Quest at Bloomsburg University

The World of Mountaineering Loses One of its Best

Robert Smith — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 19:30:51 +0000

November 14th 2009 was a very sad day for the world of mountaineering. Tomaz Humar, a Slovenian alpinist at the forefront of his sport, suffered a fatal fall from Lantang Lirung Mountain in Northern Nepal. Tomaz was attempting to solo an unclimbed south face of this mountain when he slipped and suffered a broken leg and spinal injury. After his fall, Tomaz was able to call his base-camp support team and let them know that he needed to be immediately rescued from the mountain. Sadly, his last radio call to his support simply said “‘Jagat. This is my last” (Jagat was the man at the other end of the walkie-talkie conversation). Tomaz died before his team could get to him and his body was found a couple days after his last radio contact. This event is a real tragedy and brings to light the true dangers associated with mountaineering and attempting solo excursions. Tomaz Humar will be greatly missed by the world of mountaineering.

Leonid Meteor Shower in Town

Robert Smith — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 18:29:59 +0000

Over the next couple of days, the night skies in our area will be lit up by one of the most prominent yearly meteor showers. The Leonid Metero shower is the product of the comet Tempel-Tuttle and can be seen every year around November 17. This year is a special occasion since it falls on a new moon with relatively clear skies. The best time to view the shower will be the morning of Tuesday November 17th with the most meteors per hour coming at about 3am on the 17th. Although the meteors will make very noticeable streaks around the sky, it is interesting to note that most of the meteors will range in size from 1mm to 1cm.

Bucknell Outing Club Hosts talk by World Traveler and Mountaineer

Brett Simpson — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 23:19:34 +0000

Our friends in the Bucknell Outing Club are hosting a Bucknell Alumni. Check out their press release below:

Please join the Bucknell Outing Club in welcoming Jeff Strite, ‘89 back to campus for a real-life account of his extensive mountaineering experiences, an event taking place on Thursday, November 19 at 7:30 p.m. in the LC Forum.

Jeff’s presentation will detail his expedition to Papua New Guinea,(formerly Irian Jaya state of Indonesia) to climb the Carstenz Pyramid. The Carstenz is one of the most coveted and rarely climbed of the world’s seven summits due to its extremely remote, primitive location. Deep in the Jungles of Papua, accessible only by air or weeklong trek from native villages, far less people have summitted the Carstenz than Everest. Standing nearly 17,000 feet it is the highest point in the Australasian continental area and is the mountaineering jewel of the Pacific Rim.

Jeff has climbed the world’s peaks on 6 continents, including an expedition to Mt. Everest in 2005. An avid world traveler for 20 years to over 80 countries, climbing has brought him to Alaska, the highest Andean peaks, Africa, Asia, the Middle East and Central America.

The presentation will capture the beauty of tribal life in the Papua region, including that of the Dani and Moni tribal people. Jeff will discuss the clash of modern business,operating one of the world’s largest copper and gold mines deep in the mountain regions.

Please join us for an enjoyable, educational and enlightening evening. Any questions, please contact Anne Barnard (amb038@bucknell.edu).

Loyalsock Backpacking Dates Changed

Robert Smith — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:18:21 +0000

Originally, our Loyalsock backpacking trip was scheduled to be a week long, just before Thanksgiving. We have decided to shorten the trip into a weekend to make it easier for participants to fit into their schedule. We will now be leaving Friday November 20, and returning Sunday November 22, in the afternoon.

If you are interested in this three day backpack trip along the beautiful Loyalsock trail, give our office a call at (570) 389-4323 or send us an email at quest@bloomu.edu.

The new cost of the trip is $35 which includes transporation to the trail and one on one instruction. You can pay either in our office or by clicking

to pay online. Once you click, scroll back down to this article to view paying information.

This is sure to be a fun and memorable weekend so sign up while spaces are still available.