◦ ONE OF NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC ADVENTURE'S BEST OUTFITTERS IN THE WORLD!
◦ New Trips Just Added!
◦ Upcoming Events
◦ UPCOMING EVENTS: Alps Tour Cancelled!
◦ Be Prepared for Enhanced Airline Security
◦ MTS in the News
◦ GuideLines: Shelli Ogilvy - Growing Up On Alaska's Glacier Bay
◦ GuideLines: Christa Sadler - Ice Age Boating on the Alsek
◦ GuideLines: Granite Stanley - Update from the Middle Fork
◦ GuideLines: Letters from the Field!
◦ ONE OF NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC ADVENTURE'S BEST OUTFITTERS IN THE WORLD!
November, 2007 - National Geographic Adventure Magazine has selected Mountain Travel Sobek as one of the top 3 “Best Outfitters on Earth” among those that “do it all!” In this same issue, our 9-day Glacier Hiking the Swiss Alps adventure was honored with top placement as one of the “25 Best New Trips” for 2008! Be sure to pick up the November issue in newsstands today!
Other Recent Awards:
- Travel & Leisure, July 2007 - We are honored to have been chosen as one of Top 3 Tour Operators & Safari Outfitters in the World by Travel & Leisure magazine! Read all about it in the July issue of Travel & Leisure!
- SmarterTraveler.com, October 2007 - Our new Bosnian Adventure, Hiking the Heart of the Balkans, has been selected as one of the best new adventure trips of 2008 by SmarterTraveler.com! Read all about it!
- National Geographic Traveler, October 2007 - Once again an MTS adventure has been selected as one of National Geographic Traveler Magazine's 50 Tours of a Lifetime! This year our Montenegro: Jewel of the Adriatic adventure has been chosen! Read all about it when the second annual Tours of a Lifetime issue hits newsstands on October 2, 2007!
 - Outside Magazine, March 2007 - Mountain Travel Sobek wins another Outside regional Trip of the Year award! This year the award goes to our new Nicaragua: Volcanoes, Lakes, & Rainforest adventure as the Trip of the Year in the Bahamas, Mexico and Central America regional category. Read all about it in this month's issue, in newsstands today!
More Outside winners from MTS:
The Great Walk of Africa ~ 2006 Trip of the Year!
The Upper Mekong River ~
2006 Asia Trip of the Year!
Trekking the Georgian Caucasus ~ 2005 Eastern European & the Caucasus Trip of the Year!
Lost Islands of the Solomons ~ One of Oceania's Best Trips in 2005!
The John Muir Trail ~ 2004 North America Trip of the Year!
- Men's Journal, December 2006 - We are honored to have been selected as the #1 Best Outfitter by Men's Journal!
- Men's Journal, December 2006 - Our Alsek River Adventure was also chosen as the #2 Best River Trip (reader's choice)!
- National Geographic Adventure, November 2006 - Our exciting new trip Montenegro: Jewel of the Adriatic has also been honored as one of National Geographic Adventure's 25 Best New Adventures in 2007! Check out the November issue online now!
- National Geographic Traveler, October 2006 - our Upper Mekong River rafting trip in China and is featured in "50 Tours of a Lifetime."
Check out the October issue on-line!
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◦ New Trips Just Added!
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◦ Upcoming Events
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Mountain Travel Sobek is pleased to invite you to special events with world renowned photographer Art Wolfe.
TRAVELS TO THE EDGE
An Evening Presentation
Art will present Travels to the Edge, a multimedia show with video and stories from behind the scenes of his American Public Television series, Travels to the Edge with Art Wolfe.
CREATIVE SESSIONS
A Two Day Intensive
Join Art as he offers 35 years of knowledge and insight in a series of compelling and inspiring multimedia lectures. The Creative Sessions Tour will enhance your VISION, expand your KNOWLEDGE, and provide the TOOLS to achieve your photographic goals.
Art will present a two day intensive program on the Art of Seeing. Composition, color, balance, perspective, creativity, inspiration, practical tips, Q&A, with hundreds of images and a selection of video clips designed to teach, entertain, and inspire.
