Adventure
ArchiveOutside magazine, October 1994 Parachuting: Help! I Need Attention! By Todd Balf (with Greg Child and Dan Dickison) When and if the law catches up with BASE jumping’s most wanted man, John Vincent, it won’t be pretty. Unrepentant and obviously unrehabilitated, Vincent last June walked out…
Outside magazine, October 1995 Wildlife: I Am Cat Bait–Hear Me Roar Tired of being prey, Californians target the protected mountain lion By Laura Hilgers Nanse Browne pulls the parchment-colored skull of an adult male cougar from her briefcase and proceeds to hold…
Dispatches: News from the Field, November 1996 Environment: And Foul Is Fair After years of progress in the war on smog, L.A.’s air-quality board cuddles up with the spewers By Bill Donahue Though he’s one of the leading experts on the…
Outside magazine, November 1996 Fat Men Can’t Jump He’s scaled back on Big Macs–a bit–and poured on the training. Can Eddie “the Eagle” Edwards be serious? By Todd Balf Eddie wants respect. as…
Outside magazine, December 1997 Power Plays: Hold It Right There, Officer It’s cop-versus-cop as embittered westerners look to further tweak the feds By Tristram Korten Who Cares If It Works — We’ve…
Outside magazine, April 1998 Unfrozen Caveman Camper Tells All In the beginning, there was fire. And it was good. Later came KOAs and solar showers and freeze-dried. And they were bad. So let’s go back. Way back. By Hampton Sides…
Fitness ’97, February 1997 The Guru Speaks. You Should Listen. How to get from chump to champ in a few measly months. It took more than a decade for Mark Allen to perfect the routines that made him the fittest man on earth.
Outside magazine, April 1995 Books: Evils of the Junket By Miles Harvey Errant Journeys: Adventure Travel in a Modern Age, by David Zurick (University of Texas Press, $30). Everywhere David Zurick looks, he finds the world “on a path toward conformity.” Yet it…
Outside magazine, May 1999 LONG WEEKENDS Just Like Clockwork Celebrating Canada’s Swiss-guide centennial with an efficient assault of your own If you fancy yourself an old-school mountaineer, this summer is an especially good time to honor…
Outside magazine, June 1994 Anthropology: Quest for Roadkill By Amy Goldwasser These days the zeitgeist cauldron is bubbling with all things Cave Man. The discovery of a “missing link” skull in Ethiopia. The Flintstones movie, and, of course, the enduring popularity of Fabio.
Outside magazine, August 1996 The Gizmos: Better Olympians through Science Can Technology help score medals? Consider the $5 million superbike By Andew Tilin Strength, stamina, agility. They’re only part of the equation. In some sports, your gear had better be as…
Vacation Special, August 1997 T U B I N G T H E I C H E T U C K N E E Blissful Indolence Made Simple A Florida stream, an inner tube, and no ambition in sight.
Outside magazine, October 1995 Caveat Emptorium A user’s guide to a very iffy marketplace By Amanda Stuermer Aaron Bacon’s death has prompted new demands for oversight of the wilderness-therapy industry, but for now, parents seeking reliable information won’t find a one-stop source.
Dispatches, November 1998 A Murder in the Karakoram One of the most successful adventurers of his era, Ned Gillette spent a lifetime courting the edge of risk and disaster. The thing he never expected, however, was to die in his sleeping bag.
Out Front, Fall 1998 Science “I Have to Be … Fiorella” First, there was Copernicus. Then, Galileo. Eventually Madonna. Now comes Dr. Terenzi: astronomer, pop star, visionary. By Amy Goldwasser “We are not communicating with celestial objects,” says Dr.
