Adventure
ArchiveOutside magazine, September 1994 Triathlon: The Fugitives By Todd Balf (with Martin Dugard and John Alderman) In true hardball style, the International Triathlon Union flexed its muscle last May, and the result was a season-long suspension of the sport’s top stars, Americans Mark Allen, Scott Tinley,…
Outside magazine, December 1995 The Queen Has Left the Building By Todd Balf and Paul Kvinta It wasn’t how Paula Newby-Fraser had envisioned her au revoir at the Hawaii Ironman. And for those packing the sidelines, it was hard to watch. But with just…
Outside magazine, January 1997 He’s Not Worthy A portrait of a millionaire at a crux. By Craig Vetter CONSIDER YVON CHOUINARD. To the world that once made him happy, he says: YOU’RE DOOMED. To the…
Outside magazine, March 1998 Darwin, Darwin, He’s our Man! Same old story: New guy moves into your ecosystem, invites a few buddies over, and the next thing you know they’ve naturally selected you out of house and home. Introducing your Invasive Species All-Stars.
Outside magazine, January 1996 The Outside Prognosticator: On Your Mark…Get Set…Strike A Pose Ever notice how many outdoor athletes are spiking their hair, piercing their noses, getting mad, getting whimsical, or otherwise trademarking a “unique” attitude? Below, a sampler of gimmicks that work, circa 1996. Because…
Outside magazine, March 1995 Ride With Pride: The Dirt Dictionary BOING: A suspension fork or stem; a dual-suspension bike is a boing-boing. “Mark’s not going to feel much pain with his new boing-boing.” BONK: Cycling’s classic term for blowing up, hitting the…
Outside magazine, March 1995 Big Weather: The Gale Riding a thousand-ton surge of furious Pacific, waiting…waiting…for the ship to roll back over By Robert Stone For weeks we had been heading south through azure tropical waters a thousand miles west of South…
Outside magazine, June 1995 Tomato Wars High noon in the garden of good and evil By Randy Wayne White I don’t need a newspaper to tell me that life is a predicament. I can look out my back door and suffer the…
Outside magazine, September 1995 Expeditions: The Iceman Conquereth Richard Weber and Misha Malakhov skied to the top of the world and then skied home, without help of any kind. Can anyone top that? By Jon Bowermaster It must have been quite a…
Outside magazine, October 1996 Recreation:Warning: Trail Closures Next 3,000 Miles The Park Service settles out of court, and an ominous new era looms By Florence Williams Upon learning that two government agencies had agreed to pay him and his fellow plaintiffs…
Outside magazine, April 1996 Kiss, Kiss, It’s Uta Pippig! The fastest woman who ever ran Boston, on foes, fears, and the perils of German cheesecake By John Tayman When Hollywood makes the movie of Uta Pippig’s life, Meg Ryan will get the…
Outside magazine, January 1997 Man Overboard An unconventional eulogy for a most unconventional friend By Randy Wayne White On a moonless night some years ago, my friend Bobby Fizer jumped without warning from a speeding boat into a dark saltwater…
Review: Hardware and Software, January 1997 Scarpa T3 Telemark Boot By Andrew Tilin Telemark skiers tend to be purists. no matter how warm, waterproof, supportive, and durable boots made of plastic may be, the hard core scoff that they just don’t flex like…
Outside magazine, July 1996 Books: The Smug and the Homey By Miles Harvey Notes from a Small Island: An Affectionate Portrait of Britain, by Bill Bryson (William Morrow, $25). As his previous works, such as The Lost Continent, have so delightfully demonstrated,…
Gone Summering, July 1998 Avast Ye, Matey – Find Your Own Damn Cove The Maine coast has more landmarks than names. Much to the delight of possessive types. By Tracy Kidder TŠte-€-TŠte with Penobscot Bay…
Dispatches, July 1998 Sport A Man Among Prettyboys Mitch Kahn, venerable dean of an unsung sport, prepares once more to defend his title By Bill Donahue There’s something Mitch Kahn wants you to know: He’s nothing like Mitch Buchanan,…
 Out Front, October 1997 Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot … Together again: the noble, the menacing, the triumphant, the pratfalling, and other unforgettable elements of the outdoor universe GEORGE WILLIG ———————- The Human Fly has been grounded…
Out Front, October 1997 Sorry, No Can Do Five athletic achievements you might as well give up on now By Todd Balf In the last two decades, all manner of lofty athletic goals have fallen by the wayside. Miguel Indurain…
The Downhill Report, December 1996 My Type of Gomorrah, Aspen Is Yes, all you naysayers, skiing and caviar do mix By Craig Vetter Aspen Mountain, the red-hot center of schuss-n-glitz, celebrates the golden anniversary of Lift 1 this year, and despite…
Dispatches, May 1997 Art: Let’s Just Say It’s Not Whistler’s Mother By Peter Von Ziegesar “You can compare his work to the grueling physicality of climbing a mountain or negotiating a whitewater stream,” enthuses Robert Riley, curator of media arts at the…
Outside magazine, January 1998 The 1998 Outside Prognosticator Curious events to unfold in the coming year throughout the worlds of outdoor endeavor, environment, amphibians By David Rakoff Gotham Embraces Gator Reintroduction Scheme; Rats say “Rats” Remember the good old…
Outside magazine, March 1996 Equipage: Watch Your Backside, Fido… But fear for your life, O woolly mammoth By Michael Finkel “I’m the first person in a couple thousand years to bring home the bacon using this weapon,” says William “Atlatl Bob” Perkins.
