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2014 Archive News/Blog & Recent Events - George Kourounis

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Dec. 27 2014 - New Year Coming... New Adventures.
 
Hey everyone. Well, I hope you had a great holiday season.

I'm on my way out the door to start another huge filming trip. It begins in Australia and just keeps going from there. I'll post more details as they happen. 2015 is going to be an amazing year! The next time I check in, I'll be down under.
 
Have a happy new year!

Australia


Dec. 03 2014 - Wall Street Journal
 
I was featured in the Wall Street Journal newspaper in an article that showcases what certain people carry in their bag when they travel. The "What's in your bag" story concentrated on what I bring with me when I go to visit an active volcano.
 
It was great fun, especially the photo shoot.
 
Read the article here.


Dec. 02 2014 - Portella Village - Fogo Island, Cape Verde.
 
Quick update: We made it to Fogo volcano and the volcano was still VERY active. The eruption site consisted of several vents, exploding every few minutes with Strombolian type eruptions on the flanks of the volcano. The lava flow from the eruption did indeed make it all the way to Portella village, completely burying the town under countless tons of molten rock.
 
I was actually inside one of the buildings in town as the lava flow came crashing through the door I was standing beside.
 
 
This was one of the most visually stunning volcanic eruptions I've ever witnessed. I was able to walk right up to the lava flows, and at night we'd approach the active vents... The ground was so hot that my camera bag started to melt, and the ground never stopped shaking from continuous tremors. So much so that the vibrations were travelling up my tripod, causing my long exposure photos of lava streaking through the air to have squiggly trails instead of smooth arcs.
 
 
Unfortunately, the village is gone, the surrounding vineyards are gone. It was a complete loss.

Fogo Volcano

Fogo Volcano

Nov. 28 2014 - Fogo Volcano, Cape Verde Islands
 
The Fogo volcano in the Cape Verde Islands, off the west coast of Africa has started erupting! A river of lava has been pouring from the volcano and is threatening to overrun some of the local villages nearby. Efforts are in place right now to get the Angry Planet team over to Fogo island to attempt to document this eruption before it concludes.
 
This has the potential to become a serious humanitarian crisis if the lava continues to flow the way it has been.

Cape Verde Islands

Nov. 21 2014 - Snow Emergency - Buffalo, New York
 
An overwhelming 6+ FEET of snow came down in some areas of the Buffalo, New York region as a lake effect snow event remained locked in place for several days, bringing seemingly unending snow.
 
Travel was snarled, streets have remained impassable, and a state of emergency was declared. In some places, travel bans were in effect for several days so that emergency crews could try to make their way through the streets. This was an incredible event, even for the winter-hardened residents of Buffalo, which is known for its snow totals.
 
More here.

Buffalo_Snow_Emergency_01

Nov. 16 2014 - Rio Roosevelt, Amazon Rainforest
 
I'm heading home soon, but this Amazon trip has been outstanding!
 
The heat, the humidity, the bugs... All totally worth it to be deep in the rainforest, in a part of the world where very few people get to visit. I've uploaded a whole page of photos from the trip so enjoy!
 
Many thanks to Kristen Sarah, who accompanied me on this journey. We hacked through jungle, got up close to raging rapids and kayaked down parts of the "River of Doubt"
 
 
The Amazon is not really known for its abundance of large animals like Africa is. The forest is so dense, that trying to spot animals can be extremely difficult. We however see Caiman, tarantulas, some huge fish, plenty of birds, and we even set up a camera trap at night and managed to capture capybaras, deer, a tapir and more.
 
Look for the Angry Planet episode featuring this trip in the months to come.

Amazon_06

Amazon_26

Nov. 07 2014 - Off to the Brazilian Amazon
 
Filming is about to begin on a brand new season of Angry Planet. It's been a few years since the last time we made these programs, and I'm so pleased to be back on the road, documenting some of the most extreme places on Earth. The first shoot of the season four is going to be deep in the Amazon Jungle, along what used to be called the "River of Doubt" (Now named Rio Roosevelt, after Teddy Roosevelt who went there on an expedition after his second term as president).
 
We'll be re-tracing his footsteps as well as documenting some of the changes that have been occurring in the rainforest.

Brazil

Oct. 18 2014 - Back from Madagascar
 
From October 1¬17, 2014, the Adventure Science team, combining the back-country skill of endurance athletes with academic research experts, travelled deep into the strict nature reserve of Madagascar’s Tsingy de Bemaraha, a UNESCO world heritage site and dangerous limestone labyrinth that can only be accessed by teams of qualified academic researchers. The expedition also had the honour of carrying flag #112 of The Explorers Club, of which several participants are members.
 
