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2017 Archive News/Blog & Recent Events - George Kourounis

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Dec 31 2017 - New Years Eve Sunrise Steam
 
It has been a frigid December across much of NorthAmerica, and this morning we saw temeratures of -20C here in Toronto. I got up early and headed down to the shore of Lake Ontario to view the steam coming off of the lake. It made for a wonderful sunrise.

New Years Eve Sunrise Steam


Dec 04 2017 - National Geographic Blog
 
Today, National Geographic News has released a blog post about "The World's Most Awesomely Awful Places". I was contacted by the author, and several of the places I've explored have been feature in the article. There are truly some incredible places on Earth that few get to see firsthand, and I've been fortunate enough to experience many of them.
 
Read the post here.

National Geographic Blog

Nov 25 2017 - New Stormhunters Episodes
 
I'm pleased to announce that new episodes of Stormhunters have been released. They've been airing on The Weather Network, but you can watch them online too. I make appearances in four out of the five new episodes which include: chasing hurricane Matthew in Florida, a journey to Mount Washington in New Hampshire and two episodes featuring a descent to the bottom of Marum crater on the Ambrym Island volcano in Vanuatu.

Stormhunters

Nov 22 2017 - Nepal Contest!!
 
Ever wanted to travel to Nepal for free?!! AND be on TV?
 
Contest Time! Come join us (myself and Mark Robinson) in Nepal as we travel to the Himalayas to film a new episode of the Stormhunters TV series. You get to travel with us to one of the most beautiful places on Earth, and even be in the show with us!
Many thanks to the folks at Exodus Travels and The Weather Network for putting this together.
 
This contest is open to Canadian residents of legal age, and you can enter once per day!

Nepal Contest

Nov 17 2017 - RCGS Dinner - Ottawa
 
Yesterday, I was at the annual dinner of the Royal Canadian Geographical Society in Ottawa. I've been a fellow of the society for quite a few years and it is always a great evening.
 
A few of the highlights for me included:
 
- Getting to meet Alex Trebek, the long-time host of the Jeopardy! TV quiz show. He is also the honorary president of the RCGS.
 
- Visiting the new society headquarters. The RCGS has a brand new building, located at 50 Sussex Drive, overlooking the Rideau and Ottawa Rivers. What a great spot. The building is still under construction, and will fully open next year.
 
- Seeing so many old friends. I lost count of how many old friends I got to see at the dinner, including Ziya Tong (co-host of Discovery Channel's Daily Planet & a new RCGS fellow) and Jessica Phillips (From CBC's Four Rooms and History's Treasure Trader. Jessica and I travelled to Myanmar together earlier this year).
 
- Spending time with the folks from One Ocean Expeditions. Many thanks to them for inviting me to join their table. It has been a busy year for them with a new ship gaining the designation "RCGS Resolute" and their managing director Andrew Prossin being awarded the Lawrence J Burpee medal from the society.
 
Here are some more highlights from the day. I've been working closely with the RCGS for quite some time and I'm looking forward to doing more with the RCGS in the future.

RCGS_01

RCGS_02

Nov 08 2017 - Edmonton, Alberta
 
Many thanks to everyone at the University of Alberta, the City of Edmonton, McEwan University, the event partners, sponsors, organizers, volunteers and attendees who helped to make the Sustainability Speaker Series such a great event yesterday. We had a full house of people who came out, and it was an absolute pleasure for me to share my images and stories with you all. I wish you continued success with the campus sustainability series, and the Images of Climate Change event series.

University of Alberta

Oct 29 2017 - The Explorers Club - Lowell Thomas Awards Dinner
 
What a weekend it has been!
 
Thank you everyone who helped make the Lowell Thomas Awards Dinner this weekend in Toronto such a great event. So many people worked so hard to pull it all together over the past few months... The planning committee, the folks at The Explorers Club headquarters in New York, all the volunteers. I could go on and on. There were so many great moments...

- Meeting the ambassador from Monaco.
- Meeting all the
award winners, and hearing about their research and explorations.
- Seeing so many old friends, and making many new ones.
- Being on stage, as the MC, and staying up WAY too late!
- Meeting Canadian undersea explorer Joe Macinnis for the first time.

There were just too many moments to list here.

This was the very first time this dinner has ever been held outside the United States, and it was the biggest Explorers Club event ever held in Canada, plus it coincided with the 2017 celebrations of Canada's 150th birthday! Thank you all again who helped out, attended, or supported the event.
 

