You may remember the story we did on Jordan Romero last year within the pages of Adventure World (he was also on the cover). Jordan is a 13-year old that has set out to climb the highest peak on every continent. He has already achieved the highest peak on 5 of the 8 (some consider Australia the continent and others consider all of Oceania as the continent…therefore, there are 8 total). His achievements thus far include Kilimanjaro (Africa), Kosciuszko (Australia), Mount McKinley (Alaska), Aconcagua (South America) and Elbrus (Europe). After they were thwarted from their most recent quest to conquer No. 6 due to political unrest in Indonesia, Jordan and team went to Mount Rainier (Washington) for a little practice for the upcoming season ahead. Below is a report from Paul Romero:

A last minute postponement of the planned climbing trip to Indonesia (Summit #6) & amp; we found ourselves instead at the Summer Outdoor Retailer show in Salt Lake City then direct from the show to Washington state, home of one of North America’s prominent mountains, Mt. Rainier. Civil unrest in Indonesia near Carstensz Pyramid has temporarily halted all climbing in the area.

At 14,400ft., Jordan yells over the howling wind “3 down, 47 to go!” Jordan’s referring to his next mission to high-point the U.S. (standing on the highest point in each of the 50 states).

Jordan’s standing on top of Rainier, the massive free-standing mountain that commands tremendous respect and has claimed the lives of many who tried to reach it’s peak. So, though Jordan still sees it as training for the 7 Summits, he’s now bagged three of the U.S. High-Points; Washington’s Rainier, California’s Mt. Whitney and Alaska’s Mt. McKinley.

The Rainier team consisted of Jordan, 13, soon to be in 8th grade at Big Bear Middle School, Karen Lundgren, team Mom and videographer, and Paul Romero, Father and team guide.

It was a gorgeous drive into the national park in our stealth black rental Dodge Charger, latte in the cup holder, windows down and the radio playing all the right 70’s sing along tunes that even Jordan’s knows. Check-in, permits, pack the backpacks and the mission is underway. The team set off from White River, the eastern flank of the Mt. Rainier National Park. It’s a fairytale start with flowing creeks and waterfalls of glacier water, wildflowers in full bloom, white puffy clouds and high spirits. The sun was just right. Things just clicked getting this trip started.

We’d been anxious to get some climbing in. Other than some local training hikes, Jordan had not been on the serious end of a rope since our winter ascent up the Mountaineer’s route of Mt. Whitney, one cold, snowy winter day in February. He’s been using his time wisely, diversifying his skills and life experiences with mountain bike racing, stand up paddling, kayak racing, multisport racing and back country skiing just to name a few.

A 5 hour approach to the high camp was a fair bit of work, our packs were busting at the seams with gear, food and water. Rainier has a fierce reputation and we came ready for anything. We start at 4400’ and climb 5000’ just to arrive at the camp. Our strategy is to bed down at sunset, sleep for a few solid hours and ‘pop up’ at midnight for the expected 7 hour summit push. Setting up the camp was a great test of teamwork and patience. Thunderstorms made their expected visit, and gusting wind made set up entertaining…for anyone watching. Karen leads the effort, Jordan holds down a corner and duck squats to hide from the ripping wind. Our shorts no longer warm enough, we crawl into our sleeping bags, thaw out our appendages, eat and set alarms for 1 a.m. Paul’s plan – midnight start; Jordan’s vote 6 a.m. start – - the compromise 1 a.m.

Sleep turns into only a bit of relaxation as 60 mph winds pound our tent and blow so hard the roof of the tent bows down to our faces. ALARMS!! gear on, and secure the tent so it’s there when we return.

Once outside the tent, we see dozens of lights climbing the face – climbers that were a little more eager and who now have at least a 1000’-2000’ jump on us. Like it or not the competitive nature in all of us surfaces and we feel like we need to catch up. It doesn’t take long and we’re making new friends and having chit chat in the darkness. In the past, Jordan was always greeted with astonishment at ‘the kid’ on the mountain. His recent growth spurt and with the typical mountain gear on, he looks like the average 5’7” ‘guy’ on the mountain. No special idle chat about his age or background. He was 12 years old 1 week ago, but at a glance those days appear years ago.

Jordan like any 13 year old would prefer to stay in bed and “sleep-in”. This morning he shows his maturity and ability to be a rock solid teammate. It’s up, packed and into the blaring wind we go.

Nearly 6000’ stand between Jordan and the summit of Mt. Rainier. Conditions- not optimum, the warmth has created tremendous melting and crevasses are prevalent. Jordan has plenty of respect for the situation, but our recent mishap at Everest just a few months ago drives home the point that every single crevasse deserves full respect and has the potential to end life. The focus is good, and the uphill movement is brisk and consistent. We’re roped together, walking onto the glacier in the dim, narrow glow of our headlamps. The scenery won‘t change till the sun brings us new energy and a view of where we’ve been and where we’re going.