For the next 10 days, the Adventure Science team explored and mapped an unexplored section of the Tsingy de Bemaraha ~10 km northeast of the village of Antsalova. During this exploration we discovered and mapped a massive, 1.6 km cave system below the karst, which the team aptly named Anjohibetsara - “Big Beautiful Cave” in Malagasy. Completely unknown to locals, park agents, and researchers, the cave is thought to be the 3rd largest in the Tsingy, and 35th largest in the country. Filled with bats, water filled passages, and beautiful stalactites; the find was significant for the region.
 
 
See more pictures from this amazing expedition here

Tsingy de Bemaraha

Tsingy de Bemaraha

Oct. 01 2014 - Off to Madagascar
 
Well, I'm almost on my way. The next 2 weeks will be spent exploring the incredible karst limestone landscape of the Tsingy de Bemaraha Strict Nature Preserve. The Tsingy is filled with extremely sharp, eroded stone spires, like daggers coming up out of the ground. Travel will be slow and difficult.
 
I will be able to post small text updates to my Twitter feed and Facebook, as well as having a live tracking map online.
 
Follow my tracking map here.
 
More info about the expedition from AdventureScience

Madagascar's Limestone Labyrinth

Sept 28 2014 - Happy Birthday Ontario Science Centre!
 
The Ontario Science Centre museum is celebrating 45 years of bringing science, fun, and education together for inquisitive people of all ages. I was asked to be a part of their birthday celebration video along with astronaut Chris Hadfield, Discover Channel's Dan Riskin, Ontario Premiere Kathleen Wynne and many others.
 
I love visiting the Science Centre, and they frequently ask me to give presentations there, which is always a treat. Here's to another 45 years!
 
Watch the video.

Ontario Science Centre Birthday

Sept. 21 2014 - Coming Up - Madagascar Expedition
 
On October 1st I depart for my next adventure. This time it's to the island of Madagascar, off the southeast coast of Africa. Madagascar is known for it's odd wildlife and unique species of plants and animals, I'll be joining an group of scientists, adventurers and athletes for the "100 Miles of Wild: Madagascar's Limestone Labyrinth" expedition.
 
 
Learn more about it, and AdventureScience here
 
 
The plan is go deep into the Tsingy de Bemaraha limestone labyrinth, which has a reputation of being impenetrable due to it's massive, and very sharp limestone spires which create an other-worldly landscape. We'll be mapping the area, doing a lemur survey, searching for dinosaur tracks, and looking for undiscovered caves in this wild, treacherous, and mostly unexplored landscape.
 
This is going to be a grueling, very physically demanding expedition across some of the most unforgiving terrain in the world.
 
More details to come...

Madagascar Map

Tsingy de Bemaraha

Sept. 18 2014 - Toronto, Ontario
 
Home.
 
I got to sleep in my own bed tonight. What a concept!
My first full day back and it was packed full. The morning started with a visit to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's headquarters downtown, where I did an interview for BBC World Service Radio. From there, it was off to The Weather Network for some more interviews and to record some voice-overs.

BBC World Service Radio

Sept. 16 2014 - Edmonton, Alberta
 
It has been about a month since I was at home last, and this grand journey is almost over. My last stop is here in Edmonton where I gave a talk at the public library as part of their "Forward Looking Speakers Series" It was great fun, with a full house. Actually, people were lined up outside the auditorium, trying to get in.

It was great to have an audience filled with such enthusiasm. I had a blast!
 
Oh, did I mention that the EPL won the title of "Library of the Year 2014?" Congratulations.

Edmonton Public Library

Sept. 12 2014 - Vancouver, British Columbia
 
I've relocated to Vancouver for a few days.
 
The volcano video continues to take the internet by storm with interview requests coming in from all over the globe including Canada, the U.S, France, Japan, Brazil, Greece, the list goes on. I'm having a hard time keeping up.
 
In the meantime, here's a gorgeous photo of Vancouver at sunset.

Vancouver Sunset

Sept. 09 2014 - Volcano Video Goes Viral!!
 
Wow, I can't believe how viral our Marum volcano video has gone! Between YouTube and Vimeo, there have been about 4 million views and the story has caught on with other media as well. I've done interviews with The Weather Channel, Fox News, CNN, Huffington Post, Discovery Channel, National Geographic... The list goes on and on.
 
Here's a couple of video link:
 
The edited video that Sam put together that has gone viral.
 
