Adventure

Archive

For a Wyoming omni-sport adventure, start here...

There's nothing more all-American than a long summer road trip—except maybe a long summer road trip sponsored by a kayak company. Meet the hard-drivin', trick-huckin', heart-throbbin' river punks that may just turn freestyle kayaking into whitewater's answer to snowboarding.

An outsized wilderness lives on in mythic dreams and salvaged hope

We liberate the sport of fly-fishing and take you back to the clean and simple basics. Now go fish.

What's a brilliant woman like this doing in a rough-and-tumble sport like downhill mountain-bike racing? Trying to think her way to the top of the winner's podium, that's what.

Canoeing pioneers unveil the new 700-plus Northern Forest Canoe Trail

Will Earth's most fragile unexplored ecosystems survive the age of adventure?

Guy Waterman had climbed every peak in the Northeast high country—in winter, and from all the cardinal directions. With his wife, he had co-authored four scrupulously principled books on New England wilderness, and he was revered as the conscience of the mountains, a beloved teacher and friend, a paragon of Yankee self-reliance. Why, then, did he hike to the top of his favorite peak on the coldest day of the year and lie down to die?

On Alaska's most dangerous body of water, a rugged band of sailors lives to sail—and to tell about it

Lloyd Pye—writer, paranormalist, possible wighat—reveals the true origins of the starchild

Churchill, Canada, Isn't Just for the Bears

Successful guerrilla angling requires stealth, perseverance, and an insatiable, what-the-hell willingness to hunt for fish in some damn weird places

Is it ever too late to become the caring parent you thought you could be? To find out, one man went in search of his adopted manatee—only to discover the many injustices that humankind has heaped upon these hapless marine mammals. And when Junior is fat, slow, and endangered, family values are nothing more than an easy way to break your heart.

It’s not easy to add up all the ways in which Lance Armstrong has earned the title of American hero. Lance Armstrong Lance Armstrong First he was the fiery phenom, a brilliant athlete on the brink of greatness. Then he showed us the vulnerable, terrified, but always…

The treacherous history of the Matterhorn can be read in books and snowy graveyards, but to write it you've got to survive it

Surrounded by a staggering array of hazardous waste, toxic emissions, chemical pollutants, and lethal military experimentation, the Goshute tribe of Utah decided to do the logical thing and offer up its reservation as a dump for 40,000 metric tons of highly radioactive nuclear fuel. The neighbors are very upset.

It's just a few short miles from the neon strip to the inky desert beyond. But to a solitary walker on her way out of town, the worlds of casino palaces and redrock spires might as well be galaxies apart.

Canoeing the Bronx River is sheer metro adventure

From beginning to middle to end and back again, one adventure leads to another. So hold tight—it's a long ride

The leatherback frogmen of the NYPD Scuba Squad patrol a hellish world beyond noir, where body parts abound, the water's filthy, and mob victims wear concrete shoes. And get this—they love it.

Carl and Lowell Skoog are blazing virgin trails in the backcountry's wild white yonder

Come ski Mad River Glen, where it is resolved that progress is not a good thing—and that man-made snow is for sissies

The peaks of the Italian Alps may look daunting, but climbing them is la dolce vita.

After all the bad weather, bad luck, and bad food, there was only one thing left for the publishers and producers of the next big adventure blockbuster to do: Kill the writer.

A crash course in old-growth tree climbing (it's tree hugging's rambunctious younger sibling). Wanna come out and have some deep fun?

It takes a brave heart, a keen interest in cryogenics, and a thick coating of neoprene to climb into an iceboat and fly across a frozen lake at upwards of 60 miles per hour. But hey, hard-water sailors don't mind. What else would they do with all their free time?

Last winter was among the deadliest avalanche seasons on record in the United States and Europe. Why is the number of fatalities rising? And what's being done about it?

A partner drops out, one thing leads to another, and suddenly our hero finds that peer pressure has him fighting for his life

A corps of rock rats in a hurry is putting the pedal to the mettle in big-wall climbing

Avalanche-safety wisdom to help you survive with the fittest

THIS DREAM OF LAND, of owning it—where does it start, how deep is it rooted? Go Stake Your Claim Ever fantasized about heading off into the country and building a little place with good views and a porch for the rocking chair? Here’s your blueprint on how to make…

It’s as American as Mom, apple pie, and the lust for elbow room: to find and purchase a slice of country heaven to call your own. A place to sleep under the stars and think wide-open thoughts. To put up a cabin. To watch the trees grow…

THIS DREAM OF LAND, of owning it—where does it start, how deep is it rooted? Go Stake Your Claim Ever fantasized about heading off into the country and building a little place with good views and a porch for the rocking chair? Here’s your blueprint on how to make…

Building a better base camp

The Pacific Rim's most explosive endurance sport combines speed, pain, and ancient tradition

The Outside Prognosticator 2000

A Wetland Restoration Comedy: how one man transformed vile, polluted, dank little swamp into the perfect glassy ice pond

What gets the equivalent of 1,000 miles per gallon, doesn't pollute, will save the world, and transports you in breezy style? Your bike.

