Exploration & Survival
Archive
Building some of the country’s best trails isn't just about crafting flowing ribbons of singletrack. It's also about navigating miles of red tape.
Urban trails, climbing gyms, and indoor mountain biking parks are just the start. If you have the right mind-set, cities can be way more adventure-filled than you might think.
About an hour before midnight on Mother’s Day in 1986, a group of teenagers assembled at an Episcopal high school in Portland, Oregon, to embark on an expedition. Their goal was to summit Mount Hood, completing an adventure program that was required for all sophomores. What followed was a story of tragedy and loss that is commemorated annually at the institution it changed forever.
This trailer for the upcoming film, Janhukot, follows three British mountaineers as they try to summit the film’s namesake peak
A collection of the scariest, strangest, and most riveting tales we've ever published
There's a reason that some form of the Bigfoot legend persists all over the world
When someone rolls into the campsite next to yours, go say hi. You probably have something in common.
Losing your home to a wildfire is often just the start of your troubles
It will serve you well when things go wrong
These organizations want to help you tick that big once-in-a-lifetime trip off your list
After President Trump reduced Bears Ears National Monument by 85 percent, environmentalists predicted mining companies would soon overrun the landscape. But is there really any uranium to dig up? We decided to have a look for ourselves.
Lyfx wants to revolutionize the way we play by connecting local guides with traveling adventurers. But can it succeed where other apps have failed?
The Women's Euro-Arabian North Pole Expedition team made it to the North Pole on April 21, 2018, enduring minus 40 degree temperatures, the prospect of aggressive polar bears, vast open leads of water, and even the vagaries of the Russian government.
It's the seemingly mundane storms that will catch you off guard. Here's how to never let that happen.
A rare convergence of events turned a wildfire in the Boundary Waters into a massive burn. Two campers were right in its path.
Find Yourself Outside, from Hipcamp and filmmakers Avocados and Coconuts, encompasses an evening in the outdoors.
The crash occurred Saturday, August 4, 14 miles southwest of Denali’s summit
‘Annapurna One’ features a team of mountaineers making a summit attempt at Annapurna.
Lauren Geoghegan and Jay Austin were riding around the world when they were killed in a brutal attack
Carina Hoang fled the Vietnam War on a boat that was supposed to take her to a refugee camp. Instead it took her to a deserted island.
As wildfires get worse, these powerful new tools will help keep you safe
In one of the most complex caves in the world, a handful of divers raced against the clock to locate the stranded team
Writer Susan Casey will never forget the moment she came face to face with the most feared animal in the ocean
At 55, writer Pam Houston finally let herself fall.
When all else fails, run around like a raving lunatic while you swing a burning log
Our writers talk about the incomparable thrill of experiencing something new—whether it was big or small, and regardless of how it turned out.
It was 1994 and writer, director, and photographer Jeff Johnson was a lifeguard on Oahu when 30-foot waves started detonating on the reef.
When the engine light flicks off, do you listen to the voice that says it's time to panic or the one urging you to calmly set the plane down?
Quite possibly the most storied, most coveted, most majestic of all tricks—held for three glorious seconds
After 13 agonizing years of waiting, it finally happened for writer Wells Tower—and then the moment disappeared
A group of the world's best cave divers joined to help save the 12 boys and their coach in one of the most dangerous missions of its kind
The 20-year-old faced three wildlife attacks within 36 months
‘Epic Trails’ is a series from Heliconia and backpacker Eric Hanson as they explore the world’s best trails.
The doctors who scrambled to rescue and triage survivors in 2015 look back in search of lessons.
Rescuers spent nine days searching for the 12 boys and their coach. They finally found them two miles deep in the Tham Luang Nang Non cave system.
From miles out in the storm-ravaged Chesapeake Bay, the Tangier Island crab boat radioed a mayday, then fell silent. Fellow skippers from this lonely and legendary speck of land rallied to save the two-man crew. God willing, they'd get there in time.
When Kyle Dickman set out on a month-long road trip with his wife and infant son last spring, he was fueled by a carefree sense of adventure that had defined his entire life. Then he got bit by a venomous snake in a remote area of Yosemite National Park, and the harrowing event changed everything.
Meet the researchers braving toxic fumes and wildlife encounters to understand the microbial life lurking in the national park's geothermal features.
This is the trailer for Redd a film about an all-female group of horsepackers traveling 900 miles over endangered salmon habitats.
It doesn't matter whether you're barbecuing in your backyard or circling a fire at a campground, you must cook over open flame.
