Adventure
ArchiveDispatches: News from the Field, November 1996 Film: Look Who’s Fornicating The latest from Miramax goes to show that it’s a bug-@#!*-bug world By Elizabeth Royte At this year’s Cannes Film Festival, Miramax Films made a move that was…unusual. The studio…
Outside magazine, March 1998 Out There: The Platypus Prophecy Stumbling through the Australian night and, God help him, straight into the Meaning of Life By Tim Cahill Here is the wily platypus hunter, stalking the forests of the night.
Outside magazine, April 1995 Intake: Backcountry Dining Without Regression By Ami Walsh For Tim Loveridge, program coordinator of the Boston-based Appalachian Mountain Club, a trip into the backcountry is an excuse to indulge in the sort of grub most of us haven’t stocked the…
Outside Magazine, November 1994 Books: Ravage of the Rainforest By Andrea Barrett The Hot Zone, by Richard Preston (Random House, $23). Mess with the rainforest and see what you get: predatory viruses that tear into the human species like a tiger through a…
Outside magazine, June 1999 HONK IF YOU’RE IRRATIONAL They called it an unmapped drive through Indiana. But it really was a silent cry for help. My Delta, Myself | A…
Outside magazine, August 1996 Women’s Sprints: Odds That… Gwen Torrence will win three gold medals……..2-1 Merlene Ottey will shake the winner’s hand…..50-1 The U.S. women will take all sprinting gold…..4-1…
Outside magazine, April 1995 Environment: No, Uh, Cooperation in Defense of Mother Earth Can’t anybody organize this thing? How backroom feuds led to this month’s Earth Day chaos. By Bill Gifford Nobody organizes Earth Day,” former senator Gaylord Nelson said last summer…
Outside magazine, July 1994 Havana in the Rearview Mirror A final, heartbreaking trip through la revolucion By Randy Wayne White Land, sea, or air, 90 miles is 90 miles, except when describing the water space between Havana and Key West, a distance protracted by…
Outside magazine, August 1996 Middle Distance: Odds That African runners will claim every gold……..9-1 Gebrselassie will set at least one world record………10-1 An American will medal……….15-1…
Outside magazine, August 1996 Promise Kept Natascha Badmann served notice on the multisport community last November, first winning the Duathlon World Championships and then finishing a respectable sixth in the short-course triathlon worlds a week later. This May, she followed through in impressive fashion, annihilating the…
Outside magazine, October 1995 Wilderness Education Gone Brutally Wrong By Larry Burke The idea that nature forges sound character is one of man’s oldest convictions. It was this basic belief that gave rise to, among other things, the philosophy of John Muir, this magazine,…
 Outside magazine, November 1995 A Darkness on the River What the son found in the Peruvian jungle was a terrible truth. What his father found there months later was a way to begin again. By Tim Cahill The Marañón River drops…
 Outside magazine, November 1996 The Volcano Runners No elite runners train at higher altitude, or suffer more, than the human lungs who roam these oxygen-starved slopes. And yet Mexico’s great marathoners still labor under a faint cloud,…
Outside magazine, November 1997 YURI TRICYS TREE PLANTER Should Tree-Planting Become a Medal Sport, Here’s Your Winner Looking for some real athletes? You know, the kind without massage therapists and sports psychologists and closets full of shoes? Good, because rather than wasting energy…
Out Front, Fall 1998 Endurance Queen of Pain There’s only one way to break the tedious swim-vomit-swim cycle: Pray for an underwater visit from Santa By Martha Corcoran “I know physically I can swim the distance. I don’t take…
Outside magazine, April 1998 The Outside Portfolio When the Giant Sequoia Talks, People Listen A guide to green investing in an uncertain, tail-of-the-bull age By Nelson D. Schwartz THE OUTSIDE PORTFOLIO: When the Giant Sequoia…
Hardware and Software, February 1997 Books: Rough Edges, Terminal Dreams By Miles Harvey Letting Loose the Hounds, by Brady Udall (W. W. Norton, $22). “There are times,” explains a character in this sinewy collection of short fiction, “when the only way…
Outside magazine, May 1998 Anatomy of a Big One Riding huge surf is simple, really: Know how the wave works, time your entry right, and, um, hope for the best. By Daniel Duane Something Wicked This Way…
Outside magazine, May 1999 Endurance 113 Miles to Go? Pull, Dammit! To dream up the world’s toughest rowing race, it helps to be called The Hammer If you happen to wake at dawn some…
Outside magazine, June 1994 Mountain Biking: Iron Johnny By Todd Balf (with Martin Dugard and Eric Hagerman) The buzz at March’s Cactus Cup wasn’t so much about former world champion John Tomac’s win as the way he looked doing it. He was buffed…
Dispatches, August 1997 M E T E O R O L O G Y Say, Brother, Can You Spare a Huge Windfall? One woman’s high-priced offer to save us from nature’s wrath By Sarah Horowitz…
