The outdoor sports world seems filled lately with so many ultrafill-in-the-blank races that my normal, hours of activity a day, schedule is makingme feel lazy. And itlooks like yet another grueling mountain bike endurance race will be croppingup on the radar. Pierre’sHole, a 50/100 mile race held…

Pacific Crest Heli-Guides recently announced that they will offer helicopter skiing and snowboarding in Lake Tahoe for the upcoming 2010-2011 winter season. Pacific Crest Heli-Guides teamed up with HeliTahoe to promise powder-seekers access…

Anthony Bourdain's new book is Medium Raw. What's more difficult—writing orcooking?Cooking is physical, which is why I havefeelings of self-loathing and guilt about the way things are going for me. Itdoesn’t feel like work. After…

On August 26, Aaron “Wheelz” Fotheringham became the first person in a wheelchair to land a double backflip. The 18-year old, who was born with Spina Bifida, had been dreaming about the double since he landed his first…

Yesterday Vail Resorts announced EpicMix, an app where Twitter meets ski lodge tall tales. The press release, which we covered this morning, reviewed the what and when. Rob Katz, Vail Resorts' CEO, gave me the skinny on the why and how – and…

Vail Resorts has released a new ski and snowboard gaming app for iPhone, Droid, and Blackberry. Visitors can track and share their time on the slopes through the app via radio chips embedded in their ski passes. Mashable.com has an in-depth…

Our aching Lab Rat put the world's most expensive ice pack to the test. In this podcast, Nick Heil reads his article on Game Ready, a $2,500 healing machine. Read Heil's article. Outside Magazine,…

Montana-based mountaineer Conrad Anker is no stranger to big mountain challenges. At 44, he's made first ascents in Antarctica and the Himalayas; in May 1999, he discovered the frozen body of British climber George Mallory at 27,000 feet on Everest's North Face. But the question remains: Did Mallory and partner…

Poor Eric Hansen. After heading all the way over to Nepal to take a stab at the Way of the Sherpa, he found out that all those wiry, diminutive porters are actually pretty big badasses, and your average dude probably shouldn't attempt to do their thankless job. But it seems…

You were told that Everest base camp is an insult to the true spirit of mountaineering. But why weren't you told about the excellent bars, the butter people, and that friendly playboy bunny from Poland? Kevin Fedarko spent a month at the world's most exclusive party town for his July…

Welcome to the tropical Philippine island of Jolo, where life is like a Corona ad—coconut trees, white-sand beaches, bathtub-warm seas. Except those guys in the water are U.S. Green Berets, and those kids on dirt bikes are jihadists known for kidnapping Western tourists. Even stranger? On this front, at least,…

As average Americans travel farther afield, a veteran traveler starts to feel, well, average. Travel writer Tim Neville shares his view on the growing trend of Americans traveling to dangerous places. (His advice? Be afraid. Please.) Read Neville's story. Outside Magazine, January…

With the latest iPod evolution, our human guinea pig turns on, tunes in, and…drops out? Outside's Lab Rat puts Nike's new iPod training system through its paces. In this podcast, Nick Heil reads his review of the Nike + iPod Sport Kit.

Can a performance supplement be legal, healthy, and effective? Our Lab Rat pops a few to find out. Nick Heil reads his story on Optygen, made by First Endurance. Outside Magazine, February 2007 Download Lab Rat: Revving Up…

When freeskier Kit DesLauriers dropped in at 29,035 feet on Mount Everest in October, she became the first person to ski off the Seven Summits. Kit, her husband, Rob, and photographer Jimmy Chin—whose exclusive images appear here—also became the first Americans to ski…

Welcome to the new Bolivia, where former coca grower Evo Morales has made the leaf a symbol of his two-year-old government. Now everybody's growing it, everybody's chewing it, and the war on drugs has taken a very strange turn. In this podcast, reporter Josh Hammer talks to Anthony Cerretani about…

John Harlin talks to Anthony Cerretani about his quest to climb the mountain that claimed his father's life and his book about the journey: The Eiger Obsession. Read an excerpt from The Eiger Obsession.

Greg MacGillivray, 61-year-old cofounder of Laguna Beach, California–based MacGillivray Freeman Films and director of the 1998 Imax hit Everest, is as passionate about water conservation as he is about filmmaking. His film Grand Canyon Adventure 3D, made in partnership with Teva and the Waterkeeper Alliance, debuted in March 2008.