The CNN feature story by Jeanne Moos

CNN Feature Story

Aug 31 2014 - Los Angeles, California
 
After the amazing descent into the Marum crater on Ambrym Island, I spent a few days, unwinding and cleaning up my equipment in Vanuatu's capital, Port Vila. I have now relocated to Los Angeles, where I will remain for a while.
I have several meetings and TV appearances to do here, before working my way back to Canada. I'm also preparing a full photo gallery of pictures from the Ambrym expedition.

HollyWood

Aug 24 2014 - Inside Marum Volcano, Ambrym Island, Vanuatu
 
We did it!
 
After travelling halfway around the world, to a remote island, then rappelling down 1200 feet inside the crater, we made it to the very bottom of Marum volcano, right to the edge of the violently boiling lava lake!!
 
What an experience! It was surreal to the point that the video doesn't even look real, but it is. This expedition has been an amazing, epic success, and the photos & video are just out of this world. We faced splashes of lava, toxic sulfur dioxide gas, shockingly strong acid rain... The challenges went on and on, but in the end, we were able to get to the bottom twice.
 
Here's a link to the incredible video from inside the crater. More photos and video clips to come!!

Marum Volcano - YouTube

Aug 19 2014 - Nadi, Fiji
 
Travel plans rarely go as planned. My flight from Toronto to Los Angeles was delayed by an hour, so I almost missed my connection from L.A. to Fiji. After the 11 hour flight, arriving at 5:00 AM, I found out that our connecting flight to Port Villa, Vanuatu was canceled AND my luggage never made it onto the flight in L.A.
 
So, now we've had to spend the day in Fiji, and hopefully, my bags will arrive on the next flight, early tomorrow morning. We'll see. Sam Cossman and I are supposed to be on the 7:30 A.M. flight to Port Villa, Vanuatu... Let's see if that one gets canceled.
 
Actually, getting "trapped" in Fiji is not such a bad thing after all..

Nadi_Fiji

Aug 17 2014 - Heading to Marum Volcano, Vanuatu
 
I've barely been home for 2 1/2 days, and it's time to head back out again. This time I will be on an expedition to the Marum Volcano, which is located on Ambrym Island in the South Pacific nation of Vanuatu.
 
Marum has the distinction of being one of only a small handful of volcanoes that have a permanent lake of lava inside. The issue is that the lava lake is found deep inside the massive crater, and is very difficult to get close to.
 
Difficult, but not impossible.
 
I will be teaming up With New Zealand adventurers Geoff Mackley & Bradley Ambrose, who have spent years visiting this volcano, and know it like the back of their hands. We will be rigging ropes and rappelling deep down inside the massive crater to get as humanly possible to the boiling, roiling lake of liquid rock.
 
I have been very interested in this volcano for numerous years, and now the time has come to get inside. Lava lakes are a rare phenomena, there are only 5 places in the world that contain a permanent lake of lava.... This will be my 4th to visit.
 
I don't know how often I will be able to post reports. Short updates will be more likely on my Facebook page & Twitter feed. See the links at the top of the page.

Marum_Volcano

Vanuatu_Map

Aug 16 2014 - Back from Peru
 
The past 3 weeks have been rather amazing. Getting the chance to tour around all the major sites in Peru was such a great experience. We saw the cities of Lima, Arequipa, Cusco, Punu and more. We witnessed Machu Picchu, The Nazca Lines, the condors of Colca Canyon, the Andes mountains, and more. We also met some amazing people including the Uros people who live on man-made, floating islands on Lake Titicaca... I could go on and on.
 
The food was out of this world. I never knew that Peruvian cuisine was so delicious!

It'll be a little while before I can share all the photos from the trip. Most of the details cannot be shared right now, but I will splurge and post a couple of pictures here.
 
Enjoy!

Machu_Picchu_01

Colca_Condor_01

July 27 2014 - Cracked.com Article
 
The very popular website Cracked.com has just released an interview article the did with me recently, entitled "6 Survival Tips From A Professional Adventurer".

It is a hilarious article, and it was so much fun working with the writer. Check it out, I was laughing out loud when I read it.

Cracked.com

July 26 2014 - Lima, Peru
 
We made it to Peru, and after a very late arrival and an early morning, we managed to see quite a bit of the city of Lima. One interesting thing about Lima is the depth of the history here. There are archaeological site that are thousands of years old, right next to Inca site, all within the modern city of Lima.
 
We saw the presidential, palace, the cathedral, and achbishop's residence, along with the ruins of Huallamarca, where we saw the mummified remains of a woman who died 800 years ago.
 
The rest of the day was spent tasting some of the local delicacies like ceviche and watching a group of surfers out in the Pacific ocean from a park on an overlooking cliff.
 
