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Rock Climbing News - April 2010
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Monday, 19 April 2010WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Hanesbrands Inc., which is leading Expedition Hanesbrands to climb Mount Everest this spring, announced today that it will take Winston-Salem, N.C., high school student LaQuishia Stone to visit the world's highest mountain to inspire other students to set ambitious goals in life.
The 17-year-old Carver High School junior and school guidance counselor Theresa Hame r were selected to represent the school community, affectionately known as Carver Nation, on the expedition after writing essays and conducting interviews with a selection committee. LaQuishia's mother, LaShonda Stone, will accompany her daughter.
The roundtrip cultural expedition that will travel through Himalayan Sherpa villages departs April 21 and will take three weeks. If the group makes it to Everest base camp at 17,700 feet, they will get a firsthand glimpse of the staging area for climbing the world's highest mountain whose summit is 29,035 feet.
LaQuishia and Hamer will communicate from the mountain via written, video, and audio postings on the official Expedition Web site – www.ClimbWithUs.com.
"I am so excited to go to Mount Everest," LaQuishia said. "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to experience a foreign culture, and something I will remember forever. My friends and family did not believe me at first when I told them I was going to Mount Everest. Now that they know the trip is for real everyone has been sending well-wishes and letting me know they are proud of me for making this journey."
Hanesbrands and the leader of its expedition, international mountaineer Jamie Clarke, challenged Carver High students to join the expedition by writing essays describing their own "personal Everests." LaQuishia's essay described her dream of becoming a music producer and her goal of sharing lessons from her trip with her classmates for the betterment of Carver Nation.
The trek will be the teen’s first trip outside of the United States and a world away from her routine in Winston-Salem.
"Here in Winston-Salem, I spend a lot of time playing sports like football and basketball, hanging out with friends and listening to music," LaQuishia said. "I cannot imagine what it will be like to travel to Nepal, experience the sights and sounds of Katmandu and climb to base camp on Mount Everest. I have been researching the culture. It is going to be so different to see what life is like on the other side of the world, and I’m sure it will change the way I look at things back at home. This trip will be one of the most important experiences of my life."
Hamer noted that LaQuishia will be a great ambassador for the school. "The entire Carver family could not be more excited for LaQuishia," Hamer said. "She is a terrific person and the faculty and student body are very proud to have her represent us in an event of this magnitude. On a personal level, I am also excited to accompany LaQuishia to Mount Everest and extremely grateful to Hanesbrands for this opportunity."
LaQuishia was selected based on the strength of her essay and her in-person interview with the selection committee, as well as her academic performance, extracurricular activities and recommendations from faculty members.
"All of the candidates were very impressive," said Charlie Stack, Hanesbrands' program manager for Expedition Hanesbrands. "What struck us most about LaQuishia was the way she steps up and embraces a challenge. We felt she would perform well and be an outstanding ambassador for Carver. Her outgoing personality will allow her to share her experience with others so that her journey will not only touch the life of LaQuishia, but the entire Carver student body."
The Carver contingent will experience the nonclimbing aspects of a Mount Everest expedition and Himalayan life. The cultural immersion and learning opportunity, including visits to temples and shopping bazaars and stays in Sherpa lodges, will include several days in Katmandu, the capital of Nepal.
After a short flight from Katmandu to the village of Lukla at 9,250 feet elevation, the team will then undertake a 15-day roundtrip walking trek to Mount Everest base camp for a one-night visit with the climbing team at 17,700 feet – nearly three times higher than Mount Mitchell, the highest point in North Carolina.
The trek traverses the Khumbu Valley, where there are no mechanized vehicles. Commerce and everyday life depend on goods transported by humans and animals, including the ever-present yak. The trekkers will cross suspension bridges, hike along rivers, traverse valleys with vistas of towering Himalayan peaks and visit villages, shopping bazaars and lodges to experience Sherpa culture firsthand.
Hanesbrands and its employees have partnered with Carver High School in the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Schools district for more than 20 years. The company has focused on supporting students' academic achievement and citizenship to improve attendance and graduation rates through project funding and employee volunteerism.
Source: www.businesswire.com
Wednesday, 14 April 2010The award winning innovators at Dogtag took the decision to extend cover following increased awareness that independent travelers were not covered under the Governments ATOL when booking component parts of travel separately.
