Published
With his leg stuck and temperatures dropping, one hiker thought he'd never get out of a remote Utah canyon alive
Don't worry, this tale has a happy ending
After losing his bear spray, Colin Dowler was caught with nothing but a tiny Buck knife
When she realized a mountain lion was stalking her, Dee Gallant knew exactly what to do—blast some heavy metal
After a climbing partner became ill, high winds stranded Yev Krasnitskiy and his team on the upper reaches of Mount Rainier for five days with no way to go but up
In the 1990s, thousands of bones and bone fragments mysteriously went missing from Effigy Mounds National Monument in Iowa, the continental epicenter of Native American burial remains. In December 2015, a detective with the National Park Service tracked down the artifacts—and the man who stole them.
Some of them trained for years to save lives. Others came to the rescue by following their noses. They all earned our eternal gratitude.
What to do when your No. 1 bud goes down in the field
Your number-one travel companion wants more than a vacation. Presenting our favorite trips to satisfy his (and your) wanderlust.
The history of tornadoes in the U.S. by the numbers—and 4 tips on how to survive one
Finish one of these nine races, and everything afterward will seem like a neighborhood fun run.
Tips for surviving seven of the world's deadliest adventures
From farm shares to bike shares, these seven flashes of genius are reinventing a metropolis near you
Contrary to what the recycled-sandal wing of the environmental movement might think, greening the world takes sacrifice, hard work, and a lot of cash. At least that’s the impression you get from reading Edward Humes’s Eco Barons: The Dreamers, Schemers, and Millionaires Who Are Saving Our Planet ($26, Ecco). Humes,…
After a half-century on his hands and knees, poking at bugs, Harvard ant geek and accidental eco-celebrity E.O. Wilson, 79, is back with The Superorganism: The Beauty, Elegance, and Strangeness of Insect Societies (W.W. Norton, $65), co-written with Bert HÖlldobler. It’s a follow-up of sorts to their 1991 Pulitzer Prize…
Science writer Richard Preston has chased stories up 400-foot redwoods (see his 2007 book The Wild Trees) and into medical-research labs (1995's The Hot Zone), where his biohazard suit ripped open, potentially exposing him to a deadly, unidentified virus. In Panic in Level 4 (Random House, $26), a collection of updated stories
A guidebook writer reveals the truth about his trade, in detail that will shock and awe
Dear Airlines, So things got tough a few years ago—jet-fuel prices skyrocketed, low-cost carriers put the squeeze on, profits nose-dived. You had to make big changes. We understood, we gave you space. And in spite of what your many, many critics say, you actually got a few things right. Tickets…
Vollmann trades the bourgeois life for vagabonding—and a freight car with a view
The oldest, youngest, fastest, or baldest to row backwards across the Pacific? Please don't ask me to care.
The Wild Trees: A Story of Passion and Daring Want it? Get it Buy The Wild Trees and Animal, Vegetable, Miracle at amazon.com.Richard Preston & Barbara Kingsolver RICHARD PRESTONRANDOM HOUSE, $26…
The Wild File: Outdoor Questions AnsweredSUBMIT YOUR QUESTION FOR THE WILD FILE HERE: wildfile@outsidemag.comIf we use your question in an upcoming issue of ϳԹ, you'll receive a free one-year subscription!
The Wild File: Outdoor Questions AnsweredSUBMIT YOUR QUESTION FOR THE WILD FILE HERE: wildfile@outsidemag.comIf we use your question in an upcoming issue of ϳԹ, you'll receive a free one-year subscription!
The Wild File: Outdoor Questions AnsweredSUBMIT YOUR QUESTION FOR THE WILD FILE HERE: wildfile@outsidemag.comIf we use your question in an upcoming issue of ϳԹ, you'll receive a free one-year subscription!
The Wild File: Outdoor Questions AnsweredSUBMIT YOUR QUESTION FOR THE WILD FILE HERE: wildfile@outsidemag.comIf we use your question in an upcoming issue of ϳԹ, you'll receive a free one-year subscription!
The Bermuda Triangle isn't the only place you might witness the unexplained.