Outside Magazine, November 1998 Review: No Halfpipe Can Hold Me For those with all-mountain aspirations, a freeride board is the answer By Mark North SNOWBOARDS | BUYING RIGHT | THE OTHER…
Women Outside, Fall 1998 Yellow Pages: Resources for the Adventurous Athlete Fitness By John Brant, Gretchen Reynolds and Lea Aschkenas GEAR | TRAVEL | FITNESS | HEALTH |…
Outside magazine, January 1996 The Outside Prognosticator: Hey, Isn’t That Al Oerter? Maybe you aren’t going to the summer Olympics because you can’t get tickets. Or maybe it’s just jitters about Atlanta’s style–after all, do you really want to see waiflike foreign gymnasts get razzed off…
The Outside Prognosticator: The Chicken Little Machine Just when you thought the weird weather of recent years was simmering down, 1995 had TV forecasters quaking under their shoulder pads again. As 1996 kicks off, prepare to hear more about a mysterious Defense Department installation–the High Frequency Active…
Dispatches, February 1999 Business “We Will Win, and Earth Will Win!” And other emissions from America’s greenest CEO By Erik Stokstad When Ray Anderson threw a 24th birthday bash for his billion-dollar carpet-manufacturing company, Interface, hundreds…
Travel Guide, Winter 1995-1996 St. Vincent/Grenadines By Jonathan Runge If the British Virgin Islands are the junior college of Caribbean sailing, the Grenadines are graduate school: Relatively long stretches of open water between the 30-odd islands south of St. Vincent make…
Outside magazine, December 1995 Offering Oneself to the Fat Boys Even to a man with a powder pedigree, skis with girth provide the gift of flotation By James Salter I can’t remember when I started to ski powder–when I had to, probably.
Outside magazine, June 1994 Mountaineering: New Route, Same Dangers By Todd Balf (with Martin Dugard and Eric Hagerman) Because of a well-earned reputation as the world’s most dangerous 8,000-meter peak, K2 doesn’t see a lot of new routes–the old ones are tough enough.
Outside magazine, July 1996 Innovation Within Reason Seattle legend-in-the-making Monque Barbeau looks to expand the boundaries of trailworthy cuisine Seattle legend-in-the-making Monique Barbeau looks to expand the boundaries of trailworthy cuisine One of the reigning queens of the current Northwestern culinary scene is Monique…
Outside magazine, September 1994 Milestones: Xaver Bongard, 1964-1994 By Todd Balf (with Martin Dugard and John Alderman) Xaver Bongard, one of climbing’s most colorful of big-wall specialists, died on April 15 when both his parachutes failed to deploy during a BASE jump near Interlaken, Switzerland. The…
Travel Guide, Winter 1995-1996 Matchmaker, Matchmaker, Part I Ten questions to help you find that perfect mountain By Paul Kvinta If you’ve ever been beaned by a flying snowboarder, failed to score the perfect lodge martini, or found that the only diversion…
Sifting through the ashes—and questions—amid one of one of the worst fire seasons ever Michael Darter Unfriendly fire: one of 235 homes incinerated by the Cerro Grande blaze in Los Alamos in May CHRIS KIRBY IS a large…
Outside magazine, March 1998 Field Notes: Fool’s Gold In the diaphanous mists of the Ecuadoran Andes, a king’s ransom lies buried. Or does it? By Melik Kaylan You want to hear about the treasure’s secrets?” said Andrës Fernžndez-Salvador the day…
Outside magazine, January 1996 The Outside Prognosticator: With No Giant Soda Cans, Can It Truly Be Called Freestyle? They plunged hundreds of feet while “riding” snowboards and kayaks, and crowds loved “freestyle bungee jumping” at last year’s inaugural Extreme Games. As Chris Stiepock, the event’s PR…
Outside magazine, March 1995 Ride With Pride: Progressive Machines: Mountain Bikes By Bob Howells and Gordon Black Performance in reserve — that’s the theme for this year’s mountain bikes, and you don’t have to deplete your finances to get it. Examples: Stiff, lightweight aluminum…
Outside magazine, March 1995 Big Weather: Tornadoes Greenness, hail, air pressure flattening your skull. Hide the children, save the banjo. By Jane Smiley By the time I was 25 and living in Iowa City, my fear of tornadoes was a significant fact…
Outside magazine, April 1999 Go West, and Preferably at Race Pace The training secrets of the athletes on the Old Frontier? Play often, work seldom, and always remember that the good guys wear white. Fashion by…
Outside magazine, July 1996 Geography: Dick Clark, Please Report to the Date Line Where will you be when it’s time to party like it’s 1999? By John Galvin The year 2000 may be four sweeps through the calendar away, but the race…
Outside magazine, September 1995 Racks That Take to Any Body How to carry all of your gear, on Subaru or Suburban, while feeling no strain By John Lehrer For years, sport racks have done job one–securely clamping gear to vehicle–with utter competence.
