Author: timzimmermann

Woodvale Transatlantic Update–Two Down, ? To Go…..: One week into this transatlantic painfest two rowing teams have dropped out. Team Madine Meuse Lorraine were the first to bonk, just 48 hours in. And on Friday, “Calderdale: The Yorkshire Challenge” shipped oars as well. Headwinds and rough seas have tested all the teams, who still have more than 2000 miles to row. On Calderdale, it was seasickness that finally did in the team of Marcus Thompson and Sally Kettle. Thompson was so hard hit he couldn’t keep anything down. It’s hard to row 18 hours a day without being able to keep food and fluids down. But the real problem for Thompson was that the seasickness prevented him from being able to stomach his…..epilepsy medication. Seizures in a small rowing boat in the middle of the Atlantic. Ummm, maybe not. Kettle says next time she’ll row transatlantic with her mother–which I’m guessing could raise an entirely different set of problems……

Calderdale Cruising: “Blazing Bluebeards, Marcus. You never said we’d run into pirates…..”

(Photo: Challenge Business)

The Worst Tragedy in Mountaineering History: It wasn’t Everest, May 1996. It was Peak Lenin, a 7,000 meter obscurity in the Pamirs in Tajikistan…on Friday the 13th (just had to be, didn’t it?), 1990. Not 10, not 20, but a staggering 43 climbers died in a single instant, when a serac broke loose above Camp II and death slid down from above. ExplorersWeb has a first-hand account, told by Canadian climber Ian McLagan. Read it.

Murdering Lenin: “Well, shit….What do we do now?”

(Photo: Ian McLagan via ExplorersWeb)

Niagara Numbskull–The Backstory: Ahhh, life in America. Notoriety equals fame…Fame equals money…Well, turns out that was the equation in Niagara jumper Kirk Jones’ mind. As he basked in the embracing warmth of journalistic attention he claimed that his jump was impulsive and that on the way down he “touched the hand of God.” Those who know him well, however, tell a more plausible, familiar story.

Family and friends said Jones had been considering the stunt for years — but more so in recent weeks. One friend said Jones hoped to make a lot of money from the notoriety…..Surviving a leap from Niagara Falls had intrigued Jones for years, said his mother, who had spoken to him only briefly since the jump. “He said he always thought there was a spot you could jump and survive,” Doris Jones, 77, told The Associated Press from her sister’s home in Keizer, Ore. “We never agreed to it. We thought it was risky.”

Well, yeah. Is that all? Perhaps there was a reason his OWN MOTHER didn’t seem particularly freaked about the idea. And the Canadians apparently feel the same way. A judge has ordered Jones to stay the hell out of Canada…except for any ensuing court appearances. Jones has been making the rounds of morning television. If I hear there is a television movie deal in the works (“Miracle in the Falls: The Kirk Jones Story”) I may have to go jump over Niagara myself……

Jumper Jones: “Here I go, Mom”….”That’s nice, dear.”

Ski Everest Update–Hurry Up and Wait The winds are still knocking the crust off Everest, so Wally, Maegan and the boys are waiting it out in Base Camp. They’ve reverted to a slightly earlier era, since their internet and e-mail comms are down, apparently due to solar flare activity. At least they have DVDs to play on their laptops (“Forest Gump”) or they might have to talk to each other or read books. Berg is trying to sound optimistic, but says that it could be a week before the weather calms enough to see them to the summit. This is exactly the situation which prompted uber-adventurer Steve Fossett to give up on Everest after two attempts (Everest was the last summit he needed to complete his mission to climb the tallest mountain on every continent): he couldn’t stand all the hanging around in tents waiting for the weather to break. Maybe he had the wrong DVDs……

Everest’s Climbable Look: “Please, please, please……”

(Photo: Berg Adventures International)

