surface, contained 962 detectible icebergs.Only 89 of these were within the same sizerange as those we studied. If we extrapolate thesize of each of these to include a four-kilometer radiushalo around them, their total area of influencerepresents some 39 percent of the total area of50

Iceberg A-52Swarms of krill and other zooplankton flourish in the crevassesand outcrops of ice on the underside of this verylarge iceberg, which was about five kilometers wide and 21kilometers long.the sea surface in the satellite image. Obviously,this area of influence would increase dramaticallyif the remaining smaller icebergs were includedin our estimate. On a larger spatial scale, theproliferation of icebergs associated with globalwarming should markedly increase their influenceon the Southern Ocean ecosystem.With renewed funding from the NSF, we will becontinuing our iceberg studies in greater detailover the next three years. Our hope is to resolvethe importance of icebergs, from the drawdownof carbon dioxide during photosynthesis to thesequestration of particulate organic carbon intothe deep sea.AcknowledgmentsThis research was supported by the Office of Polar Programsof the National Science Foundation and by the David andLucile Packard Foundation.biographyA senior scientist at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research since2006, Kenneth L. Smith, Jr., was formerly a research biologist atthe Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California, SanDiego, where he retains a research emeritus position.the explorers journal

Austral LightAndrea Juanexplores the ice canvases of Antarcticainterview by Jeff StolzerWhere others perceive a seemingly endless expanse thatis Antarctica, Argentine artist Andrea Juan sees a vastcanvas on which to “paint” with light, sound, and theatricalmotion, creating powerful visual essays on thecondition of one of Earth’s most fragile environments.I recently caught up with Juan to discuss her recentwork on a continent that has long been of great importanceto members of The Explorers Club.JS: The field of “environmental art” has attracted increasingattention in recent years, thanks in largepart to the controversial artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude, whose work has focused on finding new52and dramatic ways of seeing familiar landscapes.You have chosen extreme, and for many, unfamiliarenvironments to make statements on the conditionof our planet. How did that come about?AJ: I have had a concern for the environment foras long as I can remember. When I was at theNational University of Arts in Buenos Aires, I explorednontoxic materials for printmaking, includingvideo and photography. After working in Londonand Vienna on a project entitled Rescue—aseries of pieces using ambulances—I decided tocreate some new conceptual works that wouldhighlight the disappearance of glaciers aroundBlue Methane, 2006

the world, particularly those in Patagonia, whichI did in 2002. After that project, I continued tofocus on environmental issues.JS: How did you choose Antarctica as a “canvas”for your work?AJ: I had been in contact with scientists from theDirección Nacional del Antártico, Argentina, whohad been carrying out climate research in Antarcticafor many years. I knew that vast expanses ofice had been melting at an alarming rate with thetemperature on the Antarctic Peninsula slowly risingbecause of climate change and I felt it wasimportant to do what I could to heighten publicawareness of this. I decided to actually make artthere. I was excited by the notion of going Antarcticato set up video installations and carry outperformances on the ice.JS: Am I correct in imagining that there were technicalchallenges involved in producing these works?AJ: I knew from the beginning it wouldn`t be aneasy project to develop. I had to transport a lotof equipment to Antarctica—high-resolution andluminosity projectors, audio equipment, and a lotof accessories. Antarctica is the largest deserton Earth and, paradoxically, it is also the world’slargest reservoir of fresh water. There’s no clock,meteorology sets the time. There’s no money, nocurrency, no business, or stores. Beautiful landscapesare changing all the time. For an artist, itis truly a blank canvas. Despite its tranquility, it isalso an ailing world. The goal of the entire projectwas to highlight the effect of climate change onthe environment and its degradation with the appearanceof methane gas particles on the surface,and the disintegration of the Larsen Ice Shelf.JS: So how many works were you able to createthere and were they all done on one trip?AJ: I have made four trips to Antarctica duringwhich I have been able to project two videos Ihad