When we’re not outdoors, we get our adventure fix by exploring social media and the web. To nourish your adventure fix, here are some of the best adventure links we’ve discovered this week.
Bike. Ski. Fondue. Repeat: Three women undertook a weekend adventure that started and ended at home. Their only goal was to have fun. With skis strapped to their bikes, they cycled over the Col du Corbier in the Rhone Alps into Abondance, near the Swiss border. There, they picked up some of the region’s famous cheese, headed to their little hut for the night, and settled in for a fondue. The next day, they climbed to the top of Ardon Point, switched their skis to downhill mode, and enjoyed the powder.
The year a woman won the Giro d’Italia
The Devil in a Dress: In 1924, the Giro d’Italia covered 3,613km over 12 stages. Eight of them crossed high mountain passes. To bump up the number of competitors, organizers opened the race. Alfonsina Strada entered as the only woman. Nicknamed “the devil in a dress” by her neighbors for tearing around on two wheels, she had won her first race by age 13. Cycling was her obsession, and she won 36 races against men. But her history-making ride was the 1924 Giro d’Italia.
Ali Rose and Matt Rowbottom. Photo: Ali Rose
Glencoe ‘Classic Rock’ Link-Up: Ali Rose and Matt Rowbottom have made a successful one-day link-up of the Glencoe section of Ken Wilson’s guidebook, Classic Rock. They completed the seven routes, 53 pitches, 3,000m of elevation, and 23km on foot in just 12 hours and 56 minutes.
Starting at 3:30 am, they hoped to do as much as possible before other climbers showed up. In the end, they only saw one other group that day. The day went almost perfectly. “No real issues on the day except the heat,” Rose later commented.
But who pays for the rescue?
Why is Extreme Frontier Travel Booming Despite Risks: Frontier travel is extreme adventure travel. Costing a small fortune, it pushes people to the outer limits of our planet — space, the deep ocean, the highest mountains. Despite the risks, its popularity is surging. For some, it’s about the thrill or the bragging rights. Others find the experiences transformative.
But the commercialized nature of most trips often makes them seem less risky than they are. This poses the question: Whose responsibility is it to ensure safety and undertake dangerous recovery missions if accidents occur?
The Laws Surfing Really Needs: In April, Australia’s Byron Shire Council made it illegal to surf without a leash. Anyone caught without one was fined on the spot. The law’s controversial passage divided the surfing community. It got Ben Moody thinking: What other laws should there be in surfing, and what penalties should those who break them incur? His first idea: traditional surfers and foilers should never mix.
The Floating Jungle Supermarket: The Aquidaban ferry service launched in 1979 and travels 800km up and down the Paraguay River for 51 weeks of the year. It is a lifeline for many Paraguayans who live along its banks. There is a supermarket on its lower deck and a canteen that is the only place many communities can get a cold beer. But now that there are more roads, business for the Aquidaban is slipping. The owners fear that this might be the storied ship’s last year.
The ZMT. Photo: https://www.zagrosmountaintrail.org/
Unanswered questions about the destroyed sub
Hiking in Iraq’s Kurdistan Region: The 215km Zagreb Mountain Trail (ZMT) is the first long-distance hiking trail in the Kurdistan region of Iraq. Iraq is a rare holiday destination, and most countries strongly advise against going, but the founders of the trail hope to change that.
Nine Questions We Still Have About Titanic Sub: On June 22, the search for the Titan submersible ended. An ROV found debris from the missing sub, confirming that it had imploded. It was then revealed the U.S. Navy had heard a sound consistent with such an implosion shortly after the sub lost contact, but this information was not disclosed.
Now questions are being raised about every aspect of the trip: What caused the implosion? Why is OceanGate still advertising tours? What were the banging noises heard for several hours that suggested the crew was still alive and trying to signal their whereabouts?
