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Stuart Terrill鈥檚 life forever changed in a blink of an eye during a competitive mountain running race this past summer.

On July 13, the 22-year-old from Crozet, Virginia, summited 11,000-foot Hidden Peak at Snowbird ski resort above Salt Lake City. He was an hour into the 8.7-mile serving double duty as the 2024 USA Track and Field Mountain Running Championships.

Terrill had just graduated from the University of Richmond, where he ran cross country and track and double-majored in leadership and communication. But he was no stranger to the trails. He won the in Fairfax, Virginia, in May, besting the competition by nearly a minute over the 10K course to earn his second straight collegiate trail running championship title.

As he crested Hidden Peak and started bombing down the other side, Terrill passed a competitor and lost control, sending him careening towards a cliff. Photographer Matt Johnson watched in horror, pivoting to try to catch Terrill before he fell. But he was too late. Terrill toppled over the edge and tumbled more than 200 feet down the jagged unforgiving terrain below.

鈥淗e swung wide to pass a runner. His momentum sent him barreling down towards me and I dropped my camera to try and grab him,鈥� Johnson recalled in the resort鈥檚 incident report. 鈥淚 heard his terrified screams as he went out of sight down the rocky gully. At this point I screamed for a medic and life flight because I wasn鈥檛 sure if he was going to even survive. It was rough. It was one of the most horrifying things I鈥檝e ever witnessed.

Terrill suffered numerous broken bones鈥攅ight vertebrae, four ribs, his right collarbone, left wrist, right kneecap, and several bones in each of his feet鈥攁nd was lucky to be alive. As his mangled body was taken away in a medical helicopter, all those on the scene could do was wonder: how did such a perilous accident happen?

In its safety advisories on its website and in emails to participants, the event warns that 鈥渋t is imperative, for your safety, you follow precise path of flagging.鈥� Terrill鈥檚 fall was not the result of a course-marking issue. He simply made a risky passing move at an unfortunate spot on the course.

鈥淲e are very familiar with the exact spot of his accident,鈥� said Julian Carr, the race director of the Cirque Series. 鈥淲e will place people as backstop in that exact corner to ensure no one ever has a fall in that spot ever again.鈥�

Mountain Running: A Contact Sport?

While many may be initially attracted to running (on the track and roads) precisely because of its relatively low-risk profile鈥攏o contact that could lead to a concussion, no explosive movements that could result in an acute injury鈥攖rail running, and in particular mountain running, is another matter. In fact, mountain running, a fast, explosive trail running discipline that usually involves running over rocky, uneven terrain and climbing and descending peaks, comes with considerable risk.

Many mountain running races take competitors along high cliffs and ridgelines with exposure, and down steep, off-trail descents through technical terrain. Minor falls are common, and sprained ankles, broken collarbones, and skin-devouring trail rash are among the most typical injuries.

Injuries are common enough that some races, including the Pikes Peak Marathon in Manitou Springs, Colorado, give out an award for the bloodiest runner. , a short mountain race in Seward Alaska, reports several minor injuries in a typical year. In 2012, it suffered its first presumed death when 66-year-old Michael LeMaitre, fell on a steep section of the course and, inexplicably, was never found.

Although it wasn鈥檛 a super-fast shorter-distance mountain running race, American runner survived one of the worst known trail running accidents in 2017 at the 57K Hamperokken Skyrace in the mountains outside of Tromso, Norway, after she tripped and ragdolled 150 feet down a ridge and broke both arms, two vertebrae, several ribs, and numerous bones in her feet. Like Terrill, she was lucky to have survived.

鈥淲e acknowledge the inherent dangers of producing races in the high alpine, injuries are rare, but do happen unfortunately,鈥� Carr says. 鈥淭his is, by far, the most serious injury at a Cirque race since we started our races in 2015. We take safety of our runners as first priority.鈥�

Mountain running races bring on increased danger for highly competitive athletes, especially because the terrain is often extremely technical, varies so greatly, and is often raced sight-unseen. In addition, elite runners are often willing to take risks on high-consequence terrain that is the difference between performing well and getting left in the dust of those who do.

Is this risk taking an allure or a consequence of the sport? And what level of responsibility do race organizers play in keeping competitors safe?

Carr says the event鈥檚 emergency response plan is an integral part of planning and preparing for the event and it begins well in advance of race day.

鈥淲e put a lot of thought into our safety maps,鈥� Carr says. 鈥淲hen we mark the course, I chat with our safety director about optimal EMT, patrol, and volunteer placements throughout the day. Once we finish marking course, we have a meeting to determine all safety personnel placements for the race. Then we generate the safety map. We provide digital copies and printed copies to all safety personnel for race day.鈥�

Brendan Madigan, who operates the Broken Arrow Skyrace at Palisades Tahoe ski resort every June, says having multi-layer medical and risk teams is essential. Broken Arrow Skyrace, like the Cirque Series, goes to great lengths to organize emergency response teams with certified medical personnel and mountain rescue experts in key locations.

鈥淲e come from a much more dangerous world of ski mountaineering and climbing, so trail running might seem pretty vanilla compared to that, but you have to be organized and prepared,鈥� Madigan says. 鈥淵ou鈥檝e got to make sure you鈥檙e protecting everyone and have a consistent level of safety.鈥�

Not All Trails Are Created Equally

Terrill isn鈥檛 new to trail running. In fact, he ran his first trail race in middle school鈥攁 mile and a half course with 100 feet of elevation gain in central Virginia. While running cross country and track at the University of Richmond, he also went on to win the Collegiate Trail Running National Championships in both 2023 and 2024.

As a junior in 2023, he took the national title at the Thunderbunny 11K trail race in Athens, Ohio, in 41:27, setting the course record by a minute and a half. That鈥檚 when he knew he had a thing for off-road running. Then this past May he repeated as national champ by winning the Fountainhead 10K++ Trail Run in Virginia, obliterating the course record by six and a half minutes in 44:55.

鈥淚鈥檝e always trained in hilly locations, and my stride worked well on trails,鈥� Terrill says.

Those trail races were set on rolling singletrack courses through the forest. They didn鈥檛 have the exposure and steep profile of the race in Utah. Still, Terrill was eager to give it a try.

After graduating this spring, he was at a crossroads. He had one more season of cross country eligibility, which he intended on using as a graduate student at the University of Richmond. But he was also drawn to the idea of going all-in on trail running and trying to make the U.S. team for the final of the 2024 World Mountain Running Association World Cup in Italy this October. That required finishing first or second among a talented field of runners at the Snowbird race.

鈥淚 wanted to make the U.S. team. In the back of your mind, you don鈥檛 know how good everyone is before you compete,鈥� Terrill says. 鈥淵ou have to try. Making a U.S. team, whether that鈥檚 on the trails or the track, representing the U.S.A. is my ultimate goal in the sport.鈥�

If nothing else, he figured he鈥檇 get in some quality post-collegiate running experience while he figured out his next steps in running and life, as well as a fun trip out west.

