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.
An Interview With Tenzing Norgay’s Son and Director of the New Biopic: Tenzing Norgay’s role in the first ascent of Everest has often been overshadowed by the fame and recognition given to Edmund Hillary. The new film Tenzing aims to readdress that and tell the story from Norgay’s perspective.
Drawing on decades of research, the film follows Norgay from his childhood in the Himalaya through to the 1953 summit. Director Jennifer Peedom and Norgay’s son, Norbu Tenzing, explain how the film grew out of their years-long friendship, why they feel Norgay’s story had been overlooked for so long, and the biopic’s emphasis on Norgay as a person rather than simply as the man who climbed Everest with Edmund Hillary.
A Lightning Strike Highlights Common Mountain Shelter Myth: A recent lightning strike on Utah’s Mount Timpanogos killed a 19-year-old hiker and injured nine others after the group sought refuge from a severe thunderstorm by crowding into the Tin Shack, a small metal lookout built in 1927.
When lightning struck the building, everyone inside was shocked, highlighting the dangerous misconceptions surrounding lightning safety. Unless shelters have proper electrical wiring or plumbing to safely ground the current, they can leave people vulnerable. Meteorologists and lightning researchers also pick apart myths such as getting into the “lightning position” — crouching low with your feet together.
Kayakers paddle the rescued sheep to safety. Photo: Sea Kayak Shetland/Facebook
Kayakers rescue stranded sheep
The Sheep Rescuer of the Shetland Islands: Jason Fenn, a sea-kayak guide on the Shetland Islands, has developed an unusual side mission: rescuing sheep that become stranded on the steep coastal cliffs. Since taking over Sea Kayak Shetland last year, Fenn has rescued nine sheep, with one recent operation requiring a 60m rappel.
His latest rescue occurred during a kayaking trip with a group of American paddlers, who spotted a sheep stranded on a cliff and decided the planned tour could wait while they worked together to save the animal.
America’s First 5.15d: In 2025, Sean Bailey climbed America’s hardest sport route, its first and only 5.15d (9c). Duality of Man sits in Arizona’s Dry Canyon, and remained unclimbed in its entirety until Bailey spent three seasons working on it.
It combines the existing 5.14c Lee Majors with two brutally difficult boulder problems on a steep, smooth limestone headwall. An online grade calculator suggests the sequence could warrant a 5.16a rating, but that remains speculative until other climbers attempt and assess the route.
New climbing routes
Bonbon Anglais Established in Madagascar: British climbers Matt Johnston, Bert Lam, Alvin Li, and Mike Turner have established Bonbon Anglais, a new seven-pitch route on the Chameleon Wall in Madagascar’s Tsaranoro massif.
The route was climbed ground-up and features difficulties up to 6b+/A0, or 7b+ if climbed entirely free. The team focused on making the route accessible to visitors and local climbers looking to develop their skills, so they fully bolted the route using 316L stainless-steel bolts, with larger 12mm bolts and stainless rings at the belays.
Donna Carpenter Narrates 50 Years of Snowboarding History: Donna Carpenter looks back on five decades of snowboarding in Sideways Revolution, Burton’s new documentary celebrating the company’s 50th anniversary.
Carpenter built Burton with her husband, Jake Burton Carpenter, and reflects on how dramatically the sport has changed since Jake began making boards in Vermont. For her, 1985 was a pivotal year: It was when Burton started making boards with the “DNA” of the modern snowboard. By 1986, their boards were being manufactured in a proper factory, and Jake took a team of riders he had assembled to make their first film, Winter Waves.
The realities of mountain guiding
Almost a Quarter of My Graduating Class is Dead: Three guides discuss how different the fantasy of being a mountain guide can be from the reality. It is not just endless powder and jaw-dropping remote locations. Becoming a guide takes years of training, living out of vans, financial sacrifices, and, most importantly, understanding the responsibility of managing clients and knowing when to say no.
The risks are real: All have friends who have died or seriously injured themselves in the mountains. Guide Erin Smart talks about having lost her partner, also a mountain guide, in an accident earlier this year. The risks might seem relatively small to a person who is only skiing or climbing occasionally, but the odds shift drastically when you spend decades in that environment.
No Sound Was There But My Scream: Britain’s mountains are packed with stories of giants, ghosts, fairies, and mythical creatures. Their remote landscapes are the perfect backdrop for tales of magic and ancient folklore.
Hanna Lindon explores legends from around the country, from the giant behind the Old Man of Storr and Giant’s Causeway to the ghost stories of the Lake District’s corpse roads and remote bothies, including Ben Alder Cottage.
She also looks at the famous Grey Man of Ben Macdui, whose enormous footsteps have been reported by several climbers, as well as more unusual mysteries, such as alleged big-cat sightings in Cumbria. From kelpies and selkies to the Loch Ness Monster and the Wulver, centuries of storytelling continue to give Britain’s wild places an eerie sense of mystery.
Hiking in the mist on Ben Macdui. Photo: Jerry Kobalenko
