Banff Mountain Film Festival 2012: free tickets for EC Members

The UK Tour of theBanff Mountain Film Festival World Tour kicks off in Edinburgh on 27 January and is heading right across the UK. Explorers Connect have free pairs of tickets for our members!

A pair of tickets will be given away in prize draws at each of the London, Bristol and Cardiff Explorers Drinks events in December 2011 and January 2012. There are also tickets for Edinburgh, Newcastle and Liverpool showings open to all our members.

To enter all you need to do is send an email tobelinda@explorersconnect.comwith your name, address and which showing you'd like to attend (Edinburgh, Newcastle or Liverpool). Names will be picked out of a hat on 12th January at the London Explorers Drinks event and winners will be notified later that week.

The 2012 UK Tour will feature a whole new line up of incredible films from the world's finest adventure film makers. Through the big screen be transported to amazing wild places, visit remote cultures and have your breath taken away with high adrenaline action sports.

Check out their locations/ booking page for more dates and more details. photo: Alex Girard backcountry skiing, Rogers Pass, B.C. Ryan Creary"

Light My Fire Sponsorship 2014

Last Year, Light My Fire started the sponsorship competition, Light My Fire Adventurers. From hundreds of applications we finally managed to select seven finalists. At the Adventure Blog http://lightmyfire.com/adventure-blog we have been able to follow these seven people trough their adventures. It has been an amazing year with wonderful stories to follow. Now, we will start our search of the seven finalists for Light My Fire Adventure 2014. Are you one of them? The finalists will have one thing in common: They are all planning to perform an outdoor adventure, some time between 1/3 to 31/12 2014.

The adventures will be different from each other in many ways. Some might take place in a far away mountain whilst others might be canoeing with the family in a nearby lake. The important thing is not where you go or how risk taking your adventure might be. Everything you see as an adventure - is one. The only requirement is that your adventure shall take place in some kind of outdoor environment and take place between 1/3 2014 to 31/12 2014.

During the adventure the finalists will blog about their adventures at our adventure blog http://lightmyfire.com/adventure-blog Being one of the finalists means you will be in the run of becoming the winner of Light My Fire Adventurers 2014. The competition will be settled at the end of 2014 and the winner will be awarded with 3000. This sponsorship money shall be used as a platform to a coming adventure. From the 18/11 2013 to 31/1 2014 you will be able to apply to Light My Fire Adventure 2014. Light My Fire will choose seven finalists. The finalists will be announced the 17th of February 2014 at Light My Fire`s Facebook page. The seven finalists will all receive a fully equipped assortment of Light My Fire products. Don't hesitate. Apply here to become one of the seven finalists and maybe become the winner of Light My Fire Adventures 2014. A jury from Light My Fire will decide who will become the seven finalists. The jury will be presented here shortly. "

Craghoppers Ambassadors

Craghoppers - World travel clothing experts and sponsors of the 'Best of Kendal World Film Tour' are looking for inspiring people to become 'Craghoppers Ambassadors'.

Basically, people who are out there, doing it, living their dream, working or volunteering, basically making a difference in the world. The Ambassadors will be provided with outdoor travel clothing for hot cold climates, waterproof, anti-mosquito, sun protective etc. and in return will ask for interesting stories/pics/anecdotes for blogs, emailers, social media etc.

The Ambassadors will also feature as part of next years advertising with a profile on each individual and their work/trip. The mix we are looking for will be journalists, photographers, aid workers, aid doctors/nurses, environmentalists, geologists, film makers, adventurers, travel writers etc.

If you're interested please contact andy@cactuscreative.com and tell us your story."

Trying to Raft Around the UK Coast....advice please?

Hello,

I'm hoping for some advice. I am planning to create a 'sea worthy' raft to hold 4 people and equipment, commencing work in June 2013. We want to row down the river taw in north Devon. Starting furthest inland as possible, just next to Barnstaple, coming out at the mouth of Saunton sands, from here to follow the coast west going around the point at lands end. Then head further east, along the coast. Initially we wanted to end up in Brighton.

