Cool Pictures | Cool Stuff: July 2009

Climbing Pictures

A collection of cool climbing pictures from the highest rock and mountain climbs around the world. The climb, despite the obvious dangers in this extreme sport has it's rewards when on top, just check out these amazing views!

Picture Sourced from Coronn

Dan Osman (detailed below)

Dan Osman
Dan Osman (February 11, 1963 – November 23, 1998) was an Asian American extreme sport practitioner, known for the dangerous sports of "free-soloing" (rock climbing without ropes or other safety gear); and "rope jumping" (falling several hundred feet from a cliff then being caught by a safety rope), for which his record was over 1000 feet / 304.8 meters.

Dan Osman was known for living a bohemian lifestyle, rarely working, and living in a tree house for months at a time. He was the star of several rock climbing videos, which brought free-soloing to a wider audience.

Dan Osman Free Climbing Video

Dan Osman Speed Climbing Video

Dan Osman died on November 23, 1998 at the age of 35 after his rope failed while performing a "controlled free-fall" jump from the Leaning Tower rock formation in Yosemite National Park. Osman had come back to Yosemite to dismantle the jump tower but apparently decided to make several jumps (over a few days) before doing so.

The failure was investigated by the National Park Service with assistance from Chris Harmston, Quality Assurance Manager at Black Diamond Equipment. Harmston concluded that a change in jump site angle probably caused the ropes to cross and entangle, leading to the rope cutting by melting. Miles Daisher, who was with Osman when he made the jump, stated that the ropes used in his fatal jump had been exposed to inclement weather — including rain and snow — for more than a month before the fatal jump, but that the same ropes were used for several shorter jumps on the previous and same day.

Cool Video - 4 Minutes 'Best of Youtube'

A cool 4 minute video montage of the 100 greatest moments to date of YouTube. This video will make you smile at least once guaranteed!

See the Northern Lights

A collection of cool northern lights pictures. You can see the northern lights and below we have given some tips on travel companies offering excursions to see the famous aurora.

See the Northern Lights!

Norway

When cruising the coast of Norway with Hurtigruten, passengers get wake-up calls to see the aurora. A three-night cruise from Tromsø to Trondheim starts at £566 including flights, transfers and half board. Packages coinciding with Tromsø’s Northern Lights Festival in late January are also available.

Iceland
The smart option for a fun weekend break, Iceland offers a fair chance of seeing the Northern Lights. Discover the World has packages to Reykjavik from £308 including flights and breakfast. Excursions out of the city to look for the aurora in a superjeep cost £89.

Canada
Frontier Canada offers tailor-made trips to snowbound retreats such as the Inn on the Lake outside Whitehorse, with every chance of spotting the aurora. A seven-night package via Vancouver costs from £1,775 including flights, transfers, all meals and activities.

Alaska
Fairbanks is a city of aurora-watchers and its university posts useful aurora forecasts. Alaska Tours.com arranges trips to viewing points such as Bettles Lodge. A five-day package costs from £720 including two nights in Fairbanks, two at Bettles Lodge, transfers, taxes, hire of winter gear and most meals. KLM has flights to Fairbanks via Seattle from £434 return. Prices are per person for travel in February 2009, flying from London.

Finland
Where is the coolest place to stay and see the Northern Lights? Our vote goes to Hotel Igloo Village Kakslauttanen in Finland. The Northern Lights can be seen anywhere above 60 degrees north latitude but this place is special and these pictures show...

Hotel Igloo Village Kakslauttanen, Finland
Surrounded by Lapland's exotic and stunning scenery, Hotel Igloo Village Kakslauttanen offers 31 first-class log cabins in Lapland. Hotel Igloo Village Kakslauttanen is located in the Saariselka fell area amidst beautiful Finnish Lapland scenery in the vicinity of Urho Kekkonen National Park along the road leading to Nordkap and the Arctic Ocean. Just look at these pictures to see how stunning this place is...

Imagine yourself sleeping in an Igloo made of Snow. It is totally quiet. Lights inside ice illuminate the Igloo. These make the atmosphere so exciting that never get bored of marvelling it, until you fall to deep, comfortable sleep in your warm down sleeping bag. When sleeping in the Glass Igloos the customer is able to marvel the amazing northern lights and the millions of stars in the sky. The experience is also unforgettable when there is a snowstorm. Kakslauttanen is a cool place for seeing the Northern Lights, Aurora Borealis, as in the area there are not so many electric lights outside and it is north enough so that the probability of them is very high from late August to late April.

Here is a map of the area and its amenities...

Six tips for seeing the Northern Lights

Go for several days; if the aurora appears, there is a good chance it will be seen on subsequent days.
Get away from urban areas – ships, wilderness lodges and remote camps are good locations.
September to October and February to March are good months for aurora spotting. The optimum time to visit will depend on local conditions; telephone ahead for advice and consult a lunar calendar to find darker nights.
Ice hotels look their best at the start of the season. At busy times, book activities in advance.
Wrap up, but don’t buy lots of kit – many hotels will provide or rent it.
Read up beforehand to get the most out of the experience. Aurora: The Mysterious Northern Lights by Candace Savage (Firefly, £10.15 ) is a superb introduction; The Northern Lights by Lucy Jago (Penguin, £6.99) tells the life story of Kristian Birkeland; Lapland (Bradt, £13.99) is a useful guide to Arctic Scandinavia.

Original Source: Travelphant Travel Blog

Recommended Northern Lights Books

Luxury Paradise Islands

Stunning collection of paradise islands. Dreaming of a distant paradise island will be on many peoples thoughts this January as we look to book our summer holidays. For many, these luxury paradise retreats are beyond holiday budgets but it's always nice to dream!