Posts tagged with “Sagas & Adventures” (All posts)

  • Luc Mehl ’00 Leads A 230-Mile Bike/Hike/Packraft Triathlon

    3 April 2013

    Windmilling his kayak paddle into the pushy breeze, Luc Mehl, 34, pulls onto the sandbar at the mouth of Mexico’s Rio Antigua and squints at the novelty of a flat, seascape horizon in the hazy afternoon glare. Two days of sleepless dysentery have drained Mehl’s prodigious vigor and his hands are blanched and clammy as we high-five. Still, he’s grinning with accomplishment in the salt air.

    Eleven days earlier we’d set out pedaling bikes strapped with mountaineering and whitewater paddling gear in Cholula de Rivadavia, a ciudad 60 miles east of Mexico City. Without ever having visited Mexico before, Mehl composed a 230-mile bike/hike/packraft triathlon first to Pico de Orizaba (18,491 feet) and then descending through rain forest hamlets to a whitewater river. Now at sea level, we found the end of Mehl’s line.

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  • Stewart Sweeney Smith ’10 Discovers New Mineral

    7 May 2011

    In the May-June issue of the journal American Mineralogist, a team of scientists announced the discovery of the new mineral krotite, one of the earliest minerals formed in our solar system. It is the main component of an unusual inclusion embedded in a meteorite (NWA 1934), found in northwest Africa. These objects, known as refractory inclusions, are thought to be the first planetary materials formed in our solar system, dating back to before the formation of Earth and the other planets.

    This particular grain is known affectionately as “Cracked Egg” for its distinctive appearance. Dr. Harold C. Connolly, Jr. and student Stuart A. Sweeney Smith at the City University of New York (CUNY) and the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) first recognized the grain to be of a very special type, known as a calcium-aluminum-rich refractory inclusion. (“Refractory” refers to the fact that these grains contain minerals that are stable at very high temperature, which attests to their likely formation as very primitive, high-temperature condensates from the solar nebula.)

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  • A wonderful geology alumni drama unfolded in the past few weeks as Stu Grubb was given a new kidney by his freshman year roommate Glen Carleton, both  hydrologists from the class of 1985.

    Stu has suffered from kidney disease for most of the past decade, but their other freshman roommate, Dave Lefkowitz ‘85,  wrote in late October, “Recently the situation has become much more serious. Last month he had to go on dialysis and begin the excruciating process of finding a kidney donor.  Stu is lucky to have a few very good friends who volunteered to donate a kidney, and amazingly, the closest match is our other freshman roommate, Glen Carleton. Glen will be making the trek from his home on the banks of the Delaware River to the Twin Cities for the surgery in mid-November.”

    The surgical transfer of the kidney took place Nov. 16 and was completely successful for both Stu and Glen.  Both of them were out of the hospital in a few days and home for Thanksgiving, their digestive systems on the way to returning to normalcy.

    Here is Stu’s blog posting from Nov. 27:

    “Obviously, I have lots to be thankful for this year.  I can hardly talk about all the support people have given us without getting all emotional.

    “I am also thankful for the ability to eat and drink almost everything again.  The last few months, I have been on a low-phosphorous, low-potassium diet (limited cheese, fruit, vegetables, potatoes, beans), and I had to limit my water intake.  Before that I was on a low-protien (vegetarian) diet for 8 years.  Now the doctors are encouraging me to eat and drink extra cheese, potatoes, beans, meat, and Diet Coke to help my body cope with all the drugs.

    “It has been wonderful.  If I could, I would make an extra huge bowl of mashed potatoes and gravy and just roll around in it.  Friends brought blueberry muffins and lentil soup, which were great, and my Mom prepared some delicious meals too.   A few times I ate so much that the outward pressure on my stitches was a little painful.  I think a little moderation is in order on the Thanksgiving leftovers.

    “No, on second thought, I am just going to eat ‘til it hurts.  Doctor’s orders.

    –       Stu”

    Congratulations and best wishes to both of you amazing people!

    (For more information see Stu And Glen’s Blog)

  • Leigh Stearns ’99 Discovers Glacier Is Vanishing

    22 September 2010

    On July 18th, 2005, around four in the morning, a research ship called the Arctic Sunrise was slowly making its way south along the eastern coast of Greenland. There was a helicopter on the deck, painted bright orange so it could be spotted easily if rescue were needed, and Hamilton saw its pilot, the only other person awake so early, coming down a nearby staircase. They had plans to fly to a massive glacier called Kangerdlugssuaq later that afternoon, to measure its speed and to see whether the warming climate had forced this part of the world into dramatic changes. The pilot asked if Hamilton wanted to take a quick flight over to the glacier now, to scout out a good landing spot. “Sure,” Hamilton said. He went below deck to collect his maps.

    Returning to the Arctic Sunrise, Hamilton found the graduate student who was working with him, Leigh Stearns, and asked her to return to the glacier with him. On the way, he was purposely vague about what he’d seen; he still thought he might have missed something. 

