Snow Sports
Archive
Cut your alpinism chops on North America's best routes.
Get a fresh perspective on the Old Country: pedal, paddle, skate, and hike in these eight ruggedly charming European outposts
Experience is the key to mountaineering prowess, but high-altitude fitness makes all the difference on summit day
In 24-hour mountain-bike races, riders bond over singletrack and sleep deprivation. What's not to like?
Lodges at base camp? Tourists on oxygen? Everyone seems to have a vision for the next 50 years on the world's highest mountain.
Noted ski mountaineer Andrew McLean, named one of the planet’s finest athletes by 国产吃瓜黑料 in December 2001, departed his home in Salt Lake City with an ambitious goal in his sites: to be the first to complete a continuous ski descent of Alaska’s 14,573-foot Mt. Hunter. With first descents already…
Who says you can't take your children mountaineering? The trick is to choose the right summit—then watch as they amaze themselves by scaling it. These five peaks, in order from easiest to hardest, are handpicked to bring out your kid's inner Messner.
During two deadly weeks this winter, avalanches swept away 14 lives in the heart of British Columbia's remote backcountry. Were these simply unpredictable, unstoppable acts of nature with a brutal cost? Or did somebody make crucial mistakes? An exclusive report details what really happened—and unfolds the agony of a grieving guide who led his clients to th
In honor of the 50th anniversary of Hillary and Tenzing's historic first Everest summit, we're opening the vaults to bring you the best stories ever written about the planet's tallest mountain. From Jon Krakauer's groundbreaking article, "Into Thin Air," to Brad Wetzler's account of sex, death and bad behavior at Base Camp, a collection of 国产吃瓜黑料's
In Bhutan's pristine alpine sanctuary, even a heathen climber can see the light
Thirty years after losing his brother on a Himalayan peak, Reinhold Messner battles ugly accusations that he abandoned him at the top.
The process is the point. But just try telling that to your younger, untutored, world-conquering self.
Hoping to snag high-rolling adventurers, Nepal green-lights its first full-time heli-skiing operation
Need a daily powder fix? Chase epic snow through the calendar with our guide to the best places to ski and snowboard each month.
One score and five years ago, this magazine burst onto the scene with a bold idea and a mission. The idea was that, against all odds, adventure is alive and well—and a force to reckon with and celebrate. The mission was to find new heroes, phenomenal athletes and explorers, the…
A generation ago, mounting an expedition meant drafting a herd of porters, slogging loads of gear to a rocky base camp, and laying siege to a Himalayan peak. These days, light, fast, and self-supported expeditions are in, and multisport explorers like Mike Libecki, Mark Synnott, and Brad Ludden are showing us how to do it. Here, our preview of the hottest adven
Majoring in steeps at New Mexico’s Taos Q: I’m getting older and I’d like to learn to ski better. Even if you’ve never been to my home state of Illinois, you probably know there aren’t many ski slopes nearby. I’d like to spend a week to ten…
From technical clothes for sport to chic outfits for dinner, here's how to dress like a local
ONLINE EXCLUSIVE For more photos and an audio interview with Andrew McLean, CLICK HERE EXPEDITION: ARCS OVER THE ARCTIC TEAM: ANDREW MCLEAN, BRAD BARLAGE LOCATION: BAFFIN ISLAND, NUNAVUT, CANADA OBJECTIVE: TO EXPLORE FJORDS AND VALLEYS BY KITE IN SEARCH OF…
After its triumphant coming-out party in Salt Lake City, American snowboarding faces a bright future. Is that a good thing?
A vetern journalist argues that the ski industry has sold its soul to Wall Street, turning too many mountain towns into overbuilt Disneyfied retail hubs. But don't despair: All over snow country, a back-to-basics counterrevolution is under way.
A quarter-century after he changed everything by summiting Mount Everest without supplemental oxygen, Reinhold Messner is looking fit, feeling adventurous, and acting about as mellow as a snapping turtle. Ah, well: Great men aren't always sweethearts—and Messner is still the best there ever was.
One of climbing’s most famous survival sagas began on the night of July 13, 1977, after British mountaineers CHRISTIAN BONINGTON and Doug Scott completed the first ascent of Pakistan’s 23,900-foot Baintha Brakk—a beastly massif known as The Ogre. During his rappel down, Scott swung wildly across the face and broke…
Set loose in the land that invented terrorism ten centuries ago, Tim Cahill finds crumbling castles, legends of hash-smoking hit men, and Iranians who won't stop being nice. You call this the axis of evil?
Dreams of Bengal tigers and visions of imminent extinction led Peter Matthiessen to a predator's last stronghold in the jungles of India. It was a place, the author discovered, where not seeing is believing.
TALL LATTE BEFORE WORK, double espresso in the afternoon, short cappuccino after dinner—it's the only way to tolerate Seattle's gray days. But when the clouds break and the Cascades, the Olympics, and Puget Sound appear, you know where you need to be. Grab a quadruple shot and get going.
DOWN TO EARTH MUSIC: IT'S A HIGH, LONESOME WORLD COMPILED FOR the International Year of the Mountains, the ROUGH GUIDE TO THE MUSIC OF THE ALPS, together with companion CDs from the Himalayas and the Appalachians (World Music Network, each), are the first to finally unite Krishna Das…
Only on this remote North Atlantic island do you find such glorious quirks as tolting ponies and entire villages of sleep-deprived puffin chasers
WARNING: If you are pregnant, or have kids of any age, read on. This report contains information guaranteed to provide you with the premier places to rest you head. Then rip it in the great outdoors with your wee ones. Access and Resources 888-502-9612 www.cheatmountainclub.com Ten…
After a decade of failed attempts and fatal rebuffs, an 国产吃瓜黑料-sponsored expedition runs Tibet's Upper Tsanpgo Gorge—and lives to tell about it.
