GWS' say !

Mount Roraima : The Lost World

4:54 AM

It might look like it's straight out of a sci-fi movie, but this natural wonder is completely real, and fully awe-inspiring.

Mount Roraima, bordered by three different countries (Venezuela, Brazil and Guyana) whose border lines intersect on the massive shelf, is surrounded on all four sides by sheer 400-meter high cliffs. While its cliff walls are only scalable by the most experienced of climbers, there is a hiking path up the mountain’s natural ramp-like path (usually a two-day hike).

However, the mountain is worth a visit for more reasons than its impressive cliffs. Mount Roraima, part of Venezuela's 30000-square-kilometer Canaima National Park, is the site of the highest peak of the country of Guyana’s Highland Range. The mountains of this range, including Roraima, are considered to be some of the oldest geological formations known, some dating back to two-billion years ago. Its near daily rains have also created a unique ecosystem which includes several endemic species, including a unique carnivorous pitcher plant, and some of the highest waterfalls in the world.

Culturally, the mountain has long held significance to the indigenous people of the area and features prominently in their myths and folklore. This remote landscape of jungle and cliffs was inspired the dinosaur infested landscapes of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s novel The Lost World and the dramatic waterfalls dubbed "Paradise Falls" in the 2009 Pixar film Up.

Elevation: 9,219' (2,810 m)

First ascent: 1884

Prominence: 7,671' (2,338 m)

Mountain range: Guiana Shield

First ascenders: Harry Inniss Perkins, Everard F. im Thurn

You can also check the video about Mount Roraima on Youtube >>> Mount Roraima

Photos about Mount Roraima

Facts About Mount Roraima - strangefacts

Mount Roraima (mountain, South America) giant flat-topped mountain, or mesa, in the Pakaraima Mountains of the Guiana Highlands , at the point where the boundaries of Brazil, Venezuela, and Guyana meet

About 9 miles (14 km) long and 9,094 feet (2,772 metres) high, it is the source of many rivers of Guyana, and of the Amazon and Orinoco

Mount Roraima is a pretty remarkable place. It is a tabletop mountain with sheer 400-metre high cliffs on all sides

There is only one ‘easy’ way up, on a natural staircase-like ramp on the Venezuelan side – to get up any other way takes and experienced rock climber

On the top of the mountain it rains almost every day, washing away most of the nutrients for plants to grow and creating a unique landscape on the bare sandstone surface
This also creates some of the highest waterfalls in the world over the sides (Angel falls is located on a similar tabletop mountain some 130 miles away)
Though there are only a few marshes on the mountain where vegetation can grow properly, these contain many species unique to the mountain, including a species of carnivorous pitcher plant
The mountain marks the border between Venezuela, Brazil and Guyana, although more than three quarters of the mountain is in Venezuelan territory
It is the highest mountain in Guyana, but Venezuela and Brazil have higher mountains. The triple border point on the summit is at 5°12'08N, 60°44'07W
Roraima lies on the Guiana Shield in the southeastern corner of Venezuela's 30,000 km² Canaima National Park, which is roughly located in the Gran Sabana region
The tabletop mountains of the park are considered some of the oldest geological formations on Earth, dating back to the Precambrian Era, some two billion years ago
The average height of the plateau is about 2,500 metres (8,200 feet), making it the highest point for distance of 549.44 kilometres (341.48 miles) in any direction
The nearest peak that is taller is Cerro Marahuaca, to the west-southwest
Despite the fact the steep sides of the plateau make it difficult to access, it was the first major tepui to be climbed: Sir Everard im Thurn walked up a forested ramp in December 1884 to scale the strangely wind-and-water sculpted plateau
This is the same route hikers take today
It is thought that the reports from early Victorian expeditions to the mountain inspired Sir Arthur Conan Doyle to write his classic adventure yarn, The Lost World, in 1912 - now made into countless films
Since long before the arrival of European explorers in Venezuela the mountain has held a special significance for the indigenous people of the region and it is central to many of their myths and legends
The Pemon Indians of the Gran Sabana see Roraima as the stump of a mighty tree that once held all the fruits and tuberous vegetables in the world
Felled by one of their ancestors, the tree crashed to the ground, unleashing a terrible flood. "Roroi" in the Pemon language means blue-green and "ma" means great
Mount Roraima has been climbed on a few occasions from the Guyana and Brazil sides, but as the mountain is entirely bordered on both these sides by enormous sheer cliffs that include high overhanging (negative-inclination) stretches, these are extremely difficult and technical rock climbing routes.

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About Lindsey Stirling

8:54 AM

GWS

There is no-one else like Lindsey Stirling. We are talking about a classically-trained violinist, from Gilbert, Arizona, entering a futuristic world of big beats and animation – imagine Vanessa Mae leaping through the pages of a Manga comic with Skrillex in hot pursuit. Her song ‘Crystallize’ was the eighth most-viewed video on Youtube last year, racking up an incredible 78 million views and over 3.6 million subscribers. With her first ticketed show just twelve months ago, she’s now selling out dates across Europe, America, Russia and Asia. Her debut album has sold 200,000 copies in the US without the backing of a major label, and has gone Gold in Germany (over 100k sold) and Switzerland.

It is hard to believe that Piers Morgan told Lindsey Stirling the world had no place for a dancing dub-step violinist. But being voted off 2010’s America’s Got Talent, at the quarter-finals, turned out to be the best thing that’s ever happened to her. Rejection simply strengthened Stirling’s resolve to be herself. “The same reasons I was told I wouldn’t succeed are the reasons people travel hundreds of miles to see me now,” she laughs. “Because it’s different. Because it’s something you haven’t seen before…”

Stirling’s debut album features twelve original tracks including viral smashes ‘Crystallize’, ‘Shadows’ and ‘Electric Daisy Violin’. She has created a new musical world where the romance of Celtic folk music and modern classical meet the infectious energy of dance and electronica. In ‘Elements’ you’ll hear rhythm programming and “wub-wub” bass recalling dubstep giants Skream or Benga, while ‘Zi-Zi’s Journey’ and ‘Spontaneous Me’ feature all the thrilling, arpeggio build-ups of trance. On stage, Stirling moves with the grace of a ballerina but works the crowd into a frenzy, “dropping the beat” like some strange, electro-pastoral rave fairy.

Like Imogen Heap or Amanda Palmer, Stirling is the model of modern independent recording artist, with a formidable online presence and a powerful, symbiotic relationship with her fans. She is famed for taking “requests” and has recorded unique versions of the themes from Phantom Of The Opera and Game Of Thrones, the video games Zelda, Pokemon and Skyrim, and songs by Michael Jackson and Rihanna – uploading them all to Lindseystomp, a YouTube channel packed with music videos and short comedy films, many featuring her alter-ego, a ‘superfan’ called Phelba.

It was no conventional childhood. Stirling was raised within a Mormon community in Arizona. As a teenager, the rigours of classical music training stifled her, and she nearly chose to pursue a career in therapy. But the violin would not let go, and it became a comfort throughout her struggle with an eating disorder in early adulthood.

It was her experience with America’s Got Talent that inspired her to start composing. As a motivational speaker in her spare time, Stirling uses her own story to show teenagers that you’ve got to have confidence in the very thing that makes you unique – then wait for the world to catch up. “We give more liberties to other people than we do to ourselves,” she says. “We put labels on ourselves, but we love seeing people who just don’t care about what others think. The challenge is to love yourself for who you are, be your best self, and to encourage others to do the same.”