Indholdsfortegnelse for Spring 2017 i The Explorers Journal

As it turned out, attending February’s Expedition Finse in Norway was a great preview to “Cold Places,” this year’s Explorers Club Annual Dinner theme. The surrealistic landscape takes your breath away before the Arctic air can. Reachable only by rail, this spectacular plateau has been the staging area for expedition preparation, athletic training, and even Star Wars filming for more than a century. The Explorers Club and Finse both have deep ties to the exploration of our planet’s white spaces—Finse 1222 (the hotel is named for its elevation) opened in 1909, the same year that Robert Peary and Matthew Henson declared themselves first to reach the North Pole. In the years that followed, The Explorers Club’s Cold Places legacy grew relentlessly, with generations of pioneers adding to the accomplishments not…

JOIN THE “EXPLORERS IMMORTALS” AND ENGRAVE YOUR NAME OR DEDICATION IN STONE ON NEW PAVERS FOR THE LEFRAK TERRACE AT EXPLORERS CLUB HEADQUARTERS. ADORN OUR LANDMARK OUTDOOR SPACE AND HELP PAY FOR URGENT WORK FOR PHASE II RENOVATIONS BY MAKING A TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION OF $2,500 PER DEDICATED PAVER TO OUR LOWELL THOMAS BUILDING FUND. THE EXPLORERS CLUB WOULD LIKE TO THANK THE FOLLOWING WHO HAVE PURCHASED A PAVER: Robert Ashton, James H. Alexander, John G. Alexander, Darlene T. Anderson, Jeanne D. Andlinger, Barbara Annan, Robert J. Aresty, Atlanta Chapter, Robert J. Atwater, Norman L. Baker, Andreas Bender, Josh Bernstein, John Bierley, Bruce Blanchard, John R. Bockstoce, Brian M. Boom, John R. Boreske Jr., Gary W. Bowersox, Lawson W. Brigham, Diane Britz-Lotti, Julianne M. Chase, James M. Clash, Allen S. Counter,…

ACCLAIMED BY THE GUINNESS BOOK OF WORLD RECORDS AS “THE WORLD’S GREATEST LIVING EXPLORER,” SIR RANULPH FIENNES HAS UNDERTAKEN NUMEROUS GROUND-BREAKING EXPLOITS, INCLUDING THE EPIC TRANSGLOBE EXPEDITION, IN WHICH HE BECAME THE FIRST PERSON TO VISIT BOTH NORTH AND SOUTH POLES BY SURFACE MEANS, AS WELL AS LATER BECOMING THE FIRST TO CROSS ANTARCTICA COMPLETELY ON FOOT. HE ALSO FOUND THE LOST CITY OF UBAR IN THE ARABIAN SANDS. THIS YEAR’S KEYNOTE SPEAKER AT THE 113TH EXPLORERS CLUB ANNUAL DINNER ON MARCH 25 REFLECTS ON AN ILLUSTRIOUS CAREER SPANNING FIVE DECADES. FOR MORE ABOUT RANULPH FIENNES, VISIT WWW.RANULPHFIENNES.CO.UK. There can be few in the exploration community who do not know the name Ranulph Fiennes, and even fewer who are unaware of his influence on the world of modern exploration during…

WHEN IT COMES TO HIMALAYAN MOUNTAINEERING, PASANG LHAMU SHERPA AKITA’S RÉSUMÉ SPEAKS FOR ITSELF: SHE WAS THE FIRST WOMAN TO SUMMIT NANGPAI GOSUM (7,231 METERS) IN 2006; EVEREST VIA THE NORTH RIDGE IN 2007; AND AMA DABLAM IN 2012; AND SHE SUCCESSFULLY LED THE FIRST ALL-NEPALI FEMALE EXPEDITION TO K2 IN 2014—AN EXPERIENCE THAT FIRMLY PLACES HER IN THE PANTHEON OF ELITE HIMALAYAN CLIMBERS. AS A SHERPANI, SHE HAS BROKEN UNWRITTEN BARRIERS TO BECOME A ROLE MODEL FOR YOUNG WOMAN THROUGHOUT NEPAL, YET IT IS WHAT SHE HAS DONE OFF-SUMMIT THAT TRULY SETS HER APART. IN THE WORDS OF SEVEN-TIME EVEREST SUMMITER GARRETT MADISON, WHO HAS GUIDED WITH PASANG ON NUMEROUS EXPEDITIONS, “SHE HAS NOT ONLY PROVEN HERSELF AS A COMPETENT MOUNTAIN GUIDE AND HIGH-ALTITUDE CLIMBER IN AN INDUSTRY THAT…