The new patriarch of the first family of the sea, Jean-Michel, 68-year-old son of the legendary Jacques Cousteau, is founder and president of the Ocean Futures Society, a nonprofit dedicated to ocean conservation and education. Son of the legendary Jaques Cousteau, Jean-Michel, talks to Anthony Cerretani about his latest…

Guess who's hot in Hollywood? Will Steger. With producers suddenly primed to make environmental films, the legendary polar explorer hit L.A. with a scary pitch about global warming—and he was a smash. In this podcast, Senior Editor, Stephanie Pearson, reads her profile of Minnesota's Will…

Uber-athlete Laird Hamilton talks to Outside editor Mike Roberts about catching big waves and staying in peak shape. Want Hamilton's abs? Listen up. Outside Magazine, June 2007 Download Athlete Interview: Laird Hamilton…

Chris Carmichael, founder of Carmichael Training Systems and Lance Armstrong's former coach, gives fitness tips, talks about how he built his fitness empire, and discusses what's next for him. Interview by Anthony Cerretani Outside Magazine, May 2007…

In October 2006, Jackson, Wyoming's Kit DesLauriers became the first woman to ski from the top of Everest—and the first person to carve the Seven Summits. In an Outside exclusive, superguide Dave Hahn went along for the seminal schussing. In this podcast, Hahn talks to Anthony Cerretani about the record-breaking…

The latest films and fashions from seven of the brightest stars at this year's Mountainfilm in Telluride festival.

Every year, men in the UK waste £2000, or about $3100 in gas driving around lost, Treehugger.com reports. According to a study released by women-only British insurance company,…

It seems like dramatic, last-minute sends are coming into vogue forrock climbers. First came Paul Robinson's last-day success last weekin Rocklands. Now, Norwegian climber Magnus Midtbø has managed thefirst repeat of the ultra-hard…

Picture Courtesy of Online Photography School The Billabong Pro Tahiti surf contest finally began today after seven consecutive lay days, Surfersvillage reports. The contest, event number…

I ended up getting out of the office for a few days to get a taste of Canadian singletrack at the TransRockies…

By Stephen Regenold Panoramas, summit shots, trailhead embarkations, sunsets, and battlewounds — the photographic proof is a requisite for any grandadventure. As such, I rarely under-pack in the camera department. Formore than a decade, starting with a Pentax K1000 camera and…

Two hikers on a day trip in Canada's Columbia Ice Fields found the body of an American climber who went missing in 1989, MSNBC reports. The body, found in a melting…

It is that time of year for climbing to resume on the Himalayan 8000m peaks. Fall brings attention to the 'other' 8000m mountains near Everest: Makalu, Manaslu, Pumori and Ama Dablam in Nepal and Cho Oyu and Shishapangma in Tibet. And of course, Everest. Fall climbing in Nepal and…

Sylvia Earle on stage during Session 1 on the Mission Blue Voyage in the Galapagos. Credit: TED/James Duncan Davidson Sylvia Earle dives into all things blue. She moves equally well through conversations on ocean technology, ocean politics, ocean lifestyle, ocean science, and ocean exploration. In 1966,…

“First Ascent: The Series” Trailer from Sender Films on Vimeo. Sender Films has released First Ascent: The Complete Series, a great new collection of climbing videos starring the likes of Dean Potter, Chris Sharma, and Alex Honnold. The entire…

If you don't live in the Australian or Middle Eastern deserts, or spend time looking for ants in Arizona and New Mexico, chances are you haven't seen these three desert-dwelling animals, highlighted in a new slide show on Treehugger.com. …

Courtesy of thelastminute on Flickr. Today the fifth consecutive lay day was declared at the Billabong Pro at Teahupoo, Tahiti after suitable swells again failed to show at the legendary break, Transworld Surf reports.

A new study shows that physically clean people are more inclined than dirty people to judge others harshly, Wired reports. Researchers at Northwestern university invited 58 undergrads to a shiny new lab to “rate the morality of…

Hood To Coast Movie Trailer from HoodToCoastMovie on Vimeo. The Hood to Coast relay, a 197-mile relay run from 6,000 feet up Oregon's Mt. Hood to the town of Seaside, starts tomorrow. Over its 28-year…

Courtesy of Ramón Peco on Flickr. When the 75th Vuelta a España begins on August 28, it will be one marked by absence. Alberto Contador, the 2008 winner of the Vuelta and 2010 Tour de France winner, and Alejandro Valverde,…

Presenting 51 dream trips, daring quests, essential skills, and exalted states of body and mind.

