Writer Amy McCulloch was a young adventurer looking to challenge herself when she set her sights on 26,781-foot Manaslu, in the Himalayas. On a guided expedition, she encountered the expected risks of high-altitude mountaineering, as well as a darker threat she’d never imagined: members of her own team harassing and sexually propositioning her in an environment where she was incredibly vulnerable. She returned home with a harrowing true tale of resilience—and an idea for an epic novel. Her resul...
May 25, 2022•29 min
Our furry friends are the best of adventure playmates. But they can also provide pure, unconditional love that gets us through the darkest times. A series of dogs have supported Colorado outdoor writer Annette McGivney since childhood, as she endured domestic abuse, the loss of family members, and a bitter divorce. She’s not alone: after McGivney published a pair of essays for Outside Online detailing her relationship with her dogs, she was flooded with responses and questions from readers. In t...
May 18, 2022•32 min
There’s a distinct pleasure to eating wild foods that you forage yourself—unless you pick the wrong thing. Imagine the horror you’d feel upon realizing that the risotto you cooked for your dinner party was made with *Amanita phalloides*, a.k.a. the death cap. You’d found the fungi off a trail near your home, sure they were common meadow mushrooms. But you were mistaken. Now you and your friends are in the hospital, fighting for your lives. In this classic episode from our archives, we put you, t...
May 11, 2022•28 min
In forests across the planet, secretive hunters are searching for that rare and insanely expensive wild delicacy: the truffle. The organism, which grows underground, tethered to tree roots, can fetch thousands of dollars per pound from upscale restaurateurs. The only way to find these particular fungi are dogs specially trained to sniff them out. Not surprisingly, the truffle business is not unlike the illegal-drug business, with lots of sneaking around in the night and powerful characters vying...
May 04, 2022•30 min
Outdoor athlete and Outside contributing editor Gloria Liu very much wanted to be one those people with the confidence and carefree spirit to occasionally hike, bike, or ski in the nude. Unfortunately, the decade-old memory of an uncomfortable event at a backcountry hot spring kept her clinging to her knickers. So, like any good competitor, Liu underwent a three-step training plan designed to get her comfortable playing in her natural state while in the woods—not to mention grant her all the sci...
Apr 27, 2022•32 min
When we open our ears to the marvels of natural soundscapes, we experience the energies of the world in a unique way—and begin to understand the mysteries behind them. But when we habitually ignore what we’re hearing, we both miss out on one of the best parts of being human and enable the loss of an enormous diversity of species on this planet. So argues biologist and acclaimed author David Haskell in his new book, Sounds Wild and Broken. Considered by many as the premier nature writer in Americ...
Apr 20, 2022•33 min
Something surprising is happening on the video app best known for silly dance moves: users are finding inspiration for adventure. There are some fundamental differences in the way TikTok works that make it stand out from other social media platforms, and those differences may make it a space that’s more prone to bringing different kinds of people together to try new things. Camping. Hiking. International travel. It’s no utopia—like other social apps, TikTok has been called out for causing harm t...
Apr 13, 2022•33 min
In the ten years since Cheryl Strayed published her memoir about grief, addiction, and hiking the Pacific Crest Trail, her life has changed dramatically. When the book came out in March 2012, she was a working mother of two, snatching whatever time she could to write. But within months, Wild was picked for Oprah’s Book Club and became a bestseller. Strayed has since published two more books and become a beloved advice columnist with a popular podcast, Dear Sugar. Meanwhile, the PCT has seen a dr...
Mar 30, 2022•28 min
What motivates someone to run more than 3,000 miles around a single city block? Transcendence. Just ask the entrants in the Sri Chinmoy Self-Transcendence 3100 Mile Race, which takes place every year in Queens, New York. In order to get to the finish line ahead of the cutoff, competitors must complete the equivalent of two marathons a day for 52 days in a row. As physically grueling as that sounds, the greatest challenges are mental. In this replay from our Sweat Science series from a few years ...
Mar 23, 2022•38 min
An ex-punk and former train engineer who is self-taught in the sciences, Joey Santore does not fit the mold of the stereotypical botanist. He has lots of tattoos and no college degree and is known for illegal tree-planting projects. Then there’s his voice: a native Chicagoan, he can sound like he’s on an SNL skit about Da Bears. Maybe all this explains why his YouTube channel, Crime Pays But Botany Doesn't, has more than a quarter-million subscribers. We join Santore on a peyote hunt in the Sout...