Time to sleep a little more...

LTAD_01

LTAD_02

Oct 25 2017 - Tampa, Florida
 
I'm in Tampa, Florida right now, and I've just wrapped up the closing keynote talk for the American Society of Agronomy, Crop Science Society of America, and Soil Science Society of America 2017 International Annual Meeting. Wow, that's a mouthful, but what a great group. I felt so welcomed by them. Thank you to all the organizers and attendees.
 
I gave them some highlights of my explorations, and shared some insight into sustainability.
The next couple of weeks continue to be busy, so I have to fly back home to Toronto in the morning.

Tampa

Sept 13 2017 - Shoshone, California, Near Death Valley
 
I wish I could tell you the details about why I'm out in the Mojave desert right now, but it is a very exciting project that I hope to be able to reveal more about soon.
 
 
Today was spent at the Dumont Sand dunes. A spectacular place of towering dunes that looks like a little pieve of the sahara Desert. I got to spend most of the day exploring the dunes, both on foot, and in a custom sand-rail (dune buggy). The Dumont Dunes are one of only abou 40 places worldwide whee the sand dunes "sing". Under the right weather and sand conditions, the dunes can resonate, making a variety of sounds, the most dramatic being a loud, constant droning that sounds like a propeller plane flying overhead. I had a reasearcher from Cal-Tech with me, and she brough a bunch of her students along. Together, we were able to trigger the singing sound. It was pretty amazing!
 
 
I've been staying in the great little nearby town of Shoshone, population: 31. I even got to interview to owner of the town.
 
 
 
When I am able to share more details about this project, I will.

Dumont_Dunes_01

Dumont_Dunes_02

Aug 31 2017 - New York City
 
Back in New York City... Well technically New Jersey, right across the river. This time, I have returned for another round of filming for season four of the TV program "What On Earth?" for Discovery Science Channel. The show is all about interesting imagery caught by satellites, or other aerial means. The producers get experts to look at the images and comment on what they might, or might not be. It is a lot of fun, and I've been asked to be involved since season one.
 
Basically, most of my time was spent sitting in a chair in front of a camera for 2 days, commenting on about 20 different images. Gruelling, but fun. I think my voice is pretty much gone.

Science Channel - What On Earth?

Aug 21 2017 - Amazing Solar Eclipse!
 
Yes! We were in perfect position for the eclipse. No clouds, and a great view of the entire event.
 
In all my travels to nature's spectacles around the world, that eclipse was one of the most spectacular things I've ever experienced! The surreal light, the dip in temperature, the shadows through the trees took on crescent shapes, crickets came out, streetlights turned on, dogs were barking and you could see the stars. The Corona was stunning to look at with the naked eye. I wish it could have lasted a lot longer.
 
Now it's time to start the long drive back home.

Total Solar Eclipse

Aug 20 2017 - Here Comes The Eclipse
 
The day is upon us. I've been waiting years for this. The 2017 total solar eclipse that stretches across the entire width of the United States. Myself and a small team from The Weather Network are currently driving south, on our way towards the path of totality. The forecast in Tennessee looks pretty good, with a high chance of clear skies. Or target is the small town of Silver Point. It is right in the path, and has good road options if clouds start to roll in. This will be my first solar eclipse, and I'm not sure what to expect.
 
We will reporting live, as well as live streaming the eclipse for TWN.

Total Solar Eclipse 2017


Aug 11 2017 - Ambrym Volcano Base Camp
 
Whew! What a crazy couple of months it has been.
The weather on Ambrym Island is notoriously bad at the summit, and even though we were there during the dry season, we still had rain almost every single day.
 
Despite this, and other setbacks, I was able to do 5 descents to the bottom of the crater and get as close as possible to the lava lake inside. We brought several TV crews and private individuals down into the volcano (and back out) safely.
 
Watch out for the Volcanoes IMAX film next year... We helped them get their camera to the bottom, and it should look spectacular!
 
It's now time to head home.
 
I'm also recovering from a badly scratched cornea in my right eye. We were down inside at the halfway point, pulling up the ropes before tearing down base camp and a gust of wind blew volcanic ash into my eye, and somehow it got between my contact lens and my eye. The pain was unbelievable, and the scratch totally obscured my vision. After somehow managing to ascend out of the volcano, I improvised an eye patch and the next morning we pulled down camp and hiked for four hours down the mountainside, through the jungle to the airstrip where a plane had been arranged to fly us back to Port Vila. I'm fine and my eye is healing nicely.
 
