Everything
By Stephen Regenold Each winter, the Outdoor Retailer trade show in Salt Lake City brings together 40,000 attendees to ogle the latest in outdoor apparel and gear. Here are a few products that stood apart from the rest.
The human spirit is an amazing creature. Somehow, climbing big mountains brings it out. Cindy Abbott is no exception. With a broken leg on Aconcagua, she hobbled down from the high camps to be helicopter out, had surgery and was climbing again seven weeks later. Now she is going…
The U.S. Snowboarding Grand Prix at Park City was held last week. Kelly Clark placed first on the women's side, and Shaun White took the victory for the men. Oh, and White also landed the first ever…
Outside Television, a joint venture between Outside magazine and the Resort Sports Network, has named Rob Faris the senior vice president of programming and production. Faris has worked previously for NBC Sports on…
“Truth in Motion”, a documentary on the U.S. Ski Team produced by Audi, will premiere this Saturday, 8 p.m., on NBC. The film follows the lives of the U.S. skiers as they prepare for the…
Forgive me if this sounds like I'm just rewriting a press release. Frankly, I am. But it's only because I think this is a really cool program that deserves some attention. Teva, the footwear brand, is holding an essay/video contest. The question: If someone gave you $10,000 to fulfill your…
Courtesy of Wikimedia Haile Gebrselassie, who holds the world record for the fastest marathon time at 2:03:59, will compete in the New York City Half-Marathon on March 21,…
By Mary Catherine O'Connor Headed for the hills this weekend? Feeling bad about wheeling up in your A4 Wagon with nothing but your gear and Learn Cantonese audio books? You're in luck: new ride-share and resort-bound bus services have been cropping up, connecting drivers with…
Day 2 of Outdoor Retailer Winter Market has just ended. It's been a long day of looking at new product. My brain is a bit fried, but here's what I can tell you. The color purple. You're going to see a…
Justin's Picks: The Most Noteworthy Gear of Winter Outdoor Retailer 2010 Part 1: If you're as geeked about gear as we are here at Outside magazine, you probably already know that the Outdoor Retailer show in Salt Lake…
As we mentioned in our November issue, Yosemite National Park is a great place to play in winter. But not this weekend: Thanks to El Nino's weeklong onslaught, all roads leading into the park are temporarily closed. Check the park's homepage…
It's been dumping (again) here in Southwest Colorado, so last night I took off early from work to lap some runs at the local pint-sized home-town ski area: Hesperus. It has precisely one wooden-seat lift (circa 1958) that goes approximately 2 miles per hour,…
By Stephen Regenold The twice-annual Outdoor Retailer trade show gives a peek at what's to come in the world of outside gear. The winter version begins today. Here's a quick look at a few hot items: Polarmax…
Last one up the mountain? Well, you can be the first down the pow with this handy skin-ripping technique. Veteran ski mountaineer Andrew McLean, who's bagged first descents on all seven continents, shows how in this recent video he posted to his blog. —Kate Siber…
Courtesy of Flickr The U.S. Energy Department has put out a report stating that 20 percent of the electricity demand in homes and businesses in the eastern half of the country could be met with wind…
Nokia, the world's number one phone maker, has a full navigation suite now available to any compatible smartphone for free, Wired.com reports. The suite includes maps, updates, driving and walking directions, guides from Lonely Planet…
Courtesy of Flickr Ryan Waters, 36, and Cecilie Skog, 35, have become the first to achieve an unassisted crossing of Antarctica, Explorers Web reports. They started their expedition on November 13, 2009 and ended…
Colton Harris-Moore, a.k.a. “the barefoot burglar” of Camano and Orcas Island, is still at large after 640 days since breaking free from prison, Bob Friel reports. Friel, who wrote the story on Harris-Moore in the January/February issue of…
Hate burning through batteries on your cell phone? Petzl has a sweet looking new headlamp in the works that has a rechargeable battery. I haven't tried it, since it's a prototype, but what separates it from other rechargeable headlamps on the market is you can swap out the lithium polymer…
The Gear Junkie already gave you a peek at some of the new products debuting on the showroom floor during day one of the Outdoor Retailer Winter Market. I've noticed two trends from gear makers—hybrid jackets (i.e. a hard shell lined with a compressible…
