Adventure
ArchiveThe trail to some sort of personal peace seemed to wend high into the Himalayas. But where it led was back to an old friend.
So, you have to ask, when it comes to the great outdoors, is anything OK anymore?
Outside Magazine, September 1999 OFF-ROADING Going Down? Brian Head’s 6,000-foot vertical red-rock relief should do the trick You can be forgiven for snubbing Brian Head during ski season. For while tiny Brian Head Resort does amass…
Outside magazine, September 1999 CONTENDERS The Wild Bunch, Cont. Why stop at 12? There’s plenty more where those came from. POLITICS | VIRGIN LAND: A HISTORY | FRONT…
Bulletins Grandparenting: Geriat-Tricks By Bob Howells Call it cross-generational bonding, old-fashioned mentoring, or just doing neat stuff with the grandkids–more and more outfits are bringing disparate generations together on outdoor jaunts. Not surprisingly, Elderhostel lurks behind many of them, such as Let’s…
Outside magazine, October 1995 You’re Looking a Little Ozoned-out When it comes to the air you breathe, what you can’t see will hurt you By Mark Jannot I have a friend who’s always complaining about the tribulations of running in his own…
Outside magazine, November 1995 Music: Wastin’ Away Again Down in Vacaville By Mike Steere And the award for the most shameless and unprecedentedly obscene use of the environment for marketing purposes goes to…White Devil Records of Seattle. Along with its recently released CD of…
Outside magazine, February 1996 She Who Laughs Last… By Todd Balf and Paul Kvinta (with Debra Shore) Two days before the short-course triathlon world championships in Cancún, Mexico, last November, newly crowned Ironman champion Karen Smyers was neither training nor relaxing nor touring Mayan…
Outside magazine, March 1999 And the Placebo Costs Less, Too The results ù such as they are ù have come in on the latest wonder herb By Michael Kessler Before bustling off to the…
Outside Magazine, November 1994 Ultra: No, Thank You By Todd Balf (with Jim Hage) Perhaps Kawika Spaulding of Hawaii would have been in the running for the Huntington Beach-to-New York City Trans America Footrace had he chosen to stay away from whiskey at rest…
Family Vacations, Summer 1996 Bringing Up Grandpa We pushed the family-vacation envelope last summer when we took a multigenerational clan rafting on Idaho’s North Fork of the Salmon. There were 21 of us in all, ranging from my six-year-old son to my 75-year-old father. My…
Outside magazine, August 1996 Women’s Sprints Here comes Gwen Torrence, America’s fastest loose cannon By Mark Jannot Gwen Torrence promises to be among the most hyped athletes of the Atlanta Games: a hometown girl who returns to accolades and–a good bet–Olympic gold…
Outside magazine, July 1994 Triathlon: Beware of Dave By Todd Balf (with Derek Rielly) As the season kicked off last April with the St. Croix International Triathlon, the buzz on the street was about the imminent return of Dave Scott, the six-time Hawaii Ironman champion turned…
Dispatches, May 1997 Sport: A Man, A Plan, and a Hell of a Tan With a patient approach and all the tools, José Loiola stands poised to become the new King of the Beach By Johnny Dodd “Right now,…
Outside magazine, August 1996 The Book On: Mountainbiking Will Tinker Juarez triumph–or psych himself out trying? By Alan Cote and Eric Hagerman Until last year, the word on Tinker Juarez was that were he ever to recognize just how strong…
Outside magazine, August 1996 Good-Bye 1996, Hello 2004 As the sun descends on Atlanta, an anxious world turns its eyes to…Puerto Rico? By Stephanie Gregory While Boston elbows into position in the race for the 2008 Summer Olympics, the dash for the…
 Outside magazine, October 1994 Welcome to Gun Camp In the sport of shooting, proficiency means not only winning, but getting good at killing. Welcome to Gun Camp, where the question is, Do I want to do this? and the answer is, a little sadly, You…
Outside magazine, October 1995 Cycling: A Race to Remember, Sadly By Todd Balf (with John Alderman) Miguel Indurain’s unprecedented fifth straight victory in the the Tour de France last July was indeed impressive, but the race probably won’t be remembered for Big…
 Outside magazine, November 1996 Peruvian Gothic Don Benigno Aazco carved his way 36 years deep into the green heart of the Andean forest, founded 14 settlements, abandoned his wife and many children, married his daughter, slew his son-in-law, fought drug peddlers, tamed…
Outside magazine, November 1997 Chin Up — There’s Always Next Year The latest on a not-so-successful expeditionary season By Andrew Tilin Since explorers typically utter “uncle” about as often as Jackie Chan, one has to wonder what dark cosmic forces…
