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.
Is Instagram’s Latest Travel Trend a Disaster Waiting to Happen? Videos of people cycling, running, and hitchhiking across the world are racking up millions of views on Instagram and TikTok. Many viewers see the content as inspirational, but security experts are warning that they cause people to underestimate the dangers of traveling through some of the world’s highest-risk countries.
Cyclist Ian Andersen was forced to flee Iran after Israeli airstrikes occurred during his 16,000km journey from Portugal to Japan, and ultrarunner Ria Xi is considering whether to pass through Iran on her 20,000km run from Russia to Portugal.
They discuss why they have chosen to pursue such dangerous routes, their thoughts on government travel advice, and the level of risk they are taking.
An unavoidable encounter
What Happened During the Fatal Glacier Grizzly Attack: An official investigation reveals how the deadly grizzly attack that killed 33-year-old Florida hiker Anthony Pollio in Glacier National Park in May unfolded. DNA analysis identified the bear as a 15-year-old male with no known aggression towards people.
The bear attacked Pollio near a switchback blocked by fallen trees, meaning there was little chance of them avoiding each other. The report reconstructs Pollio’s final hours through text messages, forensic evidence, and the attack scene. Bear experts explain why darkness, poor visibility, and hiking alone dramatically increase the risk.
The Newfoundland beach shipwreck. The overturned hull of an ancient ship appeared along Newfoundland’s southwestern tip in 2024. Photo: The Canadian Press
The Most Famous Shipwrecks in Canada: A group from the Royal Canadian Geographic Society has photographed Quest, Shackleton’s last ship, in the Labrador Sea. This is just one of thousands of shipwrecks that litter Canadian waters. From the Titanic to HMS Erebus and the mysterious Newfoundland beach shipwreck, this collection of photos shows some of the most famous wrecks in Canada and describes how each met its end.
The other Norway
The Lonely Road to Europe’s Arctic Edge: Most travelers in Norway make a beeline west for its famous fjords, but Anthony Ham decided to head in the opposite direction. Following the E75, he drove through the country’s remote northeast to the point where mainland Europe gives way to the Arctic.
He finds a landscape unlike anywhere else in Norway. Reindeer wander across the road, and seabirds fill abandoned fishing villages. Locals tell him how they end up looking forward to the long, unforgiving winters, and Arctic ecologists explain why this is one of the very few truly Arctic places in mainland Europe.
The stretch from Runival to Glen Arnisdale, Knoydart. Photo: Quintin Lake
I Spent Five Years Hiking Britain’s 11,000km Coast: When photographer Quintin Lake set out to walk Britain’s entire coastline, he thought it would be a straightforward long-distance hike. Instead, the 11,000km project took more than five years
Wild camping and carrying five days’ worth of food at a time, he found himself hiking through some of Britain’s most unforgiving terrain, from Scotland’s pathless Knoydart, where he managed just nine kilometers a day, to a near-disaster on East Yorkshire’s rapidly eroding cliffs that almost ended in a rescue.
Along the way, he did not just photograph the scenic parts; he also found beauty in industrial docks and urban areas.
AI climbing dangers
Climbing AI Slop Is Here: According to the YouTube channel The Last Climb, the shocking story of 19 climbers dying on Denali in 2016 is the worst tragedy in American climbing history. There is one huge problem with this video and claim — it never happened. The video is completely AI-generated.
There is a growing amount of AI-generated climbing slop. Fake accident reports might seem harmless, but the real danger comes when AI creates equipment reviews, climbing tutorials, and route information that could be mistaken for genuine advice.
AI specialists offer a simple three-step test to determine whether the information you are looking at is credible.
An almost record
Nadir Maguet Narrowly Misses Matterhorn FKT: Italian skyrunner Nadir Maguet came within 9 minutes and 46 seconds of Kilian Jornet’s Matterhorn speed record. Despite improving on his own 2023 ascent time, difficult conditions on the descent left Jornet’s 13-year-old Fastest Known Time intact.
For Maguet, the challenge was about more than his time. He grew up beneath the Matterhorn and feels a deep connection with it. Years of training, reconnaissance, and previous attempts brought “an important chapter of my journey to a close.”
The Man With the Bobble Hat: Decades before nature documentaries became mainstream, Jacques-Yves Cousteau inspired millions to fall in love with the underwater world. Wearing his trademark red woolen hat aboard the Calypso, the French explorer was a pioneer of scuba technology, invented new underwater filming techniques, and led expeditions from tropical reefs to the Arctic and Antarctica. His films and books transformed marine exploration and helped spark the modern environmental movement.