In Over His Head

After driving out to Utah and previewing the start of the Snowbird course, Terrill felt on edge. The steep, exposed terrain looked nothing like the Virginia trails to which he was accustomed. He couldn鈥檛 decide if he wanted to treat the race as a training run and save himself for the cross country season, or alter his training to meet the specificity needed to do well on a high-alpine peak at altitude. He settled on aiming for the win in the collegiate division of the Utah race.

鈥淭he day before, I was checking out the course and got excited,鈥� Terrill says. 鈥溾€業t鈥檚 time to race.鈥� I wanted to race for the win. Workouts were going well.鈥�

Those ambitions went out the window with the starting gun. Turns out, on rugged terrain is quite a bit different than x collegiate trail running on more mellow courses..

鈥淭hese guys are built differently,鈥� Terrill says of the competitive field, which included 2023 Speedgoat 50K champion Christian Allen and two-time Pikes Peak Marathon winner Seth Demoor. 鈥淚t isn鈥檛 a track race.鈥�

Right away, the lofty altitude and rugged terrain took their toll on Terrill. Hoofing it up the climb well behind race-leader Allen, he negotiated with himself. His goal became to finish without walking. Just make it up the hill and it will be a good 4-mile workout, he thought.

鈥淚 was further back [place-wise] in the race than I wanted to be,鈥� Terrill says. 鈥淎ll I knew about the course is that it was technical in areas.鈥�

Upon cresting the summit he got hit with a huge wave of energy. He started bombing down the technical terrain, which included loose dirt, rocks, and small boulders that grew steeper by the step.

鈥淚t鈥檚 super rocky and I was going too fast. All you can think about is putting one foot in front of the other. Stay upright,鈥� Terrill recalls. 鈥淩eaching out towards the photographer鈥檚 arm, I thought, 鈥業鈥檓 going to die here. I won鈥檛 get to say goodbye to my girlfriend, my parents. Those close to me are going to get a phone call, I鈥檓 dead.鈥欌€�

A Selfless Act

, a professional trail runner from Boulder, Colorado, was racing ahead of Terrill when he witnessed the horrifying fall.

鈥淚 happened to look back right as it occurred and saw Terrill mid-air, completely out of control, before he landed on a boulder about 180 feet down,鈥� Daniels remembers. 鈥淗e then bounced off the boulder and continued to tumble down the mountain at incredible speed, still without any control, finally landing on the service road at the bottom, about 200-plus feet from where the fall started. It was the most gruesome fall I have ever witnessed.鈥�

Daniels quickly took action and sacrificed his own race to help.

鈥淚 immediately ran off the course down to where he had landed to see if he was alive,鈥� Daniels says. 鈥淎t that moment, I thought there was no way he could have survived what I just witnessed.鈥�

Terrill was conscious, but bleeding in several places and in obvious pain. Daniels couldn鈥檛 do much, but tried to provide a comforting voice.

鈥淚 was the first to arrive and was immediately taken aback by his condition and afraid to move him,鈥� Daniels says. 鈥淎nother woman [Megan Ross, an EMT] arrived shortly after, and we managed to prop his head up slightly as he regained consciousness and started working on stopping the bleeding.鈥�

Within five minutes, members of Snowbird ski patrol assigned to the race and trained medical staff took over, applying first aid, checking vitals, and supporting Terrill with a spine board and cervical collar. Within about 30 minutes, he was airlifted by helicopter to the University of Utah Hospital in Salt Lake City.

鈥淟ife really does flash before your eyes,鈥� Terrill says. 鈥淭he next thing I remember was waking up in the hospital.鈥�

The Safety Dance

While race organizers obviously can鈥檛 prevent accidents from happening, there are concrete steps they can (and generally do) take to mitigate risk, including trail maintenance, adding guardrails and safety officials at cruxes, and having open communication lines and an emergency response team at the ready. In fact, such measures are often required to get race permitting in the first place, although safety requirements and protocols vary from state to state. But an effective emergency response plan can be the difference between life and death.

Indeed, Carr and his team鈥檚 detailed planning most likely saved Terrill鈥檚 life.

鈥淲e printed safety maps and provided them to all EMTs, volunteers, and Snowbird ski patrol,鈥� Carr said. 鈥淧rior to the race, our Safety Director, Wilderness Medicine lead, and Snowbird ski patrol met to discuss radio and injury protocol. We placed EMTs and volunteers in positions to efficiently locate injured runners. Ski patrol was on standby for any major medical occurrences.鈥�

Carr said he is proud of the quick response of his emergency and medical teams. EMT staff located in key positions along with Snowbird ski patrol positioned at Hidden Peak, were able to quickly get Terrill the emergency care he needed.

鈥淚 pride Cirque Series in being very prepared for major and minor medical injuries,鈥� Carr says. 鈥淥ur EMTs and Snowbird patrol arrived to Stuart in very efficient time, just like we train.鈥�

A New Outlook

Anyone who has run in a trail race knows the trail running community is special. Even though it鈥檚 growing, it still feels small and tight-knit. Race winner Allen, a Salt Lake City local, came to visit Terrill in the hospital, even though the two had never met.

鈥淭here is something special about runners,鈥� Terrill said. 鈥淚n eighth grade I passed a guy in a cross country race. After the race he thanked me for pushing him. In what other sport do you get that? The trail community is like that times two.鈥�

Terrill badly smashed and cut his face during the fall and needed several staples help secure cuts on his head, but doctors determined that he didn鈥檛 suffer a concussion or brain damage. He spent two weeks in the hospital before going back home to Virginia.

He wasn鈥檛 able to walk on his own for a month. Instead, he had to endure two full knee immobilizers for four weeks, then a singular knee brace for eight weeks, and a back brace for six weeks. He focused on doctor-prescribed rehab;running miles were replaced by slow walking.

鈥淚t took me 40 minutes to do one mile. I felt so proud. It gave me a new respect for movement,鈥� he says. 鈥淚鈥檓 grateful to be alive.鈥�

And grateful is a good word to express Terrill鈥檚 unwavering optimism post-fall. When asked why he thinks he fell, he reflects candidly. 鈥淏ecause I鈥檓 a rookie,鈥� he admits. 鈥淏ut, maybe there is a reason. It gave me a different outlook on life. It gave me a new appreciation for being outside, being able to walk.鈥�

鈥淚 sprained my right wrist two months before this happened. I complained so much,鈥� Terrill jokes. 鈥淭hat seemed harder than all this.鈥�

Terrill returned to the University of Richmond in the fall and served as a graduate assistant coach for the Spiders cross country program. Amid continued rehab, he ran his first steps 11 weeks post-accident at the beginning of October, in the controlled setting of an Alter-G anti-gravity treadmill. In January he鈥檒l be enrolling at Wake Forest, where he鈥檒l pursue graduate studies and begin a long, slow progression into his final year of collegiate cross country in the fall.

