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I like to compete in endurance events, like Ironman, but rarely do I place in the top 50 percent of my age group. Why am I so slow?

Just after noon on the day before Thanksgiving 2011, 25-year-old NOLS student Rob Tesar unwittingly walked into quicksand in the Utah backcountry. Half a day later, he was still stuck upright, trying to stay awake.

Climate scientists Jason Box and McKenzie Skiles are packing up their ice core drills and heading to Greenland on a crowd-funded expedition.

New technology has made it easier than ever to keep real-time tabs on an endless array of fitness metrics. Don't drown in the data stream.

Drought and climate change have turned western forests into firebombs that go off every summer. Even with new technology, the essential weapon in the fight against flame are the Hotshots, an elite group of wilderness first responders who head straight for the heat.

Will Grand Rapids, Michigan, soon become the Boulder, Colorado, of the Midwest? Two paddlers are on the path to making it happen.

A quick and easy guide to making the switch

Keep the beet alive a little longer with this guide to preservation

Competitive paddler and environmental scientist Kristen Podolak works at the confluence of water and fire as The Nature Conservancy's conservation planner

I’m new to Tornado Alley, and I’m nervous about getting caught outdoors during a twister this summer. How much warning will I have that a storm is on the way?

Long-distance cyclists are photographing roadkill in an effort to help scientists determine how to protect various species. A new app can help you do the same.

This year’s bumper crop of paleo-inspired health, diet, and exercise books is proving that the prehistoric movement is here to stay

Environmentalists gain an unlikely ally

What do rock-climbing heart transplant patients, Somali pirate hunters, and arctic cowboys have in common? All could be found on the big screen at this year’s Tribeca Film Festival. Of this year’s 217 films, these seven outdoor-focused picks were a cut above.

Although initially reported as the result of altitude sickness, the death of DaRita Sherpa on May 5 was likely the result of a cardiac event. We take a look at why Sherpas are less susceptible to altitude-related illness.

Kor’s slick Nava filter can process about 40 gallons, or 220 refills before requiring replacement

How do you predict the weather at the top of the world? Ask a highly unconventional meteorologist.

Carl Zimmer walks into the woods to find out why these tiny beasts are skyrocketing in number—and outsmarting scientists with every bite

The sinkhole that swallowed a Florida man while he slept in March has me imagining the ground opening up beneath me while I hike or camp. Am I watching too much cable news, or are sinkholes a real danger?

A brilliant adaptation of Kon-Tiki brings the legend of Thor Heyerdahl to the masses

Move over EPO: Dynavision’s CoreControl cooling glove enhances performance with just a vacuum and ice

Taking a close look at Avishek Sengupta’s death, and why water obstacles—not electric shocks—may prove to be the most dangerous

You love to run. You hate to get hurt. Even if injuries are inevitable, there’s plenty you can do about them. Here’s your guide to fixing the most frequent problems.

9 people changing the face of global adventure

Mined, dammed, and sucked dry: The annual list of of the country's most endangered waterways is out—and it isn't pretty.

When the Florida Wildlife Commission offered $1,500 for the most Burmese Pythons caught in the Everglades in a month, they had no idea that almost 1,600 would-be wranglers and a cabal of journalists would flock to the cypress swamps for what turned out to be more of a reality-TV audition than a good ole-fashioned bounty hunt. Now that the dust has settled, what

Two men who are changing the way the adventure world works

I read that NFL players over hydrate before their games. Should I be doing the same thing before my marathon?

What you need to know to get running

Start by asking yourself why you want to run in a minimalist shoe. Scott Douglas, author of The Runner’s World Complete Guide to Minimalism and Barefoot Running, looks at why you should—or shouldn’t—take the plunge.

I’m going backpacking through South America in a few months. I expect to get kind of grubby, and won't have regular access to showers. What’s the best way to stay clean and not stink without taking a bath every couple of days?

I figure a new do might help me shave some time off of my bike and run. Right now, my hair’s just kind of long. What should I do with it?

A Depression-era insulating material is becoming the hottest thing in outerwear

Should I take ibuprofen before or after hard training to limit pain?

Training hard but still eating like you’re not? You could wind up with hormone deficiencies. The consequences can be dire: low energy, diminished sperm count, and an inability to conceive children.

One of the greatest big-wave surfers alive nearly died on a 50-footer in December. Now many in the surfing world are blaming another heavyweight—and the jet-powered board he was riding.

Take a page out of new books from Pollan, William McDonough, and Michael Braungart

One minute, you're checking a yardage marker for your buddy, and the next, you're being eaten by a golf course

Desertification is out of control, but there may be a way to stop it

Several near deaths on the world’s highest peaks have shed light on a dangerous trend in mountaineering: rampant use of performance-enhancing drugs, particularly the powerful steroid dexamethasone

In short: they clean up a lot of poop

I feel like whenever it’s cold outside, I have to pee more. Same thing goes for swimming in cold water. What’s going on?

A rare look inside the nutrition lab at the Olympic Training Center reveals how America's best athletes eat to win

Katie Heaney tries to figure out the difference between "shriveled dead thing" and chupacabra

Body fat is just an inert layer of blubber, right? If only. New research shows that it's more like a toxic parasite that doesn't want to let go. The good news: if you exercise and eat right, you can force it to.

