Posted: Nov 19, 2005 04:55 pm EST
It began with a major communications blackout, then the week swept right through summits, announcements of heavy duty 2006 expeditions and a report straight from Maoist heartland. Meanwhile, Katabatic winds trashed Antarctic sleds, and a Space spy was busted in Russia. Over in Asia, quake missions are in full throttle mode, and back in NYC - the new HumanEdgeTech virtual store was launched. A packed mid November week in the world of exploration!

Iridium data connection problems across the Globe Last weekend, in addition to their usual hardships, expeditions around the Globe tried desperately to connect to the Iridium satellite system - to no avail. Around 10 active Contact 3.0 expeditions, and another 10 on their marks to leave with the Iridium system next week dialed up as usual, but got disconnected after exactly 30 seconds. This can happen on occasion due to many different variables such as poor transmission location, too little juice in the system, faulty dial-up server - but this time it happened worldvide - at exactly the same hour. Globalstar, Thuraya and Inmarsat were unaffected.

Iridium data connection problems solved Together, ExplorersWeb and Iridium tracked the problem to changes in the Iridium network over the weekend affecting the signal. By late Monday, Iridium had corrected the situation and late Monday night, dispatches from all over began to arrive again.

The New HumanEdgeTech.com - shop from anywhere, go everywhere - and travel light! Due to the sat com crisis, the planned Monday launch had to be postponed, but Tuesday - after mission accomplished - the timing turned from bad to perfect: The new store is up and it's a pretty unique, no-nonsense place in the world of satellite communications. Created by explorers for explorers, user-friendly, no-hassle pricing, expedition-tested gear, expedition-ready hardware, fast delivery and payments are all key in the new virtual expedition tech warehouse.

A stand-alone secure web-shop, HumanEdgeTech.com accepts most international credit cards, and delivers worldwide within 72 hours. The store offers a unique detailed view of all products - check connections and ports as you would in a physical store. Choose shipping direct online, select time of delivery and cost for any location. As for the unique software products, well, Rune put it this way, live from Antarctica a few days back: “This has revolutionized the expeditions’ communications. It's just so cool to have the opportunity to send pics and receive mail. Thank you very much from a slow walker, but heading in the right direction. Patience and endurance!”

Everest 2006: British Army team headed for the West ridge A large team of British Army climbers is preparing their expedition of the world's highest peak on Everest’s West ridge next spring 2006. The team will attempt a combination of West ridge-Hornbein Couloir, instead of the West ridge Integrale (direct) route. Dave Bunting, a member of the British Army team who attempted Makalu in 2004 is leading the 22-member British Everest climb. Two previous attempts by British armed forces climbers in 1988 and 1992 failed. This time, the Britons will be using “siege” tactics and heavy expedition style.

Carlos Pauner Manaslu 2006: "Our goal is to open a new line right by the middle of the face" 2006 will be all about West: Brits for Everest West ridge, Russians for K2 West face - and Carlos Pauner for the West face - of Manaslu. His is 7th 8000er, Carlos told ExWeb about the upcoming climb: "There is only one route starting on the West face, opened by Reinhold Messner in 1972 – and that is not a direct route, but a traversing line which eventually goes up to the left and joins the normal route. Our goal is to open a new line right by the middle of the face, or through the unclimbed ridge at the right side.”

Want to join? Carlos is also trying to find a big enough team to attempt the new route. “We definitely need to be a big group, given the degree of difficulty,” he said. “Willie Barbier and Raquel Perez (Carlos’ climbing mates on G1 and Nanga Parbat) will be coming, and so will Ricardo Valencia and Martin Ramos. We need some more people though – otherwise we will have no other option than to hire high altitude Sherpas.”

Jamie McGuinness reporting Live from the heart of Maoist country Jamie McGuinness is guiding a trekking and climbing group in the Kangchenjunga region, Eastern Nepal. As usual, one of the trip’s highlights has been the encounter with Maoist troops (very active in that area) and dealing with the mandatory “donation” the guerrillas demand from foreigners. A long-time Kathmandu resident and Himalayan climbing guide, Jamie refused to let himself be bullied.

Kang Guru climbing tragedy update - BC in poor location? In spite of the mountaineers experience, the 18 perished mountaineers might have underestimated the peak reported NepalNews and Padam Ghale (part of the HRA SAR team). The base camp was set at 4,200m in a poor location, surrounded by 35-40-degree mountain walls. Due to the avalanche prone zone and snow fall that day, one of the porters suggested the camp be moved to a safer location downhill but the idea was dismissed according to the news source.

Jasper & Glowacz SUMMIT El Murallón! Robert and Stefan finally completed the route they started last year on the North face. The new route is 27 pitches-long, and difficulty graduation has been set at 9+ A2. This was the guys' third trip to El Murallón. In 2003 they opened 'The Lost World', a new route via the North Pillar. Last year, constant storms prevented them from completing another route on the North Face - but now they've finished the task.

