Adventure
ArchiveOutside magazine, December 1995 Environment: Thank You, Sirs, May I Have Another? Bruce Babbitt braces for another whipping By Florence Williams Jayne Belnap spent much of last year watching a ten-foot-long plastic tube suck air in the Utah desert. Hitched to a…
Outside magazine, June 1994 Do Unto Smelt Thumpers The six commandments of fly-fishing humility By Randy Wayne White Fly-fishing, at its best, is a craft and so affords a studied, even serious approach, though that doesn’t mean that those who approach…
Outside magazine, August 1999 True Crimes While I bemoan changes in the Huichol Indians’ traditional way of life, I do not believe the murder of journalist Philip True last spring can be justified by the fact…
Outside 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?
Don't let Lance hog the fun. Here's how to ride your own epic stage of the world's greatest cycling race.
Pilot an ultralight and what do you get? A bird's-eye view of the world and a dose of the maverick spirit of flying.
For decades, no one has dared to run the treacherous lengths of the waters that helped launch the modern age of exploration. Civil war, freelance rebels, capricious bandits, irascible hippos, surly crocs, billions of malarial mosquitoes, and scores of rapids so deadly they're rated a suicidal Class VI—all have conspired…
An innovative dive outfitter lays plans to build a futuristic platform resort—right next to the reef
Forget space aliens and serial killers—the latest movie monster is global warming
Stacy Peralta, the director of "Dogtown and Z-Boys," is about to drop his next boarding epic, "Riding Giants," into a theatre near you—and now the Hollywood big time is calling. Josh McHugh rolls up on the auteur of the stoked set.
For champion cyclist and cancer survivor Lance Armstrong, yellow is more than just the color of the Tour de France’s leader jersey. It’s a symbol for hope, courage, and perseverance. Today, more than 47.5 million LIVESTRONG wristbands have been sold since they were first made available in May of 2004…
The growing pains of a man-child and world champion
THE FANTASY DIVE-TRIP COCKTAIL...Take 1,190 coral outposts in the Indian Ocean, add one deluxe catamaran, one dive dhoni, a large splash of sapphire-blue water, and stir.
You'll hit more surf than pavement on this 250-mile pleasure drive around the Big Island
April 14, 2004 conservation, animal rights Paris Hilton models one of Danny Seo’s seal-protest fashions Canadian wildlife officials are currently tallying the number of seals harvested in this year’s Atlantic seal hunt—one of the largest seal culls to occur in decades. The hunt is part of a…
World Champion surfer Andy Irons—our May coverboy—has a pre-season workout that proves pro-surfing's not for slackers. See if you can keep up.
Can a monster swell be tracked down and hunted like some great beast? That's the mad mission of the $3 million Billabong Odyssey, surfing's rapid-response quest to find and ride the biggest wave in history?
The hottest transgender talent in professional sports is making the competition see pink
In adventure as in life, wisdom is passed down from father to son. Or not.
Over the past few months, Outside readers submitted their tails of adventure and altruism to be considered for our “Volunteer Vacations” project in partnership with USA Weekend magazine. We’re glad to say we’ve received some great, heartwarming stories from people who gave back to the communities they visited.
Help Wanted: Exum Mountain Guides, the country's premier climbing service, is looking for supremely talented alpinists with world-class résumés for seasonal work in the Tetons. Must be willing to follow in the footsteps of legends. If qualified, don't bother calling. We'll find you.
Timmy O’Neill’s adventurous spirit was fostered in the urban open spaces surrounding his childhood home in Philadelphia. He learned to kayak at the age of five, and later explored the boundaries of Fernwood cemetery and the banks of Cob’s Creek in search of excitement—which usually involved burned-out cars and run…
Over 170 of the world’s best—and craziest—athletes tested their mettle at Crested Butte’s 2004 Saab U.S. Extreme Freeskiing Championships last month (February 25 through 28), each hoping to beat the competition with hair-raising runs down the mountain’s steep and technical Extreme Limits terrain. extreme skiing, Colorado Airborne at the…
Outside‘s March 2004 article “Facing the Fall Line” chronicles big-mountain snowboarder Steven Koch’s quest to become the first to summit Everest and then set a never-before-attempted line down its treacherous North Face. Accompanying Koch on the Everest expedition was mountaineer-photographer Jimmy Chin, who captured the powerful images that accompanied…
Good! Let's talk about what our experience of the wilderness has lost now that it's cheap and easy to stay connected—no matter how far out there you go. Ted Kerasote explores the new wired wild.
Welcome to Ghana, where commuting is a nightmare—and optimism is a bright-yellow bike of one's own
Eco-stylist Danny Seo has charisma, a fabulous new line of hipster clothing, a reality-TV show in development, and a posse of hot young actors swooning over his righteous aura. Meet the guru who's transforming America one earth-friendly Hollywood makeover at a time.
When Stephen Koch set out to snowboard the insanely steep Hornbein Couloir on Everest, he knew he might die trying. He chose life.
Freeskier Seth Morrison, 30, thinks nothing of hucking off 60-foot mountain ledges. Snowboarder Keir Dillon, 26, routinely performs McTwists 15 feet above halfpipe lips. Speed skater Derek Parra, 33, powers around an ice oval at 25 miles per hour. All three are superb athletes, but which of them is the…
What happens when a veteran mountain guide has to follow someone else's lead for a day of heli-skiing? Heads swell, powder flies, and somebody gets handed a big slice of humble pie. Dave Hahn confesses.
Seeking enlightenment and risking death, an American Muslim takes on the pilgrimage to Mecca—the world's greatest and toughest spiritual adventure
When Outside editor-at-large Hampton Sides interviewed Lance Armstrong for the July 2004 issue, the five-time Tour champion was being kneaded—buck naked—on a massage table in the Hollywood home of his rock-star girlfriend, Sheryl Crow. Here, read the complete, unabridged transcript of their discussion. OUTSIDE: Did you ever imagine that…
Five-time Tour champ Lance Armstrong talks about cancer, EPO, and the prospect of making cycling history.
The Tour's new scandal: Elite cyclists are mysteriously dropping dead
Lose the contacts and get visionary with the first prescription sunglasses designed for a multisport lifestyle
After years of leading us on, carmakers roll out the first generation of off-road-ready hybrids
So you think it's legal to yak on that walkie-talkie? Check the owner's manual, bub.
Hidalgo tells the true story of hero Frank Hopkins. Too bad it's all hogwash.
The dream of a Northwest Passage linking the Atlantic to the riches of Asia has driven explorers and visionary adventurers for centuries. With climate change in the air, Natasha Singer braves the frigid 900-mile journey to find out if the old, mythic dream is becoming an epic new reality.
We’ll show you where to find America’s most romantic retreats, what to pack for a sizzling camping trip, and more, in this online package coming February 1!…