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Two American climbers started the Centro de Escalada Urbana with a vision: to give kids from one of Rio de Janeiro’s poorest neighborhoods a leg up by teaching them to climb the cliffs near their home. Before they were done, they would blaze new routes up Rio’s granite walls, weather the death of a friend, and see the social order of one of Brazil's biggest slums turned upside down.

The new country of South Sudan is blessed with oil, water, and a safari bonanza: one of the largest, most stunning animal migrations on earth. But without roads, laws, or infrastructure, can Africa’s youngest state turn potential into stabilizing profit? Patrick Symmes joins the adventure.

In 1966, a group of gravediggers in West Virginia reported seeing a flying humanoid figure with glowing red eyes. A year later, a nearby bridge collapsed, killing 46 people. Coincidence? Probably, but who knows.

The extreme polar explorer on rock lifting, noodles, and scheduling conflicts

Two men who are changing the way the adventure world works

Three whitewater guides, one wooden dory, and the Colorado River, swollen by record snowmelt and raging with a fury that boatmen hadn't seen since the days of John Wesley Powell. From Kevin Fedarko's epic new book, The Emerald Mile, the incredible story of the fastest, wildest trip ever attempted through the Grand Canyon.

Travel to these destinations for tons of open space—and it's all yours

Three new trips in the world's wildest places

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?

Get way out there at a new hotel in the foothills of the Himalayas

I want to take a trip to somewhere in Central America where I can see the rainforest and spend some time on the beach. Should I go with Costa Rica or Honduras?

Huston just left the country for his expedition to Ellesmere Island

A team of explorers aims to conquer one of the last polar firsts: crossing Antarctica in winter

Gravel riding has exploded over the past few years. Frank Bures tries to figure out where it's going—and if that even matters.

Axie Navas takes a look at a new sport that's figuring out its place—on the snow and in the air

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

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.

Did Katie Heaney actually go dogsledding? It seems like it—or this whole thing is just an extremely detailed fever dream.

When the Reverend Sun Myung Moon died in September, at age 92, obituaries described a man who'd inspired zealous devotion and condemnation—a summation that Moon never shied away from. "I am a controversial person," he wrote in his 2009 autobiography, As a Peace-Loving Global Citizen. "The mere mention of my name causes trouble in the world." Here's a loo

A decade before his death, Sun Myung Moon—multimillionaire founder of the controversial Unification Church—sent a band of followers deep into the wilds of Paraguay, with orders to build the ultimate utopian community and eco-resort. So how’s that working out? Monte Reel machetes his way toward heaven on Earth.

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

Crowdfunded adventures are great. Here’s how to do them right.

Kickstarter has become the go-to funding source for serious expeditions and boondoggles alike. And that has some benefactors wanting their cash back.

Or, why you just need to disconnect every once in a while

Problem: Stress, temper tantrums, teething, nighttime waking, worry, and overscheduled days. Solution: To spend some time sleeping—and living—outdoors, away from digital distractions, at least once a month.

The Abominable Snowman is just a legend. Or is it? We break down the history of the Himalayas' most famous monster, from ancient legends to Russia's yeti museum.

Taking the bus to Mother Nature.

A team of adventurers plays a risky game of dress-up

A conversation with Tim Jarvis as he prepares to set out with a crew of five men to repeat Ernest Shackleton's 800-mile open-boat crossing of the South Atlantic

No country on earth is more geographically blessed than Colombia, with its high-altitude peaks, lush jungles, pristine beaches, wildlife-rich rainforest, and strong coffee. Now that the guerrillas of the FARC are moving toward a peace accord, the land of cocaine and kidnappings may become the best unexplored adventure haven in South America.

Axie Navas takes a look at the controversy behind California's recent ban

Katie Heaney recounts the history of the most famous Midwestern Yeti

There's no pipeline—or anything even resembling a trail or infrastructure—yet. And that's precisely why Ken Ilgunas decided to head out in September on a 1,700-mile hike tracing the planned route for the Keystone XL Pipeline—from Hardisty, Alberta, Canada, to Houston, Texas. He wanted to…

I want to build an igloo. What kind of tools do I need?

There are a lot of firsts nowadays, and Erden Eruc's voyage was the first thing to inspire Jonah Ogles in a while

Kayaking in Palau. Photo: Mark Downey Since 2006, Berkeley-based non-profit Ethical Traveler has compiled an annual list of the 10 best ethical vacation destinations for the coming year, and it just released its 2013 list this week.

wind turbines, Banning Pass, CA. Down on the wind farm. Photo: George Wuerthner Every therm and watt of energy we consume comes from somewhere, and those sources are finite, even if they're generally well removed from our daily lives. Energy: Overdevelopment…

What's the best way to get to know a new city? Put on your sneakers and move.

The Southeastern Ohio Bigfoot Investigation Society is committed to the quest for Bigfoot. But instead of finding the mythical beast, they might’ve stumbled onto something else entirely.

�����ԹϺ��� filmmaker J.J. Kelley lets you in on the tricks of the trade. Join us between 7 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET on Thursday, November 29, 2012, for a free screening of his latest film 'Go Ganges!' and a livechat.

