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Generations of climbers, journalists, and scholars relied on her reporting from the foot of the world's 8,000-meter peaks
Surfer, fitness icon, and inspired inventor Laird Hamilton was tired of humping his wrenches down the fairway. So he created a motorized skateboard marketed toward the country club crowd.
The metal spires and busy streets of a city pale in comparison to snowy peaks and undulating countryside, but there's something redeeming—dare I say special—about the concrete jungle
Starting today, drones are banned in all national parks. Where’s next?
People have been trying to build a better bike almost as long as people have been trying to build a better mousetrap. With the Denny, that quest may be over—at least when it comes to urban commuting.
Camera-equipped flying robots have quickly become a staple of the adventure world, filming first ascents and nailing poachers. But that’s just the beginning. As Eric Hansen found out during a cross-country test drive, affordable consumer drones will revolutionize how we experience the outdoors.
Want to score some mega-points with your date? Whisk her off to one of these high-end slopes. They're a splurge, but worth it.
In a typical January, the fabled Japanese resort Niseko gets more snow—nearly 15 feet—than any other ski area in the world. But is there such a thing as too much?
Kick back, you earned it. And at one of these lively winter watering holes, you won't regret it.
When Eric Hansen’s parents abruptly decided to join the Peace Corps in their fifties, it was just what the family needed
Eric Hansen gets a behind-the-scenes look at the filming of a project to surf in each of India's states, nevermind that 21 (of 28) are landlocked and that the coastline is known for little more than ankle-slappers
Lots of surfers take pride in spending as little as possible on a wetsuit. What do you get if you spend more? In the best cases, exactly what you pay for.
From paddling to biking to hiking, here are the top spots from Nova Scotia to the Northwest Territories
The fact that Kobold's new Himalayan Edition watch is built with a few chunks of rock that, technically speaking, were removed illegally from Everest has caused a minor hubbub
The Quidditch World Cup sounds dorky, and make no mistake: it is. But these sorcery-loving Harry Potter fans play pretty rough, as Eric Hansen found out when he captained a bad-news team of ex-athletes, ultimate Frisbee studs, slobs, drunks, and some people he knows from Iceland. Brooms up, and may the best Muggles win.
From farm shares to bike shares, these seven flashes of genius are reinventing a metropolis near you
The skyrocketing market value of yarchagumba, a rare fungus prized as an aphrodisiac, has led to turf wars—and possibly murder.
It doesn't matter if you're Reinhold Messner or Ed Viesturs: your summit never happened unless Elizabeth Hawley says it did.
In a tech-assisted misadventure, our man finds the most difficult line between two points
Could floating in a sensory-deprivation tank for several hours be as mind-expanding as a real-life adventure? Our neurological guinea pig is about to find out.
