Swooping - Skydiving on Steroids

Swooping or Canopy piloting as it's technically called involves a new form of skydiving. The canopy pilot deploying their canopy at 5000 ft, piloting their canopy to an "execution" point over the swoop course, then turning into a rotating dive dramatically increasing the canopy's speed. The canopy pilot stops the canopy's rotation on the proper course heading, while at the correct altitude allowing their canopy to recover from the dive and level out with maximum speed before entering the course, Maximum speeds regularly reaching in excess of 90 mph. Essentially, swooping is using a much smaller parachute to increase the speed of the descent so that you can skim at speeds of 90 mph over a prepared course on water.

This new skydiving discipline now has a Pro Swooping Tour for hardcore enthusiasts to test their swooping skills against other competitors. I saw this on TV the other day and saw them swoop over tree canopies, glaciers and rocky terrain at high speed. I am sure that swooping will be in the Philippines very soon and I can suggest a swooping course for them - CAMSUR. You heard it here first.

Skeleton Coast - Air Safari's

Conjure up visions of mist shrouded windswept beaches bordered by wild seas strewn with bleached whalebones and rusted shipwrecks, rolling sand dunes, vast desert plains, fossil beds and unique rock formations. Now imagine traversing this wild and haunting landscape by plane and you have Skeleton Coast Safari's in Namibia.

Operated by the pioneering Schoemann Family, they have set out to redefine African safari's by using a plane as a safari vehicle and exploring the forbidding coastline of the skeleton coast. Highlights of the trip include desert coastlines with roaring dunes ; ancient rock drawings ; living fossil trees ; ugab rock formations ; red lava and yellow sandstone environs ; nomadic Himba tribes and panoramic vistas of the Hartmann Valley. Because of the unique landscape and remoteness of the area, these trips are a photographers paradise and it is recommended that you bring extra photo equipment. Accommodations are comfortable & well equipped in exclusive fully tented camps and are located in spots selected for their unique beauty.

Queenstown, NZ - ADVENTURE TOWN

Queenstown in New Zealand's South Island can lay claim as one of the top adventure destinations in the world. It is blessed with glacial rivers and lakes set against the backdrop of the Remarkables Mountain Range. It has been argued that adventure tourism started in Queenstown in the early 70's. A farmer named Bill Hamilton invented a jet powered boat that can maneuver in just a few inches of water. The Shotover Jetboat ride was born and all kinds of daredevil activities like bungee jumping , base jumping and whitewater rafting followed.

30 years on and Queenstown is firmly established on the must go list of all adventure seekers worldwide. Take to the skies over Lake Wakatipu by helicopter, hang-glider and parachute; descend river canyons by raft, kayak and jetboat; experience bungy jump off the 440 foot Nevis Highwire; abseil into gorges and swing across them on the 360 foot Shotover Canyon Swing. The list goes on with 4 WD safari, canyoning, rock climbing, heli- skiing, tramping, fly fishing, horseback riding and fly in an aerobatic plane. It is also a wine growing region and has been used as locations for the Lord of the Rings Trilogy and XMen films. This place is at the top of my TO DO list.

ICON - Flying Jetski

Got this from NatGeo Blog. The ICON A5 Amphibious Sport Aircraft is everyman's dream of owning a plane and taking off for a weekend flight. The aircraft is 22 Ft Long, carbon hulled, barrels in at 120mph, folding wings and takes 20 gallons of unleaded gasoline. With it's folding wings, you can tow it behind your car and go to the lake and launch it like a jetski. The canopy inside looks just like a car dashboard with twin joysticks for control. The ICON costs U$ 139,000 (cheaper than a Ferrari) and will be rolling out of the ICON Aircraft factory by 2011.

So how does one get to fly this amazing aircraft? The ICON is part of a new category called Light Sport Aircraft where you can get a special license for Sport Pilots from the FAA in the US. Flight Training is a minimum of 20 hours costing U$ 3,500 which allows you to fly at 10,000 feet and go cross country. Restrictions are no flying at night and no flying in bad weather. Why would you want to fly into a thunderstorm in a 22 foot flying jetski anyway? Checkout out the incredible flight video of the ICON.

BIG GAME Fishing - Spratly Islands

The Spratly's, a group of 650 reefs, atolls and islands in the middle of South China Sea, has been a flashpoint of gunboat diplomacy and demarcation of international boundaries since 1933. China, Vietnam, Taiwan, Philippines and Malaysia all have competing claims and have established military bases in this area. The map on the right shows the Spratly region with the disputed area's among the 5 countries. So whats all the fuss about these rocks in the middle of the sea? Besides being in the middle of the busiest shipping lanes and an estimated 17 billion tons of oil reserves, the Spratly's is blessed with one of the world's most productive fishing areas.