    Later, back on the ship, Hamilton collapsed onto his bunk, exhausted. Stearns opened her laptop and started downloading data from the monitors. When she was done, the speed was so implausible that she checked her calculations five times to make sure she had the math right before she showed her boss. 

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  • Maria Peterson ’85 Selected For Kyudo Archery World Cup

    7 May 2010

    It took her 16 years of discipline and hard practice, but only a handful of people in the world can say they’ve done what Northfield native Maria Peterson accomplished last month.

    Peterson, who practices the Japanese martial art of Kyudo Archery, was one of three Americans selected to represent her country at the first Kyudo Archery World Cup. The first of its kind, the tournament pitted 20 teams from nations around the world against each other in a sport that is equal parts discipline, meditation and athleticism.

    “Kyudo,” which means “the way of the bow” in Japanese, is not necessarily about hitting a target. Instead, practitioners try to attain a zen-like level of calm and control as they fire an arrow from a seven-foot-long bow at a bull’s-eye more than 90 feet away.

    It was that mix of the philosophy and sport that drew Peterson to the activity, which originated in Japan.

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  • Bretwood “Hig” Higman ’99: Broadband, Yes. Toilet, No.

    30 December 2009

    ON a trip to the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico during spring break, Bretwood Higman ’99 and Erin McKittrick ’01 found themselves on a beach, holding a battered tourist map. Sick of the collegiate shenanigans around them, Mr. Higman suggested they ditch the bars, take the map and walk the 30 miles of shoreline to the next town. “The beach is probably continuous, right?” Ms. McKittrick remembers him saying.

    To his surprise, Ms. McKittrick, whom he had met while they were studying at Carleton College outside of Minneapolis, was game. “That was a defining moment,” said Mr. Higman, now 33; he knew Ms. McKittrick was the one.

    Ten years later, they are married, have an 11-month-old son and have walked more than 7,000 miles together. “When we got together, it was more than the sum of the parts,” said Ms. McKittrick, 30. “Much more.”

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  • “Hey couch potato,” Anne said in a voice tinged with impatience. “How about we turn off the TV and go for a walk.”
        “Well, okay,” I mumbled unenthusiastically as the ref cancelled an artistic slam-dunk with a call of travelling.
        “You’ll get more than enough basketball once the March Madness playoffs get underway,” Anne added, trying to soften my disappointment at leaving an unfinished tied game.

    …………………………….

    I led them to the spring, lagging behind while giving voice and hand directions. Damned if the fox wasn’t still there — bloodied mouth, conscious again and about one hundred feet downstream from where he had attacked me. He charged madly as soon as he saw us.

  • Bess Koffman ’04 Is Drilling Ice Cores In Antarctica

    24 December 2008

    Bess here again. I realized I haven’t really introduced myself, so I’ll do a brief introduction here. I’m working on the WAIS Divide project as a graduate student at the University of Maine, in Orono. I study dust and trace element chemistry in the ice, and am particularly interested in how the chemistry of iron affects phytoplankton in the Southern Ocean. Iron effectively fertilizes the little plants in the sea, much like you would fertilize your lawn to make it grow greener. I look at where dust comes from, how big it is, and how much iron it contains.

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  • First Ski Descent of the Grand Teton’s Hossack-MacGowan Route, by Mark Newcomb ’90, Revisited

    21 December 2008

    Though I’m completely scared of what has to be the raddest line off the summit of the Grand Teton, the more I study it, the more I want to ski it.  But finding it in good, ski-able conditions is key and on multiple trips into Glacier Gulch over the years, I try to make a point to eyeball the Hossack-MacGowan Couloir to see what kind of shape it is in.

    I’ve seen it thin and rocky in the early season and in light snow years, but I’ve also seen it look pretty damn good, like last year, though I never heard of anyone giving it a try.  No surprise really. The Hossack-MacGowan Couloir on the Grand Teton has to be one of North America’s gnarliest skied lines.  It was finally nailed in February of 1996 by Mark Newcomb and Hans Johnstone.  The second and only other descent was in 1998 by the belated Hans Sarri and Andrew Mclean, who often recounts it as the scariest thing he’s ever skied.  I don’t think many people have read Mark Newcomb’s account of he and Hans’ descent from the 1997 American Alpine Journal, so I thought I would post it here. 

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  • Pumping Breast Milk On A Snowbank: Joan Ramage ’93 Does Arctic Research With Her Baby A Member Of The Team

    21 October 2008

    Research in the fields of earth science, biology, archaeology, and anthropology requires significant amounts of travel in rugged, unpredictable, outdoor conditions. How do mothers manage the challenges of fieldwork and a baby?

    We each had a baby last year, and we are trying to make motherhood a major, but not sole, focus of our energy. Maura is a Ph.D. candidate in ecology with a 1-year-old daughter, Evalyn. Joan is an assistant professor of geology with a 9-month-old daughter, Iona. We do our research “in the field.”

    Joan drove to the Yukon Territory in northwestern Canada with her infant to do research on the evolving snowpack for two months.

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