Though I am thinking the coast guards wouldn't be to keen for us to be in some shipping lanes, so we decided to finish at lizards point.The estimated time for this from the build to finish is estimated at 3 weeks. One of our party has degree in marine engineering, and we have all participated in the Lynton and Lynmouth raft race for the last few years, involving the building of you own raft.

So I am not to worried about the stability of our raft, though will it need to checked by some authority? I also realise I probably need to talk with the North Devon coast guard. Other then that I don't know where to start. Is this even plausible? Comments below or Send A Message using the blue button above. Thanks!

Cheers,

Pete

Un Tour de la France

Un Tour de la France was an unsupported, solo, cycle of the circumference of France. Starting and finishing at Le Chateau in Caen, Adam Skeet rode 3716.8 miles on roads as close to possible to France's coastline and borders Including crossing both The Alps and Pyrenees, as well as climbing Mount Ventoux (after hitching a lift from new found friends).

The adventure took 77 days and was possibly the first time something like this had been done in France. For more information, stories and photos, please visit the blog: www.utdlf.wordpress.com. The trip, in memory of 2 of Adam's Grandparents, aimed to raise a pound for every mile cycled for Macmillan Cancer Support: www.justgiving.com/UTdlF Adam Skeet bought an old Peugeot racing bike from a friend a few years ago and since then his passion has spiralled.

Before UTdlF, Adam also cycled John o Groats to Land's End with his father. Other adventures are in the planning stages.

www.utdlf.wordpress.com

South West Himlung Expedition 2012

South West Himlung Expedition. September/October 2012 Himalayan Map House NP107 1:125,000 Nepa Maps Naar Phu 1:60,000 The photos didnt do it justice, nor did they give us a proper indication that we would have to climb a mountain in order to climb this mountain.

It was the first view we had had of Himlung since setting off on the trek and it was becoming clear that we would need all 19 climbing days in order to have any hope of summiting. The trek in to Himlung begins in Besisahar, the starting point for the Annapurna circuit. We arrived here on the 16th September. The monsoon had not quite finished and it was relatively quiet for the Annapurna circuit, being a little early in the season. We were to walk as far as Koto (4 days) and then turn off the circuit into the recently opened Naar/Phoo (Phu) valley and so to Base Camp. The Naar-Phoo valley is different to many of the valleys that trekkers normally visit. It is very narrow and as you continue up the valley it becomes apparent that it is a predominantly a river valley and has not been greatly affected by glaciation in its lower reaches. Koto to Phoo takes about 3-4 days depending on rest days, and acclimatisation rates. Phoo is at an altitude of approx. 3950m.

On the 25th we went from Phoo to Base Camp, 4800m having got our first view of Himlung at the top of the terminal moraine of the Pangri Glacier, We would have to go up and over the 6400m massif in front of Himlung, a fact that we knew but seeing it for real brought home how difficult this may yet prove to be. When we arrived we discovered we were the only team at Base Camp. Prior to our arrival, a small Swiss team had left having only gone as far as Camp 1. Apparently they did not like the look of the section between Camps 1 and 2 and so flew out by helicopter 3 days before our arrival. This meant that we would be opening the route for this season. We were carrying over 1000m of fixed ropes and at present, it looked like we would be laying all of it ourselves. After a couple of days acclimatisation around Base Camp we had the first day of carrying to Camp 1 at 5400m which was located at the edge of the glacier at the top of a rather torturous scree pile. Camp one was 700m below but in view of Camp 2. This first carry took approx. 6 hours. We also got to inspect some of the route to camp 2. It was a lot more crevassed than anticipated suggesting that it was going to take a bit more time to find the route through. After another rest day back at Base Camp, the team went back to Camp 1 and spent the night, before once again returning to Base Camp.

On the 1st October Ben and I along with our Sherpas went back up above Camp 1 to try and find a route through the upper crevasse sections to get camp 2 established. It came down to one small snow bridge which was to provide the key to opening the whole route. We fixed ropes to 5900m. By now there were 2 more teams at Base Camp. We were able to negotiate some more fixed rope from them in return for fixing the rest of the route to just above Camp 2 and some coils for the summit ridge should they be needed. The following days brought some bad weather so the team rested/acclimatised as best we could. On Friday the 5th, Ben, Jon and I decided to go back up through the fixed ropes (now fixed to Camp 2) and check conditions on the face.

