Saturday 30 July 2016

             Are You Adventurous!....then packup your bags to Siachen...

       Nothing compares to this chilling giant in the Himalayas that is named Siachen Glacier. Siachen is more commonly known as the highest active battlefield in the world. The glacier is one of the coldest region on earth but the name 'Siachen' means 'places of the wild roses'. The glacier probably got the name because of the high number of wild flowers that are found in the valley below the glacier.

     With more than 2 trillion cubic feet of ice, Siachen glacier is the largest glacier in the world outside the Polar Region. The glacier is located on the northern slopes of the Karakorum Range, which is near the India -Tibet border. Siachen Glacier is around 72 km (45 miles) in length and is more than 2 km (1.2 miles) in width. There are more than 45 peaks that rise above 18000 feet within the 25 km range of Siachen Glacier. Not more than 16 have been named and only six have been climbed till now. The water from the melting Siachen glacier is source to many rivers in India and Tibet. Shaksgam River and Mutzgah River that run parallel to the mountain before cruising into Tibet are fed by the water from the glacier. Rocks and boulders are scattered on the sides of the glacier but in center there is a gigantic open area covered with few inches of snow.
      As far as adventure is concerned, Siachen Glaciers is a dream for mountaineers. Every adventurer considers a step on the top of Siachen Glacier as the greatest trophy he can get. There are many ranges around Siachen that are still to be conquered. Probably because the area is always having a large army presence in the area. Most of these ranges, just like Siachen Glacier are extremely tough to negotiate, but then that is what all dare devils crave for.
Shortest Bridge of the World ...32 feet
 

            A bridge from a home to its island backyard is said to cross over the US/Canadian border
   
      The story of Zavikon Island goes back to the late 19th century with the tiny bridge between the two islands said to be the shortest international crossing in the world. Connecting United States and Canada.
      However, some sources indicate that both islands are in fact in Canada. Nevertheless, the story endures, with the diminutive bridge's charm supplanting geographic facts. The bridge is just 32 feet long, stretching from one island to the next in the Saint Lawrence River. The whole area has clusterings of hundreds of small islands in a 50-mile-long archipelago split between New York in the United States and Ontario in Canada, with the boundaries sometimes murky in the waters.

Friday 29 July 2016

Daring..Stephan Siegrist

 Stephan Siegrist balanciert auf einer Leine über einem 150 Meter tiefen Abgrund in 5700 Metern Höhe auf  dem Kilimandscharo.
     The Swiss professional alpinist and Mammut Pro Team athlete Stephan Siegrist realized an extraordinary balancing act in the summit region of Kilimanjaro. He set a world record by walking a highline at 5,700.

Step by step someone walks – seemingly without effort – across the African sky on an exposed thin strip. The view of the steep rock and scree slopes and the swelling cloud layers far below does not quite fit a walk and yet the scene resonates with ease when Stephan Siegrist crosses a highline. The Swiss professional mountaineer has already crossed highlines on Alpine mountains such as the Matterhorn and Dufourspitze, adding to the amazing natural landscapes the surprising element of an almost playful balancing act. The highline, which is a good 20-m long and stretches between two rock towers on Kilimanjaro, is where Siegrist achieved a new record at 5,700 m above sea level: no-one has ever walked a highline at such a height. The previous world record was set in 2015 by Bence Kerekes of Hungary with a highline at 5,322 m above sea level in Ladakh, India. Siegrist has exceeded this by several hundred meters.

As an experienced alpinist, Siegrist is familiar with the challenges of height, but he could not predict how difficult it would be to keep his balance at 5,700 m above sea level. “Despite acclimatization, it was difficult to find my balance,” he says. “At this altitude, everything is slower – and that goes for balance too.” The low oxygen content of the air not only makes breathing difficult, but it also means that you feel dizzy more quickly. Placing one foot on the highline to begin the crossing was particularly difficult. “It was interesting to see how the highline responded to the slightest tension,” says Siegrist. “When I wasn’t completely relaxed, the webbing immediately trembled a bit.”

The pressure was also increased by the weather and a tight schedule. The strong gusts of wind were to be expected, but the news that it would snow on Kilimanjaro was a surprise. The chance of success under these conditions was limited to a small time window – an afternoon under the African sun, during which everything worked