Ryan Knapp is a weather observer and meteorologist at the Mount Washington Weather Station in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. Winters are windy, icy, and frigid. Summers aren't much better. We called him up to ask what it's like to be knocked down by wind and how he endures working in some of the world's worst weather.

Bob Kingsley runs a luxury backcountry hut in the San Juans. Yes, it gets lonely—but he wouldn't want to live anywhere else.

First a massive wildfire, then record flooding, and finally the Pacific Coast Highway was knocked out

“I Get to Be Outside and Carry a Gun? That Sounds Like the Perfect Job.”

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.

When 18-year-old Joe Keller vanished from a dude ranch in Colorado's Rio Grande National Forest, he joined the ranks of those missing on public land. No official tally exists, but their numbers are growing. And when an initial search turns up nothing, who'll keep looking?

Since 2006, Art Woods, a marine biologist at the University of Montana, has made annual two-month trips to Antarctica to dive under the ice and study curiously large sea spiders. We asked him what it's like to do science when the ocean is freezing, the dives are deep, and there's only one hole to come up for air.

Ashley Lehman is an ecologist for the U.S. Forest Service, based in Anchorage. She spends three months of the year hiking through humid, rainy jungle on various Pacific islands, measuring the health of the forest. In the process, Lehman told us how she has to watch out for saltwater crocodiles, poisonous trees, and unexploded World War II bombs.

John Huston explored the North Pole, South Pole, and everything in between. Now he's moving into uncharted territory as the father of newborn twins.

Professional musher Aliy Zirkle was prepared for the minus-50-degree temperatures and the brutally long distances of the Iditarod. What she didn't expect was a midnight attack by a snowmobile-riding stranger halfway through the 1,000-mile course.

In honor of Outside's 40th anniversary, we're selecting our all-time favorite gear, places, accomplishments, and people. This month, we rounded up 40 of the wisest tips we've ever given—on everything from health and fitness to what should be on your reading list.

Accidents on zip lines in Southeast Asia have left Western tourists with lifelong injuries. As adventure parks make their way across the Pacific and open in every U.S. state, the question to ask: Is anyone regulating them?

The most perilous road in America gets 300 inches of snow a year, features 70 named avalanche paths, and has almost no guardrails. Who would be bold enough to keep Colorado’s infamous Highway 550 clear in winter? Leath Tonino hopped into the cab of a Mack snowplow truck to find out.

With more people recreating outdoors and encountering wild animals there, we need to rethink laws that require the government to shoot bears and other carnivores who are protecting their young

Benjaim Grant's new book displays breathtaking satellite imagery of life on Earth from above.

The story of two explorers chased down—well, technically up—by a jaguar

In honor of Outside's 40th anniversary, we're selecting our all-time favorite gear, advice, accomplishments, and people. To kick things off, we picked the most memorable places in the world.

And how you can prepare for the apocalypse better than a billionaire

Greg Hill is an accomplished backcountry skier with a laundry list of accolades. He's here to provide you his 7 tips for enjoying the backcountry.

When Raymond Stansel was busted in 1974, he was one of Florida's biggest pot smugglers. Facing trial and years in prison, he jumped bail, changed his name, and holed up in a remote Australian outpost. Even more remarkable than that? His second life as an environmental hero.

With peak season in full swing, High Fives Foundation released this safety documentary explaining what can go wrong in the mountains.

Whether in Texas or Uruguay, the core of a cowboy is the same: a connection between man, animals, and the land. Brooklyn-based photographer Luis Fabini, who was born in Uruguay, spent the last decade photographing these men across North and South America and has narrowed down thousands of images into a new book called Cowboys of the Americas.

He's spent the last three years chronicling the lives of couples who have swapped mainstream society for rare kind of freedom

This past year we saw daring adventurers rewrite world records, struggle mightily against the harshest environments, and perform feats no one had ever seen. From the deserts of the West to the mountains of the Himalayas, here are the most badass adventures of the past year.

Staring down a grizzly, setting off explosives, acting onstage—all these activities were part of Red Bull’s Performance Under Pressure camp. I went for a week and came away a different, more mindful athlete.

We'd been using crosscut saws for more than a millennium when the glitzy chainsaw became available to homeowners in the 1970s. It's time to give the old standard another chance.

The pioneering astronaut was the first American to orbit earth. He died Thursday.

Deep in the heart of Jackson Hole's backcountry, a new snow sport is emerging; snow kiting. With a combination of sailing and flying it allows kiters to fly high above the treetops.

How to start from scratch and expand your horizons

Professional vehicle dwellers share their tips for making the most out of life on the road

The assassination of Goldman Prize-winning activist Berta Cáceres last March shocked the global community. But in her home country of Honduras, where more than 100 activists have been cut down in the past five years, it was business as usual.

Lessons I learned from organizing a homeless-youth outdoors program and how you can apply them to improving your own corner of the world

On Oct. 5th, Valery Rozov looked over the edge at 7,700 meters above sea level. He leapt over a huge glacier and flew by his old record set in 2013.

Now that they have the black box, what's next?

From picking the right vehicle to carrying the right stuff to planning the right itinerary

A new documentary tells the story of Kazakh teenager Nurgaiv Aisholpan's quest to become an eagle huntress and upend centuries of male-dominated tradition

This guy got arrested for sending it off tall buildings into deep water. Here's what he gets really, really wrong with his jumps.

Delve Action and Louie Wray set up the world's longest human-anchored highline.

The hunt for the truth about Eastern Air Lines Flight 980

Have you ever found yourself on a boat besieged by pirates? Aboard a derailing train? Former Navy SEAL Clint Emerson explains how to survive these crises and many more in his new book, 100 Deadly Skills: Survival Edition.

