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.
Greenland Walls: A team of climbers takes on some big walls in Greenland, including kayak approaches and a week-long portage. They tick off some evocatively named routes including Sea Barge Circus and Seagull’s Garden.
World’s Dirtiest Man: Dirtbag climbers need to up their games to compete with Amou Haji. The Iranian hermit apparently went 60 years without a bath, fearing that cleanliness would kill him. His efforts seem to have worked. He lived to the grand old age of 94 and died only a few months after local villagers finally convinced him to wash.
Honnold’s Ultimate Red Rock Traverse: Alex Honnold isn’t letting family life slow him down. We covered his latest project, HURT, a week ago. Now, there’s more detail. In Red Rock’s unforgiving terrain he set out to complete a unique personal project: a traverse that took 32 hours, 35 miles, 23 summits, and linked together 14 classic rock routes.
There’s plenty of great climbing in Red Rock. Photo: Shutterstock
A guide to Welsh climbing
Sandstone Adventures: Wales offers some fantastic sport and trad climbing, as well as plenty of bouldering. The sandstone of south Wales is easily accessible, with UK Climbing listing at least 81 sandstone crags within 40km of Cardiff. If you fancy a go, this destination guide is a good entry point.
Bikepacking the Arctic: The far north is not your typical bikepacking destination. Yet the Arctic Post Road, running 400km between Finland and Norway, offers the chance to cycle one of the few remaining wild spaces in Europe.
A Sacred Peak: Brazil closed its highest mountain, Pico Da Neblina, nearly 20 years ago because of high visitor counts and problems with litter and waste. Now, an ecotourism venture hopes to both open the mountain to hikers and protect the environment and indigenous communities in the area.
Not Too Late?: Since 2017, Antarctica’s Thwaites Glacier has been known as the “Doomsday Glacier”. It’s disappearing so quickly that it seems a portent of things to come. But scientists studying this fast-melting river of ice believe that the impacts of climate change can still be mitigated, depending on how humans respond in the coming decades.
The Doomsday Glacier? Thwaites is retreating, fast. Photo: Thwaites Glacier Offshore Research
5G coverage via drones
Drones Bring Coverage to Snowdonia: Virgin Media O2 and the Llanbedr-based Snowdonia Aerospace Centre are trialing an innovative way to bring mobile connectivity to remote mountain areas in the UK. The companies are experimenting with drones that would extend aerial 4G and 5G coverage, aiding hill walkers and rescue services.
More Than the Inca Trail: Over 25,000 hikers make the trek to Macchu Pichu every year, but few explore beyond the most famous trail. National Geographic explores the cobblestoned paths of Qhapaq Ñan and their potential as ecotourism destinations.
Crossing the North Pole: Learn more about one of modern adventures’ most impressive expeditions, straight from the horse’s mouth. In this podcast, Borge Ousland discusses the winter North Pole expedition he completed with Mike Horn.
