Archive for September, 2008

Last night I was surfing through the television channels when what did I come across – Jack Osbourne and Elijah Wood doing a tandem swing at Victoria Falls, completing a 3-day white water rafting trip on the Zambezi and becoming the only people to have ever hauled themselves across the actual Falls themselves on ropes – from one side to the other. Elijah Wood was bowled out by the beauty of the Falls from that angle and was in no rush to get to the other side!

This clearly meant that some research was in order – so here I am, crack of dawn, checking out Ozzy Osbourne’s famous son.

First thing that comes to mind is we’ve chosen a lot of our previous articles rather well! Perhaps an explanation is needed there! A lot of what we have written about … Jack Osbourne has tried. A lot of particular places we have mentioned … Jack Osbourne has been there.

He has climbed El Capitan, and tried a 100′ free dive, he has a skydiving license and kick-boxes, he leaps off ocean ledges, surfs in Hawaii, has run with the bulls in Pamplona, had Muay Thai training in Thailand, run the 150-mile ultra-marathon, Marathon des Sables, through the Sahara Desert, done a gruelling jungle expedition in Central America with Trekforce, has tried the ancient and hard-core combat sport of Kushti Wrestling in India, and in Episode 3 he set off around the world testing his adrenaline-fuelled resolve, but this time taking five young recruits with him. The episode kicked off in the mountains of New Zealand, where Jack pushed his fledgling recruits ‘fear of heights’ to terrifying new levels.

And these are only a few of the things he has done…

Not bad for a previously overweight lad with an addiction problem. He cleans up good doesn’t he…

At the end of filming Adrenaline Junkie 3 Jack was asked why should people watch this show? He replied, “The audience will be able to relate to the show and the people in it, plus the challenges are amazing. I really do hope people enjoy the series and that they gain something positive from it.”

The fourth series of Adrenaline Junkie shows Jack taking on a leadership role as he leads a group of celebrities through similar challenges to the ones he faced on the first two series of the programme.

Jack Osbourne and his celebrity companions take on some of the toughest adrenaline thrills challenges the world can offer. In the Alps he is joined by Happy Mondays icon Bez, Ex-EastEnder Charlie Brooks and Shameless’s Jody Latham. They take on one of the world’s biggest bungee jumps down the front of the dam which featured in Goldeneye, build their very own ice hotel in the mountains, and undertake a terrifying mid-air jump from one cable car to another.

Did you see my article in July about sandboarding? It looks so cool. All you need is a desert or a decent sand dune…

No experience, of course, is needed if you are going to use the specially polished board to slide head first down the dune, but if you are going to surf it would be a help if you had some prior snowboarding experience. It’s not necessary – but it will mean you will get the most out of your day.

The most frequently visited sandboarding destinations in the world tend to be located in or around deserts and beaches, but there are plenty of other locations that are landlocked within forested areas like Monte Kaolino in Hirschau, Germany where the sandboarding world championships are held every year in July.

There are thousands of places around the world that can be useful to sandboarders. Finding the best spots can be tricky, but experienced dune riders know that it’s all about finding long, steep drops in beautiful surroundings.

In Namibia of course they have enough sand to satisfy even the most fastidious of tastes. The Namib desert, the oldest desert in the world, has some of the largest sand dunes on this planet. There is no better way to experience these wonders, in an environmentally friendly way, than to zoom down them head first on a traditional sandboard or on snowboards especially adapted for speeding down the sandy dunes. The stiff peaks of shifting sand outside Swakopmund are guaranteed to challenge even the most skilled riders. Another recommended place are the cinnamon-red Skeleton Coast Sand Dunes at Sossusvlei near Rehoboth, Namibia where the dunes can be over 1000ft tall.

Further south, near Cape Town, are the Fish Hoek Dunes. These are moderate in size, but good enough. Mount Mayhem is near Johannesburg and it has steep drops over 500ft high with many natural jumping platforms for riders who want to attempt big air tricks.

