Best wishes to Andy Knapp

A long-time fixture of the outdoor industry, Andy Knapp, is about to undergo the fight of his life. We wish Andy the best and wanted to share his recent e-mail with readers of Expedition News.

To my industry friends:

As many of you may know. I am taking a leave of absence to enter the hospital for a lengthy stay to receive a bone marrow transplant procedure that has a chance of attacking and setting back the renal cell cancer I have been fighting for six years. There are more details on my blog listed below. There are mortality risks with this therapy, but as I see it, it's no worse than the odds of staring down bears, crevasses, cliffs, towering waves, rapids, endless highways, and so on.

I have enjoyed your camaraderie and support over the years and I hope to return to the industry as soon as I can, but the doctors say no crowds, camping, or airline travel for almost a year as my immune system returns to a normal state. At that point, I will receive my childhood immunizations all over again and hopefully be good to go.

I will continue to be in touch via my andy@midwestmtn.com address, although while in the hospital, I cannot use my cell phone because this is an ICU facility. I will be in the hospital for about four to six weeks, then quarantined at home for another three months. At around 100 days, I will be able to get out more, perhaps biking, using a hospital mask. For those of you with MM business, you can work with Will in the camping department, or Peter in boats/ski, or contact me if there is a problem. Rod and the folks at MM have been very supportive, and I'm sure we will have a great year, with no major changes in direction planned.

I may even do a program at the April Expo via remote if I can figure out the technical details.

Feel free to spread the word to others in your organization/group, as I don't have everyone's email address.

Here is the link to my blog, comments OK:

http://www.andytknapp.blogspot.com/

and my rudimentary website which I am adding to almost daily as I now have more forced time on my hands:

http://www.andytknapp.com/

There are also or will be soon, links from the Midwest site:

http://www.midwestmtn.com/

I also have a mailing address at the hospital (absolutely no flowers or plants are allowed):

Andy Knapp
University of Minnesota Medical Center, Fairview
PCU 4B - Room 4-233
500 Harvard St. S.E.
Minneapolis, MN 55455

Thanks for the good times and memories,
Andy

Midwest Mountaineering
309 Cedar Ave. S.
Minneapolis, MN 55454
612-339-3433
www.midwestmtn.com

Greg Mortenson Speaks at AAC Dinner, Feb. 21

What do a best-selling author, NASA astronaut, handful of renowned explorers, and couple dozen icons of climbing have in common? They’ll all be gathering in Golden, Colo., Feb. 21, for The American Alpine Club’s Annual Benefit & Awards Dinner. Greg Mortenson, Author of the #1 New York Times Best Seller, Three Cups of Tea, will provide the evening’s keynote address and will be available for book signing. The $200 price for the evening (which includes a three course dinner) supports the AAC’s international conservation efforts and Central Asia Institute’s ongoing work building schools. Sign up at www.AmericanAlpineClub.org or by calling 303-384-0110 x40.

Aussies Hiring "Explorer" for "Best Job in the World"

Imagine spending six months on the islands of the Great Barrier Reef and getting paid more than $100,000 for it. That’s the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that Tourism Queensland is offering with their “The Best Job In The World” Island Caretaker promotion. More than one million people around the world have visited Tourism Queensland’s “Best Job in the World” Web site, launching the campaign into what one Australian Internet media outlet has described as “cult status.”

Candidates must submit 60-sec. video applications online for the Island Caretaker position on the newly launched Web site, www.islandreefjob.com. Eleven candidates from around the world will be short-listed and flown to Australia in May 2009, where they will compete for the newly created six-month position. The winning candidate will be employed from July through December 2009 exploring the islands of the Great Barrier Reef and reporting back on their experiences. The application deadline is Feb. 22 and over 8,000 have applied to date. No experience is necessary, but we’re sure that faithfully reading Expedition News gives you a leg up on the competition. Take a virtual trip to Oz and check out some amusing video entries on their Web site.