Carr and his team kept in touch with Terrill鈥檚 coach about his recovery after he returned to Virginia, and they also shipped him a get-well-soon package.

鈥淲e wish him an ongoing speedy recovery. We鈥檙e so glad he鈥檚 expected to make a full recovery,鈥� Carr says. 鈥淲e hope to see him a future Cirque Series race.鈥�

After he uses up his NCAA eligibility at the end of the 2026 track season, Terrill says he鈥檒l definitely continue running, whether competitively or just for fun. He might even return to trail racing, at least the kind with tamer, less technical terrain.

But as he builds back into the sport, he鈥檚 confronted with the obvious question: is the risk and reward of mountain running worth it, given what he鈥檚 gone through?

For Terrill, the answer is easy. 鈥淚鈥檒l stay on flat ground,鈥� he says. 鈥淓ven seeing pictures of people running on cliffs freaks me out.鈥�

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The post The Wild Side appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

Ray Zahab first noticed that something was wrong with his body in the spring of 2022. 鈥淚 just started to feel like shit,鈥� he told me, chuckling. The Canadian ultrarunner was 54, and he felt like his body was breaking down. Even his warm up runs began to feel grueling. He was constantly out of breath, napping several times a day, and struggling with severe brain fog. 鈥淚 felt like I had wool in my head,鈥� he said. He wondered if he was nearing the end of his career.

Was this just what aging felt like, or was something worse going on?

Zahab had spent the last two decades crossing some of the most inhospitable environments on Earth. He鈥檚 best known for running over 4,600 miles across the Sahara Desert in 2007, becoming鈥攚ith partners Kevin Lin and Charlie Engle鈥攖he first runners to do so. But if you name an extremely hot or cold place, chances are, Zahab鈥檚 crossed it. The deserts of Atacama, Namib, Patagonia, Gobi, and Death Valley. The frozen tundras of Kamchatka, Baffin Island, Antarctica, and Siberia.

Early in 2022, Zahab and longtime expedition partner Kevin Vallely were stymied while attempting an unsupported crossing of Ellesmere, a 500-mile-long Canadian island in the Arctic Circle (and one of the northernmost land masses on the planet). 鈥淚t was clear after starting northward that the snow conditions were going to make it nearly impossible to pull our heavy sleds,鈥� Zahab said. The men made poor progress, trudging directly into a brutal wind, and Vallely ended up with a condition known as 鈥渃aribou lung,鈥� which Zahab described as 鈥渇rostbite of the lining of the lungs.鈥� They soon threw in the towel.

Now, after failure on Ellesmere, Zahab鈥檚 body was failing him, too. Doctors ran tests, and knew that something was wrong鈥攈is red blood cell count was severely depleted鈥攂ut for several months, they couldn鈥檛 give Zahab a diagnosis. 鈥淚 thought maybe I had long COVID, or parasites left over from a past expedition,鈥� Zahab told me. 鈥淚 wondered if I was maybe just getting older.鈥�

When the results finally came in, they were worse than he鈥檇 imagined.

Zahab had a rare form of lymphoma, a blood cancer, in his bone marrow. He鈥檇 caught it early, and his prognosis was good, but for an extreme endurance athlete like Zahab, already in his mid-50s, it could mean the end of a career.

鈥淢y doctor was like, 鈥楪ood news. We caught this. We don鈥檛 think you鈥檙e going to die. Bad news is there’s no cure for what you got.鈥欌€�

But Zahab dove into chemotherapy with the same mentality he took into his expeditions. 鈥淚 had the right, if you will, to sit on the couch, binge Netflix, and just try to make it through the next six months of treatment,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut I wanted to fight it.鈥�

Each month, Zahab went for a few days of chemo and monoclonal therapy. 鈥淚 would come home, and I’d be sick as a dog for two days,鈥� he recalled. But as soon as he was able, he鈥檇 force himself to get up and out, pushing himself little by little. 鈥淚鈥檇 say, 鈥極k, I’m going to walk a mile one day. The next day I鈥檇 jog a mile. Then I鈥檇 get myself as fit as I could over a 10-day period, and I鈥檇 go away for a week or so to do something personally challenging, whatever that might be for me at the time.鈥�

In between chemotherapy sessions, Zahab ran 30 miles in the Mojave Desert with his daughter. After another session, he crossed a valley in Baffin Island with friends. During another chemo break, he went to the Atacama Desert.

These trips were small potatoes compared to his usual expeditions, but they kept his spirits up. 鈥淚 did these things, not to prove that I could,鈥� Zahab said, 鈥渂ut to try and get myself as fit and stoked and full of life as possible before each round of chemo. I鈥檓 reminding myself that I鈥檓 alive, right?鈥�

Zahab Returns to the Arctic

After six months of chemotherapy, Zahab was in remission. But throughout his treatments, Ellesmere Island never left his mind. And this March, almost three years after their failure in 2022, he and Vallely returned to the frozen island.

They first crossed the island on snowmobiles, burying two caches of supplies, then set out from Eureka, a research base, to ski over 300 miles to the town of Grise Fiord.

The men trudged through blizzards, across frozen sea and land, dragging 150-pound sleds behind them. 鈥淭he surface of the snow was jagged, like little daggers,鈥� Zahab recalled. 鈥淚t felt like pulling something across sandpaper.鈥� They encountered temperatures as low as -112 degrees Fahrenheit with windchill, and winds up to 60 miles an hour. 鈥淲e almost never saw a morning that was warmer than -22 Fahrenheit,鈥� Zahab told me. Zahab鈥檚 tracker suggested the men climbed somewhere between 30,000 and 40,000 vertical feet, hauling their sleds up and down steep dunes of frozen snow known as sastrugi, and endless rolling climbs overland.

When the men arrived and set up camp each night, all of their gear was so cold that touching anything was risky. 鈥淵ou touch the sleeping mat, it鈥檒l give you frostbite,鈥� Zahab recalled. 鈥淵ou touch the air inflation bladder for the sleeping mat, it鈥檒l give you frostbite. Everything was so frozen that I could barely feel my hands.鈥� Zahab got frostbite on his fingertips just from setting up camp inside the tent.

At night, they staked down their tent with custom-made footlong titanium stakes, double-walling it and burying the fly deep in the snow so it wouldn鈥檛 blow away. Polar bears were a constant threat. They staked out a wire fence around their campsites on the ice, tied to shotgun blanks that would fire if bears tripped the line. They slept with neck gaiters over their face, so that the moisture of their breath wouldn鈥檛 freeze their sleeping bags.

The men packed 7,000 calories a day, 鈥渂ut we were burning through it like it was nothing,鈥� Zahab said. Their kit included six liters of olive oil, frozen solid into ice cubes, which they sucked on as they walked to keep their energy up. (By the end of the expedition, they鈥檇 become so adapted to the cold that when the temperatures crested -20掳C鈥攚hich was rare鈥攖hey felt so warm that they stripped down to their long underwear.)

