Adventure
ArchiveTwo skiers from Hawaii were rescued from the wilderness near Leadville, Colorado yesterday. The duo, Kira Davis and Duc Ong, got lost while skiing seven miles between huts on Christmas Day. After spending a night out in minus-10-degree temperatures, keeping warm by moving and taking shelter near trees, the pair…
If you want to see what it was like before ladders, sat phones and Gortex take the hour to watch this 1953 film. In spite of the Alford Hitchcock music, I highly recommend it as an excellent account of climbing Everest This incredible documentary of the 1953 summit brings…
Occasionally I meet people on climbs that leave a lasting impression. Brad Jackson and Sandy Hoby cross that requirement and more. I met them on Everest in 2008. They were on a different team but also climbing from the Nepal side. As is the case on Everest, you get to…
Yassine Ouhilal brought his cameras on a 44-day expedition to Norway.
The Games' best broadcasts, straight from the thumbs of the athletes.
Climbers of all skills know of the Eiger. This 13,025' peak in the Swiss Alps has been a topic of legend and tales for centuries. Climbing the north face has been lusted and sought out by climbers and was featured in the Clint Eastwood classic, the Eiger Sanction. It…
Glen Plake is arguably America's longest-standing professional skier. More than 20 years ago, he became a hero amongst the ski-movie-watching masses for his extreme skiing—he helped inspire the term—punk attitude, and signature two-foot mohawk. Since then, he has appeared in countless films and become one of the country's most…
We found this breathtaking video of Crystal Gorge over at Kayak Session. Shot on RED and the Canon EOS 5D Mark II, the short film is the work of Forge Motion Pictures.
Chris Sharma redpointed Neanderthal (tentatively given 9b/5.15b) late last week in Santa Linya, Spain, according to Climbing Magazine. Joe Kinder has photos of the climb at his website. Sharma is on a streak…
To start any article on climbing deaths, it must be said that everydeath is devastating to family and friends and should never be takenlightly. I have helped bury climbing partners on high peaks and neverwish that experience on anyone. Sadly, mountaineering often receives mainstream media attention onlywhen someone dies and…
Chris Davenport and a team of skiers, who just spent a few weeks ski mountaineering in Antarctica, returned Stateside yesterday, but not without some eye-catching bounty. Here are the latest pics of the team's first descents from Davenport's point-and-shoot. The Sphinx, center, is a 1,700-plus-foot smooth face varying…
After hearing of several recent incidents in which backcountry travelers spent an unplanned night out in the wilderness, Lou Dawson, famed ski mountaineer and backcountry-ski blogger, put together a basic primer on winter survival today. Is it poor form for a ski blogger to link to another ski blogger? I…
In this month's issue, we've got the scoop on Shackleton's whiskey, but according to the AP, more frozen food has been discovered in the Arctic: two blocks of New Zealand butter, to be exact. The butter was found in…
Twenty-two year-old Katie Spotz of Cleveland, Ohio plans to cross the Atlantic Ocean this winter in a row boat, reports the New York Times. That's more than 2,500 miles — no sail or motor allowed. The trip…
This season, Colorado resort Beaver Creek will be offering winter concerts in its very own Crystal Grotto — North America's only performing arts center made from ice. Even cooler? The instruments are ice, too. (Personally, we're dying to hear…
The 7-year-old grandson of Davy Crockett, famous hunter and frontiersman, killed his second bear this month, writes ESPN. Tre Merritt of Dewitt, Arkansas, first made headlines by bagging a black bear that weighed more than 400 pounds when…
Winter X Games 14 will feature two new events this winter, according to ESPN. Snowmobile Knock Out and Skiing SuperPipe High Air will join other events in ESPN's 24+ hours of live coverage. This year's games will again be held in…
Looks like CMH Heli-Skiing and Arc'teryx got the memo that must be circulating around marketing departments these days: Hold a video contest! I've seen maybe a dozen this season. Not that I'm complaining. This one is particularly sweet for all you backcountry folks: Put together a video (max two minutes)…
After Vancouver chose an inukshuk as its symbol for the the 2010 Winter Olympics, workers set off to build a series of them at event sites. One of them sits atop Whistler Mountain, where Rocky Mountain Sherpas recently made this impressive time-lapse video. Hat…
The search for two missing climbers on Mt. Hood has been suspended, says Climbing Magazine. The search began last Saturday when Katie Nolan, Luke Gullberg, and Anthony Vietti did not return from the volcano. Rescuers found Gullberg's body, but have yet to locate Nolan or Vietti.