How can I make an emergency rain shelter with a tarp? The Editors Santa Fe, NM

I love going to Burning Man but the environment just destroys all my point-and-shoot cameras. Dust gets in there and after a few days the pictures start getting blurry and a few days after that the moving parts stop moving. The reason I have sacrificed these point-and-shoot cameras is because the best shots are at night, turning on the flash just lights up the dust in the air and not the environment, and I like keeping the camera in a pocket so if I'm running around its not flying all over the place. Do you know of an indestructible camera that takes awesome night shots, if not a moderately priced sacrificial camera that takes great night shots where fire and glow sticks are the main source of light? -Daniel Long Beach, CA

Presenting 25 of the best adventure, investigative, and nature documentaries ever. Plus: the best of a new generation of action films.

Listening up-tempo music during a workout will make you push harder, even if the effort hurts more, the New York Times reports. In a British study published…

By Stephen Regenold They come from Sweden. They are set with gridpatterns of carbide-tip studs. Their job is to conquer the gnarliest terrain arunner may ever see. The Icebug SPIRIT OLX, an aggressive yet fabulouslynimble sports car of a shoe, is among the coolest…

A Thai woman tried to check a two-month old tiger cub onto a flight last Sunday, the New York Times reports. Bangkok Airport security workers found the cub when the woman's over-sized bag went through the x-ray machine.

A 29-year-old Swiss woman drowned while trying to cross the Teklaneka river en route to the old Fairbanks city bus made famous in the book Into the Wild. Chris McCandless lived out of the bus in…

You've all seen the apps that will stylize your photos and give them that nineties-era cross-processed look, the dark vignetted corners, or the American Apparel Lomo look. But here is a way to combine iPhone apps to shoot in the style of some of Outside's favorite photographers. Yes, we realize…

What exercises will help improve my reaction time as a lacrosse goalie? Lax Asheville, NC

In between grad school, performance art, and soap opera episodes, actor James Franco found time to star in director Danny Boyle's new movie about Aron Ralston's survival story. You can check…

We saw this Amazing Planet parkour video today and thought back to when our own Lab Rat went in for a Parkour workout. These guys take it a step further.

Above, Payne climbs Castaway. Click here to watch a video of Angie Payne's Automator climb. Last week, Angie Payne pushed women’s bouldering to a new level when she made the first female ascent of The Automator (V13) in Rocky Mountain National…

Ryan Rzepecki's Social Bicycles System might be the most affordable way for cities to implement bike sharing networks, Shareable reports. The Social Bicycles System, or SoBi, allows commuters to “use their smartphones to locate,…

Why is it so hard to find cycling apparel that doesn't make me look like a boy? The Editors Santa Fe, NM

Is it safe to use one of those Brita pitchers to filter river and lake water while camping? -Eric Oakland, CA

I would like to do an overnight kayak trip, but don't want to camp. Any suggestions in the Mid-Atlantic states? -Sandy Mechanicsburg, PA

There has been a surge in anatomically-named fitness products lately. Cyclist Dave Zabriskie released his anti-chaffing cream, DZ Nuts (pronounced dees nuts) in 2008. Anti-Monkey Butt Powder, developed in 2003, became the anti-chaffing product of…

(Robyn Dunn and a friend August, 2010) When ultrarunner and Ironman athlete, Robyn Dunn, felt short of breath in the early miles of a 50K trail run on August 22, 2009, volunteers and friends blamed the heat or exercise-induced asthma. Little did the 31-year…

After almost two months of work, climber Paul Robinson has managed to make the second ascent of Monkey Wedding (V15), an until-now unrepeated problem established by Swiss boulderer Fred Nicole in South Africa's Rocklands. According to 27Crags.com, Robinson called Monkey Wedding…

A new Australian resort built by Unilever, makers of Axe products, will open in November–for men only, the New York Post reports. Lynx Lodge, located just outside of Sydney, promises to fulfill…

Patagonia has released its Environmental Initiatives 2010 E-book, and you should check it out. It's not just a place for the company to geek out about how many tons of clothing it has recycled since the start of its Common Threads program…