Outside magazine, June 1996 Sniff the Granite, Grasshopper Summiting America’s Matterhorn may not be easy, but that lingering smell alone is worth the effort By Chip Brown The night before the climb we turned in early, wasted and footsore. We had hiked…
Outside magazine, September 1996 Sport: Did Not. Did Too. Did Not… After a semi-successful Cuba–U.S. swim attempt, a feud is born By Paul Kvinta Susie Maroney has had better mornings. At 6 a.m. on June 8, just two hours after leaving Havana…
Outside magazine, September 1996 Out There: The Big Queasy Feeling a touch of seasickness? Try giving conventional wisdom a heave. By Randy Wayne White Recently I was forced to notify the Human Movement and Balance Unit of the United Kingdom’s Medical…
He rescued some of the West's hallowed lands. He became one of the most influential environmental leaders of the century. In the process, he sacrificed friends, family, and anyone who couldn't keep up. Now, alone in the twilight, how does the archdruid make peace with it all?
 Outside magazine, March 1997 Lost At Sea Tragic are the people of the lovely Marshall Islands. When America exploded the A-bomb it took their homes, and when it gave comfort it took their ambition, and when it offered only craven solutions it…
Outside magazine, May 1996 Great Openings “As a former academic and a natural history book reviewer I was astonished to discover, on being threatened with a two-month exile to the primary jungles of Borneo, just how fast a man can read. Powerful as your scholarly instincts…
Sin in the Wild Outdoors, June 1997 We Confess Pride goeth before a fall, as any climber knows. But what about the other deadly sins that flesh is heir to? Gee, there’s nothing like fresh air and sunshine, vigorous exercise, working up…
Outside magazine, June 1999 Montana, the Dry Run Liquid Louie’s was fun, but still no match for the impossibly blue horizon My Delta, Myself | A Little Good, Clean Lust…
Outside magazine, August 1995 Update: Up in Smoke By Carl Hoffman “We made hundreds of repairs and improvisations, and one of them failed–but how can you think of everything?” So said Darryl Greenamyer, an adventure pilot who last spring attempted to complete a unique…
Outside magazine, August 1996 The Book On: Decathlon For Dan O’Brien, the chance to atone for ’92 has finally come By Mark Jannot Fewer shadows in track and field are longer–or stranger–than the one that Dan O’Brien has cast over the…
Dispatches, May 1998 SPORT Some Kind of Hero After bringing new meaning to “Olympic Gold,” Canadian snowboarder Ross Rebagliati returns to a festive welcome By Bill Donahue On a blustery, gray day in Whistler, British Columbia, we gather shoulder-to-shoulder…
 Outside magazine, October 1997 Dyn-O-Mite! A visual history of all the gear we couldn’t — and still can’t — do without By Andrew Tilin and Mike Grudowski The Best of Toys, the Worst of Toys Endless…
Outside magazine, December 1997 Solo Faces A black outdoorsman takes a wilderness census, and finds it disturbingly light By Eddy L. Harris Night was falling all around the dusty mountains of southeastern Utah. It was a warm, clear…
Review, June 1997 Books: The Woods Divided By Miles Harvey Mason & Dixon, by Thomas Pynchon (Henry Holt, $28). In 1763, Charles Mason and Jeremiah Dixon, two British surveyors, embarked on a perilous trek through Indian-controlled wilderness to establish a…
But how long before Mother Nature stops taking it and starts dishing it out? Soon, say the Earth Changers. Very, very soon.