Cerro Torre North face: Salvaterra, Garibotti and Beltrami SUMMIT! Ermanno Salvaterra and Alessandro Beltrami, and Rolo Garibotti summited Patagonian Cerro Torre at 11.30 pm on November 13th. The trio had to endure two bivouacs on the wall: One on the way up and one right below the summit mushroom after reaching the top. Salvaterra reports the climb was done in pure alpine style, though a new route the team has called “El Arca de los Vientos" (The chest of winds). At the upper sections of the wall, the climbers traversed from the North face in order to join the Ragni di Lecco route.

ExWeb series: Mallory and Irvine - Comments on the 'real Second Step' route In a 5 part ExWeb series last year, researchers Pete Poston and Jochen Hemmleb (author of several books on the subject) offered insight into the fate of Mallory and Irvine - and criticism of the EverestNews M&I project - lacking documentation and photographs, involving some serious climbing stunts, and relying on unidentified climbers in unrevealed locations. This time, Pete Poston analyzed at ExWeb the latest from EverestNews - a breakneck route the website claims Mallory followed to the summit. Given the years of consistent and complete lack of documentation, it's unclear how much of the "EverestNews Mallory&Irvine search" actually has taken place at all, noted ExWeb.

American new routes on China peaks: Chad Kellogg topping the Angry Wife Americans Chad Kellogg, Joe Puryear, and Stoney Richards are back from China, where they climbed a number of peaks in Mt. Siguniang National Park. Bad weather prevented the team from reaching their main goal (Mt. Siguniang’s North West wall), but at least they made it to the top of two most probably unclimbed rocky peaks nearby. Chad recounts six weeks of expedition in an area scarcely visited by westerners. The guys report a trip of mixed emotions, buckets of rain and peaks with new names.

SA Quake update: Here comes the winter - a time for climbers “Last night came the winter,” reported Thomas, from Alpinclub Sachsen medical aid team Monday. "The mountains are covered in white. And worst of all, many of our patients from the surrounding villages can no longer reach us. In these weather conditions they cannot endure the three- to five-hour trek to our camp for treatment." Rutker and Thomas are working around the clock in their surgery tent. Now more than ever, an increasing number of patients are in need of some kind of operation. “Who’s gonna care for these people when we’re gone?" the guys dispatched in despair.

ADEPT reported that once the snowfall makes the route too difficult in Kashmir they plan to send out a climbing team of 5 with medicine and basic food supplies to one village each day - and the climbers will bring the critically ill down for treatment. 4 to 5 such teams are needed to cover all the villages on a weekly rotating basis, including periods for rest. "We expect to have these teams up and running by early December, and continue working for about 3 months.” California climber Don Bowie (back from Broad Peak) has volunteered to co-ordinate the effort and raised funds for the initiative. "As for the permits and security issues - we'll be taking these up directly with the Pakistani authorities. It's a dicey problem though, since the plan involves foreign nationals in an area where terrorists operate,” reports ADEPT.

Willie Benegas to lead The North Face Athlete Team and GlobalGiving relief effort Back from Latok 1 and Everest, Willie in turn is coordinating efforts for the North Face. NF and GlobalGiving have partnered to conduct a nationwide gear drop from November 18 – 23, with The North Face utilizing its retail stores as collection centers and GlobalGiving connecting the group to credible organizations on the ground in Kashmir who will help distribute the goods to those in most need. Willie Benegas will lead The North Face Athlete Team, including Renan Ozturk, Cedar Wright and Patrick Kenny, a colleague of Benegas, to the Kashmir region to survey damage, assess avalanche danger to relief camps, and deliver gear to the hardest hit villages.

Pakistan's climbing sale: Reduced fees through 2006 – plus three valleys on special The Pakistani Government's climbing sale has been extended. Local authorities are hopeful that drastically reduced fees will attract climbers to the region's impressive mountains - it's crucial that climbers keep on climbing in spite of the tragedy - tourism is an important source of income in the hard hit countries.

FTA to launch a massive commercial double-header in 2006: Broad Peak + K2 In 2004, Kari Kobler - Swiss mountain guide - proved that it was possible to apply Everest methods on K2: Ropes, camps, O2 and strong Sherpa support: more than half of his clients ended up on the summit. Next year, Australian-based Field Touring Alpine (FTA) will be launching a large-scale commercial expedition on K2. To add to the challenge, the team will acclimatize by climbing Broad Peak first. They have already signed up 15 team-members. Dave Hancock, founder and manager of FTA, has stressed that the company's upcoming expedition will be a "non-guided" one. “The undertaking is strictly a team effort, with the intention of getting the strongest climbers in the group to the highest camps. The expedition will be conducted in the classic 'siege style' manner, which we believe will offer the safest method of ascent on K2, taking into account the acclimatization previously gained on Broad Peak.”