There are, obviously, hundreds of places to sandboard in the many other deserts across Africa. Just think for a moment of the vastness of the Sahara and the dunes of the Kalahari.

It is now a popular sport in southern and western Australia too. Mount Monster in Adelaide, South Australia attracts massive crowds searching for good dunes. The dunes here can reach heights of over 700ft. Places like “The Bowl,” in Bunbary, Western Australia is popular. The West Coast is favoured for its steep slopes and long runs – also its relative isolation allows sandboarders peace to perfect their art. The Henty Dunes in Tasmania offer the biggest sandhills on the island.

South America has a wide array of spectacular destinations with extreme drop-offs and huge sand fields. Cerro Blanco for instance, in southern Peru, is treacherously steep and only the most experienced riders dare attempt a run down the hill where speeds of up to 50mph can be reached. Further south, near Copiapo, Chile, is Cerro Iman, where an annual sandboarding competition is held. It is another highly recommended area and is ideal for the competition because of the numerous available routes down the hill and the fantastic natural jumps, all of which are extremely fast.

The Middle East, too, has some fantastic sandboarding destinations. The Great Sea of Sand near Siwa, Egypt is home to some of the best sandboarding in the world. With dunes rising as high as 500ft and sloping at angles of 70 degrees or more, it is no amateur course. However, it is an isolated area that requires transport and guides to find the best dunes. This ensures it remains exclusive to the wealthiest or most passionate sandboarders around. A more accessible alternative can be found in Dubai where the Hugo International Sandboarding Championships are held each year in January. Dubai is home to “Big Red,” one of the largest and steepest sand dunes in the Middle East.

It is extroadinary then that the World Championships are held in Germany isn’t it?! However, Monte Kaolino is a huge sand hill, a 120m high mound made from 32,000,000 tonnes of quartz sand. The hill has a slope of about 45 degrees, and the length of descent is about 200 meters. It is located in Bavaria. You can go sandboarding there all summer long, and afterwards take a dive in the swimming pool located at the foot of the hill.

From deserts to dunes…

Are you a fan of abseiling or do you prefer rock climbing? Are you going on holiday any time soon? Fed up with climbing with the masses? Planning a climbing trip in the southern hemisphere perhaps?

You can’t really do an article on just abseiling because nine times out of ten there is good rock climbing in the same region (stands to reason doesn’t it), so here goes for a few interesting places in the southern hemisphere to do both…

South Africa

You are spoilt for choice in South Africa. There are a huge amount of majestic mountain regions ideal for climbing adventures. How do they grade the climbs in South Africa? They use a simple numerical system:

• 7-12: Beginners climbs that anybody in decent shape shold be able to get up. Expect easy-angled rock with big, friendly handholds.
• 12 – 16: Smaller handholds and/or steeper rock, but still suitable for beginner to intermediate climbers.
• 16 – 18: Intermediate routes requiring more fitness and experience.
• 18 upwards: Intermediate to advanced. Strong arms and good technique a must…

The best climbing areas in South Africa are Rocklands for bouldering; Oudtshoorn, Montagu and Milner for sport routes and Table Mountain and Cederberg for trad routes. Of course there are loads of others and I have covered just a handful here…

The Restaurant (at the End of the Universe) can be found in the Waterval Boven cliffs in the Mpumalanga Highlands Drakensberg Mountain region – about 3 hours from Johannesburg and Pretoria. This region is one of the top rock climbing destination in South Africa and is rated highly by many of the best climbers in the world. Most of the good climbing can be done around the difficulty rating of 17-27, with options to climb up to grade 33! Some pretty serious climbing then…

Photo: Roc ‘n Rope Adventures)

The Oribi Gorge in KwaZulu Natal was created over millions of years as the Umzimkulwana river carved its way over flat rock, finding faults in the stone and eroding enormously deep and narrow gorges. At the base of the cliffs there are rocks that are 1000 million years old while the cliffs themselves are formed from sandstone deposited about 365 million years ago. Here you can abseil down a 110m mountain or climb one of the many challenging routes on offer. Another interesting abseil is alongside the Howick Falls also in the KwaZulu-Natal Midlands.

