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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The Skateboard Film Festival serves to promote independent film making in the skateboard community at large. It is open to the entire public by way of video and film submissions, and there are several categories by which each filmmaker can submit his or her video short or full-length movie. Winning films will be carefully selected by a panel of judges and shown during the festival weekend in SIFF Cinema’s state of the art theater right next to Seattle’s new Sea Skate Plaza.

When:
August 14th – 16th, Friday evening through Sunday afternoon.
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Race records came crashing down for the 3rd year in a row at this year’s Bribie Multisport 100km. Tides were perfect for the swims and kayaks which led to the fastest times being recoded in the races 3 year history for all legs except one.

Race champion, Glenn Kirby, was quick out of the water in the first swim and set a fast pace on the first 8km beach run. Sam Stow was in form and pushed the pace up in this leg with the fastest solo beach run.

Glenn dominated the first paddle, clocking the fastest time ever on this leg. This saw him hold a healthy lead at the start of the 20km mountain bike. Bryn Somers made his move on this leg, putting in the fastest time for this leg and giving himself a 2 minute lead going into the technical 9km run. Kris Plain in third and Sam Stow further back in 4th also had fast bike legs and begun to catch Bryn and Glenn. The run saw Bryn extend his lead on Glenn. A very fast run from Sam saw him close to within striking distance of Kris.

As they headed off on 7th leg, the last mountain bike of 30km, the heat was taking it’s toll on both Glenn Kirby and Kris Plain. Sam Stow was able to take advantage of this passing them both and moving into 2nd place. Glenn was overtaken by Kris dropping off the podium into 4th place.

A final sensational kayak by Glenn wasn’t enough to catch up with Bryn, Sam or Kris.

Bryn Somers annihilated the previous over all race record by 31 minutes, and won the race in 5 hours 35 minutes. Sam Stow followed 7 minutes later with Kris Plain 8 minutes after this. All managed to smash the previous course record of 6 hours 9 minutes. Continue Reading

We opted to wait until after Earth Day to post this message as we knew everyone would be bombarded by environmental news, activities and programming all day long and we wanted to extend the environmental consciousness even longer.

Here are our Top 10 Tips (potentially 11) for making small, REALISTIC changes to your daily life that can help reduce your carbon footprint over the remainder of this year:

1. Change your light bulbs. As your current incandescent bulbs burn out, consider replacing with compact fluorescent bulbs.

2. Turn the water off while brushing your teeth. As a multi-tasker myself…I always apply the toothpaste, then moisten the toothbrush and go around the house doing other things while brushing. Therefore, I eliminate multiple gallons of water flowing down the drain.

3. Consider recycling. A lot of us already do this and curbside recycling has made this even easier. If you do not currently participate, consider picking one or two items this year to recycle.

4. Subscribe to a digital publication. A lot of publications are now producing digital counterparts to their print versions. Only 1 in 4 print copies at the newsstand actually make it into the hands of a consumer. Guess where the rest go?

5. I operate under the premise when making a purchase to purchase better and less often. It may cost a little more up front…but in the long run, you will get better products and have to purchase those products less often. And, when you are ready to upgrade again, consider passing that product onto someone else to increase its lifespan and reduce its potential to end up in a landfill prematurely.
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The Abora Tries Again. An archeaological expedition of modern times.

German scientist Dominique Goerlitz, a former schoolteacher, now an experimental archaeologist and botanist, is planning another attempt to prove that ancient civilizations could have made frequent roundtrips between the Old World and the New with a ship constructed of reeds.

Construction for Abora IV is planned to happen at the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, N.J., within view of the Statue of Liberty, will be designed according to prehistoric rock drawings.

Taking his cue from Norwegian adventurer Thor Heyerdahl (Kon-Tiki), Goerlitz hopes to prove that people traversed between Europe and North, Central and South America as early as 14,000 years ago, and even conducted regular cultural exchange and trade in both directions across the Atlantic Ocean.

“We want to rewrite the history of sea travel,” Goerlitz told Expedition News in 2007. “We want to show how the ships used by early seafarers were able to turn on man’s will and could sail both east and west – even into the wind.”

