Conversations with people that push the limits.

You could mope about the economy. Or you could go play in the snow, and then thaw out in comfort. Our guide to the best winter adventure lodges in North America. Nita Lake Lodge Nita Lake Lodge         Nordic Pine Flagstaff Lake Hut, Carrabassett Valley, Maine Winter…

An X Gamer tries to make it in ski racing. But as a two-sport athlete, will Jon Olsson end up more Deion Sanders or Jeremy Bloom?

A recession—this recession—is the best time to travel

A street-legal flying car sets out from London to Timbuktu

Every hour of every day, behemoth container ships cruise the highways of ocean commerce, loaded with stereos and lobster and plastic air fresheners. And during the winter storm season, massive waves from out of nowhere can wreck these arks of global trade.

MIT's Daniel Nocera has a recipe for taking solar power mainstream. It all starts with a tall glass of water

A seven-day trip aboard a U.S. icebreaker proves at least one thing about global warming: Things are getting very strange in the great white North.

Black Diamond Factor Ski Boot

The seven-time Tour de France champ on his favorite work-out music and the possibility of competing in an Ironman.

Cheaper Gore-Tex, cleaner diesel, and five other things George W. Bush got right.

Ski and climbing guide Michael Silitch is the only American working for the Compagniedes Guides de Chamonix, the exclusive, secretive outfit that runs the show in France's most extreme winter-sports town. It's a good life, but like any outsider, he knows that no matter how hard he works, he may never make it all the way in.

Photo Gallery

Zero to Hero - Snowboard Halfpipe

The king of big air talks about overcoming fear, setting records, and his ideal ski partner.

I'm going skiing this month, and with all of the advancements in ski apparel, I need suggestions for the best mid-layer jacket or fleece. Do you have a recommendation? Jeff Rogers, Arkansas

Associate editor Ryan Krogh steps into the dreaded octagon.

Outside's Micah Cratty show you how to pop the top off a champagne bottle.

Outside associate editor Ryan Krogh blazes a bloody trail.

Outside's Micah Cratty show you how to levitate.

Outside's Micah Cratty show you how to instantly freeze a beer.

At only 24, Seattle's Colin Haley has turned heads around the world with career-making alpine climbs, including an unprecedented team traverse of Patagonia's torre massif. He's driven to be the best-risky business in an era when the cutting edge leaves no margin for error.

Associate editor Grayson Schaffer trains his puppy to become a retriever.

The 100 Best Adventure Web Sites

That Which Does Not Kill You...

If I go off the beaten path at a ski resort and get lost, what should I do? The Editors Santa Fe, New Mexico

Amber Heard and Zach Gilford on the set of their new movie.

Nice job in China, guy. Now could you turn your attention to saving swimming?

Lance Armstrong announced his comeback. China staked claim to the future. Dara Torres gave us all hope for our older selves. The White House cleared the way for new occupants. Oh, and some kid from Baltimore won eight gold medals. If the past is prelude, we're in for an epic 2009.

Tommy Caldwell needed a challenge, so he decided to hoist his clanking gear rack and free-climb one of Yosemite's hardest routes—a punishing 5.14 called Magic Mushroom—in 24 hours or less. Matt Samet was there from start to finish to watch the planning, training, and performance of a superhuman athlete at the top of his game.

Julian Carr plans to fling himself into the record books this winter

Surfing's superstars dish on waves, winning, and women

I’m attempting to summit Aconcagua, over 22,000 feet and known to be very cold and windy. Which ccorder can I safely use at this altitude? Brendan Chicago, Illinois

Welcome to the U.S. Pond Hockey Championships, where the game is pure, the ice is dangerously uneven, and the beer is very, very cold

“Sometimes, sitting around, I’ll realize that I’ve been silently mouthing the words ‘nomadic hunter’ over and over again to myself,” confesses correspondent Steven Rinella in American Buffalo (Spiegel & Grau, $25). An expansion on his 2006 Outside story “Come Herd or High Water,” the book is a sleep-with-your-safety-off narrative of…

Larry Ellison's new yacht might prove the fastest (and most dangerous) sailboat ever—if a judge doesn't keep it from racing

Could the antimalaria drug Lariam be as risky for you as the disease it's made to treat? And why are we still taking it?

Texas oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens, 80, made a fortune for himself with risky investments and corporate raids. But the outspoken Republican's latest scheme, the Pickens Plan—a trillion-dollar blueprint for reducing oil depen­dency by increasing wind energy and switching to natural gas for transportation fuel—may be his biggest gamble yet.

Climbing's new "it" girl.

Is the Mountain Hardwear Sub Zero SL Parka good for Denali? Eduard Burleson, Texas

A guide’s quest.

A trip across the ocean on a behemoth container ship.

Drop into the coral reef at Pipeline and you'll probably get hurt. Drop in on a member of Hawaii's locals-only Wolf Pack and you're just asking for trouble. Here, Kala Alexander—surfer, actor, businessman, and the North Shore's most notorious enforcer—opens up about localism in the lineup, how to earn his respect, and his hopes for a m

Six downhill ski escapes with no crowds or chairlifts—and no hiking

The latest canine news, product reviews, and training advice.

What do you suggest for a cheap winter trip to Baja, Mexico? Bix F. Milwaukee, WI

Reigning World Cup champ Lindsey Vonn talks about repeating in 2009.

The key to staying warm and stuck to the ice? The right stuff.