Ambrym is an incredibly intense, beautiful, and dangerous place that is not to be taken lightly.

Marum 2017

Marum 2017
July 16 2017 - Yasur Volcano - Tanna Island, Vanuatu
 
We're in the middle of our 7 week volcano expedition here in Vanuatu and we've temporarily diverted to the island of Tanna, which is home to the very active Yasur Volcano. We visited the volcano twice and were treated to awe inspiring explosions, throwing lava bombs hundreds of meters through the air. Take a close look at the picture. That's me on the right... What an amazing display.
 
More pictures and video links here.

Yasur Volcano, Vanuatu

July 10 2017 - Port Vila, Vanuatu
 
It has been a hectic couple of weeks. We have now set up base camp on Ambrym Island, right beside the Marum crater. There have been countless problems with rain and low clouds, equipment, paperwork, conflicts with the local villages, etc. but we are in pretty good shape all things considered. Camp is solid, and most of the ropes into the crater have been rigged. One concern is that a different nearby crater has been having periodic ash eruptions. We don't know if this activity is increasing or not, we've never seen it do that before... Hopefully, it won't become a problem.
 
The lava lake at the bottom of Marum is very actively boiling as it usually is, however the lake has shrunk in size since the last time we were here and the level of the lava has dropped. It'll be interesting to see it up close, at the bottom, but the bad weather hasn't allowed us the opportunity to get all the way to the bottom yet. Also, a rock slide inside the crater has changed the topography of the crater, which is something we didn't expect to see.
 
The nights are spectacular, with the cloud of gas brightly illuminated by the lava below. It is a surreal sight that I never get tired of looking at.

In the meantime, we have temporarily relocated back to the capital of Port Vila. The camp is being guarded by some of the locals, and we will be returning in about a week or so to resume the expedition.

Marum Volcano 2017

Marum Volcano 2017

June 25 2017 - Departing for a big volcano expedition in Vanuatu
 
I'm getting ready and gearing up for yet another Vanuatu volcano expedition. Once again I'll be teaming up with Geoff Mackley and Chris Horsley to descend down inside Marum crater on Ambrym Island. This time I'll be part of the volcano/base camp/climbing team. We'll be in Vanuatu for a total of almost 2 months, setting up camp, rigging the ropes, and helping to bring a variety of clients down inside the volcano. I can't say who or for what projects at this time. This will be my longest volcano expedition yet... I'm certain it'll be filled with insanity of all kinds.

Vanuatu Map

June 20 2017 - Mount Washington, New Hampshire
 
The past 3 days have been spent driving to Mount Washington in NewHampshire and back to Toronto. I was involved with a shoot for The Weather Network, and the mountain is home to the "worst weather in the world". Of course, I've been to Mt. Washington before, but it was nice to return. The weather was predictably windy!
 
The visibility would come and go, making it difficult to film at times. Watch for the footage on an upcoming episode of Stormhunters.

Mount Washington 2017

June 05 2017 - Back From North Korea
 
I can finally get online and report in... I have just returned from 10 days in North Korea, and it was a surreal experience.
 
The goal was to spend time climbing some peaks there that very few westerners have ever seen. Being in North Korea was an adventure in every sense of the word. We visited some remote areas, went to 2 different areas in the DMZ, and got to experience the culture of Pyongyang.
 
The scariest part was waking up to see on the news that Kim Jong Un had just launched a ballistic missile test. We crossed our fingers, and hoped that nuclear war wasn't about to break out.
 
Yes, North Korea a strange place. We were kept on relatively short leash throughout the trip, with our government "minders" keeping close tabs on us, even during the hiking/climbing days.
 
I have assembled a collection of photographs and stories from the trip here. It was a place that I've been wanting to visit for quite some time, and with the escalating tensions between Pyongyang and west, I'm glad I was able to get in (and out) when I did.

North Korea 2017

North Korea 2017

May 19 2017 - Heading to North Korea !
 
I have been keeping this new expedition a secret for quite some time now, but I can finally announce that I'm on my way to the DPRK (Democratic People's Republic of Korea), known in the west as North Korea. The secretive nation gets very few visitors, and travel there can be very tricky.
 
