Survival
Archive
A firsthand account of a free-solo accident in the Sierra Nevada
After an American Army captain came home traumatized from the war, he lost his ability to love. It took the wilderness to reopen his heart.
For elite mountain athlete Hillary Allen, a near deadly fall was the start of a long, winding journey to find a new source of strength and purpose
Lyme-carrying ticks are a bigger threat than ever. A promising new antibody treatment looks to stop infection—even after a tick bite.
To live in the small town of Haines, Alaska, is to live with bears, with roughly one brown bear for every nine human residents. Last winter, a local snowboarder woke a hibernating brown bear in the backcountry and was severely injured, furthering tensions between food-stressed bears and anxious local residents. But in most encounters, it’s the bear that ends up dead, prompting the question of what it means to coexist.
Kyle Dickman had spent his life chasing adventure. But after nearly dying from a snake bite, he saw menacing risks everywhere he went.
Bus 142 spent 60 years sitting in the Alaskan backcountry and saw thousands of visitors before it ended up at the Museum of the North in Fairbanks. Now a team of conservators, students, and volunteers face the challenge ahead.
Grizzly and black bears have killed five people in North America over the last five months. Is this cause for concern?
Phillip Dwight Morgan became obsessed with the hit History Channel series during quarantine. It inspired him to dive into survivalism and gave him skills to navigate an unprecedented year.
That shiny sheet of plastic you have wadded up at the bottom of your daypack can help you stay alive. Will it help you stay comfortable? That’s a different story.
Despite warnings, rules, and common sense, tourists in Yellowstone keep approaching bears and bison.
From ‘Naked and Afraid’ to ‘Running Wild with Bear Grylls,’ these are our picks for the most riveting adventure series on TV
To really understand the outer limits of dehydration, you need to listen to the remarkable story of Pablo Valencia
The remarkable survival story of Claire Nelson, whose solo hike in the desert turned into a desperate fight for her life
In September 2017, Outside published a feature about the ‘Berserk,’ a ship that went missing in 2011 off the coast of Antarctica with three men aboard. The expedition leader, Jarle Andhoy, disagreed with the story we published, which contained some factual errors, and with our portrayal of the lost men of the ‘Berserk.’ He also believed that the story left out crucial information about the days before the ship’s disappearance. Outside editor in chief Christopher Keyes interviewed Andhoy and his lawyer, Gunnar Nerdrum Aagaard, to better understand new details the two have gathered, which may help explain what happened to the men on board.
Digging deep with journalist Daniel Barbarisi, whose new account reveals the very real danger of the chase
A tragedy forced Savannah Cummins to come to terms with the fact that doing what she loves means putting lives in danger
Sometimes the biggest threat in the wilderness is another human
Cyclist and explorer Kate Leeming ventures across Namibia's Skeleton Coast in this series
When Joe Stone crashed his paraglider into a mountain, his days as an athlete were supposed to be finished. But Joe had other plans.
Investigators, family, and friends are still trying to close the case of Paul Fugate, a naturalist at Arizona’s Chiricahua National Monument who vanished without a trace in 1980. What keeps them motivated to stick with a mystery that may be unsolvable?
Wes Siler explains why absolutely everyone should keep one of these $40 MSR Home Emergency water filters around
All too often, we tell ourselves that being scared is just part of an adventure. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
What happens if a natural disaster strikes and you’re away from home?
A new book by the acclaimed science journalist Michelle Nijhuis looks at human attempts to save other species from extinction, from John Muir to the World Wildlife Fund
Planning a trip to or through a place with unreliable utilities? Plan for a blackout.
Vaccines are rolling out with increasing speed, but we’ll also need effective treatments, because new coronavirus cases will be a worldwide reality for years to come. Enter Jacob Glanville, a maverick San Francisco immunologist who believes he’s found an unparalleled path to healing.
An avalanche is every backcountry adventurer’s worst nightmare. Know what to do with your beacon in case the worst happens.
When an avalanche killed Caroline Gleich’s brother, it didn’t end her pro skiing dreams. But it did change her approach to the mountains.
The desperate race to save a skier who disappeared under an avalanche
Sometimes our darkest moments create the best kind of magic
Ten years ago, heli-ski guide Erin Tierney survived a helicopter crash and began a relentless journey of healing and recovery. Battling injuries invisible to the naked eye, she fought to reframe and regain her hold on the life she loved.
When a massive swell surprised author William Finnegan, he was left with only one option: paddle for his life
What does it take to get through the worst-case scenario? A very special combination of physical and mental strength.
These eight titles will keep your wanderlust fired up for when it's safe to travel again
The Selk'bag is here to help you survive a pandemic winter
How Spain's Natxo González prepares his body and mind to tackle the biggest swell on earth
BASE-jumping pioneer Jeb Corliss is one of the original madmen, a fiend for the extreme who has miraculously survived multiple crash landings in a sport that rarely allows second chances. Now, at 44, with a self-diagnosed psychological disorder, he's embarking on his most fraught journey yet: into the depths of his own mind.
He survived multiple crash landings that should have killed him. But as Corliss sees it, risking everything was the only way to live.
