News release: 1 Jan 2005, 3rd Place; Best of ExplorersWeb 2004 awards

ExplorersWeb has been awarded best of adventure by National Geographic and best of the web by Forbes magazine. What is then the Best of ExplorersWeb?

We have covered hundreds of expeditions in 2004. It's difficult to choose the best, as they all contributed in their own way, sharing their story - their very soul in fact - with us and the world.

And yet, there are those who continue to linger in our minds long after their final debrief. We have chosen 8 expeditions who have contributed in an extraordinary way to the Spirit of Adventure in the year of 2004.

Awaiting news on his climbers summit push, Ellie, the BC manager of Alpine Ascents suddenly dispatched: "We are also being treated to a rare sight this morning - there are a couple of ultralights flying around up toward the Western Cwm..."

We jumped up from our NYC predawn summit push slumber. "Flymicro! Flymicro!" the shouts echoed around the ExWeb office. It was unexpected. There was no warning, no build up. All of a sudden, the guys just took off.

FlyMicro stunned the entire mountain as they came soaring toward the summit. Wide eyed climbers near the top and below awed at the sight of a strange bird flying up Mount Everest West Face.

The gliders waved at the climbers and then they were gone. Well, at least Angelo was. You rarely get a story like this one even at ExplorersWeb.

The Flymicro totally blew our minds (even though the snapped line leaves a question mark for comradeship :). The team stays in our memory for their tremendous courage, ingenuity and very simply - a Great Spirit of Adventure!
 
By their performance, the awarded expeditions have proved themselves outstanding in all or most of the following:
- Courage
- Determination
- Persistence
- Self reliance
- Ingenuity
- Pioneering
- Idealism
- Comradeship
- Compassion
- Respect towards competition
- Honesty

All we can say is, it's a great honour to receive this award, thankyou, and a happy new year to everyone!