made in Buenos Aires onto the ice, using differentback drops. We have also carried out twoperformances on the ice, which we recorded. Thefirst, in 2004, was at Esperanza Base on the AntarcticPeninsula. There, members of the communitymoved in the dark, carrying torches, towardthe glacier base some 2,000 meters away, theirfootprints in fresh snow making a kind of path thatwould be visible in the next day’s morning light. Iprojected images of sunflowers and fire 100 metershigh and 60 meters wide onto the ice. As thepeople walked up the glacier, they zigzagged inthe snow, playing and skipping. Then I projectedthe images of sunflowers and fire onto their orangegarments. For the audio portion, music wasplayed at full volume to match the saturated colorsof the images. In the film, the sunflowers eventuallycatch fire, burning one after the other until thewhole field of flowers becomes a huge, devastatingblaze, which then dies out. It was snowing andthere was no wind; it was an astonishing night.In February 2005, we had a snowmobile crewtake us up the same glacier, where we carriedout our performance called “Red”—recorded withvideo and still cameras. There, we unfurled an80-meter-long piece of red tulle over the glacier’ssurface. The fabric was unfolded on the snow by aperformer dressed in red. Red symbolized the ideaof a wound, blood, heat, pain, the human essence,contrasting with the purity of the ice.In January and February 2006, on my third offour expeditions to Antarctica, I carried out differentperformances that form part of my “Methane”series. I used different colored tulle—in poisonousviolet, fluorescent orange, and light blue—forthis series of videos, which we recorded during astorm, we let the tulle trail through the air, a metaphorfor toxic gases spreading everywhere.JS: Has it been easy to find support for your project?AJ: I received the Guggenheim Fellowship for theproject, which was made under the auspices ofDirección Nacional del Antárctico and the ProgramaAntárctico Argentino. The pieces createdduring the project have been shown in Rotterdam,New York, Montreal, and Buenos Aires.JS: So what is next?AJ: My next project will focus on what I call theinvisible forest, the phytoplankton—the first sequencein the food chain—and how it is modifiedby climate change and pollution.I n f o r m a t i o nAndrea Juan is a member of the Argentine Association: Tierrade Exploradores (Land of Explorers) www.landofexplorers.org. An exhibition of her work will be on view at the Econcentroin Puerto Madryn, Patagonia, Argentina, through March 2008.the explorers journal

E x t r e m e m e d i c i n eyour heatlh and safety in the fieldA n k l e B i t e r sand other expeditionary riskscaring for wounds in the fieldby Michael J. Manyak, M.D., FACSAn acute traumatic wound in a remote location is achallenge without medical personnel or resourcesreadily available. Decisions made in the first few minutesoften influence both the need for evacuation andthe eventual outcome. We caught up with Jim Marinucci,director of the wound management program at GeorgeWashington University, at the recent ExpeditionMedicine Conference to discuss these issues.MJM: Jim, What should one do after a traumaticwound occurs?JM: The first step is to evaluate and stabilizethe patient. Knowing the cause of the injury isimportant to determine the possibility of a neckor spine injury and prevent movement. Stoppingany significant hemorrhage and making sure theairway is stable are very key steps. You shouldremove all jewelry for an upper extremity injuryto prevent cutting off circulation from swelling.If the victim is stable, you need to determine ifthe wound is contaminated or relatively clean.54The most important thing is good cleansing ofthe wound to prevent an infection. Irrigation ofthe wound with sterile saline or even tap water isimportant and you need to remove any obviousforeign material if possible. Pain medication andantibiotics would be next but it is important tofind out what medications and allergies the victimhas. Antibiotics used for diarrhea, especiallyCiprofloxin or Levaquin, are good for wounds.MJM: What do you do for someone with a deeplaceration that crosses a joint?JM: After stopping the bleeding, check to see ifthe person can move the joint to show if thereis any obvious ligament or tendon damage. It isoften good to splint an injury where this is suspectedbut the damage or extent may not be soobvious. A good bandage often acts as a splint.Splinting deep wounds for the first 48 hourshelps reduce the chance of infection but thesplint should be removed to allow some returna Devastating ankle injury purportedly sustained during a polar bear attack on campers in the Yukon.