Land of the Freebie If you're like me, 2009 left you a lot broke and a little fat—in serious need of some low-cost healthy outdoor activity. But that's tough to find when lift tickets are approaching $100 and on-mountain burgers top ten bucks. If…
It's freezing outside, and you need a tropical vacation. You can score a trip for free by entering King Kamehameha's Kona Beach Hotel giveaway. If you win, you get a three-night stay…
A good piece of gear for off-piste skiers is an avalanche airbag system (ABS), but it seems that a lot of skiers who carry one aren't deploying them in the case of an actual avalanche. New Scientist writes about a new…
Wanna stop shark finning? Yao Ming does, too. For a donation of just $100, the organization Stop Shark Finning will put up a billboard in a high-traffic area of China that features Ming and a plea to stop…
Mountaintop removal mining is bad, right? Stephen Colbert doesn't think so. Listen to him argue with Dr. Margaret Palmer, the leading author of an article on the harmful effects of mountaintop removal that appeared in the latest issue of Science.
Linsey Corbin, who came in second at the Ironman Arizona 2009, offered some helpful swim tips for triathletes over at Trifuel. We often focus a lot on strategies for running, so it was interesting to see ways to…
Snowboarder Danny Davis, 21, was seriously injured in an ATV crash this weekend and recently announced that, like his recently injured friend Kevin Pearce, he will not be able to participate in the Olympics. He is currently recovering after successful back surgery. With two strong snowboard contenders out, who behind…
Courtesy of Flickr The Whistler Blackcomb ski resort, host of the Vancouver Winter Olympics, February 12 to 28, will be up for public auction on February 19,…
You don't normally think of ice as something that increases safety, but SKI magazine explains how it does just that for alpine racers. The ruts caused by snowcats clearing the course can be dangerous for skiers, launching them off-course, so water is actually injected into the…
Bad news for us office bums who spend most of the day in a chair: Some new research from the Journal of Sports Medicine suggests that prolonged periods of sitting are detrimental to your health, regardless of whether or not…
Laszlo Csizmadia, a Hungarian man, spent four years planning to skydive through New Zealand's “Hole in the Rock,” reports the BBC. Video of his attempt is just now making its way around the web. Will he make it? See for…
Transworld Surf just posted its “10 Recent Must See Surf Movies“. Many of the movies are available for download on the site. One of the movies…
Utah-native Johnny Collinson, all of 17 years old, just became the youngest individual to reach the Seven Summits. Backpacker's Daily Dirt blog has the story and reports that Collinson reached Vinson Mastiff, in Antarctica, earlier today. Collinson made it just in…
On March 1, 2010, Kevin Vallely and Ray Zahab will embark on the i2P Siberian Express for Water Expedition. They will run 65 to 70 kilometers per day across the frozen surface…
On December 29th, on the verge of the new decade, the skiing industry lost a legend. Bill Levitt, long-time mayor of Alta, Utah, and owner of the Alta Lodge, passed away after collapsing in the ski area's dining…
Andre Greipel sprinted his way to the leader's jersey in Stage One of the 2010 Santos Tour Down Under. Daily Peloton has the story. Greipel is trying to repeat his 2008 tour victory, in which he won the first stage. …
In 2010, the Vancouver Olympics will be the first to include ski cross. What is it? Going downhill. Really fast. This video highlights American Casey Puckett, who has competed in four Olympic games but has never brought home a medal,…
By Stephen Regenold Visions of the Michelin Man might come to mind, but for untold thousands of winter lovers, horizontally-banded, ultra-insulated puffy down jackets have become the ubiquitous choice for the coldest of days. I am one of these mini Michelin Men. In Minnesota,…
Courtesy of Flickr Twenty years after the Exxon Valdez supertanker spilled oil into Alaska's Prince William Sound there is still oil around, Nature Geoscience reports. The massive cleanup effort that took place…
Courtesy of Flickr The Mayo Clinic has set up an Argentine expedition to study the ultra runner Diane Van Deren. Roughly 20 years ago, Van…
You are upside down, wedged in a deep crevasse at 19,000 feet in the Khumbu icefall. Your teammate is on top of you. You think another is nearby. Everyone knew the serac would give way, they just didn’t know when. Walter Laserer found out, up close and personal.