Grandpa did it again! Pavel Rezvoy, 67, rowed longest distance in shortest time across Indian Ocean At 67 years old, Pavel Rezvoy, a geologist from Ukraine, is the oldest rower in the history of ocean rowing. When he, after 62 days, crossed the finish line in Barbados last year, he refused to go home: -"There is nothing to do in Ukraine for senior citizens", he said; left Barbados and rowed to Cuba. This November 9, Pavel was going through Custom formalities in Mahe, Seychelles. How he got there? He rowed, of course! Pavel says the Indian Ocean was much harder than his Atlantic row though the distance was roughly the same. Pavel is the second person ever to do a complete row across the Indian Ocean - land to land. His row is both the fastest as well as the longest Pacific row.

Around-n-Over: Big waves heading Erden's wayTogether with co-rower Tim Harvey (from the "second half" of the broken up Vancouver-Moscow expedition), Erden braced for a storm coming at his small rowing vessel: According weather reports from NOAA and Meteosail, the team could face winds as high as 30 (15 m/s or 34 miles/hour) to 44 knots (23m/s or 50 miles/hour) and waves as high as 18 feet (over 5 meters) at this moment. In addition the team’s water maker broke down and the guys are working a small manual pump for drinking water. The storm, combined with “the prospect of months spent pumping our ultra-slow manual filter, catching rain, and yes, even squeezing fish for water,” the guys decided to try to head back for the coast.

South Georgia British kayakers: Our turn! The team of Templar Films South Georgia consisting of three British men and an Israeli woman left Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands Sunday for the last stage of their journey prior to commencing the sea kayaking expedition around the island of South Georgia.

Antarctica crossing update: Rune's close-call with a crevasse Rune’s solo Antarctic crossing almost ended in disaster early Saturday morning when his sledge slid down into a crevasse. The weight of the sledge almost pulled Rune with it, but he managed to anchor himself with his skis at the last second. Pretty shaky he struggled to get his sledge back up and decided to be extra cautious. The next day, Rune was kiting in strong wind when the sledge tipped over, and one of the runners was torn off.

Antarctica crossings: Word from the Spaniards The Spanish Trans-Antarctic expedition took one day to assemble the kite, and it was full throttle from then on. But the road ahead would prove a bumpy one. Irregular terrain - including some large sastrugi - damaged the sled frame, breaking the large Teflon shell lining the bottom. “It was unexpected, since the bottom never failed during previous Greenland crossings,” team leader Ramon Larramendi said. Wind blew at about 30 km/h at ground level, but the wind speed increased with altitude, 30 meters above, where the kites fly. The big sled is literally flying when it jumps over sastrugi. The team is trying to use smaller kites to avoid a total crash.

Antarctica: Teams off to Patriot Hills before the base is set up The first contact with Antarctica’s deep-freeze is a shocker. Explorers and climbers stepping out of the plane from Punta Arenas rarely spend much time admiring the landscape - most often they charge for the Patriot Hill base tent. This year though, PH Base camp staff will be on the same plane as the teams! Proyecto Cumbre reported news on the logistic plan: “We were supposed to fly to Antarctica on a second flight, after ALE’s crew would take the first plane. But to avoid further delay on our departure, we’ve now been included on the first flight to Antarctica. This means our arrival on the ice will be less comfortable than expected, since there will be no camp ready for us. On the other hand, we will be able to start our trip to the South Pole. Therefore, we have now loaded all our equipment in the Iliushin 76 aircraft, now ready to take off at any moment.”

Everest veteran Duncan Chessell: Patagonian Fjords for your eyes only After the self-rescue at Antarctic Peninsula - when part of the team members were swept out to ocean by a wave at shore, Duncan Chessell and his sailing team are recovering by the spectacular solitude of Patagonian fjords. "The DCXP Antarctica expedition has shifted to the Patagonian Fjords and, wow, what a place," reports Duncan. "After the incident south (at Antarctic Peninsula), we spent a couple of days with some BBQ and beer therapy in Ushauia, but finally got away back to Chile: 1500km of Fjords stretch to the north and, due to the geo-political nature of the region, there are no roads. The place is accessible only by yacht."

Big sunspot and M-Class solar flare alert A big sunspot has appeared on the Earth-facing side of the sun, crackling with M-class (medium-sized) solar flares. So far none of the explosions has hurled a coronal mass ejection toward Earth. Geomagnetic storms and auroras are possible, however, if this 'spot unleashes a major flare in the days ahead.

Hey comrades, from where the suits? Russian spy charged with selling space tech to China Last month China blasted off on a 5 day manned Space trek in a Shenzhou 6 capsule. The trek was broadcast live on Chinese TV, but that's where the open policy ended. No foreign media was allowed to attend the launch, and an unnamed Chinese military attaché at the Chinese embassy in Canberra held a secret key to the rocket should it come crashing down in Australia. China feared others would nose into their space tech secrets - based on a re-engineered version of Russia's Soyuz including a complete Russian space gear package on the flight. Monday, a possible second explanation arrived: Russia’s Federal Security Service, the FSB, has charged three senior executives at Mashexport, a state-run company dealing with foreign space contracts, with illegal sale of secret space technology to China.

Read these stories - and more! - at ExplorersWeb.com

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