A New York appeals court has upheld an order that Ras al-Khaimah in the United Arab Emirates is unqualified to be the port for yachting's America's Cup, which will be between Switzerland's Alinghi team, the defending champ, and…
The Billabong Pipe Masters will wrap up the winter surf season on the North Shore today, with the winner to receive $90,000. Eight surfers will compete on this final day, including Kelly Slater,…
California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has called for a climate summit for cities and regions like the one in Copenhagen, AFP reports. He offered to host it in his state. “The world’s national governments cannot make…
Research presented at the latest American Geophysical Union meeting points to carbon emissions from Asian cities as partly responsible for the 20 percent decrease in the Himalayan glaciers since the 1960s, Wired.com reports. The video…
Al Gore addressed the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen today, saying that there's no time to waste in taking action, Grist.org reports. He calls for the U.S. Senate to…
Connie Hedegaard, the Danish minister presiding over the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, says that the nations present are acting “just like schoolchildren…If they have a very long deadline to deliver an exercise, they will wait for…
Everest 2010 looks to be special for an interesting reason – nodrama. The past two years have been difficult with last minuterequirements by the Chinese that resulted in almost every team climbingfrom the south. 2010 looks to return to normal – whatever that means onEverest – but we have come…
Just in case you didn't take my post about brushing up on avalanche safety seriously (see Dec. 3), here is the most terrifying ski video I've seen yet. This guy got caught in an avalanche with a helmet cam (and, thankfully a Black Diamond Avalung), was fully buried, then dug…
African and other developing countries walked out of the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, suspending talks on Monday, Reuters and ENN report. They refused to continue discussion without a guarantee that…
Canadian climber Guy Lacelle died Thursday morning when an avalanche swept him over a cliff in Hyalite Canyon, according to the Bozeman Daily Chronicle. Lacelle was taking part in an ice-climbing competition when a team above him triggered the small avalanche. Lacelle,…
After a series of setbacks, including frozen water pipes, the Teton Ice Park will open this Saturday, December 19, at Grand Targhee Resort. The park, which was inspired by the Ouray Ice Park in…
Aircraft continue searching for the remaining two climbers on Mt. Hood Monday after finding their partner's body on Saturday. Multiple news agencies reported on one dead and two climbersmissing on Mt. Hood as of Saturday, December 12. They left theTimberline Wy'east Day Lodge at 1:00 a.m. Friday morning for a…
Over the last week, it has dumped up to six feet of snow on the San Juan Mountains of southwestern Colorado, where, luckily, I live. The entire town of Durango looks like it has been frosted with buttercream. The sight of obese snowflakes wafting down from dark skies invariably provokes the…
Burton celebrated the victories of two team members as both Kelly Clark and Shaun White finished the first Grand Prix at Copper Mountain with first place wins. Clark, who is going for her third Olympics, landed back-to-back 500s on her first run, along with a frontside 900, two 720s, and…
Three climbers left Timberline Lodge on Friday at 1 am to climb Oregon's Mt. Hood. They did not return the same afternoon. Authorities were notified and began setting up a search and rescue effort. Yesterday authorities said…
Three U.S. Senators have outlined a compromise climate bill in an attempt to win votes for legislation to be passed in 2010, Reuters reports. The House passed a climate bill in June. Other countries have accused the U.S. of being soft…
More than 300 Nepalis, including 100 climbers, protested in Copenhagen to bring international attention to the effects of climate change on the Himalayas, TakePart reports. “It didn’t snow at all during December, January, and February, when itshould snow heavily, and it…
Danish police have arrested 68 activists who were protesting in street demonstrations in Copenhagen on Friday, Reuters reports. The goal of the protesters was to disrupt corporations and industry lobbyists that they see as “climate criminals” during the…
Can Hollywood teach you valuable lessons about climbing? See for yourself by watching clips from Vertical Limit, above, starring Chris O'Donnell, complete with helpful tips on what to do and what not to do when you're dangling thousands of feet from the ground.
