Preparations start for Antarctic drilling

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Interesting story from the BBC about drilling 2 miles into Antarctic ice.. This ambitious plan to explore a vast lake trapped beneath the Antarctic ice is a step closer to becoming reality. An advance party has braved freezing temperatures to set up vital equipment and supplies at Lake Ellsworth. The lake is warmed by heat from the bubbling up from the earth’s core, and so hasn’t frozen.
The scientists are spending a lot of time ensuring that no cross contamination occurs – I hope it doesn’t. See the BBC report here.

Scott Centenary Concert

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Captain Scott

A concert to mark the 100th anniversary of Captain Scott’s ill-fated Terra Nova Expedition with music, images and words will take place at Cheltenham Town Hall on Wednesday 8th February 2012.

Excerpts from Vaughan Williams’s film score Scott of the Antarctic are interwoven with moving readings from the narrator, along with the world premiere of Cecilia McDowell’s new piece setting music to words from Scott’s poignant final letter, To my widow. A stunning selection of Herbert Ponting’s original expedition photos will be projected during the Sinfonia Antartica.
​Vaughan Williams     Extracts from Scott of the Antarctic
Cecilia McDowall    Seventy Degrees Below Zero world premiere
Vaughan Williams    Symphony No 7 Sinfonia Antartica

City of London Sinfonia
Holst Singers
Stephen Layton conductor
Robert Murray tenor
Narrator: TBC

This landmark concert tour retraces the steps of Captain Scott’s ill-fated expedition to the South Pole in music, images and words. Excerpts from Vaughan Williams’s film score Scott of the Antarctic are interwoven with moving readings from the narrator, along with the world premiere of Cecilia McDowell’s new piece setting music to words from Scott’s poignant final letter, To my widow. A stunning selection of Herbert Ponting’s original expedition photos will be projected during the Sinfonia Antartica.

In partnership with the Scott Polar Research Institute
Supported by Arts Council, England, The Colwinstone Trust, The RVW Trust, The Vaughan Williams Charitable Trust and The Summerfield Charitable Trust.

Please visit Cheltenham Town Hall’s website for further information and to book tickets.

Statoil oil search in Barents Sea

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Norway’s nationaal  oil Statoil may develop its large Skrugard field in the Barents Sea using a floating production system big enough to accommodate other oil prospects nearby, the company said in late December after completing a feasibility study.

“A possible solution is a field centre with processing and transport capacity, with the flexibility to phase in the prospects in the area,” Erik Strand Tellefsen, vice president for Skrugard operations, said in a statement. Statoil found the oil field in April, putting a focus on the Arctic frontier as a major source of energy in forthcoming decades.

The company said on Tuesday the field contained about 250 million barrels of recoverable oil equivalent, which compared with a previous best-case estimate of 500 million barrels.

Explorer’s daughter at south pole

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The 16-year-old daughter of the explorer David Hempleman-Adams has successfully skied to the south pole with her father, reports the BBC.

Amelia Hempleman-Adams has become the youngest person to achieve the feat. The Wiltshire pair began 97 miles from the pole, where Sir Ernest Shackleton abandoned his mission in 1909. Both said they were “elated but tired” after enduring temperatures as low as minus 50C   (-58F) and spending 17 nights camping in the Antarctic. Miss Hempleman-Adams said: “This expedition has been an extraordinary experience,” reports the BBC.

‘Dad’s snoring’

“The biggest challenges were the freezing cold, dried food, pulling frozen poo in a sledge, dad’s snoring. ”The best bit has been experiencing what dad does on expeditions. ”It’s the first time I’ve been on a trek with him and now I know what it’s like. Would I do it again? I’ll have to think about that after a few nights’ sleep.” The teenager, who is studying for four A levels at Prior Park College in Bath, said she had taken homework with her but admitted she had not had time to do any. She said: “I brought a lot of homework with me but dad took most of the books out of my sledge to keep the weight down.” Mr Hempleman-Adams said: “Amelia has done amazingly well. I’m very proud of her.

“This expedition was probably the most challenging for me. I’m very protective of Amelia who is my youngest daughter,” reports the BBC.