Annals of Stupidity–Niagara Knuckleheads: There’s a sort of nihilistic charm in attempting a stunt that is almost certain to kill you. And it takes a world-class–umm, what’s the word?–idiot to plunge over Niagara Falls with nothing but the clothes on your back. But some people are born lucky, and so it is that one Kirk Jones, 40, of Canton, Michigan became the first person this week to intentionally “swim” Niagara Falls and climb out with a stupid grin on his face [a 7-year old kid was swept accidentally over Niagara in 1960, and lived to tell the tale]. Jones is in good company, though, because lots of other idio…I mean daredevils have braved the Falls. It’s impossible to know the true number, but most sources say 15 have tried–in various contraptions and modes–and five have died. The first man (the first person was a woman, Annie Edson Taylor, in 1901; she lived) to go over in a barrel was Bobby Leach, in 1911. He survived and died fifteen years later when he slipped on an orange peel. A guy named Karel Soucek pulled it off, too, in 1984. He died the next year attempting to drop 180-feet in a barrel into a water tank…in front of 45,000 people at the Houston Astrodome. Quite a show. The stories just get better, though. In 1920 Charles Stephens went over in an oak barrel and carried with him an anvil. Smart guy that he was, he strapped the anvil to his feet. When he landed at the base of the Falls the anvil naturally wanted to keep going. It broke through the barrel and took Stevens with it…leaving only his right arm (he had secured himself inside the barrel) behind. Ouch. My favorite for sheer inventiveness, combined with galactic stupidity, is Robert “Firecracker” Overacker. He jet-skied over the Falls in 1995, with a rocket-assisted parachute. The elaborate scheme had one fatal flaw, though….THE PARACHUTE WAS NOT PROPERLY TETHERED TO HIS BACK! Splat. Glub-glub. Bye-bye.

“Firecracker” Overacker: “Jet Ski..Check..Parachute…Check…Parachute Attached?…Oh Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit……”

Ski Everest Update..Yo-Yo Time: Berg Adventure’s David Burger calls from Camp 2, to report 50-60 knot winds yesterday drove the team down from Camp 3: “It was like being sandblasted, even with a balaclava and glacier glasses or goggles on. So we decided to come back down today and we managed to not get blown off the Lhotse Face”. Maegan Carney continued on down to Base Camp to wait out the breeze, while a few of the climbers remained at Camp 2. Maegan has until mid-November–when the team’s expedition permit expires–to pull off her climb and ski descent.

Hunkered Down on Lhotse: “Jesus, Wally….I warned you to lay off the beans.”

(Photo: Berg Adventures International)

Woodvale Transatlantic Update–No One Ever Said It would Be Easy: In fact….they said a rowing race across the Atlantic would be fu*#ing hard. And it is. Today, Team Bluebell–consisting of Andy Giles and Faye Langham, and currently in 13th place out of 16 teams–sent in an audio update. Here’s Andy:

“After 3 days of very hard rowing, headwinds have made it such that we can not carry on rowing without going backwards. We’ve streamed our sea anchor and we’re now feeling pretty damn sick. The boat’s rolling and pitching like crazy.”

Andy and Faye currently are drifting very slowly south and east. Oh well. Only 2521 miles to go………

Bluebell in Training: “Are you absolutely sure it will be this smooth all the way across, Andy…..”

(Photo: Bluebellwood.org)

The Wetass Interview–Jules Verne Derby Approaches : This winter, at least three (and maybe more) of the biggest, fastest multihulls ever built will be sprinting around the world, trying to claim the Jules Verne Trophy for the fastest non-stop circumnavigation. The boats—which will start and finish in the English Channel and sail eastward–are all monsters: upwards of 100-feet long, with huge spreads of sail, and capable of top speeds close to 50 miles per hour. To succeed, they will have to sneak their way through the unpredictable headwinds and calms of the Atlantic, survive the weather bombs and huge seas of the Southern Ocean as they race downwind around Antarctica, and then limp north through the Atlantic again, hoping to keep their boats in one piece so they can finish. The current world record stands at 64 days, 8 hours and 37 minutes, and all the boats should be capable of getting around in under 60 days if they are lucky with the weather. The starting grid right now consists of “Cheyenne” (a 125-foot catamaran owned by Chicago adventurer Steve Fossett), “Geronimo”, a 120-foot trimaran skippered by French veteran and enfant terrible Olivier De Kersauson, and “Qatar 2006,” (a 110-foot catamaran owned by Englishwoman Tracy Edwards, which will sail with a mixed crew of both men and women). Frenchman Bruno Peyron, the current world record holder and the first man to sail around the world in under 80 days, may also get into the action with a 120-foot catarmaran he is close to launching. The Wetass Chronicles checked in with “Cheyenne” boat captain David Scully, to see how this epic world record chase is shaping up. Scully is a major wetass, who has done everything from racing cars, to setting sailing records with Fossett, to racing his own sailboat solo around the world. “Cheyenne,” which used to be known as “PlayStation,” is currently the world’s most prolific record-breaking sailboat. She owns 12 of the 15 fastest sailing records on the books, including both the eastgoing and westgoing transatlantic records.