The Cadence of Grass by Thomas McGuane (Knopf, $24) A HEARTY WELCOME-HOME: After a decadelong foray into nonfiction, Thomas McGuane returns to Storyville with a tale of familial strife and kidney theft played out against Montana’s sweetgrass valleys. The Cadence of Grass, McGuane’s first…
As lawmakers accuse seven government biologists of fraud, the truth is drowned out by the headlines
After a dark year, Nepal offers up a trove of glittering new prizes: 103 peaks and miles of virgin terrain
When the weather turns ugly and conditions get rough, every mountaineer must make the ultimate choice: storm the summit, or call it quits.
When outfitting yourself for desert or tropics, you no longer need to choose between protecting your epidermis and sweltering or going skimpy and inviting melanoma. New togs of tightly woven, highly sun-protective fabrics combined with built-in screen doors now reconcile coverage and comfort. RailRider’s Eco-Mesh Shirt Pants, and…
Innovations in synthetic insulation and a glut of high-quality down are making bags lighter and warmer than ever. We burrow into six of the best.
Last spring, 41-year-old Andrew McLean and 29-year-old Brad Barlage set out into the arctic wilderness of northern Canada ‘s Baffin Island for a month-long expedition in which they would complete 19 first ski-descents on runs as long as 5,100 feet. The key to the journey was an arsenal of giant…
Be the first to bag the Seven Plummets—the deepest spots in each of the Seven Seas
The scientists were clinging to the side of the ice they鈥檇 been standing on, 50 feet above the waterline. In a few seconds, the berg had gone over on top of them.
鈥淚 want to get off my pills someday,鈥 Roger says. 鈥淚 think that if I stay around regular people a lot, maybe that will help me.鈥
Illustration by Dan Winters and Gary Tanhauser Illustration by Dan Winters and Gary Tanhauser The thrill of adventure is worth a few calculated risks. But sometimes whitewater rafts flip, bike frames snap, and wilderness guides lose the map. In a society where people are increasingly aggressive about putting…
#1 You must merge with the living energy of the mountain. #2 That nagging headache may be the result of an avalanche that has just crushed your tent. #3 In order to endure the most dire physical suffering at 25,000 feet, you must inhabit other dimensions free from pain. (Note: Pain returns upon reentry into the body.) #4 You will be compelled to ascend the most harrowing face in the Himalayas, alone. #5 Go home, break both of your legs, and start all over again.
WILL GADD is a world-class adventurer who wants his exploits to pay off. He tackles breakthrough climbs all over the planet (sounds good), makes so-so money doing it (less good), and could easily get killed every time he goes to work (sounds bad). Is this any way to make a living?
Joe鈥檚 hand began to tingle, and he called the group together. The toxins would leave his system in 48 hours, he said. He鈥檇 be conscious the whole time.
UPDATE On April 7, 2002, at 3:13 P.M., British explorers Steve Brooks and Graham Stratford triumphantly drove Snowbird 6 across the International Date Line in the frozen Bering Strait and into Russia. Ice Challenger Coverage PREVIEW: Strapped behind the wheel of an amphibious snowcat, two lunatic Brits try to…
IMAX mogul David Breashears aims for another really-big-screen hit with Kilimanjaro
The just-in-time, let's-party, fear-no-evil Winter Olympics get ready to rip in the country that needs 'em now more than ever
The marines' mountain warfare training center is the ultimate test for some of the world's toughest troops: a make-it-or-leave regimen of backcountry ski combat, torturous night maneuvers, and deadly cold. Any volunteers?
Two decades ago in Sarajevo, Bill Johnson won America's first Olympic gold medal in the downhill with an astonishing kamikaze performance. Now, in the wake of a comeback attempt that almost killed him, skiing's crash-course survivor struggles with the consequences of a life lived too fast.
A tough-as-nails cadre of Russian and Ukranian speleologists wriggles and blasts its way to caving's grand prize: the mythic 2,000-meter mark
The Intrepid Travels and Incredible Tales of Col. John Blashford-Snell, Explorer
Milky skies marked our February arrival in Alaska as we bounced along the tarmac in Anchorage. Soon we were winding south on the Seward Highway toward Girdwood and our palatial base camp, the Alyeska Prince Hotel, while Celeste, our driver, pointed out the paths of hulking avalanches that pummel the…
Who needs Santa? We've got 65 of the choicest gifts for all the good little adventurers in your life—right here.
North American resorts have expanded boundaries, opened gates, and liberated skiers to revel in ungroomed wildness. Our guide to the great stuff you won't find on the trail map.
As the Last Cool Place becomes an adventure-travel magnet, the scientists and bureaucrats who run the show are feeling crowded. Is this big, beautiful continent big enough for everybody?
For newcomers—meaning most of us—they are merely picturesque. But for Native Americans, the sacred places of the Great Plains and Northern Rockies are alive with centuries of memory and meaning—and something much, much bigger.
Let the motorized leaf peepers have their New England. It'll keep them far away from ours.
Want instant access to the Big Outdoors—trails, rivers, wild shores, just minutes from home—without compromising your livelihood? Then check out these ten towns on the verge of paradise, where you don't have to ditch it all to have it all.
Injury, pain, the psychology of recovery, and getting back on the trail
Forget the Yosemite circus. Head north to Bugaboo Provincial Park, a fortress of world-class granite in a quiet corner of British Columbia.
A half-mad dash to Hkakabo Razi seemed like a good idea at the time. And hey, how tough can it be to sneak past the Chinese Army?