There's a lot to love about the Arkansas Ozarks: fresh trout, sick singletrack, and the onset of rural chic
No Shortcuts to the Top No Shortcuts to the Top No Shortcuts to the TopThere Is No Me Without You There Is No Me Without You Ed Viesturs, with David Roberts (Broadway, $24) WHEN SEATTLE mountaineer Ed Viesturs topped out on 26,545-foot…
The Wild File: Outdoor Questions AnsweredSUBMIT YOUR QUESTION FOR THE WILD FILE HERE: wildfile@outsidemag.comIf we use your question in an upcoming issue of ϳԹ, you'll receive a free one-year subscription!
If you count insects, then mosquitoes are the most prolific killers, transmitting diseases that take out at least two million a year. Our own kind is second: In recent decades, we've offed an average of one million of ourselves annually. But if you're talking claws-out, fur-flying, fangs-bared, When Animals Attack…
Get behind the wheel for the Banger Rally, a 4,500-mile blitz from England to the Sahara in which globe-trotting wrench-heads, posh speed freaks, and sand-blinded adventurers crank up the crazy and stomp on the gas
The future doesn’t just happen. The next frontiers of adventure, fitness, gear, and sport are crafted by bold visionaries with world-changing dreams—and the minds and muscles to make them real. Behold the 25 all-star innovators leading us beyond tomorrow. 1. Conrad Anker: High-Altitude Altruist 2. Josh Donlan:…
Fifty years ago this August, Sir Hugh Beaver, of the Guinness brewing company, commissioned a London fact-finding agency to compile a book of records so British pub-goers could discuss something besides their aching livers. The resulting Guinness Book of World Records, which issues a new edition each October, has since…
Until early last year, the ivory-billed woodpecker was presumed extinct—there hadn’t been a confirmed sighting of the 20-inch-tall bird, once common in the southeastern United States, since 1944. But in April, after a yearlong hunt involving sophisticated remote sound-recording technology and plenty of neck craning, ornithologists announced that at least…
Don't just hike—follow in the footsteps of famous explorers and naturalists
Earth-friendly cool is everywhere, from Hollywood and innovative building design to hybrid cars and candy bars. You live, breathe, and play green already—so why not come full circle by bringing it all back home?
When four-time Iditarod champ Doug Swingley quit last year’s race after frozen corneas left him unable to see, no one questioned his grit. Who would mush some 1,200 frozen miles from Anchorage to Nome, Alaska, blind? Actually, Rachael Scdoris would. The 20-year-old from Bend, Oregon, will be at the starting…
Rod Liberal was climbing in the Grand Tetons when the worst happened—a flash of lightning blasted him and a group of his climbing friends, leaving one dead. What's life like after high voltage rips through your body? You don't want to know.
For the first time in history, both major presidential candidates are serious about action sports. President George W. Bush rides singletrack and runs. Senator John Kerry snowboards, windsurfs, and pedals a high-end road bike. This month, in an online exclusive, we take a look at the prospective Dudes in Chief…
Americans like to keep score. What better way to keep track of who’s good, better, and best than by casting bronze busts and collecting premium castoffs, then sticking them all in one place? Baseball may have Cooperstown, but surfing gets Lihue, Hawaii. Here’s what else you’ll find in our favorite…
Call us rubberneckers, but who can resist the panic, terror, and inspiration of a good survival tale? We combed through vast libraries of lore to find 10 more unforgettable, nearly unbelievable great escapes. Brace yourself.
Ten North American spas that will recharge your mind, body, and soul
Eileen and Tom Lonergan went out for a day of scuba diving, and never came back. The story behind the movie Open Water.
Philip Smethurst is training young adventurers to spread Christianity to the planet's wildest corners
"You never know. After this summer, my whole next album could be about kayaking."
After 34 years of blazing trails, Colin Fletcher anoints a footloose, gear-crazed successor
Warm, windswept, unfettered, ever-changing—North America's four great desert regions hide untold possibilities for classic winter adventure. They may be scorching and sere, with prickly dangers over every horizon, but if you know where to go—and how to explore wisely—you'll find these 500,000 square miles of desolation downright hospitable.
A tough-as-nails cadre of Russian and Ukranian speleologists wriggles and blasts its way to caving's grand prize: the mythic 2,000-meter mark
Thanks to improved safety standards and tandem flights, scores of acrophobes are giving hang gliding a second wind. And now, they're soaring in style—over the Golden Gate Bridge.