Smiths Medical today announced the opening of a new high altitude medical laboratory. Located at 11,154 ft (3,400m) on Mount Everest’s slope, Smiths Medical High Altitude Laboratory’s initial research will include studying nine healthy British kids and how they react to a low oxygen environment. …
A growing number of unclad hikers are wandering the Alps, near Appenzell. Some Swiss legal experts say that banning nudity in public would be unconstitutional.
In recent years, it has become fashionable for a growing number of Swiss and some foreigners to wander in the Alps clad in little more than hiking shoes and sun screen. Last summer, the number of nude hikers increased to such an extent that the hills often seemed alive with the sound of everything but the swish of trousers. …
Listed by Backpacker magazine as one of the World’s Best (Unknown) Treks.
It sounds great:
… This 50-mile, nine-day loop has it all: glaciated 11,000-foot mountains, high alpine passes, deep valleys, waterfalls, gemsbok mountain antelopes, alpine roses, and martigon lilies. The well-marked route requires no technical expertise, but expect long, strenuous days (despite the relatively short mileage) and adrenaline-fueled climbing with fixed ropes and ladders. …
new Olperer Hut - original - flickr - Alex Bergsten
Life-list moment: Catch your breath–and savor it all–on the small terrace at the Olperer Hut, perched hundreds of feet above the Schlegeisspeicher reservoir, with a view of the serrated ridge of Grosser Moseler in front and a cold Austrian lager in hand.
Hike the loop clockwise, starting in Mayrhofen–the views get better every day, and this way you’ll start with an easy two-mile hike to Edel Hut, so you can sleep in the mountains the same day you arrive in Austria. From Edel, get your bearings by hiking the three-hour round-trip to 9,754-foot Ahornspitze, a rocky summit high above the Zillertal Valley. You’ll know you’re in the heart of the Alps on day 4, en route from Greizer Hut to Berliner Hut, when in one short section you cross a picturesque–if rickety–footbridge over a glacial stream, scramble through a field of avalanche debris, and climb fixed ropes and a 16-foot ladder bolted to sheer rock. Be sure to stop on Lake Schwarzsee’s north shore and snap a photo of the reflected peaks–visual proof of your epic trek. …
The only guidebook when I hiked up and above the north side of Everest Base Camp was Trekking in Tibet by Gary McCue. (In fact, I lost the guidebook while on that trek.)
Hiking Everest from the Tibet side has been getting increasingly problematic.
We recommend you hike the Nepal side, instead. Here’s the newest guidebook:
Love in a Tent comments on a New Zealand government plan to draw even more outdoor enthusiasts to that fantastic country.
… New Zealand’s Prime Minister, John Key, held a “job summit” to try to find ways to save jobs during this global recession. He gathered together a bunch of business and labour leaders to see if a day of brainstorming could produce a miracle solution.
While many ideas were bounced around, one of the ones that seems to have really caught the PM’s attention is a proposal to build a cycleway the entire length of New Zealand. This would become a major tourist draw, and help to boost falling visitor numbers. It would also create jobs building the trail, which was estimated to cost around $50 million. (Sounds low to me.) …
Love in a Tent advises that New Zealand not neglect the Te Araroa tramping trail. That’s 3,000km of gorgeous Kiwi walking. Volunteers are hoping to officially open it in late 2010. (One reason I’m planning to tramp New Zealand in 2011.)
The Te Araroa Trust posted a response March 14th. An interesting point of view: The Pedal Corridor
Personally, I’m happy to do the best parts of both routes. Hiking. And biking.
Triple Blaze posted a list of the top 100 hikes in California.
While not exactly the kind of serious hikes we are looking for, it’s still interesting. And the list will improve over time. It changes as readers vote.
“Ray Jardine revisits and rethinks his classic ultralight backpacking text…”
Overview
Ray Jardine, arguably the founding father of ultralight backpacking as we know it, wrote a book entitled Beyond Backpacking and, within its pages, presented to a backpacking community with weary backs and knees tips and techniques by which they could lighten their loads and travel easier. The book was a sellout success, and copies nowadays (if you can find one at all) fetch dozens if not hundreds of dollars on eBay and Craigslist.
Jardine is back with a revised and revamped book in which he revisits many of the principles in Beyond Backpacking and touches on new information as well. His latest installment is entitled Trail Life: Ray Jardine’s Lightweight Backpacking; 25,000 Miles of Trail-Tested Know-How.
With chapter titles such as Packweight, Equipment, Wilderness Skills, Trail Biology, and Long Distance Hiking, one can begin to see Jardine has a diversity of knowledge to impart to his readership. Jardine continues to preach some of the tenets of ultralight backpacking such as tarp vs. tent and lightweight shoes vs. boots. …
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Rating: 20 deg F | -7 deg C
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Love in a Tent advises that New Zealand not neglect the Te Araroa tramping trail. That’s 3,000km of gorgeous Kiwi walking. Volunteers are hoping to officially open it in late 2010. (One reason I’m planning to tramp New Zealand in 2011.)