Adam Bradley's view of the Yukon River. Photo: Adam Bradley If you follow notable (read: crazy) solo expeditions, you likely recognize the name Adam Bradley—or Krudmeister, as his friends call him. In 2009, Bradley set a record for the fastest unsupported through-hike of…

When astronaut Donald Pettit heads into space with his 10 cameras, his goal is to collect data about the earth and the stars. Often, his images end up as art. Anyone with a computer can download the photos he takes from the cupola—the glass turret…

In late August, adventurer Davey du Plessis was two months into a 4,000-mile source-to-sea expedition down the Amazon when he was shot several times. He was hit in the back, face, neck, and leg. The men who…

Just two

Jason Diamond looks back at Courtney Letts: style inspiration, socialite, and outdoorswoman extraordinaire

Three �����ԹϺ��� readers tell us how the magazine led them to do something different

Practicing. Photo: Eric Larsen In the spring of 2002, when Eric Larsen was living in Grand Marais, Minnesota, on the shore of Lake Superior and near the Boundary Waters Canoe area, he started watching the lake ice very carefully. He was waiting for some incredibly…

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA Kate Rawles on her Mexico-to-Canada tour. Photo: Chris Loynes Kate Rawles is an outdoor philosopher. That is a title she coined herself, and it is accurate in more than one way. She spends her professional life thinking about, talking about,…

After a few switchbacks, Katie Heaney was pretty sure she was about to die

A rough map of Linsdau's route Photo: AaronLinsdau.com In a Monday blog post, American skier Aaron Linsdau reported from South America on the gear he was packing into Antarctica. One picture stands out. It shows two of his five duffel bags…

Patagonia National Park, under construction. Photo: Eli Steltenpohl “Buying the land was the easy part,” Kristine Tompkins told a packed house during a presentation at the San Francisco Patagonia retail store last week. She was referring to the 2.2 million acres that she and…

When it comes to producing climbers, there's one college that stands above all the rest

Behold, the ultimate recreational vehicle

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. �����ԹϺ��� 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

Romero near his home in Big Bear Lake, California. Photo: Jennifer Briggs What do you do when you’re 15 years old and you’ve already climbed the highest mountain on every continent? If you’re Jordan Romero, you launch a nationwide campaign to scale the tallest summits in…

Make sure to bring these emergency items on your next camping or hiking trip

Left: BLM land open to solar development before 2011; right: BLM's current 17 solar energy zone. Maps: NRDC Wind, solar, geothermal and other so-called green energy sources might not spew greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, but they're far from benign. Ask any bird conservationist…

If backcountry exploration and filmmaking are two of your passions, then hurry up and send us your video

Katie Heaney learns that rivers really don't care how many times you've kayaked on a lake

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.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=MT1DhcQg0Os On Sunday, Felix Baumgartner successfully completed a jump from 24 miles above the earth, free falling at a speed of more than 700 miles per hour before landing safely on the ground. In case you missed the livestream of his feat, here are…

On solid ground. Photo: Red Bull On Sunday at 11:31 a.m. EST, 43-year-old Austrian daredevil Felix Baumgartner lifted off in a capsule attached to a 55-story balloon made of plastic one-tenth the…

On July 8, 25-year-old journalist Filipe Leite straddled one of his two horses and rode out of the Calgary Stampede under the escort of the Royal Mounted Police to start a 10,000-mile, two-year-long, 12-country journey that he hopes will end on his family’s ranch…

Photo: Joe Bell/Flickr On Thursday, �����ԹϺ��� Ethics published a story based on our investigation of the outcome of a solo fatbiking-packrafting expedition, launched this spring by Andrew Badenoch and based on a…

Katie Heaney walks into the longest cave in Wisconsin and, despite the bats, the darkness, and the bats, makes it out alive

Ever wondered how to survive a volcanic eruption? Not sure what to do when zombies inevitably take over? Don't worry, we've got you covered.

Tips for surviving seven of the world's deadliest adventures

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.

I see people using increasingly high-tech hiking poles. What’s the deal?

Odyssey Marine's archeological discoveries from the ocean floor

The route. Photo: The Coldest Journey “There is no colder part of the Earth than the surface of the Antarctic icecap in winter.” —AccuWeather.com expert senior meteorologist Jim Andrews No one has ever attempted to cross…

In September, when the nights cool and the mosquitoes follow the RVs inland, the salt marshes of ­Assateague Island National Seashore are perfect for a quick fall paddling escape

Russ Ricketts' money shot. Watch more river snorkeling videos here. We all want to capture a money shot, whether that is literally a photograph, or a video, or a perfectly baked apple pie or a novel or a painting. Sometimes everything just comes…

After nearly two years of planning, meetings and refining the Riverview Project, the team at Below the Surface is ready for its most epic road trip yet—the Exploring with a Purpose East Coast tour. Over six weeks, your Readers of the Year will be driving from San…

In 2010, Gareth Jones and Aaron Chervenak quit their day jobs and split for the Amazon with little more than a portable canoe, paddles, cameras, and camping gear. They paddled for weeks, ate piranha, drank coffee made from river water, set up their hammocks, and drifted off…

Matt Krause's American friends refused to believe that Turkey was anything like the United States. To prove them wrong, he's walking across the entire country.

The gear you need—and the perfect Scotch—for fall fly-fishing season.

West Mata eruption. Photo: NSF/NOAA In 2009, scientists on a cruise in the Western Pacific sent a remotely operated vehicle 4,000 feet below the ocean surface and discovered a two-mile high volcano called West Mata erupting 2,200-degree Fahrenheit lava in bursts scattered over the area…

Is "running everywhere" a feasible replacement for biking, cabs, and the subway? Noah Davis spent a week trying to find out.