Dispatches, December 1998 Sport Hey Bob, Can You Tie Me Off to That Pika? Climbing’s uphill battle against a proposed ban on fixed anchors By John Galvin Idaho’s Sawtooth Wilderness is a region of such overwhelming natural grace that…
Dispatches, April 1998 SPORT These Guys May Be on EPO, Does Anyone Care? Despite the promise of an effective new drug test, the USOC drags its heels By Paul Keegan At 53, Allen Murray swims five times a week,…
Fitness ’97, February 1997 Above All Else… Endurance Allen’s long-and-slow approach to endurance training won’t work if you violate its main tenet: Stay below your maximum aerobic heart rate at all times. If you find yourself impatient and compelled to cheat by doing…
Outside magazine, May 1998 Allow me to be the first to congratulate you on your stunning achievement (damn you) A few heartwarming tales from the annals of high-minded competition By Florence Williams Did. Did not. Did too. How rich…
Outside magazine, May 1999 Trends How Green Is My Mini-Bar? A reduced, recycled, reused sojourn at America’s most guilt-free upscale hotel Ever since its grand opening in late January, guests have been flocking to…
Outside magazine, June 1994 Mountaineering: Queen of Solo By Todd Balf (with Martin Dugard and Eric Hagerman) French sport-climber-turned-mountaineer Catherine Destivelle, who has spent the last several years soloing some of Europe’s most venerated peaks, usually in spectacular fashion, knocked off another in…
Outside magazine, August 1996 Et Tu, Mr. Foreman? “The environmental movement is like a bunch of alpha dogs, always trying to establish dominance,” explains Victor Rozek of the Native Forest Council, an antilogging group based in Eugene, Oregon. “And some just can’t handle it when others…
Vacation Special, August 1997 C O T T A G I N G I N O N T A R I O A Piece of the Shore Skinny-dipping under the stars, and other reasons to go cottaging in Ontario.
Outside magazine, October 1995 Let There Be Light It’s the latest in evening wear, and the world will never be the same By Randy Wayne White I was surprised it wasn’t easier to convince my old friend Elston that if he joined…
Dispatches, November 1998 Environmental A Delta Insurrection A band of renegades struggles to bring back the Mississippi Hood forest By Jonathan Miles More than 45 years ago, when John Price was a Southern boy pursuing squirrels, deer, and ducks…
Out Front, Fall 1998 Virtual Wilderness What outdoor aficionados will be reading, viewing, and downloading this season By Laura Miller and Sarah Horowitz The Road Home, by Jim Harrison, (Atlantic Monthly Press, $25) Old myths of the…
Outside magazine, January 1995 Triathlon: The Man Just Won’t Go Away By Todd Balf (with Barry Lewis and James Raia) Ten miles from the finish on a sun-baked highway on the Big Island of Hawaii, Dave Scott, competing again after a three-year “retirement,” was…
Outside magazine, January 1996 Crimes of Passion A glimpse into the covert world of rare butterfly collecting By Caroline Alexander There were few spectators present in the San Jose, California, courtroom to witness the sentencing of two convicted felons who faced up…
Dispatches, February 1998 TRAGEDY A Pole Too Far Three skydivers die in Antarctica, leaving the world to ask, “Why?” By Susan Enfield ‘There’s no rhyme or reason for doing something like this,” Ray Miller, a 43-year-old Ohio marketing…
Outside magazine, March 1995 Symptoms: Seven Reasons to Stop, Period By Ken McAlpine Active rest may satisfy your compulsions, but there are still times when complete rest is best. “Injury and breakdown are right around the corner from success,” warns trainer Diane Buchta. “Fortunately,…
Outside magazine, April 1996 Redemption on Wheels By Todd Balf and Paul Kvinta While the sight of a longhaired man carrying a cross at Eastertime may be a little disconcerting, don’t worry: The fellow tromping around Madagascar this month with a 12-foot-tall rolling crucifix…
Outside magazine, July 1996 Surviving the Drive Through By Lisa Twyman Bessone Ever notice how a long road trip brings out the James Dean in us all? We act rebellious, even a little dangerous-driving fast, howling along with the tunes blaring, wolfing Big…
Outside magazine, July 1996 Calculations Sports by Calories By Katie Arnold Counting calories, we admit, is really Jenny Craig’s gig. But outdoor athletes might take note–to make sure they’re getting enough fuel for their pursuits. “You shouldn’t get hung up on numbers,”…