We even got to hang out with the local police force. My new best friends.
 
Over the next few days, we'll be filming in and around Lima as well as taking a flight to view the Nazca Lines. I will be updating with more photos as the trip progresses.

Peru_01

Peru_02

July 24 2014 - Heading to Peru
 
I've been recruited by GoWay Travel company to head south to Peru tomorrow for a few weeks and shoot video and stills for their marketing campaigns. I'll be hitting all the interesting spots including: Lima, Machu Picchu, the Nazca Lines and Lake Titicaca.
 
This should be a lot of fun since I've never been to Peru before. Expect photos and other updates when I can.
 
Joining me on this trip will be Cindy Burgess from ProVideoContent.com

Peru

July 21 2014 - A Face Full of Bees!
 
We were filming at Clovermead Farm, in Aylmer, Ontario and their beekeepers allowed us to have a beard of bees applied. Well, mine was more of a "mask of bees".
 
They hung queen bees around our necks and then poured thousands of the honey bees onto us. They are attracted to the queen, so they stay put and are generally happy. The handlers then use smoke to steer the bees up onto our faces. The experience was not scary at all. I enjoyed it, it tickled.
 
In total, Mark took 1 sting, and I managed to get 3, mostly while removing the bees.

Beard of Bees

July 18 2014 - Inside a Tornado Simulator
 
Filming at the WindEEE Dome, the Wind Engineering, Energy and Environment Research Institute at Western University; London, Ontario. The world's first three-dimensional wind testing chamber. They can simulate all kinds of winds, including... Straight-line winds, down bursts and... Tornadoes!
 
This state of the art facility was still in the testing and commissioning phase when we visited. Eventually, it will be used for engineering experiments that require three-dimensional control of wind flow. It is a very impressive facility & a great deal of fun to see in operation... Plus, we got stand in the middle of man-made tornadoes!
 
More Photos

WindEEE Dome Tornado Simulator

July 16 2014 - Die Trying U.S. Premiere
 
Tonight is the U.S broadcast premiere for the "Die Trying - Crater of Fire" show on National Geographic Television.
 
Here's a new Q & A interview about the Turkmenistan flaming gas crater expedition that goes into more detail than I've been able to share so far.
 
The expedition was also featured on the front page of the Explorers Club website.

National Geographic - Die Trying

July 15 2014 - Indoor Skydiving
 
Have you ever dreamed about flying around like a superhero? Or perhaps you've always wanted to try skydiving, but wanted to ease into the experience. Well, indoor skydiving is something you might want to try out.
 
Mark and I got to experience this today while filming a segment for The Weather Network. iFLY Toronto is a brand new facility that allows you to fly inside a vertical wind tunnel where the winds speeds can be 170 km/h or more. It was such a rush to try it out, and the best part is that pretty much anybody can experience this, from as young as age four.
 
It takes a bit of time to get the hang of it, but it is an amazing sensation. The pros gave us some demonstrations, and to see them doing spins and flips in mid air was surreal.
 
See more photos
 
Learn more and try it for yourself

iFLY_01

July 13 2014 - "Die Trying - Crater Of Fire" Broadcast Dates!!
 
I can finally say that we have broadcast dates for the new National Geographic show featuring the expedition that I led for them to the Darvaza flaming gas crater in Turkmenistan.
 
In the U.S.A. - Wed. July 16th at 10:00 PM ET
In Australia - Thurs. July 17th at 7:30 PM
In the U.K. - Sunday, July 27th at 7:00 PM
 
Here's a link to more info about the show:
 
Also. Here are two YouTube videos, featuring clips from the program:
 
At The Gates Of Hell
 
Flying Over Fire
 
The expedition was done back in November. The Darvaza crater is an old natural gas drilling site that collapsed, causing a pit, leaking methane gas. It was lit on fire and has been burning for several decades. No one has ever attempted to go inside before. My mission was to gather samples from the crater floor, then have them analyzed, looking for extremophile bacteria that might be thriving in the hot, methane rich environment.
 
You'll have to watch the show to see what happened!!

National Geographic Channel - "Die Trying" Crater Of Fire 01

National Geographic Channel - "Die Trying" Crater Of Fire 02

July 10 2014 - "Into The Storm" Preview Screening
 
I was fortunate enough to have been invited by Warner Brothers Films to attend a special, sneak preview Toronto screening of the upcoming disaster film "Into The Storm" which features storm chasers intercepting an outbreak of tornadoes that strikes a small town on high school graduation day.
With me was a bunch of other storm chasers and meteorologists. I won't spoil the plot, but of course, we love to pick apart the science and weather errors in movies.
 