Even if you’re not planning on climbing Denali, you can still learn some backcountry best practices from these mountaineering incidents
In 1869, John Wesley Powell led nine men and four boats on the first documented descent through the Grand Canyon. As is made clear in this excerpt from 'The Promise of the Grand Canyon,' it was a hell of a challenge.
Harvey Butchart was hiking the canyon long before others thought to follow
Before her death last November, Katie Lee spent half a century working to restore Glen Canyon, a lost place that was even more astounding than Grand Canyon
It's called accidentology. Yes, that's a real word.
Dozens of climbers were forced to turn back just shy of the summit after their oxygen regulators failed suddenly
The ins and outs of not dying from Lyme disease
A new book breaks down the skills required for dealing with 40 different creatures
Since 1997 there have been four attempts at a first kayaking descent of British Columbia’s Klinaklini River, none have been successful.
Aimée Crocker sailed across the Pacific, narrowly escaped murder in the jungle, and trounced the sexist and racist norms of her day
Shooting life above, below, and on the ocean
A new study has reignited the contentious debate about what led to the explorer's demise in 1912
David Grann’s New Yorker story about a doomed Antarctic adventurer was a spellbinding read. But as he—and Outside—seem to forget, other people had already done what Worsley was trying to pull off.
Students in the Extreme Polar Training course, a two-week freeze-fest held near the Arctic Circle on Canada's Baffin Island, learn how to live in Earth's coldest conditions. Still, nothing really prepares you for 72 hours of a sled-pulling, pathfinding ordeal on a skinny pair of skis.
Forget expensive new gear. Here’s how to have more fun—for zero dollars.
A professional adventurer has to break a few eggs along the way—and, apparently, several bones and a skull. Mark Jenkins tallies up the most memorable injuries and mishaps from a life lived on the edge.
On the border between Russia and Finland, a band of Finnish soldiers are preparing to defend the country if the Bear decides to charge
Ada Blackjack had no wilderness skills before she was forced to fend for herself on a remote Arctic island—and outlived four male explorers
A new case study digs into the medical records of a lost diver's incredible survival story
From filmmaker Dan Ransom, One Trick Pony features Steve Ramras who is as versed a canyoneer as they come. But the kicker is, that’s the only outdoor activity he does.
The megapopular breed is possibly the worst city dog. But adopt these practices (and warning: they just might uproot your life) and it can also be the best.
Our top travel and adventure photography of the year
Since about 1977, West Virginia’s New River Gorge Bridge has been the site of Bridge Day, an iconic BASE jumping party that’s seen some rough years lately. Will this most storied of adrenaline-junkie events survive?
If you found yourself stuck at the bottom of a canyon with a broken leg, what do you do? Not long ago, our host faced this exact scenario.
Finland shares an 833-mile border with an aggressive and unpredictable neighbor. That proximity led to a major conflict during World War II—the horrific Winter War—and even now it keeps Finns nervous about Russia’s intentions. David Wolman suited up to train with the elite soldiers who will be on the front lines if this cold feud ever gets hot.
Last winter, the author ventured to the tundra with an extreme tour company promising the ultimate digital renewal—ten days living with nomadic reindeer herders in one of the planet’s last remaining off-the-grid dark spots. Is it really possible to totally unplug?
We may never know who took the first full-color shot of Earth from Apollo 17, but asking the question is a space odyssey in its own right
During a life spent in dusty boots and blue jeans, Cindy Rosser has saddled, ridden, roped, shoveled, and seen it all. Writer Andrew Tilin asked her to recount some of her most powerful memories.
A bee sting won't hurt you unless you're allergic—or so you thought until you disturbed a hive of African bees
Red Bull and the aerialists at Soul Flyers linked up to pull off this insane maneuver—guiding their wingsuits into a plane's cargo hold.
When you picked some mushrooms off the forest floor, you planned to make a nice risotto. But now you're in the hospital, fighting for your life.
Being able to call for help from his watch helped saved John Zilles, but will wearable tech be a help or burden to search and rescue?
Putting together an emergency supply kit
This past fall, local Vermonter Joe Cruz and I designed and scouted a bikepacking loop weaving together a selection of dirt roads, flowy New England singletrack, and rugged historic woodland paths to create a majority off-tarmac circuit of some of the world’s best and most coveted craft beers. The result is the Green Mountain Gravel Growler—a 248-mile loop that links 13 breweries.
What does it take to hold down some of the toughest, most demanding professions around? We talked to a bunch of hard-working folks to find out.