‘Fingers and toes’

“It’s one thing going off on an expedition on your own but another thing when you are looking after your own teenager daughter. ”Obviously, I wanted to make sure she returned to the UK with all her fingers and toes.” The pair, along with a small team, started their trip from The Farthest Point South, where Shackleton had to turn back on 9 January 9, 1909. Miss Hempleman-Adams carried a photograph of Shackleton and a commemorative coin – gifts from his granddaughter Alexandra Shackleton – with her to the south pole. The teenager had been keeping a blog of her progress in which she described the difficulties of navigating in snow storms. It is not the first time one of Mr Hempleman-Adams’s daughters has joined him on a polar mission. In 2005, Amelia’s sister Alicia, then aged 15, became the youngest person to trek to the north pole.

Click here for BBC story.

New speakers at Adventure show

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The Daily Telegraph Adventure Show which opens in London next year has revealed a bunch of new, exciting high profile speakers including actor, travel adventurer and motorbike enthusiast Charley Boorman, and Doug Allan, a cameraman from the BBC’s ‘Frozen Planet’.

Also, in the Telegraph Adventure Theatre, speakers will celebrate the spirit of adventure, including talks from a panel of Daily Telegraph editors and writers, presenting their pick of top adventures for 2012. Each talk will be followed by a short Q&A.

Are you planning an extraordinary travel experience, but don’t know where to start? Or have you found yourself watching intrepid explorers conquering the world on television and thought, “I can do that?” Is your heart pumping with inspiration, but your head still a bit worried about the practicalities?

Anyone can plan an expedition or remote travel – the real challenge is to take a journey that really makes a difference to you or the wider world.  Travel is as much about learning from the people you meet along the way, as the places you will visit.

People from all walks of life and abilities are setting off on journeys many of us could of only previously dreamed about. These include walking across continents, driving through remote parts of the world to raise money for a good cause, cycling around the world, paddling across oceans, navigating intricate river crossings in a 4×4, or walking across Polar regions! Whether it is a solo journey or a team effort, or you want to get involved with a specialist project overseas, make sure you talk to our experts before you start out.

With help from the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) and adventure logistic specialists, Tour de Force, you will leave the show inspired, informed and able to take your own ideas forward safely, on time and in budget! No matter how big or small your idea is, come to The Telegraph Adventure Travel Show to kick-start your expedition.

If you are considering a career break, a gap year, volunteering for a project or planning extended or remote travel  then talk to the team from the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG). Get advice on expedition and journey planning, discuss how to identify projects that would inspire you and talk through the issues you need to consider before you go, or just come and share your ideas and experiences.

Tour De Force have been involved with epic projects such as The Flying Car from London to Timbucktu, or takingover 100 classic cars from Peking to Paris, not forgetting involvement in organising the Mongol and Africa rallies.  Tour de Force have also advised clients wishing to take their own vehicle on an overland journey to places as far afield as Australia and Cape Town.  Join them as they draw together a wide range of people from within the travelling community to pour over maps, swap stories, give talks, exchange travel tips, answer your questions and find the best routes.

Expert advice from the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) and Tour De Force will include: Expedition Planning Advice – Feasibility & Safety – Funding – Sponsorship – Logistics – Route Planning – Overland Travel – Charity Fundraising – Blogging & Communications from the field – Mountains – Cycling -  Vehicle Preparation – Vehicle Paperwork and much more.

Click here to access the show’s website.

Scott’s Antarctic artefacts expo

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Artefacts from Captain Scott’s ill-fated Antarctic expedition are on show together for the first time in the UK, reports the BBC. The exhibition at Cambridge University’s Scott Polar Research Institute Museum includes Scott’s last journal, on loan from the British Library, and many items which have never been on public display. These include scientist Edward Wilson’s sketchbook, a hand-produced newspaper, and a sledge made by Lt Edward Evans.

Watch the BBC report here.

