Unfortunate news from ‘The Coldest Journey‘ has surfaced, the polar crossing attempt has been halted due to severe weather. The science programme is to become the new focus. The 10th Mongol Rally is well underway – 10,000 miles of brilliant mayhem as 600 participants make the journey from London to Ulaanbaatar in some sort of motor vehicle. And with the aid of the National Geographic’s Explorers Grant, Nobody’s River expedition is well under way. The all-women expedition will use a variety of means including kayaks and horses to make the 4,400 km journey to explore the Amur River.
Last week a brilliant idea to raise awareness came into play when six women scaled the Shard building in London without permission to raise awareness of the problems facing the Arctic. The 310 metre building sits amongst Shell’s three London headquarters. Get involved by signing the petition.
In sport, female athletes got the chance to compete in the Red Bull Cliff Diving competition for the first time. Anna Bader took the win in an event in Malcesine, Italy. Read the full report and checkout the photos and videos on the Red Bull Site.
Adventures to keep an eye out for in the coming year include a new expedition dubbed the ‘PNG Expedition‘ which has recently been launched. A two man first attempt at an unsupported human powered crossing of Papua New Guinea at the beginning of 2014. ‘Four Birds a Boating‘ are due to row the 7,200 nautical miles across the Pacific Ocean from California to Australia in the summer of 2014. A new world record time is on the cards for Reza Pakravan and Steven Pawley who will take on the Kapp to Cape route on the 12th of August. An endurance cycle which will see them travel an average of 110 miles a day over 100 days to get from the North Cape in the Arctic Circle to the coastline of Cape Town. And a new winter expedition race has been launched which involves traversing Scandinavia’s Arctic Circle. The Frostskade 500 will take place for the first time on the first of February 2014, with three distances to choose from; 180km in 4 Days, 400km in 9 Days, or 800km in 18 Days.
And finally if you’re in the UK then here are a couple date for your diary. On the 6th of August, Moorlands Discovery Centre, Longshaw Estate, Hathersage will screen ‘A Year in Yellow’ – a tale of Bradley Wiggins summer of dreams when he dominated in both the Tour de France and the London Olympics. If you get on your bike to reach the screening then you are in with a chance to win some prizes. Visit Heason Events for details. And look out for the Big Shakeout Festival 2013 running from the 27th to the 29th of September in the Peak District. You camp out by night and by day you get to experience the cuisine, the stalls, try a climbing, biking, canoeing, etc course, listen to live music, watch adventure films and listen to lectures
Written by Orla O’Muiri @SidetrackedNews. Photography by Romina Amato