Adventure Travel

Up For An Extreme Adventure? Fit For Trips Can Get You Off And Running

Recently, I wrote piece for Luxist about Abercrombie & Kent's new extreme adventures, five new ones that test the endurance many travelers: including trekking and/or snowmobiling across glaciers, going on road rallies in Morocco, sleeping in tents on glaciers and in deserts, hiking in Bhutan, climbing to the Base Camp of Mount Everest or Mount Kilimanjaro, and the like. It was suggested by Abercrombie & Kent that those who would like to do adventures like these might also like to partake of services provided by Fit For Trips, a company that provides fitness training for these extreme adventures and other, softer adventures as well.

The popularity of adventure travel has grown exponentially in recent years, due to many socio-economic factors: the Gen X/Y population and Boomers who want to experience places they have only seen in movies or read about, those who want to combine sports with adventure, those who want to include sports, risk, and adventure, and those who want a far out and far away, once-in-a-lifetime-experience.

"The consensus is there would be double or triple the number of people who would be up for these adventures if they felt fit enough to go, and this is where we come in," Marcus Shapiro, Founder of Fit For Trips, told Luxist recently.

In a perfect world, or even in a semi-perfect one, the many who wanted to do adventure travel would indeed be fit enough -- to cycle, climb mountains, hike all day, swim lakes, and ford rivers, ride horses, and camp -- but that seems not to be true. Many do not feel fit, many have had sports, accident, and just simply, life injuries. This is why Fit For Trips was created -- to partner with travel operators, like Abercrombie & Kent, so that people who wanted to take extreme adventures actually could.

Marcus Shapiro, founder of Fit For Trips, is by nature and education, a fitness trainer, world traveler and adventure enthusiast. After receiving his degree in Exercise And Sports Science, he traveled the world, and began conceptualizing two (then) diverse ideas -- fitness and adventure travel. He realized that in order to fully enjoy adventure travel, the traveler had to be fit, or fairly fit -- else he or she would be suffering from rolled ankles, torn meniscuses, rotator cuff injuries, and that once-in-a-lifetime adventure would REALLY become one, mainly because the traveler would never want to go on another adventure again.

Tags: Abercrombie Kent Extreme Adventures, AbercrombieKentExtremeAdventures, Adventure Travel, Adventure Travels, extreme adventure travel, Fit For Trips, fitness adventure travel, Marcus Shapiro, popularity adventure travel

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Take Holiday Gifts to the Next Level With a North Pole Arctic Expedition Cruise

by McLean Robbins (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

Have you ever wanted to visit the North Pole? Thanks to Quark Expeditions, now you can gift this experience to yourself and a friend for a cool $48,760. To celebrate the company's 20th anniversary of their first Arctic voyage, they're offering up to 128 guests the chance to enjoy a cruise to the top of the world that begins June 23, 2011 in Helsinki, Finland.

Travelers will cruise to the North Pole in the most-sophisticated icebreaker on the planet – 50 Years of Victory. The Russian ship can cruise at 21 knots in open water and crush through ice 10 feet thick.

Each of the 128 guests will enjoy an exterior-view cabin and access to two bars, a library, gym, saunas and a swimming pool. When Victory is not acting as a passenger vessel, the ship escorts merchant vessels through the treacherous Northeast Passage.

In addition to the twin cabin category, the ship has mini-suites, suites, one Victory suite and five Arkitka suites that cost $70,160 per cabin. An Arkitka suite has a spacious bedroom with a single bed and a sitting room with a sofa bed. The private facilities have a bathtub. Amenities include a TV/DVD combination, coffee maker, and safe.

All meals, accommodation and activities are included in the cost, as is the charter air transportation between Helsinki and Murmansk, Russia, the embarkation and disembarkation point. The champagne toast and barbecue on the ice is a highlight of the adventure.

Helicopter sight-seeing as the ship crushes through the Arctic Ocean pack ice is also part of the package price. Southbound shore landings will be made in Franz Josef Land, remote islands just 10 degrees from the North Pole. Polar bear and walrus inhabit the Arctic paradise.

Travelers can book online or toll free via 1.888.892.0171.

