Video: A Sense Of Adventure - Driving A 1936 Rolls Royce Across India

Almost two years ago I posted a story about Rupert Gray, an Englishman who was about to embark on an epic cross country road trip in his classic 1936 Rolls Royce. Rupert and his wife spent six months driving their car across the expanse of India, visiting every corner of the sub-continent. Their journey took them to the foot-hills of the Himalaya to the shores of the Indian Ocean, and just about everywhere in between.

That eye-opening adventure was documented by Rover Films and you'll find a teaser video of the final film below. It is a beautiful travelogue that captures the joy of the open road with the wonder of exploring distant lands. The video will inspire you to take a road trip of your own, just as soon as you can locate your vintage car.

Grand Trunk Road (teaser) from Rover Films on Vimeo.

Outside Magazine Wants To Give You $10,000 To Fund Your Next Adventure!

Listen up outdoor adventurers! Are you planning an epic expedition in the near future? Need some extra cash to help get your journey off the ground? Outside magazine is here to help!

Outside is seeking submissions for its 2013 Adventure Grant and is looking for one bold adventurer to give $10,000 to. To enter, all you have to do is click here and fill out the online form. It includes the usual information such as your name, address, and so on. You'll also be asked to write a brief (500 words or less) essay about what kind of adventure you have planned and share a photo of yourself or your team. Finally, you'll need to create a brief video, no longer than two minutes, that expresses your passion for whatever your adventure may be. Upload that video to YouTube or Vimeo, and you're all set to go.

Deadline for submissions is June 1, which means you don't have a lot of time to get everything you need together. Once the deadline passes, Outside editors will pick their finalists and those videos will be posted online where readers can vote for their favorites. Last year, readers selected Daniel Alvarez as their winner. The 31-year old from Tallahassee, Florida went on an amazing kayaking journey that began in Minnesota, followed the Mississippi River to the Gulf of Mexico and then continued along the coast until he reached the tip of the Florida Keys.

This is a great opportunity for anyone to find some funding for their big adventure. Be creative, pitch your idea well and who knows, we may just be reading about you in the pages of Outside next year.

Video: 100 Flying Adventures

Amateur pilot, outdoor enthusiast and blogger Ney Grant has created a wonderful little film that combines his love for flying with his passion for the outdoors. Ney, who writes about his experiences at WestCostFlyingAdventures.com, uses his Cessna T210 to shuttle he and his family to some fantastic places to hike, mountain bike and climb.

Be warned. The video, which you'll find below, will probably leave you a little envious. After all, we can't all have a personal plane at our disposal to help facilitate our own escapes. By the time you're done watching however, you'll probably be trying to figure out how you can afford one. Just the things that Ney and his family have seen from the cockpit alone would make it worthwhile.

In Celebration of 100 Flying Adventures from Ney Grant on Vimeo.

Himalaya 2013: Teams On The Move!

Just as the teams on Everest are on the move today to take advantage of the shifting weather patterns across the Himalaya, the climbers on other mountains in the region are hoping to make their summit bids as well. Many of them have been dealing with high winds for the past few weeks too and now that that those winds are dissipating at last, the climbers are eager to begin their ascents.

On Lhotse, most of the teams are following the same pattern as their friends on Everest. You may recall that the the two mountains share the same camps from BC up to C3. From there the routes diverge with those heading to the top of Lhotse taking a sharp right as they proceed up to their own Camp 4. High winds have kept that summit out of reach for now, but this weekend it should become accessible. Expect several teams to top out in the next few days.

On Dhaulagiri, Polish climber Pawel Michalski has begun his summit push. After being confined to BC  by bad weather, he was certainly eager to get going. He launched his bid on Wednesday, saying that his health and spirits were good. He now expects to summit on either Sunday or Monday (May 20-21) depending on the weather.

On Makalu the teams are still in BC waiting for the shift in weather to turn in their favor. News of the passing of Alexey Bolotov has reached that mountain as well, where Don Bowie has written a few brief words about his friend. As I've mentioned in earlier posts, Alexey was a very well known and highly respected climber and his death has had an impact on this Himalayan season and will likely to continue to do so for seasons to come.

Everest 2013: Summit Bids Denied!

