The Adventurers’ Club of Los Angeles^®

At the North Pole, 25 July 2008

For over 200 years polar explorers have been trying to reach the North Pole. After Robert E. Peary supposedly reached it in 1909, other explorers have reached it by airplane, balloon, parachute, submarine and even snowmobile. In 1977 the Russians started a trend by sending the ice breaker Arktika to the Pole followed by more ice breakers loaded with paying passengers. Quark Expeditions in 1994 began chartering the nuclear powered YAMAL which has been cruising to the North Pole for the past 20 years. Finally in 2008 the largest nuclear icebreaker the Russian ever built – the Fifty Years of Victory – entered service and dashed to the Pole 3 times that summer setting a new speed record in the process.

Abandoned Russian Research Station in Franz Josef Land

Lured by the Arctic polar region, its history, Club member Rich Abele (#1172) embarked on the Fifty Years of Victory in July 2008 for a cruise to the North Pole. Carrying approximately 120 passengers, this mammoth-sized ship left Murmansk and headed northwest through the Barents Sea and the Franz Josef Land archipelago, and onto the ice-covered Pole.

Enroute passengers were able to board the Mil-8 helicopter and witness the ship breaking ice while keeping a sharp lookout for polar bears. After spending almost 8 hours at the North Pole, the ship made landings on 4 islands in Franz Josef Land before dashing to the coast of Novaya Zemlya where we observe a spectacular total solar eclipse.

Fifty Years of Victory Breaking Ice

Rich has a strong interest in both of the Polar Regions. In addition to two trips to the Arctic Ocean (one in his SUV to Prudhoe Bay, Alaska), he has been to the Antarctic 5 times including a visit to the South Pole via a DC-3 in 2011.

He spoke to the Club in January of this year about being “stuck on the ice” for 9 days at a remote basecamp while waiting for a transport aircraft and decent weather.

Please join us for a fascinating presentation about attaining “90 degrees north.”

The Adventurers’ Club of Los Angeles wishes to thank Club member Rich Abele for volunteering to fill in for Dr. Roy Roush with his exciting presentation “Cruise to the North Pole & Chasing a Total Solar Eclipse.”

Boarding a Helo on Ziegler Island, Franz Josef Land

Pushing an Iceberg in the Arctic Ocean

The Adventurers’ Club of Los Angeles^®

Piper Mackay

One the most surreal continents on the planet, Africa is a tapestry of dramatic eco systems, exotic wildlife and ancient cultures that are mesmerizing for the eyes, mind and soul. Experience the rhythm of its heartbeat as professional cultural and wildlife photographer, Piper Mackay, leads you on a visual journey through the remote tribal regions of Ethiopia, Namibia, Tanzania, and Kenya. She recently completed her first decade of work in Africa that celebrates the extraordinary diversity and beauty of Africa’’s indigenous cultures.

Piper will share her adventures that take her deep off the beaten path, immersed into tribal villages, in her drive to create compelling imagery and stories that make a difference. She recently spent two weeks living in Dus, the main village of the Kara tribe in the Omo Valley, Ethiopia. She was the only guest invited to their bull jumping ceremony that only happens every few years and has rarely been documented. Last October, accompanied by several elders whom she has befriended, she went before the main council of 60+ tribal members to obtain special permission to attend this extraordinary event.

The event has no set date, so she was on stand by for many months with only the indication that the ceremony would be in late spring. When the call came, she had only 30 hours to get on a plane and travel almost four straight days, to make it in time.

Directly after returning from Ethiopia, she headed to Kenya, driving on the legendary road, through the vast Chalbi desert in route to Lake Turkana in Northern Kenya, for a unique tribal festival.

During her presentation she will share the difficulties of communication, navigating through challenging situations, taking risk, but always paying attention to safety. She will discuss the challenges of shooting in harsh light, what makes a compelling composition, the sensitivity of paying for photographs, the effect of tourism on the tribes and the encroachment of the digital age and modernization. We are at a crucial crossroads losing ancient languages, traditions, wisdom and wildlife, never to be replaced. At risk is our human legacy, a vast archive of knowledge. Join us to find out why Piper believes photography can play a crucial roll in helping to sustain and revitalize cultures on the edge.

Piper Mackay is a wildlife and cultural documentary photographer whose work is heavily concentrated on the African continent. Her work is licensed through Getty Images top collections. Her images have been displayed at the Smithsonian Natural History Museum in Washington DC, The Museum of History and industry in Seattle Washington, The Art Wolfe gallery, The G2 gallery, as well as local galleries in the Los Angels area. Featured articles of her work have been displayed in major publications such as Outdoor Photographer, Rangefinder, Nature photographer, and selamta, as well as several regional publications. Her images have graced the pages of National Geographic, Natures Best, National Geographic Expeditions, WWF calendars, birders and many others. She is part of the Gura Gear ProTeam and she leads wildlife safaris and cultural photo tours throughout Africa.

The Adventurers’ Club of Los Angeles thanks Dr. Steve Bein for recommending this speaker.