A MEMBER OF THE EXPLORERS CLUB SINCE 2012, TREVOR WALLACE IS AN EXPEDITION FILMMAKER SPECIALIZING IN COLLABORATION WITH REMOTE COMMUNITIES AND DOCUMENTING EXPEDITIONS IN HARSH ENVIRONMENTS. HIS PREVIOUS FILM PROJECTS HAVE BEEN SCREENED AT THE EXPLORERS CLUB’S POLAR FILM FESTIVAL, THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY, AND THE WORLD WATER FORUM. In 1947, Soviet archeologists led by Sergei Rudenko pulled back the ice-laden beams of a 2,500-year-old wooden tomb in the Altai Mountains of Central Asia, revealing mummies preserved in the permafrost, their skin covered in intricate animal tattoos that attest a reverence for wild and mythical beasts, including stags and gryphons. With the first documented Scythian ice mummies, the story of a mysterious Iron Age people began to unfold. The fifth-century b.c. Greek historian Herodotus described the Scythians as…

46 EAST 70TH STREET, NEW YORK, NY 10021 I 212-628-8383 I WWW.EXPLORERS.ORG ALASKA L. Michelle Ridgway Tel: 907-957-2277 mishridgway@gmail.com ATLANTA Steve Pigott Tel: 770-337-5450 jagter@msn.com AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND Todd Tai todd@mivision.com.au CANADA Ray Hyland chapterchair@explorersclub.ca CENTRAL AND SOUTH AMERICA Jimmy McSparron jimmy@trekkingnut.com CHICAGO/GREAT LAKES Robert A. Shuchman, Ph.D. Tel: 734-649-0937 shuchman@mtu.edu EAST AND SOUTH ASIA Steven R. Schwankert Tel: 86-1350-116-3629 steven@sinoscuba.com FLORIDA Aida “Idee” Belau Tel: 321-243-8448 chair@floridaexplorersclub.org GEORGE ROGERS CLARK Leonard A. Weakley, Jr. Tel: 513-702-0725 lweakley@rendigs.com GREAT BRITAIN Eleuthera du Breuil Tel: 44-2036036974 eleutheradb@hotmail.com GREATER PIEDMONT David N. Brinkman dobrink@bellsouth.net HONG KONG Michael E. Barth mebarth@explorershk.org Sharon Kwok Pong slkoschker@hotmail.com NEW ENGLAND Gregory Deyermenjian Tel: 781-968-5174 paititi@alumni.clarku.edu NORTH PACIFIC ALASKA Mead Treadwell Tel: 907-258-7764 Fax: 907-258-7768 meadwell@alaska.net NORTHERN CALIFORNIA Joan Boothe Tel: 415-233-1697 hoodooskr@aol.com NORWAY Synnøve Marie…

MIKE MASSIMINO FLEW TWO SPACE MISSIONS, THE FIRST IN 2002 ABOARD SPACE SHUTTLE COLUMBIA. IN 2009, HE BOARDED THE SPACE SHUTTLE ATLANTIS FOR THE FINAL CRITICAL MISSION TO REPAIR THE HUBBLE SPACE TELESCOPE. IN ADDITION TO BEING THE FIRST TO “TWEET” FROM SPACE, MASSIMINO HAS ALSO APPEARED IN SIX EPISODES OF THE TV SITCOM THE BIG BANG THEORY. IN NEW YORK, HE IS AN ENGINEERING PROFESSOR AT COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY. HIS NEW BOOK, SPACEMAN: AN ASTRONAUT’S UNLIKELY JOURNEY TO UNLOCK THE SECRETS OF THE UNIVERSE, HAS JUST BEEN RELEASED. JC: You’re the first to tweet from space? MM: Yes, that was on STS-125. Twitter had just started gaining popularity and NASA was looking for a way to get into the game. A month before the launch, their public affairs people asked…

When it comes to surmounting the challenges and obstacles one encounters in the realm of exploration, Bertrand Piccard contends that it is often more about “changing one’s attitude rather than one’s altitude.” This edition, we catch up with Piccard and his Solar Impulse partner André Borschberg, who will be receiving this year’s Explorers Club Medal, along with traditional Polynesian navigator Nainoa Thompson. As Wade Davis so cogently observes: They are “simultaneously circling the same globe—Thompson aboard Hokule’a, one of the most ancient of vessels, and the Solar Impulse team in one of the most technologically advanced, if simple, vehicles, powered solely by the sun, traveling on the wings of light.” As their groundbreaking projects collectively attest, our future will depend on abating our unbridled, and environmentally costly, exploitation of Earth’s…

POLYNESIA, WHICH ENCOMPASSES SOME 25 MILLION SQUARE KILOMETERS, NEARLY A FIFTH THE SURFACE OF THE PLANET, IS UNDOUBTEDLY THE LARGEST CULTURE SPHERE EVER BROUGHT INTO BEING BY THE HUMAN IMAGINATION. YET UNTIL RECENTLY, FEW UNDERSTOOD THE UNDERLYING GENIUS OF “WAYFINDING,” A TRADITIONAL WAY OF NAVIGATION THAT ENABLED SEAFARERS TO POPULATE ITS TENS OF THOUSANDS OF ISLANDS, FLUNG LIKE JEWELS UPON THE SOUTHERN SEA, THOUSANDS OF YEARS BEFORE THE COMMON ERA, AND THE ADVENT OF SATELLITE NAVIGATION. OVER THE YEARS, I HAVE BEEN FORTUNATE TO JOIN MY GOOD FRIEND AND PWO NAVIGATOR, NAINOA THOMPSON, AND HIS CREW FROM THE POLYNESIAN VOYAGING SOCIETY ABOARD HOKULE’A, A BEAUTIFUL AND ICONIC VESSEL NAMED AFTER ARCTURUS, THE SACRED STAR OF HAWAII. A REPLICA OF THE GREAT SEAFARING CANOES OF ANCIENT POLYNESIA, HOKULE’A IS A DOUBLE-HULLED…

