AdventureCORPS

ADVENTURE: bold, exciting, or very unusual experience

CORPS: body of persons acting together or assoicated under common direction

ADVENTURECORPS: world-class events, lifestyle, and media for athlete-adventurers

For those extreme athletes among the DVJ readership, the AdventureCORPS organization is a fascinating study on what can be accomplished in the vast Death Valley realm. Their website presents several endurance events that beckon the most intrepid among us. Names like the Badwater Ultramarathon, Furnace Creek 508, Death Valley Century, Death Valley Double Century, Badwater World Cup, and the Death Valley Cup bring to mind images of determined people pushing themselves to the absolute limit. Founded by Chris Kostman in 1984, himself a world-class athlete, the organization now hosts many events in varied locations, some of which occur each year right in Death Valley National Park.

Chris Kostman and Steve Greene meet at the Death Valley Double Century on Saturday, October 24, 2009 at Furnace Creek Ranch. Steve was on a cross-country trip with his human-powered tricycle to Death Valley's Badwater Basin at the time.

Quoted below is text from the AdventureCORPS website to provide further insight about this athletic organization that helps many people from all walks of life achieve new inner and outer success in life. These words are but a sampling of what you will find at their website. To visit the extensive site and learn much more, please click HERE.

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“AdventureCORPS, Inc. is an athlete-run firm producing and promoting ultra-endurance and extreme sports events, lifestyle, and media. Adventure is our way of life. AdventureCORPS’ world-class events for athlete-adventurers include epic races such as the Badwater Ultramarathon and Furnace Creek 508, multi-day cycling lifestyle retreats known as CORPScamps, plus Hell’s Gate Hundred, Mount Laguna Bicycle Classic, Death Valley Century and Double Century, 80 For Haiti, and Rough Riders Rally. We also host and develop our adventure-related websites and provide a variety of adventure-related services. Founded in 1984 by Chris Kostman, this group effort is dedicated to exploring the inner and outer universes, seeking adventure, energy, and insight both in daily life and “out there.”

Chris Kostman got his start early in ultra sports: He set world ultra cycling records in high school in 1984 and 1985 and completed the 3127-mile, eleven-day Race Across America bicycle race at age 20 in 1987. That was a springboard to competing in events as diverse as the Triple Ironman in France, the 6.5-mile Skaha Lake Ultra Swim in Canada, numerous winter ultras on mountain bike or snowshoes in Alaska, and scores of 24-hour mountain bike races and 200-mile or longer road bike races.

This led to a career producing some of the toughest endurance events available through his company, AdventureCORPS. Hosted in Death Valley, on the slopes of Mt. Shasta, and beyond, these events include multi-day cycling lifestyle camps, centuries and double century bicycle rides, the venerable Furnace Creek 508 bicycle race, and the world-famous Badwater Ultramarathon 135-mile foot race.

Chris has published over 240 articles about the endurance world. He is trained and educated as an archaeologist and works part-time in that field, both undersea and on land in the Middle East and South Asia.

AdventureCORPS events happen not in a man-made stadium, but in the real world “out there.” We care deeply about the natural world for we are intrinsically linked with it and because we want to enjoy these events in their awesome natural settings for a long, long time.

We are extremely excited to announce that we joined One Percent For The Planet on July 1, 2008. As such, we are now donating at least 1% of total revenues (in other words, “off the top,” not just 1% of profit, which would be next to nothing!) to environmental causes. This is in addition to all the work we do on behalf of, and donations we make to, our Official Charities, Challenged Athletes Foundation and Major Taylor Association, as outlined or our Charity Page.

1% For The Planet is a growing global movement 899 companies (and counting) that donate 1% of their sales to a network of 1,582 environmental organizations (and counting) worldwide. We are pleased and proud to be in such good company!

In association with our membership in 1% For The Planet, we are very pleased to announce that we joined the Death Valley Natural History Association as Life Members and are recognizing DVNHA as an Official Charity of AdventureCORPS as of January 23, 2009. DVNHA is a non-profit organization supporting education, research, and preservation in Death Valley National Park and Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge. Some of their efforts include DeathValley R.O.C.K.S. (bringing inner city kids to experience one of the largest outdoor classrooms in the world), Devil’s Hole Pupfish Recovery, Death Valley All Taxa Biological Inventory, plus they run the wonderful gift shops at the Furnace Creek Visitor’s Center, Scotty’s Castle Museum, Stovepipe Wells Ranger Station, and at the Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge Office.

The Official Charity of AdventureCORPS is the Challenged Athletes Foundation. One of the goals of our events is to raise funds for, and awareness of, this wonderful organization.

The Challenged Athletes Foundation was created on the belief that people of all abilities should have the opportunity to pursue a life full of physical activity and of sports. Be they recreational or in pursuit of a gold medal at the Paralympic Games, people with a physical disability are limited only by their access to funding. Since 1994, CAF has raised more than $24 million—allowing the Foundation to satisfy thousands of funding requests from challenged athletes in all 50 states and across the globe.

Eighty-nine cents of every dollar raised by CAF provides funding and programs that get challenged athletes into the game. Whether it’s a $2,000 handcycle, helping underwrite a $15,000 running prosthetic or arranging enthusiastic encouragement from a mentor who has triumphed over a similar injury, CAF’s mission is clear: give those with the desire to live active, competitive lifestyles every opportunity to compete in the sports they love.

At the 2004 Paralympic Games in Athens, Greece 45 of the 235 participating U.S. athletes (almost 20 percent) were supported by CAF. More recently at the 2006 Winter Paralympic Games in Torino, Itlay, CAF supported 23 of the 56 (41 percent) participating U.S. athletes.

Visit http://adventurecorps.com for the rest of the story!