Can Virtual Adventure Thrive on the Internet? A Brazen New Web Site Says Yes. But Is This Digital Expedition into the Unknown a Revolutionary Way to Experience Sports, or a Business Disaster in the Making?

Rodeo kayaking's effort to transform itself into a mainstream sport

When did the realm of adventure and wilderness travel become Madison Avenue's favorite image bank? A traverse across advertising's new frontier.

An avalanche in Tibet takes the life of Alex Lowe

Want to experience the suicidal rush of trying to break into the outdoor gear biz? Join us now for the saga of GoLite, a crazy little startup with everything stacked against it—except for one featherweight idea whose time may have come.

The rules (there are only three of them) remain the same for a lifetime, and they come from the mouths of babes

To save the day when the crevasse hits the fan; to be chased by AK-47-wielding bandits; to be the one guy who's gotta say, "Time to turn around, everybody"—this is what it means to be a professional guide. (Still interested?)

Some of the most innovative boats ever built prepare for the fiercest race in sailing history

A tight crew of out-of-bounds crazies has been working overtime to turn the snow-flick world upside down with its relentlessly spectacular reels. Is it art or is it ski porn?

A tight crew of out-of-bounds crazies has been working overtime to turn the snow-flick world upside down with its relentlessly spectacular reels. Is it art or is it ski porn?

Deep in South Africa's interior sprawls Kruger National Park, the crown jewel of game preserves with 2,500 lions, 2,750 rhinos, 8,500 elephants, 30,000 zebras, 100,000 impalas...and 650 miles of boundary wire keeping animals in and poachers out. Welcome to the postmodern Eden, where everyone behaves—or else.

The come-on: Grab two hours of challenging fun and fast adventure. But when a dark wall of water swept away lives and reputations, the question became: Why?

New School Skiing is teaching good old hotdogging some radical new tricks

In an exclusive excerpt from the forthcoming book by the men who led the quest to solve the mystery of George Mallory's disappearance, the authors for the first time reveal the evidence they uncovered—and offer their chilling re-creation of Mallory and Irvine's last hours.

Once, he rode the smoky ridges about the Umpqua River, a pack of baying hounds at his feet, the bawling of the terrified Ursus americanus ringing through the hills. Once, he was undisputed master of the kill. Once, Ray Hillsman slew a thousand bears. And then one man said, No more.

Soaring over four continents, three oceans, and assorted hostile nations aboard a high-tech gondola, Bertrand Piccard of Switzerland and Brian Jones of England this year became the first men to circle the world by hot-air balloon. Here is their diary—the unforgettable highs, the lows, and the humdrum routine experienced by the unlikely duo who vowed to boldly g

A Tex-Mex multisport adventure takes exhilarating turns in Big Bend country

Where the Suwanne hits the Gulf, a bygone Florida thrives in the wilderness

As the United States prepares to hand over the canal, Panama's wild wonders are ripe for discovery

Ah rowing—the serene sport of gentlemen. Climb inside a boat beating toward the world championships, however, and you'll find yourself enduring mind-numbing pain and exhaustion—not to mention unrelenting, hostile competition from your own teammates.

He was almost everything a 14-year-old boy thought he wanted to become

Small child grows up, learns to surf better than anyone ever, finds fame, gathers wealth, forms a band, lands on television, dates starlets, grows bored, moves on. Just another success story, peculiar to America.

Call it inevitable that Dan Osman found the fatal edge of his signature sport, a thing known as "free-falling." But were his leaps of faith—and thus his sad death—as profound as he imagined? Or just a stunt taken to foolish extremes?

This year's World Extreme Skiing Championships will feature two types of descent: Hail Mary and Mother of God

The endless summer set has yet to find Raglan's World class waves. Lucky for you.

Swing a hammer, light a fuse, and let the dams come tumbling down. So goes the cry these days on American rivers, where vandals of every stripe—enviros and fishermen and interior secretaries, among others—wage battle to uncork the nation's bound-up waters.

The legend says Terje Haakonsen, snowboarding's five-time world champion, can win at will

Alaskan eccentric Trigger Twigg attempts the first winter ascent of the world's tallest face

Escaping the artistes and poseurs on the singletrack of San Miguel

In the beginning was the family compound, and it was fine. Then came the oil companies with their wells, and they were foul. And lately have come the shootings, the wrenchings, the bombings—and what's to come of all that, only the prophet knows.

How can one possibly put into words the majestic talent, the gracious modesty, the unrivaled discipline of the world's greatest skier? Like this.

He's named for a Stone Age weapon. He may be nuts as a bunny. But sometimes it's nice to have a Neanderthal at your side.

The Great Reinhold Messner unmasks his latest conquest

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.

Can you feel it coming? Heat, hail, snow, rain. Wind, drought, flood, pain. Are you tired of waiting? Then hurry to Bangladesh, where the skies have already broken.

Think Whistler is the only thing that British Columbia has to offer? Think again.