view from near Baboon’s Castle

Blouberg Massif is a stone’s throw from both Botswana and Zimbabwe. It is a 1,200ft quartzite mesa which sits in the sun for most of the day and is considered South Africa’s most difficult Big Wall. There are 11 classic routes here, starting at a grade of 19. And there are some terrific names too. A few examples are: Wall of White Light (a big scary wall), Psycho Reptile, White Light, Future Shock, Crack of Adventure, Road to Nowhere, Hey Jude, Bushpig, Tequila Sunrise, Moonshadow, Teddy Bear’s Picnic and Wow Fuck to name but a few…

Milner Amphitheatre in the Western Cape is a double tiered orange rock face in the Hex River Mountains. It sits beside beside a 2,000ft waterfall. This is an area with excellent multi-pitch sport and pitch climbing which makes it some of the best climbing in South Africa. There is sensitive access to this area so it is best to get in touch with a local club of the MCSA to check out the rules and regs.

And of course there is Table Mountain. How can you talk about climbing in South Africa without bringing the famous and iconic Table Mountain into the discussion. Rock climbing on Table Mountain is a very popular pastime. There are well-documented climbing routes of varying degrees of difficulty up the many faces of the mountain. As the mountain is part of the Cape Floral Region which is a World Heritage Site, no bolting can be done here and only traditional climbing is allowed. Commercial groups also offer abseiling from the upper cable station. The cable car also offers a quick descent!

The Giant’s Castle Massif in the Natal Drakensberg offers some pretty technical ice climbing as a variation to rock climbing. These are southern Africa’s highest and most spectacular mountain range. It also holds the regions only consistently forming ice and snow routes. Most documented routes are either pure water-ice or pure névé snow, but there are a few routes which require mixed climbing. Giant’s Castle itself is located on the south side of the massif. Ice forms from late May right through to late August. The best time is usually mid to late July. Several major climbs have been done on this peak and numerous others still await first ascents. Most of the unclimbed falls are steep, multi-pitch routes that will require serious skill and determination to conquer.

And before we leave South Africa I just had to include this scary photograph that I have just come across – it gives a good idea of some of the challenging climbs the region has to offer!

And finally for the southern African region, as a keen abseiler you may well have heard of Maletsunyane Waterfall in Lesotho. It is a precipitous 204m drop down the side of the falls into the gorge, although Wikipedia has its height at 192m. As you can imagine, the view from the top is magnificent. It has the Guinness World Record for the highest commercially run abseil in the world and attracts many an international daredevil. It is abseiling at its best and most exciting.

Australia

The Grampians in Melbourne is internationally renowned for its rock climbing and abseiling experiences and has become a popular destination for adventure seekers. It is home to hundreds of exciting climbs, especially on the rugged cliff faces of Mount Stapylton, at the park’s northern end. Local adventure companies offer a variety of climbing and abseiling courses including introductory lessons for the novice and programs covering advanced skills for the experienced.

Climbers from across Australia and around the world test their skills on the sheer rock faces of Mt Arapiles, a stunning peak just west of Horsham that boasts some of the most dramatic and demanding rock formations in Australia. Mt. Arapiles has some equally amusing names: Bard Buttress, ‘Pilot Error’, High Dive, Deliciously Deranged, Life in the Fast Lane, Use No Chooks, Anxiety Direct, Slinkin’ Leopard…

The Organ Pipes at Mt. Arapiles

A combination of reliable weather and an extraordinary array of cliffs, pinnacles and bluffs have made Mt Arapiles the most popular climbing and abseiling destination in Australia. The mountain boasts more than 2,000 designated climbs, ranging from easy ascents for beginners to level 30 climbs, the most extreme ascents. With so many climbs it is hard to give a short list of the absolute best. However some routes do stand out above the rest, Sunny Gully, Bullet Buttress, Tiptoe Ridge, Introductory Route, Exodus, Diapason, Marshmallow Sea, Conifer Crack and Eskimo Nell to name ten.