Outside magazine, December 1992 Triathlon: Ask Mr. Ironman By Todd Balf (with Martin Dugard and Alison Osius and Terry Rutlin) If you placed bets on last year’s triathlon season, Andy Carlson was the ultimate preseason gamble. In 1990 he was Triathlete magazine’s Rookie of the…
Outside magazine, December 1995 In This Corner… By Todd Balf and Paul Kvinta Score one for the mighty green and golden bell frog. Since 1993, Australian officials have tried to relocate the endangered thimble-size creatures from a trash-filled brick quarry that’s slated to become…
Travel Guide, Winter 1995-1996 Dominica By David Noland Dominica is for people who need sweat and grit in their tropical vacation: The island’s few beaches are mostly of black volcanic sand, and none rates even fair by Caribbean standards. What Dominica…
 Outside magazine, February 1998 Yes, it is a Lovely Morning. Now Why Don’t You Just Go to Hell. Drop 28 virtual strangers at the South Pole. Blend in eight months of mind-numbing darkness. Fold into extremely close quarters. Add a pinch of…
Outside magazine, April 1996 Environment: Lock and Load! Industry Goon at 12 o’clock! Meet Rick Valois, commander-in-chief of the first eco-militia By Bill Donahue He’s probably the only environmentalist in the United States with camo-clad, gun-toting foot soldiers at his command, and…
Outside magazine, January 1996 Books: The Spirits of Science By Miles Harvey Ship Fever and Other Stories, by Andrea Barrett (W. W. Norton, $21). Barrett, an Outside contributor and noted novelist, has put together a soaring collection of stories about characters, some…
Outside magazine, March 1995 Surfing: With the Worlds on her lumbar By Todd Balf (with Jim Kelly, Martin Dugard, and Alison Osius) Lisa Andersen’s beachside entourage was the size of a Paia block party. There were trainers, coaches, friends, family, and sponsors on hand…
Dispatches, April 1997 Sport: Carving Toward Destiny? Chris Davenport tries to secure the top spot in extreme-skiing history–on his own terms By Michael Finkel E A R T O T H E G R O U N…
Outside magazine, July 1996 Aesthetics: Spare Not the Grace Notes By Bob Shacochis I prefer to think that the wilderness as we have it these days, however attenuated and besieged, is more than ever the last refuge of the raw sensualist, and that the…
Outside magazine, September 1995 No More Curse of the Sheepherders But why would such a wholesome nation want the America’s Cup? By Randy Wayne White All things considered, the best place for a journalist to watch the finals of America’s Cup XXIX…
News from the Field, December 1996 Chemistry: The Not-Quite-As-Big Bang Shredding’s volitile new form of avalanche control By Hal Clifford When Doug Abromeit, director of the Forest Service’s National Avalanche Center, recently spied two teenage snowboarders in Utah’s Little Cottonwood Canyon,…
Outside magazine, May 1995 Policing the Flyways of Disease From the peculiar vantage point of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the world beyond America’s borders swarms with pathogenic threats. With more than 2.5 million foreign animals arriving in the United States every year–any one of which…
Outside magazine, March 1995 Big Weather The Ice Storm The picturesque has become terror, whole forests collapsing at once. Lessness rules. By Barry Hannah The Gale Forty-knot winds. Fifty-foot seas. And a ship that suddenly…
 Outside magazine, May 1994 A Death in Navajo Country Leroy Jackson loved this land and fought to protect it. Last fall his body was found on a lonely New Mexico road. Was he murdered? Or had he somehow lost his way?…
Outside magazine, June 1996 Paddling: Nicklaus, Jordan..Who? Greg Barton, America’s most celebrated unknown athlete By Martin Dugard Devoted paddlers talk about greg barton’s kayak stroke with the same reverence that country-clubbers reserve for Jack Nicklaus’s golf swing. No unseemly kerplunk marks the…
Gone Summering, July 1998 The Sky Is Not the Limit Look, up there, it’s the Dakotas’ main attraction! By Louise Erdrich And Don’t Forget the Terra Firma The 244,000-acre Badlands National Park is probably…
Outside magazine, October 1997 The Ironmen They invited us to their masochists’ ball. Amazingly, we accepted. By John Tayman ‘We were the first that ever burst / into that silent sea,” quoth Coleridge. Nothing…
Outside magazine, October 1997 Phil Knight His big sell: Everyone’s an athlete By Donald Katz A billionaire nearly six times over, and every cent of it born of entrepreneurial obsession and the abiding allure…
The Downhill Report, December 1996 A Little Humility Never Hurt Learning to snowboard can be a bumpy ride. Get over it, will you? By Mike Harrelson Ask most folks to describe their first day on a snowboard, and what they’re sure…