The summit of Everest is remaining elusive this spring as high winds continue to play havoc with the team schedules. Yesterday was suppose to be the day that the first groups of climbers started to top out, ahead of what is sure to be a very busy weekend. But the winds around the summit still haven't died down yet, so very few climbers actually managed to top out. Several teams pulled the plug on their summit attempts, while others continue to position themselves for the weather window that is expected to open today.

One team that did manage to summit was Berg Adventures. Their home team tells Alan Arnette that they put four climbers on the summit amidst some nasty weather. Their climbers set out from Camp 4 at 7:00 PM local time last night and didn't top out until 7:30 AM this morning. When they were done, Steve Whittington and Danuru Sherpa, along with Todd Pendleton and Phu Tashi Sherpa, all managed to complete their ascents successfully. Congratulations to all four men.

Most of the other teams that were on the same summit schedule were not so lucky. The IMG squad for instance set off as planned but encountered high winds and thick fog on the Triangular Face, a section just above the South Col. Worse yet, the summit was shrouded in cloud cover, which prompted them to turn back and seek shelter in their tents at Camp 4. They will reevaluate the situation today and decide on their next plan of action.

Video: Temporary Story - A Travel Doc That Spans 6 Months And 3 Continents

Filmmaker Vadim Sahaklan and a friend spent six months traveling through 13 countries on three continents. Along the way they documented their journey with a video camera and the result is the beautiful short film you'll find below. The two men first drove from Alaska to Los Angeles, then flew off to Africa to explore on foot, before ending their globe-trotting adventure on motorbikes in South America.

The 39-minute video manages to convey a fantastic sense of wonder and whimsey as Vadim and his friend visit some amazing places, learning more about themselves and the world around them as they go. This is definitely a video you won't want to miss. Excellent stuff.

Temporary Story from Vadim Sahakian on Vimeo.

National Geographic Announces 2013 Emerging Explorers

Yesterday, the National Geographic Society announced its 2013 class of Emerging Explorers, once again turning the spotlight on some of the brightest young minds who are working in a wide variety of fields today. In fact, this year's recipients are helping to redefine exactly what the term "explorer" means in the 21st century as the group includes a roboticist, an entrepreneur and a couple of artists, along with the more traditional biologists, geologists and conservationists. It safe to say that the world of exploration has opened up in some new and very interesting ways.

In all, there are 17 individuals who have been named to the Emerging Explorers Program this year. Each of them is recognized for having accomplished important things in their particular area of expertise during the early part of their career and their work shows significant promise for future breakthroughs as well. To aid them in their research, Nat Geo awards each Emerging Explorer $10,000 as well.

Amongst this year's class of Emerging Explorers are Bethany Ehlmann who is a planetary geologist on NASA's Rover Curiosity team. She is focused on exploring our solar system to see how planets formed over time. She is joined by Sandesh Kadur, a wildlife photographer and filmmaker who focuses on creating documentaries about endangered species and threatened habitats. Conservation Biologist Andrea Marshall earned a place amongst the Emerging Explorers for her research with threatened marine megafauna such as the stingray while adventurer Gregg Treinish is recognized for his efforts in founding the non-profit Adventurers and Scientists for Conservation.

This is just a sampling of the amazing men and women make up this year's class of Emerging Explorers. Each of them is a fascinating personality in their own right and they are all doing interesting work in an incredibly diverse number of fields. You can take a look at the entire class by clicking here.

Congratulations to the entire 2013 class. This honor is well deserved all around.

Adventure Tech: Recon Jet Heads-Up Display

Yesterday at Google I/O, Recon Instruments took the wraps of their newest product the Recon Jet. Over the past few years the company has been an innovator in the field of creating heads-up displays (HUD) not unlike Google's own Glass. In the case of Recon Instruments however, their HUD's have integrated into ski goggles giving he user information such as speed, altitude, temperature and so on. The Recon Jet will take the technology that has been seen in those previous products off the slopes however and put them to use in our other outdoor activities.

The Jet is powered by a dual-core processor running the Android operating system and features a tiny LCD screen, an HD camera and built in GPS. It offers support for WiFi, ANT+ and Bluetooth technologies and will have its own extensible development platform that will allow others to create apps designed specifically for the device. Reportedly that will include some form of video streaming and of course integration with social networks such as Facebook and Twitter. Built in sensors such as accelerometers, gyroscopes and altimeters will provide a host of information, while a mic and speakers will allow you to take calls and possibly provide voice commands. The Recon Jet is designed to be mounted on a pair of sunglasses and provide a wealth of information at a glance.

