Patagonia to Close All Stores in the U.S. for Election Day

Last week I posted the news that REI would once again close all of its stores – and website – for Black Friday here in the U.S. Now, we have word that another major gear manufacturer is following suit for another very important day in America. Last week, Patagonia announced that it would close all of its retail outlets, its cooperate headquarters, and important distribution centers to on November 8, which is election day in the U.S.

The move comes as part of Patagonia's Vote Our Planet initiative, which encourages us to support candidates that take a tough stand on environmental issues, something that should be of major concern for all outdoor enthusiasts. The idea is to rally around men and women who are running for office that are looking to preserve the planet for future generations and protect wildlife and wild spaces.

“During a time of catastrophic environmental crisis, when America needs strong leadership to confront the fundamental threat of climate change, voter turnout threatens to reach historic lows as people are turned off by the ugliness of politics,” said Patagonia CEO Rose Marcario. “As a business, we have a unique ability to take a stand and choose to prioritize the health of the planet over profit, and I think it’s important we take that opportunity when it truly matters. We want to do everything possible to empower citizens to make their voices heard and elect candidates up and down the ballot who will protect our planet.”

Obviously the presidential election to be held next week is an important one for many reasons. I don't often use this blog as a place to make a political statement or support any one candidate over another. But I will say that the future of the country, and perhaps the world, rests in the hands of who will be elected to the White House on November 8. While I have my own opinions on who should or should not be in charge, what is most important to me is that everyone get out to vote. Patagonia is making that a little easier, at least for its own employees and customers. 

If you care about the environment, do a little research on the candidates in your area and get out and vote for the ones that are looking at ways to make things better moving forward. We are at a critical point when it comes to climate change and other environmental factors, and now is the time to have our voices heard. Vote on November 8 to at least play a role in that process. 

Video: Expedition to the Valley of the Dinosaurs

The Badlands of North Dakota are the site for this video, which takes us on a dinosaur hunting expedition with Tyler Lyson, a man who seems to have a knack for finding fossils hidden in the Earth. In this short documentary, Tyler is attempting to recover a rare, intact skull from a triceratops with the help of a group of amateur fossil hunters that he has invited along for the ride. While working on that discovery, he comes across another one that is equally astounding. Enjoy.

Valley of the Last Dinosaurs from MEL Films on Vimeo.

Video: Italy From Above

Take a scenic journey across Italy with this video, which gives us a fantastic view of the Italian countryside as shot from a drone. The video is the latest in the GoPro Awards, in which the camera maker gives cash prizes to the best short films created using their gear. In this case, those cameras managing to capture some enchanting shots of one of the most beautiful countries on Earth.

Himalaya Spring 2016: 200 Climbers Head For Everest Summit

While we've seen a steady string of summits on Everest over the past week, today looks like it will be the busies day of the season by far. According to reports, more than 200 climbers are now on the move with the intention of topping out today. That means we can expect long lines and traffic jams at key points of the mountain, but with the weather reported very good, it should be an incredibly successful day on the world's highest peak. 

The Himalayan Times reports in the link above that more than 150 climbers have already been successful in their bids to top out on Everest, with a number of others still pushing to the summit. Their number indicate that 41 foreign climbers and 58 Nepali guides had gone up yesterday, with another 87 foreigners and 110 Nepalis setting their sites on the summit today. After two years of no summits on the mountain, it is safe to say that Everest is back open for business.

No matter how many people summit today, it won't bring an end to the steady stream of climbers that are on the move. More teams have now moving up to Camp 3 and Camp 4 as they get ready to make their final summit push over the next couple of days. 

Meanwhile, on the North Side of the mountain the teams are moving up to take advantage of the current weather window as well. They are still waiting for the ropes to be fixed to the summit, which hopefully will be done today, allowing teams to go to the top at long last.