Alberto Contador says he's moved on from his dispute with Lance Armstrong over team leadership during the Tour de France, Reuters reports. “I want to think about sport. I'm not interestedin the polemics. For me 2009 is finished. Now…
It just dumped about two feet of snow here in Durango, Colorado (The Powder Feed Headquarters), and it got me thinking: What does El Niño have in store for us snow hounds? To find out, I rang up a guy in the know: Mike Halpert, deputy director of…
I got a chance to talk with Damion Hickman, the president of TeamVeloSport/Sho-Air in SoCal. Aside from running the team, Damion also owns his own designstudio and has several cycling clients. Check out his work at damionhickman.com. What was your first job as a designer?It was at GT…
Explorer Eric Larsen, who aims to be part of the first expedition to travel to Mount Everest, the North Pole, and the South Pole in one year to draw attention to climate change, is steadily logging…
How much does it cost to climb Mt. Everest? This is one of the most common Google searches that lead people to my site. And the most often asked question during my presentations. My usual answer is “A car.” But everyone who has read Jon Krakaurer's Into Thin…
Last night, mountaineer and philanthropist Greg Mortenson received a standing ovation after a talk in Santa Fe sponsored by Garcia Street Books. We attended and filmed the event (coming soon to outsideonline.com), and left inspired. Perhaps…
Poles The Classic Scott’s Team Issue poles ($120; scottusa.com) are made from aircraft-grade aluminum (translation: twice as strong as cheapies) and have a really simple and durable strap. BACKCOUNTRY READY Need extra leverage? A quick flick is all it takes to extend Black Diamond’s aluminum Boundary…
Sure, it's great to see amazing feats of agility and speed in surfing videos, but sometimes you just want to see some wicked wipeouts. Luckily, TransWorld's got it covered with some cringe-worthy crashes from the…
On Sunday, a German man who was about to board a flight from New Zealand was found to have 44 lizards stashed in his underwear, reports TreeHugger. The man confessed to being an endangered species dealer, and expected to get $1,500…
Stephanie Gilmore has achieved the distinction of being the first ever surfer, male or female, to win the ASP World Title consecutively during the first three years of competing in the Tour. And…
Last week, tens of thousands of fish were poisoned when officials poured more than 8,000 liters of fish poison into a stretch of water that connects the Mississippi River and Lake Michigan, reports NewScientist.com. The poison, rotenone, was used as…
First Descents, a nonprofit founded by kayaker Brad Ludden to benefit young adults with cancer via outdoor adventure sports, will hold a ski-weekend fundraiser December 10 to 12 at the Ritz-Carlton,…
Lance Armstrong said the RadioShack Pro Tour team is taking a “team approach”, reports VeloNews. The nine-member team won't be focused solely on Armstrong's objectives, but will instead try to succeed as a team. Armstrong also said he feels better this December than he did at…
The inaugural adidas TERREX Adventure Race will be held in Lake District, in northwest England, August 27-30, according to the Adventure Blog. Registration for the event begins December 15th. The registration fee for a team of four will be £1350. For those who aren't up to the…
Sure, it's not the world record solo kayak drop (186 ft.) set by Tyler Bradt last April, but this world record tandem drop is still pretty impressive. Anton Immler and Steve Fisher (one of Outside's Top 10 Athletes to follow on Twitter) took this…
First-time participant Greg Long (featured by Outside in 2008) scored a perfect ride to win Quiksilver's Eddie Aikau event. Long rallied in the final heat of the day, knocking Kelly Slater from the lead. Riders at Waimea Bay, Hawaii were treated to the “largest sustained episode”…
The climbing season on the highest mountain outside the Himalayashas just begun and the first death has already occurred. Americanclimber, Michael Nimitsil died during his descent. The 39-year-old climber had attempted the summit twice and on histhird attempt was returning when he is reported to have become lost in a…
Elyse Saugstad, 31, is one of the top women freeskiers on the planet, and The Levitation Project recently released a solo video of her footage. (Check it out below. Pretty badass.) I caught up with her this evening…