On July 11, 2007, the Abora III set out on a three-month journey from the East Coast back to Spain, departing New York in a prehistoric-style reed boat constructed of 17 tons of reed papyrus and fashioned with 16 leeboards – a vertical steering system – that he says aided seafarers some 6,000 years ago.

They spent 56 days at sea before a series of 14 intense storms forced them to abandon the effort. Nonetheless, the documentary about Abora III produced by German Television/ZDF Enterprises continues to be broadcast worldwide. ZDF’s production, “Lost on the Atlantic” will air on May 5 on the National Geographic Channel. Continue Reading

And I thought I spent a lot of time on my bike! This video features Inspired Bicycles team rider Danny MacAskill that was filmed over the course of several months in the Edinburgh area by Dave Sowerby. There is some of the best riding I have ever seen. Check it out!

Check out this video to learn more.

Check out this video from the Riding the Spine crew as they navigate through the Northern part of Peru. Scenic vistas, 1000+ foot drops and knee deep mud are just the beginning. I hope that camera was helmet mounted!

Gone are those speed wobbles that have kept you from bombing down that nearby hill. Thanks to some innovative longboard designs by a dedicated group of boarders up in Vancouver, B.C. Landyachtz Longboards has helped revolutionize the sport, and have created a healthy community of riders and events along the.

Most notable are their curved decks that place the riding platform closer to the level of the weels effectively lowering the center of gravity, offering a more stable ride (no more wobbles). Other innovations they have on production are decks designed with drop-through trucks to give you stability and still allow for some epic carving.

Their team of riders have been dominating the longboard racing scene for years, winning the IGSA world championship in 2005 and 2006, and you´ll see a good amount of riders using their boards in any serious downhill competition.

They have a bunch of great looking boards on deck for 2009 and come stock with their own brand of trucks (Bear Grizzly & Smokey) that look a lot like Randals. Besides their downhill decks, they have boards designed for carving, travel, hybrid, freeride, and floating.

Three new boards have just been announced : DUALLY, SWTICH, and SPUD. If you order one of these new decks before May 1st, they´ll enter your name in a drawing to receive the first production model of each shape off the production line.

Check out their website often for longboarding events in the Pacific Northwest.

Check out Silverfish Longboarding for news, reviews, videos/photos, and info on longboarding events worldwide.

After ten days of diving, Vertical Blue, the world’s premier invitational freediving competition held at Dean’s Blue Hole in the Bahamas, came to a close with a total of five new world records and 30 national records across four different disciplines.

On the final day, Will Trubridge, who has joint British and New Zealand citizenship, broke his own constant weight no fins (CNF) category record with an 88m dive, adding two metres onto his previous mark.

The 28-year-old’s single breath dive took just 3min 30sec. Trubridge, a freediver of six years had some worries before going for the record after a failed attempt six days earlier. On that occasion he reached 88m, but upon returning to the surface blacked out and was subsequently disqualified.

“I had a lot of anxiety about the dive when I entered the water for another attempt at this record this morning, but somehow I managed to remain calm and finished the dive completely lucid,” said Trubridge. “I’ve trained hard for this record and the results speak for themselves – I’ve done it!”

Herbert Nitsch (AUT) bettered his own constant weight (CWT) record by a huge six meters that he’d set earlier in the week, with an incredible 120m dive.

The 39-year-old from Vienna is widely regarded as the greatest freediver of all time and the improvement was the single biggest world record increase in the sport’s history. On April 6, Nitsch also broke the free immersion (FIM) world record, descending 109m below the water surface.

In addition to Nitsch and Trubridge’s records, British woman Sara Campbell successfully completed a world record-breaking 96m CWT dive, which brilliantly announced her comeback to the sport after a two-year absence.

“This was by far the toughest World Record I’ve earned,“ the 37-year-old said.

A number of national records were also smashed, notably by Canadian William Winran who dove 90m and Leo Muraoka (USA), 81m, both in the FIM category.

All categories are recognized by freediving’s governing body, the International Association for the Development of Freediving (AIDA).

For each dive, a pre-moistened, stretched and measured rope with a circular base plate fixed at the target depth is set into the water. Velcro tags are clipped to the line with carabiners so that they sink down and sit on the base plate.

