NEWS

Vijay to give talk at Sinnington Primary School

2nd July 2008

Vijay Shah to give a talk on the expedition and climate change on 19th September 2008 at Sinnington Primary School, North Yorkshire

Active Magazine article on Antony Jinman

2nd July 2008

Polarventure article on www.globalwarming101.com

2nd July 2008

Click here to see the article

Vijay Shah gives presentation in Kirkbymoorside

13th June 2008

Vijay Shah will give a talk about the expedition in Kirkbymoorside, North Yorkshire on Tuesday 17th June 2008.

Polarventure talk at Exeter School

16th May 2008

Antony Jinman supported a BSES presentation at Exeter School on Wed 30th April. The presentation was given by 3 students who have been on or going on a BSES expedition and the experiences they have gained from it.

Clare Rogers told Antony:
'The 5 weeks on Disko Island was incredible the friendships and memories imprinted in my mind will never be forgotten. BSES really is a life changing experience; the way you value friendship, your outlook on life and how you perceive yourself within society are all changed. In the time we were there we were oblivious to what was happening anywhere else in the world, yet we coped just fine. The shear vastness of the landscapes around us was awe inspiring and has definitely sparked a flare inside me to discover and venture into more places as unknown as Disko before it is too late.'

Antony has been a Mountain Leader for 2 BSES expeditions and was on hand to talk to students and parents about what life was like on a expedition.

Polarventure Article in Duchy College newsletter

15th May 2008

Click here for article (right click, 'save as' to download)

Interview with Inuit outfitter, Billy

3rd May 2008

Billy is an Inuit man in his 50's. He is first generation resettled and grew up living as the Inuits traditionally did. These days the Inuits live in ready modern houses and make a living through either arts and crafts, hunting or tourism. Billy provided us with transport for our expedition. He talks here with Antony about the changes he has experienced in the climate and what he fears for the future.

Polarventure on Plymouth Sound

3rd May 2008

Plymouth Sound radio station posted a story on Polarventure:

CLICK HERE

Talk at Duchy College, Cornwall

28th April 2008

Antony gave a talk last week on climate change and expedition life to a Public Services class at the Duchy College in Cornwall. Antony had completed an HND in Public Services at Duchy College and had used what he learnt from this course to gain experience in his early expedition days.

"The talk went really well and the students were responsive and had lots of questions especially to do with the Inuits and living at -45C".

This was just the starting point as Antony went on to spend the week with the group teaching navigation and expedition planning and preparation. The aim of the week was to gain the skills needed and run their own two day expedition on Dartmoor with the added bonus of being awarded the bronze navigation award if they were good enough. "The week was a great success and the students had so much enthusiasm for doing something completely different. At times this was no easy task as at times we had strong winds and heavy showers. I was very pleased that the students took everything in their stride and completed a great week's worth of training. All students passed their navigation award, well done guys."

Pangnirtung Art Centre

21st April 2008

Uqqurmiut Art Centre is an Inuit arts facility conceived and constructed more than ten years ago to serve the Inuit artists and community of Pangnirtung. The Centre provides an effective way to present Inuit fine art and fine craft to southern markets, and this website is an extension of that idea. With few jobs in the area the centre helps a much needed market for Inuit Art.

Visitors to this website will, of course, be familiar with Inuit art. Sometimes still referred to as Eskimo art, this world-famous genre is known for its striking soapstone sculpture (formerly known as Eskimo carvings), featuring images of polar bears, seals, walruses, drum dancers, shamans and so on. Inuit art is not only known for its soapstone sculpture, but also for its distinctive fine art prints, drawings and hand crafts, the likes of which are displayed in art galleries all around the world. The community of Pangnirtung is home to its fair share of internationally recognized Inuit carvers, graphic artists, printmakers, tapestry weavers, and craftspeople. This website is intended to serve as a virtual art gallery or museum, where visitors can view and buy authentic Inuit art from these well-known Pangnirtung artists, while learning more about the Inuit from the Cumberland Sound area and elsewhere in the Arctic Circumpolar Region.

Link to the site is: http://www.uqqurmiut.com

PRIZES DRAWN

12th April 2008

1st Prize: Nite GX80 Watch Amy Fisher

2nd Prize: £250 Explore vouchers Phil Johnson

3rd Prize: £50 Survival goody bag Suzanne Palmer

Expedition route maps

12th April 2008

Large map of entire planned route

Detailed map of covered section

Expedition has returned

31st March 2008

The expedition has returned back to the UK. Read the blog on our 'map & blog' page or read our expedition press release here.

Polarventure_Success.pdf

Expedition photo gallery:Click here

Expedition has departed

5th March 2008

Keep updated by following our progress on the Map & Blog link above

Polarventure at Explore The Outdoors, Plymouth

27th February 2008

WIN £250 of Holiday Vouchers

15th February 2008

Explore.co.uk have given Polarventure vouchers worth £250 off an explore holiday.

To have a chance at winning this and other prizes, simply donate a minimum of £5 to our chosen charity, British Schools Exploring Society, through our charity website. For every £5 donation you will get an entry into the raffle, winner announced on 5th April. So if you donate £25 you will receive 5 entries.

Explore.co.uk is a world leader in providing adventurous holidays "Discover the world, discover yourself, discover something new! We're passionate about adventure travel, about seeing the world, how it really is and being responsible in all that we do."

Kit Meeting

10th February 2008

As the kit slowly builds up, Vijay and Antony meet up to evaluate it. Having the right kit is critical for a successful expedition.