And as with the South African section above I came across some stunning photographs and include one here just as a teaser:

New Zealand

Golden Bay is considered the best limestone climbing in the Pacific, near Abel Tasman National Park. Highlights include rock climbing at Payne’s Ford. It is one of the best concentrations of single pitch sport climbing in NZ (there are also a few natural routes). It has the added bonus of an incredibly beautiful landscape.

Like many other crags in New Zealand, Paynes Ford has been well and truly discovered. The crag offers steep, solid limestone, and includes some of the hardest climbs in the country. Simon Middlemass and The Climber magazine editor Mark Watson have brought out a laid back but definitive guide book for the region. Almost it’s opening passage is “For those of you who haven’t been here before we had better warn you now that this is a very dangerous place; a place where time stands still and hippies abound, nude swimming is still accepted and people don’t take life to seriously.” Seems as good a place as any to go climbing, does it not?!

The ‘laid back’ pun on the following photograph was not intentional I promise!

Since writing this please note that there have been some changes at Paynes Ford:

• All climbs at the North End have been removed. This is now CLOSED
• Gobble Gobble Yum Yum at the Rhinoceros wall has been removed.

So who exactly is Erik Weihenmayer?

Certainly an extreme sportsman. Also an extremely competent sportsman with many extreme accomplishments under his belt. Also he is a blind sportsman.

He is the only blind person to have climbed the “Seven Summits,” the tallest peak on every continent. He has scaled the 3000 foot rock face of El Capitan, skied down the tallest peak in Europe, and guided Tibetan blind teenagers to 21,500 feet on the north side of Mt. Everest. He has scaled Polar Circus, a 3000-foot ice waterfall in The Canadian Rockies; and conquered a difficult and rarely climbed rock face on 17,000-foot Mt. Kenya. Erik is also a prolific speaker and author of two books.

He was born with a disease called retinoschisis and became totally blind by the age of 13.

Despite losing his vision he has become an accomplished mountain climber, paraglider, and skier, who has never let his blindness interfere with his passion for an exhilarating and fulfilling life. Erik’s feats have earned him an ESPY award, recognition by Time Magazine for one of the greatest sporting achievements of 2001, induction into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, an ARETE Award for the superlative athletic performance of the year, the Helen Keller Lifetime Achievement award, Nike’s Casey Martin Award, and the Freedom Foundation’s Free Spirit Award. He has also carried the Olympic Torch for both the Summer and Winter Games.

In July 2008 the Real Deal Inclusive Sports Adventure brought the world’s first integrated adventure race to the banks of the Colorado river – integrated meaning 10 teams of 5 athletes per team, 3able-bodied and 2 disabled working together whilst mountain biking, rafting, climbing, swimming and rappelling.

In September, 2003, Erik joined 320 athletes from 17 countries to compete in the Primal Quest, the richest and toughest multi-sport adventure race in the world: 457 miles through the Sierra Nevada’s, nine days, sixty thousand feet of elevation gain, and no time-outs. Averaging only two hours of sleep a night, Erik and his team surged past the finish line on Lake Tahoe, becoming one of the 42 teams to cross the finish line out of the 80 teams that began.

“There’s a debate going on about how to get disabled people into the outdoors. Do you make the outdoors more accessible to them by paving over trails, or do you adapt yourself to the environment?” Weihenmayer said. “This race sort of shows that you can adapt yourself to the environment. I can’t think of a better way to do it.”

The idea was born from Weihenmayer’s experiences during the 2003 Primal Quest race in the Sierra Nevadas. Whilst people were questioning why Weihenmayer was in the event, his team went on to successfully complete the race.

“The rumor was that we wouldn’t make it past the first day, and we beat 40 able-bodied teams,” he said. “So that was in the back of my mind, that traditionally there is this idea that disabled people can’t take part in an adventure race because it’s too rugged, it’s too risky, it’s too difficult………”

Erik’s speaking career has taken him around the world, from Hong Kong to Switzerland, from Thailand to the 2005 APEC Summit in Chile. He speaks to audiences on harnessing the power of adversity, the importance of a “rope team,” and the daily struggle to pursue your dreams. Clearly, Erik’s accomplishments show that one does not have to have perfect eyesight to have extraordinary vision.