Bill Bradley lost his job in December, and he hasn't stopped running since. The funny thing: he's not alone.

Greg and Julie Welch thought they were taking their regular, annual trip, paddling through the Boundary Waters Canoe Area in Minnesota. Then the fire came.

New technology is making it easier than ever for athletes to fine-tune their nutrition through blood analysis. Prepare to send in the vials.

Three blood-analysis companies to help maximize performance

The prosecutor in the Oscar Pistorius bail hearing claimed that the athlete was found with a box of steroids. How likely is it that PEDs could contribute to a murderous rampage?

In this chapter from Animal Wise, the latest book from journalist Virginia Morell, the author visits renowned scientist Dr. Irene Pepperberg to explore cognition in parrots, specifically, Alex the African Grey

Whenever I buy plane tickets, I also try to buy carbon offsets. I see it as my way of canceling out my environmental impact. Am I making a difference? Are they worth the money?

Travis Winn, a 29-year-old river guide based in Kunming, is working to bring people from China’s growing cities out to see the last remaining wild river in the country and, in doing so, martial their support for protecting it from a series of proposed dams

With Jewell, the CEO and president of REI, at the helm of the Department of the Interior, could the industry finally find its green mojo?

Katie Heaney goes looking for the dead in Minnesota's (possibly haunted) St. James Hotel

If it takes off, crowdfunded science could create a platform for more nimble, fast-paced research that isn't bogged down by bureaucracy

I’ve always wanted to watch the Northern Lights over the night sky. Where’s the best place to go see them?

Have you ever watched a three-year-old curling match while you had the flu?

Photo: Spatial Information Design Lab The Spatial Information Design Lab at Columbia University has built an informative and easy-to-use…

Photo: Flickr/Boklm Earlier this month, a federal judge ruled that an expansion plan for Homewood Mountain Resort on the shores of Lake Tahoe would not be allowed to move forward without further considering a scaled-back alternative with less environmental impact. The Sierra…

When elite athletes like three-time Olympic volleyball gold medalist Kerri Walsh and daredevil spaceman Felix Baumgartner are in a slump, they go see Los Angeles sports psychologist Michael Gervais. Sometimes boosting your performance requires sitting on a couch.

The author of The Fear Project (and Saltwater Buddha) shares what he learned about our most primal emotion during the many months he spent training for a go at Mavericks

What an ostrich sounds like. What an ostrich chick in an egg sounds like. Photo: Shutterstock You might know what an…

Decades of research into the compounds that make up snake venom has led to some startling discoveries

John Davis paddling in Congaree National Park. Photo: Susan Baycot Climate change, development, ranching, and oil and gas exploration tend to get a lot of ink when it comes to threats to wildlife in the Western United States. But wildlife corridors are another vital factor,…

On the night of January 11, 2013, during a dive off the Kona coast to view manta rays feeding on plankton, something strange happened. After the divers went down and lit up the water, a bottlenose dolphin slowly swam around them before aproaching…

Depending on where you live, the above video might make you think twice about putting water out for the birds. On January 17, a certain non-profit posted the video on their Facebook page with the following note: “During the drought in Colorado, a…

No, not that one

The mastermind behind CrossFit Endurance says the best way to train for a marathon is to run less and torture yourself more in the gym. Christopher Solomon laces up for a whole new level of pain.

Noctilucent cloud. Photo: Courtesy of NASA When astronaut Chris Hadfield was asked last week what his favorite photo taken during the first three weeks of a stint on the International…

I just read about how two climbers died on Aconcagua from altitude sickness. I have plans to go to Everest Base Camp this year. Altitude sickness isn’t a concern there, is it?

AMRC development engineer Craig Atkins with the SPUC. Photo: AMRC Center Some day, the researchers at the University of Sheffield's Advanced Manufacturing Research Center (AMRC) will help design lighter, smarter vehicles, from electric cars to airplanes, that will employ bio-based materials with low-environmental-impact and high-performance characteristics…

Katie Heaney recounts the history of the most famous Midwestern Yeti

It seems like every week I read about some scary shark sighting or attack. I love swimming in the ocean and take a tropical beach vacation every couple of years. How much should I worry about a shark attack?

Rush hour on Half Dome. Photo: DirectCutter I'll never forget the moment I first glimpsed the iconic Half Dome in Yosemite National Park. It was 2001 and I had recently moved to San Francisco for a job editing…

Scientists previously thought that the smooth, hairless surfaces of fingers and toes wrinkled up like raisins after they got wet because water passed into the outermost layer of skin, causing it to swell. But recent studies have shown that the wrinkling is not a result of osmosis, but rather an…

Do athletes have a higher pain tolerance?

January through December 2012. Photo: NOAA Last year was the hottest year on record for the contiguous United States since record-keeping began in 1895, according to a Tuesday announcement from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Here's a breakdown…

A year of questioning the truth

Lightning. Photo: Shutterstock On Wednesday January 2, 42-year-old Irish adventurer Ian McKeever was leading a group of more than 20 people through the lunar landscape section of Mount Kilimanjaro when…