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ExplorersWeb has been
awarded best of adventure by National Geographic and best of the web by
Forbes magazine. What is then the Best of ExplorersWeb?
We have covered hundreds of expeditions in 2004. It's difficult to choose
the best, as they all contributed in their own way, sharing their story -
their very soul in fact - with us and the world.
Theirs have been stories of dreams, frustration, hope, disaster and -
sometimes - victory in the eye of the impossible. At times it has been a
pain in the butt (why do you all have to go on summit pushes over the
weekend?!) but most often a sheer joy to follow the brave explorers of our
time.
And yet, there are those who continue to linger in our minds long after
their final debrief. We have chosen 8 expeditions who have contributed in
an extraordinary way to the Spirit of Adventure in the year of 2004.
By their performance, these expeditions have proved themselves outstanding
in all or most of the following:
- Courage
- Determination
- Persistence
- Self reliance
- Ingenuity
- Pioneering
- Idealism
- Comradeship
- Compassion
- Respect towards competition
- Honesty
Out of the hundreds of expeditions, the countdown of the most exceptional
begins tomorrow, but starts already today with a special mention to an
additional 4:
Special mention: Edurne Pasaban and Juanito
Oiarzabal
Juanito Oiarzabal and Edurne Pasaban are back home, recovering from the
severe frostbite they suffered during their summit bid on the Abruzzi Spur
route on K2. Edurne became the only woman alive to climb the savage
mountain and Juanito summited his 21st 8000+ top.
After their tough climb, the guys offered very frank and down to earth
debriefs: “I am great, really. I'll only lose two toes - and those two are
not so important; the second toe on each foot," Edurne told us. "Oh, come
on, Edurne! We crossed every limit and every rule an alpinist is supposed
to maintain! True that we are experienced, but we took more risks than is
acceptable," said Juan Oiarzabal. Edurne and Juanito stays in our memory
for their courage and honesty.
Special mention: Henk De Velde
September 3 disaster struck the Campina: "Ice floes clashed against each
other constantly with a power enough to crack my ship. Around 4 hours
before darkness fell, the ice berg that we had been anchored to broke. We
maneuvered Campina to a larger ice berg, between the floating ice. Then
the flow twisted and a heavy iceberg pressed the boat against the wall of
ice. We were crooked 10 degrees. The iceberg pressed the boat onto
underwater ice. I heard an enormous cracking. We tied her up with long
lines to the ice. We (Henk had the company of ice lots Boris, 72 years)
had to climb around the ice blocks to fix lines in the right directions. I
had to make sure that I would always be able to return to the boat and not
get stranded on an ice island. My ship was stuck in the ice wall of the
Laptev sea."
The Northwest passage proved impossible, but Henk De Velde stays in our
memory for his battle to the bitter end.
Special mention: Pavel Rezvoy
At 65 years old, Pavel Rezvoy, a geologist from Ukraine, is the oldest
rower in the history of ocean rowing. When he, after 62 days, crossed the
finish line in Barbados, he arrived as number two of the solo class in
ORSARR 2004, only 2,5 days after the 23 years old winner. But then grandpa
refused to go home: -"There is nothing to do in Ukraine for senior
citizens", he said; left Barbados and rowed to Cuba.
Pavel stays in our memory for his power of will and refusal to retire.
Special mention: Nawang Sherpa
On May 16 2004, the Friendship Beyond Borders expedition accomplished its
goal when Nawang Sherpa reached the summit of Mt. Everest. Nawang is the
first trans-tibial amputee to ever climb an 8000 meter peak. A motorcycle
wreck in summer 2000 left Nawang Sherpa, an aspiring high-altitude guide
in Nepal, an amputee. He got a new "climbing leg" in 2002 thanks to the
High Exposure foundation, a nonprofit launched by Ed Hommer, who lost his
own legs on Denali and hoped to scale Everest one day together with Nawang.
Ed's own Everest dream however ended in tragedy a few months later when a
rock struck and killed him on Mount Rainier Sep 23, 2003. This year Tom
McMillan, a California climber, stepped in to make Nawang's dream to scale
Mount Everest a reality.
Nawang stays in our memory for his determination and ground-breaking
performance.
Images top to bottom:
1. Pavel Rezvoy with friends after his historic ocean row.
2. Henk de Velde's Campina moored to an ice chunk
3. Juanito led back to K2 BC and Edurne Pasaban before her historic climb
4. Nawang Sherpa on his ground-breaking Everest ascent. |
