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Afghanistan 2004 - Antarctica 2004/2005
Hannah McKeand tests CONTACT 3 GEO during NorthEast Afghanistan
Expedition. Preparations for Antarctica skiing expedition Nov
2004. |
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American
2004 K2 and Broad Peak Expedition
American speed climber Chad Kellogg using CONTACT 3 from K2 and
Broad Peak. Chad is able to transmit first live videos from
high camps. |
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The
Benegas Brothers big wall expedition to Latok 1
North Face climbers Damian and Willy Benegas bring CONTACT 3
for Latok 1. |
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Siberia
crossing 2004/2005
Micke and Johan is reporting live with CONTACT 3 from their
epic 8 month Siberia expedition. |
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Serac
Film Newport to Bermuda race and more
Top adventure film-maker and 3-times Everest summiteer Michael
Brown do beta testing of CONTACT 3 GEO during Ocean Race.
Michael has used CONTACT for more than 10 expeditions. See
review below - "One of the most exciting developments in
expeditioning"... |
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Jean
Pavillard Cho Oyu 2004
Jean using CONTACT 3. |
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Alpine
Ascents multiple expeditions
Alpine Ascents upgraded to CONTACT 3 after Everest 2004 and
recently climbed Cho Oyu. |
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Wave
Vidmar North Pole Solo 2004
Wave used CONTACT 2 for his North Pole Solo expedition. Wave is
upgraing to CONTACT 3 GEO for upcoming polar double header. |
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"Brilliant system"
"Brilliant system that has revolutionized expedition
communication. I can check my e-mails anywhere on the mountain"
Mike Roberts, high-altitude guide Adventure Consultants |
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"Superb technical support"
"It's very user friendly. It is efficient. Superb
technical support from ExplorersWeb staff before and during
expedition"
Paul Landry and family - Greenland crossing 2003 - Kids and
Kites |
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"I found it totally unique"
"It was so frustrating on our expedition in 2001 not being able
to share our experiences with family, friend and sponsors. This
year I found it totally unique to every day in less than 15
minute update my website with on the go dispatches, photos and
videos.
People might think it is an extra thing to worry about and that
it reduces you chances of a successful expedition – For me it
was the other way around. Contact 2.0 acted as a motivational
boost for me and I knew that every one back home was sure I was
safe.
Now, I can’t imagine doing an expedition without it."
Ben Saunders - North Pole 2003 |
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"Sometimes
you send dispatches in the middle of the night"
"I only used it for five days (Teddy had to abort after getting
"hijacked" by the Navy) but every time it worked at the first
attempt. The best thing is that it is published instantaneously
to the web site without the need of a Webmaster, sometimes you
send dispatches in the middle of the night and don't know when
they will be published."
Teddy Rezvoy - Atlantic ocean rower |
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"Our progress as it happened...to the world!"
"Contact 2.0 was awesome! This amazing software allowed me to
add video, photos, make updates to the website offline without
having to use expensive online time...,,then go online for
seconds, shooting updates off directly to the webpage, realtime,
broadcasting our progress as it happened ... to the world!"
Luanne Freer - Everest Base Camp medical station 2003 |
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North Pole Challenge: North Pole
expedition 2003
Testimonial coming up |
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"My sponsors were particularly pleased about..."
"I would like to congratulate you for putting together the
Contact 2 expedition software (and hardware). It is truly an
extraordinary and very compact system in which we can share our
adventures with the whole world! I had the privilege of taking
Contact 2 on my expeditions to Mount Logan and Mount McKinley.
I was able to send back images and dispatches almost instantly,
and in extreme weather conditions.
And I would especially like to compliment your support team for
their timely interventions and ensuring that I maintain
communications during the whole expedition. My sponsors were
particularly pleased about that!"
Francois Langlois - Logan/Denali 2003 |
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IceAxeTV: Greenland kiting and
snowboard 2003
Testimonial coming up |
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"For
those cold and lonely nights"
"For those cold and lonely nights when you're at +6000m, in a
tent all by yourself, the lightweight and innovative Contact
2.0 keeps you company and allows you to be in touch with back
home - a must for solo climbers!"
David D'Angelo, Khan Tengri 2003 |
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"...the
only real way to communicate photos, video and email when your
really out there!"
"Beside from the issues* with the
Compaq's the Contact 2.0 Software is the only real way to
communicate photos, video and email when your really out
there!" We have now used Contact Software from Mt. Everest to
Kazakhstan and it is by far the only way we have seen that
allows us to do up to the minute current reports for our web
pages, sponsors, and friends. Both the IPAQ and laptop versions
makes sending current trip reports super easy and the stuff
works! The team at Explorers Web have worked hard to fully
support our software and equipment while on expeditions. Way
beyond what they really had to do and that is really
appreciated when your say on the South Col of Everest in a
storm! Plug it together and it works! In today's world full of
technology, easy of use is a huge consideration, Contact 2.0
and the Explorers Web team have created the ultimate tool for
serious expedition use! We have integrated it into our trip
reports for our expeditions all over the world!"
