Expeditions Unpacked

I have this book on pre-order.

‘A fascinating and unique look at these celebrated expeditions. Ed Stafford knows all too well how important an explorer’s kit can be and this brilliant book gives great insight into the role it plays.’ —Sir Ranulph Fiennes

In this unique and enthralling book, explorer and survivalist Ed Stafford curates 25 great expeditions through the lens of the kit these remarkable explorers took with them. In an environment where lack of preparation could mean certain death, the equipment carried, ridden and sailed into uncharted territories could mean the success or failure of an expedition. Was it simply a case of better provisions and preparation that helped Amundsen beat Scott to the South Pole? And how has the equipment taken to Everest changed since Hillary’s first ascent?

Through carefully curated photographs and specially commissioned illustrations we can see at a glance the scale, style and complexity of the items taken into the unknown by the greatest explorers of all time, and the impact each item had on their journey. How it potentially saved a life, or was purely for comfort or entertainment, and how these objects of survival have evolved and adapted as science advances, and we plunge further into the extremes.

Conquering fears and mountains, adversity and wild jungles, each item these explorers flew, pulled or hauled played a crucial role in their ambitious and dangerous missions to find out a little more about our world. Through each of these objects, we can gain a better understanding ourselves.

Get an intimate view of these and more amazing expeditions:
Roald Amundsen, race to the Pole: Norwegian expedition (snowshoes, Primus stove, piano, violin, gramophone… )
Amelia Earhart, first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean (Bendix radio direction finder, parachutes, emergency life raft, rouge… )
Tim Slessor, first overland from London to Singapore (machetes, crowbar, typewriter, Remington dry shaver, tea… )
Nellie Bly, around the world in 72 days (Mumm champagne, accordion, silk waterproof wrap, dark gloves… )

Prepare to follow Leo Houlding

“It’s 21st-century exploration, at the edge of impossible.”
An excellent article in The Financial Times on the latest expedition of Leo Houlding.
He is planning to conquer a peak called the Spectre.
A few years ago, I heard Leo speak at the GA Conference on a previous expedition to Antarctica, and the logistics of getting there and completing the climb.
My notes and some links from that 2015 lecture are here. 

He will be using Union Glacier as a base: a location which we know a lot about in Year 8, having explored what it is like to live and work there.
It's coming back to life after the winter, and we've followed the Twitter feed of the organisation ALE.

The FT article includes some useful information on this aspect of the expeditions, and the difference between those and the experiences that wealthy people pay for...

The expedition website is here.
Good luck to Leo when he heads off next month...

The Women's Euro-Arabian North Pole Expedition 2018

Mr. Parkinson has been asked to help create the education resources for this expedition which will take place in 2018. It is led by Felicity Aston, who also led the Pole of Cold expedition that I wrote the (award winning) resources for, and was also described in Felicity's book 'Chasing Winter' (which is excellent by the way)
Here's a trailer video for the expedition.

_Exposure from Felicity Aston on Vimeo.

The website is here.
Keep an eye out for all the news on the expedition and the resources later this year. 
We shall be involving King's Ely students in this writing project.

There are also some amazing and alarming pictures of the great Arctic melt by Diane Tuft in this Guardian article.