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.
The Hardest Night: On Oct. 3, 1984, Tim Macartney-Snape and Greg Mortimer became the first Australians to climb Everest. The rest of their party had turned back because of frostbite and cerebral edema. As they stood on the summit, the descent loomed. They were about to endure the hardest night of their lives.
Climbing’s Little Helper: Dexamethasone can help with altitude sickness and high-altitude cerebral edema. It can also speed up ascents. It is not the only drug taken by climbers, but it is the most popular.
In 2009, “dex” hit the headlines because of Jesse Easterling. Easterling stumbled into Everest’s emergency clinic, incoherent, covered in a rash, and with a large fat deposit on his neck. He had taken 86 doses, more than medics had on hand for every climber on Everest that season.
Easterling in a Kathmandu hospital. Photo: Jesse Easterling
The Stockholm Archipelago Trail
A New Swedish Hiking Trail: This month, a new trail is opening in Sweden. The Stockholm Archipelago Trail runs for 270km across 21 islands. Currently, only 26% of Stockholm visitors take a boat to one of the islands. Trail creator Michael Lemmel hopes the new trail will draw more tourists.
I Didn’t Realize You Could Make Sailing a Career: Meg Niblett is the youngest female double-handed skipper in this year’s Sydney Hobart Yacht Race. Aged 17, she spent the summer teaching sailing in Greece. While there, she realized she could turn her hobby into her career.
Photo: Meg Niblett
Hurricane Helene takes a bite out of the AT
Hurricane Damage Closes Over a Third of Appalachian Trail: Hurricane Helene has wreaked havoc across the southeastern U.S., including on the Appalachian Trail. Over a third of the trail is now inaccessible to hikers. The hurricane washed away bridges, and fallen trees and mudslides obstruct the way.
All the national forests across Georgia and North Carolina are closed, and local communities have been devastated.
Greenland Big Wall Antics: Simon Smith, Tim Miller, Callum Johnson, and Miska Izakovicova have just climbed several routes in south Greenland. Their main aim was the east face of what may be the world’s biggest sea cliff. Over four days, they completed a new 1350m, E6 6b (7b) route.
This year, Greenland has been a hotspot for kayaking and new climbing routes.
The descent route is in green. Photo: Miska Izakovicova
Mysterious Wyoming climbing death
Death on Devil’s Tower: Stewart Phillip Porter died after falling from Devil’s Tower in Wyoming. He was rappelling pitch two of El Cracko Diablo when he fell. Porter had rappelled the pitch successfully earlier that day, and there was no indication of equipment malfunction. The incident is still under investigation.
Man Kills ‘Aggressive’ Mountain Lion: A man has killed a mountain lion with a shovel at a campground in Colorado. Colorado Parks and Wildlife received a report of a man killing an “aggressive” mountain lion. When they went to the campsite, the lion was lying across the hood of the man’s jeep. They believe he acted in self-defense when the lion came close to him and his dogs.
