EXPEDITION NEWS is a monthly review of significant expeditions, research projects and newsworthy adventures. It is distributed online and by mail to media representatives, corporate sponsors, educators, research librarians, explorers, environmentalists, and outdoor enthusiasts. This forum on exploration covers projects that stimulate, motivate and educate.

CLEAN-UP CREW CONSIDERS EVEREST A "SORE SPOT"
This spring, the Inventa Everest 2000 Environmental Expedition is being called the most significant clean-up ever undertaken of debris from the high camps of Mount Everest.

A team of eight world-renowned climbers and over 20 Sherpas will climb the South Col to Camp IV (26,000-ft.) this May to remove hundreds of discarded oxygen bottles and tons of trash left by past climbers. The team estimates there are 600 to 1,000 empty bottles at the South Col, giving it the dubious distinction of being the world's highest garbage dump. In 1995 the team recovered 135 bottles and believes it now has the expertise to bring them all down. Before returning this spring, the climbers will continue on to the summit.

"Our mission is two-fold," says Robert Chang, one of the team members. "In addition to climbing the highest peak in the world, we will make a significant clean-up of a major environment sore spot in what should be one of the most pristine places on earth. We hope to return this unique global treasure at the roof of the world back to its original condition in time for the 50th anniversary of the first ascent in 1953."

Title sponsor Inventa, an e-commerce professional services firm, sees their support as a pay-back of sorts from the high-flying technology sector. "The new Internet economy has to recognize it is involved in issues regarding the larger world as well, and that humans should consider their impact wherever they go. The Internet doesn't make the world smaller; it makes it bigger and wider, and reminds us of how we are interconnected. We want to be a part of that greater world," said David Lavanty, president and CEO of Inventa, which reinforced its Everest sponsorship by hosting a climbing wall at an Internet trade show in Boston, and placing the team's logo in their Wall Street Journal ad.

Leader of the Environmental Clean-up Team is Robert Hoffman, 56, of Belmont, Calif., making his fourth expedition to Everest. Deputy Expedition leader is Robert Boice of San Francisco. The expedition trek leader is Jamling Tenzing Norgay, son of one of the first Everest summiteers, Tenzing Norgay.

In addition, physician Sherman Bull, 63, of Stamford, Conn., is a member of the team and, upon successfully summitting, will be the oldest climber ever to reach the summit. Lead Sherpa is Appa Sherpa who, with legendary mountain guide Ang Rita, holds the world record with 10 Mt. Everest summits. Also aboard is Chuck Huss, 50, of Iowa City, Iowa, an experienced climber who amuses his neighbors by walking on his hands to train (See EN, January 2000).

There appears to be a ready market for used Everest oxygen bottles. "We sold every oxygen bottle we ever brought back to different people through our Web site and personal appearances," said Dr. Bull. Otherwise, the Everest clean-up team will send burnable and biodegradable trash to appropriate waste management facilities.

EXPEDITION MARKETING
Gore Climbs for Votes - A new television ad unveiled by the Gore campaign features Washington State-based mountaineer Jim Frush discussing his trip to the summit of Mount Rainier with Al Gore and his son Albert, Jr. Frush and the Gores climbed the 14,410-ft. active volcano over a 3-day period last August.

EXPEDITION NOTES
Take a Number - A record number of mountaineers are attempting to scale Everest during the first spring of the new millennium. More than 40 teams are expected to arrive in the Himalayan kingdom of Nepal to climb the 8850m (29,035-ft.) peak. This eclipses last year's total of 37 teams, of which 24 made it to the top.

Indoor Ice Climbing - Ice climbers now have a way to train year-round thanks to an innovative new ice climbing wall from Entre Prises of Bend, Ore. The pale-blue plastic wall, introduced at the giant Outdoor Retailer Winter Market trade show in Salt Lake last month, looks like a 24-ft. high Styrofoam food locker. A crampon and ice-axe wielding climber can ascend the stiff foam surface just as if they were on a real waterfall. Company president Eric Meade sees it as a great indoor alternative for a climbing gym. Adds Entre Prises salesman Pat Carr, "This is the first artificial ice wall in the U.S. We hope outdoor retailers will install these in their stores so climbers can try gear before they buy."

MEDIA MATTERS
Nothing But Net - "A Web connection is now recognized as one of the basic building blocks for a successful expedition," writes Douglas McDaniel in the Jan. 16 - Jan. 22 issue of Access Internet Magazine www.accessmagazine.com. "... virtual adventures have helped to raise the icon of the explorer to pop star status.

Plenty Left to Explore - In a Universal Press Syndicate story appearing in dozens of U.S. newspapers last month, writer Nancy Shute suggests, "At the threshold of the third millennium it's tempting to assume that with jet planes and 4x4s, we've been everywhere and done everything; that there's no place left to go." Not surprisingly, the president of the Explorers Club begs to differ. "There’s still plenty to explore," says Fred McLaren, "Technology is allowing us to see parts of the world we’ve never seen before."

EXPEDITION NEWS is a monthly review of significant expeditions, research projects and newsworthy adventures. It is distributed online and by mail to media representatives, corporate sponsors, educators, research librarians, explorers, environmentalists, and outdoor enthusiasts. This forum on exploration covers projects that stimulate, motivate and educate. EXPEDITION NEWS is published by Blumenfeld and Associates, Inc., 137 Rowayton Avenue, Suite 210, Rowayton, CT 06853 USA. Tel. 203-855-9400, fax 203-855-9433, blumassoc@aol.com. Editor/publisher: Jeff Blumenfeld. ©1999 Blumenfeld and Associates, Inc. All rights reserved.