Alberto Contador won the 2010 Tour de France on Sunday and stepped up on the podium to claim his prize. For more videos, including a look back at this year’s race, check out Versus.–Joe Spring@joespring…

Winter camping doesn't have to suck if you carry this shelter from Seek Outside with you

Study calls for ammo controls

Jon Krakauer: Into the Wild February 19, 1996 How is his family doing? Where is the scholarship fund? What did Chris weigh before he began to starve? Wasn’t death the predictable outcome of such naiveté? This confirms my favorite magazine and Web site If…

Week of September 10-16, 1998 Europe in the fall and on the cheap Canoeing Temagami Lake area of Ontario Planning bike route from Bay Area to Yosemite Europe in the fall and on the cheap By Jake BrooksQuestion: I want to go to Europe for…

The Tamaroa on the way to help the crew of the sailboat Satori. Photo: U.S. Coast Guard, 1991 No ship has cut a path through history quite like the Zuni/Tamaroa. Soon after the Navy commissioned the 205-foot salvage tug the Zuni on October 9, 1943, the vessel traveled all…

Good for Backcountry We’ve never really liked previous integrated probe-shovel combos—they’ve been either short (the probe), cumbersome (getting it out of the shaft of the shovel), or both. The Arsenal is different. The ten-inch-wide blade and sturdy aluminum construction can move serious snow. And the seven-foot-ten-inch 240 probe is…

My son loves his waterproof shell, my rickety knees love my hiking poles, my feet love my boots, and we eat well using our stove, all of which you've helped educate us about... Now what about tarps for two? We mostly do cool-weather camping along the AT, so bugs aren't too big a problem. Are there any moderately priced models that you recommend? One other question: Back in the Middle Ages, when tarps were called pup tents, we trenched them to stay dry in the rain. Is this still standard practice in these enlightened times? J.P. Raleigh, North Carolina

Death by flood less common than by lightning

One of climbing’s most famous survival sagas began on the night of July 13, 1977, after British mountaineers CHRISTIAN BONINGTON and Doug Scott completed the first ascent of Pakistan’s 23,900-foot Baintha Brakk—a beastly massif known as The Ogre. During his rappel down, Scott swung wildly across the face and broke…