Uberman, a SoCal ultra-triathlon with a 21-mile swim, a 400-mile bike ride, and a 135-mile run, might be the most demanding challenge of its kind. But in the eyes of its founder, the physical goal is secondary to the mental one.
Can you still expect to have a comfortable summertime camping trip in the lower 48? Absolutely, but you probably need to upgrade your approach to dealing with the heat.
Matt MacIsaac has been a motor vehicle operator on the maintenance staff at Death Valley National Park for 15 years. In summer, he works in temperatures exceeding 120 degrees. For the unprepared, the heat can be deadly. We asked MacIsaac how he survives—and stays hydrated—working outside in the hottest place in America.
Belgian backpacker Louis-Philippe Loncke has taken down Death Valley and just abandoned his attempt to thru-hike Australia’s Simpson Desert. But he’s not done yet.
Scott Swaney, a former oilman and current badass a couple years shy of 70, has more first descents in Death Valley National Park than anyone on earth. He spent the past decade looking for everything from tight canyons to massive drop-offs and is believed to have led or been involved with 203 of the 258 first descents in the park. Swaney has burned through partners who couldn’t stand the heat and hard labor of exploring his hellish playground, but he continues to recruit new ones, eager to keep exploring. This spring, photographer Ian Tuttle, who had never canyoneered, stuffed his camera—a film Mamiya 645 AFDii—into a backpack and followed along.