After 28 days they finally reached Grise Fiord, becoming one of the few to have ever crossed Ellesmere Island overland. 鈥淢oney, time, cancer, planning, training, everything, it all paid off,鈥� Zahab said.

鈥淚 Get to Live鈥�

Zahab, who has a side career as a professional speaker and also founded a youth nonprofit, is a walking embodiment of the power of positivity. But he wasn鈥檛 always this way. Until his early thirties, Zahab was an overweight, pack-a-day smoker. He went from never having run a race in his life, to setting speed and distance records in some of the most extreme environments on the planet, all after turning 40.

鈥淔or the first half of my life, I talked myself out of doing things because I was afraid of what might happen, or failing, or what others would think,鈥� he said. 鈥淚n the second half, I decided I was going to make decisions for myself. You never know how many days you’ve got left.鈥�

Cancer, he says, taught him that 鈥渆very moment you have is something to be celebrated.鈥�

鈥淭here was this moment during chemotherapy where I decided that I was going to continue to try,鈥� he recalled. 鈥淭o do whatever I could do to keep living my life as I had before. The cancer wasn’t going to own me. I was going to own it.鈥�

Today, Zahab is 56, and says he鈥檚 in the best shape of his life, but eventually, his cancer may very well return. He remains in remission, but the lymphoma is in his bone marrow, and there is no cure. This doesn’t faze him.

鈥淚 don’t even think about it,鈥� he told me. 鈥淟et鈥檚 say it comes back in a few years鈥� What am I going to do? I can spend my time worrying about that, or I can spend it celebrating. I get to wake up every single day and make an awesome espresso. I get to go see my kids. I get to run, ski, or paddle somewhere. I get to go trail running with my wife.鈥�

鈥淩ight now, I get to live. Why not focus on that?鈥�

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After watching all 11 seasons of the History Channel’s survival show Alone,听I’ve become accustomed to to the show’s ebb and flow.

In the first two episodes we meet the ten contestants, learn about their backstories, and scrutinize the ten pieces of wilderness gear they bring with them into the backcountry. Over the next three or four episodes, we marvel at the shelters these men and women construct, and the ingenuity they bring to hunting squirrels and harvesting edible flora.

And then, usually around episode six, the show hits its turning point鈥攖he moment when the weather gets cold. Of the show’s 11 seasons, nine have been held in Canada, and the chilly conditions always make the survivalists suffer. Potable water freezes. Edible critters nest or hibernate. Daily life becomes a battle against the elements.

There will be no such turning point during the upcoming season 12, however. That’s because, for the first time in the show’s history, Alone is headed to the desert. Officials with the History Channel 迟辞濒诲听国产吃瓜黑料 that this year’s Alone season was filmed in South Africa’s Great Karoo, a vast expanse of hot and dry grasslands and semi-arid desert located northeast of Cape Town.

“Their survival skills will need to be at a high level so they can remain hydrated,” Dave Holder, the show’s lead survival consultant, told me. “The need to stay hydrated takes up a great deal of the day. You have to remember to drink. People get so engrossed in other tasks that they can forget.”

Season 12 will kick off on at 9 P.M. EST on Thursday, June 12 on The History Channel. There’s also an exclusive preview of the season that’s available on demand to all TV platforms that offer the History Channel.

Other than the change in topography and climate, the other elements of Alone will remain constant this season. The ten cast members are new to the show and are not returning contestants from past seasons. They will again get to choose ten survival tools to bring with them into the backcountry. And yeah, they will each be out there by themselves, forced to build shelter, procure food, and, perhaps most importantly this year,听find water.

“They call this place 鈥榣and of great thirst,鈥欌€� says one of the producers in the show’s trailer.

It’s no secret that the desert conditions will completely upend season 12. In every Alone season, contestants must find sources of reliable drinking water. But previous seasons have all been set in regions where fresh water is abundant.

础濒辞苍别’蝉听first two seasons were set along the coast of Vancouver Island, where it rained incessantly. In season three, contestants were situated along a large freshwater lake in Patagonia, Argentina. After returning to Vancouver Island in season four, the fifth season was held in the grasslands of Mongolia, where a large river crisscrossed the terrain. After that,听Alone producers held the next six seasons at or near major lakes in Canada.

In these locations, contestants spent way more effort chasing food than pursuing fresh water.

I’m also curious what critters the contestants will catch and eat. In years past,听Alone contestants have survived off of a vast array of critters that live in the sub-arctic: beaver, squirrels, grouse, mice, and rabbits. On rare occasions, they have also snagged big game: Jordan Jonas shot and killed a moose with an arrow during season 6, and Roland Welker brought down an ox during season 7 with a hunting knife.

The Great Karoo is home to South Africa’s so-called “Big Five” wildlife species: lion, elephant, rhinoceros, leopard, and Cape buffalo. Rhinos are endangered, and leopards, lions, and elephants are also protected. I cannot envision a survivalist taking down a Cape buffalo with a bow and arrow and some fishing wire.

Luckily, the Great Karoo is home to a wide array of rodents and medium-sized game: porcupines, ground squirrels, gerbils, moles, and a vast array of rats and mice. The History Channel has also put together a helpful where fans can learn more about the location.

As other hardcore聽Alone fans know, we’re likely to see contestants catching, cooking, and eating plenty of these critters.

I’m psyched to see how everything plays out.

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Any avid 国产吃瓜黑料 reader should have The Ten聽Essentials etched into their memory. The venerable list of items that every hiker should take with them into the backcountry pays equal weight to insulation, fire-starters, and, of course tools. There are very few problems you’ll encounter in the wilderness where your tool of choice isn’t a knife. But what鈥檚 the best knife for the outdoors?

While I own dozens of options, the one I reach for most often is simple, small, and relatively affordable. My knife of choice is the Esee-3HM.聽Let鈥檚 talk about how you can find the knife that works for you.

What Kinds of Knives Work Best Outdoors?

Perhaps we should phrase the question like this: What tasks do you need a knife for on your next camping trip or hike? You might need to cut cordage so you can lash a shelter down in high wind. You might need to break down dead wood, to access its dry interior and start a fire. You might need to whittle a stick, to use as an extra tent peg or to roast a hot dog. If you鈥檙e fishing or hunting, you might need to remove聽guts or skin.

For general outdoors use, a knife is a tool for mights and maybes. If you鈥檙e planning to focus on a specific activity鈥攕ay catching a fish鈥攜ou might pack a specific tool like a filet knife. But if you鈥檙e just spending time outside, you鈥檒l want to carry a knife capable of any task you might encounter.

So that鈥檚 what an outdoors knife is鈥攐ne you can use for any task you might encounter outdoors.

What About Survival Knives?

In my opinion, the term “survival” has been co-opted by people trying to sell you a fantasy, rather than a useful tool matched to realistic needs. A good knife should be strong, sharp, and reliable. What you probably don’t need is the added weight and bulk a compass, fishing line storage, or saw teeth.