Pressure dressing and elevation are important in this serious lower extremity laceration on a patient in rural Ethiopia, courtesy Jim Marinucciof motion after the first two days. Elevation isimportant for any extremity injury. There is noabsolute need to splint a joint with a laceration.MJM: What about wounds with a bone stickingout through the injury?JM: This is a compound fracture and you willneed to clean and dress the wound and splintthat area. These are risks for serious infectionsso antibiotics should always be given as soonas possible. Also you have to be careful aboutmoving the bony fragments, not only for the pain,but the sharp ends can lacerate vital structureslike blood vessels and nerves. This type of injurywill definitely need evacuation.MJM: How does one manage a burn in the field?JM: The first thing to do is to cool the area withclean water at room temperature or slightly lowerfor a minimum of 20 minutes. Remove jewelryand leave blisters intact. If you have specificburn wound dressings, they can be applied, butif not, a thin layer of antimicrobial cream can beapplied before the dressing. Remember thatanything you have to put on a burn will have to beremoved as well later. If you use an antimicrobialdressing with a sulfa antibiotic, it is very importantto ask about allergies to sulfa. Burns canbecome infected easily so antibiotic use wouldbe a good idea if you have damage to the skin.Pain medication and elevation again are veryimportant with this type of injury.MJM: There is much more to discuss but thecommon theme here for the explorer comingacross a traumatic wound is assessment followedby wound cleansing, jewelry removal,bandaging, pain medication, and elevation,and antibiotics when needed. Following theseconcepts will certainly diminish serious consequencesfor the victim. Thanks very much foryour time and insights.the explorers journal

E x t r e m e C u i s i n efood for the epicurean adventurerS o l a r - C o o k e dpicnicby Linda Frederick YaffeSuddenly it comes, the flaming globe, blazing on thepinnacles and minarets and balanced rocks, on thecanyon walls and through the windows in the sandstonefins. We greet each other, sun and I, across theblack void of ninety-three million miles.—Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire (1968)Enjoy simple but sumptuous solar-cooked mealsnearly anywhere in the world. Cooking with thesun is free, clean, easy, and fun. Simply toss togetherthe ingredients in a lightweight dark metalpot, put the pot in the cooker, and relax while thesun prepares your meal. Convenient at home, solarcookers also shine at picnics and basecamps.They pasteurize drinking water, cook and bakefoods, and provide hot wash water for people,clothes, and dishes. Solar cooking is stress-free:no overcooking, smoke, stirring, tending, fire danger,or use of wood or fossil fuels. Foods cook upmoist, flavorful, and full of nutrients.Set up the cooker at your picnic site and pointit towards the sun. Assemble the Jamaican JerkChicken and Monterey Nachos recipes and popthem into the cooker. A half hour later, remove thenachos and put the corn into the cooker. Enjoythe nachos as an appetizer while the chickenand the ears of corn are cooking.Plans & directionsto build asolar cooker· The Expanding World of Solar Box Cookers by BarbaraProsser Kerr (1991)· Solar Cookers: How to Make, Use & Enjoy by Solar CookersInternational (2004)· Solar Cooking for Home & Camp by Linda Frederick Yaffe,Stackpole Books (2007)Resources forpre-built solar cookers· Gaiam Real Goods, www.realgoods.com· Solar Cookers International, www.solarcookers.org· Solar Household Energy, www.she-inc.org· Solar Oven Society, www.solarovens.orgBiographyA California-based writer, Linda Frederick Yaffe is theauthor of Backpack Gourmet, High Trail Cookery, and therecently released Solar Cooking for Home and Camp.56

monterey nachosJamaican Jerk ChickenServes 41. Spread evenly on a rimmed tray:• 8 ounces whole-grain tortilla chips2. Drop by tablespoon over the chips:• 15 ounces refried beans• 8 ounces diced roasted green chilies3. Sprinkle over all:• 1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese4. Place the uncovered tray in the solar cooker for 30 minutes.Enjoy warm with a sprinkling of:• salsa to taste• freshly chopped parsley, cilantro, and/or green onions5. Serve with:• chilled beer, white wine, or lemonadeCorn on the CobServes 41. Wipe and place whole, unhusked, in a solar cooker for 1½hours:• 4 ears of freshly picked corn2. Husk the corn and serve it plain or with:• butter, salt, and pepperServes 4Solar cookers marinate, then cook, all in one step. Store thechicken and the marinade in an ice chest before cooking.1. At home, stir together in a 1½ cup lidded container:• 1 tablespoon dark brown sugar• 1 teaspoon dried thyme• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper• 1 teaspoon salt• 4 tablespoons ketchup• 3 tablespoons dark Jamaican rum• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar• 1 tablespoon tamari soy sauce• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard• 1 tablespoon olive oil• 6 cloves garlic, chopped2. In the field, place in a pot in a single layer:• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves3. Spread the chicken with half of the marinade. turn thechicken and cover the other sides with the rest of themarinade.4. Cover the pot and place in a solar cooker for 2 hours oruntil the internal temperature of the chicken breastsreaches 165 degrees.5. Serve with a green salad, crusty bread, and red wine.