Scully: His idea of a good date is to sail his girlfriend from France to Corsica for dinner….on a 20-foot beach cat

Wetass Chronicles: You’ve been in Norfolk, Virginia for a few months, hoping to take a whack at reclaiming your 24-hour record by becoming the first boat ever to sail 700 miles in a day. Any luck?

Scully: We’ve actually been out twice on the 24-hour record attempt, but the weather just didn’t pan out. Now we’re more focused on preparing to cross the Atlantic in November to get into position for the Jules Verne.

Wetass Chronicles: Have you made any special modifications to the boat?

Scully: My philosophy has been “don’t change much because we know what’s here works.” So we’ve just tweaked here and there, making things stronger. We’ve also got new headsails and some new downwind sails. And we’re investing in a polyester running chute (spinnaker) for the Southern Ocean.

Wetass Chronicles: An “Oh Shit!” sail for the big winds?

Scully: (Laughs). I don’t call it that. I call it the “How to proceed comfortably in the direction you want to go” sail. It’ll be good once the wind is at 30-40 knots.

Wetass Chronicles: How will you handle weather forecasting and routing?

Scully: We’ll have Stan Honey navigating, and he’s no slouch when it comes to predicting weather. And Commanders Weather routing service will be working with us every day.

Wetass Chronicles: What possible breakages do you worry most about?

Scully: Well, you’ve got the chassis (the hull), the motor (the mast and sails), and the electrics. And to be honest, I’m not terribly concerned about any of them. You can never rule out catastrophic failure or hitting something hard at speed. But we know what we’ve got is pretty tough.

Wetass Chronicles: How many crew will you take?

Scully: We’ve decided on 12 of the crew and could take as many as 14. Being able to drive the boat is a critical skill, and we’re doing our best to make sure we’ve got a very, very good group. In addition to some of our regular crew we’ve lined up Jack Vincent, who’s one of best maxi-multihull sailors in world, Guillermo Altadill, who’s been around about 5 times and knows these maxi-multihulls, and Thomas Coville, who is also an experienced circumnavigator and a top driver and technician. Out of 12 to 13 crew, we’ve probably got 9 who have strong driving credentials.

Wetass Chronicles: Will you try to line up against anyone, or will everyone just take off on their own schedule when they think the weather is right?

Scully: I don’t know that lining up with somebody will be to anyone’s advantage. Qatar 2006 is relatively late and will have to hustle to be ready for a start in January. De Kersauson is behaving in his usual strange way. I guess he’s ready to try the west-east transatlantic record, and then will have to do the west to east run from New York pretty quickly to arrive back in France in time to line up in the English Channel in January. And that’s a lot of sailing. We’d like to get off in December, if possible.

Wetass Chronicles: What do you hear about Bruno Peyron’s new boat?

Scully: I’ve heard plenty of rumors. I would imagine that he is trying to find a sponsor for a Jules Verne too. I don’t think that there will be that much performance difference between his boat and ours. I hear his boat is heavy. And multihull design doesn’t change that much. Short of putting foils on a boat there’s not that much you can do to make it faster other than shedding weight. And the 60-foot trimarans have shown what happens when you go to an extreme in trying to get light. They are built like matchsticks now, and blow apart when they hit big seas. You could go bigger, but no one has really been willing to take that step yet.

Wetass Chronicles: If you nail the Jules Verne record, you will pretty much have run the table in the speed sailing game. What will you do next?

Scully: (only slightly tongue in cheek) Well, as you know my ongoing ambition is to become a classical guitarist. But at the same time I have to go out and make a living, so I’d definitely like to keep sailing.