"Ninety percent of people do nothing to take care of their skis from the day they buy them to the day they throw them in the trash," says Peter Boyer, of Boulder, Colorado's Alpine Base & Edge. Don't follow suit. We asked Boyer for a few tips to keep your skis and boards running fast and true.

We're looking for a reader to take on the role of Chief Inspiration Officer.

ROLF POTTS busts open the myths of travel writing.

The skipper talks about the new BMW Oracle trimaran.

Survivorman LES STROUD talks about venturing into the world's harshest environments alone, and the importance of a good harmonica.

The rooster. That’s what makes Rossignol‘s Mike sweater cooler than all the vintage ski apparel out there ($150; rossignol.com). Rossignol Mike Sweater            …

Wear Nobis‘s hyper-cool Teabag and all other beanies will start feeling a little insecure ($45; nobis.ca). Nobis Teabag Hat          …

Scott‘s Witness goggles are some of the best all-conditions spherical shields we’ve tested ($90; scottusa.com).

For winter, classic is always in style. Eddie Bauer’s down High Mesa vest is retro without trying too hard ($99; eddiebauer.com). Eddie Bauer High Mesa Down Vest              …

Ice axes are dead weight, until you need them. CAMP‘s aluminum-alloy Corsa is just seven ounces—and worth every one ($110; camp-usa.com).

Deserts tend to be, well, dry. But there's still sometimes water to be found—if you know where to look.

Carbon offsets are cool, but they don't really make ski resorts eco-friendly. So says the Aspen Skiing Company's Auden Schendler—whether the rest of the ski industry likes it or not.

A quarter-century after his now classic record of a trip down America’s two-laners, Blue Highways, William Least Heat-Moon is back in the driver’s seat. And though he’s given up sleeping in his ’75 Ford Econoline for places more along the lines of a Holiday Inn Express, he’s still a helluva…

Fallen trees outnumber fallen men in Ron Rash’s fourth novel, but not by much: The title character, a pretty young timber baroness who carries a rattlesnake-eating eagle on her arm and is about as sweet as Lady Macbeth, sees to that. Set in 1920s North Carolina, on the front lines…

After a half-century on his hands and knees, poking at bugs, Harvard ant geek and acciden­tal eco-celebrity E.O. Wilson, 79, is back with The Superorganism: The Beauty, Elegance, and Strangeness of Insect Societies (W.W. Norton, $65), co-written with Bert HÖlldobler. It’s a follow-up of sorts to their 1991 Pulitzer Prize…

DEAR MISTER PRESIDENT: Congratulations on winning the election. I always knew you would win, and not that other guy. I told all my friends that. You can ask them. Jack Handey Offers to Be an Ambassador Mister President, let’s get down to business. One of your first jobs,…

Weather or not, here comes the TIV 2!

An American is the best female skier in the world. Better start paying attention.

By 2010, Denver-based Jet Pack International hopes to release the first commercially available jet pack. The forthcoming T-73 model is already five years and 100 pairs of burned shoes in the making.

In November, the Banff Mountain Film Festival returns for its 33rd edition, with some 500 screenings in 30 countries. Here's a look at how high-altitude cinema arose from low-rent beginnings.

I climbed Rainier in June of 2008 and hated the plastic boots. I’m returning to Rainier next summer and looking for a good pair of non-plastic boots that take crampons. What do you suggest? Dayton Baltimore, Maryland

My 12-year-old daughter gets very cold at night when we’re camping. We are backpackers and tend to camp just under treeline between May and October. She currently uses a junior polyfill bag with an inflatable pad and some good long underwear. What could we do to keep her warm and give us a peaceful night’s sleep?

1. Most frontside skis are too precise and exhausting for freeskiing. Not the pared-down CX 80, which does away with heavy add-ons like complex binding plates for a more responsive feel. It’s ten millimeters fatter than most, but its World Cup­–inspired…

In the Store: If you’re buying just one pair of skis (and not building a quiver), look for a set that matches your style of skiing and the terrain you frequent 70 percent of the time. And don’t be afraid to upgrade: Buy skis slightly above…

ON THE LEFT Columbia’s moisture-wicking Omni-Dry Mountain Tech Thermal Base­layer. ($60; columbia.com) Few‘s acrylic Moa Hunter Sweater, for the bold. ($54; few.co.nz) Aigle‘s lightweight Polartec recycled-fleece Walker Track Jacket. ($105; aigleusa.com Obermeyer‘s insulated Tungsten Jacket is tricked out…

BRETT DENNEN talks to Outside's RYAN KROGH about backpacking, fishing, and his new album.

In guitar god Ted Nugent’s new book Ted, White, and Blue, an addendum to Blood Trails 2 and God, Guns, and Rock & Roll, “The Nuge” plays political advisor and addresses issues ranging from John Lennon’s call for peace to “soulless, ugly, Planet of the Apes, anti-American, brain-dead” health…

You'd better be: You just paid $87 for your lift ticket. Follow our preseason fitness plan and make last year's halfhearted half-days a distant memory.

Kelly Slater takes time out after his ninth World Surfing Championship to answer a few questions

John Long was living the greatest adventure of his life, sailing home from San Francisco to his native Ireland. But when his beaten and bruised body was found floating off the lawless, empty coast of Chiapas, it was a scene that sailor and author David Vann knew all too well.

If you thought the drilling frenzy out west was temporary, think again. But there's a right way to do it, and it's up to the next president to lead the charge.

Thomas Friedman's climate-change manifesto is bound to be a bestseller. And that's a good thing.