Police officers raiding a marijuana farm in British Columbia last week were astonished last when they discovered ten bears guarding the property, the BBC reports. The bears loped into view as the five officers approached. …

Duncan Callahan (Vasque) of Gunnison, Colorado took the Leadville Trail 100 ultra-marathon this weekend, with a time of  17:43:24. The race took place just a week after the LT100 Mountain Bike race. The excruciating 100-mile out-and-back foot…

Snowboarding doesn't stop in the summertime, as far as Gretchen Bleiler is concerned. The 29-year-old Olympian has been spending time working on tricks, riding in the back country, and coaching the next generation of riders at camps…

Yes, you can snowboard in the summer. And you don't have to go to the ends of the earth to do it. Just buy a plane ticket to Portland, Oregon, and get yourself to Mt. Hood, a little over an hour's drive from the airport. Hit the…

I went snowboarding for a week on Mt. Hood in Oregon this August. I'd never boarded before, nor was I much of a skier, so the learning curve was steep. Ultimately, I survived the trip with all my body parts in tact, while managing to make some pretty sweet turns…

By Stephen Regenold The marketing spiel does not mix words: Outside Labs Inc., a startupsunscreen maker in Gardena, Calif., touts its SCAPE product line as”the most advanced sunblock on the planet.” When the company came onto the market this spring, it intended to makea…

Seventeen days after being trapped by a mining accident in Chile, 33 miners were able to communicate with rescuers through a hole that had been drilled to see if they were still alive, reports the BBC.

Craptastic weather is well on the way. Are you and your bike engaged in a farewell fling in anxious anticipation of the fall day that you'll dismiss her to the garage or basement? I sure hope not. It's so much fun to ride year round. Once you're out there…

It's my third day shooting a film for the non-profit Save Our Wild Salmon about a select group of fish that swim 800 miles, the longest salmon migration in the world, from the Pacific Ocean to Idaho's 10,000-foot Sawtooth Mountains. I'm joined…

The La Sportiva Mountain Cup trail running series wrapped up Saturday in Taos, NM. The ten race series was won by Megan Kimmell and Ryan Woods, who both took home $5,000 for scoring the most points during the entire series. Bryon Powell, our friend over at iRunFar.com,…

Tomorrow, the Copenhagen Wheel, a simple wheel attachment for your bicycle that gathers power as you brake, will compete against an international field of inventions for a shot at the 2010 James Dyson Award, reports Discovery News.

UCSD graduate student Benjamin Thompson wants the process of selecting a surfboard to be a little bit more scientific. The Ph.D. candidate is researching how composite fibers in surfboards react to different users, according to wired.com. Thompson is bulding a system for measuring the flex…

Photo Courtesy of Flickr Scottish adventurer Jock Wishart will attempt to row to the magnetic pole next summer with a small, specially selected team, the Adventure Blog reports. The expedition will set out through Resolute Bay, Canada, and attempt…

Last summer, in our June issue, we wrote about our favorite summer music festivals. Jazz Aspen Snowmass, of course, was one of them. Well, Labor Day Weekend is nearly here and a bunch of us are…

The landing gear on Sir Richard Branson's private spaceship carrier plane, WhiteKnightTwo, collapsed on the runway in Mojave, California, Reuters reports. The plane was designed by Scaled Composites, a wholly owned subsidiary of Northrop Grumman, and designed to…

Early this month, a Wisconsin woman stuck her hand down a black bear's throat to save the bear from choking, The Lakeland Times reports. Patricia Torres, 47, woke up at 5:30am to hear a sow…

TypePad has a feature where it remembers titles of posts much like your address operates. So I typed in Pro Specialized rider…

Researchers from the University of Portsmouth in England recently attached reflective markers to the breasts of a group of female runners to test whether breast movement altered running form, NYT reports.  Researchers had the women jog along the track while wearing several different bras, or none…

What do you get when you toss award-winning documentaries, artists, activists and adventurers all into Aspen’s Wheeler Opera House? The second annual MountainSummit in Aspen, a four-day celebration of film, adventure and advocacy. A slightly downsized…

Sometimes, when there's a big environmental problem that defies immediate understanding, it helps to resort to fourth grade science experiments. In June, Carl Safina pointed out during a TED talk that he believed bombarding oil with dispersants near the spill likely helped…