Tags: adventure travel, arctic adventure, cruise, luxury travel, north pole, quark expeditions

Luxury in the Bush - 10 Ways to Safari in Style

by Annie Scott (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

These days, when you hear the phrase "I'm going on an African safari," roughing it doesn't necessarily come to mind. Those with the wherewithal to get themselves to Africa usually also have the means to make their trip a pretty comfortable one, even in the bush.

If you're like me, you find that almost disappointing. It doesn't seem fair to impose a luxury hotel on the wilderness of Africa, and it definitely doesn't seem right to destroy natural resources just to make the bush more amenable to wealthy guests. But, consider that some of the money from those guests goes to support the national parks and the local communities, as well as protect the natural resources. Consider that they bring not only money, and lots of it, but that they are there to experience, not destroy, the wildlife.

I still had my apprehensions about this balance when I embarked on my recent trip to Zambia, where I visited four Sanctuary Retreats camps on a tour with Abercrombie & Kent, a Luxist Awards' Nominee in the Best Adventure Getaway Category. To my surprise and delight, I found the most exceptional juxtaposition of immersion in the wild and modern convenience and comfort I have ever seen. I had heard that the Sanctuary Retreats camps were designed to be eco-friendly, but I couldn't have imagined just how seamlessly they fit into the landscape, and how natural and harmless their remarkable luxuries felt.

Here are ten ways A&K and Sanctuary Retreats make the bush luxurious -- and how they protect the environment and local communities while doing so.

1. Location, location, location.

With the exception of Sanctuary Baines' and Stanley's Camp, all Sanctuary Retreats properties are located within national parks. This make for impossibly pristine surroundings -- and allows the camp managers to be stewards of those surroundings. In most camps, the wildlife is so present that you can hear various animals wandering around your tent or room at night. They definitely don't seem to mind the guests being there.

2. Hot water.

Hot water is definitely a luxury when you're in the bush -- and Sanctuary Zambezi Kulefu Camp (above) keeps it eco-friendly by using solar power to heat the water.

Gallery: Luxury in the Zambian Bush

3. Size matters.

Each camp obeys strict regulations as to how many people and guestrooms it can have. As a result, you are always in an intimate group of travelers (the maximum number of guestrooms I experienced was 14 at Sussi & Chuma). This not only keeps the camps' footprints small, but ensures that the staff can keep an eye on all the guests. This both protects the safety of the guests and the safety of the surrounding wildlife -- and gives the experience a highly elite feel.

Tags: abercrombie and kent, adventure travel, african travel, awards-main, luxist-awards, main-pedia, safari, sanctuary retreats, summer-travel-pedia, winter-travel-pedia, zambia

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Triple Creek Ranch Wins The Luxist Award for Best Adventure Getaway

by Carrie Coolidge (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

Triple Creek Ranch is nominated for a Luxist Award for Best Adventure Getaway

Nestled high in the spectacular Montana Rockies, Triple Creek Ranch is the winner of the Luxist Awards Readers Choice Award in the Best Adventure Getaway category.

Located in Darby on the pine forested slope of Western Montana's highest mountain known as "Bitterroot", Triple Creek Ranch boasts all of the finest amenities one would expect from a luxury resort. The 600-acre property offers a world-class restaurant featuring international cuisine and an extensive wine cellar. Facilities include a fitness center, heated outdoor swimming pool, tennis, putting green, horsehoe pits, private or nearby hot tubs and rooms equipped with wood-burning fireplaces and wet bars fully stocked with complimentary soft drinks and spirits. Breakfast, lunch and dinner, house wines and house cocktails are included in the nightly rate. They'll even pack you a complimentary picnic lunch, should you request one.

Gallery: Triple Creek Ranch, Montana

Triple Creek Ranch in the Montana Rockies

But what sets this resort apart from so many others are the countless outdoor activities from which to choose. Love to horseback? Fly fish? Hike? Mountain bike? At Triple Creek Ranch, you can ride and fish to your heart's content, as these activities are among many that are included in the nightly rate. Fly-casting clinics, nature and birding tours, cross-country skiing, downhill skiing and snowshoeing are also offered as part of the nightly rate.

Nearby activities that may involve an additional fee, but can be arranged by the hotel, include cattle drives, Lewis & Clark Trail Rides, scenic float trips, steelhead fishing, summer trout fly fishing and spin casting on the Salmon River, ATV rides, helicopter tours of nearby Glacier Park and Yellowstone Park, mountain biking, golf and whitewater rafting.