Meet the jacket version of that warm friendliness Germans call gemütlichkeit. The microfiber inner cuffs are soft and help retain heat, the collar is snug but not too tight, and the fleecy collar caresses bare skin. Testers favored the coziness on gusty alpine ridges, when wind-resistance trumped breathability. 1.3…
Welcome to Savile Row. Enter your measurements and choose options on Beyond’s Web site and a couple weeks later take delivery of a custom-fit, custom-featured soft shell—I designed a model for cycling and nordic skiing. The one nonnegotiable characteristic—Schoeller Dryskin Extreme fabric—kept me just right during a 15-mph road…
Get howitzer-like bang for your buck with the Logic. Its functional midweight fabric—a stretchy nylon water-repellent face woven to a soft fleece lining—works for almost any activity from early spring to late fall. The high versatility is married to clean detailing (such as laser-cut zipper openings) normally reserved for…
Patagonia has virtually erased the line between soft shell and storm shell with the Spraymaster. The incredibly stretchy, astoundingly waterproof, and impressively breathable lightweight shell fuses the best of both worlds. Call it a firm shell. And rest assured, it’s the one jacket that will prompt you to seek…
This no-nonsense Canadian company specializes in “practical high performance”—a quality exemplified by the generically named but brilliantly engineered Rain Jacket. I stayed comfortably dry while cross-country skiing in a wet snowstorm, thanks to highly breathable eVent fabric and spare but effective features, like a huge chest pocket and a…
DIAD stands for “done in a day,” but even testers who didn’t speed-climb El Cap appreciated this wispy storm shell. It’s perfect for windy summits and surprise squalls—and so light we never debated packing it. Designing a seven-ounce jacket requires cutting a few corners, which in this case means…
“I’d climb Everest in this jacket,” said one tester. We doubt his fitness but not the jacket’s. A top-tier combo of Gore-Tex fabrics—ounce-saving PacLite in the torso and burly three-layer XCR on the shoulders—provides maximum durability, waterproofing, and breathability with minimum weight. Superb details include two-way pit zips, a…
Where are the gills? On a fast hike uphill in 40-degree weather, the latest iteration of Hardwear’s Epic fabric showed no signs of vapor trap. And when I picked up the pace, cracking the large pit zips and mesh-backed front pockets kept me cool. High-class touches include a laser-cut,…
If God is in the details, the Zorro is heaven-sent. The hood, which adjusts behind the head and below the chin, cinches out of view with or without a helmet—making it the best we tested. The gaping chest pockets easily accept backcountry skins or salami, and the solid pocket…
(The Hybrid)This mix-and-match jacket uses two types of fabric to deliver a blend of soft- and storm-shell performance. Waterproof-breathable nylon protects the shoulders, chest, and hips—the points where you get the most exposure. Stretchy, breathable material covers the sweat-prone areas of the core. The hybrid won’t keep you…
The low-key ranch-jacket exterior of the Hard Place conceals some trick technology. A finish called NanoSphere magically repels stains and dirt from the abrasion-resistant Schoeller WB-400 fabric. A waffled liner channels sweat away from the back. And under the arms, a lightweight stretch fleece allows venting without unwieldy pit…
Author and filmmaker Sebastian Junger on covering war, being selectively lazy, and the rewards of following the rough road.
There's a war going on in coastal Maine, where renegade crustacean gangs are forcing people to grope for their guns. ERIC HANSEN heads for the boiling waters of Matinicus Island—the site of a dockside shootout between feuding lobstermen last summer—to find out why the locals are going after each other tong and claw.
Sailing post-earthquake aid to Haiti as part of an ad hoc group seemed like an urgent—and adventuresome—opportunity. One out of two ain't bad.
After moving from Boulder, Colorado, to New York City, our boy was in desperate need of a new fitness plan. Then he discovered boxing—which worked great, until it came time to start getting hit.
After tracking down one of Italy's most eccentric vintners, our team of amateurs has a single afternoon to master one of wine-making's highest art forms.
A green motorsport event? Yup, in this case a historic race on the Isle of Man. Gentlemen, start your (battery-powered, zero-carbon, no-decibel) engines!
Paris is romantic, cultured, and sophisticated—and teeming with rollerblading fanatics? An investigation into France's most mysterious obsession.
After a brief tutorial at rodeo-clown school, our man steps into the world's most terrifying ring.
Those people who say that? They're annoying. But, as our man eventually discovers, that doesn't mean they're not on to something.
We tried to stop our man from revealing the dirty secrets of travel writing. Alas, he refused to be muzzled.
The first Filson bag I ever saw was in the callused hands of a wrangler in Grand Junction, Colorado. The next million hung from the shoulders of ad designers, junior corporate lawyers, and artfully disheveled fashion writers in Manhattan’s East Village. That’s right: Bags by Filson, makers of refined hunting-and-fishing…
Still, traversing the rugged and remote Olympic Peninsula is doable, thanks to inflatable boats called packrafts—and a bit of ingenuity
Meet José, emblem of New York City's wildlife renaissance—and the Big Apple's newest Casanova
Sailing the Caribbean, delivering homegrown chocolate bars? Good work if you can get it, which is exactly what our man did.