The altimeter spins like a slot machine, we chomp away at the vertical feet, dodging crevasses, meeting and passing teams and thoroughly enjoying the predawn peace. Then, the dreaded visitors. The guys nobody likes – - the sleep monsters. It’s the twilight just before the sun officially pops up when we find these guys. Jordan occasionally comes to a crawl and I see him 40’ uphill of me shaking his head…trying to avoid nodding off. It‘s hard. Jordan says, “Dad, I’m super sleepy”. Paul’s not exactly ready for a round of Jepoardy and doesn’t have any brillant advice other than ‘just push on’. He turns to Karen. “What do you do in these situations?” To which Karen responds… “count to 50 steps, then start over and do it again”. Neither of our pearls of advice offer much comfort. It’s one of those things you gotta figure out what works for you and wait for the sun. We push on.

The route is twisty and turny and offers plenty of variety. Some dicey snow bridges, some exposed traverses and a few steep 50 degree faces… and always the crevasses – just enough to keep things interesting. The off/on thunderstorms, wind and dark clouds finally give way to an unbelievable blue bird morning. As glorious as it gets.

We approach 13,500, around 1000’ left to the summit. Like a spill gate opening, the weather hits the mountain with amazing force. We’ve heard about the rapid changing weather of Rainier but from this high up, you can see anything coming for miles. Now we know what they mean. It just happens, just appears. In minutes we are in the middle of pea soup thick weather, 30-50 mph winds and the temps are dropping. The summit is close, nothing treacherous between us as the summit except some additional vertical feet of climbing.

Suddenly we’re on the summit. We can barely talk over the roar of the wind. Jordan’s chattering about the remaining U.S. highpoints before we even have a chance to take in the current accomplishment. “Three down and only 47 to go!” he hollars over the wind.

I was checking out some of the photos and videos of the Yukon River Quest and it looks like it was an absolute blast!
Having the opportunity to boat 460 miles of the Yukon river with a bunch of other paddlers from Whitehorse (a Canadian town with a great microbrewery) and ending in Dawson City (a cool old gold rush town) would have been a great adventure.

When I was in Dawson City, the locals told me about a guy who lives in a cave across the Yukon River, and that every year when the river starts freezing over, huge chunks of ice block the ferry from crossing. However, every year this guy continues crossing in his canoe, sometimes getting pushed hundreds of yards down the river by floating ice chunks and has to drag his canoe into town. That and while walking through the town some random drunk challenged me to a duel to defend his honor. It is a quirky town, and loads of fun.

Here are some photos from the event:

And thanks to the PilotGirl for putting these videos together, visit her blog to see more of her great work!

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Wow!! Impressive to say the least. Not sure I´d wish this upon anyone, but what an amazing family. They have been bicycle touring for the past 8 years. What a cool, cool experience for them. I just browsed through their site and was amazed by their adventures. You´ll have to go check out their blogwhen you get some time.

In the fall of 2001 Florian and I left our home town Winterthur in Switzerland on our bicycles to embark on a journey to explore the American Continent.

We were on the road for a bit over a year when we reached Vancouver (Canada) and decided to stay there over the winter, find work and leave again in spring to travel to Alaska.

Well, spring held a surprise for us. I was pregnant! The six months winter break turned into almost four years. Chan was about 2 1/2 years old when we were ready to live our dream on the road once again.

From Vancouver, the three of us were cycling south to Mexico and further into Latin America.

After 1 1/2 years of riding we reached northern Argentina and once again had to take a break from travelling. For half a year we returned to Switzerland to work.

In September 2008 we will return to our bicycles in Argentina to continue the journey: Riding all the way to the most southern tip of South America and wherever else our wheels will take us…

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-Excerpt from their site

I recently heard about the Tour d`Afrique from a traveler who dreamed to someday participate in the organized tour across Africa. I remember thinking, WOW, impressive to think that there are people willing to organize a 12,000 kilometer ride over four months. Then I saw on The Adventure Blog (solid adventure coverage) that the company runs other tours/races and a cool new travel concept they call Dream Tours.

Tour d`Afrique offers their classic race/tour acrossAfrica, but also a route across South America, another from China to Turkey, and one that follows the Silk Route.

The South American route is advertised as a multi-part stage race, and riders can sign up for just one stage or the entire 12,000 kilometer tour. At over 11,000 dollars for the entry fee, I can´t imagine too many people wanting to actually speed their way through such a beautiful section of the world, but if there are riders that compete seriously in this race, it will be one of the more challenging races in the world. Check out the blog updates for the race.

One of the cooler ideas of the company is their new Dream Tours concept, where you come up with your dream bicycle route and present it to other riders in the cycling community. Once there are enough people interested in sharing your dream route, the company will put all the logistics together and actually make the trip happen. Whoever dreamed up the trip from the start will get to join for free.