The video below gives us a glimpse of what the Jet could be like when put to use in the real world, although much of what is shown is clearly a mock-up. The gadget is set to ship sometime this year and I would expect that we'll hear much more about this at Outdoor Retailer in a few months.

Personally, I think this looks more like something I'd use over Google Glass, as I could see how it would come in handy while running or cycling. No word yet on pricing.

Everest 2013: Teams Move Up As Summit Push Begins

The news of the death of Alexey Bolotov has moved through Everest Base Camp like a wave. The 50-year old Russian climber was well known amongst many of the team leaders and guides, and the loss of such a skilled alpinist has certainly muted the excitement over the summit push that is about to begin. The details of Alexey's passing remain sketchy at this time, although Alan Arnette has compiled what little information we know and shared it at Outside Online. It should come as no surprise that Alexey's climbing partner, Denis Urubko, is devastated by this loss and will now cancel his expedition. There will be no new routes opened on Everest this year.

While many climbers will press on with a heavy heart, there is still work to be done and most of the teams have now turned their attention to the task at hand. The upper slopes of the mountain are reportedly still being buffeted by high winds, but they are expected to dissipate today. That will mark the beginning of this weather window, which numerous teams now seem to be in position to take advantage of. There were a few brave teams that moved up to the South Col yesterday with the hopes of topping out today, but there has been little word on whether or not that happened. The real push will begin tomorrow and continue through the weekend and I know expect that there will be dozens who will summit in the next few days.

One of the teams that is leading the way is IMG. They have three distinct squads heading up the mountain at the moment with the first of those teams arriving at Camp 4 today. They'll try to reach their tents by noon, rest well into the night and then start the summit push around midnight local time. If the weather holds, they'll reach the summit sometime early tomorrow. The other two IMG teams will roate up to Camp 3 today, then C4 tomorrow before following a similar plan.

Untamed New England Announces 2014 Dates And Location

One of the premiere adventure races in North America has announced its dates and locations for 2014, giving teams a full year to prepare for the event. A few days ago, race organizers for the Untamed New England Expedition Adventure Race announced that the 4+ day race will take place from June 17-22 and will be held in the 100-Mile Wilderness in Maine. This is one of the most remote and beautiful places in the eastern U.S. and a perfect place to hold a race. It is surrounded by dense forests, features miles of trail and has some of the most wild terrain imaginable.

The race will feature teams of 2, 3 and 4 competitors with the coed teams of 4 being the predominant category. They'll be trekking, mountain biking, paddling, white water rafting,  orienteering and climbing their way across a course that should be amongst the best ever offered by this popular and well known race. The top prize for the event has gotten more impressive as well. The winning team will take home $10,000 in prize money, double what the winners in 2012 won. Better yet, the race is part of the AR World Series and serves as a qualifier for the AR World Championships, which will be held in Ecuador next year.

Registration for Untamed New England 2014 will open on June 1.

The Rest Of Everest Episode 187: Concordia

It's Wednesday, which means we are all treated to a new episode of The Rest of Everest. This week we continue our trek towards Broad Peak and K2 with climber Brian Block and his team arriving in Concordia, an amazing place that straddles two massive glaciers while providing views of four 8000 meter peaks. As you can imagine, the scenery is spectacular and worth the price of admission by itself.

Remember, this season of the Rest of Everest is focused on climbing BP and K2 and so far it has been a fantastic look at an expedition to those two peaks.

New Long Distance Trail To Open In South Sudan And Uganda

Backpackers and mountain bikers will be interested to learn that a new long distance trail is set to open in Africa in early 2014. The new trail will give adventure seekers the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of a legendary explorer while also visiting the newest country on the planet – South Sudan. Along the way they'll get the chance to experience parts of Africa that remain wild and undeveloped, passing through landscapes that have remained largely unchanged for centuries.

The Sir Samuel and Lady Florence Baker Historical Trail will stretch from Juba in South Sudan to Baker's View, which overlooks Lake Albert in western Uganda. The route will cover approximately 575 km (357 miles) along the same path that the Bakers followed on their two expeditions to Africa, which took place in the 1860's and 70's. The route will end at the point where Sir Samuel became the first European to ever set eyes on Lake Albert, which he himself named after Prince Albert.