Scott Woolums, Adventure International, Everest 2003
*Scott's first PDA was a 3900, which has com port issues.
Choose 3800 or 5400 series.
His second PDA's battery burned. |
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Everest BC trek
2003
The first trekker to use
CONTACT2.0. The daily reports became very popular with her
friends, family and the media. Kristina used a Thuraya sat
phone and a PDA. |
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"A great asset to have pictures uploaded directly"
"It was absolutely fantastic! It is a great asset to have
pictures uploaded directly from the mountain to the web. I am
planning expeditions to Greenland and Antarctica in the future and
will definitely bring Contact on both of them."
Pat Falvey - Expedition leader Irish Everest Expedition 2003 |
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"...had no technical
experience what so ever"
"I worked with Andrew Halsey on his Pacific crossing rowing
expedition. Andrew had no technical experience what so ever,
still after just a day of training he was able to upload
dispatches directly from his boat. Andrew himself said that
Contact was the best kit on the boat, so easy to operate and
taking very little space - something you don't have much of on a
small row boat."
Jay Baxter Corps Communication, Technology Manager Pacific
Crossing Expedition |
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"We
didn't miss a dispatch in 131 days"
"Doing the two poles unassisted back-to-back really took the
best out of us. The fast start-up of the PDA and easy to use
interface made it possible to have a dispatch with image posted
15 min after pitching camp. Vital when you are wasted and low
on fuel"
Tom & Tina Sjogren - North Pole Expedition |
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"...couldn't
wait to send off the dispatches"
"On our first Antarctica Expedition the Iridium was down and we
could only send, but not receive info. The second time around
we had Contact
1.0 and Iridium and couldn't wait to send off the dispatches when we got
back to tent. Knowing that people back home followed our every
step gave us a tremendous strength. When we reached the South
Pole at last, a whole bunch of Scientists and a CNN reporter
waited for us out in the cold.
The SP Scientists had seen expeditions arrive at the horizon
before, but this was the first time they could follow an
expedition's trials and disasters daily on the web. They felt
like they knew us and it provided for a nice welcome. We had
skied around the clock and -C40 temps in the final week and
looked like wrecks on arrival. And yet we had a pic and
dispatch up on the web 20 minutes later - before fainting in
our tent. The South Pole staff was pretty impressed by that..:).
Tom & Tina Sjogren - South Pole Expedition |
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"Bringing
the expeditions sat phone and IP modem cost's $3500 under
budget"
"Having recently used Contact 2.0 in both its PDA and Laptop
variants extensively during our Everest expedition I would like
to inform you of how easy the contact 2 package was to
configure for our Panasonic PF-1 and Compaq IPAQ pda's and
CF-28 and CF-34 laptops. Being the person solely responsible
for communications both prior to departure and whilst on
Everest I found the configuration phases for the 12 machines,
hassle free and extremely reliable. The support received in
ensuring the website was correctly configured to receive the
updates and also the work undertaken to ensure that the most up
to date versions were received and tested correctly by your New
York offices was exceptional. This left me completely
re-assured should I have encountered problems and required the
assistance of your technical help desk that everything would be
done to ensure I was back on line with the minimum of fuss. I'm
glad to say there was no requirement as the software required
little or no maintenance for the expeditions duration.
I used Contact 2 three or fours times daily to ensure our
website remained up to date, ensuring sponsors, family and the
interested public could follow my teams every step. Contact 2
proved to be a invaluable cost effective tool in ensuring our
dedicated site remained up to the minute in all respects, the
alternative solution being direct website manipulation from
base camp via our 64k IP modem, which would have placed a
significant drain on our communications budget for the entire 2
month expedition. As it was Contact 2.0 took little time to upload
and thus enabled me to bring the expeditions sat phone and IP
modem cost's $3500 under budget, without having to settle for
any compromise of information upload verses budgeting cost's.
With 10 climbers and two other support managers requiring to
post updates and personnel diary columns, training remained at
the forefront of my mind. In addition three support treks, two
schools and a sponsors trek all visiting and each containing
approximately 30 persons had dedicated web space within our
main site, and thus each support trek required to document
their experiences and progress onto our site via contact 2. The
majority of the support treks had little or no computer
experience, with some even being computer phobic, the
simplicity of contact 2's layout and simple connectivity to our
chosen communication devices both for the pda's and laptops
came into it's own when instructional classes were held
allowing easy simulation and then practical experience to be
gained in no time at all.
In short I would not hesitate to recommend contact 2.0 to anybody
who demands reliability, simplicity and exceptional results
whilst maintaining a firm grasp on cost without making any
compromise."
Stephen Mullins
Communications Manager, Royal Navy Everest North Ridge 2003 |
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