Nineteen are dead after a hot air balloon carrying 20 foreign tourists and a pilot crashed near the Egyptian city of Luxor on Tuesday morning. Witnesses describe hearing a loud explosion before turning to see the balloon descending toward the ground in flames as passengers leapt to their deaths trying to escape.
According to ABC News, it is suspected that the balloon was in the process of landing when a cable became caught on a helium tube and ignited the tank. The canister exploded and the b... Read More
Two sexagenarian legends of alpine climbing will attempt to climb the Nose of El Capitan in a single day in May.
Between the two of them, Jim Donini, 69, and George Lowe, 68, are responsible for a haul of serious alpine first ascents, including Torre Egger and the Infinite Spur on Mount Foraker.
Speaking to Climbing magazine, Donini, a former president of the American Alpine Club, said he was motivated to return to El Capitan because of the challenge of re-acclimating himself to Yosemite's g... Read More
An unidentified source close to Lance Armstrong's legal defense team told USA Today that his lawyers will argue that much of the case against the former Tour de France champion is beyond the statute of limitations. Cyclist Floyd Landis filed the case in 2010 under the False Claims Act. It argues that Armstrong and others doped in violation of their USPS contracts and that the government should get its money back. The U.S. Department of Justice announced late last week it would join the suit ag... Read More
More difficult than crossing Antarctica in winter? Raising millions of dollars and making years of preparations to cross Antarctica in winter, then having to drop out due to frostbite from a training run.
British explorer Ranulph Fiennes, described by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's greatest living explorer, was due to lead a record-breaking expedition to the South Pole as part of the "The Coldest Journey" beginning March 21. But on a practice ski near base camp in Antarctic... Read More
Florida is not the only U.S. territory with a snake problem. For 60 years Guam has been feeling the bite of the brown tree snake, an invasive species that has all but wiped out the island’s once verdant bird population. The tree snakes, which can grow up to 10 feet long, have also been known to bite humans and even knock out power lines by slithering into transformers. Fearing that the snakes may soon spread to Hawaii and eventually the West Coast, officials have concocted a plan to cont... Read More