PRESIDENT Theodore P. Janulis HONORARY CHAIRMAN Col. John H. Glenn Jr., USMC (ret.)* HONORARY PRESIDENT Don Walsh, Ph.D. HONORARY DIRECTORS Robert D. Ballard, Ph.D. Sylvia A. Earle, Ph.D. James M. Fowler Col. John H. Glenn Jr., USMC (ret.)* Gilbert M. Grosvenor Donald C. Johanson, Ph.D. Richard E. Leakey, D.Sc. Frederik D.A. Paulsen, Ph.D. Roland R. Puton Johan Reinhard, Ph.D. George B. Schaller, Ph.D. Kathryn D. Sullivan, Ph.D. Don Walsh, Ph.D. HRH Jigyel Ugyen Wangchuck BOARD OF DIRECTORS CLASS OF 2017 Capt. Lynn D. Danaher Richard Garriott de Cayeux Kenneth M. Kamler, M.D. Mabel L. Purkerson, M.D. Alexander Wallace CLASS OF 2018 Robert J. Atwater David A. Dolan James M. Edwards, M.D. J. Mark Fowler Jr. Brian P. Hanson CLASS OF 2019 Aida “Idee” Belau Daniel A. Kobal, Ph.D. Damien Leloup…

Founded in 1904 by a group of America’s leading explorers, The Explorers Club is a multi-disciplinary professional society dedicated to the advancement of field research, scientific exploration, and the ideal that it is vital to preserve the instinct to explore. The Club’s mission has steadfastly been to encourage and promote scientific exploration of land, sea, air, and space, with an emphasis on the physical and biological sciences. As a primary and prestigious center for exploration and expedition planning, the Club is a focal point and unifying force for explorers and scientists worldwide, with 28 chapters spanning the globe. For information regarding categories of membership (Fellow, Member, Associate, and Student), and the process of election to The Explorers Club, visit us at www.explorers.org. The downloadable application sets forth qualifications for membership.…

RETURN OF FLAG Nº136 SINCE ITS FIRST FORAY INTO THE FIELD—ON ARTHUR L. MYRLAND’S 1949 AFRICAN EXPEDITION—FLAG Nº136 HAS BEEN TO THE ANDES AND THE HIGH HIMALAYA, FLOATED ALOFT IN A HOT-AIR BALLOON, AND WAVED OVER ISLA NOIR OFF THE WEST COAST OF TIERRA DEL FUEGO. HEARD ISLAND EXPEDITION FELLOW OF THE EXPLORERS CLUB SINCE 1986, ROBERT W. SCHMIEDER IS A MULTIDISCIPLINARY SCIENTIST WHOSE FIELD RESEARCH HAS FOCUSED ON THE GEOLOGY AND ECOLOGY OF REMOTE OFFSHORE SITES, PRINCIPALLY THOSE THAT SUPPORT EXTENSIVE BIOLOGICAL COMMUNITIES. HIS NONPROFIT, CORDELL EXPEDITIONS, WAS THE FIRST TO EXPLORE CORDELL BANK, LOCATED NORTHWEST OF SAN FRANCISCO, AND CARRY OUT THE RESEARCH NEEDED TO SECURE ITS DESIGNATION AS A NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY. FOR MORE INFORMATION, VISIT: WWW.CORDELL.ORG AND WWW.HEARDISLAND.ORG. Heard Island is a land of extremes: extreme…

“Membership in the Legacy Society serves to support the ongoing mission of The Explorers Club. Let’s ensure the success of this vital endeavor!” —Alex Wallace, MN’01 & Julie Wallace, MN’09 John G. Alexander Robert J. Atwater Capt. Norman L. Baker Barbara Ballard Robert D. Ballard, Ph.D. Samuel B. Ballen* Mark Gregory Bayuk Daniel A. Bennett Josh Bernstein Bruce Blanchard John R. Bockstoce, D.Phil. Jack Aaron Boggs Bjorn G. Bolstad* Capt. Bruce M. Bongar, Ph.D. Brian M. Boom, Ph.D. Jill Botway Garrett R. Bowden Capt. Lawson W. Brigham, Ph.D., USCG (ret.) Harry Davis Brooks Lt. Col. Jewell Richard Browder* August “Augie” Brown John C.D. Bruno Lee R. Bynum* Virginia Castagnola Hunter Julianne M. Chase, Ph.D. James M. Chester* Maj. Gen. Arthur W. Clark, USAF (ret.) Capt. William Clark* Steven Cohen, Ph.D.…