The film was pretty good. They got a fair amount of the meteorology right. There were a few scenes that we so over the top that the entire audience let out a groan & laugh. Overall, better than I expected. Good effects, and the film makers obviously spent a lot of time looking at YouTube tornado videos.
 
Expect a wild romp of a disaster flick and you'll have a good time. Here's a link to the Movie Trailer. "Into The Storm" hits theaters on Aug 8th.

Into The Storm

July 07 2014 - Spectacular Toronto Lightning
 
Having only returned back from Hurricane Arthur in Nova Scotia only a few hours ago, I noticed a cluster of storms moving into Ontario from Michigan. These storms looked to hit Toronto at some point in the middle of the night, so I stayed up all night waiting... And I was rewarded for my efforts.
 
I was able to photograph 2 lightning strikes hitting the CN Tower in downtown Toronto. It frequently gets struck, but it is often difficult to capture the strikes on camera.

Cn Tower Lightning Strikes - July 07 2014

July 06 2014 - Hurricane Arthur Lashes Nova Scotia
 
I'm in Halifax, Nova Scotia right now. Hurricane Arthur swept through the Canadian maritime provinces yesterday bringing flooding rain to parts of New Brunswick, and strong wind & waves to the Nova Scotia coastline. Mark Robinson and I were The Weather Network's on-site team that was based at Peggy's Cove. A spot well known for its huge waves that can happen there during storms. Arthur was no exception. We send reports and video back to the network all day as the wind & waves ramped up all day.
 
Because the storm was post-tropical by the time it got to us, the rain was mainly on the west side and the worst winds were on the east side of the storm. We saw hardly any rain at all, just 2mm were recorded in Halifax, yet parts of New Brunswick got over 140mm.
 
There were a few tense moments as some oblivious tourists decided that it would be a good idea to step up onto the higher rocks along the coast. We saw at least two people get knocked over by the waves.
 
Reports of people being swept out to sea and drowning are not uncommon here, even on non-hurricane days. Luckily, there were no major injuries to report.
 
More photos of the sorm can be found here.

Hurricane Arthur Lashes Nova Scotia
Hurricane Arthur YouTube Video

July 02 2014 - Hurricane Arthur Heading for North Carolina & Nova Scotia
 
Currently a tropical storm off the coast of Florida, but by Friday morning, "Arthur" could be affecting the outer banks of North Carolina as a category one hurricane, then continue northesat and eventually strike Nova Scotia on Saturday. This is rather early in the year, and would be the earliest hurricane I've ever intercepted. Some of the computer models keep the storm offshore, but some show it making a direct hit on the outer banks of North Carolina.
 
My plan right now is to depart on Friday and start getting into position for Arthur, somewhere along the Nova Scotia coastline and help report for The Weather Network.
 
I'll post more updates when I can.
Hurricane chase season 2014 is now officially underway.

Hurriicane Arthur Forecast

July 01 2014 - National Geographic Expedition
 
I can now finally announce what my secret expedition was last Novemeber. I was leading an expedition for National Geographic to the Karakum Desert in central Turkmenistan. The purpose was to go inside the flaming Darvaza crater, which has been burning for over 40 years, and become the first person to ever go to the bottom. While there, I collected soil samples, looking for traces of extremophile bacteria that might be living in the hot, methane-rich environment.
 
I still can't say much about it, and I'll share more details when I can, but yes, we did film it for a television series, which is entitled "Die Trying". It has its world broadcast premiere on National Geographic Channel in Australia on July 3rd. I'll announces dates for other countries when I know them.
 
This was a tremendous experience, and I promise more details and photos when I can. For now, enjoy this short interview I did for Nat Geo's "Explorer Moment of the Week"

National Geographic - Darvaza, Turkmenistan

June 27 2014 - Storm Chase Daily Reports
 
It has taken me some time to get it all completed, but my 2014 storm chase daily reports page is now up to date. You can see the day by details of where we were, and photos of all the amazing storms we saw this year. Enjoy!
 
Chase 2014

Storm Chase 2014

June 17 2014 - Angus, Ontario Tornado
 
Storms rage across Southern Ontario, producing an EF-2 tornado in Angus.
 
Today there was a volatile weather setup brewing with the potential for all sorts of severe weather across much of Ontario.
 
I teamed up with The Weather Network and we chased several of these storms, many of them became tornado-warned. Our efforts began not far from the shores of Lake Huron, North of Walkerton, them we continued down to the town of Guelph and through the Greater Toronto Area. We heard that one of the storms had spawned a damaging tornado that ripped through a residential area in the town of Angus, about an hour and a half north of Toronto.
 
