South Africa native Ursula Grobler is out to prove she is the best lightweight rower on the planet.

Canada’s Ellesmere Island, a 75,000-square-mile chunk of ice and rock off Greenland’s southwest coast, has never been circumnavigated. Two men hope to change that fact. Three days ago, 26-year-old photographer Erik Boomer and 65-year-old writer John Turk kicked off…

Pummeled by gastric illness and facing an incoming bad weather front, Ueli Steck and Don Bowie pulled off an ascent of Cho Oyu (8,201m) last week, knocking off the sixth-highest peak on Earth and ticking another of their expedition's objective.  Cho Oyu is the…

Outside's best writers share their thoughts on fatherhood and nature-bonding with Dad.

Weylandt winning Stage 3 of the Giro d'Italia, May 10, 2010 viaFlickr Belgian cyclist Wouter Weylandt died on Monday following a crash on a technical descent during stage three of the…

What should I carry in my car in case I break down in the backcountry or have to survive on the road during a blizzard? The Editors Santa Fe, NM

Cho Oyu Alpinists Ueli Steck and Don Bowie of the Himalaya Speed project have summited the world's sixth-highest peak, according to Bowie's ground team. Bowie reported in a satellite phone dispatch that he and Steck made it to the…

The Quebec, Canada-based Whitewater Grand Prix is to kayaking what Quicksilver’s In Memory of Eddie Aikau is to surfing: an invitation only event that brings the sport’s top athletes to a premier venue.  There’s no cash purse but the…

Rick Hitch, a 55-year-old California man, died Sunday on Everest, according to the Folsom (California) Telegraph. Hitch's wife, Loretta, told the Telegraph that he was climbing to Camp 3 with six other climbers and two guides when he collapsed…

Here’s a cool behind the scenes video from Murray Fredericks on shooting timelapses in Greenland. Picked up from a Renan Ozturk tweet. –Joe Spring@joespring…

https://youtube.com/watch?v=NJo7to7KXrU%3Frel%3D0%C2%A0 By his own admission, Ueli Steck is one of the most Swiss climbers out there. He's well-prepared, precise, and functions reliably–“like a Swiss watch,” as Steck himself has said. So it makes sense on some level that Steck would get his own…

https://youtube.com/watch?v=vVXdC-PY-nw%3Frel%3D0%C2%A0 With his 30th birthday now two weeks behind him, Chris Sharma doesn't seem to have slowed down at all. On Thursday, the climber successfully linked two 5.15 routes–one of them a 5.15b first ascent–in a single day. The takedown began after Sharma had already warmed up and unsuccessfully attempted…

He's got the genes and the track record (literally). Can Taylor Phinney become America's next cycling superstar?

Photo by whileseated on Flickr The International Cycling Union (UCI) filed a defamation suit yesterday against cyclist and deposed 2006 Tour de France winner Floyd Landis, VeloNews…

Five days before the 2010 Olympic snowboarding trials, Kevin Pearce slammed his head on a rock-hard wall of halfpipe, suffering severe brain trauma that flipped the script of his life. A return to competition is out of the question--he's had to relearn how to walk and talk--but that's not enough to keep him off the mountain.

For those willing to experiment on a snowboard worth a few hundred dollars or more, get out your power tools. Timeline and Xavier de le Rue have a put together a pretty cool tutorial on how to build…

I bought a pair of beginner Evolv climbing shoes and they have fared well, but I'm getting better and need something with aggressive heel and toe. What's the next step for a shoe? Greg Freeport, ME

A South Carolina man died on Saturday after falling off a 125-foot waterfall while trying to rescue his dog. David Allan Lewis, 29, was hiking with his girlfriend and dog near Heritage Falls in Greenville County when the accident occurred. Deputy Coroner Kent Dill said Lewis was trying to grab…

Niccolò Ceria flashes Jack's Broken Heart, one of the problems Alex Puccio climbed in Magic Wood. Alex Puccio sent two of the hardest boulders of her career this weekend, climbing Jack's Broken Heart (V12) and The Right Hand of Darkness (V11) in Magic Wood, Switzerland. Jack's Broken Heart is a…

Greg and Alan enjoing some rare sunshine outside the IMG communcations tent What a difference a day (or week) makes! I came down from C3 last Wednesday basically shattered. My upper repository lung infection was taking control and I was in a battle for the…

Angel Collinson joins the team from Backcountry.com on Vimeo. Freeskier Angel Collinson announced yesterday that she has signed with Team Backcountry.com, whose roster includes such…

You would think kayakers all over would be chomping at the bit after watching record precipitation build up in California—58 feet of snow at Squaw Valley! The reality is, the summer of 2011 may be the worst for high Sierra paddling California has…