Polarventure exhibiting at the Plymouth Explore Weekend 23-24th February 2008

9th February 2008

Polarventure will be exhibiting at the Explore the Outdoors exhibition at Plymouth Pavillion. Find us in the main hall all weekend.

Be-Well Foods becomes the official food supplier to Polarventure

31st January 2008

Be-Well has provided the complete nutritional management to Sir Ranulph Fiennes on all his expeditions since 1979.

Be-Well is a British company specialising in the design and manufacture of unique nutrition products including Health Products, Vegetarian Foods, Outdoor Foods, Expedition Rations, Military Foods and Fitness Supplements.

WIN a Nite timepiece worth £300

25th January 2008

Nite watches have donated a third GX80 watch to Polarventure to help raise funds for the youth charity BSES Expeditions

For your chance to win, visit our charity website and donate £5 to BSES Expeditions. For every £5 donation you will get an entry into the raffle, winner announced on 5th April. So if you donate £25 you will receive 5 entries.

The Nite GX80 in the New Watch Collection has a gun metal PVD case with chronograph functionality for time measurement to 1/10th second.

The new Nite GX80 offers a sleek and ergonomic styling pedigree.

Nite watches become the Official Timepiece Sponsor of Polarventure

24th January 2008

A unique collection of the finest sports watches featuring tritium illumination.

This highly specialised technology delivers a dial illumination system that sets Nite apart from other brands, resulting in a watch that can be instantly read in all light conditions.

Every Nite watch is manufactured to exacting standards using the highest quality materials. Swiss movements, high grade solid stainless steel cases and ultra-thick sapphire crystals are just some of the components that combine to create a range of sports watches that will deliver unsurpassed performance in the most extreme conditions.

Article in Explore

23rd January 2008

Polarventure article in Explore.co.uk.

Carbon Offsetting

21st January 2008

Polarventure is now carbon neutral through Rainforest Concern. Rainforest Concern iis a Registered Charity in the UK, established to protect threatened natural habitats and the biodiversity they contain, together with the indigenous people who still depend on them for survival.

Press Release

19th January 2008

Polarventure press release online. Click here.

Charity

7th January 2008

Polarventure is in support of the youth development charity BSES Expeditions. The British Schools Exploring Society (BSES Expeditions) is a unique youth development Charity specialising in wilderness adventure and environmental science expeditions.

Visit our charity website to donate: https://www.bmycharity.com/V2/polarventure.

Polarventure aims to raise £10,000 for BSES Expeditions so please give generously.

Talks

6th January 2008

Polarventure are giving a talk to the Plymouth Marine Conservation Society on 28th February 2008

Media

4th January 2008

Polarventure news article in The Plymouth Herald. Click Here

Sponsors

14th December 2007

Yellow Brick provides Polarventure with satellite tracking capability.

Media

12th December 2007

Polarventure article on Plas y Brenin online newsletter! Click here or visit http://www.pyb.co.uk/news/news-detail.php?id=15.

Plas y Brenin news site receives 1,800 unique visitors everyday.

Education

11th December 2007

Polarventure education site is now up! Click here or see the education link on the top bar.

Media

8th December 2007

Polarventure article in the Autumn edition of the BSES newsletter.

Click here to see the article.

Team Change

4th December 2007

Adam Marconiwiz the third team member has had to back out of the expedition due to personal circumstances.

Sorry you couldn't make it mate! - Polarventure

Education on climate change and exploration

28th November 2007

Polarventure want to use the fortunate position they have to promote and inspire young people on the effects of climate change and exploration and promote cross-cultural awareness between Inuits and the UK. Polarventure are in talks with a number of schools regarding this

Traidcraft makes a lunch offer

26th November 2007

traidcraft have offered to provide fairtrade snack bars for the expedition.

Vijay Shah appears in local community magazine

16th October 2007

click here to read the article.

Royal Geographical Society Support

16th October 2007

The expedition has received support from the Royal Geographical Society.

First Team Meeting

18th June 2007

This weekend saw our first team meeting. Vijay, Adam and I hitched up in London to discuss the route and have a look over our new maps of the Ice Cap. The route up onto the Ice Cap looks on map fairly straight forward, rising over 1200m over 30km, however this will be at the start of the expedition with fully loaded sledges. To help with the weight we agreed to carry expedition rucksacks to help balance the loads.

Once on the Ice Cap its a nice 80km over the Ice Cap taking in the highest points before trying to find a rout off the ice. This will prove to be the hardest of tasks as at present we are working off 1:250 000 scale maps (not the most detailed of maps). The area also has had few visitors, so the state of the glaciers off the Ice Cap is unknown. The only acceptable route lies on the south east side of the Ice Cap near the stunning summit of Mount Asgard. This is an area that we’ve all agreed to spend a bit of time, weather permitting to explore and summit a number of peaks.

From here we plan to follow the Akshayuk Pass up to our pick up point, an additional 90 km. Round trip is about 200km. We also agreed to do this over 3 weeks to allow for bad weather days and time to explore peaks.

Maps of the Penny Ice Cap

11th June 2007

After a long search the maps required for expedition have arrived, A big thank you to Richard at Federal Maps in Toronto for getting hold of these.

Polarventure.co.uk is born

30th May 2007

Today is the day that polarventure.co.uk was released on the Internet. The aim of the site is to give support to our expedition to the Penny Ice Cap, to help spread awareness for the International Polar Year and the charity BSES. The site will also help advertise our sponsors and their support to the project.

A running Blog will also help keep everyone up to date with the expedition. Not only once the expedition is running but also on the build up to the trip, so you can see how that planning is organized and watch the expedition come together.