"We are known for extreme sports and covering pursuits which other providers would not dream of, however we have realised that a lot of our customers are building their own travel itinerary and therefore providing financial security to them is just as important as our sports versatility, especially in the current environment," stated Mike Welby, Director at Dogtag.
Dogtag has three levels of cover with the highest 'Extreme' covering activities such as rock climbing, expeditions, paragliding and canyoning. Each insured person is provided with an unique identity chain (the Dogtag) which includes important details including their name, identity number and emergency contact in the event of an accident.
The cover now includes protection for insolvency of airlines, hotels, hostels, car hire companies, excursion providers, theme parks and any other end supplier. The cover is provided by International Passenger protection Ltd (IPP), the specialists in providing this niche cover.
"We will continue to innovate our products to meet our clients needs, a perfect example being the financial failure cover, with the result being that Dogtag clients have exceptional cover and can really enjoy their trip," concluded Welby.
INFORMATION
• International Passenger Protection Limited (IPP) formed in 1990.
• IPP is the largest and main supplier of Scheduled Airline Failure Insurance (SAFI) and cover for other parts of the holiday in the UK and world-wide operating in over 30 countries.
• IPP operates as an underwriting agency on behalf of insurers and re-insurers who's combined net worth exceeds Euro 100 Billion
Source: www.prlog.org
Tuesday, 13 April 2010In anticipation of yet another record year, Brownstone management plans to hire at least 60 seasonal employees: lifeguards, certified challenge course facilitators (belaying), retail, maintenance and bus drivers. Since first opening in 2006, Brownstone has experienced unprecedented growth year after year with families, companies, and action-obsessed New Englanders clamoring for adventure sports: rock climbing, zip lines, wakeboarding, cliff-jumping and scuba diving (to name just a few).
Brownstone hires only the best and treats their employees well. They deliberately hire like-minded people to represent the park: environmentally aware action freaks; people who work hard and play hard, and are committed to making sure everyone around them is happy (and safe!) too. This defines Brownstone and their employees.
BROWNSTONE NEEDS YOU!
In addition to a paycheck, employees play for free and receive killer discounts for their friends and family. No kidding - that's why so many people love working at Brownstone and come back year after year. Bring friends to check out the Brownstone Job Fair April 17, where ample opportunities exist at the coolest place in Connecticut, and earn some of the best wages while doing it.
Use Spring Break to get Certified for Brownstone Work
Use Spring Break to become certified in belaying or lifeguarding at the Brownstone Get-Certified-Get-to-Work Event. Full Red Cross Waterfront Lifeguarding training is being offered, as well as Certified Challenge Course Facilitator (Belaying) training. Classes run April 19-25, and applicants completing training classes and subsequently hired at Brownstone will receive up to a 50% refund on the certification courses.
Applications can be downloaded or completed on site. Qualified candidates may be hired on the spot.
For more details visit www.BrownstonePark.com or call toll free 866-860-0208.
Source: www.prlog.org
Monday, 12 April 2010Pune - Shri Satish Marathe, President, Giridarshan Trekking Club along with Mr. Anil Khaire, President Safe Climbing Initiative (SCI) jointly announced that Vanarlingi ( Khada Parsi ) re-bolting project has been successfully completed.
The scenic location of Vanarlingi (Khada Parsi) is situated near Nane Ghat, 24 kms away from Junner. One can go to Ghatghar Village from Junnar by road after which a small trek route of 2kms leads to Fort Jivdhan where we can reach in approx 1½ hrs. This fort was a controlling point on a trade route passing through Nane Ghat which was in use since more than 2000 years. The location of the Vanarlingi ( Khada Parsi ) is just next to Jivdhan fort. Climbing height of this pinnacle is 400ft from its base. This pinnacle posses a great challenge to rock climbers & adventure lovers. It was first climbed in 1983 by a Mumbai based Mountaineering Club. The climbing grade of this pinnacle is very difficult and one should always carry a complete set of rock climbing equipment with them. Earlier many rock climbers used to climb this pinnacle on old bolts which were not tested for their weight capacity & life.
Mr. Satish Marathe, President, Giridarshan Trekking Club, said, "On Thursday 11th March 2010 this expedition started with team members from both NGO's Giridarshan Trekking Club and Safe Climbing Initiative, reached the base of Vanarlingi which is also called as Khada Parsi. The first day was kept reserved for establishing the campsite and arranging for other things like water etc. On 12th of March actual action started with the climb of the pinnacle."