Dispatches, September 1998 Science Jim Will Now Subdue the Panda by Killing It To the relief of wildlife everywhere, animal darting cleans up its act By Steve Hendrix Last May, when California Fish and Game warden Dave Smith…
Outside magazine, September 1999 CULTURE Beyond the Cutting Edge An epic garden-tractor odyssey trumps the vision of David Lynch If next month’s premiere of the latest David Lynch film, The Straight Story, shocks your sensibilities and leaves you…
 Outside magazine, November 1995 Jack LaLanne Is Still an Animal Those biceps! That thorax! How, after all these years, does the godfather of fitness do it? By balancing the brain with the beast–and knowing the power of a…
Reaching the Untouched Wall: The Kok Shal Tau Climbing Expedition Summer 2000 8.17.00 Surprise Birthday Party Mike Libecki Celebration Time: Jerry and Doug’s birthday party after the climb up the Grand Pooh-Bah…
Outside magazine, October 1996 Gardening: It’s Not Just For Smokin’ Anymore Woody Harrelson goes on trial to defend his favorite crop By Bill Donahue The protest was pure Joan Baez, except for the cell phones. On a scorching day in June, Woody…
Outside magazine, February 1996 Intake: The Absorption Race By Andrew Tilin If you never warmed to rice cakes, rejoice! Almost nothing converts to sugar in your bloodstream faster, in turn spiking your insulin level and causing more of the food to be stored as…
Outside Magazine, March 1999 Our Business is People. Well, People and Trout. Actually, People and Trout and Some Ancillary High-Margin Items Like Neoprene Waders and Midges and the Like, Because, You Know, That’s Where the Real Profits…
Review, May 1997 Books: Adrift in the Flow By Miles Harvey Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America, by John M. Barry (Simon & Schuster, $28). This gripping account of the epic flood that killed at…
Family Vacations, Summer 1996 All You Need is Dirt Want to be a hero? Repeat Us. Fat tire, is good, fat tire is good… By Vincent Sanchez Our Favorite Places | The Hysterical Parent…
Outside magazine, September 1994 Books: The Marlboro Man’s Lament By Andrea Barrett Biting the Dust: The Wild Ride and Dark Romance of the Rodeo Cowboy and the American West, by Dirk Johnson (Simon & Schuster, $22). In the rodeo version of the American cowboy myth,…
Don’t miss: Video clips of “Thor” in action, from the International Hurling Society Outside magazine, August 1995 It’s a Bird! It’s a Plane! It’s a Case of Spam! In Texas they’re chucking commodes, Buicks, and…
Outside magazine, April 1995 Cowboy Nation: Introduction Whatever the decade, whatever the mood, we always have Shane in our hearts. A salute to the most dependable and deconstructed American hero. By William Kittredge Before I could read, I learned to imitate buckaroos…
Outside magazine, July 1994 Service With a Stickup Are your chambermaid and mule guide friendly? Courteous? Under indictment? By Debra Shore Ironically, the biggest threats to your safety and property in several of our most popular national parks may be the very people hired…
Outside magazine, August 1996 Swimming: Odds That A Chinese swimmer will test positive for steroids……..1-1 Brooke Bennett will beat Janet Evans……..2-1 Caterpillar fungus will be America’s next health-food craze…..100-1…
Outside magazine, October 1994 Mountaineering: Grivel Grippers By Douglas Gantenbein It’s really tough fighting the government,” says Anchorage attorney Neil O’Donnell. “They’re presumed to be right–unless you can show they acted arbitrarily, capriciously, or irrationally.” Last summer, in a case that O’Donnell helped bring, a federal…
Outside magazine, October 1995 Trends: How to Get Low-Level-Pollutant Clean By Mark Jannot Capitalism at its best: ozone, the same pollutant that can singe our lungs, is now being marketed as the key to a crop of new air-purification systems. “Ozone is nature’s cleansing…
Bodywork: Fitness for the Outside Athlete, November 1996 The Symmetrical Solution Correcting your natural imbalances may just be the secret to superior fitness By Cory Johnson At first it was merely a blister on her left foot. Lynn Doering had just…
Outside magazine, April 2000 Page: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 Spin Control Clay Ellis…
The Downhill Report, December 1996 There’s a Reason They Call It a Brewski Six of America’s Best Microbrews The Brew: Long Trail India Pale Ale The Ski: Stowe, Vermont Our Hopsmeister Says:…
Outside magazine, January 1999 Take Two of These and Call Me from the Podium Will a new wonder drug replace exercise? By Theodore Spencer Here it is, the news we’ve all been patiently awaiting…
News for Adventurous Travelers, February 1997 Bad Birds, Bad Birds By Paul Kvinta Get on the wrong side of a Texan and he’ll kick your ass-even if he’s a bird. Famous for their orneriness, the following avian toughs are not birds you’d…
Outside magazine, April 1995 Cowboy Nation: Viva Calf Ropers For ten days each year, Las Vegas is rodeo heaven–and the boys with the pigging strings are Wayne Newton By Lynn Snowden For ten days every December, Las Vegas becomes cowboy country.