We blasted up to the scene and encountered considerable damage. About 100 homes were affected, 20-30 severely. Luckily, there were no serious injuries that I heard about.

June 17th 2014 Ontario Storms

June 17th 2014 Ontario Storms

June 11 2014 - Stoney Plain, Alberta
 
On the move again. This time on a day trip out to Alberta to give a talk for the Parkland County municipal workers for their annual safety BBQ. It was in and out, really quick.
 
I'm not sure if I'm the most qualified, or the most ironic person to be speaking at a safety BBQ, but I had a great time, and everyone there was so nice to meet. There was plenty of Alberta beef and western Canada hospitality. The only bad part was getting up at 3:30 in the morning to fly out & I'll be flying back to Toronto the same night.

June 06 2014 - Back Home
 
After about 5 weeks on the road, I've finally made it back home. This year's storm chase season was a difficult one with few tornadoes, and the ones that were there were frequently wrapped in rain, making them difficult and dangerous to find. We did however, have an amazing time with countless spectacular storms.
 
It was a blast to once again help out with Cloud 9 Tours. Thank you to everyone there. I'll see you guys next year.
 
Also, many thanks to the Weather Network chase team and the rest of the storm chasers I teamed up with during this season. We have a good time, ALL the time.
 
The full daily report is being updated and can be found here.

Storm Chase2014

May 11 2014 - Tornado Chasers Vs Farm Equipment!!
 
Today was a wild day.There was a moderate risk for severe weather and we targeted southeastern Nebraska. one dominant supercell storm formed, but it was a high-precipitation supercell, with lots of rain, and poor visibility. We did manage to witness a couple of brief tornadoes as the storm approached, but as we were retreating, another tornado formed right beside us in a farmer's field. The tornado approached the road and knocked over a piece of irrigation equipment, right onto our windshield!
 
We're OK, and the video is dramatic!!

Tornado Encounter, McCool Junction, Nebraska

May 2014 - Tornado Season Underway
 
It has been a very active week for severe weather across a large portion of the United States. Several high risk days with large, damaging tornadoes across parts of Arkansas, Mississippi, and Alabama have left several towns heavily damaged, and caused numerous fatalities. I never hope for tornadoes to impact populated areas, but the fact is that sometimes they do.
 
My tornado chase 2014 trip is now underway. To see tha latest photos and reports, go to the Tornado Chase 2014 Daily Reports Page

Tornado Chase 2014

May 01 2014 - Inspiring Adventurer Podcast
 
I was recently interviewed for the Inspring Adventurer podcast, which is put together by German adventure enthusiast Julian Bittel. He interviews various adventurers, each with a different speciality and finds out more about what inspires us. It was great fun.
 
Click here to listen to the interview.

Inspiring Adventurer Podcast

April 26 2014 - Tornado Season
 
Well, it's that time of year again. Warm air is returning, and humidity is rising. That means that the monster storms of Tornado Alley are starting to form, like they do every spring.
 
I'm in the middle of preparing for this year's chase, and I'll be hittng the road late next week to meet up with the rest of the Cloud 9 Tours crew. The plan is to be out with them for the entire month of May, then I'll be teaming up with the Weather Network crew for a while, filming asome new episodes os the "Stormhunters" TV series.
 
While I'm on the chase, I'll be doing daily reports on the Tornado Chase 2014 Blog Page, so be sure to check out that page to get all the latest updates from Tornado Alley.
 
Tornado Chase 2014 Daily Reports Page

Tornado Alley

April 22 2014 - Bruce County Museum
 
I'm on my way to the shores of Lake Huron to give a talk at the Bruce County Museum in the morning. They have an ongoing "Adventure Talks Series" there, and I'm looking forward to speaking about many of my old and new adventures from around the world.
 
Come check it out if you get the chance.

Adventure Talks Series - Bruce County Museum

April 19 2014 - Ripley's Aquarium, Toronto
 
Last night, several of us from the Toronto arm of the Canadian Chapter of the Explorers Club got the opportunity to go to the new Ripley's Aquarium in Toronto. We also got to go behind the scenes to see some of the tremendous equipment and effort that goes into sustaining such a huge facility.
 
Among my favorites were the sand tiger sharks (I was diving in the Dubai Aquarium with them a few years ago) and the jellyfish exhibit.
 
If you get the chance, I highly recommend it.