Sad news from Lhotse as well today, where it was revealed that a Sherpa guide has fallen to his death. Reportedly he was part of the team that was working to fix ropes to the summit on that mountain, and slipped and fell above Camp 2. The guide was helping to take a seven-member commercial squad to the summit at the time. Our condolences to the Sherpa's friends and family. 

Over on Dhaulagiri, Chris Jensen Burke checked in with the news that her expedition to that mountain is now over. After successfully summiting Annapurna a few weeks back, the Aussie climber had hoped to pull off a Himalayan double-header this season, but alas it wasn't meant to be. After making a summit bid earlier in the week, climbers there were turned back by high winds and deep snow near the top. She'll now head home, even as other teams move into place for possible summits over the next few days. 

Elsewhere in the Himalaya other teams are on the move too. With good weather conditions across the region, it now looks like the current summit window is one that numerous teams will take advantage of. The monsoon is looming near the end of May, but for now, things are calm and safe. Hopefully they'll stay that way as all of the teams get up and down their respective mountains successfully. 

Antarctica 2016: New Route to the South Pole and Longest Expedition by Snowmobile

As the week draws to a close, and I begin thinking about shutting the Adventure Blog down for the holidays, I wanted to take one more opportunity to update readers on the progress of the teams currently making their way across Antarctica towards the South Pole, and other destinations on the frozen continent. It is shaping up to be a very interesting season at the bottom of the world, where in addition to the usual array of South Pole skiers, we continue to have some unique expeditions charting new ground.

One such expedition is unfolding as we speak, as a team of three polar explorers – Keith Tuffley, Rob Smith, and Eric Phillips – are working to open a new route to the South Pole via the Reedy Glacier. This remote, and largely unexplored section of Antarctica stretches for 160 km (100 miles), descending off the Polar Plateau and onto the Ross Ice Shelf. This area has mostly only been surveyed from the ski, with few humans actually putting their boots onto the ice, but it the route that these three men have chosen to make their way to 90ºS.

Keith, Rob, and Eric set out for Antarctica back on December 5, and began skiing on December 7. They spent the first two weeks of the trip traversing the glacier with some of the most stunning views on the continent. The sweeping ice and snow from Reedy feeds into the Ross Ice Shelf of course, but the team has also been traveling in the shadow of the Transantarctic Mountain Range as well, which has provided lots of beautiful scenery for them to enjoy. That isn't always common in the Antarctic, where most skiers see an endless plane of snow and ice with little change in scenery to break things up.

A few days ago, the trio wrapped up their crossing of the Reedy Glacier and have now moved onto the Polar Plateau. Their next goal is to reach the South Pole, but as of now they are focused in on passing the 87th degree. Three more to go until they're done, and a new route to the South Pole has been opened. From the sound of the team's dispatches, it has been a challenging one, with plenty of high winds, low visibility, crevasse fields, and sastrugi. In other words, business as usual in the Antarctic.

Meanwhile, ExWeb has the scoop on another Antarctic expedition that is about to get underway. A team of four adventurers that include Patrick Degerman, Pekka Ojanpää, Mika Listala, and Jón ólafur Magnusson are about to embark on a 4280 km (2659 mile) journey to the South Pole on four snowmobiles. The men will depart from Novo Station and follow a straight line along a road of sorts that has been taken by other vehicles in the past. They plan to be self supported out on the ice, and will not have a support vehicle with them at all. Instead, they'll drive independently to the Pole and then return to Novo to wrap up the journey.

Along the way they'll make nine supply drops with food and fuel, as well as one depot to refuel the snowmobiles as well. Each man is bringing about 80kg (176 pounds) of personal gear as well, including down jackets, an intense layering system, tents, sleeping bags, and so on. Their journey can be followed at LynxAdventure.com.

As for the other teams currently out on the ice, here are a few quick updates. The British Military team as topped out on the Polar Plateau and are nearing the Pole, but are finding it tough going. The combination of fatigue, altitude, and heavy sleds has them working very hard, even as they near the end of the expedition. They are still a number of days from the finish line, but it is now in sight and they seem happy for it.