If you do find yourself in a survival scenario鈥攕ay you鈥檝e gotten lost and night is falling鈥攖he general-purpose nature of an outdoors blade is going to work better at getting a fire going or cutting pine boughs to sleep on than something purpose built for slicing open Those other features just get in the way.

Why Not Carry a Multitool?

I get the appeal of toting a Leatherman or other all-in-one tool. With multiple tools and functions, it鈥檚 easy to think a multitool or Swiss Army knife might be more versatile tool. Here’s why it鈥檚 not.

Away from a Phillips-head screwdriver and can opener, the tool you鈥檙e going to find yourself using most often outdoors is a knife blade. And while yes, multitools and Swiss Army Knives聽do tend to include one of those, they鈥檙e usually small and of poor quality. Even if you do find a multitool with a good blade鈥攍ike the new Leatherman Arc鈥攖hat鈥檚 still going to fall short of most real knives for two reasons: 1) the handle will be uncomfortable and 2) it鈥檒l be subject to failure.

It鈥檚 for those reasons that I carry a small multitool in addition to a real knife.

Can You Carry a Folding Pocket Knife?

Folding knives are far more prone to failure than fixed blades because of the mechanism that allows them to collapse.

That failure can be non-mission critical鈥攖he pivot can fill up with dirt and stop working. Or, should a locking mechanism break or come loose, that failure could cause the blade to slam shut on your hand, leading to significant injury. More commonly, folding knives just break in half if you try to use one to split firewood, leaving you without the tool you need to finish the job.

A fixed-blade, with no moving parts, is the better option as a result.

How Long of a Blade Do You Need?

Longer blades span larger pieces of wood, enabling you to more efficiently split those apart. The additional weight that comes with longer blades may also make them easier to chop with, although a knife is not the best tool for that job. Get a hatchet.

The shorter a knife鈥檚 blade is, the easier it is to carry and control.

My compromise on blade length: while holding the handle, I try to reach the tip of the blade with my index finger. I like that length because I hunt, and being able to cover the blade鈥檚 tip with my finger means I can reach inside a chest cavity, feel for the windpipe, and sever that without poking holes in other organs while I鈥檓 in there. But you’ll find this to be a good rule of thumb鈥攐r index鈥攆or judging a knife to be easy to carry and convenient to employ.

Consider the Handle

As I mentioned at the top, my knife of choice is an . That combines a 3.63-inch blade with a thin handle which terminates at the base of the blade without any obstructions. You can really choke your hand all the way up into the choil (the finger shaped cutout behind the edge) for jobs where you need fine control.

That handle is made from linen micarta, a resin-impregnated fabric layup that leaves the end of the threads exposed. It鈥檚 virtually indestructible, but feels soft to the touch, and provides good grip while wearing gloves or barehanded, wet or dry.

The slim, elongated handle also facilitates comfort and security across all types of grip. The knife feels natural and comfortable any way you hold it.

The Importance of Blade Shape, Thickness, and Grind

Wonky blades that are shaped to cut only in certain directions, to protect their point while penetrating, or to work best while slicing, prioritize performance in those tasks over general utility. Try to split a log with some zanily-shaped knife and you鈥檒l quickly become frustrated. Instead, look for a blade where the edge falls away from the tip in a generous sweep, then continues back toward the handle in a straight line. That shape will be the most versatile.

Recently, I’ve noticed a trend in the market toward very chunky blades, measuring a quarter inch or more in thickness. This is done for looks, not utility. A knife is not a pry bar; it is a cutting tool. The thicker a blade is the harder time it鈥檒l have slicing through whatever it is you want to cut. The Esee-3HM鈥檚 one-eighth-inch thickness is ideal, lending the tool strength without getting in the way of the job at hand.

A blade is thinnest at its edge and thickest at its spine. Getting there in a straight line鈥攆orming a simple wedge shape鈥攊s the strongest arrangement and is very practical for splitting wood. Blades that feature a wide wedge terminating at a point below the spine won鈥檛 slice as well. Ones that use a concave shape from the edge to spine prioritize slicing performance over splitting.

What Makes a Knife Strong?

Look for a knife where the handle material is bolted to the outside of the blade鈥檚 steel, forming a place for your hands only. Knives where the handle continues rearwards beyond the steel can see the handle and blade separate under hard use, or after exposure to weather and chemicals.

What鈥檚 the Best Steel for Knives?

The variety of steel used to construct a knife, and the way in which it is forged, quenched, and treated, determine qualities like edge retention, ease of sharpening, chip and rust resistance, and even how fine of an edge is achievable at a microscopic level.

Because a sharp knife is also the safest and most useful knife, I try to prioritize ease of sharpening in blades I intend to carry outdoors. High carbon steels are generally good at that, even if they do tend to get rusty and tarnished. Esee鈥檚 1095 steel is a proven performer, and also can be found at reasonable prices. The knife I’m using throughout this article retails for about $130.

Spend a little more on fancier blade steels like Magnacut for blades you plan to carry more than use. You鈥檒l appreciate rust-resistance in a folding knife riding in a sweaty pocket.

Don鈥檛 Overlook this Crucial Factor

A knife needs to be sharp. A sharp knife will require less force to use, reducing the odds of an accident. A sharp knife will also cause less damage to the medium being cut, and be easier to use.

I do not carry a field sharpener, instead preferring the ease of use offered by . Keeping knives touched up on that sharpener only takes a few seconds, and bringing a knife back from dull just requires a few minutes. Making sure my Esee has a razor鈥檚 edge before heading into the field has proven vital, as the blade stays useable even on trips lasting two weeks or more.

Wes Siler got his first knife in Cub Scouts, and has carried one nearly every day ever since. , where he explores the intersection of outdoor skills and the politics of the great outdoors.

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The Trump Administration is eliminating a 2024 rule that places environmental protection on par with mining, ranching, and timber cutting on lands overseen by the Bureau of Land Management.

On April 14 the White House about its intent to rescind the , also called the Public Lands Rule.

The rule, which was formally published on June 12, 2024, requires the BLM to “support ecosystem health and resilience” and “protect landscapes, restore degraded habitat, and make informed management decisions based on science and data.” The rule allows the BLM to lease land to non-profit organizations for the sole purpose of restoration and conservation.

国产吃瓜黑料 reached out to the U.S. Interior Department for comment, and a media representative confirmed that the Bureau of Land Management will rescind the Public Lands Rule.

The move has generated praise from some state officials and harsh criticism from non-profit groups that work in land management and environmental protection.

The Bureau of Land Management oversees 245 million acres of land in the American West, or roughly one tenth of the country’s entire landmass. According to the , which creates the framework for modern public lands management, the BLM should administer public lands “on the basis of multiple use and sustained yield” of resources.