WHEN & WHERE:
Sarasota, FL ~ May 9-11
Portland, OR ~ June 7-8
Los Angeles, CA ~ September 19-21
Charlotte, NC ~ October 17 - 19
Toronto, Canada and London, England ~ TBA
And check back for additional dates in Toronto, Canada and London, England!
For Registration and additional information visit www.artwolfe.com.
About Art Wolfe
Over the course of his 30-year career, Art Wolfe has worked on every continent and in hundreds of locations. His stunning images interpret and record the world's fast-disappearing wildlife, landscapes, and native cultures, and act as a lasting inspiration to those who seek to preserve the very subjects recorded in Art's images. His photographs are recognized throughout the world for their mastery of color, composition and perspective.
"Art Wolfe's photographs are a superb evocation of some of the most breathtaking spectacles in the world."
- Sir David Attenborough
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◦ UPCOMING EVENTS: Alps Tour Cancelled!
Unfortunately, we have had to cancel our spring 2008 slide show tour with Laurent Langoisseur, one of our most popular and respected alpine mountain guides, due to a recent skiing injury. Rest assured that while Laurent's shoulder injury is serious, it is in no way permanent. However, he is unable to travel this spring. We plan to reschedule the tour for later this year or spring of 2009.
Thank you for your understanding, and we look forward to seeing you on a trip or at another event soon!
For questions, please contact Nadia Le Bon at Nadia@mtsobek.com.
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◦ Be Prepared for Enhanced Airline Security
If you are booked on an upcoming Mountain Travel Sobek adventure, we strongly advise the following:
1) Please be sure to check with your specific carrier for information on when you should arrive at the airport for all flights.
2) Wear shoes which are easy to remove quickly at check-points.
3) Review the complete list of
Permitted and Prohibited Items
on the U.S. Transportation Security Administration's website. You may need to plan to check much of your baggage, including many of the items you originally planned to carry on the plane with you. In particular, please note there are now many restrictions on liquids. For a complete list, please visit the TSA Website.
4) Pack lightly, without clutter, to facilitate easier screening. Also, please be advised that passengers traveling from the U.K. to the U.S. may be subject to a more extensive screening process.
DO NOT FORGET YOUR FINAL BULLETIN when traveling, as this has essential contact information in the event of a delay. If you have misplaced this document, please contact us at (800) 282-8747.
If you are delayed en route, we request that you send a message by email or telephone to your guide or our in-country partner at the address listed on your Final Bulletin. Please know that our partners abroad are already fully aware of the situation, and are ready to assist in the event you miss a connecting flight.
If your departure is over the weekend and you experience delays or an emergency, and you cannot reach the our in-country partner, please leave a message at Mountain Travel Sobek’s off-hours number at 1-800-282-8747 or 1-510-594-6000 and follow the instructions. Leave your name, details of your new arrival plans and if possible a telephone number where you can be reached. Your message will signal a beeper, and be received by an on-duty Program Director at Mountain Travel Sobek, who will forward your information on to your guide, and make every attempt to contact you to confirm we have received your message.
To see the most recent U.S. Transportation Security Administration announcements regarding air travel security procedures, please click here.
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◦ MTS in the News
- Travel & Leisure, January, 2008 - The 54 MTS Private Adventures itineraries we now offer in 33 countries around the world are given special note in Travel & Leisure magazine's Guide to Going Off the Grid. Pick up the January issue today!
- LA Times, October, 2007 - Our Nicaragua: Volcanoes, Lakes, & Rainforest adventure is highlighted in the November 30, 2007 edition of the LA Times as one of the most interesting countries where the US dollar can still "go the distance." Check it out!
- Esquire, October, 2007 - Our Mountain Gorilla Expedition received high praise in this month's special edition of Esquire, "The Big Black Book". Check it out!
- USA Today, September 20, 2007 - Our new Follow-the-Leader Adventure to Gabon with Allen Bechky was featured as one of "6 global adventures [that] span the extraordinary" in the USA Today!
- AARP Magazine, September/October 2007 - Learn more about why group travel can be the best way to experience some of the most remote destiations in the world in the September & October issue of AARP Magazine. Highlighted trips include our Trobriand Island & Papua New Guinea!