In 2011 Cabin rates will range from $750 per night (double occupancy) for an open floor plan cabin to $2,495 per night (double occupancy) for a spectacular 3,600 square foot three-bedroom, three-bath cabin. There's an additional charge of $350 per person for more than two people in the two and three bedroom cabins. Triple Creek Ranch is designed for adults, but does allow children ages 16 and older.

For more information or to make a reservation, contact Triple Creek Ranch at (406) 821-4600 or email at info@triplecreekranch.com.

Tags: adventure activities, adventure travel, adventure-outdoors, adventure-travel, awards-main, luxist-awards, Montana, Montana Rockies, Triple Creek Ranch, winners-summer-travel

Kensington Tours Offers Antarctic Adventure

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

If the hot summer has you dreaming of ice then this might be the time to book an adventure somewhere cold. Really cold. Kensington Tours has launched Kensington Antarctica, an exclusive luxury eco-camp offering once-in-a-lifetime trips to the heart of Antarctica's interior. The sustainable camp, perched on top of a 200 foot icefall, is the first of its kind. The camp has a zero impact policy meaning that there is carbon offsetting for flights, it is solar and wind powered, serves locally sourced food (well, semi-locally, the food comes from South Africa), and all waste is removed and dismantled every season. The main living area is comprised of two large, dome tents with a dining room, library, kitchen and communications area. The camp has only six sleeping tents, each one shared by two people. Gourmet meals are served by an acclaimed chef.

Experiences at the camp include kite skiing, rock and ice climbing, abseiling into crevasses, 4x4 adventures to the coastal ice barrier or to one of the science bases, a flight to the South Pole as well as access to a 12,000-strong colony of fearless Emperor Penguins and their hatchlings.

"Kensington Antarctica is a step forward in our mission to offer private travel to the entire world," says Jeff Willner, founder of Kensington Tours and an experienced explorer himself and a fellow of the Royal Geographic Society. "Once the exclusive domain of explorers and scientists, Kensington Antarctica now gives amateur explorers the opportunity to see landscapes and wildlife at their most untouched with personalized service from experienced professionals and the comfort of a luxury camp."

The Antarctica season runs from late November through January when temperatures average a comparatively mild 23 degrees Fahrenheit. Trips cost from between $9,635 to $48,075 for a 12-day excursion.

Tags: adventure travel, antarctic travel, antarctica, kensington tours, travel

Gauley Season Brings Adrenalin Junkies To West Virginia

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Sports

Adventure lovers in West Virginia know about a little something called Gauley Season. Each fall, the Summersville Dam is unleashed into West Virginia's Gauley River to fill up Summersville Lake. The result of all that water pouring through the gates turns that part of southern West Virginia into a whitewater rafter's paradise with peak season rapids ranging in intensity from Class VI (professional) to Class III (moderate). Each year over 60,000 whitewater enthusiasts each year converge on the area for the ride of a lifetime.

Class VI-Mountain River navigates these waters for six weekends straight, offering unforgettable rides on half-day, full-day, and multi-day trips lead by the river-seasoned staff. Every Class VI-Mountain River trip is photographed by experts and so you get professional views of your exploits.

Options including staying in Class VI - Mountain River's New River Gorge Adventure Resort on the canyon rim of the New River Gorge, or camping at the edge of the New or Gauley River. The resort is over 1,000 acres with luxury vacation homes for rent, a wide variety of WV cabin rentals from rustic to deluxe, and ample private West Virginia campground facilities. Many of the cabins on the Gorge have hot tubs, a different type of white water to soothe away the day's adventures. Check out the Class VI-Mountain River website for more details.

Tags: adventure travel, adventure-outdoors, adventure-travel, Gauley River, gauley season, west virginia, WhiteWater, whitewater rafting, WhitewaterRafting, WhitewaterTrips

In Harmony: New Zealand And Emerging Luxury Travel Trends, Part 1

by Susan Kime (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

In my recent Luxist articles,The Dawn Of A New Economy, and Is The Recession Over?, I have discussed a multiplicity of luxury trends, derived from the Luxury Summit discussions and research, and from the American Affluence Center Research, Spring 2010. These new trends suggest changes in high end spending and saving, redefining what is newly important to consumers. Such changes have been enhanced by the recession that has at best lightly touched and at worst deeply affected both the aspirational and inspirational high net worth populations. Much of this research suggests changes in purchasing attitudes that range from a more conspicuous to a more conscious consumption, allowing for less artifice and more authenticity, less presumption and more purpose, less spending and more investing – all in material and experience that mean more than just acquiring more stuff.