I am sure you will enjoy listening to this inspirational video of an interview between Andy Andrews and Erik Weihenmayer. Thank you to AndyAndrewsdotcom for sharing it with us.

I found another mountain that I should have included in my ‘Mountains of the World’ article. Have you heard of the CARSTENSZ PYRAMID? It certainly sounds as though it fits in the extreme mountain bracket…

“Anyone who has once seen Carstensz Pyramid longs for it like it was a beautiful woman. It seduces you while remaining mysterious. Once in a while it shows you all of its beauty, only to be covered in the veil of mist a minute later. It is provocative but unattainable. It makes you tormented and restless, as it does us…“

Petr Jahoda – climber, Papua & Carstensz guide

This is she. The Carstensz Pyramid, 4884m. Otherwise known as Puncak Jaya, it is in the western central highlands of Papua, Indonesia. It is the highest mountain in Indonesia and the highest mountain in New Guinea. It is the highest on the Australia-New Guinea continent and the highest in Oceania. It is also the highest point between the Himalayas and the Andes and the highest island peak in the world.

That is quite a few ‘highest’s’.

Carstensz was first spotted in 1623 by the Dutch navigator Jan Carstensz. Way back then, Jan Carstensz was ridiculed for claiming to have seen a snow-capped mountain only four degrees south of the equator. His sighting wasn’t confirmed for several centuries, and it was only climbed in 1962, when a four man team led by Heinrich Harrer (best known for the first ascent of the Eiger’s North Face and for spending seven years in Tibet) bagged most of the peaks in the area.

Today, Carstensz has still only been summitted by a couple of hundred people.

“Some climbers lucky on Carstensz and some unlucky,” says ‘Two Fone’ Franky, formerly the leading guide on the peak, with 38 summits to his name.

One of the challenges to Carstensz is actually getting there.

Access to the peak requires a government permit. The mountain was closed to tourists and climbers between 1995 and 2005. As of 2006, access is possible through various adventure tourism agencies.

There are three main routes. The traditional way is hiking in through a jungle populated with leeches that stick like velcro and ex-cannibals wearing only penis gourds. It is a serious hike – about 100kms from the nearest town with airport, Timika, to the base camp and it takes about 4-5 days. The simplest way is to drive within spitting distance of Carstensz via the adjacent Grasberg gold and copper mine. However, the American owners of this mine are extremely sensitive to the political climate surrounding them that permission is not often granted. Remember this region is still full of strife – terrorist bombings, local uprisings and tribal wars to name just a few! The third route, and probably the most appealing to all but the most extreme of you adventurers out there, is to fly in to base camp in a helicopter. Although this certainly sounds the easiest this is not necessarily the case – it has been known for the pilot to ‘neglect’ to appear.

Puncak Jaya is one of the more demanding climbs in one version of the Seven Summits Peak bagging list. It is held to have the highest technical rating, though not the greatest physical demands of that list’s ascents. Base camp is located at 4,000m next to a large mirror lake. It is a few kilometres from Carstenz itself. It takes about an hour to reach the base of the peak where the dark silhouette of the vast rock wall leans over you. There are twelve pitches of easy scrambling leading to the ridge along which you then traverse for a kilometre to the summit itself.

There are a few surprises on the ridge – one is a gaping abyss. Twenty metres wide. 30 metres down a wafer-thin gangway spans the divide, but on either side of this the mountain falls away for hundreds of metres, all the way back to its base! Several ropes hang across the gap by which you are supposed to haul yourself over in what is called a Tyrolean traverse. Beyond this yawning adrenaline-pumping gap are two more notches that are both awkward and highly exposed. The ridge takes about an hour to traverse.

Although this mountain is really nothing more than a short rock scramble (!) it will test your patience, your climbing skills and your courage.

