In a project dubbed The Final Experiment, a group of Flat Earth proponents traveled to Antarctica at the height of summer in the southern hemisphere, expecting to witness the sun go down. It went almost exactly like you’d expect, with at least one person cautiously admitting a few pillars of his beliefs had been shaken. But others held fast to a concept that’s been negated in ways both theoretical and practical for two-and-a-half millennia.
Let’s pause here for a moment.
For any of this to make even a lick of sense, you are going to have to learn a little something about what the Flat Earth movement believes. Here it is in bullet points, so we don’t have to spend more time on it than absolutely necessary.
- Flat Earthers still exist, and they believe we live on a disc instead of a globe.
- They have all kinds of reasons for this, none of which are very good.
- One of their beliefs is that Antarctica is a narrow strip of land that circles the “disc,” with a gigantic sea in the middle. All the rest of the continents exist in the middle of this gigantic sea.
We dive deeper at the link in bio.
ExplorersWeb would like to remember the mountaineers and adventurers we lost in 2024. It was a particularly tragic year, and the full list of climbers and explorers who died is much longer than we can include here, but all have our utmost respect.
Find the list at the link in our bio.
Akihiro Oishi, Hiroki Suzuki, and Suguru Takayanagi have made the second ascent of the northeast face of 6,673m Pandra near Kangchenjunga. The three Japanese climbers have already descended safely and are on their way home.
Photo: Hidesuke Taneishi
Link in bio for more.
“February 9, 2024, we stood there again, on the summit of Torre Central (2,460m) of the Torres del Paine,” Sean Villanueva O’Driscoll, Nico Favresse, Siebe Vanhee, and photographer Drew Smith reported.
“Two days after Sean’s 43rd birthday, seven years after the first free ascent of ‘El Regalo de Mwono,’ 18 years after Nico and Sean climbed Riders on the Storm for the first time. We stood there, wind in our faces, after having done the first team free ascent of Riders on the Storm in capsule style, spending 18 days on the wall.”
More on the break-through climb at the link in our bio.
Photos: Drew Smith.
France’s Vincent Colliard has reached the South Pole, breaking the speed record from Hercules Inlet.
Colliard covered the 1,130km in 22 days, 6 hours and 8 minutes. He bested Norwegian Christian Eide’s 2011 time of 24 days, 1 hour, and 13 minutes by a little under two days.
Unlike some Antarctic speed records, which may be classified as the least slow in a very limited pool of competitors, Eide’s effort has long been considered exceptional. Over the years, others had tried to best it, but conditions had not been favorable.
Colliard averaged just over 50km per day.
International teams will finally return to the North Side of Everest this spring. But don’t expect crowds or novices among the climbers. The China Tibet Mountaineering Association (CMTA) has established strict limitations, in addition to the natural filter of higher prices.
Full story at the link in bio.
Today, ExplorersWeb would like to remember the mountaineers we lost in 2023.
“The deep pain that is felt at the death of every friendly soul arises from the feeling that there is in every individual something inexpressible, peculiar to him alone, and is, therefore, absolutely and irretrievably lost,” wrote philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer.
The full list of climbers and explorers who died this year is much longer than we can include here, but all have our utmost respect.
An infamous 2021 ultra-marathon that tragically killed 21 people has come full circle on its organizers.
The northwest China race turned deadly overnight on May 22, 2021, when desperate weather conditions suddenly befell the course. Disoriented runners scattered, either to safety or calamity.
Now, seven people who helped plan the event will face jail time. A court in Baiyin, Gansu (where the race occurred) leveled three- to five-year sentences on the individuals, state news agency Xinhua reported.
👉 Full story at the link in bio.
📷: Xinhua News
The UK’s Mount Everest Foundation is opening its grant program for climbing and scientific expeditions to Nepali citizens. It is their way to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the first ascent of Mount Everest in 1953. It also aims to correct what it diplomatically calls “a longstanding anomaly.”
Full story at the link in bio.
@mredpratt is unicylcing across Latvia, using just hiking trails! Yes, you read that right.
Check out this video, plus more on his IG page where he is documenting his journey! Read our story on him at the link in bio as well.
Best of luck, Ed 🫡
“How much luck does a climber need in life?”
Simon Messner pondered that in the wake of a scary fall his partner martin_sieberer took ice climbing last weekend. We chatted with Martin about the incident and ice climbing in general.
Find the story at the link in bio.
Photo courtesy: @messner_simon .
