ϳԹ Magazine, Jan 2012
This month in ϳԹ
Stories
POSTs
Does stretching prior to a run prevent injuries and improve performance? Does guzzling water prevent cramps? Here's the truth about the top 10 fitness myths.
Triathlon is booming, with hundreds of events being added to the calendar each year and thousands of goggle-eyed newbies lining up to swim, bike, and run for the first time. But only one race still really matters. Greetings from the Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii, ground zero of America's multisport madness
Sea kayaker Freya Hoffmeister already circled Australia. Now she's taking the hard way around South America.
A crew of Bosnian snowboarders want to restore their capital's war-ravaged Olympic resorts to international glory, and a burgeoning adventure-travel scene just might make it possible. Dimiter Kenarov boot-packs to the world's gnarliest lift line.
Our favorite frontier for 2012? The surreal, gradually opening Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan.
Emerging from a 27-year civil war, Sri Lanka’s jungle terrain and white-sand beaches remain largely undiscovered. But the conflict ended in 2009, meaning there are empty (and safe) waves to be found. Head to the island nation’s southernmost tip, near the village of Gandara, where 24-year-old British surfer Jack Phillips recently opened his Talalla Surf Camp.
A guy calls, says he found some mysterious papers left behind by a dead relative who apparently shrunk human heads and bodies. Do we wanna come see? Uh, no. But we knew Mary Roach would.
Starting with a single Alaskan Husky named Derby, Kenth Fjellborg built a dogsled-touring empire that attracts 5,000 would-be mushers a year to a frozen patch of tundra 100 miles north of the Arctic Circle. And he's not afraid to yell at you in bad words.
La Niña means a long, hard winter—just how we like it. Take advantage by basing yourself at one of these nine ϳԹ-approved adventure lodges.
Two emerging novelists debunk the myth that rural living is easy
Alec Wilkinson revisits a failed polar attempt from the heroic age of Arctic exploration
The masochistic sport of obstacle racing has exploded in popularity. Nick Heil tries to understand why so many are signing up for the misery.
Red Bull's Crashed Ice is a physical mashup of hockey and snowboardcross held on a downhill ice rink. We talk to the one of the stars of the fledgling sport.
Since the release of 127 Hours, a certain canyon in Utah has become a lot more popular—and dangerous
Tired of waiting in long lift lines at ski resorts? For a few thousand dollars, you could have the place to yourself.
HEAVY METTLE
For those who prefer their punishment dished out in thirds, wearing a Lycra one-piece, with medical tents and ice baths at the ready, there is Ironman. Elizabeth Weil dives into the sea of hardbodies in Kona, Hawaii, for the grueling world championship.
THE UNDISPUTED KING OF DOGSLED TOURISM (IN POIKKIJÄRVI, SWEDEN)
In Scandinavia, mushing is only as old as cable TV. Yet Kenth Fjellborg, who once wrangled dogs for Van Halen, has attracted countless adventure travelers aching to blaze the tundra with a pack of spirited huskies. By Stephanie Pearson
HEALTH AND FITNESS REPORT
FREEZE! DROP YOUR DUMBBELLS AND RESISTANCE BANDS AND PUT YOUR HANDS WHERE WE CAN SEE THEM. NOW!
Chances are some bogus training advice has wormed its way into your fitness regimen. Time to root it out. Here are the ten performance myths holding you back, from pre-race stretching to the evils of high-fructose corn syrup. By Gretchen Reynolds
BOMBING SARAJEVO
Following an immaculately staged Olympics in 1984, the Yugoslavian city was on its way to being a world-class destination for alpine sports. Then the country was torn apart. Now a new generation of rippers want to put their parents’ war behind them and revitalize Sarajevo’s famous resorts. By Dimiter Kenarov
departments
DISPATCHES
First Look: Last year, an estimated one million people propelled themselves down courses riddled with burning hay bales and razor wire. Nick Heil tries to make sense of America’s new racing obsession.
News from the Field: An ice-hockey-ski-cross mashup; a quick-energy inhaler; and renting a whole ski resort.
Survival: More and more hikers are finding trouble in Utah’s Blue John Canyon, where 127 Hours was filmed. Is Aron Ralston to blame?
Epic: Freya Hoffmeister has already kayaked around New Zealand, Iceland, and Australia. Now the 47-year-old paddler is taking on South America.
Media: Two new novels explore the darker side of rural living. Also, the untold story of a 19th-century balloonist who perished in search of the North Pole.
DESTINATIONS
Backcountry Launchpads: From Jay Peak in Vermont to the Alaska Range, we round up nine cozy winter lodges that put you slopeside for La Niña’s best powder dumps.
Journeys: Bhutan is slowly opening its borders to travelers—here are the best biking and hiking trails. Plus: Surfing in Sri Lanka.
THE ESSENTIALS
Covet: Rapha, known for its aesthetically pleasing cycling wear, brings out a high-end espresso machine … and crushes it.
Coatrack: Our roundup of winter jackets will steer you to the best cold-weather protection.
In Bounds: A pair of ski poles with an embedded inclinometer, the perfect merino wool midlayer, and other tried-and-true accessories for the season.
STYLE
Comfy gear for off the slopes—and a primer on appropriate resort-bar behavior.
columns
NATURAL INTELLIGENCE
Is Tom Chapman a misunderstood property-rights activist or a land-grabbing opportunist intent on holding America’s wilderness hostage? Kelley McMillan reports.
OUT THERE
Skin head. Boil. Stuff with sand. Mary Roach traces the sometimes gruesome, always bizarre history of shrunken heads from South America to U.S. museums.
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