When we’re not outdoors, we get our adventure fix by exploring social media and the web. Here are some of the best adventure links we’ve discovered this week.
Crossing Canada’s Most Dangerous Waterway by SUP: Hecate Strait lies between mainland British Columbia and the islands of Haida Gwaii. It is listed as the most dangerous body of water on the Canadian coast and the fourth most dangerous in the world. In recent years, only a handful of people have attempted to paddle across the stretch of water, and even fewer have succeeded.
Bruce Kirby and Norm Hann came up with the idea of SUP’ing Hecate Strait. After 12 hours of paddling, sometimes hardly moving, they crawled ashore, barely able to speak.
Is it Safe to Surf in Baja? At the beginning of May, three surfers were murdered in Baja, Mexico. Police think it was a carjacking.
Many surfers have had only positive experiences in Mexico, but the crime statistics are hard to ignore. Members of the local surf community are in shock. There might have been a few petty crimes in the area before but nothing like this. Here, expert surfers (and long-time Baja travelers) give their thoughts on the sad situation and advice to anyone planning a trip to Baja.
Ed Dwight lands back on Earth. Photo: Blue Origin
World’s oldest astronaut
Ed Dwight Finally Travels to Space at 90 Years Old: In the 1960s, Ed Dwight was the first black astronaut candidate in the United States, but NASA never selected him for their training program. Over 60 years later, he joined five others on a Blue Origin tourist trip to space.
The flight took approximately 11 minutes and allowed those onboard to see overviews of the Earth. Dwight became the oldest person ever in space and one of only 37 people to travel there as a tourist.
If ‘anyone’ can climb Everest, where does that leave Everest? Before the 1980s, climbing Everest was something only professional climbers would attempt. Now, hundreds climb it each year. It has become a surprisingly manageable feat if you have some fitness and enough money.
Will Cockrell blames/credits Dick Bass. The business executive was an amateur climber but became the first person to complete the Seven Summits. In doing so, he opened the floodgates for guided trips. In this interview, Cockrell describes how the perception of adventure has changed, what it means to be a “real” climber, and the growing number of people on Everest.
Tom Hart. Photo: Outside
Best reef for divers
Why Belize is Better for Scuba Diving than the Great Barrier Reef: Though the Great Barrier Reef is the most famous reef in the world, this author makes the case for Belize as a superior diving destination.
The blue waters teem with marine life. Its Barrier Reef is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and locals claim it is now the largest living reef in the world. By comparison, large stretches of the Great Barrier Reef are dying.
The 63-Year-Old Man who Skied 7 Million Vertical Feet This Season: As of May 6, Thomas Hart had logged a staggering 7.61 million feet of vertical descent on his skis in one season. He racked up the incredible distance in the resorts near his Utah home since last November.
The previous world record was 6.63 million vertical feet. The keys to success: Be on the slopes early so that you are at the front of the first queue, avoid the popular routes, get lots of sleep, and spend time in the summer mountain biking to get fit.
Cycling the Ausangate Loop. Photo: Sonia Colomo Sala & Eloi Miquel Arcaron
Mountain biking around the world
Planning the Unpredictable: Sonia Colomo Sala and Eloi Miquel Arcarons quit their jobs to spend a year and a half on the road. Selling everything but their bikes and bikepacking gear, they wanted to make their way around the best mountain bike routes in the world. Peru’s Ausangate Loop ranked near the top of their list.
A Tricky Rescue Operation in Moab: Earlier this week, a man in his 60s attempted to leap across a 1.5-meter gap between a hoodoo and a canyon rim in Utah. Though he made the jump, he seriously injured his ankle and needed rescue.