- The New York Times, August 12, 2007 - Mountain Travel Sobek's Machu Picchu Inn to Inn trek was featured in the Sunday Travel section!
- USA Today, August 11, 2007 - Our Galapagos Adventure and other MTS family-friendly adventures are noted in today's issue of the USA Today!
- Epic Magazine, Jun/July 2007 - Mountain Travel Sobek has been highlighted as one of the best outfitters offering trips up Kilimanjaro. Read all about it!
- Pink Magazine, Jun/July 2007 - Mountain Travel Sobek is recommended as a world class adventure tour operator in regions around the world. Check out this month's issue!
- Outside Magazine, April 2007 - Learn more about our exciting rafting adventure The Great Bend of the Yangtze and the many conservation efforts tied to this exciting program in this month's Outside Magazine !
- Alaska Magazine, April 2007 - Our world class Glacier Bay Escape kayaking adventure is highlighted in this month's this month. Alaska Magazine. Check it out!
- Concierge.com, March 2007 -
Our Kuna Yala Explorer is featured as one of the world's best "Totally Active Beaches" by Concierge.com this month. Read all about it!
- Vogue Magazine, March 2007 -
Two of our exceptional adventures in Patagonia and Antarctica are featured in this month's Vogue (along with many other exciting destinations we currently travel to).
Check it out!
- The New York Times, March 4, 2007 - The increase in travel to Nepal as a result easing tensions and political unrest in that country are highlighted in The New York Times today (along with the many adventures we currently offer in Nepal). Read more about it!
- National Geographic Adventure Magazine, March 2007 - Our unique Swedish Dogsledding to the Ice Hotel, is featured in this month's issue of National Geographic Adventure Magazine(in newsstands February 13th)!
- Men's Journal, January 2007 - Our exciting new European adventure Montenegro: Jewel of the Adriatic has once again received top honors, this time by Men's Journal who has rated it one of the "World's 50 Greatest Adventures This Year." Read all about it in the January issue!
- New York Times, December 17, 2006 - Our work to combat dams and deforestation by developing river-based ecotourism in China's Yunnan River Province (in conjunction with the Nature Conservancy) was highlighted in today's New York Times. Read the entire article "Ecotourism: Traveling the World to Help Save It" and learn more about the excitig river adventures we currently offer on the Mekong and the Yangtze.
- USA Today, December 8, 2006 - Check out this edition of USA Today where our exceptional new trip Montenegro: Jewel of the Adriatic has been noted as one of "Five Adventures to Get Your Blood Rushing" in 2007.
- Men's Journal, November 2006 - Our Mountain Gorilla Expedition! with Allen Bechky has been featured as one of the World's Greatest Safaris! by Men's Journal this November. Read all about it !
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◦ GuideLines: Shelli Ogilvy - Growing Up On Alaska's Glacier Bay
I’ve had the same conversation with every new person I’ve ever met. They ask, “Where are you from?” And I say, “Alaska.” Following, there is a pause, a small silence where each of us transcends into some space in our minds where dreams of landscapes of mountains, glaciers, and oceans are realities.
I come from a place where time is a landscape in itself: Glacier Bay National Park, a spot in the world defined by epic measurements of time, ice ages, glacial retreat, and forest re-growth, a place where everything is in a state of almost daily redefinition. The beach I grew up on has risen two feet in my lifetime, the glaciers are slowly receding back to their birthplace in the mountains, and the forest has grown and risen gradually over the rocky terrace the ice left behind.
For the past 10 years, I have been very fortunate to guide sea kayaking expeditions in and around this landscape, repeatedly journeying up this mystical bay where we encounter beauty beyond description. Aspects of this landscape change and mold the traveler. Surrounded by ice and sky, blues shouting from the ocean, mountains, and glaciers, all interspersed with the green and cream of sand, earth, and stone. We paddle in front of glaciers—John's Hopkins, Reid, Lamplough—awed and humbled by their existence. Revolutionary War-era snow has transformed into the most ethereal color of blue and slowly peels off into a thunder only heard here, followed by a quickening silence.