The trail is being created through the efforts of anthropologist and explorer Julian Monroe Fisher who is working closely with the Uganda Ministry of Tourism, Wildlife & Antiquities, The Uganda Wildlife Authority and the Ministry of Wildlife, Conservation & Tourism for South Sudan. The descendants of Sir Samual and Lady Florence Baker are also taking part in the creation of this new route, which is being developed with the support of RailRiders Adventure Clothing and Costa Del Mar Sunglasses, both of which are sponsors of Fisher's Great African Expedition. It was during Phase Two of that expedition that he discovered the exact location of Baker's View and is credited by the Ugandan Government with correcting key locations on maps. Fisher will return to Uganda in June to begin placing historical markers along the trail which will designate places that the Bakers camped while they were exploring the region.

Expedition Africa Adventure Race Wrap-Up

Last week the Expedition Africa Adventure Race took place in South Africa, where 31 teams went head to head on a 550 km (341 mile) course that was specifically built to test their skills and push them to their physical limits. The event was part of the Adventure Racing Wold Series and is the only qualifier for the AR World Championships to be held in Africa his year. By all accounts, the race was an excellent one with fantastic trekking, mountain biking and paddling legs that really showed off the amazing landscapes of the host country. After more than four days of non-stop racing, Team Haglofs Silva of Sweden claimed the victory. Second place went to Team Technu Adventure Racing from the U.S. and Canada, who were about three hours behind the winners. Team Raidlight of France rounded out the podium.

My friend Lisa de Speville was on hand to cover the race from start to finish, which is no easy feat in and of itself. Lisa is a fantastic AR corespondent because she not only knows the sport inside and out, but is passionate about it as well. You can read her race recap here and catch the rest of her outstanding coverage here. If you're already a fan of adventure racing, you'll enjoy catching up with everything that went down during the race and you can learn a lot about team strategy, race logistics and so on as well.

Below you'll also find a video from the race directors that shares highlights from the event. It'll also give you a great idea of what the teams faced while out on the course. Having visited South Africa myself and seeing again here in this video, I have to say that it makes a fantastic location for an race like this one.

Adventure Tech: SPOT Global Satellite Phone

Earlier this week SPOT, the makers of the popular SPOT Satellite Messenger, took the wraps off their first new product in a couple of years. The company unveiled the SPOT Global Phone, a new entry into the satellite phone service market. SPOT says that their device provides a clearer and more reliable connect than other options currently available, and it does so in a smaller package.

The Global Phone comes equipped with a battery that reportedly offers 4 hours of talk time and 36 hours of standby. The phone itself weighs just 7.1 ounces (201 grams) and measures 5.3 inches (13.5 cm) in length. It has a memory capacity of 99 internally stored numbers, features an LCD screen with 4 lines with 12 character per line and with an optional data kit it can serve as satellite connection for a laptop as well. It is rated to operate in temperatures ranging from -20ºC/-4ºF to +55ºC/+131ºF.

According to their coverage maps, Global Phone users will get good service throughout North and South America, Europe, Asia and Australia. Northern Africa and the Middle East are also nicely covered, but most of sub-Saharan Africa and India are left out of the coverage zones. Expanded coverage is coming later this year, but there doesn't appear to be any plans to address these dead zones at the moment.

SPOT is offering a number of service plans on both a monthly and annual basis. Those plans start as low as $24.99 per month and include a bucket of pre-paid minutes, voice mails, text messages and more. Frequent users will appreciate the $150/month plans that offer unlimited calls, while those with more meager needs will find plenty of choices as well.

The phone itself is scheduled to go on sale in the next few weeks and will carry a cost of $499.

Everest 2013: Summit Bids Begin Amidst Sad News Of The Death Of Alexey Bolotov

After months of planning, weeks of acclimatizing and days of watching the weather, it is finally time for the summit season on Everest to truly get underway. The weather forecasts have improved and teams are now on the move, which means we should see the first summits of year from the commercial teams over the next few days.

But the big news of the day isn't about the weather but the shocking death of Alexey Bolotov. The news is still breaking, but it seems that he fell in the Khumbu Icefall this morning and died immediately upon impact. His body was found by a Sherpa who indicated that Alexey's rope broke at 5600 meters (18,372 ft), sending him tumbling into the Icefall. You may recall that Alexey and his climbing partner Denis Urubko were planning on climbing a new route along the Southwest Face. The two had just wrapped up the acclimatization efforts and were heading up to begin their climb today.