Outside magazine, November 2000 Chips on the Old Block I recently spent eight days on Mount Shasta, and I guess I fit your definition of a techreationalist (“The Everest of Silicon Valley,” Dispatches, September):…
Review: Hardware and Software, January 1997 Carving Tools New proof that gear makes the athlete: skis and snowboards that practically turn for you By Craig Dostie Whether you cruise on one plank or two, the technique everyone wants to master is…
Outside magazine, March 1996 Anthropology: Tiptoe Through the Turmoil Is scientific colonialism alive and well in Tanzania? By Kiki Yablon About 3.6 million years ago, three human-like creatures stood up and walked across the muddied volcanic ash near what is now Tanzania’s…
Outside magazine, May 1995 Cycling: And No French Aftertaste By Alan Cote Funny how the Tour DuPont sneaks up on you. On the seventh of this month, 126 of the world’s finest cyclists will finish wending their way through Appalachia in the seventh running…
Gone Summering, July 1998 Need a Little More? Sporting diversions to keep you hopping from now till Labor Day By Kimberly Lisagor July 4 Mount Marathon Race, Seward, AK Don’t be fooled by the distance —…
Gone Summering, July 1998 Where Earth and Water Mix It Up On Cape Cod, “landscape” is a word that defies definition By Paul Theroux The Cape You Don’t Know To paraphrase Heracleitus, it’s not…
Outside magazine, October 1997 Chico Mendes After he was cut down, his ideas took root By Kate Wheeler Had the Brazilian ranchers who murdered Chico Mendes known what was coming, they might never have shot…
 Outside magazine, October 1997 Uno … Dos … Tres … Urrrrnggghhh! Six thousand years of triumphant Basque sport have come down to this moment, when the toughest mother from the world’s toughest race attempts the near impossible.
The Downhill Report, December 1996 Flash! Bumps Are Actually Good For You! Not sure it’s time to return to moguls? Remember, you used to hate broccoli, too. By Michael Finkel Jonny Moseley can empathize. Although he’s a two-time World Cup overall…
 Outside magazine, December 1997 Mourning in the Land of Magic Rampant in the island nation of Indonesia is the idea that everyday life is governed by forces unseen, administered by the true leaders of the country, sorcerers known as dukuns. Among the…
Outside magazine, January 1998 Review Essentials Strength Through Simplicity By Patrick Leyland THE STREAMLINED HOME GYM | ESSENTIALS | THE OTHER STUFF | BOOKS…
Outside magazine, March 1996 1-800-SNOWJOB By Todd Balf and Paul Kvinta (with Brian Alexander and Steve Law) Organizers of the embattled Iditarod International Sled Dog Race say they expect a near-record 73 mushers at the starting line this month. Among the entrants will be…
Outside magazine, June 1996 Fallout Kudos to Outside and Alex Shoumatoff for taking on the Los Alamos National Laboratory (“Bomb City, USA,” April). The nuclear weapons money machine keeps rolling along while cleanup programs are being cut. One LANL document states that the lab’s continuing…
Outside magazine, July 1999 EXPLORATION Deep Blues Forty fathoms down, divers have been dying on the wreck of the Andrea Doria. Will this be the worst summer ever? A Mystery Endures Not long after…
Outside magazine, August 1995 Expeditions: Crampons and Spokes By Todd Balf (with Martin Dugard) This month, mountain guides Peter Bogardus and Shepard Kopp say, they’ll bring exploratory mountain biking to new extremes by pedaling to remote peaks in western China. They’re calling the expedition…
And other divinations from Tom Brown's Tracking, Nature, and Wilderness Survival School. As told by David Rakoff—Acolyte of the Standard Class, Master Bowdriller, Sweat Lodge Scaredy-Cat, and Friend to the Vole
Dispatches, February 1998 EXPEDITIONS Gramps Is Doing What? Vaughan, 92-year-old spring chicken, mushes through another Alaskan winter By Bill Donahue It’s not exactly the remark you expect to hear from a guy who’s about to hop on a dogsled…
Cycling Special, March 1997 Happier Trails to You Put in a few minutes of practice, get back hours of carefree mountain biking. Not a bad investment. By James Rodewald Your Tutor: Susan DeMattei, 34, won a bronze medal…
Outside magazine, May 1996 Politics: Let the Rivers Run. Let the Arms Be Twisted Doesn’t everybody want to save America’s fabled river of grass? On the eve of campaign ’96, President Clinton dares the GOP to say no. By Tom Kizzia When…