Divers must retrieve a tag with a single breath and their diving watch is checked to ensure they reached the target depth. A small camera is also positioned on the base plate to film the diver retrieving the tag. Athletes also wear a lanyard attached to the line and in case of a blackout, the entire rope is hauled to the surface, bringing the stricken diver with it.

In CWT the diver descends and ascends with fins or a monofin but in CNF, no fins are permitted. For FIM divers use the rope to pull themselves down and up, but have no other form of propulsion.

By Nick Warren
www.zooom.at

Images are ©Fredric Buyle
www.nektos.net

America’s Rivers Expedition

On Sunday April 4th 2009, Alexander Martin departed on his expedition to travel by canoe and foot 5,500 miles from Portland, OR to Portland, ME and the Atlantic Ocean in one seasonal year. The planned route lies entirely within the contiguous United States and traverses many of the country’s great and storied rivers as well as many hidden and wild places accessible only by water. All travel will be human powered, either by paddle or portage.

The 6,000 mile route will be attempted over a period of six months and will include over 2,000 miles paddled against the current, 3,500 miles with it, and over 600 miles of portaging. The route began on the incoming tide of the Pacific Ocean and follows the Columbia, Snake, Yellowstone, Missouri, and Ohio Rivers for much – and in most cases all – of their length, before joining Lake Erie, the Erie Canal, the Hudson River and a variety of smaller rivers and lakes to meet the Atlantic Ocean at the mouth of the Presumpscot River. “I will withstand the snow and wind of the Cascades in April, battle the power of the Rocky Mountain freshet, cross the continental divide by portaging 100 miles through the Teton Range, and, depending on water levels and the most appropriate route, paddle through downtown Portland, Kansas City, St. Louis, Chicago, Louisville, Cincinnati, Pittsburgh, and Albany as well as Yellowstone National Park, Teton National Park, fifty National Wildlife Refuges, four Wild and Scenic Rivers, and several National Recreational Areas, just to name a few,” says Martin.

If successful, this crossing will be the first of its kind. It will be the first west to east crossing of North America by canoe in a single year and the first crossing of the United States, at its widest point, by non-bicycle human power in a single year. “The achievement of these arbitrary distinctions is not the goal of this project,” explains Martin. “My goal is to explore my country and interact with my countrymen and women, raising awareness of river conservation and education efforts of organizations. I will invite the people I meet and those that have only heard or read about the project to pledge a penny or a dime or any amount they choose for each mile I paddle, and direct that money to the organizations whose life work is the protection of these rivers and the education of their importance to the next generation.”

Martins’ choice to travel across the United States by canoe is a deliberate one. “The connection people feel with their backyard, their local river or town is immense, and the canoe is a ubiquitous object in our country. Therefore the chance of connecting and inspiring people is much higher; they can envision themselves exploring the same places that I will be and in the same way,” said Martin. “I hope to inspire young Americans to get outside and explore their local wild places, and as a whole live a more active and healthy lifestyle.”

For updates and more information, please visit: http://www.americasriversexpedition.com/

Organizers are excited to announce that Cairns, and the surrounding area of tropical North Queensland, has been chosen to host the 5th edition of XPD. This international expedition adventure race will bring 200+ national and international athletes to Australia from 17-28 May 2010. It will be “as much an expedition as a race”.

Race Director Craig Bycroft said “Tropical North Queensland offers the ideal location to host the 5th edition of XPD. We plan to take competitors through the Great Barrier Reef and nearby islands, the rich and diverse rainforests of the wet tropics, over waterfalls and cascades that feed crystal clear rivers, across lakes of the tablelands and through eucalypt woodlands of the Eastern savannah country. We even plan to incorporate some of the iconic legs undertaken in the Eco-Challenge of 97”

XPD is open to mixed, all male or all female teams of four from around the world. The exact course is kept secret until 24hrs before the start. Then with much excitement and anticipation, teams are provided a course booklet and their race maps. The course booklet contains the location of each of the race checkpoints. Once teams start, racing is 24 hours per day; teams choose when and where they will sleep. The winning team is expected to trek, mountain bike and kayak the 700km course in 4-5 days. All other teams will be permitted up to 10 days to complete the expedition without mid-race cut offs. XPD will be challenging for first time racers and experienced teams alike.