Kelly Slater has just scored 98 out of 100 points for riding a big wave in Round 1 of Quiksilver's Eddie Aikau event at Waimea Bay. Slater won in 2002, and he's after a repeat win, which would be…
Quiksilver's Eddie Aikau contest, the only big-wave event of the ASP Tour, is gearing up for what looks to be a day of major swells. Tom Carroll, a two-time world champion, has already fallen victim to a…
The UN defends its stance on the role that humans play in climate change, in response to news of leaked emails that purportedly show scientists suppressing evidence to the contrary, Reuters reports. “Nothing that has come out in the public as…
Climbers Martin Ploug and Kristoffer Szilas were the first to summit Ren Zhong Fen, a mountain in Sichuan province, China. Climbing Magazine has the story and photos from the climb. The 5,800 meter mountain was unknown to climbers until Japanese explorer Tamotsu Nakamura made them aware of…
Welcome to the 2010 Everest Coverage. I will be posting summary updates on Outside Online and detailed posts on my site at www.alanarnette.com. Even though most teams willnot arrive in Kathmandu until late March, climbers are busy training,finalizing expedition members, organizing logistics and for some,making huge plans.
Lindsey Vonn, called the “Best Skier in the World” by Outside in 2008, was just .03 seconds off from sweeping the speed events at the first World Cup event of the season, reports the Los Angeles Examiner. Vonn won downhill events at the Lake Louise…
Chris Davenport, the pro who skied all 54 of Colorado's fourteeners in a year, is on to the next big project: Antarctica. At the moment, he and a team of skiers are cruising around the icy continent in a 75-foot boat with enough muscle to navigate through icebergs. Along the…
In the December issue, we looked at the “Most Underrated Ski Resorts” in Vermont. On the other side of the continent, Whistler Blackcomb is getting buried in snow. The resort reported 18 ft. of snow through the month of November. The previous one month record? A…
Not everyone can help David de Rothschild build a ship out of plastic bottles and sail it across an ocean. For those of us stuck at home, Adventure Ecology is offering another option: Build a toy version. The toy Plastiki is a scale model…
Photos and videos from New Zealand's premier winter sport and lifestyle event.
Imagine this: You live in Summit County, Colorado and a local sheriff's deputy calls to ask if your ski-bum son is having a sex change. Um, what? That is precisely what happened when police busted a woman using a guy's ski pass at Keystone, according to the…
Are you a girl looking to get away? The Haywood County Tourism Development Authority is giving away a weekend for you and three friends, worth $1,200, to ski the Cataloochee Ski Area in Maggie Valley, NC. The package includes two nights at the Boyd Mountain Log Cabins, two days of…
Errol Kerr, 23, will be the only member of Jamaica's ski team for the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Sponsored by Spyder, Kerr is predicted to be a medal contender in the skiercross event. Kerr moved to Tahoe when he was ten but has duel citizenship…
Professional snowboarder or indie skateboarder? We're not sure. But, it doesn't matter because we like it! The Burton uniform for the U.S. Olympic Snowboarding Team to compete in at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, that is. Can't you just picture…
This year's O'Neill World Cup of Surfing was hit with the largest surf ever contested in the 27-year history of the Vans Triple Crown of Surfing. The waves crashing on Sunset Beach, HI, were 20 to 25 feet and even bigger swells are in the forecast for the next few…
The Rim of Africa, set to open to the public in October of 2010, will be the first long distance hiking trail on the African continent. Influenced by the Appalachian trail and the Continental Divide, the trail will wind along the gorgeous landscapes of…
People give when they know it will buy something tangible. We asked directors at five organizations to tell us what donations from $50 to $50K would accomplish.
Powder days have already been flying in the Pacific Northwest, and they're not far behind in the rest of the country (hopefully). That means backcountry skiers and snowboarders across the land are dusting off the helmets, waxing up the old planks and… brushing up on their avy safety. I shall…
A new travel outfitter is offering up dream adventures guided by elite athletes. Is it too much of a good thing?