The Pole of Cold Expedition is a 30,000km adventure in a Land Rover. The team, led by Felicity Aston, will set off from London this November and drive across Europe, to the northeast of Siberia through the winter months. Their target destination is the Pole of Cold, the coldest place in the world outside of Antarctica. The team will collect information about the reality of life in the extremes of climate.
Russian adventurer Fedor Konyukhov’s next challenge is to row the Pacific alone. Konyukhov’s chosen route from Chile to Australia will see him cross 8000 nautical miles and take over 200 days to complete. The expedition is set to get under way in December. On the 5th of November, Aaron Chervenak and Gareth Jones began the next stage of their Brazil 9000 expedition. Paddling the Amazon from Santarém to Belém in a canoe. The challenge will take one month to travel a distance of 1000kms. This is part of their larger project to cross Brazil from north to south using only human-power.
In news from the field, after 132 days in the water, Sean Conway is finally nearing the end of his incredible journey to be the first person to swim the length of the UK. The Swim Britain team are expected to arrive in John O’Groat’s on the 11th of November. Yves Rossy has flown around Mount Fuji in a jet pack. The Swiss adventurer circled the mountain nine times in one week. Rossy remains the only man in the history of aviation to fly with a jet-propelled wing.
In events on the horizon, The RGS-IBG expedition and fieldwork planning event kicks off on the 15th of November. The annual affair will feature lectures, workshops and exhibits, ranging from How to raise the funds, to health and safety in the field. It will also have leading scientists and explorers on hand to offer advice to the budding explorer. The Kendal Mountain film festival is also on next weekend. It’s impressive line up includes the films; the Crash Reel, Valhalla, and The Last Great Climb for starters. Sidetracked is a media partner for this years festival, the biggest and most diverse event of its type in the world. Look out for news updates during the weekend and if you’re attending then be sure to come and say hi.
Written by Orla O’Muiri. Photo by Aaron Chervenak