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.
Attitudes and Altitude: For years, Sidetracked editor Alex Roddie has dreamed of completing the Tranters Round. He calls it “a legendary mountain enchainment in Scotland… and arguably the finest really big mountaineering route on the British mainland.” A few weeks ago in glorious winter conditions, Roddie pulled off the nearly 60km route.
The Way of the Wolf: The Elder: Canadian adventurer Frank Wolf recalls an encounter with respected Inuit Elder Jacob Atqittuq. With the recent passing of Atqittuq, Wolf bemoans the loss of “another vessel of irreplaceable Indigenous knowledge, and perhaps more importantly, a truly exemplary man and pillar in his community.”
A jovial-looking Jacob Atqittuq. Note the unorthodox method of holding the coffee pot! Photo: Frank Wolf
Arsenic and Gold: My Family’s Role in the Poisonous Legacy of Giant Mine: Eva Holland wonders whether her grandfather could have done more to stop the dangerous dust that spewed from a Yellowknife mine for decades. The mine was particularly perilous for the local First Nation communities.
The First Woman to Climb Kilimanjaro: On September 30, 1927, The Guardian reported that an account had “just reached London of how Miss Sheila Macdonald, a 22-year-old London girl, climbed the African mountain Kilimanjaro” – claiming that it was “the first time the feat [had] been accomplished by a woman”.
The problem with #VanLife
I Lived the #VanLife. It Wasn’t Pretty: Writer Caity Weaver’s pursuit of the manifest destiny of the millennial generation ended up looking better in photos. That’s probably because she spent more time focusing on the “pursuit of the aesthetic fantasy known as #VanLife,” rather than treating life on the road as a means to an end.
The Great Divide Trail. Photo: Nikos Schwelm
Hikers Push For Great Divide Trail Recognition: The Great Divide Trail in Canada traverses two provinces, five national parks, five provincial parks, and a variety of wilderness and public land areas. It follows North America’s continental divide. Despite its lure for long-distance walkers, local or national governments have yet to recognize it as an official trail.
Nawang Gombu: Heart of a Tiger: Mountain blogger Mark Horrell reviews the freely available film Nawang Gombu: Heart of a Tiger. It profiles a much-loved but little-known Sherpa. Gombu was the nephew of Tenzing Norgay, and one of Horrell’s top 10 great Sherpa mountaineers.