Mar 16, 2022•22 min
On the outside, Drew Petersen seemed like a guy who was living the dream. He is extremely fit with a powder-snow-catching beard, and he’s prone to hoots of joy when skiing down amazing mountains around the world. But on the inside, he was for many years hiding loneliness, anger, and a deep sadness. Only recently, in the wake of a near-death accident on Oregon’s Mount Hood, has he begun to face the mental health challenges that nearly drove him to oblivion. He’s also made the bold choice to be ja...
Mar 09, 2022•32 min
In recent years, research has demonstrated that spending time in nature can help with everything from anxiety to attention deficit disorder to high blood pressure. Florence Williams knows this as well as anyone: her celebrated 2017 book The Nature Fix, explained the science behind the many physiological and emotional benefits of being in natural environments. So when she went through a painful divorce from her husband of 25 years, she turned to the outdoors for healing—and chronicled her experie...
Mar 02, 2022•30 min
Professional skier Markus Eder had a fantasy of an impossible descent that would take him across glaciers, through frozen tunnels, into a terrain park, even out of the back of a pickup truck. It made no sense. And yet somehow, over eight years, he found a way to make it happen by thinking more like an artist than an athlete. The result is [The Ultimate Run](http:// https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbqHK8i-HdA), a wildly creative stoke film that’s loaded with gnarly stunts and stands out thanks to...
Feb 16, 2022•24 min
In 1999, Alex Lowe was a star climber and father to three young boys when he died on Tibet’s 26,335-foot Shishapangma along with expedition cameraman David Bridges. The lone survivor of the accident was Conrad Anker, Alex’s climbing partner and best friend. A year after the tragedy, Anker married Jennifer Lowe, Alex's widow and mother to their three young boys, Max, Sam, and Isaac. Ever since, storytellers have been captivated by this tale, but now a powerful new documentary by Max Lowe, Torn, r...
Feb 09, 2022•30 min
The most dominant ski racer on the planet is constantly questioning her talents—which may be the secret of her greatness. Mikaela Shiffrin has won two Olympic gold medals and more than 70 World Cup races, but unlike fellow American skiing stars Lindsey Vonn and Bode Miller, she isn’t known for her speed-demon recklessness. Instead, she’s lauded for her perfect form, tactical brilliance, and workaholic approach to training. In this episode, based on excerpts from an exclusive extended interview w...
Feb 04, 2022•28 min
Over two decades of ambitious adventures, elite skier and climber Zahan Billimoria has had some very close calls in the mountains. That doesn’t make him unique. What does is his passionate belief that we all have a lot to learn about the true meaning of risk. As the founder of Samsara Experience, a training program for outdoor athletes, he’s developed an approach to safety that instills a crucial caveat: danger is inevitable, and it's ultimately up to each individual to decide how much exposure ...
Jan 31, 2022•35 min
For more than 60 years, the Hawaiian island of Oahu has beckoned surfers hoping to drop into some of the world’s biggest waves. The result has been many epic rides, all kinds of brutal wipeouts, and the occasional harrowing rescue. In each case, the experience and skills of those involved can make all the difference. And of course, there’s sheer luck. In this replay of one of our favorite episodes from a couple winters ago, we hear the story of a young lifeguard who set out to prove himself in t...
Jan 26, 2022•38 min
Outside reviews editor Jeremy Rellosa needed something—anything—to cure his winter COVID blues. Then he remembered the rather dank steam room in the magazine’s office, which had briefly become a sanctuary for him before the pandemic. Digging into research on heat therapies, he learned that the popular Finnish wellness routine of going back and forth between hot and cold could dispel seasonal depression. Thus began a purposely discomforting journey, one that offers lessons for all of us on how to...
Jan 19, 2022•22 min
It’s been one of the most enduring archetypes in mountain sports: that great wintry countercultural hero, who will work any job and live in squalor so long as they can ski 100-plus days a season. But now, after decades of inspiring people everywhere to chase their powder dreams, the ski bum has at last been extinguished by… well, that’s the question. Was it the crazy cost of mountain-town housing? The corporatization of the ski industry? No, wait! Of course—it was the Man. Or, just maybe, has th...
Jan 12, 2022•29 min
What makes a queer person choose to live in an outdoorsy hot spot instead of an urban gayborhood? A spirited grassroots organization working to make its town a haven for LGBTQ+ nature lovers. Photographer Wyn Wiley, who moonlights as drag queen Pattie Gonia, was living in Nebraska and dreaming of making a move. The most obvious choice was a big city, where queer people often go find their community. But then a group called Out Central Oregon invited Wiley to Bend to host an event on Mount Bachel...