Imagine fishing in the middle of uninhabited coral atolls plunging to depths of 2,500 meters hunting for big game fish. Trophy fish like Black Marlin, Sailfish, Yellowfin Tuna, Giant Trevally, Giant Grouper and Hammerhead Sharks are on the list of targeted species. Specialty bottom fishing at night to depths of 250 meters can net the elusive blunt nose six gill shark, baracouta and escolar. Since 2003, IGFA sponsored Labuan Intl GameFishing Tournament has been held in the Spratly's. I was fortunate enough to fish the malaysian spratly's in the 90's and it's truly a mecca for big game fishing enthusiasts. There are now fishing safari charters on modern fishing yacht's for 5 days of fishing to Malaysian held Swallow & Ardasier Reefs. Charters are available for the 2010 season. Send an email to: adventure@intrepid.ph

INTREPID Adventurer - Reinhold Messner

Reinhold Messner, the maverick rock climber, green politician, high altitude alpinist, Yeti Hunter and controversial rule breaker. The superlatives are endless in trying to describe arguably the greatest mountain climber of all time.

Messner pioneered the solo ascent without supplemental oxygen to the highest peaks of Mt. Everest & Nanga Parbat and broke all conventional wisdom for high altitude climbing. Messner set the agenda for modern mountaineering. He stripped the sport to its basic form. He tossed away the concept of oxygen tanks and big teams and camps, and made mountaineering a more equal contest between man and mountain. He wrote about what it was like to live and die where the air is so thin that every breath is a triumph. He became the first real solo rock star climber. When he climbed Lhotse in 1986, he became the first man to climb all 14 mountains above 8,000 meters. Messner said, 'We were real mountaineers: careful, aware and even afraid. By climbing mountains we were not learning how big we were. We were finding out how breakable, how weak and how full of fear we are. You can only get this if you expose yourself to high danger. I have always said that a mountain without danger is not a mountain.' Reinhold Messner - INTREPID ADVENTURER

Paradise Found by Motorbike

I’ve been fortunate enough to ride some incredible roads – roads in the Alps, in Australia, in America, in South Africa – but none of them – NONE – have combined riding challenge, surface quality, location, weather and a lack of traffic to quite the same effect as this. - BIKE UK Magazine 2007

"More then 200 turns of every kind of camber and radius imaginable, one following the other with no straightaways in between. Dragging pegs through hairpins, throwing my weight across the bike while rolling the power on through the curve. I’ll be dreaming of that road for years to come and I don’t have enough expletives to properly describe it to you.“This next section is 60km of insanity,” he quips before sending me off. I tear off down this unimaginably empty road where I hit 170km, then brake into huge sweeping corners at 140km, slowing into 90km inclined hairpins and I just kept trying to ramp more speed into each corner" - Mike S. from Canada

Imagine traversing the wild landscape of Borneo on 650 Trail Bikes. 300 kilometers of intense riding on daily jaunts to the many scenic backdrops of Borneo. Ride along beaches, streams, gravel trails and numerous winding tarmacs. Cross the Crocker Mountain Range 5,000 feet above sea level and witness the spectacular views of Mt. TrusMadi. Wind your way through waterfalls, paddy fields, village trails and have lunch in quaint coffee shops. Explore mangrove swamps and negotiate sections called “Slalom 1 & 2 , Formula 1 & The Bomb Hole.” End your days with a swim, cocktails over sunset and prepare for barbeque dinner on the patio overlooking the lights of town. Riding Paradise has been found! If your interested in Motorbiking in Borneo, send an email to: adventure@intrepid.ph

Via Ferrata - Rock Climbing for Everyone

Via Ferrata, ( iron ladder in italian) is a mountain route which is equipped with fixed cables, steps, ladders and bridges. These via ferrata's were first used in Italy during WW1 to assist the movement of mountain infantry. Walkers and novice climbers can follow via ferrata's to isolated mountain routes with very little climbing experience and the danger associated with unassisted climbing is diminished. Alpine Walking Holidays for via ferrata are very popular during Summer season in European countries like Italy, Germany, France & Switzerland.