Denis, in a translated message, had this to say: "I do not know how to convey this ... today May 15 at 5:00, Alexey Bolotov going to descend on a rope ... on the edge of a sharp rock has frayed, and Alexei fell 300m down a ravine filled rock ... death was instantaneous."

Sad news for the entire mountaineering community. Alexey was amongst the best climbers in the world and he will certainly be missed. Condolences to his friends and family. What a rough year it has been in the Himalaya.

While this news is tragic, the other teams will proceed according to schedule. The Everest forecast now indicates that the jet stream will move north, taking the high winds with it. For nearly a week now those winds have been blowing steadily on the summit, keeping anyone from reaching that point. But now the meteorologists believe that those winds are about to die down, granting access to the upper slopes at long last. Additionally, the cyclone that is currently causing problems in the Bay of Bengal is now moving off to the east. It looks like it will have little or no effect on Nepal, which means the climbers don't have to worry about that storm bringing cold rains or heavy snows to the mountain. All told, this stretch of good weather is expected to last from May 18 through May 21, giving the teams a great opportunity to get up and down safely.

Gear Closet: Carhartt Huron Rain Jacket

If there is anyone on the planet who demands as much performance out of their gear as outdoor enthusiasts it is construction workers. Day in and day out they go to work in demanding, often harsh, environments. In order to do their jobs effectively, the need apparel that keeps them comfortable, doesn't restrict motion and is durable enough to survive the wear and tear that comes with a construction site. Carhartt is a company that has built a reputation for manufacturing tough, high performance clothing for the work place and over the years their gear has become incredibly popular with many people who have to work out in the elements.

This spring, the company has released a new line of rainwear that brings its considerable experience with performance apparel to the outdoor crowd. Carhartt has released three new rain jackets of various weights that will certainly be popular options for both the workplace and the trail. I've been lucky enough to put the Huron jacket to the test this spring and I've found that it is a worthy addition to a gear closet already full of rain gear from a number of well known and popular outdoor companies.

The Huron is built from 100% nylon ripstop fabrics that are designed to be both lightweight and breathable. The jacket succeeds on both counts keeping the wearer comfortable and dry, even in heavy downpours. Lesser rain jackets are often good at keeping water from getting inside, but their poor level of breathability means you end up cooking under the extra layers. But Carhartt has managed to create a jacket that performs surprisingly well, even when the rain is dropping by the bucket and temperatures are warm.

Video: North Michigan's Amazing Night Skies

Northern Michigan is home to some of the most spectacular and remote landscapes in the entire U.S., although the region is often overlooked for the wonderful options it can provide to outdoor enthusiasts. I was there last winter and had an absolutely great time on the trails. It is definitely a wonderful destination for anyone looking to get away from it all.

The video below gives you a glimpse of what to expect there with some stunning timelapse photography of the landscapes and night skies that are sure to leave you looking on in wonder. Truly beautiful work here and the perfect way to wind down another day.

North Country Dreamland from LakeSuperiorPhoto on Vimeo.

Adventure Tech: Capture Your Own Timelapse Videos With The Brinno TLC200 Pro

Have you always wanted to create your own amazing timelapse videos like the ones that I share here regularly? Well a company called Brinno is now making it easier then ever to do just that. Their new TLC200 Pro is built from the ground up for timelapse photography and it makes it incredibly easy for you to capture stunning scenes even after dark.

The camera features 1.3 megapixel sensor, which isn't exactly state-of-the-art these days but should be more than adequate to pump out quality videos from the hundreds of photos it will take. The TLC200 Pro also incorporates a 1/3" HDR sensor which helps to capture plenty of light, even after the sun has gone down. Shooting modes include settings for for shooting in daylight, twilight, darkness and by the light of the moon. The device is capable of capturing burst of 3-5 photos per second and the time interval can be set between 1 second up to 24 hours. That means no matter what you're shooting, you should be able to capture it nicely. This model even offers the ability to change out the lenses and Brinno offers a variety of them for use with this tech toy.

The unit runs on 4 AA batteries, which is good for 240,000 frames shot at a 2 second time interval. The entire camera weighs just 4.2 ounces and can fit nicely into a backpack for taking with you on a trip.

