At last check on the trend meter, river boarding was on the rise, tow-in skimboarding was getting legs, and inline skating was making a resurgence. Wingsuiting is getting ridiculouser. Slacklining is getting extreme, SUP is leveling a bit, and that hoary old standby, bouldering, is back in the news, too. One thing about the fringe, [...]
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Jared shimmied up the Indian Creek crack like it was nothing — silent as a ninja, precise as a robot. Then came my turn. The grunts started on my second layback and by the fourth I was wheezing like an old steam generator. As for fluidity, I looked like a cross between having a seizure [...]
Okay, Colorado, put your visor back on and calm down. Utah, stop kicking up that cloud of dust. Texas, you’re big, but can you handle Wyoming? Rhode Island, are you there? We have debated ski towns and we have wrestled over cities. But what about states? These 50 independent entities form much of our identities [...]
The fact that I received a traffic ticket for riding my mountain bike across an empty gravel parking lot in Death Valley National Park in no way colors my perspective on parks, authority, being an American, freedom of the hills, best ideas, or any of that. Nuh-unh. No, my perspective is more colored by campgrounds, [...]
You might not think a pile of rocks could offend, but it did. We walking along a river in southwestern Utah and every few hundred yards we’d come upon a neatly stacked cairn. And every time we did, my companion would huff and puff and then with obvious prejudice kick over the stack. “Stupid cairn,” [...]
In the not too distant future, the Billabong XXL contest will select the best big wave heroics under a category called Billabong Girls XXL Performance Award. Among the contenders are Paige Alms, age 23, and Keala Kennelly, age 34. Last year in June, the Swatch Girls Pro France was won by 19-year-old Courtney Conlogue, and [...]
Nobody calls Patagonia “Patagucci” any more. Oh, sure, somebody somewhere probably clings to the idea that the Ventura company’s apparel and gear is extraordinarily pricey relative to all the other apparel and gear out there. But the fact is there are plenty of brands making far more expensive clothes, whether large (Arc’teryx) or small (Outlier). [...]
Every few years, the broader bike world discovers some hot new technology, frame style, or flavor and then there’s a mad rush to make it the Next Big Thing. And sometimes it really does become the next big thing and sometimes it fizzles like a damp firecracker fuse. This time around, it’s fat bikes. With [...]
Perhaps you’re one of the lucky ones, an active outdoor athlete who’s never suffered time off the hill, out of the saddle, or away from the trail because of injury. If so, good on ya…but brace yourself cause it’s probably coming. Getting hurt is part of adventure. Skiing, climbing, mountain biking, trail running — there’s [...]
Admit it. You’ve told yourself you’re hardcore. Maybe you didn’t speak it aloud — that would be immodest, after all — but in your head you gave yourself a nice pat on the back. Damn, I’m core. You were probably skiing in the rain. Fighting for peaks during a victory at sea session. Logging miles [...]
Words count. They connote, they suggest, they color the world and prejudice the user. And in so doing, they can kill — if not directly, then by leading to improper decision making that can result in death. And the specific word that I’m thinking about is “sidecountry,” the out of bounds terrain adjacent to ski [...]
When it comes to ski resorts, one thing we can agree on is that we won’t agree. Outside just named Squaw Valley the number one resort in North America (and put Whistler behind Vail!), while Conde Nast Traveler picked Telluride. Ski Magazine chose Deer Valley. Meanwhile, none of those resorts would make into my top [...]
No doubt you’re all responsible adults who understand the value of moderation. But perhaps you know someone, or have heard of someone, who typically goes a little too deep into the revelry of the season and wakes up on New Year’s Day with John Barleycorn tapping at their skull with a ballpeen hammer. It’s in [...]
Well, 2012 has been an eventful year, that’s for sure. But it’s hard to say it’s been a happy one. From the lousy snow season to high profile avalanche fatalities to Sarah Burke’s death and Lance Armstrong’s dizzying fall from grace, 2012 brought one bit of bad news after another. But not all was bad. [...]
The Daily Bike, May 24, 2013
Boy Scouts to Allow Gay Members
The Daily Bike: Mountain Bike Enduro World Series Kicks Off
Overlandia: Driving a 1936 Rolls Royce Across India
15 Seconds: Driving Indian Creek, Utah
The Man Who Skied Down Everest Climbs it at 80
National Avalanche Legend Doug Abromeit Passes Away
Smokey Is Fighting Fracking and the Feds Don’t Like It
Prickly, Beloved Mountain Gazette Print Version Shut Down
Historical Badass: Alpinist Alex Lowe
Volunteer Fired at Saguaro National Park for Reporting Graffiti
Sierra Club Joins Lawsuit Against Mountain Bike Park
Driver Busted After Bragging on Twitter About Hitting Cyclist
The Daily Bike: Les Granges du Galibier, Giro d’Italia 2013