We found there to be sections of deep soft snow but no real avalanche risk so we decided to go for Camp 1 on the 7th, and establish Camp 2 and 3 as we went so that hopefully we would have our summit attempt, all going well, on the 10th October. We had lost some time with the route finding and fixing the ropes .The forecast for the period between the 7th and 10th was good, as we were starting to run out of time we decided to go for it. We would carry three tents for 7 of us, carrying them between camps. One of the team had had a bad cough for the entire time and was struggling to acclimatise so after struggling to get to 5000m on the 7th he had elected to return to Base Camp and possibly try again the next day. This was a real loss as had he been fit he was one of the stronger members of the team, so for load carrying duties alone, it did affect us.

The walk up to Camp 1 was now taking only 2 hours compared to the original 6 and we were moving to Camp 2, fully laden by 7.30 the next morning. The snow was still quite soft but we made reasonable time, covering the 700m in about 5 hours. The Sherpas were ahead of us and had our tents put up by the time we got there. It was a windy night but nothing like what was to come at Camp 3. The winds continued at Camp 2 all night but had abated by 9am so by 10am we were leaving Camp 2. Camp 2 to 3 takes about 6 hours and reaches a high point of approximately 6400m before dropping to a col at 6250m and the site of Camp 3. It is quite exposed here as it is at the head of the Nemjung/Pangri glacier valley and the winds have nowhere else to go but over this col. That night at Camp 3 we experienced wind speeds averaging 50mph and gusting at 60-70 mph. The forecast wasnt quite accurate. Our tents were roped down but that didn't stop the snow from getting in-between the inner and outer of the tents, virtually sealing us in. At this stage there were just four of us plus the Sherpas, one other team member deciding that camp 2 was enough had gone back to Base Camp. As can be imagined we got very little sleep and by 5am, nothing had changed. We knew our summit chances were slipping away.

We were still in our tents at 9am when I had a chat with our Sirdar. We weighed up our situation. On the list against staying up and waiting for a chance at the summit was, strong wind and no sign of it stopping, a loaded summit slope which had already showed evidence of a large avalanche, one member feeling sick another getting there. On the list for staying up, Ben and I were feeling OK; we had no real choice but to go down. It took about 40 minutes to get crampons and clothing on, get the tents down and get roped up. All the while the winds never let up. Watches were showing temperatures of -22 degrees, with wind chill we reckoned it was about -30. Ungloved hands took seconds to go numb, which they did as we struggled to take down tents and keep them from blowing away. As a gesture we put up some prayer flags at our furthest point and then began the slog back across the slopes to Camp 2 and out of the wind. It seemed so incongruous, there wasn't a cloud in the sky it looked beautiful but the wind was vicious, we could feel it freezing any exposed skin, particularly on our faces.

It took about an hour and a half to get onto more sheltered slopes and about 4 hours to get back to Camp 2. Struggling to put up some prayer flags, Camp 3, the summit ridge of Himlung in the background. Once we had reached less windy and slightly more consolidated ground, Jon who had carried his skis (most of the way) to Camp 3 in the hope of getting the first British ski decent of Himlung decided that he had better get some skiing in to justify the effort of carrying them all that way. So from the top of the plateau to the small col above Camp 2 Jon skied, and fell for about ten minutes before deciding he had had enough and putting the skis back on the packs and continuing on foot. We stopped at camp 2 briefly for some food then continued on to Camp 1, collected some remaining equipment and then on down to Base Camp which we reached by dark at 6.30pm. On the walk out we passed maybe 5 more teams on their way in to Himlung.

Given how cold temperatures had got to, even at Base Camp, it was not going to be overly pleasant for these teams. On reaching Kathmandu we found out that one of the other teams (commercial trip) had gone up the day after we had come back down. They reached Camp 3 and had attempted the summit. They did not make it and one member of the team suffered frostbite on his feet. Conditions had obviously not improved up there. Thankfully they all got down OK. This knowledge did help with the disappointment of not Summiting in the sense that we felt better about our decision to come down and not push on in those conditions. Considering the collective (in) experience of my team, and taking into account that we opened the route and fixed all the ropes and still made it to the camp 3 springboard for the summit, I think we did extremely well and I am very happy with the result. The company we used for in country Logistics (http://rolwalingexcursion.com.np) are excellent and I have climbed with our Sirdar (Furtemba Sherpa) before. He is one of the best I have worked with. For 3 of the team who reached Camp 3 this was a new personal best in terms of altitude. It was a steep learning curve but one that they coped with exceedingly well. Thanks goes to the BMC for its endorsement of the trip.