 Outside Magazine, January 1999 Blackbeard Doesn’t Come Here Anymore And for that matter, neither do the Bahamian picnickers, or the drug runners, or the gentle eccentrics who once made Gorda Cay their home. Of course, that was…
Equipage: Rush Slept Here Jerry Wigutow has just the bag for your right-leaning dreamer By Wendy Marston “It’s the best sleeping bag ever made for a mediocre and ungrateful world,” boasts Jerry Wigutow, the Brooklyn-born founder and CEO of Wiggy’s Bags, a ten-year-old…
Outside magazine, February 1998 Out There: OK Gorillas, No Belching During the Pledge of Allegiance Bringing a little jungle indoors, to a fresh generation of primatologists By Tim Cahill LISTEN UP! Tim Cahill speaks on Outside Radio…
Outside magazine, April 1996 The Town That the A-Bomb Built By Lawrence Burke Last summer’s 50th anniversary observances of the trinity blast, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki understandably focused on the world-historical transformation brought about by the atomic bomb. Considerably less was said about the here…
Outside magazine, April 1996 The Case for Speed By Todd Balf and Paul Kvinta Will mountaineering’s next era be all about linking the premier routes of yesteryear in nonstop climb-a-thons? Marc Twight thinks so. Best known for his ice-climbing prowess and tortured poetry (see…
Outside magazine, August 1999 Thicker Than Blood It takes some good old boys to show you the primo secret woods By Larry Brown Two years before my father died, when I was 14, my…
Travel Guide, Winter 1995-1996 Rack It Up Who says you can’t take it with you? By John Lehrer What to look for in a car rack? Ease of use (for example, can you open the ski/ snowboard holder with frozen fingers?), durability…
Outside magazine, December 1995 Introducing the Particle-Accelerating Bohunk Next Door By Todd Balf and Paul Kvinta Uh, meet Brian Scottoline. Stanford biochemist. HIV researcher. Sweaty pinup boy in the 1996 Studmuffins of Science calendar, on sale now in most university bookstores. Really. “I’m…
News from the Field, January 1997 Marketing: Salty, Salty, He’s Our Man… Some free advice for the organizers of the 2002 Winter Games By Bruce Mccall The Utah Winter Olympic Games are still five years away, but to sell those millions…
Outside magazine, March 1995 Ride With Pride: Well, It Won’t Fix Itself: Part 1 How to straighten a bum rim By Scott Sutherland As disheartening as it looks, a wheel that’s been banged into a shape that’s slightly suggestive of a taco…
Outside magazine, January 1996 The Outside Prognosticator: Wooood-y! Wooood-y! We’re drinking bottled water, We’ll soon be drinking bottled air… In 1991 he caught our ear by warbling these earnest lyrics. In 1996, as Outside names Woody Harrelson the Embarrassing Enviro Celeb of His…
Outside magazine, March 1995 Swimming: In our ongoing search for masochists… By Todd Balf (with Jim Kelly, Martin Dugard, and Alison Osius) Call Guy Delage a dreamer, but on December 16 the 42-year-old Frenchman left the Cape Verde Islands in a heroic bid to…
Outside magazine, April 1999 Near to the Ground It hasn’t been a bad decade for the environment, all things considered. But before you send those huzzahs ù and your checks ù to those far-off groups in Washington,…
Outside magazine, September 1995 Duathlon: Stop Your Whining By Todd Balf (with Martin Dugard) Heinous weather was just about the only thing in hot pursuit of top-ranked duathlete Maddy Tormoen at the season-opening Powerman Duathlon in Zofingen, Switzerland, on May 14. Tormoen clobbered the…
Outside magazine, July 1996 Self-Reliance: Shopping on Location By Doug Peacock I cook (like everyone else) for therapy, and when out on the land, where you have to make do with what’s at hand, one of the best antidotes to an impending disaster…
Outside magazine, December 1995 Transcendental Perspiration The road to the Little People starts with near-suffocation in a sweat lodge By Randy Wayne White Even though it implies a spiritual linkage that I’m reluctant to acknowledge, any explanation of why I attended a…
Outside magazine, May 1995 Buying Right: Off-Road Clipless Pedals By Alan Cote If you’ve never ridden on clipless pedals, know that they’re not a way to ensure that you’ll fall over in an embarrassed heap with your feet trapped. Clipless pedals are about control,…
Outside magazine, March 1996 Adventure: Nicotine Wishes and Cabernet Dreams Greetings from the Raid Gauloises, where we think you’d agree, it’s very good to be French By Martin Dugard With a liter bottle of Coca-Cola in one hand and a mayonnaise-slathered salami…
Outside magazine, May 1994 Mountain Biking: Red Carpet Rides By Bob Howells MOUNTAIN BIKING Red-Carpet Rides Mountain bikers who are still wearing themselves out haggling over access to new territory are simply not looking for love in all the right…
 Outside magazine, July 1997 Dark Behind It Rose the Forest … Into the beautiful Angeles we go, into the most dangerous national forest in America By Randall Sullivan Arrests are common in Angeles National Forest I‘m barely…
Gone Summering, July 1998 Make Mine Raw Mama’s boys, beware: Portsmouth Island is nature untethered By Bob Shacochis North Carolina’s Outer Realm Twenty-three miles long, Portsmouth Island, part of Cape Lookout National Seashore, is…
Dispatches, July 1998 Dubious Ventures Das Ghost Boot: Around the World with a Silicon Crew No skipper, no navigator, no mate? Hey, no problem — Captain Computer’s at the helm. By Tim Zimmermann Reiner Schmid, of Germany’s Furtwangen University…
Dispatches, October 1998 Sport We Are Shocked. Shocked. Now Pass the Hypodermic Needle. Unmasked and besieged, international cycling still refuses to break off its incorrigible affair with drugs. By Russ Spenser An American in Paris “I’ve always believed…
Outside magazine, December 1996 Stocking Stuffers PowergelAll three of this new rocket fuel’s flavors give a quick-hit, easy-down-the-gullet carbo boost, but the strawberry-banana adds extra bang with a blend of caffeine, ginseng, and kola nut extract. $1.29 per 1.4-ounce packet. From PowerBar, 800-587-6937.
