ϳԹ Magazine, Jan 2003
Stories
POSTs
More than 20 years after the guerrilla war that forged Zimbabwe from Rhodesia, fear and violence are once again convulsing that African nation—this time, with a black government pitted against white landowners. The author, who grew up on a farm in Rhodesia, recalls her child's-eye view of a world where even nature knew that luck had run out.
Hoping to snag high-rolling adventurers, Nepal green-lights its first full-time heli-skiing operation
With $100,000 for the winners, the world's most relentless teams, and a 138,000-vertical-foot Rocky Mountain course, the Subaru Primal Quest seemed poised to give big-time adventure racing a smashing return to U.S. soil. But then the race began—and all hell broke loose. A front-line report from the wildest, bumpiest game in the wilderness.
Occupy your off-season with the successes, failures, and bemusements of fellow adventurers. Plus: author picks and ten underappreciated books.
Gordon Giesbrecht didn't become the world's leading authority on hypothermia by sitting around the campfire. He got there by leaping into frozen lakes, injecting ice water into his veins, and taking lots of very, very cold baths.
The process is the point. But just try telling that to your younger, untutored, world-conquering self.
THAT OLD ACE IN THE HOLE By Annie Proulx (Scribner, $26) WHEN ANNIE PROULX wrote about Newfoundland in her 1993 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Shipping News, and her adopted home state of Wyoming in the story collection Close Range, she described those places so indelibly that her…
Women's surfing is riding a new pop-culture tsunami. So why can't the pros make it with a tour of their own?
A spiffy new generator turns wood into watts. Could be just the thing for getting waaay off the grid.
What are those chubby things? Shane McConkey unveils his freaky new powder skis.
IN THE MARKET FOR AN INTERNET COACH? Then you’ll need to decide between a virtual coach (costs range from $0-$20 per month; no personal interaction included) and a bona fide online coach (costs range from $60 and up per month; live coach at the other end of the line). A…
Dreaming of Oceania's island paradise? Here's how to feed your fantasy.
Drawn to the backcountry? With the new wave of alpine touring gear, freedom is just beyond the ropes
F E A T U R E S
THE OUTSIDE ADVENTURE CANON
Introducing our page-turning, read-’em-now, can’t-miss list of the 25 best adventure books of the past 100 years. Why? Because there’s a great big world of words out there—and you need a guide.
PLUS: , , , , and other literary lions on the texts that changed their lives; the ; the ; and a machete-powered tour through (eek!) the
By Brad Wieners and the Editors
Ever since Mark Burnett shipped the Eco-Challenge overseas, adventure racing’s top organizers have sidestepped the United States, deeming it too lawsuit-happy and expensive for the risky business of staging a world-class event. The Subaru Primal Quest, a high-stakes sufferfest in the Colorado Rockies, set out to change all that.
By Bill Gifford
With civil unrest flaring again in Zimbabwe, a writer looks back on her childhood in the tortured nation that was then Rhodesia, when war turned the colonial world upside down, and fatal omens shadowed the landscape.
By Alexandra Fuller
Gordon Giesbrecht is the coolest man in science. An expert on the deadly mechanics of hypothermia, he gets his facts the dangerous way: by taking the plunge in icy waters that test the limits of human endurance.
By Alisa Smith
D E P A R T M E N T S
SOUTH SEAS ESCAPES
DESTINATIONS
We searched the South Pacific for the ultimate in tropical paradise. Now grab your hammock and sunblock and go!
Follow Gauguin’s footsteps to the Marquesas and the ancient ruins of ; explore the powder-soft sands and kaleidoscopic reefs surrounding a hideaway; make friends on at a beachside camp so sweet that Tahitians vacation there; sail the trade winds between ‘s best anchorages. PLUS: Go local and catch a freighter to , one of the world’s most remote island chains; choose from the in the tropics.
DISPATCHES
The best regularly rip Oahu’s tow-in breaks, and their lifestyle helps sell millions in movie tickets and clothes. So why is their pro tour on the ropes? PLUS: Thanks to Nepal’s new commercial heli-ski service, you can —and then ski it again; a revolutionary contraption that turns ; Shane McConkey unveils his ; ; and this month’s .
If apes evolved into humans, why are they still around? Is another Dust Bowl inevitable? How steep can a typical mountain get before it tumbles down?
By Brad Wetzler
Because outdoor never end, relish the time and guidance it takes to develop the expertise your adventures require. Why? ‘Cause there are no shortcuts.
By Mark Jenkins
Euro-style ski systems that let you walk up mountains, then lock in for the trip down, now come in two delicious flavors: fast-and-light, for extended excursions, and bombproof, for kamikaze chutes. PLUS: A for your pup, a spiffy Swiss , and a .
Under the daily tutelage of Chris Carmichael’s , you too can train like Lance Armstrong, at a fraction of Carmichael’s $2,300 monthly fee. Where? On the Internet, where nobody can hear you groan.