Month: December 2018
The Daredevils of Yosemite
In the grand peaks of California’s eastern wilderness, a new generation of super-climbers is pushing the limits of adventure – with no rope to save them from error.
A true cliff-hanger
In California’s Yosemite National Park, a new breed of daredevil climbers practice the sport of free soloing — rock climbing without a rope and relying solely on hands and feet wedged into the cracks to ascend the park’s massive granite obelisks. When the 2,130-ft tall Half Dome (pictured in the distance) was first climbed in 1957, it took Californian Royal Robbins and his teammates five days to reach the top – and that was with the aid of ropes. Today, free solo climbers summit in just a few hours. Pictured is free solo climber Dean Potter ascending a route on Yosemite’s Glacier Point. (Mikey Schaefer/National Geographic Stock)
Over the rainbow
Climber Kate Rutherford jams her hands into fissures of a climbing route called Freestone, close to the roar of Yosemite Falls, the tallest waterfall in North America at 2,425ft. In Yosemite, 83 climbers have died during climbs since 1955. Free soloing leaves no room for error. (Jimmy Chin/National Geographic Stock)
Granite Titans
Yosemite’s peaks are sheer vertical cliffs thousands of feet high, rising above the fog and dwarfing the hundred-foot pine trees in the valley below. About four million people visit Yosemite every year, though only a few thousand of them are climbers. They venture to the park to measure themselves against its giants, including El Capitan (left), a prow of stone 2,916ft tall. To climb in Yosemite is a rite of passage. (Jimmy Chin/National Geographic Stock)
A bold ascent
Kevin Jorgesen, a climber since the age of 12, clings with fingertips to the face of El Capitan. On the right is the Thank God Ledge — a 40ft-long sliver of granite on Half Dome and the only way to get beyond the Visor, a massive roof that looms over Half Dome’s Regular Northwest Face route. Most people crawl, but Alex Honnold (pictured), who became a celebrity in 2008 when he first climbed the famed route without a rope, prefers to face the 1,800ft void beneath him. (Jimmy Chin/National Geographic Stock)
A tent with a view
Climbers live in portaledges – tiny tents suspended from the wall – when working on a route. Jorgeson (left) and his companion can live in a portaledge 1,500ft above the valley for up to two weeks; the best amenities in their studio in the sky are a French press for coffee and iPhones (charged with a solar panel). (Jimmy Chin/National Geographic Stock)
Final descent
Climbers BASE jump from Half Dome before hiking down the back of the mountain. Like those who made the pilgrimage before them and those who will follow, these thrill seekers come to Yosemite to test themselves against the parks granite Titans. (Jimmy Chin and Lynsey Dyer/National Geographic Stock)
Straining to reach
Climber Cedar Wright grips with chalked hand the roof of Gravity Ceiling on Higher Cathedral Rock, located on the south side of Yosemite Valley near its entrance. Like many professional climbers, he trains relentlessly to keep fit. Unlike some European professionals who enjoy generous corporate sponsorship, most American climbers barely get by financially. Many earn just enough cash to crash in their vans and eat beans and rice. Because of visitation limits at Yosemite, many live full-time in vehicles at the park. (Jimmy Chin/National Geographic Stock)
BBC Travel
Interesting Marx Toys
Louis Marx and Company was an American toy manufacturer in business from 1919 to 1980. Its products were often imprinted with the slogan, “One of the many Marx toys, have you all of them?” Arguably, Marx was the most well-known toy company through the late mid 20th century.
The Tallest Statues in The World
Big statues are very impressive. The thought and effort that goes into constructing these pieces of artwork is extremely impressive. What I did not realize when I looked into this subject was the magnitude of some of the great statues in the world. Some of these creations are truly massive.
The list below is not the tallest statues in order of height. The tallest statues are listed here, but in order to make the list more international I have chosen statues from many different countries. By far the biggest statues are in China and Japan. 29 of the top 40 tallest statues in the world are in those two countries. A truly world representation is the idea in this post.
Veera Abhaya Anjaneya Hanuman Swami is a statue in depicting Hanuman (Hindu Deity). It is located in the village of Paritala, approximately 30 km from the city of Vijayawada, in…
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Manitoba UFO sightings date back to 1792
Manitoba has seen more than its fair share of UFOs over the years.
A new report suggests that there have been over 2,000 UFO sightings in Manitoba in the last 200 years.
The report, which has been compiled from Canadian and US government records, suggests that people have been seeing strange things in the skies over North America for several centuries.
