A Norwegian explorer attempting to break the speed record for skiing to the South Pole was airlifted from the ice on Sunday as his health deteriorated. Traveling alone and unsupported, Steffen Dahl was in position to challenge fellow Norwegian Christian Eide's speed record before falling ill on Thursday. After a course of antibiotics failed to improve his symptoms Dahl requested an evacuation. He was picked up by a plane that was en route to the pole, allowing Dahl a brief visit before heading... Read More
Ted Ligety, the reigning World Cup giant slalom champion, took his second giant slalom victory of the year in Beaver Creek, Colorado on Tuesday. Ligety avenged Sunday's second-place finish in giant slalom to Austrian skier Marcel Hirscher, overcoming a slight a .14 second disadvantage after the first of two runs to finish .69 ahead of Hirscher. It is Ligety's 10th career World Cup win, and he has now finished first, second, and first in the season's opening three races. Racing in Beaver Creek ... Read More
Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon has fallen to its lowest level in 23 years, the Brazilian government said on Monday. According to the National Institute of Space Research, the Amazon lost 6,238 square kilometers between August 2010 and July 2011, a drop of 11% from the year before. Brazil's senate is set to make changes to the country's forest code today, however, that would reduce the protected portion of the Amazon. Conflicting data released earlier this year suggested that deforestati... Read More
A Dutch paralympic cyclist regained the use of her legs after a collision with another cyclist last year and has now signed with professional cycling team Rabobank. Monique van der Vorst, who won two silver medals for the Netherlands in the 2010 Paralympic Games, had been confined to a wheelchair and a hand-pedaled bicycle since she was paralyzed after complications from ankle surgery. Now on two wheels, her goal is to compete in the 2016 Olympics.
Read more at The Daily Mail
On Thursday, a man from Nome, Alaska was rescued 40 miles outside of town after having spent three days trapped in his truck in -17 degree temperatures. Clifton Vial, 52, had gone for a joy ride in his Toyota Tacoma when it got stuck in a snowdrift. Out of cellphone range and unable to free the vehicle, Vial attempted to sustain himself with the only provisions he had: a few cans of frozen Coors Light, which he cut open and ate "like beans." By the time rescue crews found him, Vail had lost 16... Read More