The current political situation doesn't make things easier, with tensions rising between the United States and "Supreme Leader" Kim Jong-Un. The plan is to meet up with the rest of the 8 person team in Beijing, then fly to Pyongyang. We will be spending quite a bit of time in the mountains, trekking and climbing peaks that are seldom seen by outsiders. I really want to showcase the natural beauty of this country, despite the politics and propaganda.

North Korea

May 17 2017 - Spotted Lake, British Columbia
 
The filming has been going very well, and we've just wrapped up. This time we were at the Spotted Lake, an unusualy lake in southern B.C. that has no outlet. In the summer, much of the water evaporates, leaving behind circular pools, filled with mineral rich water that seems to be slightly different in each pool. It is fascinating. In order to gain access to the site, we had to have permission from the Okanagan First Nations, as the site is on their land and is considered sacred.
 
It was a sight to behold. I've never seen a body of water quite like it.

Spotted Lake, British Columbia

May 14 2017 - Heading To British Columbia
 
After being home for less than 24 hours, I got a message from the production company I was working with in The Bahamas. The crew I was filming with was relocating to British Columbia to film a story, and their on-camera contributor had cancelled on them at the last minute due to a family emergency... So, I'm on my way out there tomorrow to sub in for him. Right now I'm cramming to learn as much as I can about what I have to talk about on camera.
 
This should be interesting. I'm up to the challenge.

British Columbia

May 11 2017 - Norman's Cay & Bimini, Bahamas
 
The past week has been a blast.We've been filming at a variety of locations in The Bahamas for Science Channel, including a crashed plane off the coast of Norman's Cay. That was a lot of fun to go snorkeling on.

We also spent time on Bimini, wading through mangrove swamps, flying a drone over sharks, and also snorkeling on the "Bimini Road". What was all this for? Well, you'll have to wait and see when the new season of What On Earth? comes out later in the year. It was great to be back in The Bahamas, but I got eaten alive by the bugs! Argh!!
 
More photos.

Norman's Cay - Bahamas

May 03 2017 - Heading to The Bahamas
 
This coming weekend, I'm going to be headed off to spend a week on several islands in The Bahamas.
 
We're filming a few stories for the new season of What On Earth? for Science Channel. I can't give any details about what exactly we'll be filming, but it is going to be a fun trip, filled with adventure. You'll have to wait until later in the year when the programs are broadcast to find out exactly what we're up to.
 
I still have plenty to do between now and when I depart, so I'd better get back to work.

Bahamas Map

April 27 2017 - Ask A Storm Chaser Event
 
Want to know why storm chasers hunt down severe weather? It's FREE but space is limited. Register here.
 
This is your chance to ask! Come join us for this exciting event hosted by the Region of Niagara and Niagara College. Join Mark Robinson (The Weather Network), George Kourounis (Angry Planet), and Patricia Martel (Emergency Management) to learn about storm chasing, extreme weather, and how to stay safe during emergencies from three experienced storm chasers.

Date: April 28, 2017 - Time: 7 pm
Location: Yerich Auditorium, Niagara College, 135 Taylor Road, Niagara-on-the-Lake.
Parking is free.

Ask A Storm Chaser Event

April 26 2017 - Podcast Appearances
 
Recently, I've made appearances on a couple of really interesting adventure podcasts.
 
 
Adventure Sports Podcast - This is my second time as a guest on this podcast. Host, Travis Parsons and I discuss what expeditions I've been up to over the past year.
 
 
Adventure Science Podcast - I'm honored to be the very first guest on the Adventure Science podcast. Interviewer, Simon Donato is a world class explorer and extreme athlete. He and I worked together on the Madagascar expedition to the Tsingy de Bemaraha.

Adventure Sports Podcast

Adventure Science Podcast

April 24 2017 - Filming In New York
 
So, I'm back in New York again for the second time this month. This time I've teamed up with Wag TV again to film interviews for season four of What On Earth? for Science Channel. I've appeared in all the seasons of this show, and it is a lot of fun.
 
I flew in last night and today we spent about 12 hours filming as I talked about a variety of topics. The program is all about interesting and bizarre things that have been spotted on Earth from satellites overhead.
 
Learn more about the show and watch some clips from previous seasons.
 
Back to Toronto tomorrow.

Filming In New York

March. 26 2017 - Explorers Club Annual Dinner, New York
 
I'm in New York right now, still a bit jet lagged from returning from Myanmar a few days ago, but it's totally worth it to be at the Explorers Club Annual Dinner. This year, it was held on Ellis Island.
 