Best of all, the TLC200 Pro automatically stitches all of the images it takes together to create a timelapse video for you. There is no need to collect all of the images independently of one another only to try to assemble them in a separate piece of software. This camera is literally plug-and-play. Just point it at the scene you want to capture and let it go.

The video below shows what the camera is capable of. No word yet on pricing.

Himalaya 2013: Summits On Lhotse And Shishapangma

Moving away from Everest for now, there has been a host of activity across other peaks in the Himalaya these past few days as well. Weather has been an issue for the entire region, but a few climbers have been lucky enough to bag their summits while others continue to toil away and wait for their opportunity to move up.

Yesterday was a big day on Lhotse, the fourth highest mountain on the planet and Everest's neighbor. While the ropes to the summit on the Big Hill were completed last Friday, there were still a couple of hundred meters to go to finish that job on Lhotse. That work was wrapped up by a team consisting of climbers with the Himalayan Ascent squad as Chris Jensen Burke, Chirring Sherpa, Lakpa Sherpa and Pasang Sherpa fixed the final ropes to the top. Their efforts not only gave them the honor of the first Lhotse summits of the season, they have now paved the way for other climbers to follow after them.

The weather cleared on Shishapangma late last week, allowing a number of climbers to top out on the 8013 meter (26,289 ft) peak. ExWeb reports that Fabrizio Silvetti, climbing with Asian Trekking, reached the Central Summit on Friday as did climbers from Kobler & Partner.  Two other climbers with Asian Trekking – Austrian Zoltan Benedek and Batmanlai Ulzli-Orshikh of Mongolia – also summited but whether or not they made the Central or Main Summit remains unclear. Benedek is now moving on to Everest North Side to attempt a Himalayan double-header.

Over on Makalu, Kinga Baranowska and Rafal Fronia have now established their Camp 3 at 7450 meters (24,442 ft) and Sherpa teams have been working on Camp 4 at 7900 meters (25,918 ft). Having spent the night at C3, the duo are acclimatizing nicely and feel like they are strong enough for a summit bid soon. High winds are making that impossible at the moment and the forecast doesn't look good for the next few days. They'll likely now return to Base Camp and wait for conditions to improve. A summit bid could come early next week.

Everest 2013: Teams Move Up In Preparation For Summit Bids

Just a short update from Everest today where we are starting to see signs of activity as the teams begin to prepare for their summit pushes at last. Although there is a light at the end of the tunnel for them, the season isn't over just yet and there is still a lot of work to be done before they head home.

The weather remains an uncertain variable on Everest but that hasn't stopped a number of teams from launching their first summit bids. Several of the larger squads were on the move yesterday and today to put themselves in a position to take advantage of a weather window that is predicted to open up at the end of the week. High winds have been battering the upper slopes of the mountain for the past several days, but the forecasts seem to indicate that those winds will die down by around Thursday or Friday. With that in mind, several squads, including two from IMG, moved into Camps 1 and 2 yesterday where they're waiting to see if conditions improve.

The tropical storm that has been sitting in the Bay of Bengal has been upgraded to a cyclone, which means it has increased in intensity. Most of the forecasts have it shifting off to the east and making landfall in Bangladesh, but it is larger enough that it could brush against the Himalaya as well, bringing high winds and possibly snow or rain too. If that happens, the summit bids will be aborted and the teams will probably return to Base Camp to wait out the storm.

While many are eager to take advantage of the potential weather window, other teams are sitting tight in BC and waiting for a better opportunity to present itself. The RMI squad for instance is content to relax and let some of the crowds thin out before they head up. They know that they have a couple of weeks before the Monsoon arrives and that there will likely be a longer and more solid weather window once this current front moves through.

On the North Side of the mountain the Altitude Junkies are back in ABC after climbing up to the North Col as part of their acclimatization rotation. The weather has prevented them from getting in all the rotations they would have liked this spring, but they are currently feeling fit and ready for their attempt on the summit as well. Unfortunately, high winds pushed them back to Advanced Base Camp following their latest foray up the mountain. Those winds are now expected to stay in place into the weekend, which means that the AJ team are now looking at making their summit push sometime around May 20 or so.

We're on schedule to get the first major summit push late this week, but the weather could still derail those plans. Believe it or not, things are proceeding about as you would expect right now and if the weather cooperates, we should see a large number of summits as early as Friday. Keep your fingers crossed that the weather improves and everyone gets up and down safely.