eviewsedited by Milbry C. Polka magnificent tribute to thespirit of eastern Africa. Herblack-and-white images of individualsat play, hunting, andperforming rituals reflect thecultural and geographic diversityof the 19 tribal groupsshe profiles. The book offers aclose look at a facet of humanexpression that will probablyvanish in our own lifetime.T r i b e s o f t h eGreat Rift Valleyby Elizabeth L. Gilbertdown the nileby Rosemary Mahoney288 pp • Boston: Little Brown& Company, 2007 • ISBN:978-0-316-10745-7 • $23.99272 pp • New York: Harry N. Abrams,2007 • ISBN-10: 0810994119, ISBN-13:978-0810994119 • $75The Great Rift Valley touchesnearly a dozen countries ineastern Africa—from Eritrea,Ethiopia, and Somaliland on58the Red Sea through thehighlands of Kenya to itssouthern edge in Malawi—andencompasses deserts, plains,and forests. In her latest book,Tribes of the Great Rift Valley,former war-correspondentElizabeth L. Gilbert offersWhat possessed RosemaryMahoney to embark alone,rowing a two-meter-long skiffhugging the shores of the Nilefor weeks on end soon becomesapparent in the awardwinningauthor’s latest book,Down the Nile. For many,rowing is an obsession that

seizes the spirit like a drug,and has led a few individualsinto unlikely challenges.For Mahoney, simply gettingon the water proves difficultbecause being a womanmade it nearly impossible forher to buy a boat in Egypt.Egypt being Egypt, there isalways a way and an understandingsoul to make theimpossible possible.Throughout her trials, sheruminates on adventures ofearlier Nile river travelers suchas Florence Nightingale,Gustave Flaubert, AmeilaEdwards, and the terrifyingstories of crocodiles byPaul Potous. In the end, sheachieves what so many adventurersstrive for—momentsof real happiness when allthat you worked for finallycomes together, making thewhole thing worth it.life in thevalley of deathby Alan Rabinowitz256 pp • Washington, DC: IslandPress, 2007 • ISBN-978-1-59726-129-60• $25.95 • Reviewed by Jeff StolzerREVIEWSThis engaging book documentsthe decade-longstruggle of Alan Rabinowitz,executive director of the scienceand exploration programat the Wildlife ConservationSociety, to establish theworld’s largest tiger preservedeep in the Hukawng Valleyof Myanmar. The obstaclesfacing Rabinowitz are formidable:a military dictatorshipthat is suspicious of the outsideworld, an insurgent armythat controls a sizeable portionof the Hukawng, rampantpoaching, and an influx of goldprospectors whose use ofmercury threatens to destroythe food chain. And in themidst of all this, Rabinowitzis faced with a diagnosis ofleukemia, which is probablythe greatest obstacle of all.Rabinowitz meets these challengeswith unwavering focus,determination, and passion.He manages to endear himselfand his passion for tigersto nearly everyone that heencounters. He is a man on amission and we are not reallysurprised when that missionultimately proves successful.Where the book deliverssurprises is in the chaptersthat deal with his leukemiadiagnosis, a development thatturns his world upside down.Normally a fearless fighter,Rabinowitz retreats into adark world of depression anddespair, cutting himself offfrom his work and his family.He writes about this in a mannerthat is brutally honest, andhis self-portrait is less thanflattering. The hero of Life inthe Valley of Death turns outto be human like the rest ofus, which makes his accomplishmentsin Myanmar all themore remarkable.The Terrorby Dan Simmons769 pp • New York: Little, Brownand Company, 2007 • ISBN-10:0316017442, • $25.99 • Reviewed byJohn GeigerThe doomed 1845–1848British Arctic Expedition commandedby Sir John