When it was published in 2024, the Public Lands Rule drew immediate criticism from some lawmakers. In June, 2024, lawmakers in to repeal the rule, arguing that it “represents a sea change in how the BLM will carry out its mission moving forward.”

“The Public Lands Rule is a classic example of a solution looking for a problem,” Utah governor Spencer Cox said at the time.

In February of 2025, senators in both Utah and Wyoming introduced the Western Economic Security Today Act鈥攁 law that would repeal the Public Lands Rule. Republican senator a “radical rule that threatens our Wyoming way of life.”

On Thursday, April 17, the Utah Attorney General that the Utah is “thrilled” about the Trump Administration’s move to rescind the rule.

“This rule could keep Utahns off public lands and would employ a museum-type management approach,” he said. “You can look, but you can’t touch.”

But several non-profit groups that focus on ecology and environmental protection hit back at the decision. In a public statement, Alison Flint, senior legal director for the nonprofit group The Wilderness Society called the move “a blatant giveaway to industry.”

“Public lands belong to all of us, and they should not be cast off to the highest bidder,” Flint said. “With last week鈥檚 directive, the president is putting himself above the law and planning to slash the safeguards that protect wildlife, clean air and water and the communities that depend on them.”

A statement from the Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, a nonprofit representing communities that hunt and fish, pointed out that the Public Lands Rule was published after the general public was allowed to submit comments both for and against it. The White House’s did not allow the public to comment prior to its decision to repeal it.

鈥淭he notion that the administration may intend to move forward unilaterally without following any public engagement process is deeply troubling,鈥� said Kaden McArthur, director of policy and government relations for Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, in a statement. 鈥淭he Public Lands Rule reflects years of work, including extensive input from stakeholders, to ensure the long-term health of the landscapes we rely on for healthy fish and wildlife habitat.

Steve Bloch, legal director of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance, a nonprofit that advocates for environmental protection, levied harsh criticism at Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, who has spoken publicly about wanting to open public lands up for agriculture, industry, and energy exploration.

“Doug Burgum often invokes President Theodore Roosevelt鈥檚 conservation legacy as a model for his own tenure as Secretary of the Interior,” Bloch said. “Teddy Roosevelt is rolling over in his grave at both the comparison and Burgum鈥檚 ever-darkening legacy over the nation鈥檚 public lands.”

The post This Rule Boosted Public Land Protection. The Feds Are Removing It. appeared first on 国产吃瓜黑料 Online.

When I start planning a camping or backpacking trip, I think a lot about risk. What kind of equipment do I need to stay dry? To stay warm or cool? I think about having fun, but I also attempt to mitigate聽disaster. As a bit of an obsessive, I spend a lot of time contemplating聽what could go wrong in the hopes of having my time outdoors go without incident.

So, I took a deep dive into data around accidents in national parks and other public lands nationwide, to figure out where the real risks lie. This data can be hard to track, as many injured people treat themselves, or receive first aid from a friend or family member, or transport themselves for treatment at a hospital. Unlike fatality reports, much data is lost in the process.

What Does the Data Say?

A study conducted in 2003 , who鈥檇 been hiking for at least seven days. They were asked to complete a questionnaire around factors like injuries, and illnesses, along with practical measures they鈥檇 taken to avoid those things. That sounds like the kind of data that should be relevant to any of us going backpacking this summer.

The results? The most common cause of injury was blisters to the feet, followed by sore joints. The most frequent medical complaint was diarrhea. Filtering water, practicing good hygiene, and cleaning cooking implements correlated with avoiding that complaint. 24 percent of respondents reported tick bites.

Here are the myths and facts of water filtration. And tick bites are just as easy to avoid as E. Coli. Wearing appropriate clothing and taking advantage of modern chemical treatments can seriously reduce the odds of picking one up.

Where鈥檚 the juicy stuff, I wondered? I wanted聽to read about grizzly bear maulings and hiking poles being surgically removed from groins. A study from 2007 looked at . Surely Yellowstone, with its large predators and geothermal activity will deliver something gruesome.

In a two-year period, Yellowstone鈥檚 EMS responded to 306 injuries that generated records reviewed by the study. In 59.2 percent of those cases, victims were able to be treated at the scene, and did not require transportation to a medical facility. 77.4 percent of incidents involved soft tissue lacerations鈥攃uts鈥攐nly 8.8 percent involved a broken bone.

But what if you do encounter a grizzly while visiting Yellowstone? It turns out the bear spray that’s become the accepted answer is more of a placebo used to prevent tourists from carrying guns than it is a realistically capable tool. Fortunately there’s some very easy advice that’s statistically proven to deliver better results.

A larger study . It found that EMS responded to 45.9 injuries per million park visits. This is a substantially lower rate than that of, say, annual emergency department visits per-million people in the general population, according to the Centers for Disease Control. But that鈥檚 an imperfect comparison. People exist in the world 365 days out of the year. The average visit duration across the national park system is 7.44 hours.

That study found that 43 percent of EMS activations park service-wide involved simple first aid.聽 29 percent were in response to medical emergencies like heart attacks. Only 28 percent of activations involved traumas.

It seems it鈥檚 hard to find juicy data around gruesome injuries in national parks simply because, relative to the outside world, there just aren鈥檛 that many.

A study published in 2009 by Wilderness and Environmental Medicine studies . It found there were an average of 4,090 each year. The purpose of that study was to compare cost to efficacy, not to tabulate causations. Of all 65,439 SAR operations studied, the rescued victims were neither ill nor injured in 51,541 cases. In those cases, victims were likely lost, unable to return to a trailhead, or feared exposure. Activities requiring rescue correspond to those most likely to result in death in the main park service data set鈥攈iking and boating. The study found that 13,211 people would have died without SAR intervention; these operations are saving more people than the total number of deaths across parks every year.

What About Deaths in National Parks?

If you’re curious about deaths, the most complete set of data comes from the National Park Service. A a single, nationwide agency responsible for the safety of hundreds of millions of annual visitors, NPS collects more data around human behavior in the outdoors than any other entity I know. Its most complete set of data comes from human fatalities, since those are the subject of significant reporting and investigation.

Looking at for causations, we can see data like this:

Out of all deaths in national parks, intentional causes (suicides and homicides), medical causes, and undetermined (which are likely a mix of the first two categories) make up 50 percent of all fatalities. Unintentional causes鈥攁ccidents鈥攎ake up the other half.

This data set runs from 2014 to 2019. Of those accidental deaths, the most common cause was motor vehicle crashes, followed by drowning, next come falls. These causes likely sound a lot less dramatic than you鈥檇 expect for places with mountains and bears. And they get even less dramatic when you dig into them. The largest group likely to drown in national parks are men aged 45-54, and the most common cause of those is boating accidents. The U.S. Coast Guard says alcohol is a factor in . Falls, too, involve fairly mundane circumstances. Many more of those occur while hiking rather than climbing, and most of the locations where people get into trouble are established hiking trails.