Video: Cave Diving Along The North Shore Of Hawaii

The latest video from the folks at Makai Creative certainly is beautiful.  Shot of the North Shore of Oahu, the short film captures some adventurous divers exploring underwater sea caves. The natural lighting is amazing to watch, but what is even more impressive is that this group wasn't using any scuba gear on their dive at all. They simply went down with a good set of lungs filled with fresh air. That makes these shots breathtaking in more ways than one!

The Ocean Is My Playground: Cave Diving from Makai Creative on Vimeo.

Harrowing Tales Of The First Descent Of The Baro River In Ethiopia

Before he became the face of adventure travel on the television show Adventures with Purpose, Richard Bangs was a world-class paddler and river guide who made first descents on numerous rivers across the planet including the Indus, Zambezi, Yangtze, Euphrates and many more. One of his early expeditions took him to the Baro River in Ethiopia, which hadn't been fully navigated at the time either.

In a recent post to his website, Richard shares some harrowing tales of his adventures along the Baro, which runs for approximately 306 km (190 miles) before it feeds into the Sobat River and eventually the White Nile. His stories include encounters with man-eating crocodiles, incredible white water and unexpected tumbles over waterfalls. The title of the article is "What's Worse? Death by Drowning or Crocodile" which pretty much tells you everything you need to know about this expedition. The article is a reminder of just how wild and untamed parts of our planet remain and how dangerous these expeditions can be. Definitely an excellent read for a variety of reason, as it touches on why we pursue dangerous adventures in the first place.

The video below serves as a bit of teaser for the story, but be warned, the footage is not for the faint of heart. There are some graphic images shown that some could find disturbing. If you'd rather avoid those images as best you can, I'd suggesting simply reading the article instead, although it also has a photo or two that aren't for the squeamish.

Everest 2013: It's All About The Weather

Reports from Everest Base Camp on both sides of the mountain are starting to sound a bit like a broken record. Everyone is sitting and waiting at the moment as they watch the skies for a break in the weather. As expected, high winds have moved over the summit, making it impossible for teams to go up and a snow storm moved through this weekend, depositing fresh powder across all of the camps on the South Side. The next few days look to be touch-and-go and there is a potential weather window opening late the week, but a tropical storm in the Bay of Bengal could have a major impact on when the teams will be on the move once again.

As we all know by now, the ropes were fixed all the way to the summit on both the North and South Sides last Friday. That allowed a couple of experienced and daring climbers to nab the first summits of the season behind the Sherpa teams themselves. David Tait was one of those climbers, arriving at the top of Everest not long after the rope fixing was complete. On Saturday, Spanish climber David Liaño also topped out, nabbing what he hopes is the first of two summits this year. He'll now head to Tibet to attempt to climb the mountain from that side as well, which would mark the first time that anyone has climbed from both sides of the mountain in the same year.

While these early summits were encouraging for everyone, most of the other climbers can only sit and wait at this point. A few teams sent their climbers up to Camp 1 and 2 over the weekend with the hopes of having them in position in case the weather changed, but all of them descended back to Base Camp when it became apparent that a weather window wasn't forthcoming. The forecasts say that the first opportunities to move up could come late this week, although if that tropical storm moves north out of the Bay of Bengal it'll bring substantial amounts of snow with it. That would be bad news for the climbers and would further delay any summit bids.

Kayakers Drop Five Successive Falls In Mexico

Over the past couple of years we've become accustomed to paddlers making some daring white water runs and dropping over some extremely big waterfalls. But recently three paddlers pushed the limits even further by going over five successive waterfalls in Mexico that combined to make one very big descent.

The team, which consisted of Rafa Ortiz, Evan Garcia, and Rush Sturges, ran a stretch of water along the Rio Santo Domingo that included waterfalls that are 80-, 90-, 60-, 20-, and 40-feet in height, all in rapid succession. That's a total of 290 feet (88.3 meters) in one quick go, with very little time for recovery between each drop.

There isn't any video on this paddling expedition yet, but considering that it was sponsored by Red Bull, you know that it has to be coming soon. I for one can't wait to see what this looks like when you catch it all in motion. Hopefully from a helmet cam that shows each of the successive drops. But for now, we'll just have to settle for some the amazing still photos that are posted on the Red Bull website.