Exploration & Survival
Archive
What should I do if caught in a flash flood in a slot canyon? The Editors Santa Fe, NM
Louis-Philippe Loncke, who completed an unsupported solo trek through Iceland in July, made a new video to show off his odd Iceland-inspired dance moves, The Adventure Blog reports. Loncke was apparently inspired by the Inspired by Iceland…
Before the event, the doc gave me a six-day course of steroids for my back and threw in a bottle of Vicodin. “At your age,” he said, “after this race, you’re going to need it.”
Back in 1960, doctors wrote about the first 14 lives saved with chest compressions. Now, fifty years later, new CPR guidelines published yesterday by the American Heart Association (AHA) reinforce the importance of this life-saving technique. For lay, untrained bystanders, AHA gave the go-ahead two years ago for “…
Red Bull just issued a press release saying that they have stopped Felix Baumgartner's planned record breaking free fall jump. Mary Roach wrote The Supersonic Man, a detailed look into the attempt, for our August Issue. The text from the press release is included…
If you haven't yet seen the above video this week, then you might not have heard the various assults on its authenticity. How could a man—even with a protective suit—get that close to violently spewing lava? The man in the suit is Drew Bristol, filmed by volcanologist Geoff Mackley…
A new study published in High Altitude Medicine and Biology cautioned us against standard tactics to ward off altitude illness. The review of Kilimanjaro climbers showed that neither a single rest day nor drugs (acetazolamide) helped prevent acute mountain sickness. Although aclimatization beforehand…
Courtesy of NASA Goddard Photo and Video on Flickr. Energia, the lead Russian contractor in the construction of the International Space Station, has designs for the first hotel in space, Reuters reports. The proposed space…
And you thought your weekend hike was tough. Adventurer Todd Carmichael is challenging one of the most inhospitable places in North America–Death Valley–again. Carmichael, who attempted an unassisted solo crossing of Death Valley last year, is slowly making progress…
Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Last month, English explorer Ed Stafford became the first person to walk the length of the Amazon from source to sea, a grueling journey of over 4,000 miles in 860 days. His goal, in addition…
Share your life-changing or death-defying moment in the great outdoors and you could win one of 126 prizes. We're looking for 126 stories that can compliment Aron Ralston's life-changing moment so we can make the ultimate list. Submit your entry to 127definingmoments.com…
What's the best axe for chopping wood? The Editors Santa Fe, NM
Boeing announced on Wednesday that it's entering the space tourism business, the New York Times reports. The aerospace company is building a seven-person capsule that it hopes will take four NASA astronauts to the International Space Station, leaving…
Courtesy of U.S. Geological Survey on Flickr. Today Russian explorers announced that they had recovered the logs from Georgy Brusilov's ill-fated 1912 expedition through the Northeast Passage, the New York Times reports. The logs were…
After the Colorado Search and Rescue Board (CSARB) successfully helped convince one mountain town to stop charging for rescues, municipal public safety agencies seem to be sending more bills. According to the New York Times last week, if you need help from police or fire, don't…
What's the best way to stay warm if I'm lost with no fire? The Editors Santa Fe, NM
NASA launched a free iPad app on Wednesday that's full of mission information, photos, videos and factoids, CNET reports. NASA App HD, a beefed-up version of the original iPhone app, also allows users to…
The 49-year old son of Hall of Fame boxing promoter, Bob Arum, has been missing since Sunday, the LA Times reports. John Arum, an environmental lawyer and experienced climber, “failed to return from…
If I'm lost, what's the best impromptu bug repellent? The Editors Santa Fe, NM
Herein, a primer on the talents—like chopping firewood or putting an edge on a knife—that will never be obsolete.
Every year, men in the UK waste £2000, or about $3100 in gas driving around lost, Treehugger.com reports. According to a study released by women-only British insurance company,…
If you don't live in the Australian or Middle Eastern deserts, or spend time looking for ants in Arizona and New Mexico, chances are you haven't seen these three desert-dwelling animals, highlighted in a new slide show on Treehugger.com. …
Presenting 51 dream trips, daring quests, essential skills, and exalted states of body and mind.
