Filmmaker James Cameron became the first person to complete a solo submarine dive to the ocean's deepest point on Monday near Guam. Cameron descended nearly seven miles to the Mariana Trench in a custom-built sub called Deepsea Challenger. He had hoped to spend several hours gathering scientific data on the ocean floor but was forced to surface when a hydraulic system controlling the sub's mechanical arm failed. Cameron said he saw very few lifeforms. "It was bleak," he said. "It looked like t... Read More
A team of three climbers on March 10 completed the first-ever winter ascent of the Evolution Traverse, a nine-peak, eight-mile route in California's Sierra Nevada range. Shay Har-Noy, Ben Horne, and Konstantin Stoletov, who climb together as members of the group PullHarder, climbed over seven days and spent several nights sleeping in exposed terrain. Temperatures dropped as low as -7 Farenheit and wind speeds topped out at 90 miles per hour.
Read more at Climbing
A Dutch man who posted a video of himself "flying" with paraglider-like wings has admitted that the video was a hoax. Floris Kaayk, an animation artist and filmmaker, starred in the video as "Jarno Smeets," a man who claimed to have invented a wingsuit that allowed him to fly by flapping his arms. The video quickly went viral, garnering more than 9 million views. Doubts about the video's veracity arose after the engineering institutions "Smeets" claimed to belong to said they didn't know him. ... Read More
The French Cycling Federation (FFC) has preliminarily selected 53-year-old Jeannie Longo, who is fighting allegations of performance enhancing drug use, for the 2012 London Olympics. In November, the FFC cleared Longo of doping violations after she missed three out-of-competition drug tests. Three months later, French police arrested Longo's husband, Patrice Ciprelli, for buying the blood booster EPO. FFC spokeswoman Isabelle Gautheron said on Tuesday that Ciprelli's arrest should not affect h... Read More
Race officials at the Tour of Catalunya shortened stage three On Thursday as high winds and snow made conditions perilous and forced 39 riders to abandon the race. Veteran Australian cyclist Julian Dean, who was riding in his first race since breaking his shoulder last year, was hospitalized with a fractured leg. Several top riders, including Andy Schleck and Alejandro Valverde, withdrew before the start. "That was the hardest day of my life,” said stage winner Janez Brajkovic. “Fr... Read More
