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.
Skiing Is Getting Riskier: As global warming accelerates, long, cold periods are less frequent. Rain high on the mountains creates weak layers in the snow. At the same time, backcountry skiing has become more popular. The only things keeping fatality numbers low are avalanche forecasters, more accurate simulations, and improved safety equipment.
Barbara Zangerl Nails ‘Meltdown’ in Yosemite: On Oct. 28, Austrian climber Barbara Zangerl made a successful repeat of Meltdown in Yosemite.
Before Zangerl’s success, Meltdown had only been repeated twice, in 2018 and 2022. Both previous climbs were by men. Rated 5.14c/8c+, it is one of the hardest crack climbs in the world. Zangerl has recently released footage of her ascent.
Blame for the Whakaari disaster
The Case That Will Change the New Zealand Adventure Industry: When Whakaari erupted in 2019, only 47 people were on the island. Of those, the eruption killed 22 and injured the remaining 25. At the time, the island was known to be in a stage of “heightened volcanic unrest.”
The New Zealand government has found Whakaari Management Limited (WML) guilty of breaching safety laws and not protecting tourists. WML had attempted to claim they were merely land owners and that the tourist companies they worked with were responsible for safety. The verdict will affect adventure tourism across New Zealand.
Mudder, I’m Stuck: Revisiting a classic YouTube clip. Pushed out the door to get a snow shovel, Newfoundlander Barry Horlick sinks into a giant pile of snow and finds himself stuck. A hilarious back-and-forth between mother and son ensues.
Hiker and Terrier Climbed a Peak. Only the Dog Returned: On Aug. 19, Richard Moore and his dog Finney disappeared while hiking on Blackhead Peak, Colorado. Search parties scoured the area for 16 days, to no avail. Ten weeks later, a hunter found Moore’s body and a small white dog. Finney had somehow survived for over two months.
Surfers Are Flocking to Scotland: Scottish surfers are calling their coastline “the Canaries or Hawaii of cold-water surfing.”
Decked out in thick neoprene suits, surfers are taking to the waves around the Scottish coast. After storms in the area, waves reach up to 10m and the seas become a surfer’s paradise.
Surfing in Thurso East, Scotland. Photo: surfertoday.com
Regulating climbing crowds
Does Climbing Need Gatekeeping?: As the number of new climbers soars, they damage rocks, injuries and deaths increase, and once-quiet crags teem with activity. Gatekeeping might protect people and rock faces but it goes against the ethos of almost all climbers. Some suggest there should be a middle ground and that “soft” gatekeeping could be the best way forward.
A Married Couple’s First Hiking Trip: Paige Triola’s first summer trip with her new husband was a hike on the Centennial Trail. It would be his first hiking trip.
Despite downpours, a few wrong turns, and a knee injury, they made it to the end of the trail in one piece, and with marriage intact. It turns out her new husband was not the city boy she had imagined. Instead of slowing her down on her beloved trail, he threw himself into it with gusto.