Scully’s Ride: “Man, this beast really moves now that we’ve installed the big 3-bladed props……”

(Photo: Fossettchallenge.com)

Pipin Part II: When my wife read about Pipin Ferreras she immediately wanted to know more about the tragic death of Pipin’s wife, Audrey Mestre. My wife has good instincts. Turns out that Audrey’s is a sad and fascinating story that was well told last March by Tristram Korten in the Miami New Times. Korten details the extraordinary physical aspects of the deep diving that Audrey and Pipin were doing. As late as the 1960s scientists did not believe humans could survive the water pressure at depths deeper than 300 feet. But Pipin rewrote the books with successively deeper dives that took him past the 500 foot mark, and revealed that humans have what is known as a “mammalian dive reflex” in which the heart rate slows (Pipin’s would drop to 8 beats per minute at the bottom of his deep dives), blood flow to the extremities is choked off, and the lungs are crushed to the size of oranges. Through training, Pipin developed this reflex to the point where he had a peak lung capacity of 8 liters of oxygen, double the capacity of your average couch potato (which allows him to to hold his breath for….eight minutes).

Korten also details the touching love story between Pipin and Audrey, who met him in 1996 at the age of 22, during her marine biology studies at university. Two weeks later she moved in with him, and in the following years he helped her become the deepest diving woman on the planet, capable ultimately of matching the deepest dives of men–including Pipin. When Audrey died last October, she had already set an unofficial world record of 170 meters (557 feet) during her practice dives off the Dominican Republic (surpassing Pipin’s world record of 162 meters). Tragically, the methods for formal documentation were not in place for this dive and she went out again for one last plunge. This time, nothing went right. The weather was choppy, and as Audrey tried to resurface after hitting 171 meters the balloon which was supposed to speed her upwards started to slow and stall on the wire guiding it. Her unofficial 170-meter dive had taken just 2 minutes and 55 seconds. On her last dive, at 3 minutes and 50 seconds she was just 51 meters off the bottom, with another 120 meters to go to the surface. She passed out and lost her grip on the balloon, slowly sinking back into the depths. A safety diver with tanks grabbed her and headed toward the surface. Pipin, also with tanks, swam down from above. When he finally surfaced with her, 8 minutes and 38 seconds into the dive, she was dead.

Controversy about the risks of free diving naturally ensued, and Pipin was accused by some of leading an innocent young woman to her death. Korten finishes his excellent account:

Pipin, lost in his grief, does not want to discuss the controversy. He’d rather talk about Audrey, the woman who managed to break through the armor of his uniquely insular world and touch a man trapped by his obsession.

“She too fell in love with the ocean,” he says as a fog of denial seems to settle over him. “We have the kind of connection so tight, so real. It got to the point I could see inside of her. I know she can see through my eyes. We still are connected. That will never go away.” These days he routinely says good morning to her during his daily meditations: “I try to keep that connection to her.” Planning continues for his retirement dive [the dive he just completed, ed.], which he thinks could take place in June. He will aim for 170 meters to honor her. (The IAFD posthumously recognized her practice dive to that depth as a record.)

Observes his friend and partner Carlos Serra: “I don’t think he will retire. I truly believe he thinks so, but he is so competitive, and I know he has plans to do a 200-meter dive.” That scares Serra. A 200-meter dive (656 feet) has never been attempted. It would be the most dangerous endeavor ever undertaken in a very dangerous sport. “If there’s anyone capable, it’s him,” Serra says while also acknowledging that Pipin is no longer a young man, that the years have taken a toll on his body. “If there’s anyone who might die trying, it’s also him.”

Diving Duo: “Hey Baby, want to see my conch shells…….”

(Photo: Pipin Productions)

Expedition Update–Maegan at Windy Camp III: Maegan and Wally Berg’s climbing team got to Camp III yesterday and had to hunker down in their tents–communicating between tents by radio and trying to stay hydrated–thanks to 30-40 knot winds. They were going to try and get to the South Col today, the staging point for their summit bid, and Berg is praying that the winds will ease up. If they do, the team will be trying for the summit tomorrow…….

“Hey Maegan, come back! We’re not at the summit yet……”

(Photo: Berg Adventures International)