It looks like someone hung a circuit board out to dry, but that’s the freshly powered International Space Station passing the limb of the Earth a few days ago. The ISS was resupplied by the space shuttle Discovery, which brought a set of giant solar arrays and, rumor has it, a twelver of tallboys and the new Yeah Yeah Yeahs disk pirated from mininova.org.
From the monthly archives:
March 2009
President Barack Obama signed the biggest lands bill in a generation today, protecting 2 million acres permanently. For all you wilderness wonks, here’s the full transcript of what he had to say: “Today I have signed into law.
Just two days after closing for the season, the lodge and ski rental building for central Idaho’s Soldier Mountain burned to the ground today. The 50-year-old lodge was a total loss—firefighters arrived at the rural resort 30 minutes after receiving a call, but water supplies were limited and the blaze had a head start.
The web is awash with tributes to Shane McConkey, the skier who died in BASE-jumping accident last week, but if you want to leave a tribute with impact, slide over to the official site, shanemcconkey.org, and write a few words for his wife, Sherry, and daughter, Ayla.
The best advertising campaign in the long history of advertising campaigns isn’t from Apple, Budweiser, or Nike. No, for that we must give it up for the National Coffee Association for its 1984 effort “Coffee Achievers”. Where else could you get David Bowie, Kurt Vonnegut, Cicely Tyson, Pat Benatar, Cincinnati Bengal quarterback Ken Anderson, and the music of Electric Light Orchestra in one ad? Truly a high-water mark in marketing. And to those who laughed, a new story in the New York Times says, “Pffffftttt.”
For the last year or so, I’ve been experimenting with making spherical panorama images (360 degrees in all directions), which are super-hard to do well, and every once in awhile I come across one that’s so good it’s both inspiring and totally discouraging. That’s the case with this sick aerial pano of Peahi reef, a.k.a., Jaws, on the north shore of Maui.
Oslo, Norway’s closest ski hill, Tryvann Winter Park, is high enough above the city that it can be snowing on the lifts but raining in town—a real buzzkill when you’re trying to convince soggy urbanites to come up and leave a few krona at the ticket window. Well, chase a few hundred pounds of raw salmon with a couple gallons of frosty aquavit and soon enough those brainstorming sessions in Norwegian advertising agencies start to yield a little fruit.
It’s a sad, tragic day for skiing: Shane McConkey, one of the sport’s brightest stars of the last 20 years, was killed today in a ski-BASE jumping accident in Italy’s Dolomite Mountains.
Are white Ray-Ban-style sunglasses still hot? Did they peak last month? Or was that three months ago? Or never? Unless you’re 22 and hooked with swag from the O, Smith, or Spy, it’s easier to keep track of Lance Armstrong’s girlfriends than the current smoking sunglass style. With the flawless Nicolas from Salt Optics, however, that will never be an issue again: These wire-frame shades have achieved perfection with the timeless aviator style.
It was ugly and it was long and it was all too often compared to sausage making, but the U.S. Congress today finally passed the massive omnibus public lands bill, giving permanent protection to two million acres in nine states and increasing protection to another 26 million acres. The legislation now heads down the street to President Barack Obama, who would be more likely to slow-dance with Dick Cheney than not sign it.
Sixteen-year Squaw Valley ski patroller Andrew Entin died today during morning avalanche control on Squaw’s Headwall after a large slide swept him through trees. Around 8 a.m., Entin and his partner were throwing hand charges.
Got plans for Saturday night? No? Looossser. Well, now you do: Come 8:30 p.m., wherever you are, you’re going to turn out the lights and keep ’em off for an hour.
What a joy it is to watch the misguided, myopic, just plain stupid policies of the Bush Administration unravel so quickly after Inauguration Day. Calling Bush’s last-minute allowance of loaded, concealed firearms in national parks “astoundingly flawed”, Federal District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly handily rejected the rule and granted an injunction blocking its implementation.
Any cycling jersey that makes your biceps look bigger and your stomach look smaller has a clear edge over the typical sausage casing that passes for a riding top, but Descente’s Optima Ice offers more than just a flattering cut.
Time to get your Eddie the Eagle on, kids. The Adventure Life and Cloudveil are announcing the first iPhone Ski Jump App contest. So simple, it’s stupid: Longest jump during the contest period wins. Prizes will include Cloudveil jackets, gloves, and other CV swag, along with iTunes gift cards.
The Gallery of the OIdest Living Things in the World
60-Second Expert: How to Make a Skiing Kick Turn
And the Oscar For Best Use of Sheep Goes To…
Clothes Make the Man…And They Make A Difference for Nepal’s Women
Surviving A Massive Earthquake and Tsunami: What It Feels Like
Waves That Will Make You Say ‘Hurry Up, Summer’
The New Snow Test That Could Save Your Life
Earth’s Day Shortened, Axis Tilted By Chile Earthquake
The Greenest Job? Might Be Professional Tree Climber
60-Second Expert: The Right Way to Clean Your Goggles
Before There Was The Hurricane, There Was the Double Daffy
Time Lapse of the Milky Way over Hawaii
Al Gore: The Truth, Even With Mistakes, Is Still Inconvenient
24 Hours of Beautiful Time Lapse in UK Lake District
Must-See TV: ‘Heimo’s Arctic Refuge’ Hunts the Wild Life