Sanyo has introduced the Eneloop hybrid bike to the U.S. market. It costs $2,300, weighs about 50 pounds, and has a lithium-ion battery and 250-watt motor activated by a button on the left handlebar, according to…
If you've got money to spare and a yen for skiing somewhere other than the Rockies, book a flight to West Virginia and hit the slopes at Snowshoe Mountain Resort. It's very family-oriented, so it's a great place to spend…
Drugs that contain resveratrol, a component of red wine that supposedly prevents the cellular damage that is part of aging, are not working as they should, New Scientist reports. The drugs are supposed to activate the protein SIRT 1 to combat aging,…
We live in a world of helmet cams, which is a beautiful thing. Freeskier Arne Backstrom snapped this footage on a qualifying run at the second stop of the Subaru Freeskiing World Tour in Revelstoke, courtesy of VoldR. Really fun to watch the cliff jumps. (He later won.) …
Due to injuries and exclusions, we've revised this list. Check out the new and improved list of The Top 10 Breakout Players to Watch in the World Cup. Every four years the 32 best teams…
By Stephen Regenold “There is a fine point where an athlete could freeze up, break down or thrive.” That is a tagline from Craft, a Swedish maker of clothing catered to runners, cross-country skiers, and cyclists. During activity or not, the average body functions best at…
In honor of Jonny Copp, Micah Dash, and Wade Johnson, who died in an avalanche in China last spring, Black Diamond, La Sportiva, Mountain…
Many artists have penned paeans to Mother Nature, but only a few can make my list. Sentimental songs about the beauty of the wilderness often cross over into the sappy and trite. No matter how genuine the appreciation, I can't reward repetitive cheesiness. To make my list, a song needs…
There will be 39 past and present Olympians competing in the Winter X Games this year, which will take place January 28-31 in Aspen/Snowmass, Colorado. There will be 250 athletes overall. ESPN will air…
Courtesy of LucasTheExperience/Flickr The MGive Foundation has raised more than $4 million for Haiti via its wireless campaign, CNET reports. People have been donating in $10 increments by…
Today the New York Times reported that Swiss ski phenom Lara Gut will miss the Olympics due to a hip injury sustained in a crash in October. Whenever I hear news like that, I feel a sharp pang of sympathy. In the past few years I have been plagued with…
I'm in Calpe, Spain, with team Astana. We just got back from a training ride with the team (well, we rode with them for an hour then got dropped like a bunch of fat journalists). Also saw the Garmin-Transitions and Quick Step teams out on the road. Popular place for…
Each month we get more letters than we can publish in the magazine. Going forward we will be publishing some of those letters on our blog to spur even more conversation. Feel free to tell us what you think in the comments section below, on…
Athletics South Africa (ASA) says that gold medalist runner Caster Semenya will not get the green light to compete again until she is cleared by the IAAF's gender testing, Reuters reports. The IAAF ordered the…
Critics are calling it Wayne's World meets Warren Miller. That's right, Cheap Ski Movie is not your average powder porn. From this trailer, I can't tell if it's going to be really bad, really awesome, or really awesome because it's really bad. The story, according…
I walk a lot--at least 25 miles per week because I walk to work almost every day. Can you recommend a shoe that can withstand that sort of rigor? Sylvia Boston, Massachusetts
I'm from Colorado but living for a short while in the UK. I'd like to buy a two-person tent that can withstand the rain and has excellent venting because I love my down sleeping bag. Can you recommend one? Jie Oxford, UK
How would you compare the waterproof/breathable ratings of The North Face Venture, the Marmot Precip, the Mountain Hardwear Epic, and the Isis Torrent? CYD Falmouth, Maine
What's the best kayak made from mostly recycled material? The Editors Santa Fe, New Mexico
As a newcomer to a cold climate, I've found several outdoor sports I enjoy. I've figured out how to keep my body and digits warm, but my face gets so cold it goes numb and my eyeballs feel like they'll freeze in their sockets. I've gotten a mild case of frostbite on my face. How can I keep my face warm and protected?