Between presenting slideshows and speaking to audiences during a recent tour of Europe, Dean Potter found the time to take a leap from the previously unjumped Forcellino lookout near Lecco, Italy. Potter wrote on prAna's blog that Fabio Palma brought him to the…

https://youtube.com/watch?v=bxejDyDU7Kw%3Frel%3D0%C2%A0 The American Alpine Club announced the winners of the 2011 Copp-Dash Inspire Award on Friday, giving grants to expeditions headed for Alaska and central Asia. The Copp-Dash Inspire Award is named for Colorado alpinists Jonny Copp and Micah Dash who died in an…

 The World Ski and Snowboard Festival wrapped up recently in Whistler, BC, in the usual nine-day riot of partying, skiing, and celebrating the newest, most talented, and most dedicated innovators, athletes, and individuals in the ski industry. The Olympus Pro Photographer Showdown is among the…

The Former Governor of New Mexico May Be The Most Unique Presidential Candidate in The Field. We Hereby Endorse His Campaign Trail. https://youtube.com/watch?v=GyBaWhBWqwU%C2%A0 Last week, I joined Gary Johnson, the 58-year-old former governor of New Mexico and aspiring Republican presidential nominee, for a…

We've got your all-access pass to summer: 21 DIY and outfitted adventures guaranteed to recharge for less than $500*. Just pick one—or five—and leave your lawnmower behind. *Transportation not included

The eleventh annual Billabong XXL Global Big Wave Awards, often lauded as the Oscars of big-wave surfing, took place Saturday in Anaheim, California. A panel of 400 surfers, photographers, and surf media editors reviewed more than…

If I don't have a compass, how can I tell direction? The Editors Santa Fe, NM

This is the American West--when you're hanging out of a tiny plane with the doors pulled off, holding a 20-pound camera and looking for the truth.

High winds this week on Cho Oyu, west of Everest So far at Base Camp during the 2011 climbing season, Everest ER has seen 276 patients, a number they say is on target “to break all previous…

To raise awareness about first responders diagnosed with PTSD, guest blogger Michael Ferrara plans to ski 900 miles across Alaska, south to north, from the Pacific Ocean to the Arctic Ocean, with his dog, Lhotse, trotting beside him. To learn more about Ferrara's quest, read…

Ski guide and mountaineer Kip Garre and Allison Kreutzen were killed in an avalanche in the Sierra Nevada backcountry south of Bishop, California, earlier this week, according to reports from Powder.com and…

Toketee Falls, North Umpqua River, Oregon, April 17, 2011 I grew up two hours from the 65-foot Tokatee Falls on Oregon's North Umpqua River. It's one of those waterfalls that I've always wanted to kayak, but the flow has never been right—always too high or…

https://youtube.com/watch?v=5wRUNTg53ZU%3Frel%3D0%C2%A0 Well-known Swiss alpinist Erhard Loretan died on Thursday after a fall in the Bernese Alps, the Chicago Tribune has reported. Loretan, who turned 52 on Thursday, was guiding a client up the Gruenhorn when the accident occurred. The pair had approached…

This weekend is the annual 5 Point Film Festival, and there should be plenty to see. With 35 films on schedule, including 10 premieres, attendees have plenty of footage to look forward to. We went through and picked some of the films we're…

Photo by jeremyeanlittle on Flickr The Southern Hemisphere’s largest winter sports event, Winter Games New Zealand, have opened entries for this year's competition…

Ocean rower and environmental campaigner Roz Savage halted her attempt to row across the Indian Ocean this week after experiencing problems with her desalination unit flooded. She was only 100 miles into her 4,000-mile journey from Freemantle, Australia, to Mumbai, India.

Sender Films and Mountain Hardwear just posted a short video on Ueli Steck's 10.5-hour solo of Shishapangma. Steck, who's famous for his speed climbs in the Alps, hadn't originally planned to go to the summit. After leaving advanced base camp,…

Don't worry: they had parachutes. Last November, BASE jumpers Marshall Miller and Hartman Rector led police on a miniature manhunt after they sneaked their rigs into the 28-story LDS Church Office Building in downtown Salt Lake and leapt from its observation deck. Miller and Rector–the grandson…

Photo by carolyn.will on Flickr ESPN Action Sports announced yesterday two new events for X Games 17, which will take place this July 28-31 in Los Angeles. In the…

Willow Koerber, a mountain biker on the Trek World Racing Team, has dropped out of the 2011 World Cup Series. Koerber, a two time bronze medalist at the Mountain Bike World Championships, found out she was pregnant a day before…

The Cayman Islands are one of the world’s best diving destinations–the reefs are lively and the visibility is excellent. I spent ten days on Grand Cayman and Cayman Brac; here are my picks for the best dive sites in those islands. Grand Cayman Lighthouse Point: One of…

https://youtube.com/watch?v=z4puedruucM%3Frel%3D0%C2%A0 Brazilian sport climbers have been banned from international competitions this year after the International Federation of Sport Climbing suspended the country's membership over unpaid debts. The Confederação Brasileira de Montanhismo e Escalada, which governs sport climbing in Brazil, owes a total of 4,395 euros (about $6,427) to the IFSC.