How can I make an emergency rain shelter with a tarp? The Editors Santa Fe, NM
A Thai woman tried to check a two-month old tiger cub onto a flight last Sunday, the New York Times reports. Bangkok Airport security workers found the cub when the woman's over-sized bag went through the x-ray machine.
Seventeen days after being trapped by a mining accident in Chile, 33 miners were able to communicate with rescuers through a hole that had been drilled to see if they were still alive, reports the BBC.
Early this month, a Wisconsin woman stuck her hand down a black bear's throat to save the bear from choking, The Lakeland Times reports. Patricia Torres, 47, woke up at 5:30am to hear a sow…
The landing gear on Sir Richard Branson's private spaceship carrier plane, WhiteKnightTwo, collapsed on the runway in Mojave, California, Reuters reports. The plane was designed by Scaled Composites, a wholly owned subsidiary of Northrop Grumman, and designed to…
You read that right. Presenting the five best skateboarders under five years old shredding on YouTube. At this rate, these kiddos might own X Games gold by 10 and retire by 15. 5. Luke, Four Years Old 4. Sebastian, Six Years Old (OK, so he's six, but he's good.)…
Photo Courtesy of Flickr U.S archers concluded the 2010 Archery World Cup Stage 3 with a stunning seven medals in Ogden, Utah yesterday, ESPN reports. Four gold, one silver and two bronze went to the U.S as a boisterous…
Austrian daredevil Felix Baumgartner plans to jump out of a balloon gondola 23 miles above the earth, breaking the altitude record for skydiving and becoming the first free-falling human to reach the speed of sound. Dangerous? Only if his parachutes fail, he's killed by shock waves, or he starts spinning so fast that his brain snaps loose from its st
The British newspaper, The Sun, now owns a Russian donkey. After thousands of the paper's readers saw a YouTube video of the donkey parasailing, they started a campaign to have the newspaper buy the equus. Anapka, the 17-year old donkey, parasailed over the…
Escape the Jungle from Walking the Amazon Videos on Vimeo. Englishman Ed Stafford is a mere four days away from accomplishingwhat no man has ever done before: walking the Amazon from its headwaters tothe Atlantic, says his blog Walking the Amazon. Stafford,…
Recently, TV host and wild life educator Jack Hanna fought off three Grizzly bears with pepper spray on a narrow trail. After the reports surfaced, he checked in with CBS' Harry Smith to offer a little more detail.
Officials at Denali National Park and Preserve have announced that no charges will be brought against a man who this May shot and killed a Grizzly in the park's backcountry, the…
A dead humpback whale was discovered pinned to the bow of a cruise ship near Juneau on Wednesday, Reuters reports. The 43-foot long female whale was removed from the bow of a Princess Cruise ship and is now in…
Canadian archeologists this week discovered the wreckage of a British ship that was abandoned more than 150 years ago, Reuters reports. The ship, the HMS Investigator, had been sent by the British in 1850 to search for…
One camper is dead and two are injured after a bear attacked last night at a campground five miles from Yellowstone National Park, Sky News reports. Survivor Deb Freele said she was…
It's no secret NASA has giant lasers, but instead of zapping the world with them Dr. Evil style, scientists are using a few of them to map the height of the earth's forests, Mashable reports. NASA scientists used…
Eclipse hunters set a new record on July 11 for longest eclipse ever observed by civilians, Wired reports. While hundreds of enthusiasts gathered in the South Pacific to watch the moon blot out the sun, astronomer Glen Schneider…
Ever get stranded on a trip to South America? Attacked by baboons in Africa? Capsized in the ocean after hitting a whale? Maced by your own bear-protection pepper spray? We want to hear about your worst-case scenario for an upcoming issue. The stories don’t have to be just survival…
Courtesy of BRAYDAWG on Flickr. David Everett Smith was sentenced to six months in jail last Friday for blowing up an outhouse in a federal recreation area, the Gillette News-Record reports. Smith has waited for a sentence to be handed down since…
The Iroquois national lacrosse team was stranded in a Comfort Inn in Ozone Park, Queens Thursday night after being denied visas by the British government, the New York Times reports. The team was forced to forfeit the opening match of the world championship tournament…