Franklinhas inspired its own literarysubgenre, from Lord Tennysonand Margaret Atwood, toSten Nadolny, MordecaiRichler, Sheenagh Pugh, andWilliam T. Vollmann. Nowbest-selling American novelistDan Simmons has produceda haunting, masterful, andultimately poignant narrativeof the expedition. The result—drawn from the real-life minutiaeof the disaster, includingthe “poisons in the Goldnertins”—is, as was once written ofthe Franklin expedition itself, afate as terrible as the mind canconceive. Of all the terrors ofthe labyrinthine archipelagothe explorers journal

of northern Canada, and theillusory terrors of a malevolentsupernatural creature of theice, it is something human thatproves to be the most terrifyingthing of all.60Wild Places:Wild Heartsby Allen Smutylo302 pp • Owen Sound, Ontario: TomThomson Art Gallery, 2007 • ISBN:978-0-929021-47-8 • $60Award-winning Canadian artistand author Allen Smutylo’sWild Places: Wild Hearts:Nomads of the Himalaya isboth an artist’s memoir andan anthropologist’s journey.After decades spent withnomadic peoples in the HighArctic, Patagonia, and theAmazon, Smutylo decided togo to the Himalaya. While ineastern Ladakh in 2001, heencountered the Changpa,a widely dispersed group ofTibetan nomads. Eventually,Smutylo joined the Kharnakpatribe—one of four groups hetraveled with—on migrationas they crossed an isolatedplateau of rock, sand, and ice4,500 meters above sea level,on yaks and horses. On thisjourney he met the chomos,nuns whose lives are spenton remote mountainsides inREVIEWSstone huts, weathering bitterwinters, waiting for theoccasional visit of the clanon migration. He writes thatas he moved between theworld of the Changpa and themodern world, he began tounderstand that far from beinga relic, the Changpa hadmuch to teach us. “In contrastto the tenets of our society,I saw compatibility with theenvironment, inclusiveness inspirituality, and an emphasison non-material things.”T h e H i g h R o a d t oChina: George Bogle,The pachen Lama, andthe first BritishExpedition to Tibetby Kate Teltscher336 pp • New York: farrar, straus,A nd Girou x , 20 07 • ISBN -10 : 0 3742170 0 9ISBN-13: 978-0374217006 • $26Kate Tektscher, authorof the acclaimed IndiaInscribed, begins her latestbook, High Road to China:George Bogle, the PanchenLama, and the First BritishExpedition to Tibet, with afascinating account of the1780 meeting between theThird Panchen Lama of Tibetand the Chinese EmperorQianlong in Chengde, the“two most exalted figureson Earth.” That it took thePanchen Lama a year to travelfrom Lhasa to Chengde to celebratethe emperor’s seventiethbirthday immediately setsthe stage. During the celebrations,the Lama asked theemperor to entertain relationswith the English governor ofIndia (Hindostan), WarrenHastings. Teltscher examinesthe purpose of this strangeencounter and the reasonsfor the Tibetan spiritualleader would have wanted tohelp the English achieve theirlong desired entry into China.Despite the warm personalrelationship that developedbetween the English representative,Scotsman GeorgeBogle—who had been sentto Tibet on behalf of theBritish East India Companyin 1774 to begin trade negotiations—andthe PanchenLama, diplomatic realtionsbetween England, Tibet, andChina were fraught, resultingin the Opium Wars of1839–42 and 1885–60. Inhis diaries, Bogle revealsa genuine curiosity andrespect for the Lama andthe Tibetans. Unfortunately,his successor, FrancisYounghusband, would massacre500 Tibetans on hisdiplomatic mission of 1904.Teltscher’s account of thisearly diplomatic foray and itsaftermath reverberates todayin the ever-changing politicallandscape of the Himalaya.