I a hospital corpsman stationed in Okinawa. I wanted to know what I could try out around here in the surrounding islands. Hiking, kayaking, camping? Brett Okinawa, Japan
In an effort to raise awareness about the lack of clean drinking water in the world, Katie Spotz has begun a solo voyage across the Atlantic. Spotz is ten days into her journey from Senegal to French Guiana. She is working with…
Currently in the Madrid airport on my way between the Saxo Bank and Astana training camps. Had a great ride yesterday with the Saxo guys (for an hour, after which they started riding like pros and we journalists all fell off the back). That's me riding next to 2009 Tour…
Rush Sturges broke his back while running Bonito Falls in Chile, reports Paddling Life. Sturges and several other kayakers were on location filming for their Dream…
Sandbox just released the first teaser from their upcoming snowboarding film, Now You Know. Transworld Snowboarding had the scoop, but you can watch it below:…
Ever wonder what Olympic athlete Julia Mancuso is up to during the offseason? She goes to Maui. And surfs. And Visa has the video to prove it: — Jonah Ogles…
Because we all want to hear as much as possible about superstar skier Lindsey Vonn, I thought I'd post another video on her ridiculous workouts. Among the impressive tricks in this one: weighted squats on top of an upside-down BOSU ball. Take notes, fellas! …
Following Tuesday's devastating earthquake in Haiti, relief organizations are already beginning to raise funds. For those of you looking to donate easily and quickly, donations to the American Red Cross…
By Stephen Regenold My plane ticket is booked. The training schedule I've committed to for months is winding down. The great adventure that is the Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race, a weeklong endurance event through Tierra…
Bear Grylls talks about the new season of “Man vs. Wild,” broken bones, and why he doesn't let his wife watch the show in a new interview with ET. The interview was filmed during during a photo shoot for the May issue of Outside. Grylls…
A simple test for diagnosing exercise-induced asthma—previously performed on elite athletes—may now be ready for diagnosing the condition in the general public, according to a study done by the Ohio State Medical Center. The test involves forcing a patient to hyperventilate in…
Your dog likes to roam around outside for several hours a day, so why not make good use of play time by strapping a solar panel and battery pack to its back? …Right? That's what one guy thought, anyway, as shown in this YouTube video that was featured on…
I took a little sojourn to Snowshoe Mountain Resort in West Virginia and brought along some key items to test out on the slopes. Fortunately, for testing purposes, I was greeted with blizzard-like conditions on both days, so I could really see how the…
63-year old Charlie Toups, who has been called “the ultimate ski bum,” has been imprisoned in Georgetown, Colorado, for more than fifty days because he won't plead guilty to several federal charges, reports the Denver Post. Since 1976, Toups has skied 120…
A new study published in Ecological Applications found that cleared ski slopes are more environmentally friendly than graded ones, according to the New York Times. Cleared slopes are created by cutting down trees to open up an…
I need a soft-shell jacket with high breathability that I can also use for casual wear most of the time. I'm going to use it on spring and cool summer nights. Basically something I can wear with a T-shirt after hiking or rock climbing, something highly breathable and wind proof, but it doesn’t need to keep me too warm. Should I wait until new models come out in spring or buy one now? Ugur Istanbul
I've been looking for some gloves or mittens that will suit me for the whole ski season for both the east and west coast. So far I've come down to the Scott Cocoon and a Level Mitten. What do you suggest? Brian Boston, MA
A quick daily routine to maintain essential muscles for any sport.