Gary Wiens, a 59-year-old Montana man, is recovering in Seattle's Harborview hospital after being struck by a falling log while hiking in Washington's Snoqualmie National Forest, the Bellingham (Washington) Herald reports. Wiens was hiking with two other men when a log…
The “Barefoot Bandit”, Colton Harris-Moore, has been apprehended by police after a dramatic high-speed boat chase in the Bahamas, CNN reports. The teenage fugitive has been playing cat and mouse with authorities for over two years, earning his…
Kelly Guzman, 45, of Denver was expected to be released from the hospital today after being found Sunday following 11 days in Colorado's Arapahoe National Forest with no food, medicine, or shoes, according to AOL News. She was treated for…
Rangersat Rocky Mountain National Park, where violent crime is rare, areinvestigating a report of an assault on a trail runner on Saturday, according to coloradoan.com. A20-year-old woman was taking a break from a runalong the Glacier Creek…
A single bolt of lightning struck nine visitors waiting to see Old Faithful erupt in Yellowstone National Park, according to nationalparkstraveler.com. On Wednesday, park officials said there were several minor injuries but no initialreports of serious complications from the Tuesday afternoon strike. According to…
This is exactly what I've always wanted to do. Belinda Bain bought a mountain in Big Bear Lake, CA and built a zipline so she could glide down the side of it at 45 mph. The project reportedly cost…
A pair of snow leopards and two bear cubs were among the exotic animals discovered in the private zoo of ousted Kyrgyzstan President Kurmanbek Bakiyev, according to BBC News. Also found: a golden eagle, two falcons, four African peacocks and Indian ducks. Investigators found…
The weather on both sides is proving difficult even stopping theSherpas from fixing the route above camp 3 on the Lhotse Face. So mostclimbers are resting in their -40F sleeping bags, reading or playingcards in the dining tents. The Sherpas continue to carry oxygen bottlesto camp 2 in anticipation of…
In January, Dubai celebrated the opening of the tallest building in the world, the 2,716-foot Burj Khalifa, by allowing two men from the United Arab Emirates to leap from it, setting the record for the highest BASE jump from a building. But they weren’t the first. The Burj had been…
How does a guy go from hardcore adventurer to (mega-famous) television hero without losing his head? By playing himself.
If you left the satellite phone at home and never got around to buying a GPS, YankoDesign's rescue balloon may be your key to rescue, according to backcountry.com. The “Rescue Balloon Kit” contains a helium gas cylinder and long string…
Elite alpinist Steve House reportedly fell 80 feet while climbing in the Canadian Rockies March 25, and was evacuated with life-threatening injuries, according to a blog post by Global Rescue, the company that provided medical transport. He was flown to a hospital in…
Jeff Rouse [47, West Palm Beach] I had a pretty good sense of the devastation in Haiti themoment I stepped off the plane. You get a vibe. It’s on the people’s faces. Igot the same feeling when working in Turkey and Columbia after theirearthquakes. As…
Here's a video wrap-up of our expedition. We finished in under 14 days, setting a new record, despite having to go slower than planned. The ice rubble and the winds were tough, but we stuck it out and made it through. –Kevin Vallely and Ray Zahab In March…
Orvis is holding a contest for people to submit their favorite outdoors or fishing photos, with the winning submission being used for their Fly Fishing catalog, according to orvis.com. The…
Starting this morning at 1am, Washington State and federal authorities began searching a remote part of Orcas Island for the teen burglar known as the Barefoot Bandit—this according to San Juan County Sheriff Bill Cummings. Dog-tracking teams and personnel from various law-enforcement agencies are swarming the area, where they…
For two men who've previously run across the Sahara, biked the Iditarod trail, and trekked to the South Pole, this expedition has proved to be one of our toughest. The harsh Siberian winter showed its teeth as we made our way across Lake Baikal unsupported, dragging 110-lb.
