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PATAGONIA AND THE NORTH
FACE PRESENT AT THE
2005
JACKSON HOLE WILDLIFE FILM FESTIVAL
September 7, 2005, JACKSON, Wyo. In a rare public
gathering and presentation at the 2005 Jackson Hole Wildlife
Film Festival, internationally renowned adventurers/mountaineers
Rick Ridgeway, Conrad Anker and (Jackson local) Jimmy Chin
recount their extraordinary quest in the high steppes of
northern Tibet and northeastern China to locate the key calving
grounds of the rare Tibetan antelope, the chiru. This exciting
Festival event is presented in association with Patagonia,
The North Face, and the National Museum of Wildlife Art.
Driven by the goal of helping restore a species decimated
by poaching, reducing the chiru population to 75,000 from
the one million that roamed Tibet a century ago, and inspired
by renowned wildlife biologist George Schaller, the Chang
Tang expedition solved the "last major missing piece
in the natural history of these animals."
A thousand miles from Llasa, Rick, Conrad, Jimmy and Galen
Rowell, legendary adventure photographer, set out on a month-long,
275-mile trek on foot, into the Chang Tang wilderness, one
of the world's remotest regions that still contained areas
where no Westerner had ever set foot. Each pulling rickshaws
weighing up to 275 pounds, they attempted to find and follow
the chiru's 200-PLUS mile spring migration route to previously
unknown calving grounds. At average elevations between 16,000-17,000
feet, "Each day was a slow burn of our bodies' reserve
and an additional strain on our mental fortitude," Ridgeway
said.
Successfully completing their mission, Rick said the expedition "filled
my expectations, good and bad." Tragically, this was
Galen's last expedition; however, he reported the expedition
had been among the top two or three trips of his life. Had
he known the team's ultimate goal had been realized--to use
their success to persuade the Chinese government to protect
the area they documented as a nature reserve--he almost certainly
would have given it his highest ranking.
The Big Open: On Foot Across Tibet's Chang Tang ,
Friday, Sept. 23, 7:30pm @ the National Museum of Wildlife
Art, chronicles the extraordinary contribution Rick, Conrad,
Jimmy and Galen made to the worldwide campaign to save the
chiru, and our natural world. This event is free and open to
the public. Doors open at 6:30pm. |