Deaths in national parks are also rare. Between 2014 and 2019, a total of 1,080 unintentional deaths occurred across the entire national park system. That鈥檚 out of 1.9 billion visits. You鈥檙e several times less likely to die while visiting a national park than you are to win the Powerball jackpot.

The odds of any particular type of accidental death skew heavily between individual parks, too. Most of those boating deaths occur in National Recreation Areas (which are managed by the park service and involve big bodies of water like Lake Mead). 39 people drowned there between 2014 and 2019. The park with the highest incidents of motor vehicle deaths was Great Smokey Mountains National Park, where people visit to drive the Blue Ridge Parkway. Distractions鈥攍ooking at the views鈥攁re a major factor.

Visiting a national park, or recreating outdoors, remains very safe, despite the fact that these activities differ from our normal, daily behavior. Humans tend to experience a normalcy bias, where we perceive rare stuff to be much more dangerous than things much more statistically likely to kill us, so long as we do that more dangerous stuff more regularly. All that鈥檚 to say: If you want to avoid death and injury outdoors this summer, drive safely.

Wes Siler splits time between Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks. You can read his travel guidance and insights to both places on .

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The mountains are muddy (or still socked in with snow), it鈥檚 raining in the woods, and rivers are about to overflow their banks with runoff. Winter has felt long this year, and you’re probably itching to spend some time in the sun, and maybe go on a camping trip. But where can you find comfort and solitude in this transitional time of year? The desert, of course. Here鈥檚 how to plan your first trip鈥攁nd make it a success.

Why The Desert?

Isn鈥檛 the desert just sand, rocks, and scrub? Only in movies and TV shows. Deserts support abundant, diverse plant and animal life that can’t be found anywhere else, provide speculator views, and offer a vast landscape free of other people. Deserts are also full of attractions like ghost towns, waterfalls, oases, rivers, hot springs and beaches. In short: all the ingredients necessary for an epic weekend outdoors.

And while deserts are incredibly fragile ecosystems, they鈥檙e also typically managed by the most lenient rules and agencies. So long as you鈥檙e able to be responsible and self-sufficient, you鈥檙e free to visit and enjoy them as you see fit.

But don’t forget: visiting the desert, and doing it well, is typically going to involve driving on unpaved surfaces, hiking or recreating in unforgiving temperatures, and doing all that a long way away from other people, which exponentially increases your consequences should something go wrong.

The solution to safely and responsibly visiting the desert lies in preparation. Let鈥檚 look at some different destinations, then I’ll walk you through how you can best prepare for them.

Somewhere in Idaho. Note the truck serving as a wind break for both the tent and fire. (Photo: Wes Siler)

For First Time Campers: Joshua Tree National Park

Home to many organized campgrounds (you must book ahead), accessible by paved roads, along with the (now somewhat reduced) presence of park rangers to fall back on should you need help, California’s Joshua Tree National Park聽is easy to visit and enjoy.

Things To Do: The park offers incredibly accessible traditional climbing and bouldering. So if you鈥檙e looking to take your ascents out of the gym for the first time, Joshua Tree is a great place to learn the ropes. More experienced climbers will enjoy the slab and steep crack climbing challenges.

J-Tree is home to great hiking. 国产吃瓜黑料‘s聽National Parks columnist, Graham Averill, assembled a list of 11 of the best just last December. The park also offers backcountry camping for backpackers prepared to venture into the desert on foot鈥攋ust make sure you book a permit in advance.

Joshua Tree’s ease of access will allow you to relax and enjoy time outdoors. You can birdwatch, listen to coyotes howl, spot rattlesnakes, and enjoy some of the best stargazing in Southern California.

What To Watch Out For: . Watch out for rattlesnakes, which tend to hide out during the heat of the day, but get more active at night. A lot of visitors get into trouble by venturing off-pavement in inappropriate vehicle or on inadequate tires. Bring at least one gallon of water per-person, per-day.

Make Sure You Bring: WAG bags. Should you encounter reduced bathroom services, prepare聽to poop and pack it out on your own. This can be done simply using hand sanitizer, a roll of toilet paper, and doggie bags combined with a (black!) trash bag to toss them into.

For New Off-Roaders: The Old Mojave Road

Bought聽your first 4×4 and want to test its mettle? Not far from Joshua Tree lies California’s聽Mojave National Preserve, and following old wagon tracks through it will take you far away from other people, but within an easy drive from Los Angeles or Las Vegas.

Things To Do: Make sure your navigation devices work without聽cell reception, then air down your tires and hit the sand. Look for lava tubes and explore the vast emptiness of the Mojave Desert.

What To Watch Out For: Following rain, the water crossing on the route鈥檚 north side can get deep enough to flood your vehicle. Know the height of your truck鈥檚 air intake, make sure all your traction aids are switched on, and proceed with extreme caution. Exercise the care you should any time you鈥檙e off-road, sticking to the trails, avoiding damage to plants, and packing out anything you bring in, including human waste.

Make Sure You Bring: An air compressor, an air down tool, a tire repair kit, and a matching spare should be considered essential. An extra five gallons of gas will be nice to have.

For Hot Springers: Guadalupe Canyon Oasis

A 50-mile drive south of the U.S.-Mexico border crossing in Mexicali, is managed by a friendly family that provides private sites, each with its own natural-spring fed tub, plunge, or swimming pool. This is a perfect first destination for the Baja-curious. The drive into the oasis is easy and accessible to vehicles as basic as economy crossovers.

Things To Do: In addition to soaking, check out hikes to view indigenous cave art. See native wildlife like bighorn sheep. Show up prepared to cook your own meals and provide your own drinks, but a little market on-site sells some essentials should you forget anything.

What To Watch Out For: While the dirt road in is pretty simple, you鈥檒l want to make sure you have a full tank of gas when you leave Mexicali, and take care to avoid navigating across the dry lake bed. No matter how capable your truck, the soft mud there will absolutely get you stuck.

Make Sure You Bring: Download the , and plan your crossing back north accordingly. I’d way rather spend four to six hours enjoying tacos and shopping for cheap prescriptions in Mexicali than sitting in a traffic jam.

You鈥檙e going to ask this, so I might as well answer. Yes, it鈥檚 safe to visit. The oasis locks its entry gate after dark and the family is on-site to patiently assist with any problems you might have.

For Backpackers: The Topa Topa Mountains

Just north of Ventura and Ojai, California, the Topa Topas often get passed over for the more glamorous (and still very much snowed in) Sierra Nevada. They offer less crowded trails as a result, and are accessible year-round.

Things Do Do: Park at the Piedra Blanca trailhead, throw on your backpack, and start walking. You’ll find hidden waterfalls, secret swimming holes, backcountry hot springs, and an abundance of rare wildlife, including the California Condor.