As a member of the AR World Series, XPD is a qualifying event for the Adventure Race World Championship (ARWC). The AR World Series is an international circuit of premiere adventure races representing 10 countries creating a 12 month calendar of professional events around the world. The top two teams at each qualifying event receive automatic entry to the ARWC.

I thought this kind of thing only happened in Japan, yet the bigger is better philosophy seems to prevail in America, especially when it comes to shopping malls.

Alas, a $2.3 Billion, 4.76 MILLION square foot project is underway west of New York City in the New Jersey Meadowlands.

Inroducing Meadowlands Xanadu, an ambitiously sprawling venture delayed until August 2009 due to lawsuits and the economy. Besides the millions of square feet of “entertainment” and retail operations, they are boasting the irst indoor ski park.

One commenter noted at nj.cm, “My ex-husband flew in from Florida and said, ‘That mall can be seen from space.’ While another described the complex: “Looks like bathroom tile from the 1970s.” Which makes sense since it´s named after the Olivia Newton-John movie involving roller-skating muses and disco.

Unfortunately, this monstrosity is not yet opened, and before you get to enjoy you´re first flourescent blue bird day, you´ll have settle for the great outdoors.

Operation Denali receives this year´s Mountain Hardwear Expedition Sponsorship, enabling four wounded soldiers to realize their dream of summitting 20,320 Mt. Mckinley (Denali) in Alaska.

“The support of the incredible folks at Mountain Hardwear, the Military Order of the Purple Heart, the Wounded WarriorProject and countless others have made the dreamof Operation Denali possible,” Galye Hoffmeister said. “This opportunity gives us a chance to redefine who we are and experience life to an extent none of us thought possible.”

In preparation, they have worked tirelessly toward rehabilitation with sports therapists, exercise physiologists and several orthopedic doctors. They also completed a twelve-day mountaineering course with the Alaska Mountaineering School in July 2008.

On their blog, Matt Nyman writes, “I dream of climbing Denali. My whole life was the outdoors before my injury. My goal was to climb Mt. Rainier and this happened before I could do it. I wanted to follow it with Denali. … My whole life I’ve hiked, camped, skied, and just about everything else you can do. In 2005, I was on a little bird helicopter in Iraq when we crashed. I was tossed into the rotor. It cut off my right leg below the knee, cut and crushed my left foot, compound femur fracture, and collapsed lungs. All I have done is dreamed about climbing a big mountain and since I got hurt, it just made me want to do it even more to prove to myself I can overcome anything. I will do whatever it takes to do this expedition.” Continue Reading

Papua New Guinea expedition discovers among more than 50 species previously unknown to science, including jumping spiders, striped gecko, and a frog with a “ringing song.”

Barrick Gold Corporation, the largest gold mining company in put the survey together in preparation for future mining projects. The discoveries will aid miners on how to balance protecting wildlife and forests with development needs of the people in Papua New Guinea’s Kaijende uplands, the group said in a statement.

According to Barrick´s website, between 2004-2007, they have received 13 “environmental awards” from sites across the globe, yet Corpwatch paints a more grim picture of their contributions to Papua New Guinea thus far, like the 5,600 acre open-pit complex called the Porgera gold mine in Enga, the highest and most rugged province in Papua. Will be interesting to see how the gld mine is going to facilitate the development needs for the people in the Kaijende uplands.
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Vertical Blue, the world’s premier invitational freediving competition is entering its final stage, with new world record attempts on the agenda.

Austrian Herbert Nitsch will look to improve his record of 114m in the constant weight (CWT) category to 120m. Just days ago on April 5, Nitsch set the 114m mark, and if successful in the 120m dive, it will be the biggest single extension of a world record in freediving history.

Nitsch also claimed a free immersion (FIM) world record with 109m on April 6.

In addition to Nitsch’s records, British woman Sara Campbell successfully completed a world record-breaking 96m CWT dive, which brilliantly announced her comeback to the sport after a two year absence.

The competition, which began on April 1, 2009, featured 20 divers from 11 different nations take part. Numerous national records have been broken, in addition to the world records set by Nitsch and Campbell.

By Nick Warren
www.zooom.at

Images are ©Igor Liberti

Beginning near the border with Mexico the Arizona Trail 300 winds up to Superior Arizona, in this gnarly self supported, wilderness mountain bike route along the Arizona Trail

First started in 2006, with only 6 competitors (4 did not finish), this race is not for the weak hearted. No prizes, no cheering fans, and absolutely no support, you´re very much on your own out there.