Also to Buff for the 5 Buffs each and lastly to Wayfayrer for providing all our high altitude food. South West Himlung 2012 team members; Olan Parkinson ( Irl) Sandra McCord (UK) Justin Featherstone (UK) Ben Reynolds (UK) Jon Fuller (UK) Claire Waterfall (UK) Furtemba Sherpa (Sirdar) Doame Sherpa (Climbing Sherpa) Ang Du Sherpa (Assistant Climbing Sherpa) Ringsee Sherpa (Cook) Nima Sherpa (Cook) Razinda Sherpa (Kitchen boy) Olan Parkinson. Expedition Leader, Himlung 2012. A note on the maps. The Nepa Map series puts the Base Camp in the 6A grid square, this is incorrect (for the current base camp) It is in fact in the 7A grid square between the 4800m and 5000m contours below the fork in the stream on the west of the square one quarter of the way up the grid square. GPS, 4850m N 28degrees 47.687, E 84degrees, 20.653 approx. The Himalayan Map house location is correct. 

Living with the Matses

I spent 2.5 months living in Puerto Alegre and Estiron, 2 Matses villages. The Matses are a remote Amazonian tribe who live on the border of Peru and Brazil in the Javari Valley.

One of the Matses villages was very welcoming and is more than happy for other adventurers to come and stay.

If anyone is interested please contact me at paddy.leflufy@gmail.com

Encircle Africa

Into Somaliland The 13 months of travel were hard, fantastic months. I was heading to Tangier, Morocco, from Tangier, Morocco. Strange perhaps, but returning to where I had started was a pre-requisite of circumnavigating Africa by public transport, solo and unsupported, for the first time.

It was an expedition I had christened Encircle Africa. I learnt within days of leaving Tangier that the term public transport is a much looser one in Africa than in Europe, roughly equating to anything that is willing to transport you and your 20 kilogram rucksack anywhere for a fee. The important factor was that I didn't have my own transport, and was morally barred from privately chartering any. Four of the 13 months were still ahead of me at the Somaliland border with Djibouti on the edge of the Gulf of Aden. I had approached Somaliland, the autonomous semi-independent region of north-eastern Somalia, from Ethiopia. In doing so I had abandoned the African coast at Lamu, Kenya, to avoid unsafe southern Somalia.

This was the first significant detour from the coast since leaving Tangier and heading west around the continent nine months previously. The temperature seemed to jump significantly as soon as I cross the concrete bridge designed for functionality rather than beauty over the plastic-infested dry Wajaale River. It marks the border between Ethiopia and Somaliland, close to the Ethiopian town of Jijiga. An old Peugeot bush taxi took me and five others the two hours to the de facto capital, Hargeisa. Built in 1953, the Oriental Hotel is the oldest in the capital, and one of the best in town; the management used to the whimsical desires of visitors trying to circumnavigate the continent it seemed. It was unusual for my meagre budget to stretch so far. I was usually looking for the worst hotel in town. The Oriental was one of the few multi-storey buildings in the centre of the city. Photographs around the reception area showed a torn shell of a building.

It had recovered well since the civil war, the collapse of Somali central government and the declaration of unilateral independence by Somaliland in 1991. The wide corridors of the upper floors overlook a central covered courtyard that acts as breakfast room and restaurant. My room looked out over the dusty roads dotted with the vast parasols of goldsmiths and money-changers. The money-men sat in the shade besides pyramidal stacks of blocks of grubby Somaliland Shillings the size of house bricks. Held together with rubber bands they equated to little more than 12 each. Wandering around the city centre, a few blocks of mostly unattractive utilitarian buildings, it was difficult to avoid falling into conversation, making Hargeisa a very friendly place. Elegantly dressed ladies in colourful wax cloth wraps greeted me in Mancunian, London, and Scottish accents.

