Interview: Chile President Piñera Speaks to Patagon Journal About Conservation, Dams and Patagonia
Thursday, 15 July 2010 00:00
Patagon Unbound
The center-right government of new Chilean President Sebastián Piñera is nearing its first major environmental decision: whether to approve HidroAysén, a controversial US$ 7 billion project to build five hydroelectric dams on two rivers in Chilean Patagonia.
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Exclusive Interview with Marcelo Castillo, Lawyer for the Patagonia Without Dams Campaign
Tuesday, 08 June 2010 09:38
Patagon Unbound
 Marcelo Castillo, an environmental lawyer in Santiago, represents the Council for the Defense of Patagonia (CDP), a coalition of Chilean and international organizations campaigning to stop the HidroAysen project, an ambitous plan to build five large-scale dams in southern Aysen and send the power to Santiago via an enormous electric transmission stretching nearly 2,500 kilometers. At the end of June, HidroAysen is due to file a second addendum to its environmental impact study at the request of regional environmental authorities. The second half of this year, then, will be a critical time for determining the fate of this project.
The Right to Write About Patagonia
Thursday, 20 May 2010 13:06
Patagon Unbound
 Recently, I received a letter from Humberto Merino, the editor of Enfoque, a regional magazine based in Puerto Montt, in which he angrily tells me at one point that because he was born and raised in Chile that he has more rights than me to write about Patagonia. “I believe, Mr. Langman, that I have more rights than you to write about my country.”
Patagonia engenders strong emotions. For Merino, it appears to be jealous possessiveness toward foreigners. For me, after my first trip down the length of the Carretera Austral in March 2001, like so many others from around the world the region’s immense natural beauty provoked inspiring awe. My strong admiration for this region eventually led me to write several articles, start on a book and found this magazine.
Chile's Earthquake: Time to Lend a Hand
Saturday, 06 March 2010 13:08
Patagon Unbound
The earthquake that struck Chile one week ago devastated several cities and towns, particularly in the country’s central Bio Bio and Maule regions. One of the most powerful quakes the world has ever seen, the tremors were felt to varying degrees over a great distance, from Villa La Angostura, Argentina, to Puerto Varas to Santiago. Tens of thousands of homes were destroyed or severely damaged. Older homes and buildings, or structures poorly built, were the most likely to fall. Roads and bridges outside of Temuco, for example, were twisted up and split apart. But those who live on the coast in the Bio Bio and Maule regions suffered by far the worst damage, pounded by both the earthquake and a tsunami.
Caleta Tortel and Defining Progress
Wednesday, 24 February 2010 21:25
Patagon Unbound
Several years ago, on my first trip down the entire length of southern Chile’s spectacular Carretera Austral, or Southern Highway -- a 1240-kilometer journey from Puerto Montt to Villa O’Higgins -- on the return trip northward I had one of my most memorable adventures ever as a journalist.
"The Need for Adventure": Interview with Legendary Polar Explorer Borge Ousland
Sunday, 07 February 2010 00:00
Patagon Unbound
Borge Ousland is one of history’s most accomplished polar explorers. He is the first person to ski across both the North Pole and South Pole alone. His last big solo trip, in 2001, was an 82-day odyssey that saw him cross the North Pole, from Russia to Canada, walking, skiing and swimming. He told National Geographic that the trip taught him to “never give up.”
Legendary Polar Explorer Set to Complete Traverse of Northern Patagonia Ice Field
Sunday, 22 November 2009 19:56
Patagon Unbound
There are few people today – or in history - who can compare with Borge Ousland. National Geographic has called him “the most accomplished polar explorer alive.” The track record for this 47-year-old, Norwegian-born adventurer speaks volumes: the first to ski across both the North and South Poles alone and without outside support (1994 and 1995); the first person ever to ski across the entire Antarctica continent alone and without outside support, crossing over nearly 2845 kilometers in 64 days (1996); the first to cross the Arctic alone, from Siberia to Canada via the North Pole (2001); and the first to reach the geographical North Pole during winter.
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