ϳԹ Magazine, Oct 2012
This month in ϳԹ
Stories
POSTs
Three ϳԹ readers tell us how the magazine led them to do something different
When it comes to producing climbers, there's one college that stands above all the rest
The island traps you. That’s what Manhattanites say when rationalizing their inability to travel freely. But with a little creativity, finding adventure is easier than you think. ϳԹ fan Joe Sacaridiz, an ad-agency art director who lives in Hell’s Kitchen, spends spring and fall weekends climbing upstate and winters snowboarding in Vermont. Here’s
For the past three years, we’ve been inundated with answers to a simple question via Facebook: “What are you doing outside this weekend?” Behold: your most, er, innovative itineraries.
Bikini Atoll, a tiny ring of islands halfway between Hawaii and Australia, is a world-class diving destination and home to one of the Pacific's last great fishing grounds. So where are all the tourists? Welcome to heaven on earth, where the vestiges of hell lie just below the surface.
We asked three hard-charging ϳԹ readers how they manage to stay supremely fit while balancing work and family. The secrets to their success are easier than you think.
In Argentina, rival soccer fans don’t just hate, they kill, and the violent partisans of top clubs fuel crime syndicates that influence the sport at its highest levels. Patrick Symmes braves the bottle rockets, howling mobs, urine bombs, and drunken grannies on a wild ride through the scariest fútbol underworld on earth.
ϳԹ readers love to lend a hand. Here, a longtime subscriber and former energy executive shows us how to take it to another level.
We’ve all got that buddy—the one who executes an epic ski or raft mission every year. Reader Keith Pearen is one of those guys. For the past 10 years, the 32-year-old Boulder, Colorado, aerospace engineer has been organizing trips for groups of up to 20 friends. Here’s the formula he applies.
Not that surprising: nearly all of you care about the health of the planet, and you're making lifestyle choices accordingly. Not surprising whatsoever: you're really tired of Al Gore.
Warning: Many of you aren't wearing a helmet, you're taking big risks, and you lack basic first-aid training. At least you're responsible parents.
We weren't surprised that you guys go far afield and are polite to harried airline ticket agents when things go badly. But the list of what some of you have smuggled across a border—impressive!
It's not that we thought you were all a bunch of tweeting vegans. But the number of you who wield power tools and have had sex in awkward places outdoors is still a little disconcerting.
You're an honest, hard-driving bunch. A third of you have run more than 10 miles at a go and have no qualms about leg shaving. But few of you would use performance enhancers—even if they were readily available.
A former corporate lawyer whose back-of-the-napkin plan to kayak from Minnesota to Florida was so awesomely deranged, we decided to pay his way
After years of sounding the climate-change alarm, writer Bill McKibben realized that gentle persuasion wasn’t cutting it. So he got mad. Then he got busy: tweeting, organizing, protesting, getting arrested, and becoming Big Oil’s biggest threat.
In the 16 years since Into Thin Air, Mount Everest has become safer in many ways, with better storm forecasting and amazing high-altitude rescue helicopters. So why did 10 people die in 2012?
Readers voted Richmond, Virginia, the nation's most livable river town. (No joke!) To find out why, Jon Billman paddles, runs, and snorkels for crabs in the former Confederate capital. Plus: the lowdown on nine other great river towns.
Burning Man, the annual super-rave in Nevada, has become Independence Week for a worldwide tribe of inventors, artists, and desert freaks. Brad Wieners talks to founders and fans about how the party got started—and the death, mayhem, and power struggles that almost shut it down.
Photo Mosaic Cover
A special cover of the 35th anniversary issue we sent to ϳԹ subscribers is made up of the thousands of photographs you submitted during the voting process for this year's best town contest.
Take a Number
These days, all you need to make a run at Everest is a dose of willfulness and a fistful of cash. Which is why 2012 was the mountain’s busiest year—and one of its deadliest. Grayson Schaffer reports on why the bodies will only keep piling up.
The Beautiful Game
Argentina’s soccer fans may be the sport’s most impassioned. So much so that the rowdiest among them have formed gangs that intimidate players and coaches, control stadium concessions, and murder rivals. Patrick Symmes investigates.
Hot Mess
It started as a bunch of friends torching an effigy on a Bay Area beach. Now, despite all the gunplay and infighting, Burning Man is worth millions. An oral history of the biggest, weirdest, most clothing-optional desert carnival on the planet. By Brad Wieners
Boilover
Environmental writer turned crusader Bill McKibben can rally 100,000 activists at the drop of a tweet. So how did the journalist and former Sunday school teacher become the voice of the climate-change movement? By Rowan Jacobsen
Paradise With an Asterisk
Remote Bikini Atoll would appear to be the world’s last pristine adventure destination. Except that just below the surface, deadly radioactivity endures. S.C. Gwynne returns to the site of one of history’s most infamous science experiments.
The ϳԹ 2012 Reader Poll
We probed the dark recesses of your psyche to learn everything from how often you work out to where you get it on outdoors.
best towns 2012
WATERFRONT PROPERTY
Readers voted Richmond, Virginia, the nation's most livable river town. (No joke!) To find out why, Jon Billman paddles, runs, and snorkels for crabs in the former Confederate capital. Also: 19 more dream towns, from Hood River, Oregon, to Bristol, Vermont.
departments
EXPOSURE
Sure Shots: For ϳԹ’s 35th Anniversary, we opened our most popular section to readers. Hundreds of images streamed in. Some were amazing; others had us forsaking our GoPros. These 11 nailed it.
DISPATCHES
The Overachievers: A lawyer who’s canoeing 4,000 miles (on us), an architect who spent 2,000 hours on a custom RV, and a Manhattanite who proves adventure and urban living are an easy fit. What do they share? They’re ϳԹ readers who go to extremes to do what they love. Plus: The ultimate gear garage, and dumpster-diving for REI sponsorship.
THE ESSENTIALS
The Things You Carry: Your picks for the 32 greatest pieces of gear ever, from the tried and true—Patagonia fleece! Black Diamond trekking poles!—to the curious, including pee funnels, outdoor showers, and a thrift-store shirt.
BODYWORK
The Pros Next Door: Careers? Yep. Kids? A few. Excuses for skipping a workout? Not from these accomplished amateurs. Three of our fittest readers share their secrets for balancing training with a busy life.
plus
IN FOCUS
RESEARCH DEPT.
READER POLL
UNDER THE COVER
FEEDBACK
EDITOR'S LETTER
PARTING SHOT
SOCIAL MEDIA: BOOFING THE VOTE
WHEN OVERACHIEVING GOES TOO FAR
TRUE INSPIRATION