The craziest way to spread the gospel about North Dakota's enormous, untapped wind power? Kite-ski the bastard.
But once it hits your lips, it's so good! Join two thirsty gringos on Mexico's Tequila Trail
The new Vectrix, the only highway-legal electric bike on the market, isn’t perfect. But once I figured out how to work the counterintuitive, throttle-based regenerative brakes (forward to stop slowly, forward and lever to stop quickly or was it the other way? dang, sorry, lady!) and made peace…
She rips like Julia Mancuso. You ski blue runs. So is the relationship doomed? Dr. Eric weighs in on “Skills Deficit Syndrome” and other perils of extreme love.
Two gung-ho idiots try to demonstrate that the world’s last great forest + chainsaws = awesome skiing
To celebrate ϳԹ’s founding in the boffo year of 1976, we asked a longtime contributor to risk embarrassment by dressing as an outdoorsy dude from that era, then circulating among innocent people to watch their jaws drop. The result was an offbeat gem by one of the magazine’s most versatile and creative voices.
We sent our wayward columnist to row a boat in Cinque Terre and all we got was this lousy letter
He haughtily presumed he'd be able to work through the pain like a Mack truck. Then he met Dr. Angst and Nurse Tingle.
When our man dons a tumpline and dhoko for a five-day trek in the Himalayas, he discovers two things: Nepali porters may be the toughest workers in the universe, and there’s simply no way he can measure up
Jonathon Keats believes trees are artists, too, so he lined up 50 evergreens that seemed ready to sigh, sway, and create. Care to buy a sketch?
With our guide to bareboating, it's easier than ever to rent and rule your own sailing ship
In which our intrepid misadventurer sets out to win a marathon and quit smoking. (Hint: He only succeeds at one.)
There's only one best ski town for nighttime fun, and it's Aspen
One man, one idiotic quest: to find El Mirador, a mysterious beachfront bar in a very remote and very dangerous part of Colombia. Who knew there would be complications?
WHEN AMERICAN CLIMBER Greg Mortenson stumbled into the Pakistani village of Korphe in 1993—lost, starving, and separated from his expedition mates after an unsuccessful attempt to summit K2—he had no idea that the three days he’d spend recuperating there would change his life forever. To thank the locals who nursed…
Boxing drills aren't just for pugs anymore—they'll jump-start your fitness for mountain biking, paddling, climbing, and more
Three months of pure freedom. You're loving it—and we are, too. From big water to big walls, from oyster stands to dune shacks, fifty-one sunny ways to dive in when the mercury rises.
Think yoga is for wimps? You haven't reckoned with Peter "Iron Yogi" Seamans, the star bodybuilder who wants to get you ripped—one urinating-dog pose at a time.
Living well is a European tradition, but playing hard is the continent's secret passion. We discover five towns where you'll be both challenged and charmed.
A generation ago, mounting an expedition meant drafting a herd of porters, slogging loads of gear to a rocky base camp, and laying siege to a Himalayan peak. These days, light, fast, and self-supported expeditions are in, and multisport explorers like Mike Libecki, Mark Synnott, and Brad Ludden are showing us how to do it. Here, our preview of the hottest adven
High over Hemingway's Africa, our hero discovered a last epic feat somehow still undone. Going where no man has ever bothered to go before, he vowed to become the first person to descend Mount Kilimanjaro on a pair of stubby Kneissel Big Foot snowboards. Never mind that it was illegal, and basically insane.
TALL LATTE BEFORE WORK, double espresso in the afternoon, short cappuccino after dinner—it's the only way to tolerate Seattle's gray days. But when the clouds break and the Cascades, the Olympics, and Puget Sound appear, you know where you need to be. Grab a quadruple shot and get going.