ANTARCTICA SELECTION CAMP
CAMP 1 COMPLETE
Dates: 15 September to 25 September 2008
Our Young Explorers:
From top left: Clémence Cadario, 20yrs, France / Nora Haselbach, 19yrs, Switzerland / Alexandra Le Dily, 17yrs, France / Cobus De Ridder, 16yrs, South Africa / Henry Stanislaw, 19yrs, USA / Lena Braun, 19yrs, Germany
From bottom left: Carlien Wolmarans, 17yrs, South Africa / Nicolas Valdivieso, 17yrs, Chili / Vincent Butty, 19yrs, Switzerland / Britney Bear, 20yrs, USA / Maria Puig Ribas, 16yrs, Spain / Hugo Clément, 15yrs, France
YEP 1 CAMP ANTARCTICA 
YEP 1 ANTARCTICA Expedition Video Gallery
15th of September - First Young adults arrive in Château-d'Oex, Switzerland.
They are here!! The first ever group of Young Adults have arrived in Chateau d'Oex to take part in YEP. The ambiance and excitement run high as the young adults get to meet each other, Mike Horn and his team.
These 12 young adults were chosen from our international pool of young adults who have applied to join Mike and the Pangaea Expedition. They are here to attend a selection camp in Switzerland and following a 10 day assessment they will undergo a second selection process to establish who of the 12 will have the unique opportunity to join Mike Horn himself on as expedition in the field. In mid-October, the chosen young adults will travel to Ushuaia, the most Southern village of Argentina on a 2 week expedition, which will include sailing on the polar exploration vessel 'Pangaea', exploring the ice and the Antarctic Peninsula.
A varied and exciting program, designed personally by Mike Horn and his team, is planned for the selection camp in Switzerland. It will include intensive courses on the technological, environmental, physical, medical and communication skills required to prepare the YEP participants to meet the challenges of the expedition and communicate their experience to their peers around the world.
16th of September - Day 1 of YEP !
Today was a fun day for this happy team!!
After a 6.30 wake-up they enjoyed a healthy breakfast and headed to the Electrobroc site where Group E, the energy patrner of Pangaea, gave them a guided tour of their electrical plant and a very interesting and interactive seminar on energy saving and energy consumption.
Following lunch the Young Adults were treated to the Mercedes-Benz Driving Experience. Mercedes-Benz, title sponsor of the expedition were proud to show them their latest BlueTec technology in engine development and gave a practical driving instruction showing them how to drive with a reduced fuel consumption. Competition ran high to be the best driver whilst consuming the least fuel!
A delightful finish to the day was a amazing paragliding flight with qualified pilots in the Swiss alps - a first ever for all but one of the young adults and an experience that will not be forgotten in a long time.
The group are getting on very well and are quickly familiarizing themselves with each other, Mike, the Pangaea team and their new surroundings. It's going to be a fun week with this intelligent and receptive group!
17th of September - 2nd day of YEP!
The day started with 'a blast' on this chilly morning in Château d'Oex but there's nothing like a good bicycle tour before breakfast to heat our young adults up!
Six of our young explorers passed the morning in the gym undergoing physical tests with two specailists from the Mayo Clinic from the US. The Mayo Clinic specialise in the study of top level athletes and scientific research with the goal of studying how the human adapts physically in a new environment, and in extreme climates. The first results of the camp are positive to date. The participants are on form .... more tests tomorrow!
During this time, two Swiss mountain guides taught the other group about orientation techniques, how to read a map, how to use a compass and how to read your GPS position. For some, the putting into practice on the terrain was easy, while others found the test more difficult. After midday, the groups swapped programs.
Later that day they assembled together and thanks to the installation of webcams, were able to see the sailboat Pangaea cross the Panama Canal. What a big motivation for the young adults to work hard and to find a place on the boat on its way to Antarctica!
Pangaea is now continuing her route towards Ushuaia where she will be in mid-October ..... Who will be joining her?
Talking about expeditions, there is one tool you cannot go without... the Swiss pocket knife ! In the evening Wenger presented the new knife specially developed for Mike Horn and then challenged our young team to design the knife that would suit their needs. Some very good ideas were proposed and will be presented to Wenger's R & D department.
The outcome of the second day was very positive, and the atmosphere relaxed and jovial. The young adults are quickly unwinding, becoming more confident and disclosing their true personalities.
"I am having the time of my life and I would recommend that you stay up to date with all the news and sign in for the expedition that interests you most..." Cobus
24th of September - day 9 of YEP!
What a wonderful day here for our Young Explorers!!!
After a cross county raid, including twenty-eight hours of cycling, running, kayaking, rock climbing and raft building, our two teams of highly motivated and energetic youths finally crossed the finish line in front of the Hotel de Ville in the center of Château-d'Oex. What an amazing achievement!
Equipped with back packs and head lamps, they covered 50km, climbed mountain peaks, down valleys, paddled across lakes, from 900m up to an altitude of 2'130m, down again and up again.
Five hours sleep before dawn was all they needed before attacking the next days' obstacles and another 10 hours of grueling physical endurance.
At 16h00 the tired but elated team arrived back at the hotel, the time to have a rest and a hot shower before tucking into a Swiss fondue from the Caves of l'Etivaz.
Emotions run high for our youths and the team. Our guides Fred and Claude-Alain say the each and everyone deserves a medal for their mammoth achievement. Never before have they been witness to young adults with such a great sense of determination, support for their team members, motivation and team collaboration.
Congratulations to this fine group of astonishing individuals!!!
25th of September - day 10 and last day of YEP!
We have the pleasure to announce who are the 8 young explorers selected to join Mike in Antarctica :
- Vincent Butty, 19yrs, Switzerland
- Clémence Cadario, 20yrs, France
- Nora Haselbach, 19yrs, Switzerland
- Alexandra Le Dily, 17yrs, France
- Maria Puig Ribas, 16yrs, Spain
- Henry Stanislaw, 19yrs, USA
- Nicolas Valdivieso, 17yrs, Chili
- Carlien Wolmarans, 17yrs, South Africa
This morning Mike announced who was selected to join him in Antarctica and said : “It has been an unbelievable ten days for all of us involved in this process, participants and team members. We’ve come together and I truly feel we have become a family. Our main objective was to find true ambassadors to carry the message of the Pangaea expedition to the world. I congratulate everyone for their attitude and energy. I welcome the young people, selected today as the first members of the Young Explorers Program.”