Ripley's Believe It Or Not Quarium - Toronto

April 02 2014 - Unearthed TV Series
 
The new TV series "Unearthed" is coming to The Weather Network (Canada). This is the show that I have been filming with Weather Network meteorologist Mark Robinson over the past few months in the Canadian Arctic, Greenland and Antarctica. The show schedule has now been announced!!
 
April 6th - Unearthed: Arctic Adventure (7pm ET, 10pm ET 1-5am ET)
April 12th - Unearthed: Arctic Adventure ( 11am ET, 2pm ET, 7pm ET, 10pm ET and 1-5am ET)
 
April 13th - Unearthed: Living Ice (7pm ET, 10pm ET 1-5am)
April 19th - Unearthed: Living Ice ( 11am ET, 2pm ET, 7pm ET, 10pm ET and 1-5am ET)

April 20th - Unearthed: Fragile Force (7pm ET, 10pm ET 1-5am)
April 26th - Unearthed: Fragile Force ( 11am ET, 2pm ET, 7pm ET, 10pm ET and 1-5am ET)
 
April 27th - Unearthed: Frozen Desert (7pm ET, 10pm ET 1-5am)
May 3rd - Unearthed: Frozen Desert ( 11am ET, 2pm ET, 7pm ET, 10pm ET and 1-5am ET)

The Weather Network - Unearthed

March 29 2014 - Antarctica Photos Updated
 
It took a while, but I have now uploaded many new photos from the filming trip to Antarctica this past January. To see the full photo gallery go to the Antarctica 2014 page.

Antarctica 2014

March 13 2014 - Ottawa, Ontario
 
I'm off to the nation's capital to do 2 appearances at the Outdoor & Adventure Travel Show!
 
If you find yourself in the Ottawa area this weekend, come out to the show. There will be all kinds of gear vendors, presentations, demonstrations and so much more to help you squeeze some extra adventure into your life.
 
I'll be giving talks on both days: 12:00 noon on Saturday & 1:45 on Sunday, and the 2 talks will be different.
 
Here's a discount code to get tickets: Instead of $8, the coupon code will get you 2 tickets for $10. The code is: GEOK
See you there!!!
 
For more information on the show, go to www.AdventureOttawa.ca

Outdoor & Adventure Travel Show

March 06 2014 - Red Deer, Alberta
 
Back out west. This time, I flew into Calgary and rebted a car to drive north to Red Deer to do yet another speaken engagement. The event was great, but driving back to Calgary became tricky when high winds and blowing snow created bad driving conditions on the highway. A multi-car pileup caused Highway 2 to be shut down, and the detour was slow enough to cause me to miss my flight back home. Luckily, there are many flights back and forth between Calgary and Toronto each day.

Red Deer

Feb. 27 2014 - Edmonton, Alberta
 
It ssems like I've been doing a lot of bouncing back and forth between Toronto and western Canada lately. Well it looks like that trend is continuing. I'm in Edmonton right now, speaking at at teachers convention. I fly back home tonight.
 
I want to thank all the organizers of this event, I had a great time.

Edmonton

Feb. 17 2014 - Surrey, British Columbia
 
Wow, 2 nights at home in a row! Nice.
 
After my brief break, I'm on the road again. This time to the west coast of Canada. I flew into Vancouver and have repositioned to the city of Surrey. Tomorrow, I'm speaking at a municipal event. I won't even be in town long enough to be jet-lagged. One night only, then it's back on the plane and homeward bound.
 
The Vancouver area is truly a beautiful place when the weather is good. Unfortunately, it is cloudy & rainy here right now, totally obscuring the view of the mountains.

Vancouver, British Columbia

Feb. 12 2014 - Calgary, Alberta
 
Well, the past 24 hours have been a blur.
I took the red-eye back from Los Angeles to Toronto, then had to drive straight from the airport over to The Weather Network to appear on-camera, filming some interviews for the Antarctica programming we filmed back in January. Make-up and Red Bull helped.
 
Now, after one brief night at home, I'm now in Calgary, Alberta preparing to speak at a series of teachers conferences. I love going to these kind of events, they are usually a lot of fun. As soon as I'm done in Calgary, I have to fly up to Edmonton for another conference, then finally head back home.

Calgary, Alberta

Feb. 10 2014 - Los Angeles, California
 
I've been in L.A. for the past few days. Partly working on a new television project and partly doing some sight-seeing. It's been a long time since I was last in L.A. and it was nice to get back there. Joining me is frequent adventure-partner, Peter Klose. The two of us hiked the trail that leads behind the famous Hollywood sign, which was a very nice hike with great views of the Hollywood hills and downtown Los Angeles. We also:
 
- Spent some time walking along Venice Beach, including Muscle Beach.
- Walked along Hollywood Blvd & the Walk of Fame.
- Visited Beverly Hills, and Rodeo Drive.
- Met up with Los Angeles based storm chaser, Josh Morgerman who recently returned from documenting Typhoon Haiyan in the Philippines.
 