THE EXPLORERS CLUB LEGACY SOCIETY“A corollary purpose of myexpeditions has been toprovide a training forum foryoung explorers. I joined ourLegacy Society to give thema foothold in the future and aplace to develop their spiritof exploration. Join us!”— Captain Robert “Rio” HahnRobert J. AtwaterCapt. Norman L. BakerBarbara BallardRobert D. Ballard, Ph.D.Samuel B. BallenMark Gregory BayukDaniel A. BennettJohn R. Bockstoce, D.Phil.Bjorn G. BolstadCapt. Bruce M. Bongar, Ph.D.Garrett R. BowdenHarry Davis BrooksLt. Col. Jewell RichardBrowder*August “Augie” BrownJohn C.D. BrunoLee R. Bynum*Virginia Castagnola HunterJulianne M. Chase, Ph.D.Maj. Gen. Arthur W. Clark,USAF (Ret.)Leslie E. ColbyJonathan M. ConradCatherine Nixon CookeConstance DifedeMr. & Mrs. James DonovanCol. William H. Dribben,USA (Ret)Sylvia A. Earle, Ph.D.Lee M. ElmanMichael L. FinnRobert L. Fisher, Ph.D.John W. FlintKay FosterJames M. FowlerW. Roger FryAlfred C. Glassell, Jr.George W. GowenRandall A. GreeneJean Charles Michel GuiteCapt. Robert “Rio” HahnAllan C. HamiltonScott W. HamiltonO. Winston “Bud”Hampton, Ph.D.Brian P. HansonJames H. Hardy, M.D.Judith HeathRobert A. HemmGary “Doc” Hermalyn, Ph.D.Lotsie Hermann HoltonCharles B. HuestisRobert Edgar HymanJ.P. Morgan Charitable TrustRobert M. Jackson, M.D.Kenneth M. Kamler, M.D.Prince Joli KansilLorie M.L. KarnathAnthony G. Kehle, IIIAnne B. KeiserKathryn KiplingerThomas R. Kuhns, M.D.Hannah B. KurzweilCarl C. LandeggerMichael S. LevinFlorence Lewisohn Trust*J. Roland LieberMichael LuzichJames E. Lockwood, Jr.*Jose LoebCaptain “Rio” Hahn submits to a ceremonial body paintingbefore a ritual healing rite performed by the villageshaman in the Chico Region of Darien, Panama.John H. Loret, Ph.D., D.Sc.Margaret D. Lowman, Ph.D.Robert H. MalottLeslie MandelRobert E. McCarthy*George E. McCownCapt. Alfred S. McLaren,Ph.D., USN (Ret)Lorus T. Milne, Ph.D.James M. Mitchelhill*Arnold H. NeisWalter P. NoonanMartin T. Nweeia, D.D.S.Dr. John W. OlsenKathleen ParkerAlese & Morton PechterWilliam E. PhillipsProf Mabel L. Purkerson, M.D.Roland R. PutonDimitri Rebikoff*John T. Reilly, Ph.D.Adrian Richards, Ph.D.Bruce E. Rippeteau, Ph.D.Merle Greene Robertson, Ph.D.Otto E. RoethenmundJames Beeland Rogers, Jr.Faanya & Robert RoseRudy L. Ruggles, Jr.Gene M. RurkaAvery B. RussellDavid J. Saul, Ph.D.Willets H. Sawyer, IIIA. Harvey SchreterMr. & Mrs. Donald SegurTheodore M. SiourisWilliam J. L. Sladen, M.D.,D.Phil.Susan Deborah SmilowSally A. SpencerPamela L. StephanyRonnie & Allan StreichlerArthur O. SulzbergerVernon F. Taylor, IIIMitchell Terk, M.D.C. Frederick Thompson, IIJames “Buddy” ThompsonMarc Verstraete Van de WeyerRobert C. VaughnAnn Marks VolkweinLeonard A. Weakley, Jr.William G. Wellington, Ph.D.Robert H. WhitbyJulius Wile*Holly WilliamsFrancis A. Wodal** DeceasedAs long as there is The Explorers Club,your name will be listed as a member of the Legacy Society.THE LEGACY SOCIETY COMMITTEETheodore M. Siouris (Chairman), Robert J. Atwater,George W. Gowen, Scott W. Hamilton, Brian P. Hanson,Kathryn Kiplinger, William E. PhillipsFor informationand to join us:The Explorers Club46 East 70th StreetNew York, NY 10021212-628-8383www.explorers.org

