HIGHEST-ALTITUDE SCUBA DIVE
On 21 Feb 2016, Ernő Tósoki (HUN) scuba dived into a
permanent lake on the eastern flank of active volcano Ojos
del Salado, on the border of Chile and Argentina, at an
altitude of 6,382 m (20,938 ft). Tósoki and partner Patricia
Nagy (HUN) had to carry 100 kg (220 lb) of equipment up the
volcano between them. The combination of mountaineering
and scuba diving made for a daunting physical challenge,
and Tósoki spent five years training for the feat.John o’Groats isn’t actually the northernmost point on the mainland of
Great Britain. Dunnet Head is around 18 km (11 mi) farther on, to the west.Longest human-
powered flight
(distance)
Kanellos Kanellopoulos
(GRC) pedalled his
Daedalus 88 aircraft
115.11 km (71.52 mi) on
23 Apr 1988. He flew from
Heraklion, Crete, to the
Greek island of Santorini
in 3 hr 54 min 59 sec before
a gust of wind broke the
plane’s tail and it crashed
into the sea a few feet
from the shore.Longest journey by cycle
rickshaw/pedicab (male)
From 27 Sep to 16 Oct 2015,
Scott Thompson (UK) raised
money for four Indonesian
charities by cycling from
Banda Aceh in Aceh,
Indonesia, to Bumi Serpong
Damai in Tangerang,
Indonesia – a distance of
2,597.2 km (1,613.82 mi).
The longest journey by
cycle rickshaw/pedicab
(female) is 1,672 km
(1,039 mi), by Crystal Davis
(AUS) in 2015. She cycled
from Port Douglas to
Hervey Bay in Queensland,
Australia, on 17 Oct–12 Dec.Adventures Round-Up
LONGEST JOURNEY BY TRACTOR
From 8 May to 23 Oct 2016, Hubert Berger (DEU) travelled
around Europe in his 1970 Eicher Tiger II tractor, covering
a total distance of 25,378.4 km (15,769.38 mi). He drove to
36 countries in all, beating the previous record of 21,199 km
(13,172 mi) set by Vasilii Hazkevich (RUS) in 2005. “I am an
adventurer by creed,” Berger declared, “[trying] to escape
the everyday madness with my tractor.”Longest journey by
car in a single country
On 11 Mar–14 Apr 2016,
K Raju, Jayanth Varma
Kunaparaju, Purushotham
and Arun Kumar (all IND)
toured India, covering a
distance of 36,060.1 km
(22,406.7 mi). Their epic
journey was undertaken
to raise awareness of
Swachh Bharat Abhiyan
(“Clean India Mission”),
a government initiative
to clean towns and cities
across the country.
On 8 May–25 Jul
2016, Sushil Reddy (IND)
completed the longest
journey on a motorized
bicycle – 7,423.88 km
(4,612.98 mi), starting and
finishing in Mumbai, India.
His bike was solar-powered.Longest journey by
motorcycle in a single
country (individual)
From 19 Sep 2014 to
29 Aug 2015, Danell Lynn
(USA) rode her Triumph
Bonneville 48,600 mi
(78,214 km) across the USA.
Starting out from Phoenix,
Arizona, Danell went on
to visit every one of the
48 contiguous US states.Longest journey
by electric vehicle
(non-solar)
From 29 Jul to 28 Aug 2016,
Nic Megert and Anton Julmy
(both CHE) drove a Tesla
Model S across Europe for
22,339.7 km (13,881.2 mi),
starting and finishing in
Bern, Switzerland. Driving
around 800 km (497 mi) per
day, they beat the previous
farthest distance of
19,607.96 km (12,183.82 mi),
which was set by Norman
Hajjar (USA) in 2014.
The longest journey
by solar electric vehicle
is 29,753 km (18,487 mi),
achieved by the SolarCar
Project Hochschule
Bochum (DEU) from 26 Oct
2011 to 15 Dec 2012.Longest journey on
a telescopic handler
Leo Tergujeff (FIN) drove
a Merlo P 25.6 telescopic
handler (also known as a
cherry picker in the USA)
4,296 km (2,669.41 mi) from
Italy to Finland on 28 Apr–
2 Jun 2014. He travelled
through Slovenia, Hungary,
the Czech Republic,
Germany and Sweden.Fastest journey
from Land’s End
to John o’Groats
by elliptical cycle
On 26–31 May 2016,
Idai Makaya (UK)
travelled between the
southernmost and
northernmost points
of the UK in 5 days 4 min.
Idai beat the existing time
of 6 days 10 hr, set by Glen
Burmeister (UK) in 2014.Longest journey on
a pocketbike (minimoto)
On 5–17 Sep 2016, Sigríður
Ýr Unnarsdòttir (ISL),
Michael Reid and Chris
Fabre (both USA) rode
2,504.77 km (1,556.39 mi)
from Middletown in Ohio,
USA, to Ruidoso in New
Mexico, USA.DEEPEST
UNDERGROUND
BALLOON FLIGHT
On 18 Sep 2014, Austria’s
Ivan Trifonov guided
a balloon through the
mouth of the Mamet Cave
at Obrovac, Croatia, and
descended to a depth of
206 m (675 ft 10 in). From
take-off to landing, the
flight – which was made
in a specially designed
balloon – lasted 26 min.
Ivan is also responsible
for the first balloon flight
over the North Pole – in
1996 – and, in 2000, the
first balloon flight over
the South Pole.FASTEST TIME TO VISIT ALL
SOVEREIGN COUNTRIES (FEMALE)
From 24 Jul 2015 to 2 Feb 2017, Cassandra De Pecol (USA)
visited all of the 195 sovereign countries required by the
GWR guidelines in a whistlestop tour lasting 1 year 193 days.
Highlights included Paro Taktsang in Bhutan (above) and
Yemen (top right). A trip to Antarctica in Feb 2017 (right)
ensured that Cassandra had also visited every continent.ADVENTURES