 Outside magazine, June 1998 Lord of All He Surveys What do you do with $150 million and an overpowering desire to save the earth? You buy your own Yosemite. And hope the natives go along with the…
Outside magazine, June 1999 I Brake for Spelunkers On Florida’s Suwannee River, giving new meaning to the phrase “way down” My Delta, Myself | A Little Good, Clean Lust in…
 Outside magazine, August 1995 By Jury-Rigged Mainsail and the Grace of God To make it through the world’s longest, most unforgiving sailing race, you need to be plenty brave, plenty foolish, and pretty handy with a wrench By Craig Vetter A…
Outside magazine, August 1996 Prescriptions: Keeping Your Cool Under Fire By Katie Arnold Exercising in scorching heat isn’t just uncomfortable–it can be downright dangerous. When the air is warmer than your skin–around 95 degrees–your body’s climate control mechanisms go postal. Convection and radiation,…
Outside magazine, March 1996 Skating: The Way We Swerved An Oregon pair finds love–and pain–in the time of urethane By Bill Donahue The relationship blossomed just over two and a half years ago on the shoulder of Interstate 5…
 Outside magazine, February 1998 Winter Olympics Preview: Nagano? Naga-Yes! Sure, this year’s Winter Olympics will have its foibles, including a gaggle of over-hyped personal stories, suspense-killing tape-delays, and TV talking heads nattering on about “adorable” pixies on skates. But that doesn’t mean…
Outside magazine, January 1998 Sport: That’s Gunther to You, Pal How we can all live out our Olympic fringe-event fantasies By Bill Donahue James Owen Merion Roberts, 1916-1997 “Sherpas give trekking agents in Nepal a most unfair…
Outside magazine, May 1995 Books: The Archdruid’s Happy Screed By Andrea Barrett Let the Mountains Talk, Let the Rivers Run: A Call to Those Who Would Save the Earth, by David Brower with Steve Chapple (HarperCollins West, $20). With the 25th anniversary of…
The Outside Seer closes out the millennium, bringing us early news from the worlds of politics, exploration, and a saucy Ukrainian minx
Outside Magazine, September 1999 Beyond the Zone As the United States prepares to hand over the canal, Panama’s wild wonders are ripe for discovery. By Alex Markels The easy way to spot quetzals: Lounge on…
Outside magazine, November 1995 Climbing: The Last Ascent of Alison Hargreaves Why did the world’s finest woman alpinist never come off K2? By Greg Child On what seemed to be a perfect August day in the Karakoram range of Pakistan, Alison Hargreaves…
1999 Family Vacation Guide, Unsung Heroes I Want to be Alone! How to find solitude in America’s most crowded national parks They’re the blockbusters: Great Smoky Mountain, Grand Canyon, Banff, Yellowstone, and Yosemite, the five most…
Outside magazine, October 1994 Environment: Guess Who’s Loping in for Dinner? Under fire from every direction, the feds are finally set to put the gray wolf back in the West By Amy Linn Ask Rénee Askins what her enemies have been saying about government…
Dispatches: News from the Field, November 1996 Sport: Could This Be the World’s Greatest Athlete? Meet Chris Waddell, Paralympic skiing legend cum sprinting hopeful By Katie Arnold At his home in western Massachusetts, 28-year-old Chris Waddell is mulling a decision…
Dispatches, March 1998 SCIENCE Is This the Audition for Stupid Pet Tricks? In the name of research, a dubious idea is born “People ask me if David Letterman knows about this,” muses neurobiologist Robert Barlow, “but I can’t imagine Mr. Letterman…
Outside magazine, April 1995 Art: The Celestial Obsession of James Turrell With vision, chisels, and bulldozers, a sculptor makes a megastatement By Tim Vanderpool From afar, James Turrell’s big dream looks like your average volcanic heap. A massive brown pile that rises…
Outside Magazine, November 1994 Running: A Tarahumara Storm By Todd Balf (with Jim Hage) Last August’s leadville trail 100, the grueling ultra-marathon waged mostly above 10,000 feet, wasn’t your typical media-free, footpath-less-traveled ultra. Scott Tinley was there, with microphone in hand, filming a CBS…
Outside magazine, July 1996 Law Enforcement: Drop that Rack, or I’ll Vaporize You Yellowstone’s infamous Antler Wars enter a new phase By Todd Wilkinson “It’s fine with us if they believe there’s a camera lurking behind every tree,” says Brian O’Dea, criminal…