Outside magazine, May 1998 Field Notes: How Swede It Is Few races reveal as much about those who run in them as the all-but-flawless O-ringen By Bucky McMahon Before anything else happens, the moose need to be moved. And so,…
Destinations, May 1999 Cabo? Sure. But Not That Cabo. East of San Lucas’s sun-drunk hordes, the Baja that was still is By Jeff Spurrier Hustle and bustle, East Cape-style: an amphibious traffic jam…
Outside magazine, July 1995 Paddling: Last One There is a Soggy Egg By Todd Balf (with Martin Dugard and Alison Osius) Churning across the flatwater speed course at Ellen Trout Lake in Lufkin, Texas, last April, two-time Olympian Traci Phillips earned the title “fastest…
Dispatches, August 1997 M O U N T A I N E E R I N G More of the Same Another season on Everest brings eight deaths — and plenty of close calls By Andrew Tilin…
Shark Alley, August 1998 The Shark Blotter When man meets fish By Mike Grudowski More people perish each year, it’s been said, from coconuts falling on their heads than from shark attacks. These luckless victims probably would’ve preferred to take…
Outside magazine, November 1997 Whither the Eco-Warrior? Amid financial crisis and disturbing allegations, Greenpeace USA heads in a familiar new direction By Florence Williams Girls Will Be Boys When you’re the top-ranked female surfer in the world,…
Out Front, Fall 1998 Activism Butterfly is Free And so, in this case, is the publicity she seeks By Bill Donahue In the beginning, she was but a pilgrim with a decidedly funky name. Julia “Butterfly” Hill, a 24-year-old…
Winter Travel Guide 1996 Bet You Never Thought Of… By Laura Billings SOUTH PACIFIC Bikini Bottoms For nearly 50 years the only civilians to set eyes on the shipwrecks off the Bikini atoll–site of atomic bomb tests between 1946 and 1954–were…
Outside magazine, January 1996 The Outside Prognosticator: I Don’t Want To Tell You: A GOP Candidate Forum “Dear Republican Presidential hopeful,” our polite letter began. “We’d like to hear your views on a couple of major environmental issues and pose a character-testing essay question: ‘If…
Outside magazine, January 1996 The Outside Prognosticator: Coping With Atlanta the Violent Mood-Swing Way If you’re like us, you have mixed feelings about the Atlanta Olympics. Ponder the dynamic performances to come, the pageantry, and the first-time medal status of deserving sports like mountain biking, and…
Outside magazine, March 1995 Evaluation: Matchmaker, Shoemaker? By Sara Corbett We’re not all fortunate enough to have a knowledgeable running-shoe salesperson at the local sporting goods store — someone who’ll gently intervene when we snatch up the first comfy pair we find, who’ll deftly…
Outside magazine, September 1994 Boots for the Path of Most Resistance With a big load on your back, your footwear standards had better be rigid By Glenn Randall Stiffness–in backpacking boots, anyway–is next to godliness. Stiffness is what shields your feet from roots and…
Outside magazine, April 1996 Big Water: Will the Real Colorado River Please Rise Up? A $4.5 million experiment unleashes a deluge of habitat-restoring froth By Rob French It will begin with the touch of a human finger. An engineer will press a…
Outside magazine, August 1999 Hey (Hey!) You (You!), Get Off of My Trail! Can’t we all just get along? Apparently not. By Jill Danz Temporary détente at New Jersey’s Tourne County Park…
News from the Field, February 1997 Design: All the World’s a Workshop Forever in search of the perfect backpack, peripatetic tinkerer Patrick Smith says he’s found the answer deep in the woods By Michael McRae The backcountry is filled with loners,…
Winter Olympics Preview, February 1998 THE HORROR The Schmucks of Winter They cheated, they sniped, they taught us the true meaning of “loser.” God bless ’em. By Mike Grudowski Every rose, a great philosopher once said, has its thorn.
Outside magazine, January 1996 One False Move? By Todd Balf and Paul Kvinta (with Brooke DeNisco, Martin Forstenzer, and Eileen Hansen) Canadian high-wire walker Jay Cochrane expected last October’s jaunt above China’s Yangtze River to be the performance of his life. His host, the…
Outside magazine, January 1996 Up, Up, and…Ach! By Todd Balf and Paul Kvinta (with Brooke DeNisco, Martin Forstenzer, and Eileen Hansen) “Party pollution!” exclaims Jim DeForge, decrying the thousands of helium balloons that revelers will unleash this New Year’s Eve. In a pointed attack,…