We encounter all weather: wind that pours off miles of ice; rain that makes glaciers, that makes us laugh, and forms rivers and deltas out of campsites; and then a midnight sun that emerges as we are reborn into this place. The mountains seem larger and the ocean more magical covered in shimmering diamonds of light. Time slows here. We nap on the beach. We witness the weight of 18 feet of water being moved by the tide and breathe the incense of barnacle and seaweed. The grass seems to have grown a foot taller in all this moisture, secretly disguising wildlife until it emerges suddenly and gracefully into our view.
I watch how each group of travelers changes during their visit here. The hurried business of normal daily life melts away, and we find our own sense of time. The human relationship converges with the wild, and we find we never want to leave.
All these experiences and memories pass through my mind in that pause of conversation that occurs each time I’m asked, “Where are you from?” And I respond, “Please come.” And I hope you will.
GuideLine by Shelli Ogilvy,
Alaska Discovery Sea Kayak Operations Director
Shelli Ogilvy grew up commercial fishing in Southeast Alaska. She currently lives five months of the year in her cabin without running water, electricity, or plumbing and works in similar conditions guiding wilderness expeditions for Alaska Discovery. The other months, she paints and lives in Taos, NM. During the summer of 2008, she will also be working as head of Alaska Discovery’s sea kayaking operations in Gustavus, AK.
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◦ GuideLines: Christa Sadler - Ice Age Boating on the Alsek
The Alsek River originates in the Yukon Territory in Canada and runs through British Columbia and Alaska before joining the Pacific Ocean, just west of Glacier Bay. When I discovered this river 11 years ago, I thought nothing was as big or as wild as the Grand Canyon. I was surprisingly mistaken. In its 160-mile course, the Alsek River travels through one of the most extraordinary landscapes you’ll ever see. The mountains and glaciers of this land far surpass the grandeur and wildness of any other place I’ve ever been. There are spots on this trip where you can stand and look out (if the weather is clear!) to 14,000-foot mountain peaks 40 miles away. And you realize that in all that space, there are no humans whatsoever, and it’s just as likely that no humans have ever been there at all.
The Alsek is not a whitewater river, even though there are a couple of days of great whitewater fun on the trip. The reason to come here is to see and be a part of one of the last great wildernesses left on our continent—a landscape that is still untouched by human hands and is, quite frankly, the better for it. The river begins in the rain shadow of the St. Elias Mountains, the second highest coastal mountain range in the world (next to the Andes) and the youngest mountain range in North America. This is a landscape straight out of the Ice Age, filled with craggy peaks, blue glaciers, icebergs floating in the river, bears, mountain goats, moose, wolves, and incredible fields of flowers. The river cuts straight through the mountain ranges of the southern St. Elias: the Alsek, the Ice Field, the Icy and Noisy, and the Brabazon, just to name a few. Along the way, we pass massive glaciers, helicopter portage the boats around unrunnable Turnback Canyon (where a three-quarter-mile-wide river is funneled into a 50-foot-wide canyon—it’s quite a ride!), and watch for animals in places so untamed and grand that it’s hard to concentrate on looking for wildlife. The term “scenic overload” was coined on this river.
For most of the course, the Alsek is swift and shallow, a gravelly, braided stream that is always moving—fast! When it flows through the gorge, it becomes a powerful river with standing waves and S-turns, bouncing from side to side as it carves through the mountains. It’s a glacial stream, so it’s silty and extremely cold! And when the Tatshenshini joins it just outside of Glacier Bay, the river becomes an astonishing two to three miles wide.
Although the Alsek is similar in many ways to other river trips (great food and equipment, hiking, and, of course, fabulous guides!), the trip is also more strenuous and more of an expedition, in the true sense of the word. We gather wood and water every day, we set up tents every night, and we can’t just take off alone on hikes because of the danger from bears. The weather can be absolutely fabulous: clear, hot, and sunny. But it can also be cold, rainy, and windy. Generally, you see a little bit of both on each trip. While you may think that enduring rain or fog on your trip isn’t that fun, it wouldn’t really be Alaska without a little of it. When the horizon closes in, your viewpoint changes from looking far into the distance to looking up close at the river, and you see different things as a result. You learn many techniques for living in a wet and cold environment, and not just surviving it, but perhaps enjoying it too!