Ex Post Factotales from The Explorers Club archivesmeteoritesin Manhattanby Clare Flemming, M.S.When polar explorer John Ross returned fromhis 1818 expedition along the Greenland coast,he mentioned that the local Inuit had tools ofiron, the source of which he had not been ableto locate. He surmised that, when found, the ironwould prove to be meteoric in origin. Althoughothers sought the elusive metal, one determinedAmerican polar explorer was able to find it:Robert Edwin Peary (1856-1920). In a slightlyimmodest phrase, Peary reported to the world,“It was fortunately reserved for me to settle thequestion finally and definitely,” which he did atCape York at 72°N.There he found three meteorites that, accordingto traditional Inuit lore, were referred to as awoman, her dog, and her tent. How did Pearymanage to find what others sought? Peary simplytraded a rifle for the privileged information.Two summer expeditions in 1896 and 1897 wererequired to excavate and extract the meteorites,each of which weighed several tons. Peary transportedthem to Manhattan, selling all three to theAmerican Museum of Natural History (AMNH).These meteorites had been the sole source of62metal for the people of Cape York in an otherwiseStone Age society, until first contact with Europeanand American whalers and sealers allowed a scanttrade in knives and other metal bits.As usual, Peary’s Cape York team included hisindispensable assistant Matthew Henson andexpedition artist, Albert Operti. Operti recordedthe events in one of the most beautiful paintingson display at The Explorers Club, Cape YorkGreenland Eskimos Breaking Pieces of Meteoritefor Knives, which depicts a group of Inuit painstakinglybreaking away sharp fragments of iron foruse as blades for their saviksue (knives).A faint penciled remark at the bottom of the paintingstates that the sketch was made “on the spotfrom a piece of Admiral Peary’s work apron 1896.”Visitors to the AMNH today can see and touchthe celestial bodies, which are on view in theArthur Ross Hall of Meteorites.Peary wrote of his claiming, extracting, removing,and selling these ancient meteorites, “MyEskimo allies…never interposed the slightest objectionto my removal of their heavenly guests.”One wonders, did they have a choice?Photo by Craig Chesek for the Explorers Club

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 s46 east 70th street, New York, NY 10021 I 212-628-8383 I www.explorers.orgNational chapter chairsinterNational chapter chairsAlaskaRobert W. Taylor, M.D.Tel: 907-452-4900Fax: 907-457-1701rtaylor@alaska.netffjjk@uaf.eduAtlantaW. Hayes Wilson, M.D.Tel: 404-351-2551Fax: 404-351-9238info@drwilson.orgCentral FloridaG. Michael HarrisTel: 727-584-2883Fax: 727-585-6078gmh@tampabay.rr.comChicago/Great LakesMel SurdelContact person:Cheryl IstvanTel: 312-640-0741Fax: 312-640-0731ec.chicago@mac.comGeorge Rogers ClarkJoseph E. RickettsTel/Fax: 937-885-2477jer937@aol.comGreater PiedmontNena Powell RiceTel: 803-777-8170Fax: 803-254-1338nrice@sc.eduJupiter FloridaRosemarie TwinamTel: 772-219-1970Fax: 772-283-3497RTwinam@aol.comNew EnglandGregory DeyermenjianTel: 978-927-8827, ext. 128Fax: 978-927-9182paititi@alum.blsa.orgNorth Pacific AlaskaMead TreadwellTel: 907-258-7764Fax: 907-258-7768meadwell@alaska.netNorthern CaliforniaLee LanganTel: 415-931-3015Fax: 415-398-7664lee@langan.netPacific NorthwestEdwin J. Sobey, Ph.D.Tel: 425-861-3472Fax: 503-214-7849sobey@gte.netPhiladelphiaPeter HessTel: 302-777-1715Hessians@aol.comRocky MountainWilliam F. SchoeberleinTel: 303-526-0505Fax: 303-526-5171billschoeberlein@comcast.netSan DiegoWilliam T. EverettTel: 760-765-3377Fax: 760-765-3113everett@esrc.orgSouthern CaliforniaDavid A. Dolan, FRGSTel. 