When we’re not outdoors, we get our adventure fix by exploring social media and the web. Sometimes we’re a little too plugged in and browsing adventure reads can turn from minutes to hours. To nourish your adventure fix, here are some of the best adventure links we’ve discovered this week.
Face-to-Face with a Great White Shark: Chris Harvey-Clark recalls the morning he went diving at Chebucto Head, Nova Scotia to photograph a shipwreck. Poor visibility meant that he and his partner could not find the wreck. Instead, they came face-to-face with a great white shark, very rare in those waters. The three-meter-long shark kept coming back to look at them.
Extreme Sports Reading List: We love to watch people stretch the limits of human capability. Chris Wheatley has put together a list of some of the best long reads about extreme sports, from base jumping to free diving.
Nanda Devi, the mountain and the woman
A Mountain Called Her Home: In 1949, the still-unknown Willi Unsoeld saw Nanda Devi Peak in the Himalaya. He was so struck by its beauty that he decided that this is what he would call a daughter if he had one. Nanda Devi Unsoeld, known as Devi, was born in 1954. She shared her father’s love of climbing and joined a 1976 team trying to make the first ascent of the north face of her namesake mountain. Two months into the climb, the exuberant Devi perished.
Nanda Devi. Photo: Shutterstock
Australia’s Trail Where Life Began: The 900km Mawson Trail through South Australia passes through some of the most significant prehistoric sites in the country. Geologist Douglas Mawson, who gave his name to the route, described it as “one great outdoor museum.” The hike over this ancient seabed shows a 350-million-year section of Earth’s history. Durin this time, life advanced from microbes to early animals.
Moving to the Mountains: When Graham Uney became the Fell Top Assessor for the Lake District Weather line, he was thrilled. For the first season he commuted, but then moved to a cottage in the Lake District itself. Now a mountain guide in the area, he discusses the perks and difficulties of living on the beautiful but remote east side of the Lakes.
Astrophotography with an earthbound budget
Taking Epic Photos of Space: One man is proving you don’t need super high-tech equipment to take photos of space, just a DSLR camera, ingenuity, and a lot of patience. Astrophotographer Andrew McCarthy has captured some astounding images of the moon and deep space. He takes images over days and weeks then stitches them together into a mosaic. He talks of how his hobby turned into a career.
‘Mineral Moon’ was made from 150,000 shots. Photo: Andrew McCarthy
New Record on the Cape Wrath Trail: Ultrarunner Patel Cymbalista, 35, has set a new speed record on northwestern Scotland’s Cape Wrath Trail. The 370km trail is one of the toughest in the UK. Cymbalista ran it solo and unsupported in 86 hours, 49 minutes, and 19 seconds, beating the previous record by almost nine hours.
Living and Working in the Hottest Place in North America: California’s Death Valley is the hottest place in the U.S. and the location of the hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth, 56.7°C. Ranger Emily Franco tells of living and working in this extreme environment. It might seem so hot and dry that is devoid of life. In fact, it lies over one of the largest aquifers in the world. Many specially adapted plants and animals live here.