On March 21, 2010, extreme athlete Bill Heaner will attempt to jump from an air balloon, take a spin on his paraglider, and then reenter the same air balloon on the same flight…
We're still moving along, but slower than planned. We've averaged less than our target of 60 to 65 kilometers a day because we've had to walk, instead of run, through blocks of ice heaved upon Lake Baikal's surface. There are stretches when we can run relatively clear and free,…
You voted on the 10 Greatest Adventurers Since 1900. We're impressed with your picks—but we'll stick with our list. Check immediately below for the top 10. If you want to see the full results, a list by percentage is embedded at the bottom of this…
Checking in after Days Four and Five, when we've made some decent mileage: 53 and 41 kilometers, respectively. The numbers are below our target daily average of around 60 kilometers, but we had to slow down and walk once we hit some ice rubble. As you can tell from…
A better day today. Made it 50.5 kilometers. And we actually got to run, even as we maneuvered around broken ice! We woke at dawn to a snow-filled tent. Another wind storm had blown a foot of snow inside overnight, which we took an hour to clear. We were…
A difficult day today. We were hit with a wind storm first thing, which slowed us down considerably and left us having to run quickly in the last 20 kilometers before another wind storm stopped us. We decided to set up camp instead of risking getting caught in another…
We’ve traveled 60 kilometers on our first day of the expedition, meeting our daily quotient. If we keep this up, we’ll be able to traverse Lake Baikal in record time. Our day started before dark, when we pushed through deep snow, but once we got onto the ice, we…
The last few days have been a flurry of activity as we have been organizing our gear and packing our sleds for our run across Lake Baikal. An unsupported expedition like ours requires a meticulous eye for…
Last weekend, Swiss engineer and leading avalanche-safety expert Manuel Genswein was near Salt Lake City to showoff a device meant for surviving a deadly snow slide — a set of airbags designed into a backpack for floating atop avalanche debris, states the Associated…
After six-and-a-half grueling days, the British team Helly-Hansen Prunesco bested 14 international teams and held on to their title at the Wenger Patagonian Expedition Race, the “world's toughest and wildest race” through the southernmost reaches of Chilean Patagonia. The 600km course has teams…
In his latest suspected airplane heist, teen fugitive Colton Harris-Moore nearly entered restricted airspace surrounding the city of Vancouver, which is under tight security ahead of the Winter Olympics, according to CNN.
A couple of years ago I got the chance to interview the cast and crew of The Deadliest Catch in Dutch Harbor, Alaska. My first interview was with Captain Phil…
Last night, a stolen Cirrus plane landed on Orcas Island, a favorite stomping ground for infamous teen fugitive Colton Harris-Moore, giving residents reason to assume the “Barefoot Burglar” is at it again, according to the…
When a young woman is killed by coyotes on a busy trail in broad daylight, how worried should we be?
The 2010 adventure racing season is about to begin. The first big race of the year, the Wenger Patagonian Expedition, begins tomorrow in Chile. The course runs 372 miles (600 km) over eight days. The…
Courtesy of NASA Hayley Shephard will attempt the first ever solo sea kayak expedition around South Georgia Island. Her goal is to bring attention to the endangered albatross bird. She will set out on February 3, facing extreme cold, frigid…
A comprehensive training program will not only prepare us to run 636 kilometers across Lake Baikal in about ten days, it will also help to prevent injury while dragging 100 pounds of gear and food along the way. Here are…
Felix Baumgartner wants to become the first man to break the speed of sound with his own body. The project is called…