Outside magazine, June 1994 Rowing: Enough’s Enough By Todd Balf (with Martin Dugard and Eric Hagerman) In his second bid to row some 5,000 miles west to east across the Pacific, British adventurer Peter Bird called it quits in March after ten stormy…
Outside magazine, March 1996 Long Climb the Queen By Todd Balf and Paul Kvinta (with Brian Alexander and Steve Law) In what may have been her finest and final performance, American expatriate Robyn Erbesfield captured the sport-climbing season finale in Aix-les-Bains, France, last December…
Outside magazine, July 1998 Review: The Small-Boat Revolution Single-handed sailing’s golden age is upon us, thanks to the wonders of plastic By Mike Steere SAILBOATS | SUNGLASSES | THE OTHER STUFF…
Outside magazine, August 1995 Mountain Biking: It Is Just Like the Other One, No? The off-road Tour de France is indeed a tour. And it is in France… By Martin Dugard We are going to bring an original touch to [the sport…
Outside Magazine, November 1994 Politics: How Green Was My Stump Speech An insider’s tout sheet to elections with environmental impact By Ned Martel Ah, election season. are environmental issues playing big at a poll site near you? If not, you could probably…
Winter Olympics Preview, February 1998 THE DREAMER My Snakebit Career The Hard Luck Kid of skiing takes another — and perhaps a final — run at the glory that’s long eluded him By Craig Vetter THE DOPE ON…
March 1996 Features: The Highly Civilized Fat-Tire Primer Front-Suspension Symbiont, Meet Ms. Controlled Abandon Cross-country world champ Alison Sydor demonstrates the essential riding skills. By Andrew Tilin More Bike for the Buck…
Outside magazine, May 1996 Gone Reading By Larry Burke Few genres of writing can match the world of outdoor literature for richness, exuberance, or sheer eclecticism. Whether it’s the novels of Herman Melville or the travel epics of Paul Theroux, the Boy Scout Handbook…
Outside magazine, May 1996 Mastering the Finer Points For Robyn Erbesfield, precision is the surest route to perfection in any discipline. “Think of the best athlete in your sport,” she says. “It’s the precision that defines the distance between our level and his.” What she…
 Outside magazine, June 1999 A Long and Brutal Assault First fiction 93 years ago, Frederick Cook became the first person to reach the difficult summit of Mount McKinley. Presumed fact Actually, he faked it. Second fiction…
Outside magazine, June 1999 Lifestyle Home on the Range—for Just $5 Million a Pop America’s newest haven for the ultrarich prepares to say, “Howdy, neighbor. Can I see your wallet?” The massive stone-and-lodgepole…
Outside magazine, August 1995 The Marvelous, Manic Drive of Juli Furtado What fuels the world’s most dominant mountain-bike racer? Doom and gloom and a steady flow of French roast. By Sara Corbett “On my god,” Juli…
Outside magazine, December 1996 Better Get a Big Sleigh Not even the Grinch could make off with this season’s bounty By Bob Howells Harley-Davidson Limited Edition by GTSettle into the soft leather saddle, grab those swept-back bars, strap a…
Shwoosh! All You Need is Dirt The Hysterical Parent A medical emergency You would be a fool to venture into the wilderness without someone in your party being certified in first aid. Call your pediatrician or hospital for information…
Outside magazine, July 1996 Mountaineering: Who, Moi? A year after Alison Hargreave’s tragic death on K2, Chantal Mauduit stakes claim as the sport’s newest star By Lolly Merrell “I admired her, but you see, we are very different,” says French alpinist Chantal…
 Outside magazine, April 1995 In Hunza They Live Forever Is it the water? The apricots? The sublime mountain scenery? Is it all in their heads? High in the Himalayas, looking for a prodigal son who might have the answer. By Rob…
Why does Miguel Indurain keep winning the Tour de France? In Spain, at the start of the season that could bring an unprecedented fifth straight victory, only one answer makes sense.
