Outside Magazine, Dec 2003
Stories
POSTs
Expedition: Surfing the closed coast Team: Ross Garrett, Keith Malloy, Dan Malloy Location: Central California Objective: Surf 40 miles of off-limits coastline Duration: Three days FOR SURFERS, the stretch of empty central California coastline beginning some 40 miles south of San Luis Obispo at Surf…
A wave off Rincón isn't the only wild ride in Puerto Rico. Here's an action primer on the island's untamed side.
It's okrelax. We've got your big holiday score all wrapped up: the latest shiny new toys, sharp tools, and smokin' threads to help you keep you adventure resolutions.
Two dozen high school seniors from the Nebraska flatlands roadtrip to the peaks of Colorado for their first winter trip to the Rockies. It's an all-American rite of passage, complete with gangsta rap, debauchery, and terror on the bunny slope.
A journey to the cradle of climbing reveals a strange new alpine environment, where glaciers are melting, mountains are falling, and nothing is as it was
F E A T U R E S
 EXPOSURE SPECIAL
  XX FACTOR  
 News flash: The fair sex kicks ass. This year the women take over our annual tribute to sports and adventure superstars who are redefining the idea of cool. Meet triathlete  LOKELANI MCMICHAEL , the diva of Ironman;  ARACELI SEGARRA , the indefatigable Spanish rock star;  NATALIE COUGHLIN , the next great Olympic swimmer; CEO turned environmentalist  KRIS TOMPKINS ; extreme freediver  TANYA STREETER ; and 20 more action heroines and alpha females.
  SKI NAKED  
 Remember what you did on your high school ski trip? (It’s probably still blurry, huh?) For a busload of seniors from Hastings, Nebraska, this rite of passage became a classic road trip and a hormonal tsunami of drinking games, hot-tubbing, arm biting, making out, and the Party Boy dance.
 By Brad Wetzler
 REVIEW SPECIAL: THE HOLIDAY GIFT GUIDE 
  YOU KNOW YOU WANT IT  
 We’ve been making our list and checking it twice. Now we’re wrapping stuff that’s mighty nice: a trick mountain bike, a soft-shell jacket, new skis… 0h, let’s make this easy. Here’s the new Outside gift guide. Should we bring one of everything?
  THE KABUL EXPRESS  
 The warlords are back, and so are the trekkers. The opium’s in bloom, the Afghan Black is excellent this year, and the aid workers are throwing all-nighters and shaking their booties. In other words, it’s a perfect time for a wild ramble through America’s other war.
 By Patrick Symmes
D E P A R T M E N T S
 DISPATCHES 
 An Outside exclusive: The craze over  SHACKLETON  goes deep as two British syndicates race to Antarctica to recover the underwater remains of the   Endurance  . PLUS: A gear-carrying  HYBRID SURFBOARD  gives “endless summer” new meaning; and this month’s  RADAR .
  THE WILD FILE  
 What’s the best bottled drinking water? At what time of night can you see the most stars? How do snow cups form?
 By Brad Wetzler
  DESTINATIONS  
  PUERTO RICO, UNTAPPED : On the island’s pristine western half, you’ll find solitude, empty waves, verdant jungles, and damselfish in distress. PLUS: Dive the Galápagos of the Caribbean,  MONA ISLAND ;  FILM SCHOOL  for powder hounds; and more. 
  THE HARD WAY  
 Searing temperatures turned  THE ALPS  into a  SLUSH PILE  of melting snow last summer. In this firsthand report, mountains crumble, glaciers tumble, and a dire future comes into view.
 By Mark Jenkins
  BODYWORK  
 Fitness: good. Too much fitness: bad. The exhausting and unhealthy habit of  OVERTRAINING  is pushing an increasing number of adventure athletes into the red zone. Put that dumbbell down—now!