Wilderness pros are trained to deal with physical injuries, but what about the psychological trauma that can result while on an expedition, from fear and stress, or from watching someone die in a fall, an avalanche, or whitewater? Australian psychologist and mountaineer Kate Baecher created a training program to equip guides and athletes with a tool kit to handle the worst mental distress we encounter when we're far from help.
In this new alien invasion comedy, a relaxing vacation in the woods takes an unexpected turn
Kyle Burgess was on a trail run when he came upon a protective mama mountain lion. Using his phone, he filmed her as she escorted him away from her cubs for six terrifying minutes. He had no idea he’d just shot internet gold.
What to do when you're on an outdoor adventure and disaster strikes
Wim Hof's teachings about breath work and the health benefits of cold plunges have attracted millions of followers who swear it has cured everything from depression to diabetes and makes them happier and stronger. Our writer traveled to Iceland (naturally) for a deep dive with the man and his methods.
It's one of the most astonishing survival stories we’ve ever heard—and it might even be true
In an excerpt from 'The Cold Vanish,' a new book about people who disappear in the wild, Outside contributor Jon Billman looks at the rare, tragic case of a fat-tire rider who couldn't be found
From Expedition Overland, 'How We Organize Our Medical Kit' shows the safety supplies these travelers bring on off-road adventures
Spanish-speaking guides call the drug "levanta muertos" for the way it "brings life to a dead person"
On a solo expedition in the Himalayas, whitewater paddler Nouria Newman nearly drowned—then found her purpose
A self-proclaimed "soft" writer tries to beef up his end-of-world skills during quarantine
The anonymous finder now has a million-dollar headache
This spring, photographer Kiliii Yuyan gathered his camera equipment and, practicing social-distancing guidelines, explored the West Coast to find out how it's been faring in the age of COVID-19
Filmmaker Eric Hanson describes a harrowing account of how serious flash floods can be
Gina Rae La Cerva's 'Feasting Wild' is a delightful culinary travel book. It's also an adjustment to the way we think about what that buzzword actually means
Homesteaders were ready for this. Here's how to kick your self-sufficiency skills into high gear.
A deeply personal story of one rider’s painful saga—and what we can all learn from it
Rugged, high-clearance, all-wheel-drive vehicles are great for getting out there—but at what cost to cyclists and pedestrians?
I was biking home when you barreled into me with your car and left me to die
Being involved in a crash with a driver while on a bike or on foot is bad enough, but the trouble doesn’t always stop when you get yourself to safety. Navigating the justice and insurance systems afterward can also be an ordeal.
COVID-19 is going to limit and slow relief—and increase the importance of personal preparedness
When it's highly diluted to clear water of pathogens, it could save your life
Wouldn't it be great if there was a technique that would allow us to vanquish fear and beat back stress?
In his new book, 'The Wedge,' bestselling author Scott Carney travels the world to investigate the surprisingly effective methods humans have developed to rewire our brains and control our response to stress. And it all starts with taming fear.
The military's toughest training challenges have a lot in common with outdoor sufferfests like the Barkley Marathons and the Leadville Trail 100: you have to be fit and motivated to make the starting line, but your mind and spirit are what carry you to the end. A Ranger graduate breaks down an ordeal that shapes some of the nation's finest soldiers.
A crew of daring twentysomethings had a half-baked plan to canoe through the jungle. Not surprisingly, they ran into all sorts of trouble.
Last December, around 100 tourists set out for New Zealand's Whakaari/White Island, where an active volcano has attracted hundreds of thousands of vacationers since the early 1990s. It was supposed to be a routine six-hour tour, including the highlight: a quick hike into the island's otherworldly caldera. Then the volcano exploded. What happened next reveals troubling questions about the risks we're willing to take when lives hang in the balance.
A slab of snow fell and trapped her in a streambed in a place where few skiers dared to go
In Oregon's Clackamas County, a fight between a sheriff and an elite search and rescue unit reveals how local politics can collide with recreational safety for residents and visitors alike
“You could pull this thing out of a flooded basement, rip it open, and start filtering water immediately,” says MSR Product Developer Owen Mesdag
Sometimes, the idea of living self-sufficiently in the woods, far from crowds and grocery stores, doesn't sound so bad. Lynx Vilden has been doing just that for decades, while teaching others how to live primitively, too.
America's patchwork laws on big-cat ownership create all kinds of problems—like when people let their dangerous kitties go free
When the Discovery Channel invited me to audition for its popular survival-challenge reality show, I knew it was going to be rough. What followed was one of the most intense experiences of my life.
The hardest thing for Blair Braverman wasn't being naked on national television—it was the fact that people thought it was fake
Here are the tools Blair Braverman prepared for her time on 'Naked and Afraid'
Yes, it's serious, and it's time to start taking some practical precautions
This is one of the most common issues dog owners face
On Labor Day weekend 2019, the 'Conception' left Santa Barbara, California, for a diving trip to the Channel Islands. Six months later, authorities are still trying to determine how what should have been a routine excursion became one of the deadliest maritime disasters in U.S. history.