Within the past year also, a greater interest has emerged in high end, authentic adventure travel, multi -generational family travel, and all with a greater eco-sensitive outlook. These luxury travel trends correspond, and indeed harmonize with high end travel offerings found in New Zealand, the youngest, least populated (still more sheep than people, 16 million sheep, 4 million people), and arguably one of the most unspoiled, green, eco-sensitive and adventurous and adventuresome country left in the world.

Tags: adventure travel, adventuretravel, air new zealand, christchurch, george hotel, laffluent reserach, maori, new zealand, New Zealand affluent travel, new zealand travel, remarkables mountain, treetops, TreetopsLodge

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Get Wild with the National Outdoor Leadership School

by Alison Wellner (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Sports, Green

If your summer vacation consists of lolling around in front of the air conditioner sipping a chilled beverage -- and you're not so happy about that, challenge yourself by signing up for a National Outdoor Leadership School course.

This Lander, Wyoming-based outdoors school primarily serves the school-aged -- teaching teenagers and college kids about leadership, nature and survival in the wilderness in courses that can run as long as a full semester. But it's less well-known that NOLS also offers classes for adults, which typically run a couple of weeks.

I joined one of their programs in the Wyoming Wind River Mountains almost exactly three years ago, and as a decidedly non-outdoorsy New Yorker, I will never forget it. In fact, I count it among the hardest things I've ever done -- but, since I didn't have to be helicoptered out I counted it as a raging success. (I hardly ever discuss how, on the last night, I took an instructor aside and said, you know, I've just realized that my people aren't woods people.)

I learned a lot about how you live a day-to-night life in the back country, for example, how to not freak out when crossing streams by jumping from rock-to-rock with a heavy pack on one's back, and how to keep hiking with two sprained ankles. Glamping this is not, but if you want to end the summer with a sense of pride and accomplishment, a NOLS course might be just the ticket.

Tags: adventure, adventure travel, camping, nature tours, NOLS, wyoming

Raft Down The Colorado River This Summer

by Jonathon Ramsey (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

Part of the reason to get awesome accommodations when traveling is so that you can get a little adventurous and be safe in the knowledge that a 24-hour chef and 3,000-count sheets are waiting to receive you at the end of it. After departing your suite at the Grand Hotel at the Grand Canyon – about as luxurious as it gets, but remember we are talking about a remote and giant hole in the ground – river rafting might make the perfect counterpoint.

If you really want to get adventurous, then skip the Grand Hotel and go straight for Arizona River Runners' 3- to 13-day trips down the Colorado River. A full-on vacation inside of the canyon provides a glimpse of nature and rams and stars not often seen. Sure, there are things like tents to deal with but the soul can luxuriate in the outdoors, and a few days on the rio Colorado will give the body every excuse it needs to shack up at the spa at the Mandarin Oriental when the trip is done.

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Tags: adventure, adventure travel, arizona, colorado, colorado river, glamping, grand canyon, rafting, river rafting

View the Total Solar Eclipse From 40,000 Feet

by Amy Cortese (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels, Events

Been there, done that? How about total umbral immersion 40,000 feet in the air?

For thrill seekers, that's the pitch from Rick Brown, a self-described "eclipse-chaser" who has chartered an Airbus jet that will fly into the path of a total eclipse of the sun set to occur on July 11. (And you thought that was just a Carly Simon lyric).

Total eclipses typically occur only once every year or two. And viewing them can be a challenge: they are often only visible from remote parts of the Earth, and even if you make the trek, clouds or weather can obscure the view. On July 11, for example, the moon's shadow, or umbra, will sweep across the South Pacific in a narrow band, only making landfall on Easter Island and a few atolls in French Polynesia. The "totality," as the period when the sun is completely blocked by the moon is called, will last just four minutes on the ground.