I have personally experienced the first Asian via ferrata in Malaysia. It is an incredible thrill to be able to climb the vertical rockface of a mountain as the spectacular views are unmatched by any regular mountain trail. The fear of hanging on the cliff edge at 10,000 feet above the clouds is quickly tempered by the secure feeling of the iron cable fixtures and steps. You rapidly come to grips with walking the iron steps and you find yourself moving across the vertical rockface like any other mountain trail. This is as close as your going to get to climbing El Capitan. If your interested in via ferrata, send an email to: adventure@intrepid.ph

Red Demons of Mexico

The Giant Squids of Baja or commonly known as the Humboldt Squid can now be seen up close via a unique tether diving system. The Red Demon Squid, an apex predator, can reach the size of 7 Feet and weigh over 150 pounds and has a very bad reputation among local fishermen. Travelers craving encounters with the world's weirdest wildlife need not look further than the red demon squid and is the newest thrill for seekers of high-adrenalin diving adventures.The animal has three hearts, blue blood, eight arms, two tentacles and 70,000 teeth," says Scott Cassell, team leader for Sea Wolves. "Even though you are wearing chain mail armor, its beak can snap a hand, arm or foot off if you're not careful. Diving with the giant squid is not for novices."

The recent videos in Discovery & History Channels on the red demon squid was probably the inspiration for the legendary Kraken and the Giant Squid (Archituthis). The thrill of diving with this living monster will be an experience of a lifetime.

The Supreme Test - Namibia Ultra Marathon

The third edition of the Namibia 24 Hour Ultra Marathon is slated for May 24, 2010. Known as the ultimate endurance test for distance runners, the marathon will cover 126 kilometers within a 24 hour period. Water stations and medical tents are located every 21 kms. Runners will have to be self-sufficient throughout, carrying all their food, water, energy bars and change of clothing on their backs. The setting is the forbidding Namib Desert where temperatures will range from 36 degrees to 5 degrees at night. Competitors will travel along the dusty gravel plains, dry riverbeds and vast sand expanses of the oldest desert in the world, before passing through the spectacular Messum Crater and finishing at one of the most hostile coastlines on earth, the Skeleton Coast.

From the race accounts, I can only imagine the suffering that the runners will endure in such a harsh climate like the Namib Desert. Most of the runners are accomplished marathoners who have trained as best as they could to simulate the unrelenting conditions of the desert. They talk about getting goose bumps, raging thirst and hallucinations and all the symptoms of heatstroke. Some runners are beaten to a pulp and look haunted, but somehow they soldier on carried by their will to finish. This grand adventure, the camaraderie among like minded souls and the participation in the most supreme challenge is what sets this race apart.

Killer CROC of Burundi

The legendary Gustave, the killer crocodile of Burundi strikes again. The infamous maneater was reportedly spotted by Patrice Faye, a naturalist who has been tracking the croc since 1998. Gustave is 20 feet long and weighs in at 2,000 pounds and is reputed to have devoured hundreds of villagers in the shores of Lake Tanganyika.

I saw the episode from NatGeo that was dedicated to capturing Gustave a couple of years ago. A full expedition, complete with high tech equipment and a purpose built trap, tried for weeks to capture the croc but to no avail. A crocodile this big and this old is just too smart to fall victim to a steel trap. NatGeo's story on Gustave recieved the highest number of hits in the history of it's website. This story just shows how our society needs it's monsters to survive. Let's hope that NatGeo considers another expedition to track and capture Gustave. We need our Monsters whether real or imagined (Bigfoot, Yeti).

Mt. Kinabalu Climbathon

The 23rd edition of the Mt. Kinabalu Climbathon will be held on Oct. 24-25, 2009 in Sabah, Malaysia. The climbing marathon will be held in SE Asia's highest mountain at 14,000 feet and Malaysia's first world heritage site. Arguably the world's toughest mountain race, this event is held in conjuction with Sabah Parks and the International Skyrunning Federation and is part of the 7 race skyrunning world series.

I climbed this mountain and I thought I was fairly fit and it still took me 9 hours to climb the 8.7 kilometer trail to the summit and another 4 hours just to get down to the starting point. What slows you down is how you deal with physical & mental fatigue and altitude sickness. The hardest part is the descent because you have to deal with tired legs and mental fatigue and it is very easy to slip on the rocks and injure yourself. The winner of the race last year clocked in at 2hrs and 45 minutes. What else can you say? Leave it to the professionals :)

The Lost World of New Guinea

The Natural History Unit of BBC just came back from their expedition in the heart of Papua New Guinea. The team of scientists found a Lost World of new animal species on an extinct kilometer deep volcano crater of Mt. Bosavi. The prisitine jungles within the crater allowed many animals to develop in isolation for the last 200,000 years since the volcano last erupted.

Among the 40 new unidentified species of animals, the most bizzare was a giant woolly rat the size of a house cat and a kangaroo that evolved to live in trees. The isolation of the site has conditioned the animals not to be afraid of humans. It is astounding to think that there are patches of nature that still remain untouched and undiscovered. The challenge now is to protect and save these natural edens from habitat loss because of logging.