Last week, Sam Freihofer and Todd Wells posted video of dropping 82 feet over Metloka Falls in a tandem kayak. We picked up the news from The Goat, but there's more details…

To raise awareness about first responders diagnosed with PTSD, guest blogger Michael Ferrara plans to ski 900 miles across Alaska, south to north, from the Pacific Ocean to the Arctic Ocean, with his dog, Lhotse, trotting beside him. To learn more about Ferrara's quest, read…

The freeskiers at this year's Jon Olsson Invitational in Åre, Sweden, this weekend got such big air and wild twists that, in one instance, a joke about the need for pocket calculators to tally rotations wasn't out of the question, according to…

Lynda Wallenfels at the start of the AZT300. Photo by Caroline Soong. On Monday, April 11, after three days, four hours, and five minutes of riding, Lynda Wallenfels won the…

For three top alpinists, pulling off one of the most difficult ascents in mountaineering history required speed and daring. Getting down alive took a miracle.

Adam Ondra sent his fourth 5.15b of the year this weekend, making the first ascent of La Planta de Shiva near Málaga, Spain. La Planta de Shiva adds an extension to an established 5.14b for 148 feet of pumpy, often dynamic climbing. According to 8a.nu news, Ondra…

Alli Rainey has a great post on prAna's blog about dealing with fear. Rainey, a 5.14 climber and Harvard grad, writes that she's struggled with a serious, often-crippling fear of heights since she started climbing in 1992. A troublesome…

In September 1969, Wisconsin Senator Gaylord Nelson developed the idea of Earth Day, a nationwide, grassroots demonstration that would take place in the spring of the following year. Everyone was invited to participate. “The response was electric,” he told Envirolink.com. “It…

Check out this cool cyclist-eye-view clip of Mavic Neutral Support at the Paris-Roubaix. https://www.youtube.com/embed/sf0GtDP2XmI  –Christopher Van Tilburg…

What survival priorities should you have in the city versus the wilderness during a major crisis? The Editors Santa Fe, NM

Climbers and mountaineers from around the world have begun arriving at Everest base camp the past few weeks, a clear sign that climbing season on the world’s highest peak is once again underway. While most hope simply to make it to the summit, a handful of expeditions have other goals…

To raise awareness about first responders diagnosed with PTSD, guest blogger Michael Ferrara plans to ski 900 miles across Alaska, south to north, from the Pacific Ocean to the Arctic Ocean, with his dog, Lhotse, trotting beside him. To learn more about Ferrara's quest, read…

I leave for my first rotation to the high camps in about 12 hours. We will get up abut 3:00 AM for a breakfast of toast and a single fried egg, maybe a cup of coffee. Then along with our personal Sherpa we will pass the puja alter and through…

https://youtube.com/watch?v=hk-LBmIUDF8%C2%A0 Swiss climber Dani Arnold has broken the speed record for the Eiger, blazing up the mountain's north face in 2 hours and 28 minutes. Arnold, 27, beat the previous record by nearly 20 minutes. According to Mammut's blog, he soloed the classic Heckmair route, passing…

The eighth episode of Xavier de le Rue's snowboard series Timeline was posted yesterday on Backcountry.com. In the five-minute short, de le Rue joins fellow big-mountain riders and filmmakers Jeremy Jones, Jimmy…

I'm looking for a backpack for traditional, one-day, multi-pitch climbing. Which is the best one? I'm inclined to the Marmot Ascent 40. AndreaSao Jose

https://youtube.com/watch?v=JCqe96jtExU%C2%A0 After two years of work, Chris Sharma has made the first ascent of his well-known First Round First Minute project in Margalef, Spain. Sharma first began trying the bouldery, 25-move route in 2009. He came frustratingly close to success, and fell off the last move of the climb some…