I hope you’ll consider joining me on this river. It’s truly a unique and awe-inspiring landscape, the kind of place that is fast disappearing in our world today. I feel very lucky to be able to spend time here, and I feel even luckier to share wild and extraordinary places on our planet with other travelers.
Christa Sadler
Alaska Discovery Guide on The Alsek River and The Tatshenshini River
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◦ GuideLines: Granite Stanley - Update from the Middle Fork
We’ve got another year of great trips ahead of us on the whitewater rapids on Idaho’s Middle Fork of the Salmon River. And regardless of whether you’re an old river rat or a bit wet behind the ears when it comes to rafting, I promise this river adventure will be some of the most fun you’ve ever had on a summer vacation!
Idaho’s Middle Fork of the Salmon, which courses through the largest wilderness area in the Lower 48, offers more than a hundred rapids in a hundred miles. What’s more, it travels through a spectacular mountain landscape filled with hidden canyons, abundant wildlife, hot springs, and views galore. From smooth little riffles that whisk us swiftly around the snaking bends of the river to more challenging drops that steal your breath away, this river is a ton of fun. And with six days to boat through this scenic wonderland, we’ll have time to enjoy it all!
I’m happy to report that the snowpack in Idaho this year has been great—90 to 115 percent of average—which bodes well for a great upcoming season on the Middle Fork. And while there’s a chance we’ll have to maneuver around a few new obstacles or do some portages if logs from last year’s fires in the region are still present in the river, to me, this is part of what makes running the Salmon so exciting. It’s such a dynamic river, where you can see the interplay of the entire ecosystem at work, and it gives us a unique run every season. In fact, it is this variability that keeps me coming back every year (and this is my 6th year on the Salmon!).
This summer, I’ll be back on the Salmon with my trusty fellow guides, Jim and George Butts, with three great options to suit every type of river-runner—making this an especially good trip for family fun. (You might say we have small, medium, and large options, depending on your appetite for adventure.) You have the choice of kicking back on the oar boat (the guides do all the rowing), paddling with a raft team, or chuting the rapids on one of our inflatable kayaks (known as duckies) for a truly adventurous experience. Of course, we guides will determine the best option for the conditions and your individual experience level, but rest assured thateveryone will have a wildly good time on the river each day!
Designated a Wild and Scenic River in 1968, the Middle Fork offers much more than great whitewater. We’ll also have opportunities to hike to old homesteads and hidden waterfalls, visit pictographs dating from the days of the Shoshone Indians (the earlier inhabitants of the area), and soak in soothing hot springs—a wonderful antidote to tired bones after a big day on the river. And I shouldn’t forget to mention the area’s wildlife (some parts of the river are home to impressive mammals like bighorn sheep and black bear!) and superb fly-fishing for native cutthroat trout (catch and release only). With local experts like Jimmy and George along on each trip, you’re guaranteed to have an educational and exhilarating outing with many great stories and photo trophies to take home.
And of course, one of the best ways to experience the Middle Fork is from camp! At the end of each day, we’ll relax in the most beautiful and comfortable campsites on the river, swapping stories around the campfire, and indulging in gourmet meals prepared by the guides (chocolate brownies, chicken curry, fajitas, steaks, and blackened salmon taste the best on the river)—complete with fabulous wines! It is this combination of great food, great comfort, and great fun that makes the Middle Fork the perfect summer destination for adventurers of all ages. Many of our families and groups have even made it a yearly event! After a week on the Middle Fork, you’re sure to come away with fond memories and great river adventure stories to last a lifetime.
I’ve forged many wonderful friendships on this amazing river over the years, and I hope I will have the chance to share the Middle Fork experience with you this summer.
Granite Stanley
MTS Guide on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River
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◦ GuideLines: Letters from the Field!
Read guide letters from MTS Guides working all over the world!
ARCHIVE - GuideLines
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