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.
Six Days in Alaska’s Takhinsha Mountains: Yan Kaczynski and his friend were part of a five-strong group getting ready to ski in Alaska. The most experienced pair in the group, they did a reconnaissance in a modified Cessna, soaring over the Takhinsha Mountains. They came back not just with great stories but with spectacular black-and-white aerial imagery.
Will Bosi Makes Second Ascent of Excalibur: Will Bosi has made the second ascent of Excalibur (9b+) in Italy. He managed the feat exactly two years after Stefano Ghisolfi.
Bosi is the first British climber to complete this grade. He first attempted the route in 2022, and it took him 21 sessions to scale the boulder. In this interview, he details the climb.
Will Bosi at work. Photo: @crimp.films
A shipwreck expert
The Shipwreck Detective: Nigel Pickford has dedicated his life to researching shipwrecks and their treasures — without ever visiting the wrecks. This long-form New Yorker story does a deep dive into one man’s fascinating and highly technical obsession.
The Lost Arrow: For Phil Gibson, art and the mountains are intertwined. For five decades, he has been drawing and painting the peaks he has climbed.
Gibson believes art should be thought-provoking and convey emotion. Here, he recalls his 1978 ascent of The Lost Arrow in Yosemite.
Ink drawing of The Lost Arrow. Image: Philip Gibson
The legacy of a Silk Road trader
Putting a Silk Road City Back on the Map: After discovering a hidden trove of Silk Road artifacts in their ancestral property near Kargil, Muzzamil Hussain’s family opened a museum. By retracing his great-grandfather’s legacy as a Silk Road trader, Hussain hopes to reconnect his community with its rich history while welcoming visitors to explore Ladakh.
Channel Crossing: Will Copestake writes about his third Patagonian kayak expedition. With Seumas Nairn, Copestake aimed to connect Punta Arenas to Puerto Williams via Cape Horn. They split the journey into three sections: crossing the Strait of Magellan, a portage, and then crossing the Cape Horn Islands.
Will Copestake and partner kayak in Patagonia. Photo: Will Copestake
The ethics of killing dangerous wildlife
Should We Spare a Cougar That Attacked a Child?: Last year, a mountain lion attacked a five-year-old in California’s Malibu Creek State Park. The child’s father managed to fight off the big cat, but later, the cat was euthanized. Some questioned the ethics of killing the cat.
What is Margo Hayes Doing Now?: Margo Hayes was the first woman to climb a 5.15 (La Rambla, 5.15a in Siurana, Catalonia). In the following years, she completed two more 5.15 climbs and was widely considered one of the top female climbers in the world. Yet, after those climbs, Hayes disappeared from public view. Now, she has popped back up with a surprise music career.