"Indraneel & Shripad started climbing the pinnacle in the morning at 7.30am & reached on the top at 11.30am, while climbing they placed the safety bolts at each station till summit. There are 4 stations and the distance between 2 stations is about 25 Mtrs. While doing all this Swanand Joshi started climbing the pinnacle. During his climb he marked all the re-bolting points for placement of bolts."
From the 2nd day technical team started placing all the bolts on the climbing face and after placing all the bolts 2 teams climbed the entire pinnacle to recheck the positions. Corrections were made according to their suggestions, and finally the route was made safe.
Mr. Surendra Shelkhe, Secretary, SCI said, "The main attraction of this fort is Valley crossing, which is now safe by successful completion of rebolting project. The new bolts are made out of V2A steel. The climber's need to drill 9 cm deep and 18 mm wide hole at the marked location, with this we also use a special Chemical Tube for fixing the bolts. Battery operated drill machines used for this only drives 4 or 5 holes in one recharge and for this a generator was arranged on the site. By using this method the climb was made safe by placing 62 bolts on the pinnacle."
After this Jivdhan fort was made safe by placing 15 bolts. Trekking route from Ghatghar side to the fort was made safe by using 4 bolts of 9cms & the other entrance of the fort was made safe by using 6 bolts of 9cms. The top section of the fort from where people do valley crossing directly on the Vanarlingi (Khada Parsi) pinnacle, at this location we used 18cms long bolts. In all 77 bolts were placed for safety of the Pinnacle & the fort.
Shri Anil Khaire (President- SCI) has requested all Climbers, Trekkers, Mountaineers all Trekking and Mountaineering clubs to join SCI for this work.
Special Thanks to Mr. Dieter who got the special machine from Germany, which helped the SCI members to finish the project on time.
There was a strong team of 150 members from Giridarshan and Safe Climbing Initiative to complete this project. Purshottam Thakar from Giridarshan trekking club & Vikas Kaduskar from SCI were the project leaders for this project. Surendra Shelke, Vivek Marathe, Swanand Joshi, Shripad Sapkal, Dr. Narendra Patil, Ramesh Gulve, Sagar Palkar, Indraneel, Balaji Mane, Somnath Shinde, Sudhir Nigde, Satyavan, Praveen, Shrihari, Kalidas, Anand Birajdar, Prashant Pawar etc. installed the bolts & completed the project at actual location. Kitchen, Logistics and all other work was well managed by Shrikant, Siddharth, Pramod, Adinath, Shrikant Chavan, Rajendra, Amit Modak, Ranjeet, Ajit Kale, Yogesh, Ishani, Santosh, Avinav, Amit Govande, Kavita etc.
Dr. Bhushan Dhande from B J Medical College Mountaineering Academy took care of Medical facility for this Expedition. Photography credit goes to Prasad Dabke & Video shooting credit to Prashant Pawar.
Source: www.prlog.org
Sunday, 11 April 2010A Cape Town-based Communications agency is conducting a rather unusual search. Matrix Advertising & Communications is looking for a Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma cancer survivor willing to take up the daunting task of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro, in an attempt to raise awareness for the disease - its not for the faint-hearted.
Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma is frequently misdiagnosed because its sympt oms are very similar to other illnesses such as influenza and tuberculosis.
The causes are unknown but the most common early symptoms of Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma is painless swelling of the lymph nodes, usually in the neck, armpit, groin or abdomen.
Other symptoms include:
- Night sweats or a recurring fever
- Tiredness and weight loss
- Unexplained fever
- A cough or breathlessness
It is estimated that over a million people worldwide live with lymphoma, a group of cancers affecting immune system cells prevalent in the lymphatic system of the body.
In a build up to the winter season as cold and flu symptoms become more prevalent, they will be raising awareness through this climb.
Robby Kojetin who gained recognition after becoming the 17th South African to summit the world's highest peak, Mount Everest will be captaining this climb. He is an experienced climber who is passionate about the cause, having lost one of his best friends to this cancer.
Matrix Advertising & Communications is looking for a lymphoma survivor that is willing to do the climb, all expenses paid, towards mid April this year. This promises to be a once in a lifetime opportunity and represents overcoming gigantic obstacles.
If you are interested, or know of a lymphoma survivor who would like to do the climb, please contact either Jeremy Coutts or Mark Bastiaans at Matrix Advertising & Communications, Cape Town, on 021 426 2571 / 0824931127. Alternatively, email: media@matrixads.co.za
Source: www.free-press-release.com
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