news: 4677e14a$1@news.povray.org...
> Oh dear!! Never been there!  I get already breathing problems as soon as I 
> pass the 0m altitude line  :-)
>
> Thomas
You know strangely I feel the same problem here but the other way :-)


Marc

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High!

Stephen schrieb:

> How did he get the bike up there and why a bike?
> Of all the things you associate with Netherlanders like bottle openers, old
> masters, old cheese, purses etc. where did he get the idea to take a bike to the
> top of the world? :-)

As most Dutch-made carburetors fail already in the comparatively 
low-lying outskirts of Vaals, there are no buses going up the summit of 
Mt. Vaalserberg, so I had to take the bike! And, believe me, it was a 
truly heroic ascent, full of blizzards, avalanches, glacier crevasses, 
three-digits subzero windchill and even snow leopard attacks... until 
finally, I stood for the first time of my life atop the highest 
elevation of a sovereign country!

In the future, I'd like to go for Botrange in Belgium's Haute Fagnes 
highlands, later perhaps even for Ireland's Carrantuohil or Ben Nevis in 
Scotland! But then, thinking about discarded NASA spacesuits would be a 
good idea...

See you on www.khyberspace.de !

Yadgar

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news:467851ba@news.povray.org...
> In the future, I'd like to go for Botrange in Belgium's Haute Fagnes 
> highlands, later perhaps even for Ireland's Carrantuohil or Ben Nevis in 
> Scotland! But then, thinking about discarded NASA spacesuits would be a 
> good idea...
>

Not to forget the heavy boots necessary in zero gravity zones.....

Thomas

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wrote:

> I stood for the first time of my life atop the highest 
>elevation of a sovereign country!

Well done, so that is you? It is nice to put a face to your posts.

Regards
	Stephen

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4677cff5$1@news.povray.org...
> True highlanders... but what about this:
>
> http://home.arcor.de/yadgar/photos/pict0041.jpg
>
Note the cobbled step to make it even higher :-)
Marc

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news:467851ba@news.povray.org...

> In the future, I'd like to go for Botrange in Belgium's Haute Fagnes 
> highlands, later perhaps even for Ireland's Carrantuohil or Ben Nevis in 
> Scotland! But then, thinking about discarded NASA spacesuits would be a 
> good idea...
>

...And you should go to the deepest points too! (not caves!)
- Alexanderpolder (NL) -8m, if I am correct
- Death Sea
- Death Valley
- Kara Bogaz
... and several others certainly

Thomas

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... and don't forget.....
http://www.dagjefriesland.nl/hotspots/hs_sonnema.htm
Scroll down to the image of Berenburg bottles. Those mountains you see are 
called... the Frisian Alps!!!

And now buy a bottle and taste it, preferably during a cold winter day (when 
was that the last time? I can't remember...)

Thomas

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High!

Thomas de Groot schrieb:

> http://www.dagjefriesland.nl/hotspots/hs_sonnema.htm
> Scroll down to the image of Berenburg bottles. Those mountains you see are 
> called... the Frisian Alps!!!

West Friesland - where the dung piles are high and the beards are long!

> 
> And now buy a bottle and taste it, preferably during a cold winter day (when 
> was that the last time? I can't remember...)

Oh, go... West Friesland is the coldest part of the Netherlands (Dutch 
Siberia) - the region with the famous skating tradition, Heerenveen and all!

See you on www.khyberspace.de !

Yadgar

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High!

Thomas de Groot schrieb:

> ...And you should go to the deepest points too! (not caves!)
> - Alexanderpolder (NL) -8m, if I am correct
> - Death Sea
> - Death Valley
> - Kara Bogaz
> ... and several others certainly

Here in Germany, this would be some place west of Hamburg, in the "Altes 
Land", about 2 metres below sea level... and in my still favourite 
country on this planet it's where Amu Darya river leaves for 
Turkmenistan, 280 metres above sea level... Mt. Noshaq (7490 m) would be 
definitely more sophisticated to do!

But I generally more like being on high places than in murky marshlands 
(which also goes well with my other hobby, stargazing), so in spite of 
being an absolute non-climber, trying to get as high as possible without 
breaking my neck seems thrilling... and, so, to "collect" highest 
elevations of sovereign countries, preferably on foot or by bike.

Let's take a look on what would be doable:

Germany: Zugspitze (2963 m) would be too alpine (except by funicular) 
and, beside that, no mountain peak in the world has been that much 
disfigured with concrete platform buildups like this one unfortunate 
enough to be Germany's highest... but nevertheless a great spot to have 
a night at the telescope!

Also off limits are Austria, Switzerland, Italy and France, with all of 
them being in the 4000 or high 3000 metre range.

Mt. Snezka (1603 m), the highest elevation of Czech Republic, would be 

(Finland, 1324 m). Then there would be Luxemburg's Kneiff (560 m), San 
Marino's Monte Titano (756 m, which I in fact already visited in 1979 - 
so I must admit that I was wrong with my recent bold statement about my 
trip to Vaalserberg!), also the highest point of Monaco, probably only a 
few hundred metres high, but possibly very expensive ;-); Croatia's 
Dinara (1831 m)... and, certainly, Spain with her Pico de Teide volcano 
(3718 m) on Tenerife island - then also the Fujisan (3776 m) in Japan 
would be a possible destination for me... are there more countries whose 
highest mountains are easily accessible shield volcanoes?

If we stretch the term "sovereign country" in a creative way, then also 
Bergisch Afghanistan's Sang-e Surkh (German: Rothenstein, 600 m) would 
be a candidate to be biked by me...

See you on www.khyberspace.de !

Yadgar

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Thomas de Groot wrote:

> news:467851ba@news.povray.org...
> 
> 
>>In the future, I'd like to go for Botrange in Belgium's Haute Fagnes 
>>highlands, later perhaps even for Ireland's Carrantuohil or Ben Nevis in 
>>Scotland! But then, thinking about discarded NASA spacesuits would be a 
>>good idea...
>>
> 
> 
> ...And you should go to the deepest points too! (not caves!)
> - Alexanderpolder (NL) -8m, if I am correct
> - Death Sea
> - Death Valley
> - Kara Bogaz
> ... and several others certainly
> 
> Thomas 
> 

I live in Southern California, and have visted Death Valley a number of 
times -- a fascinating area well worth visiting (but not in mid-summer, 
of course!)  Spent a very enjoyable Christmas holiday season there a 
number of years ago.  An interesting thing about Badwater (the low-point 
in Death Valley, -282 feet) is that it is adjacent to a fairly steep 
cliff.  And it's amusing (shocking?) to look up there to see the sign 
showing sea level.

       -=- Larry -=-

PS.  Another factoid -- Mt. Whitney is only about 150 miles from Death 
Valley.  Whitney (14,505 feet) is the highest peak in the contiguous 
United States.  (At 20,320 feet, Mt. McKinley/Danali in Alaska is 
higher.)  [Elevation data from Wikipedia...]   :-)

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