After our sightseeing was over, we spend a couple of days out in the Mojave Desert, filming some scenes for an upcoming television project that will air this summer. I can't go into details about it yet, but details will be released in a few months.
 
Thank you to everyone on the crew who helped make our desert filming experience a great one. It was a lot of fun, but I have to head back to Toronto. perhaps next time, I'll be able to stay more than just four days.

Hollywood

Mojave Desert

Jan. 23 2014 - Filming in Boston
 
Just when I though this week couldn't get any busier, our flight from New York to Toronto was canceled AGAIN. That made a total of 3 canceled flights due to the snow storm. Luckily, we did manage to fly out and get back to Toronto. However, it was only a few hours later that I had to turn around and head right back to the airport to catch a flight to Boston, Massachusetts.
 
The purpose of this trip was to appear in some on-camera interviews for season 2 of "Strangest Weather on Earth" for the U.S. Weather Channel. The shoot was originally going to be done outside, but was moved indoors to one of the laboratory buildings at Harvard University due to the very cold temperatures. The series is expected to air in the late fall or early summer. Keep an eye out for it.
 
I was down there only for one night, which made for 5 days in a row of airline travel!!

Jan. 21 2014 - New York City Snowstorm
 
Attempting to get home to Toronto after the recent Antarctica adventure is proving to be difficult. A major snowstorm has hit New York City, canceling our original flight, our re-scheduled flight AND our re-re-scheduled flight.
 
What can ya do?
 
Well, since it's a storm, Mark Robinson and I decided to team up with our good friend and local stormchaser Scott McPartland and head out into the worst of the storm to document it. New York got about a foot of snow in total, snarling traffic and causing all kinds of travel headaches. We decided to go into midtown Manhattan and enjoyed the wintery scene. I'm sure glad we still had all our cold weather gear with us! It came in handy.

NYC_Snowstorm

Jan. 20th 2014 - Ushuaia, Argentina - Back from Antarctica!
 
Well we made it back after out 10 day voyage to Antarctica. what a trip it was! There's so much to mention, but no time right now, as we have a plane to catch. Antarctica is one of my favorite places in the world to visit. The wildlife is so interesting with abundant penguins, whales, and seals at almost every place we stopped.
 
The ice is also spectacular. I love the different hues of blue and white in the icebergs and glaciers.
 
I will update with plenty of photos to come, but for now, here are couple of teaser pictures.
 
Many thanks to One Ocean Expeditions and The Weather Network for making suck a fantastic voyage possible.

Antarctica_01

Antarctica_02

Jan. 03 2014 - Frigid Cold & Steam on Lake Ontario
 
What a cold morning! With an air temperature of -22C and a windchill bringing it down to -35C, this was the coldest morning in Toronto in nine years. It felt like it too!
 
I was up early, photographing the steam rising off of Lake Ontario at sunrise and it was quite spectacular. The wind whipped up some impressive waves that crashed against the frozen shoreline.
 
Photos and video here.
 
With all the cold weather we've been getting lately, it makes my glad that soon I'll be heading to Antarctica where, believe it or not, it will quite a bit warmer!

Frigid Cold & Steam on Lake Ontario

Dec. 30 2013 - Goodbye 2013... Hello 2014
 
What a year 2013 has been! It was a very busy, adventurous and productive one for me and I'm very grateful for all the places I've been able to visit and people I've met along the way.
 
Some of the location highlights have been: The Florida Everglades; filming avalanches in the Rockies; Greenland and the Northwest Passage; a busy tornado chase season; a trans-Atlantic voyage, and so much more.
 
What's to come in 2014? Well, first off, I'll be heading to Antarctica next week. Mark Robinson and I will be back aboard the Akademik Ioffe, but this time,instead of going to the Arctic, we're heading to the Southern Ocean and Antarctica to film more material for The Weather Network. Huge thanks go out to everyone at One Ocean Expeditions, who are allowing us to get back on the ship with them!!
 
Also, In a few months I'll be able to reveal the details about the mystery expedition I led back in November. Expect to be blown away!
 
Thanks to all my friends, family, colleagues, sponsors, helpers and anybody else I missed. Let's make 2014 even better, and I wish you all a safe, adventurous year!!

Antarctica

An Archive of Previous Year's News Items Can Be Found Here

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2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

 

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Send E-Mail To George Kourounis

george@stormchaser.ca


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