Scott Morris of topofusion.com helps organize this event and also has the record at 2 days, 16 hours and 57 minutes. In 2008, the event brought about 10 athletes, many of which are world class endurance athletes including Mike Curiak and Pete Basinger who have competed successfully in the Great Divide Race.

This year´s event is scheduled to start on April 10th, and will offer live tracking through the topofusion.com site. Scott promises the route will have more singletrack and less pavement; also including a caveat warning about substantial hike-a-bike possibilities.
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We picked up one of these Princeton Tec Amp 1.0 ‘flashlights’ at Outdoor Retailer in January.  Since that time, it has been used for everything under the sun (or moon) from trail and road running, digging in the attic for more winter apparel, hiking and more.  At under 4″ long it provides a tremendous amount of light for such a small device.

Features:

They list it at 57g on the specs but we weighed it in at 50g (under 2oz.) using Lithium batteries.

Requires 2 AAA batteries.

Has a 100-meter waterproof rating (we have not tested it in the water other than running in the rain).

Xenon bulb. 3-hour burn time.

Single beam setting.

Final Thoughts:

This is a great little light for the price of only $14.99. It easily fits in your pocket or clips to your pack (with carabiner) and is great as an emergency light. I plan on acquiring many of these units for my car, bike bag, wife’s purse, camera bag, kitchen drawer, and anywhere else that I haven’t thought of yet.
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President Obama signed the Ominibus Public Land Management Act into law on March 30 shortly after 3 PM Eastern. The bill protects three million acres of land, and 1000 miles of rivers throughout the US. Prior to signing, Obama said:

“It is fitting that we meet on a day like this. Winter’s hardships are slowly giving way to spring, and our thoughts naturally tend to turn to the outdoors. We emerge from the shelter offered by home and work, and we look around and we’re reminded that the most valuable things in this life are those things that we already possess. As Americans, we possess few blessings greater than the vast and varied landscapes that stretch the breadth of our continent…

This legislation guarantees that we will not take our forests, rivers, oceans, national parks, monuments, and wilderness areas for granted; but rather we will set them aside and guard their sanctity for everyone to share. That’s something all Americans can support.”

(This photo was taken by a friend who was at the signing ceremony).

By John Sterling, Executive Director of The Conservation Alliance

The House of Representatives voted on March 25 to pass the Omnibus Public Land Management Act. The final vote in the House was 285-140. The bill passed the Senate 77-21 last week. The lands package now goes to President Obama for his signature, possibly as early as next Monday. The President is expected to sign the bill.

The legislation protects two million acres of Wilderness and 1,000 miles of rivers, and prohibits new oil and gas development on 1.2 million acres in Wyoming. It also legislatively affirms the 26-million-acre National Landscape Conservation System.

“This is a major conservation victory that preserves wild places throughout the US forever,” said John Sterling, Executive Director of The Conservation Alliance.

Every conservation provision included in the legislation started at the local level where grassroots organizations led the charge to build public support to protect a special landscape or waterway. The Conservation Alliance supported the local organizations that led the efforts behind 12 of the 16 Wilderness provisions included in the package. The Alliance also funded the groups leading the efforts behind protecting the Snake River Headwaters, and closing the Wyoming Range to new oil and gas development.

In total, The Conservation Alliance contributed more than $700,000 to ten different organizations whose good work eventually wound up in the package. Some of the grantees had more than one provision in the package. The Alliance also worked in close partnership with Outdoor Industry Association to demonstrate that the outdoor industry stood uniformly behind the provisions in this package.

“This is a big victory, and we did everything within the limits of our lean staff capacity and financial resources to ensure it crossed the finish line,” said Sterling.

By John Sterling, Executive Director of The Conservation Alliance

Pedro Olivia, a 26 year old from Brazil spent the last four years searching for the perfect location to attempt to break the world record (previously set at 108 feet) for waterfall descents. He dropped 127 feet off the Salto Belo Falls in central Brazil. He fell for almost 3 seconds before hitting the water below at approximately 70mph. It was several minutes before onlookers realized he had reappeared near the bottom of the falls with a new world record.