“It’s not a phenomenon that’s a product of television and movies that are going on right now,” said researcher Chris Rutkowski. “These things go back quite a number of years. People have been fascinated with things in the sky and wondering, ‘Are we alone in the universe?’”
The earliest documented Manitoba sighting dates back to 1792 when two explorers reported witnessing a strange object cascading from the sky which “struck the river ice, with a sound like a mass of jelly, was dashed into innumerable luminous pieces and instantly expired.”
Another report, this time from 1967, detailed how Stefan Michalak had observed two disc-shaped objects landing on a flat rock near Falcon Lake. When he approached he heard what he thought were human voices and was instantly hit by an explosion of hot gas which set his clothes on fire.
In 1989 a family had been visiting the Fort Whyte Nature Center when they encountered a white boomerang-shaped object hanging in the sky over Winnipeg. They later recalled how they had watched the craft slowly rotate in the air and noted that it had a peculiar bulge on its underside.
One of the most recent sightings was in 2012 when two witnesses, again in Winnipeg, saw a disc-shaped object with red lights all around its perimeter. As they watched it the craft suddenly swooped towards their vehicle before turning and zooming off in to the distance.
“That doesn’t mean that aliens are invading Canada in any way, but it simply means there are unusual reports of things in the sky,” said Rutkowski.
“It certainly says that we probably are not alone in the universe and that there probably are some sort of alien civilizations out there somewhere but there is no proof of that.”
The Charlie Redstar Flap
The Charlie Redstar Flap is one of the best documented UFO cases in Canadian History. The events of 1975-1976 are a great and entertaining read. I think you will enjoy the information below, it has about everything in that you could imagine, multiple groups of witnesses, drunken teenagers, news crews filming UFOs, radioactive ground material, possible crop circles, crafts of different shapes, sizes, colors and much more.
Charlie Redstar was a name given to some UFOs sighted across Manitoba in 1975–1976, many of them near the town of Carman, Manitoba. It was described as a red fireball, sometimes stationary and sometimes speeding off rapidly, and similar fireballs were also dubbed Charlie’s “friends” and “cousins”. Other similar UFOs were reported as flying saucers or “Ferris wheel”-shaped. It was often described as playful, friendly, or mischievous by witnesses.
May 16, 1975, near Stephenfield, Manitoba – Three drunk youths were at a party north of Boyne River, when one of them saw a stationary moon-sized red light. After ten minutes, it shone a white searchlight-like beam onto the lake. An underwater object shone below the beam that made the lake bottom visible, then moved towards the shore, creating ripplets. One youth threw a rock at the object, which broke into four, then separated and individually moved “like a conveyor belt” towards the beam of light. The lights in the objects went out, then the hovering object was observed to break in half and the halves moved away from each other in opposite directions. Although they admitted to being drunk, hallucination seemed unlikely as they each saw the same event.
Photo of Charlie
- June 4, 1975, north of St. Claude, Manitoba – A farmer saw a flying saucer with two domes top-to-bottom, made from a glass-like material. The top of the craft was silver in colour and the bottom was described as a fish-like milky white. He attempted to leave the area but his truck failed to start.
- July 1, 1975, west of Roland, Manitoba – Three people saw a strange object moving towards them with a bobbing motion. The UFO shone a bright light onto a grain elevator, bright enough to make its nails visible. It was about 85 feet (26 m) across and perfectly circular. It appeared as a similar flying saucer, but the domes were rotating in opposite directions. The centre disk was stationary and appeared to have several oval windows. The object landed in a nearby field, and the three approached the object, but it flew away before they reached it.
- July 2, 1975, near Halbstadt, Manitoba – A farmer discovered a barren patch in his field of sugar beets, oval and 39 feet (12 m) in diameter. Vegetation in the patch was dehydrated, and a 50 ft (15 m) swath west of the patch was also damaged, but less so farther from the patch. A tripod-like mark was also discovered in the oval.
By the end of April 1976 the UFOs seemed to have left the area, There were some sporadic distant sightings but nothing similar two what had occurred in the previous two years. The Charlie Redstar Flap is one of the best documented UFO cases in Canada but one that is rarely discussed or written about today.
MarkosZen has a first cousin who lives in Notre Dame De Lourdes, not far from Carman, he was a teacher in 1975. He ultimately became the principle of the high school in Notre Dame. In the fall of 1975 he saw a glowing red light that was above the horizon a few hundred meters to the right of his car. For 10 miles it kept pace with the vehicle. His wife was with him and she collaborates the story. He has no explanation as to what it could have been.
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