The lingua franca in Somaliland is English, the state having been the protectorate of British Somaliland until independence in 1960 and unification with Italian Somaliland to create Somalia. Seeing the success of their homeland, a substantial number of people have returned from refuge in Britain. At 600 for a prime specimen, I couldnt afford a camel at the livestock market. There were almost as many good-natured but clingy children as animals. The camels looked nonchalant, perfectly suited to the conditions, their owners initials painted in vibrant green on their flanks. In contrast, the children were desperate to take in every second of my visit, despite the pleas of older citizens to leave me alone. On Independence Avenue I past a red post box made in Stirlingshire.

It was torn open like a ripped up inner tube of toilet roll. On a stone plinth the camouflaged fuselage of a MiG fighter jet sent from Mogadishu that crashed while attacking the city before independence in 1991. Since then, while the rest of Somalia has become a byword for chaos, internationally unrecognised Somaliland has quietly advanced, even housing a Coca-Cola factory. My circumnavigation saw me moving roughly northwards soon enough. I managed to get a place in an old Toyota Land Cruiser heading towards Djibouti via a rough road and a 20 hour journey time. We travelled from the late afternoon onwards, to avoid the heat of the day, in what could tentatively be called desert. Given the surrounding dryness of the environment I was surprised by the quantity of wildlife. Tiny dik-dik, antelope the size of a domestic cat, roam as the vehicle passes.

Birds of an astonishing variety of colours shoot by the open windows. A giant tortoise desperately tries to look inconspicuous beneath a scraggy bush, its limbs drawn in in sleep. The view became a little monotonous as the sun sank and it got increasingly difficult to decipher the objects around me. The ground was sand, the shrubs small woody-stemmed plants with small leaves. Our arrival at Boroma (twinned with Henley-on-Thames) did little to break the monotony, and as it got dark I tried to sleep, drawing in my limbs like the tortoise. The early morning eventually arrived, and saw me arrive at Zeila. How the driver found his way I couldn't say, with tyre-tracks leading off in all directions all the time. I would have liked to spend a little time in Zeila, the home to one of the oldest mosques in the world, but my lack of private transport prevented me doing so. I was also concerned for the apparent lack of water.

The Zeila I was expecting to arrive at was an ancient port. I began to believe the Gulf of Aden didn't actually exist, not catching sight of the muddy blue, flat and uninteresting water until the border with Djibouti at Looyada. My short time in Somalil and had ended, though my circumnavigation and the desire to be near the edge of the African continent would continue for another four months, until I reached Tangier and was able to remind myself that I had been there before, and the first solo and unsupported circumnavigation of Africa by public transport was complete.

Riding with Eagle Hunters

Hunting with Golden Eagles is a tradition that has continued uninterrupted in Western Mongolia for over a millennia.

Recently two young Brits returned from an adventure to document and photograph this ancient custom as part of a wider horse-riding and packrafting expedition. Over the course of six weeks, photojournalist Jamie Maddison and his expedition partner Matthew Traver travelled all over the Bayan-lgii Province of Western Mongolia, riding on horse-back across the empty plains; following the proud eagle hunters over shattered mountains and later navigating the icy Khovd river in temperatures down past -15'C.

The expedition was initially contemplated as a training run in preparation for an upcoming six-month adventure that the pair are undertaking next year to commemorate the centenary of a 30,000km journey by the Irish explorer Sir Charles Howard-Bury right across Central Asia. The project is titled One Steppe Ahead. From being bucked off a horse full-gallop to getting a boat overturned mid-river, Jamie and Matt certainly had a unique and exciting time of things, and now Jamie is offering a photographic lecture about his travels to meet the hunters and the team's various other escapades out in the wintry steppe.

But for the moment it's back to the planning board for the team; working out the next tentative steps for One Step Ahead.

Please keep an eye peeled for further updates soon! For more information about Jamie please visit www.jamiemaddison.com, or to see example of his previous journalistic and photographic work, please visit www.sidetracked.co.uk.

Details about Matthew Traver's previous adventures can be found at www.matthewtraver.com."