I’m an underwater photographer, but you won’t find many macro images of coral or clownfish in my portfolio. I’m inspired by the people who connect most directly with the water: freedivers, researchers, filmmakers, and, above all, rescue swimmers of the U.S. Coast Guard.

How two friends from Boston solved the world's greatest aviation mystery, Eastern Air Lines Flight 980

Utah-based Mountain Hub is out to crowdsource backcountry safety

Many travel insurance providers don’t cover the deadly sport of wingsuiting. But the case of one American man whose $161 plan covered the $175,000 cost of his air evacuation and treatment shows that it’s possible—under the right circumstances.

Last week's viral video illustrated how dangerous bears can be—and taught us a few lessons on how to survive such an attack

On his recent trip to the top of the world, polar explorer Eric Larsen didn’t so much hike as fight, slog, and swim. He’s now convinced that his will be one of the last on-foot expeditions to the North Pole.

Advances in wingsuit technology allow pilots to go farther and faster, with more precision. It's also easier than ever for them to get in over their heads.

Get out and explore the country’s weirdest sites with help from Atlas Obscura’s co-founder

We break down what's in the can, plus how to use it effectively

Veteran river guide Joshua “Frenchy” Tourjee was helping lead an OARS trip when he went missing more than a week ago near Pancho’s Kitchen

Adventurers Dave and Amy Freeman today emerged from 12 months living in the Boundary Waters wilderness in northern Minnesota. One of their top challenges? Filing their taxes on time.

The one-week boot camp puts paying customers in the middle of the Indonesian jungle, then helps them survive the journey home

The biggest craze in cycling combines the popularity of distance hiking, gravel grinding, and vanlife. But for bikepacking disciples like Tom and Sarah Swallow, simplicity and solitude are the real rewards.

Acrophobia gives context to how one person can go from feeling an insane amount of fear regarding high altitudes to a flow state where all the senses are heightened.

A 65-year-old Miami woman has been living in a tree on her property for the past decade. Now, she’s fighting with the county to stay put.

When I arrived, I realized there are two major stories unfolding here on the windswept prairie of North Dakota. One of them, the one that has drawn the most media attention, plays out in rallies and hashtags, Facebook Live streams, and confrontations with pipeline security workers. The other is more difficult to see unless you visit the camp itself, where old friends and long estranged tribes have reunited, and people share songs, prayers, and stories as they articulate a future in which tribal lands are no longer national sacrifice zones and the zero-sum logic of industry is not taken for granted.

The Mongolia Bike Challenge may be the most demanding mountain-bike race on earth. Started in 2010 as a ten-day event with multiple stage lengths in excess of 100 miles, the route takes riders through remote and mountainous terrain teeming with wild horses and with little in the way of course marshals—it’s each racer’s responsibility to carry a GPS tracking device.

Police searching for people who destroyed Cape Kiwanda’s famous Duckbill

To get bit by one is to experience something like a gunshot wound. And they’re multiplying.

A pair from Utah trying to complete the first ascent of a steep face in the Karakoram mountain range were caught in a snowstorm last month and haven't been seen since

Everything a beginner needs to know to become a competent marksman

An utterly inept man gets lost in the West for 37 days. What happens next is, believe it or not, why America created its first national park.

Zip lines, paddling circuits, flow tracks, and a ski-resort style business model are coming to a city near you

This spring, Virginia-based photographers Chet Strange and Parker Michels-Boyce set up a photo booth at Mile 806 of the Appalachian Trail. Using a classic studio backdrop, they captured dozens of northbound thru-hikers as they made their way toward Cold Mountain in the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests. Strange and Michels-Boyce aimed to capture the variety of folks and personalities tackling one of America’s great trails. Here are 13 of our favorites.

He was kidnapped, survived an assassination attempt, and joined the hunt for the most deadly terrorist. Meet the most interesting man alive.

The incredible story behind a journalist's terrifying journey through high-conflict jungle

On July 30 at approximately 5:45 p.m. local time, Hollywood stuntman and skydiving luminary Luke Aikins jumped out of a Cessna Grand Caravan airplane 25,000 feet above Simi Valley, California. It was the first time in his 18,000-plus skydives that Aikins, 42, with a wife and young son, did not wear a parachute.

Welcome to the ninth annual Firefly Gathering, a four-day survival camp packed with pine-needle baskets, tomahawk throws, sinew glue, mycology crawls, and ecstatic drumming.

Pilot Fedor Konyukhov touched down in Bonnie Rock, Australia, having circumnavigated the globe in record time

Magnetoreception could be a latent human sense, silent for millennia but accessible with training. Is it worth developing—or even possible?

A Hollywood stuntman who’s leapt out of planes for “Godzilla” and “Iron Man 3” will attempt his greatest, craziest feat yet—on live TV

The Darién Gap is a lawless wilderness on the border of Colombia and Panama, teeming with everything from deadly snakes to antigovernment guerrillas. The region also sees a flow of migrants from Cuba, Africa, and Asia, whose desperation sends them on perilous journeys to the U.S. Jason Motlagh plunged in, risking robbery, kidnapping, and death to document one of the world’s most harrowing treks.

A quarter century of digging under ice sees winners, losers, and an Irish billionaire teaming up with De Beers

Expert wingsuit flyer and pilot Rex Pemberton’s latest trick: turning himself into a human rocket

Jacques Cousteau’s grandson, who stars in an upcoming “Shark Week” special, talks about ocean exploration in the 21st century, carrying on his grandfather’s legacy, and what we can learn from nuclear sharks

Bears in backyard pools, bears on TV, and now a bear attack

My journey from an average animal lover, to an active participant in conservation

Tracking the millions of tropical fish caught and sold in the global aquarium trade is our best chance for understanding the impact of Disney’s new movie on the world’s oceans

The park's main attractions are also its most dangerous features