The judging process of this year’s The Adventure Fund has been one of the most uplifting and inspiring processes I’ve ever had the good fortune to be part of, writes Sidetracked’s joint-editor Jamie Bunchuk. We’ve had some of the most fundamentally amazing expeditions proposed to us, taking place all around the world, featuring every type of transport conceivable, from every age-range imaginable and everyone of them with the same thing at their core – the undiluted spirit of adventure.
Picking between nearly 50 applications was always going to be a daunting and difficult task, but the judges did their very best to dig down deep to the heart of every application and pick out a select few that we thought really represented the ethos of The Adventure Fund and Sidetracked Magazine. Our winning adventure, submitted by experienced ski mountaineer Ian Bolliger, will take place in the remote Revelations Range of Alaska, with the objective of exploring new routes and first ski descents within the area. We simply loved the idea of the expedition, and hope you’ll enjoy reading the gripping story when it comes to Sidetracked Magazine later in the year. Ian and his team will be receiving the 2014 award of £500, as well as £250 of gear kindly donated by AlpKit.
But that’s not the end of the line: special mention must also be made to David Carmona and Colin Reynolds, as well as Sarah Begum, who the judges wished to highly commend for their riveting adventure projects too. To read more fully about all of these expeditions, please keep scrolling below – we’re sure you’ll be just as absorbed by their accounts as we were.
Our major thanks to everybody who submitted an application and my apologies if you were not successful this time around. Please don’t let it put you off; they were all great trips and we seriously want to hear how you get on with each and every one of them. Finally for those of you already looking ahead, scheming and dreaming, an application form for the 2015 award can be found on www.theadventurefund.com
Oh, and there’s one last person I really have to make a special mention of: ‘Lightning Lil’.
Ten-year-old Lilliana Libecki applied for this year’s fund for her expedition to go ski-mountaineering in Antarctica with her dad, explorer-extraordinaire Mike Libecki. The pair now have the funding in place via another sponsor and will be heading out onto the ice this November. Everyone at Sidetracked and The Adventure Fund is wishing them all the best. So by way of a final conclusion for The Adventure Fund 2014, I’ll quote Lightning Lil in her last message to me:
“My dad always says: ‘The time is now and life is sweet!’… And it is!”
Until next year, keep exploring, keep adventuring and keep telling us your stories!
Winners: Revelling in a Remotely Rugged Range
Team: Ian Bolliger, Peter McCarthy, Dave Reynolds, Spencer James, Scott Rinckenberger
In their own words: “Our objective is a series of ascents and ski descents in the Revelations Range of Alaska in the area north of Mt Mausolus. Our objective peaks hold potential for numerable and attainable first ascents and descents. We intend to establish a base camp on a landable glacier north of Mausolus and explore from there. Rather than pursuing one of the many large, imposing, and more easily accessible peaks found further Northeast in the Alaska Range, we look forward to the adventure of exploring new routes and establishing first descents on a variety of slopes in the rugged spires of the Revelations.”
What we thought: The Revelations Range Expedition is one of those refreshing adventures that blows the tired and well-trodden mindset that ‘everything’s already been explored’ right out of the water. It hasn’t, and this team’s out to prove it. The judges were impressed by the scope and ambition of the expedition, as well as its evident grounding in realisable objectives, all backed up by a professional and experienced team of skiers and mountaineers. The humorous promise that they’d spend a bit of the award’s money on whippets and peanut butter went and sealed the deal and we simply can’t wait to see what wild stories this team brings back with them!
Highly Commended: From One Backyard to Another
Team: David Carmona and Colin Reynolds
In their own words: “We are two friends with a desire to rediscover the landscapes and places of our respective backyards, in the form of a bicycle trip between Montpellier (France), and Glasgow (Scot- land). As friends, two architecture graduates and mountaineers, our ambition is to cycle from one country to another, stopping for alpine adventures, to document humble buildings, and learning from the modern day craftsmen of Europe. Our three month adventure will be documented through our website, using our cameras and sketchbooks as a celebration of the European outdoors – its people, architecture, and landscapes.”
What we thought: Through perhaps the most visually stunning application form we’ve ever seen, David and Colin sold us this great and simple adventure of theirs to cycle home across Europe. The pair’s trip is a brilliant example that adventure needn’t take place at the North Pole but – with the right mindset – can happen right on our very doorsteps. Nice work guys.
Highly Commended: The Darien Gap Petroglyph Expedition
Team: Sarah Begum, Robert Hyman, Carlos Fitzgerald
In their own words: “[The expedition’s aim is to] conduct an in depth study and analysis of the known petroglyphs in the Darien Gap and compare them to other recorded petroglyphs from ancient civilisations around the world to better understand their origins. The project will also immerse into the Embera Indians’ way of life to understand and document their culture and to investigate their individual stories on site and connection to the petroglyphs as case studies. Lastly the expedition hopes to make a documentary of the whole expedition with Sarah presenting it as an archaeological/anthropological adventure, which will be a first of its kind… with a view to educate people about these petroglyphs and the Ember culture.”
What we thought: Sarah’s expedition was unlike any other application we received this year. Her project to document hitherto undiscovered petroglyphs in the dangerous and volatile regions that lie between Panama and Columbia was gripping. Not only does the expedition have a dedicated scientific purpose but, more importantly (in our view), she’s setting out to try and convey the story behind this research in a publicly accessible format via a documentary television series. It all sounds like a quite mad, but very exciting plan, and we wish Sarah and her team all the best of luck on their hunt for unseen petroglyphs.
For more information about the award, or to apply, please visit www.theadventurefund.com
