Outdoors

One of the biggest problems facing the climbing community today is the poor behavior of some climbers. Improper trail use, damaging rock faces, and crushing fragile vegetation can threaten climber access to outdoor climbing areas. Can education change behavior,...

Partnerships. They are a hallmark of the backcountry. For all of us who’ve found good companions for the mountains, the rewards are hard to nail down in words. Instead of complicated explanations why this is so, sometimes the easiest...

If there is an eternal tool in backcountry travel, it’s the shovel. Skiers, mountaineers and backcountry guides share this common denominator as much as the freedom of the hills. Beyond the obvious role of avalanche rescue, where shovels are...

They’re not all cut from the cloth!  Nor are all zip-off pants are constructed with the same attention to detail.  And don’t even get me started about sizing.  But the good the news is that when you find a...

Nothing can take a hiking trip downhill faster than a blistered heel… or toe… or… ball of your foot. Blisters suck. Once you get one on a trip, it’s there for the duration. The good news is that blisters...

Pristine alpine lakes – we take them for granted. But in the backcountry, lakes are popular destinations. These areas already have extreme weather conditions and short growing seasons, making them slow growing environments for plant life. It doesn’t take...

Brooks Range Mountaineering Equipment, introduces a water-resistant down technology in a puffy parka stuffed with feathers.Goose and duck down is a great insulator, but it flattens and loses all its heat-keeping juju when wet. The new jacket from Brooks...

Silas Rossi, IFMGAAs a mountain guide and alpine climber, I spend a lot of time considering the “what if” of a worst-case scenario in the backcountry. While I work diligently on the prevention side of the equation, I’m sure...

Plotting UTM coordinates is an essential skill for a variety of outdoor activities from backpacking to hunting to adventure racing. Introduced by the US Army in 1947, it is the preferred method for representing a point on a map...

When most people think of lightning, they think of the bolt that powered Doc Brown’s Delorean time machine in the movie “Back To The Future”. However, when outdoors lightning can have serious and sometimes deadly consequences.A few facts about...