ExWeb’s Adventure Links of the Week

When we’re not outdoors, we get our adventure fix by exploring social media and the web. Sometimes we’re a little too plugged in and browsing adventure reads can turn from minutes to hours. To nourish your own adventure fix, here are some of the best adventure links we’ve discovered this week.

This Anime Gives Mountaineering the Film It’s Always Deserved: The closest I’ve gotten to anime is watching Japanese businessmen devour erotic comics on their way to work on the Tokyo subway. But Climbing Magazine takes this new anime film a little more seriously. They  reckon that Summit of the Gods is a “jaw-dropping animation and a fascinating analysis of the climbing mind.”

Tim Cahill Is an Outside Legend. Thank Goodness He Didn’t Die: Cahill’s stories and rollicking misadventures made Outside Magazine what it is today. Here he talks about his role in the creation of Outside. From choking down snake blood and gallbladder cocktails in the name of journalism, to how he came back from the dead after a frigid swim in the Grand Canyon’s biggest rapid.

 

Atanas Skatov (top left), Ali Sadpara (top right), John Snorri, (bottom left), Sergi Mingote (middle), JP Mohr (bottom right). Some of the climbers we lost in 2021.

Climbers We Lost: A tribute to the great and good of climbing who passed on to the big belay in the sky. From the dean of adventure writing David Roberts, to British high altitude star Rick Allen, and the K2 fallen five.

The Big Bad Wolf

Wolves Are Still the Bad Guys in Children’s Media. Let’s Change That: My girlfriend and I recently blitzed through another boxset murder series. It ended with investigators blaming a wolf for some kids disappearing. So I was interested to see Krista Langlois tackle the issue of whether, by portraying predators as villains, we are influencing how our children perceive the natural world.

How to Get Someone Else to Carry Your Skis, and Other Risky Wagers: Ski Guide Mike Hattrup has spent a lot of time testing and developing skis for various companies on Mount Hood. He also discovered how to get someone else to carry them to the top.

Pioneers Route: A short film about a former Olympic alpine skier on an adventure with his daughter. With his daughter, he travels through North Sweden, 40 years after going there for the first time by himself.

When he’s not shooting films, Jimmy Chin is schmoozing with blue-chip CEOs. Photo: Outside

Your Favorite Dirtbags Are Motivational Speakers: Legendary Canadian climber Pat Morrow always said that he doesn’t do motivational talks because he can’t imagine telling a convention of hog farmers that they too can climb their personal Everest. But hawking mountain-conquering platitudes remains extremely profitable.

Estonia In Winter: Into the Wilds by Canoe and ‘Bog Shoe’: The peatlands of Soomaa national park in Estonia host a stunning variety of birds and beasts. You might even spot the odd white-thighed bog swimmer.