Outside magazine, September 1999 MARKETING Hakkalüugi Be Thy Name The etymological quest to conceive hot new taglines for the latest gear Yes, it’s that time of year again: the gear world’s annual silly season, when companies must conjure up…
Outside magazine, September 1999 FRONT LINES The Wild Bunch A dozen threatened Edens, peaceable kingdoms, and unspoiled Nirvanas: Outside’s roster of great places that deserve the ultimate protection—wilderness designation POLITICS |…
Horse Sense Cowboy vs. Dude By Ryan Underwood t h e f u n f i l e: Outback Boredom Busters Watch Birds Pack binoculars…
Outside magazine, October 1995 Scandal: Cook, Cook, He’s Our Man… By Laura Billings Fifty-five years have passed since Frederick Cook–polar explorer, former Leavenworth inmate–stepped onto that great ice floe in the sky, but a steadfast brotherhood is still working to thaw his reputation. This…
Outside magazine, November 1995 Cycling: Now He’s Won One By Todd Balf (with Joe Glickman) At the U.S. Cycling Federation’s glitzy Night of Champions last year in Hollywood, Lance Armstrong was introduced as the best one-day classics rider that America has ever produced. To…
Outside magazine, February 1996 Books: The Feral Sons By Miles Harvey Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer (Villard, $23). In the January 1993 issue of Outside, in an article that was nominated for a National Magazine Award, contributing editor Krakauer…
Outside magazine, March 1999 Review: Always in Touch (if, That Is, You Want to Be) The latest mobile electronics put the backcountry online By Brent Hurtig ELECTRONICS |…
Outside Magazine, December 1998 Winter? These Guys Made Winter. Seven Olympic venues, one charming Main Street, and a host of High Peaks — it all adds up to Lake Placid, America’s original snowbound resort By Bill McKibben Lake Not-So-Placid All…
Family Vacations, Summer 1996 Howdy, Dude Mamas, don’t let your babies grow up to be cowboys–but it’s okay to pretend By Nancy Debevoise Our Favorite Places | The Hysterical Parent | Inside…
Dispatches, July 1998 Rodent Rights Why Is Everybody Always Pickin’ on Me? They’re cute and furry, yet they get no respect. A look at the star-crossed plight of the American sod poodle. Yes, it’s now official: prairie dogs have become…
Outside magazine, July 1996 Sloth: Then Again, There’s Always Pop-Tarts By Adam Horowitz With apologies, I ask all you connoisseurs of fine food to hold the outrage. Blasphemous though it may be, someone has to stand up for the more practical-minded among us.
Dispatches, May 1997 Physics: Bloody Idiotic, As You Chaps Might Say The (possibly apocryphal) tale of British Rail’s chicken cannon misadventure By Shane Dubow By now, anyone who’s gone on-line knows the Internet is great at hatching all manner of…
Outside magazine, August 1996 Rowing: Odds That… The U.S. women’s eight will break six minutes…..3-1 The U.S. men’s eight will win a gold medal……..10-1 Redgrave and Pinsent will remain undefeated…….1-1…
Outside magazine, August 1996 Politics: Eat Your Heart Out, Al Gore Meet Sherry Boehlert, the man environmentalists can’t do without By John Galvin “He may well save the republicans in spite of themselves,” intones Mark Childress, vice-president of the Environmental Working Group,…
Outside magazine, October 1994 Endurance: Get With it, Guys By Todd Balf (with Greg Child and Dan Dickison) Last July, Ann Trason won her sixth straight Western States 100 women’s title, beat all but one of the men, and bettered her own course record by 37…
Outside magazine, October 1995 Mountain Biking: Eyes for Mammoth By Todd Balf (with John Alderman) Mountain-bike professionals are no strangers to tough conditions, but July’s World Cup stop on California’s Mammoth Mountain was in another realm: The course was buried in ten feet of…
Features: Election Preview ’96, November 1996 The Boy Scouts Find A Compass In the shrink-wrapped politics of the environment, it’s not how far you go, but in what direction By The Editors “Clinton knows that if he wins in ’92, he’ll…
Outside Magazine, 1999 Annual Travel Guide Doing the Wild Thing Eight bush camps and jungle lodges where the floor show is fierce Temple Tiger Jungle Lodge, Nepal Milk and musk: That’s what a Royal Bengal tiger smells like. So said…
T H E H O L I D A Y G I F T G U I D E Shop for THE JOCK Shop for THE WANDERER Shop for…
Dispatches, April 1998 RETAIL One Giant Leap for Suckerkind How to buy lunar real estate, and other “bargains” on the World Wide Web By Katie Arnold As though there weren’t already enough distractions on the Internet, virtual malls are…