Dec 22, 2021•26 min
In recent years, rock-star bassist Jeff Ament has dedicated himself to developing world-class skateboarding parks in the rural American West, particularly in his home state of Montana. For him, the point isn't just to create concrete playgrounds so kids have somewhere to rip: he wants to give young people in small towns similar to the one he grew up in a place to gather and build community. This is desperately needed. America’s youth are facing a mental health crisis that was in the making long ...
Dec 15, 2021•34 min
Lo Phong La Kiatoukaysy, a.k.a. Lil’ Buddha, started thru-hiking America’s trails after 9/11 in hopes of creating the same powerful human connections with backpackers that he’d made with New Yorkers in the wake of that tragic day. In many ways, his whole life has been an ongoing journey. His parents fled the violence of the Vietnam War while his mother was pregnant with him, eventually immigrating to the United States and settling in Kansas. When he was a boy, his family took regular trips to th...
Dec 10, 2021•25 min
After Lawlor Coe lost his brother Hunter to tragedy, he did everything he could to avoid his pain. Then he began to run. At first it was to retreat from his feelings. But over time, as he began to complete longer and longer distances, he found that the physical suffering he was enduring out on the trail helped him find his way back to joy again. He was no longer running from his grief but toward a new sense of purpose. And along with the rest of his family, he found a way to honor Hunter’s life:...
Dec 07, 2021•33 min
When we head into the wild, we prepare for emergencies involving broken limbs and lots of bleeding. Which makes sense, because injuries are serious when you’re in the middle of nowhere. Yet there’s another kind of crisis that can be just as difficult to handle in remote locations: a mental breakdown. Unfortunately, few people, including experienced guides and even first responders, have the training to properly care for someone experiencing acute psychological distress when help is far away. But...
Dec 01, 2021•31 min
Mike McCastle has found a very unusual way to benefit others: by enduring agonizing physical challenges. A Navy veteran with a penchant for philosophy, plus a very high tolerance for suffering, McCastle has taken on a series of tasks inspired by the Greek myth of the Twelve Labors of Hercules to raise funds and awareness for important causes like cancer research and mental health services for military veterans. Since 2013, he has run an ultramarathon while wearing a 40-pound weighted vest, pulle...
Nov 17, 2021•30 min
When you think of heroes in American culture, you probably conjure images of astronauts and Olympians, scientists and social activists, soldiers and ... well, maybe the occasional politician. What you don't picture are a group of dedicated, ingenious innovators who almost never get the credit they deserve: small-town librarians. Working with limited resources and a whole lot of spirit, they find the most creative ways to support their communities. In this installment of our Forces of Good series...
Nov 12, 2021•29 min
Ivy Le was an avid indoorswoman with severe allergies and a burning curiosity about wild places. She was obsessed with nature shows but had no relationship with the natural world. So she decided to go camping and, of course, make a podcast about her experience. The result is FOGO: Fear of Going Outside, which chronicles Le’s efforts to understand what’s so great about the outdoors. Because she’s a talented comic, her approach to the most basic questions of how and why we play in the woods is enj...
Nov 09, 2021•40 min
When Raquel Vélez caught the skiing bug in her late twenties, she wanted to spend every waking moment on the slopes. But she couldn’t find snow pants that fit. So the Silicon Valley engineer left her tech job and began a yearslong mission to learn to sew her own, which culminated in the launch of Alpine Parrot, a company that recently began selling innovative, adventure-ready pants designed for plus-size bodies. Meanwhile, cyclists Kailey Kornhauser and Marley Blonsky have been on their own ques...
Nov 05, 2021•31 min
David Kushner always knew that his assignment to write about a mysterious cave in the rainforest of Ecuador would be challenging and a bit risky. Cueva de los Tayos, or Cave of the Oilbirds, has for decades beckoned adventurers and tantalized fans of the occult who believe that it contains artifacts that could rewrite human history. In recent years, though, Tayos has attracted different kinds of seekers—artists and storytellers hoping to capture its energy and bring it out into the world. People...
Nov 02, 2021•42 min
When sled-dog musher Blair Braverman first started posting about her team on Twitter, it was just for fun—a distraction from her work as a journalist. But soon she had legions of devoted followers, who couldn’t get enough of her high-energy pups’ and their training routines in Wisconsin. Then there’s ultrarunner Jen Golbeck, who found an enormous fan base for the aging and sickly golden retrievers that she and her husband care for in the Florida Keys. So what is it about looking at other people’...
Oct 29, 2021•36 min
