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.
Magic Ski Line of Canada’s West Coast: The Blue Wall is a notoriously steep line on Canada’s west coast. Over the years, only a handful of skiers have even attempted it.
Canadian skier Ian McIntosh can now add his name to that shortlist. One of the world’s best backcountry skiers, he has made several first descents on seemingly impossible lines. Below, he takes on the Blue Wall.
How to Date a Mountain Guide: Falling in love with a mountain guide may not be for everyone. This writer envisaged a rugged climber she could travel the world with. The reality is a little different. Her top tips: be a minimalist, be ready to live in a van, don’t climb with your partner, and “be cool with constant mortal peril.”
Trapped under a boulder
I’m Going to Die: Kevin DePaolo was hiking in the Inyo Mountains, California when a 10,000-pound rock came loose and trapped him. The giant boulder crushed his legs.
Though a friend managed to free his left leg using a pickaxe, DePaulo was stuck for 10 hours as rescuers did everything they could to save him.
Steve McClure’s One Thousandth 8a: Over the last 28 years, Steve McClure has racked up an incredible 1,000 climbs ranked 8a or higher. He speaks to the BMC about his achievements, how he started climbing, and his hardest climbs.
Measuring Success in the Mountains: When Lindsey Hamm and three friends went to the Charakusa Valley in the Karakoram, Hamm didn’t achieve the first ascents she had hoped for.
It rained for 22 days of the 30-day trip, and the group went in with too many objectives. So, rather than achieving first ascents, the trip became a learning experience. Hamm is already planning her trip back next summer.
A hardcore mountain goat
Mountain Goat Survives 300m Avalanche Ride: A very lucky mountain goat in Montana has survived an avalanche. The goat triggered the falling snow, rode it for 300m, and trotted away in one piece.
Maros Mosehla is running ultramarathons in his 80s. Photo: The New York Times
I Refuse to Be Old: On June 11, Maros Mosehlaset off on the Comrades, a 90km race in South Africa. Nine hours and 26 minutes later, the 81-year-old became the oldest person to complete the race in its 102-year history.
Mosehlaset finished in the top third of the participants, despite being decades older than most of them. He is convinced that running keeps him young and he has no intention of slowing down any time soon.
South to North Greenland Solo: Mike Keen writes about his experience paddling from South to North Greenland. Keen is not a seasoned paddler, so this was a huge undertaking.
As Keen made his way across Greenland in unseasonably bad weather, he realized the line between being okay and not at all okay was a fine one. Conditions were so bad that he ran out of time and had to end his journey 300km early.