Outside magazine, December 1997 Philanthropy: Do-Gooders Rule! In this age of mounting apathy, an unlikely subculture steps up to the plate By Paul Kvinta And the Moral Is, Never Underestimate the Home-River Advantage…
Outside magazine, June 1995 Paleontology: Don’t Touch the Femurs By Chris Dray “Finally, I can get back to work.” That’s about all Peter Larson had to say after a jury last March acquitted him of the major charges in a rare case involving dinosaurs…
Outside magazine, March 1996 Goodness, Gracious By Todd Balf and Paul Kvinta (with Brian Alexander and Steve Law) After last December’s inferno at the Malden Mills plant in Methuen, Massachusetts, shock waves could be felt both locally and throughout the outdoor-recreation business. The blaze…
Outside magazine, June 1996 Food and Drink Cycling Haute Cuisine By Bob Howells As many a resting athlete knows, there’s something about a malt beverage–and we’re not talking milkshakes–that soothes sore muscles and cools a hyperthermic body core. So next time…
Outside magazine, August 1995 Environment: A Moment on the Goofs Rome is burning. So why are greens throwing water at a book? By Keith Schneider (with Margaret Kriz) Gregg Easterbrook looked happy enough, but for somebody who once wrote an article entitled…
Outside magazine, October 1999 Adventure at the End of the Century The sight of George Leigh Mallory’s well-preserved body on Everest confirms that adventure, like life, is not always pretty. It means risking all on a mountain—as Mallory did, with tragic…
Outside magazine, January 1996 Heave To, Felix! Thar Blow th’ Faeroes! For good nautical fun, nothing beats the blizzardy, icebergy waters of the North Sea. Which makes it just the place for two friends willing to go anywhere in the name of unjustifiable adventure.
The recovery he helped bring upon the Hudson has been far more personal for Robert F. Kennedy Jr. than the process of simply cleansing a river. It has washed him of his sins, returning his birthright charm and political pedigree to full shiny view — and leaving onlookers wondering what's next.
Two men, a continent, and the mother of all polar duels
For years, virtually no one could beat Lynn Hill to the top of a climbing wall. Then along came Isabelle Patissier, and beyond a shadow of a doubt things are changing.
Cycling Special, March 1997 That Old Black Top Magic If you’re racing, touring, or just toning up, a few road-ready tricks can help you do it better By Andrew Rice Your Tutor: Fred Rodriguez, 23,…
Outside magazine, March 1998 Up. Down. Up. Down. Up. Down. Up. Down. And Then, By Golly, Up Again. Why fuss with this “Climb Every Mountain” crap when you can simply climb one mountain, every day, 2,000-plus days straight, almost six years, rain and…
Outside magazine, May 1996 Earth to Jenny: Come in, Jenny “Not to be rude,” said third-place finisher Anne Marie Lauck after she and the rest of a strong field were trounced by a mysterious number 61 at the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials in Columbia, South…
Outside magazine, June 1999 Birch Bark in Excelsis! Looking for someplace a little out of touch with the times? Hang a left at the Adirondacks. My Delta, Myself | A…
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 “Oh my god,” Juli Furtado…
Outside magazine, August 1996 The Book On: Beach Volleyball Can McPeak and Reno bury the hatchet for gold’s sake? By Mark Jannot Until April, the olympic debut of women’s beach volleyball seemed fairly easy to handicap: A few top international teams,…
Outside magazine, March 1995 Big Weather: The Ice Storm Trees crash through your windows like dead uncles, whole forests go into an exploding collapse. You’ve got your comeuppance. By Barry Hannah Here in Oxford, Mississippi, most of the leaves are fallen and…
Outside magazine, November 1995 Matches Made in the Heavens No matter what your alpine aptitude, a guide to finding that resort of your dreams By Ron C. Judd Fellow skiers, it’s time to take stock. Park yourself in a chair, rub that…
Out Front, October 1997 Attention: the Editors Have Left the Building Celebrating two decades of accuracy, prescience, and gentility. Or something like that. By Adam Horowitz If only we could attribute it to a newborn keeping us up all night.
 Outside magazine, August 1998 The First Law of Gravity Namely, that that which rises must eventually fall. A law that even the king of the Alaskan bush pilots probably can’t ignore forever. By Daniel Coyle Early morning at Ultima…
Deep beneath Moscow a crew of urban spelunkers frolics, hunting Stalin's secret hideaway, Ivan the Terrible's torture chamber, bootleg nuclear weapons, and a little fame and fortune