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Unfortunately, the update on Fredrik Ericsson´s quest to ski K2 is a tragic one.
Reports out of Pakistan indicate that Michele and Fredrik were skiing the lower section of K2, from Camp 2 back to base camp on the Cesen Route when Michele´s skis slipped on a patch of ice at around 6400m sending him into a rocky section where he fell about 1000 meters. The expedition team is currently working on recovering the body. Our thoughts and support go out to the friends of family of Michele and the expedition team still out there.

“There are 4 expeditions here – total of 18 climbers – Japanese, German, Swedish/Italian and us. The Swedish/Italian pair had already pushed up to Camp 2 yesterday. Camp 2 is vertically above the base of the route situated at about 6700m. Swedish extreme skier Fredrik Ericsson and Italian Michele Fait were attempting to be the first to ski down K2. This morning, the weather was perfect – which was of no benefit to Fait. On the descent, the worst scenario possible happened – Fiat plummeted. Ericsson was skiing lower down the slopes and after he had seen Fiat fall, began to haul upwards to get to him. At Base Camp we watched, unsure if the fall had been fatal or not. We started to construct a make-do stretcher and prepare to assist with the rescue effort. Our leader Fabrizio headed out back up the middle of the glacier and we watched as Ericsson and Fabrizio reached Fait’s limp body 20 minutes later and began to lower him down to the base of the route. The slopes are avalanche prone and as the pair descended, Fabrizio then approached them from below. There is no way to safely recover Fait’s body today…he is secured on the slope. Fabrizio and Ericsson descended to base camp and we will attempt to recover his body tomorrow at first light.

In our camp, the mood is obviously very glum. Truthfully, it would be wise to return home. But K2 has a powerful presence and attraction; and we intend to continue our attempt to reach the top safely.
It’s snowing right now. May Michele Fait rest in peace.”

Quoted from Sean Wisedale´s Blog

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The Riding the Spine crew has stashed their bikes in Huanúco and are currently in Arequipa organizing a rafting trip down the Cotahuasi River with John Yost and his son JJ Yost who has been riding with them since Panama. Russell Kramer, who had previously pedaled with the group through Central America is flying down to be the safety kayaker for this epic adventure.

The Cotahuasi was first run by a group of American and Peruvian Paddlers, including Gian Marco Vellutino and has since been run commercially by only one or two outfitters when they can find the clients. Unlike the Colca Canyon, the Cotahuasi´s remoteness and difficulty makes it exceedingly difficult to organize logistics and so very few trips have made it down the canyon. In 2000, a private European group attempted to run the river, but ended in tragedy when a 19 year old woman was tossed out of the boat in a class V rapid and her body was never found.

At over twice the depth of Arizona’s Grand Canyon, the Cotahuasi is the deepest canyon in the world! Measuring 11,587 feet from river to rim, this scarcely-explored Peruvian wilderness remains one of the most pristine environments on Earth. The Cotahuasi River Canyon features a rare glimpse into the Incan world; a geologic, floral, and faunal paradise; and a river-runner’s dream! Draining the western slope of the Andes Mountains, the waterway courses 100 miles over a continuous series of Class IV and V drops, making it one of the most gripping stretches of commercially run whitewater anywhere. Visitors to the Cotahuasi encounter some the rarest and the most extraordinary Incan archeological sites… quaint Peruvian village replete with natural hot springs, spot enormous Andean Condors, and experience one of the most fantastic wilderness river expeditions on Earth!
                   -Global Descents

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Maybe the last descent of the Yangtze? Lead by Travis Winn, the trip included researchers and conservationists from China and abroad, all trying to figure out a way to protect this threatened resource.

Their mission is to figure out the fastest way to bring as much attention to these rivers as possible. To get people to rethink their value, to get people to understand individually and personally come to the conclusion that they´re worth protecting.

“At least 20 (new) reservoirs will be put into operation by 2020,” vice minister Hu Siyi was quoted as saying in a report on the Chinese Ministry´s website.

During the descent, they were able to see the start of some of the projects, fated to create huge resevoirs and eliminate the possibility of ever rafting the world´s third longest river.

Government reports in recent years have warned that the dam’s huge reservoir had trapped massive amounts of pollution dumped into the river system and that the reservoir’s weight on surrounding terrain was triggering landslides.

Travis Winn is also heading the China Rivers Project, an organization dedicated to saving rivers in China.

Check out this National Geographic Mission Programs video documenting what may have been the last descent of the Yangtze River.

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           Three world renowned base jumpers, Jeb Corliss (USA), Chris “Douggs” Mcdougall (Australia), Paul Fortun (Norway), traveled 10,000 miles across the globe seeking Tian Keng, or “The Heavenly Pit.” They document their trip in a cool film that was recently showcased at the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour, and received rave reviews.
           ”Millions of years old, half a mile deep, waiting for eons to test the endurance, skill and courage of the men who dare to parachute into her heart.” The perfect place for these guys to showcase their talents.
           Visit their website to find out more.