The summit is marked with a small rock dais complete with a plaque and a log book. The view is a spectacular panorama of peaks, glaciers, forests and lakes.

The price of climbing this peak will set you back about $15,000. However, for obsessive collectors that’s not an option – it is one of the seven prized continental summits, although, to some, this is debatable – there are 2 versions of the Seven Summits… I will clarify this at a later stage…

Buenos Airies is a wonderful and amazing city, full of contrast, a juxtaposition of rich and poor, beautiful and hideous, large and small and somehow it all seems to work, but it doesn’t work. The traffic is a case in point and I want to talk a little about the extreme conditions one finds here in downtown BA.

I am literally stuck in the city, and this is when I do a Ronnie Corbett and go off on a red herring and put my dagger into the useless bums at British Airways – or the bums who created their website – I made the decision to leave BA next week and return to Europe, where, as you may know, I live in France – oh la belle France! So I go on line to purchase a ticket from the dumb asses at British Airways – cool there’s a flight on Tuesday, they take me through the 5 steps of ticket reservation and then I get to the payment section. Out comes the trusty (we hope) credit card, numbers completed, expiry date and three digit code all done – cool, only thing remaining is my address.

Now I have a credit card with the address at my home in France – well those arrogant sons of dog shit at British Airways will not accept that anyone with a credit card might live outside of the UK and might want to buy a ticket. I literally am unable to purchase a ticket because my credit card’s address is outside of the UK.

Wake up you dumb asses – is the chief executive awake, I think his name is Bob Ayling, well Mr Ayling I can tell you and your long suffering share holders that with a moronic, xenophobic policy like this your company certainly will be AILING!

Huh – enough of my rant – I’m not too bothered, I’m sure Air France will do a better job (still there Mr Ayling?) – back to Buenos Airies and the traffic. Well if you don’t know your way around town on the bus system the easiest thing to do is hail a taxi – no problem there – they are ubique. That’s when the fun starts – two recent examples – I was going to a movie last night (which they assured me was going to be played in English, I asked them twice – and it was in Italian – OMG – poor Italians having their language muddled with English!), well neither the fuel gauge or oil pressure gauge were registering anything – no problem I thought, but my charming taxi driver would insist on talking to me – not by looking in the mirror, but by turning round in his seat and looking at me as we wove our way through the dense Buenos Airies traffic. I sat nervously in the back saying nothing as he explained where this embassy was and whose that embassy was and how he’d had some bloke from British Airways in his cab last week who had been raving about their new web site………..no I’m only joking Bob – but please do get your act together.

The other occasion I wanted to recount was on Avenue Liberatador – well I think the word means something like liberation – let me tell you the taxis take it literally. It is a kind of big avenue, even for BA standards, I think there are 12 lanes – and so we set off, this taxi’s speedo was at least working and it steadily climbed to the 80s (kph), whilst this was going on we had moved from the inside lane to the outside lane all the while with the horn blaring and some waving of fists. Then I saw a sort of round about ahead, with a large statue of, I presume, a general on his horse, no doubt Guillmes or Belgrano – this is just what my cabbie had been waiting for – the excuse to drop a gear and put the foot to the floor – the needle carried on climbing, up to 100 – the lanes narrowed (to allow for the statue) and so the traffic was squeezed, not a jot of difference, the policy is to keep going, flat out! I think we peaked out at 110kph!

By this stage we were back on the inside lane and my driver had forgotten (I presume, although that may not be the case) that we had to turn left, with traffic lights ahead and turning from amber to red we pulled a ninety degree turn, warning lights falshing on the instrument panel, squeeling tyres, further reason to blast the horn and hey presto we arrived, the driver with a huge grin on his face – fun!

It is an experience but not for those of a nervous disposition, certainly extreme driving and in case you thought I was pulling a fast one one about the avenue sizes I found this YouTube video which talks of an even wider avenue – although the one they talk about on the vid has traffic going both ways – Liberatador is one way – thank goodness!!

Thanks iraethen for the video.