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Following
on from the success of Project
'98, the 'Challenge of Endeavour',
where Jon Amos and his support team
set a wheelchair world altitude record
of 16,040ft on Africa's highest mountain
- Mount Kilimanjaro.
Jon Amos is now undertaking his next
venture, which is called 'Man of Steel'
Trans-Australia challenge. This is to
be an hand cycling endurance 'trek'
of 2,020 miles through the heart of
Australia during which comparative studies
will take place to see what physiological
and psychological differences, if any,
there are between the Spinal cord injured
athlete and the able-bodied.
Full
Team Profiles
Expedition overview and map
Trans Australia
Route Information
Report Number One The
final round up before Australia
Report Number Two Hot
start for the team as they leave Darwin
Report Number Three The
Team clock up the miles towards 'Alice'
Report Number Four Seven
day update To 'Alice'
Report Number Five Australian
customs finally release JonsBack-up
wheelchair
Report Number Six More
Great Pictures of the Team
Report Number Seven Jon
and the team complete the crossing in
141hrs, 23mins and 55secs
A
special word of thanks to all the supporters
and sponsors of the
Trans Australia Challenge
Now
available - The Roof of Africa on Wheels
- Jon's account of the attempt to climb
Kilimanjaro
AIMS AND
VALUES
To support the aims and objectives of
the Wheelchair Sports Worldwide Foundation.
To heighten awareness of the 'abilities'
of people with a disability.
To promote globally the opportunities
and benefits created through sporting
endeavour.
OBJECTIVES
To emulate the pioneering endeavour
of the Scottish born Australian explorer
John McDougal Stuart in 1861.
For a paraplegic athlete to cover the
same route from Darwin to Adelaide in
a wheelchair adapted for the task.
To meet the challenge and overcome the
physical and psychological barriers
to be faced during such feats of endurance.
To gain public recognition for the achievements
and abilities of wheelchair athletes.
To influence other wheelchair users
and the attitudes of the public at large.
The Team at the Press Launch
AIMS
To complete the 2,020 mile venture through
some of the fiercest terrain and climates
on earth.
To raise funds for the Wheelchair Sports
Worldwide Foundation to support the
implementation of its objectives. In
particular the design of programmes
for rehabilitation centres where newly
traumatised patients can be introduced
to the benefits of sport and the design
and application of training and coaching
programmes through outreach centres
worldwide where wheelchair users can
pursue their sporting goals.
To compile and publish research data
on the comparative effects, both physiological
and psychological, the impact of extended
endurance training in heat might have
on both the spinal cord injured and
able-bodied person.
To make a documentary film and develop
multi-media coverage, through Internet
and telecommunication systems, to further
promote the profile of athletes with
a disability.
To contribute, through initiatives designed
in partnership with local agencies assisting
in sport development, health care and
awareness programmes to the common goals
of a ìsport for allî philosophy.
THE GROUND
Check out the Trans
Australia route
The Heart of Australia.
The route will cover 2,020 miles across
the heart of Australia through some
of the fiercest terrain and climates
on earth.
CLIMATIC ZONES
The expedition will cover three different
climatic zones, which will be tropical
in the North, Deserts through the Central
region and Temperate in the South. Within
these zones, the extremes of weather
found range from flash floods and monsoons
to dust storms, with temperatures in
excess of 120 degrees.
DURATION
The route will be covered in reverse
to the original, not only to stay ahead
of any severe weather that 'Mother Nature'
might stir up but also to finish in
a more populated area to maximise publicity.
The estimated time scale will be somewhere
between ten to twelve weeks dependent
on any promotional work undertaken en-route.
Emphasis will be on completion rather
than timescale because history has it
well documented as to the amount of
abortive attempts made on this same
crossing.
Roles & Responsibilities
Jon Amos - Team Leader
Derek Groves - Project manager
Royal Marines Support
Team
Corporal Simon Davies
Corporal Stuart Gentry
Cpl. Ian Lawton
Martin Cooper RM
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