The sold out event featured some of the world's top explorers including Sir Ranulph Fiennes who was the keynote speaker. Sir Ranulph has climbed the Eiger and Mount Everest. He's crossed both Poles on foot and once ran 7 marathons on 7 continents on 7 consecutive days.

The dinner also featured opening remarks by legendary actor Robert DeNiro.
 
ECAD is famous, not only for bringing together the greatest explorers in the world, but also is known for its array of exotic foods including: scorpions, tarantulas and a variety of other unusual edibles.
 
It is always held in New York, and this year, it was held on Ellis Island, the traditional gateway for immigrants seeking a better life in America. It was a great evening, followed by a fun Sunday at the Explorers Club headquarters in Manhattan where I had more time to chat with other explorers, see some old friends and make few new ones.
 
The next big fund raising event for The Explorers Club will be the Lowell Thomas Awards Dinner on October 28th. This event will be held in my hometown of Toronto, the first time it has ever been held outside the U.S. and it will be the largest EC event ever held outside the U.S. I'm already working with the organizing team on the preparations for what will be an historic evening next autumn.

ECAD_01

ECAD_02

March. 18 2017 - Yangon, Myanmar
 
The "Fading Bloodlines" expedition is winding down. We are back in Yangon after 3 weeks of travelling via car, bus, boat, motorcycle and foot to the Chin tribes of the west, near the Bangladesh border.

The expedition was a smashing success. We were hoping to interview 100-150 tattooed women, and we ended up with 184 interviews! We also met 3 women who used to be tattoo artists. What an experience to meet so many interesting people and hear their stories about this cultural practice that is dying out.
 
The ages of the women we interviewed ranged from late 30's to a 103 year old Burmese Buddhist nun (Whose secret to longevity was "reduce stress, don't get married, don't have children"). All the interviews required double translation from English to Burmese to the local dialect and back again, which complicated things, but we managed.

Even though the expedition was a huge success, it wasn't without misadventure including: A sick teammate, an arduous 10 hour overnight bus ride (with a broken seat), some very rough conditions in a filthy guest house, motion sickness, and the usual chaos that comes with rural travel in the developing world.

Fading Bloodlines Expedition - Myanmar

Fading Bloodlines Expedition - Myanmar


Feb. 14 2017 - Fading Bloodlines Expedition - The Tattooed Women of Myanmar
 
At the end of February, I will be teaming up with Robin Brooks and Jessica Lindsay Phillips to travel to remote areas of the northern Chin and Rakhine states in Myanmar.
Once considered a sign of great beauty, the women of the Chin tribes of Myanmar had their faces tattooed upon coming of age. This was practiced for an unknown number of centuries. These markings represented gender, age, spiritual beliefs, race and identity.

The arrival of colonial rule and Christian missionaries to Burma in the 19th century instrumented a decline of this female cultural tradition in villages and towns. Burma became a democratic nation in 1948 and after 1962’s coup which lead to a military dictatorship,” the Burmese Revolutionary Council placed a ban on the tattoos. The tattoos, the women that bore them and this traditional practice represented a way of life and beliefs that were from a regime that those in charge were trying to get people to leave behind. With the practice banned, fines and other reasons undetermined led to the complete termination of this sparsely documented lost art.

Today, after a lifetime of wars and dictatorship, an unknown number of these tattooed women, now in their 60s, 70s, 80s and older, live in the remote areas of the northern Chin and Rakhine states.

Knowing that they are the last of their kind, a small number of these women have been using their rare looks to draw tourism as a way of earning money for the betterment of their impoverished communities. However, many more tattooed “grannies” live in areas unmapped and relatively untouched by the modern world.

Few westerners except a small handful of academics, photographers, missionaries and intrepid explorers have gone beyond these tourist villages to meet the tattooed women living in more remote areas.

The Fading Bloodlines expedition team will travel deep into this remote region of Myanmar, an area where no post-colonial government surveys or mapping has taken place. These time-locked states house small populations of these tattooed women who’s lives were once threatened to the point that this cultural tradition of facial tattooing is literally a couple decades from extinction.

The remoteness, absence of roads, and its unavailability to tourists, has kept the area undisturbed by development, and ripe for exploration and discovery. During the first three weeks of March 2017, a passionate and skilled team of adventurers will embark on the first cultural census and mapping expedition of its kind. They will trek, bike, climb, cruise, crawl and navigate miles of arid mountains, jungles, rivers, and unknown trails.
Some of the
goals of the expedition are to:

Document this vanishing cultural art and traditional way of life.