What To Watch Out For: While water sources are abundant in the Topa Topas, water levels fall as summer approaches, pools become stagnant, and algae grows. Pollution from human waste is common. That鈥檚 to say: bring a water filter you can rely on. Both black bears and mountain lions are very active in the Topa Topas, and in my experience have lost their fear of us humans. Store food responsibly and keep an eye out around dawn and dusk. If you do see a bear or lion, group tightly, leash your dogs, and make noise.

Make Sure You Bring: A good map. While the main hiking trail from due east tends to lead to crowded destinations, there are many, many lesser-known attractions once you venture off the beaten path. Don’t be afraid to explore.

Gear You Need For Desert Camping Trips

Camping in the desert will ideally be a relaxed, low-effort experience. But as with any activity, there are ways you can improve it.

Shelter: As night begins to fall and temperatures begin to drop, winds will increase. These gusts can聽destroy high-profile tents and shade structures, and even more commonly make those things noisy and nerve wracking to sleep in. I like to bring a low-profile backpacking tent instead. Once you鈥檝e divined the evening wind direction, pitch that behind a vehicle, boulder, or other windbreak.

To state the obvious, it will get hot during the day. Carrying a lightweight tarp for human-powered activities, or some sort of robust shade structure if you have your truck along, is essential. Make sure this a separate item from your tent so you can take it down as the sun begins to set and winds pick up.

Nights are always going to be cooler than you expect, and will feel even chillier with your new sunburn. Make sure you bring an insulated sleeping pad and a good sleeping bag with a comfort rating at least 10 degrees lower than the temperatures you expect to face.

For clothing, wear lightweight layers during the day, then plan to add insulation and wind protection at night. Real hiking boots are a good idea in this rocky and sandy terrain.

Water: If you鈥檙e traveling by vehicle, just bring water along with you. One gallon per-person, per-day is the rule of thumb. Don鈥檛 forget about your dogs. If you鈥檙e going human-powered, map out water sources using recent intel from other hikers who have traveled the area. A pump water filter complete with a lengthened intake hose (just take your filter to the local hardware store) can help you access hard-to-reach puddles and pools hidden in rocks and hillsides, or dip below surface algae for less murky water. An extra foot or two of length should be plenty.

Fire: Deserts are fragile ecosystems. If you鈥檙e not camping in an established campsite with a pre-existing fire-ring, don鈥檛 scar the landscape with a surface burn. Instead pack along a cheap home fire pit, or one powered by propane.

Food: Treating your camping trip like an outdoor dinner party is a sure recipe for good times. But out here, even organic substances can take a long time to degrade, while stuff like baby wipes and toilet paper may stick around for decades. Prepare to pack it all out with you.

Safety: While rare, snakes and scorpions do sometimes like to shelter in or under tents. For that reason, I like to bring along a proper tent to sleep in, rather than just a tarp or ultralight floorless shelter. Keep your zippers closed and tip your boots upside down overnight.

Coyotes should be a concern, especially if you own dogs. Coyotes are known to prey on very small and young dogs, so keep those leashed, especially at night. Coyotes are also prolific thieves of food, so keep anything edible in a cooler or car when it鈥檚 not in use.

And while desert weather may appear pretty stagnant to the uninitiated, it tends to be extreme when it does occur. Assume anything that can flood will flood, and avoid camping in dry washes or arroyos. Flash floods can wipe out seldom-traveled desert routes and render them totally impassible. Keep an eye out, and always have an alternate travel route planned should your way back to civilization suddenly disappear. Beware rock falls and mudslides any time there鈥檚 precipitation.

But the real problems come with exposure, and are most often caused or exacerbated by poor planning. Plan routes carefully and conservatively, don鈥檛 rely on worn out or inadequate equipment. And, when in doubt, travel in groups.

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It had been snowing for over 24 hours, but the storm was set to clear out just in time for first light. My friend Jordi Tenas, who is a professional skier, and I had spent and camping under the towering Cerro Torrecillas near Las Le帽as Ski Resort in Argentina. It had been a dry winter in the Southern Hemisphere, and we were heading back to Spain in a few days. But our luck with the聽weather was about to change, so we extended our trip by an extra day to nail perfect snow conditions.

The plan was to wake up early, climb in the dark, and ski back down to camp at first light. From there, we鈥檇 break down the tent, head back to our apartment in town and pack up a season鈥檚 worth of gear before catching the last bus out of Las Le帽as.

We forced ourselves into sleeping bags and set an alarm for 6 A.M. Little did we know, that alarm would never come.

We woke up to a jolting impact against the tent wall, and we were pushed by a relentless river of snow that tossed and churned us as we struggled to free our arms from our sleeping bags. The roof of the tent caved in聽and squeezed against our bodies as it dragged underneath a massive avalanche. When it all finally stopped and the basin went silent once again, we couldn鈥檛 move our bodies from the waist down. My arms were just loose enough to keep an air pocket open, and I could faintly hear Jordi beside me.

We had known our tent was in a basin and potentially at risk for聽avalanches, but, perched up on a hill of glacial deposit, we thought any slides would have a whole bowl to fill before they reached our doorstep. I had expressed my concern to Jordi, yet in famous Jordi fashion, he confidently defended our safety, and I got lulled into believing it. After all, it would take a an avalanche of historic size聽to get anywhere close to where we were sleeping.

We never anticipated that a cornice would fall above us, or that it would be聽big enough send the whole bowl of snow聽crashing down鈥攑ersistent weak layer and all. I wouldn鈥檛 find out until later, but we were now buried under six feet of snow.

We whispered back and forth, and I could hear Jordi breathing. We both scolded each other for taking up too much air as things started to come in and out of focus. As my breathing got shallower, I realized it was still the middle of the night鈥攖hat no one would even realize we were gone until morning. We were going to die, I thought. That was the last thought that crossed my mind before I lost consciousness.

The next thing I remember is the ambulance door closing. I wasn鈥檛 sure where I was, but I was bundled in blankets instead of my sleeping bag. I was hypoxic and hypothermic, but I was still there. I wouldn鈥檛 find out until later, but Jordi wasn鈥檛 so lucky.

Our Las Le帽as roommate, a freeskier from Idaho, had noticed that we hadn’t聽arrive home that morning,听and he had climbed up the nearest hill to get eyes on our ski zone. He saw a massive crown just peeking out over the ridge lines and rushed down to tell ski patrol. Equipped with two Pisten Bully snow cats and an avalanche dog, they took off to Cerro Torrecillas and started excavating the zone.

The season was done at the resort, so it鈥檚 a miracle rescuers from the ski area even came out that day. We were buried so deep, only the machines could dig us out. When they struck the tent, they were shocked to find me still breathing. I don鈥檛 remember getting loaded into the cat, and only barely remember pieces of the 125-mile drive to the hospital in San Rafael.聽Somehow I had been able to keep breathing in the same air pocket, yet Jordi had not. I survived being buried for 12 hours underneath and avalanche.

The interview with Txema Trull was conducted in Spanish and translated and edited for brevity and clarity by Kade Krichko鈥擡d.

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