O'Neill CWC Scotland – Finals from O'Neill on Vimeo. The worlds northernmost and coldest surf competition wrapped up this weekend. According to Surfer Magazine, Gold Coast surfer Brent Dorrington took…

https://www.youtube.com/embed/VI5F9K7Ytl8 Comedian Stephen Colbert announced today at the New York Auto Show that he will once again be competing in the biennial Charleston Bermuda Race, this time with the newly formed Team Audi, according to…

https://www.youtube.com/embed/4hbxNFNQ2ZY The New York Times reports war photographer Tim Hetherington was killed today in the city of Misrata, Libya by a rocket propelled grenade. The news first came from photographer Andre Liohn's Facebook page. According to indiewire.com, Liohn wrote,…

Red Bull Bobby Brown Triple Cork 1440 from Poor Boyz Productions on Vimeo. At a private park in Squaw Valley, Bobby Brown conquered the first ever Triple Cork 1440. Brown, from Colorado, is only 19 years old, but has been dominating the freeskiing world since he first…

Climber Scott Bennett has an interesting post up on his blog The Big Wide West about his recent trip to southern Utah to do the Castle Valley Enchainment. The enchainment links up five desert sandstone towers near Moab: Castleton, Sister Superior, The Priest, The Rectory,…

Ueli Steck – The Swiss Machine from Mountain Hardwear on Vimeo. Swiss alpinist Ueli Steck speed-soloed Shishapangma, the world's 14th-highest peak, racing up the mountain's 2,000-meter south face in 10 and a half hours. Shishapangma is the smallest of the eight-thousanders, at 8,027 m, and is…

Ueli Steck – The Swiss Machine from Mountain Hardwear on Vimeo. Swiss alpinist Ueli Steck speed-soloed Shishapangma, the world's 14th-highest peak, racing up the mountain's 2,000-meter south face in 10 and a half hours. Shishapangma is the smallest of the eight-thousanders, at 8,027 m, and is…

Climber Scott Bennett has an interesting post up on his blog The Big Wide West about his recent trip to southern Utah to do the Castle Valley Enchainment. The enchainment links up five desert sandstone towers near Moab: Castleton, Sister Superior, The Priest, The Rectory,…

Shasta Boyz productions just released the fourth of seven trailers in their series Slippery When Wet. Ben Stookesberry, the 32-year-old pro kayaker, is the focus this time. Watch Stookesberry paddle record high water on Idaho's Payette River and race down…

Shasta Boyz productions just released the fourth of seven trailers in their series Slippery When Wet. Ben Stookesberry, the 32-year-old pro kayaker, is the focus this time. Watch Stookesberry paddle record high water on Idaho's Payette River and race down…

https://youtube.com/watch?v=66GIShXATts Photographer Lucas Gilman, recently featured on MSNBC for shooting kayaker Rafia Ortiz's descent of Mexico's 128-foot Big Banana Falls, just released this video offering tips to aspiring adventure sport photographers. “There's only once chance to capture a first descent,” says Gilman. The video's set…

To raise awareness about first responders diagnosed with PTSD, guest blogger Michael Ferrara plans to ski 900 miles across Alaska, south to north, from the Pacific Ocean to the Arctic Ocean, with his dog, Lhotse, trotting beside him. To learn more about Ferrara's quest, read…

To raise awareness about first responders diagnosed with PTSD, guest blogger Michael Ferrara plans to ski 900 miles across Alaska, south to north, from the Pacific Ocean to the Arctic Ocean, with his dog, Lhotse, trotting beside him. To learn more about Ferrara's quest, read…

A Belgian-American expedition that climbed nine new big walls in Greenland and a Japanese duo that established a new route up Canada's Mt. Logan were the winners of this year's Piolets d'Or. The six-person jury awarded a golden ice axe to Yasushi Okada…

Photo by Lauren Ross Photography Presenting the Olympian snowboarder’s advice on how to be green in your daily life. 10. Get a composter and let nature breakdown your compostable trash and use the remains as mulch for your plants. 9. Walk, skateboard, bike, car pool, or use mass…

Kayaker Chris Korbulic blogs from South America as he films an expedition for the South American paddling show Kaiak. His previous posts can be found here, here, and here.

Kayaker Chris Korbulic blogs from South America as he films an expedition for the South American paddling show Kaiak. His previous posts can be found here, here, and here.

For the fifth year, hundreds turned out for one of the steepest road rides in the nation: Ronde PDX, officially known as De Ronde Van West Portlandia. The route: 47 miles, 7,700 vertical feet ascent, 26% max grade (twice). No prize but honor, no fee but massive…

For the fifth year, hundreds turned out for one of the steepest road rides in the nation: Ronde PDX, officially known as De Ronde Van West Portlandia. The route: 47 miles, 7,700 vertical feet ascent, 26% max grade (twice). No prize but honor, no fee but massive…