Carry out the first ever census of the remaining living tattooed Chin women in the region as well as villages with families whose previous generation practiced this cultural tradition.

Fading Bloodlines Expedition

Myanmar Map

Feb. 13 2017 - Announcement
 
News & Blog 2017 I am very proud to announce that I am now on the board of directors for Exploring By The Seat Of Your Pants. An educational initiative to bring science into classrooms via live Google Hangouts with explorers, scientists and researchers worldwide.

exploringbytheseat.com

EBTSOYP is partnered with National Geographic Education, as was the grand prize winner at the Canadian Scholarship Trust: Inspired Minds Learning Project.

Founder, Joe Grabowski has done a tremendous job at building an amazing platform for connecting students with inspiring individuals who are helping today's youth to learn more about the world around us. I'm grateful to be involved in helping them to foster scientific literacy.

Exploring By The Seat Of Your Pants

Feb. 03 2017 - Chasing Lake Effect Snow Squalls in a Small Plane
 
Since I live in Toronto, it is easy for me to chase lake effect snow squalls since I'm surrounded by several of the Great Lakes. Snow squalls form when cold air passes over the relatively warm lake water and picks up moisture from the lake. This moisture then gets dumped as snow. Sometimes a LOT of snow. After years of chasing these events on the ground, we (Mark Robinson from The Weather Network) and I arranged to take a small plane up and "chase" them from the air.
 
Many thanks to pilot Steve Thorne ( @Flightchops ) for his tremendous help.

Chasing Lake Effect Snow Squalls in a Small Plane

Feb. 02 2017 - Canadian Catastrophe Conference
 
Thank you to everyone at the CatIQ's Canadian Catastrophe Conference. I was invited to be the lunchtime keynote speaker today as part of the 3 day conference.
 
2016 was the costliest year in Canadian history for natural disasters... Largely because of the Fort McMurray wildfire. One of the conference highlights for me was listening to Fort McMurray fire chief, Darby Allen, tell his personal tale of trying to protect the community amidst the chaos of the raging fire.
 
It was a great group, and I had so much fun sharing my own personal stories from a variety of natural disasters, both domestic and international.

Canadian Catastrophe Conference

Feb. 01 2017 - British Airways Magazine In-Flight Magazine
 
I am featured in the February issue of British Airways' in-flight magazine High Life.
The article "What I Pack" showcases many of the interesting and unique items I travel with when I'm jetting around the world, heading towards storms and other natural disasters.

British Airways - In-Flight Magazine "High Life"

Jan. 31 2017 - Discovery Channel: Daily Planet
 
Discovery Channel Canada's flagship daily science/tech news show, Daily Planet is featuring a story on our expedition to the Nyiragongo lava lake in eastern Congo from last year.
 
Depending on where you live, you might be able to watch the segment here. Just go to the Jan 31st episode.

Discovery Channel Canada - Daily Planet

Jan. 25 2017 - Chicago Tribune Q&A
 
Chicago Tribune: Jan, 2017 - The lifestyle/travel section featured a Q&A with me about my global explorations and adventures: "'Angry Planet' adventurer George Kourounis on his volcano-top wedding and eating snakes."

Chicago Tribune

Jan. 14 2017 - National Geographic: Hidden Earth
 
My Darvaza flaming gas crater descent expedition in Turkmenistan was given a shout-out in the National Geographic special publication Hidden Earth.
 
"In 2013 National Geographic Explorer and storm chaser George Kourounis was the first person to descend into the searing crater. After about 18 months of training, an expedition team on the ground lowered him - clad in a heat suit and Kevlar harness - into the torrid depths, where he collected soil samples for scientific study.

National Geographic - Hidden Earth

Jan. 01 2017 - Happy New Year!
 
I'm really looking forward to what 2017 has in store. I guarantee there will be plenty of new exciting adventures, exotic travel and proably a bunch of things I couldn't possibly imagine right now. Have a great year!
 
Also...

The 2017 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records acknowledges my Darvaza, Turkmenistan expedition with a 2-page spread. The goal of the expedition, which I led for National Geographic was to gather soil samples from the bottom of the world's longest-burning methane crater.

Learn more about the
flaming gas crater expedition.

Guinness Book of World Records 2017

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

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

2010

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005

2004

 

Any Questions/Comments?

Send E-Mail To George Kourounis

george@stormchaser.ca


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