Mike Horn is off and running, having covered 66 km (41 miles) yesterday using his kite to ski along at a brisk pace. It isn't an easy journey so far however, as their are still obstacles to overcome. At one point he lost a ski while traveling at a rapid pace, and had to find a way to come to a stop, avoid getting hit by is sled, and return to find the missing ski. Fortunately it all worked out, but it has been a wild start to his Antarctic traverse via the Pole.

Emma Kelty has crossed the 87th degree and now has three more togo before she reaches 90ºS. She's dealing with a massive sastrugi field at the moment, which is common at this portion of the journey. Once she reaches 88ºS things should start to smooth out and get better, but that will seem like a long way off at this point.

Finally, Italian kite-skier Michele Pontrandolfo has once again had to abort his expedition to the South Pole. In a message posted on his Facebook page that said he faced technical issues that would prevent him from having the time he needed to complete the journey and give search and rescue teams a safe window to retrieve him should the need arise. He is no doubt awaiting extraction now and planning on departing the frozen continent as soon as possible.

That's all for now. More updates as we get important news.

Winter Climbs 2017: Is It Over on Everest?

Yesterday, I posted an update on the progress of Alex Txikon and his team, who have been attempting a rare summit of Everest during the winter months, and without supplemental oxygen no less. When last we checked in, the team's summit bid had stalled out due to high winds, and they were forced to retreat to Camp 3 to seek shelter. Now, comes word that they are descending back to Base Camp, and that the expedition may be over.

As reported in that previous story, Alex, along with Nurbu and Chhepal Sherpa had reached C4 at 7950 meters (26,082 ft). But when they got there, the discovered that the winds were so strong that they couldn't even pitch their tents, so they elected to turn around and head back down to C3 to rest. At the time, the plan had been to wait for better weather to make the final push to the top. The winds were expected to remain strong through today, but good weather was in the forecast for later in the week. But now, the forecast may have shifted and the team seems to be heading back to BC.

According to ExWeb, Alex and his companions started back down the mountain this morning with the intent of going all the way back to Base Camp. Once there, they'll weigh their options and decide what to do next. There is a good chance however that they will elect to call off any future summit bids, as when they set off on this attempt the Spanish climber indicated that this would be their final push. If that's the case, it may be just a matter of a few days before they pick up their gear and start the trek home. On the other hand, they may decide that they have enough stamina, determination, and supplies to give it another go, provided the forecast looks promising.

For now, we'll have to wait to see how things proceed. We should know more in another day or two. It has been a long winter in the Himalaya for Txikon and his team, but they have also been climbing very strong and things have looked promising. Perhaps they're not quite done yet.

Adventure Racing World Championships Come to the U.S. for the First Time

The Adventure Racing World Series has announced the dates and location for the 2017 World Championships revealing that the event will be held in the U.S. for the very first time.

The Cameco Cowboy Tough Expedition Race will serve as the championship event, which will take place from August 13-20, 2017 in the wilds of Wyoming. As usual with this race it will pit coed teams of four against one another over a course that will be hundreds of miles in length that they'll cover on foot, mountain bike, and kayak. As always, navigation will play just as important of a role as speed and endurance.

This will be the earliest in the year that the AR World Championship will have taken place, with the best teams from across the globe descending on Wyoming to take part in the race. Expect dozens of teams from places like Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, France, Switzerland, Canada, and of course the U.S. to be on hand to battle it out for the win.

For those of us who are fans of adventure racing here in the U.S. this is great news. Previous AR World Championships have been held in Australia, Brazil, Ecuador, and other great locations, but it will be good to have the race taking part stateside. I know that a lot of my AR friends will be looking forward to this as well.

Check out the announcement video below for an idea of what to expect from Cowboy Tough and start looking ahead to August of 2017 with the official race website.