Enter Rick Brown and his EFLIGHT 2010. The forty or so eclipse-chasing passengers high above the clouds will watch as the moon's shadow approach them from over 200 miles away before basking in the darkness of the lunar shadow and gazing at the sun's pearly white corona for nearly 10 full minutes - which Brown says will be a record viewing time.

Tags: adventure travel, Airbus, astronomy, Easter Island, Eclipse Chasers, jet charter, polynesia, private jet, solar eclipse, tahiti

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Fairmont's Global Explorer Series Launches New Travel Packages Focused On The Ocean

by Rigel Celeste (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

Fairmont Hotels & Resorts first debuted its Global Explorer Series last year and now for its second year there are three new adventure vacation packages built around exploring the world's oceans. Offered in collaboration with the National Geographic Society to promote responsible and sustainable tourism, guests can explore wondrous underwater worlds along with an expert to make the experience truly unforgettable.

Join National Geographic environmental anthropologist and underwater cave expert Dr. Kenny Broad on a snorkeling expedition through the freshwater jungles of the Mayan Cenotes.
Snorkel around The Big Island of Hawaii with National Geographic environmental anthropologist Dr. Kenny Broad.
Enjoy an unforgettable weekend of diving, exploring and learning at Fairmont Mayakoba with legendary oceanographer Dr. Sylvia Earle.

Rates start at $399/night and are 'mostly inclusive,' with details varying per location.

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Tags: adventure travel, diving, eco travel, fairmont, mayakoba, national geographic, ocean, oceangraphy, travel, travel adventure

A Night In The Treetops

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

Camping doesn't usually light my fire but the chance to experience an calm night while suspended from a grand old growth Douglas fir tree in Oregon sounds pretty delightful. The Pacific Tree Climbing Institute offers overnight excursions that include a day of tree climbing and an overnight in a canvas Treeboat, a heavy-duty canvas hammock with a 2" thick air mattress. The Institute offers rope training with your guide in a specially designed tree climbing harness, an organic lunch, organic dinner, and a night under the stars. In the morning a hot peppermint towel and a light organic breakfast with coffee is served in your Treeboat. This adventure costs $500.

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Tags: adventure travel, oregon

Hiking by Helicopter

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

What do the companies that offer helicopter skiing do in the summer when the snow has melted? How about helihiking. Canadian Mountain Holidays has six lodges in Canada that serves as luxury base camps. By day you can travel to places that would normally take you many days to backpack to and still be back at the lodge for a restful evening by the fireplace. The packages include helicopter flights each day, meals, services of the guides, accommodations and gear. Three-day packages start at $2,207 (Canadian dollars).

There are also helihiking trips in New Zealand that take you to glaciers and helihikes in the Andes Mountains.

[via Town and Country]

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Tags: adventure travel, canada, helihike, hiking, tourism, travel

Timberline Adventures

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

Some people just want to kick back on vacation but if you'd rather be completely exhausted at the end of every day Timberline Adventures can help. They run bicycling and hiking tours throughout the Western United States for those who are interested in experiencing the countryside on an intimate level. They have 25 years of experience and have created a variety of tours from four or five day jaunts to a 12-day trip through Montana or an 18-day Lewis and Clark adventure through the Dakotas. The tours are done in groups from eight to 15 people and tour prices include accommodations, breakfasts and dinners. The Montana Magic tour runs August 20 through 31 and costs for $3,195. Because sometimes the greatest luxury is being able to eat whatever you want at the end of the day, knowing you'll burn up every single calorie on the road the next day.

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Tags: adventure travel, bicycling, hiking, montana, timber tours, TimberTours, travel, yellowstone

The Real Race

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed) —

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

Ever dreamed of being on "The Amazing Race" TV show but worried about having your worst moments captured for viewing audiences? For adventurous types The Real Race is the chance for 24 competitors to race around Australia for 17 days. The race leaves Sydney, Australia, on August 7 and 12 teams of two will perform various tasks and earn points. No Philiminations like on "The Amazing Race," everyone gets to compete in the whole race. No million dollar prize either but if you win your race is free. Activities will include mountain biking, kayaking, rafting, 4x4 wheel driving and skydiving. The early bird price is $11,820 until May 1.

[photo via Tourism Australia]

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Tags: adventure travel, australia, competition, journey, race

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