949-307-9182daviddolan@aol.comSouthern FloridaStanley L. Spielman, M.D.Tel/Fax: 305-233-8054chimbuart@aol.comSouthwestBrian Hanson (Chapter Liaison)Tel: 512-266-7851brianphanson@sbcglobal.netSouthwest FloridaCol. Gerry W. BassTel: 239-594-5224gerrywb@embarqmail.comSt. LouisMabel Purkerson, M.D.Tel: 314-362-4234purkerm@msnotes.wustl.eduTexasTed D. LeeTel: 210-886-9500Fax: 210-886-9883tedlee@gunn-lee.comWashington, DCDr. Lee TalbotTel: 703-734-8576Fax: 703-734-8576ltalbot@gmu.eduArgentinaHugo Castello, Ph.D.Fax: 54 11 4 982 5243/4494hucastel@mail.retina.arAustralia-New ZealandAnn McFarlane, Ph.D.Tel: 61-2-9328-4883Fax: 61-2-9328-4888amcfarlane@bigpond.comCanadianJoseph G. FreyTel: 416-239-8840explorersclubcanada@hotmail.comwww.explorersclub.caEast AsiaDr. Michael J. Mosermmoser@omm.comGreat BritainBarry L. MossTel: 44 020 8992 7178barola2780@aol.comIcelandHaraldur Örn ÓlafssonTel: +354 545 8551Fax: +354 562 1289haraldur.orn.olafsson@ivr.stjr.isIndiaAvinash Kohliamber@nda.vsnl.net.inNorwayHans-Erik HansenHome Tel: 47 22-458-205Work Tel: 47 67-138-559hans-e-h@online.noPolandMarek KaminskiHome Tel: 48-695664000Work Tel: 48-58-5544522Fax: 48-58-5523315mkaminski@gamasan.plm.rogozinska@rp.plRussiaAlexander BorodinTel: 7-095-973-2415Alexanderb@sibneft.ruWestern EuropeLorie KarnathTel: 49-1723-95-2051lkarnath@yahoo.com

WHAT WERE THEY THINKING?great moments in exploration as told to Jim ClashS u m m i t i n gEverestwithSir Edmund HillaryJC: Tell us about that historic day, May 29, 1953,when you and Tenzing Norgay were first to reachthe summit of Mount Everest. What do youremember?Sir Edmund Hillary: Well, I think my feeling was notone of exultation. I didn’t jump around and throwmy hands up, or anything like that. My feeling wasmuch more one of considerable satisfaction becausepeople had tried before, without success,and we’d worked pretty hard at it. Here Tenzing[Norgay] and I were standing on top of the world.It was a pretty good feeling, actually, but sort ofsubdued. I was still very much aware that we hadto get safely down again. Tenzing was, too. I putmy hand out to shake with Tenzing in a rathertypical Anglo-Saxon way, but that wasn’t enoughfor him. He threw his arms around my shouldersand gave me a hug. Then I gave him a hug and allthe rest of it. We had a sort of warm moment, ifyou will, on the summit of a cold mountain.64There are two other things I rememberclearly, even in the short time I was there. Oneis that I did look around a bit to see if therewas any sign of remnants of [George] Mallory.I didn’t expect there to be, of course, afterall those years. And there wasn’t. The otherthing is that while standing on top of Everest,I looked across the valley, towards the othergreat peak Makalu, and mentally worked out aroute about how it could be climbed. That wasthe route the French first climbed it by someyears later. But it showed me that even thoughI was standing on top of the world, it wasn’tthe end of everything for me, by any means.I was still looking beyond to other interestingchallenges. I’ll always remember doing that. Ifound it quite interesting.More of Jim Clash’s columns and video shows can be foundat www.forbes.com/adventurer.Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, courtesy the Royal Geographical Society Everest Archive