Arctic explorer in Gibraltar

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Arctic explorer Gilles Elkaim and his expedition boat, Arktika, in Gibraltar

Gibraltar may be teetering on the brink of winter but one man who won’t be reaching for his fleece in Ocean Village this week is long-time Arctic explorer Gilles Elkaim who just sailed in on his expedition boat, Arktika. Base camp for Gilles is some 300km north of the Arctic Circle in Finland where he will shortly be returning to run his popular human-canine adventure camp in sub zero temperatures.

The Brittany-born adventurer, a Nuclear Physicist, had his first Inuit experience at the tender age of 24 when he spent a year in Greenland learning how to hunt on the ice, to sled dogs and also speak the unusual Greenlandic language. Followed more than a decade of epic adventure sailing round Australia, trail walking across New Zealand, climbing mountain peaks in Papua New Guinea, cycling across India, camel riding through Mongolia and, a highlight, a four-year 12,000km solo dog sled and kayak from Norway’s North Cape across the Bering Strait and Eurasian Arctic – breaking records as the first ever using non-motorised transport.

Gilles explains his latest venture, “Our home, Camp Arktika, is spread over three acres of Finnish Lapland where we run and breed many endangered species of sled dogs. By adding various outbuildings to the estate, we now host camps for groups of half a dozen or so guests to introduce them to Arctic adventure. We work at one with nature, far away from any tourist trails, and I teach them survival skills to enjoy this savage, yet beautiful territory. This new expedition boat, Arktika, will add another dimension to our adventure camps and allow us to navigate the Arctic Seas in safety and relative comfort.”

Very sturdy with a thick aluminium hull, Arktika is a 47ft Voyager constructed in France in 1984. Since April this year, Gilles has spent six months completely refitting and refurbishing the boat to make her fit for Arctic exploration.

Gilles continues, “We are currently en-route from Toulon, close to Marseille on the southeast French coastline, to La Rochelle on the west. Heavy storms in the Mediterranean hampered progress somewhat so we spied the beautiful marina of Ocean Village in Gibraltar and came in for a refuel. Due to the warm welcome received, we have decided to keep Arktika here on a safe berth until mid-December when we will continue to La Rochelle. In Spring we will complete the final leg of the journey up to east Greenland.”

Once Arktika is settled in the Arctic, Gilles will begin to conduct sailing tours of up to a fortnight with four or five people and a small team of huskies on board.

Gilles finishes, “All our guests are just normal people who are looking for new experiences, a different perspective on life. They’re getting younger every year and now tend to range between 25 and 40 years old, although it’s not unusual to welcome 60 year olds. Most are first-timers to the Arctic, excited to be working self-sufficiently and at one with nature and we all share the same sense of adventure as each exploration is a reconnaissance mission – I don’t plan and map it all out.”

Whilst Arktika may not be the most beautiful or jaw-droppingly expensive boat Ocean Village has ever seen, she certainly comes with one of the best stories attached and will undoubtedly be at the heart of many more to come.

For further information on booking a berth at Ocean Village marina contact the Pier Office on pieroffice@oceanvillage.gi telephone +350 200 73300 or visit www.oceanvillage.gi/marina. To find out more about Camp Arktika visit www.camp-arktika.org.

Frozen Planet stamps on sale

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The British Antarctic Territory has collaborated with the BBC’s Natural History Unit to produce a series of stamps using images from the ambitious and breathtaking series Frozen Planet.

The stunning images reflect some of the diversity of animal life found in the British Antarctic Territory, the UK’s largest Overseas Territory. There are two sets of stamps available: one features penguins, the other seals and whales. Both would be ideal Christmas stocking fillers.

Accompanying the stamps is a two page insert written by one of the Frozen Planet Directors, Dr Elizabeth White, in which she describes some of the challenges faced by the BBC team, as well as their ground-breaking achievements:

‘Over four years, camera teams spent a record 2,300+ days in the field, braving temperatures down to -50 degrees C, 200 mile per hour katabatic winds, midnight sun and long, dark polar nights to capture the essence of the Arctic and the Antarctic – the remote and highly seasonal ends of the earth.  Their aim was to take the viewer on the ultimate polar expedition – North and South – to some of the greatest, least explored wildernesses on our planet…’

You can buy the stamps here.