Here at ExWeb, when we’re not outdoors, we get our adventure fix by exploring social media and the wider interweb. Sometimes we’re a little too plugged in, and browsing interesting stories turns from minutes into hours. To nourish your own adventure fix, here are some of the best links we’ve discovered this week…
My Dinner With Anderl: In 1989, self-deprecating American climber David Pagel climbed — to his apparent surprise — the Eiger Nordwand. This led to the realization of an even bigger dream: meeting the legendary Nordwand first ascensionist Anderl Heckmair.
10 facts about Everest: The ever-insightful Mark Horrell unpacks data on success and death rates on the world’s highest mountain.
Exploration is a Flawed Notion: Discovery isn’t about setting an endurance record. Anthropologist Wade Davis argues that “explorers” need to shed their self-obsession.
Alone in Lemmenjoki: Backpacker and blogger Hendrik Morkel explored Finland’s largest national park this summer. For our European readers, he makes the wild but nearby Finnish Lapland sound like a must-see.
Crossing The Outback: The Vancouver International Mountain Festival has a special screening in mid-October of Australian adventurer Justin Jones’ film on his family’s 1,800km unassisted walk across the Outback. Jones is best known for the award-winning film Across The Ice (which is also included in the screening bundle).
Telemedicine At 8,000m: Another look at the Furtenbach guide company’s pulse oximetry technology, which we featured last year. The odds of dying on Everest are roughly 1/100. Furtenbach and company reckon that their new gizmo could help reduce this.
Do Climbers Read? Andrew Szalay wonders whether the contemporary shortage of good climbing literature is related to modern preferences for short and snappy online media.
The Perfect Canoe Portage: Many outdoor tips are dull, dull, dull: you’ve read them a thousand times before and they’re not even particularly useful. Breaking the mold, Outside columnist Alex Hutchinson offers excellent and imaginative tips for a smooth canoe trip.
