Say what you will about European fashion, the Euros know a thing or two about apparel technology. And every season, Polartec, the American fabric supplier that knit, wove, spun, or extruded 72 percent of your outerwear wardrobe, bestows awards on the designs using Polartec that it thinks kick ass. Well, they don’t actually say “kick ass”, but reading between the lines I think that’s the underlying meaning. There are two sets of “Apex” awards, American and European, and the American winners are plastered over everything stateside; you might wearing one now and if you aren’t someone who works for REI is. They are consistently, ridiculously good. The European winners? You never see them. Until now.
From the monthly archives:
July 2009
Avoiding a cougar is simple. Don’t travel alone. Try to look older. Avoid martini bars. Works on cougars, but mountain lions–that’s another case. Over the last 110 years, there have been 185 mountain lion/human interactions notable enough for study by a University of California Davis researcher. After looking at these encounters, Dr. Richard Coss discovered that conventional wisdom–make lots of noise, dance around, try to look bigger–resulted in avoiding injury just 26 percent of the time.
If the SwiMP3 had a better name, cooler design, prettier photography, and an arsenal of marketing, this waterproof music player would be on the cover of gear guides and winning gear of the year. But instead it looks like something coughed up by a giant Japanese robot cat, and the model wearing it looks in pain. Perhaps it’s the bends. Well, whatever. The SwiMP3 (”swimpy”? “swim pee, 3″?) is the best underwater music system I’ve used.
The first time I met Ami Vitale, at a National Geographic Adventure party, I did what you typically do in such a gathering: I asked about her photography work. “Oh, tell me about your work,” she said, so I did. But then I asked again. “Oh, no, tell me more,” she said. By the time the current had swept us into different conversations, I had failed to get the slightest crumb from her. “That’s Ami,” shrugged writer and frequent Vitale collaborator Paul Kvinta, “international woman of mystery.”
Can’t Get Enough Big Wave Wedge? Now on Video…
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Truly one of the most epic summer swells in years, in not a generation, Southern California’s late July wave train saw more than its share of heroics, caught here by Greg Magnus. If you’ve always heard about the Wedge in Newport Beach but never experienced it for yourself, you have to see this video. The wave surges and shrugs, mutates, pummels, and changes its mind with seemingly no rhyme or reason. And just when you’re getting tired of watching bodyboarders getting drilled–as if that ever gets old–a mack-daddy stud on a stand-up board drops in. Must watch.
As a photographer, one of the funniest questions I hear is, “Do you use models on your shoots or real people?” It’s not a completely unfounded query, because I have worked with professional models who are exceptionally one-dimensional, but my experience has been the opposite: The folks I’ve worked with are typically multi-talented, sometimes ridiculously so. Case in point is Ekolu Kalama, whom I met on Molokai. Ekolu had just flown in from surfing Teahupoo, one of the heaviest waves on the planet. Well, yesterday he won the Rainbow Sandals standup paddling race from Molokai to Oahu, generally considered the unofficial world championship. Badass! But Ekolu wasn’t the only stud: Aussie Jamie Mitchell grabbed his eighth consecutive paddleboard (kneeling) title.
Everyone knows there’s no surf in California in summer. Right? Umm, scratch that. A solid SSW swell pounded the southern coast on Friday and through the weekend, with the best breaks unwrapping double-overhead set waves. In Newport, the mutant known as the Wedge saw monsters up to 25 feet, with tragic consequences: A body surfer was killed when he was thrown into the rock jetty and trapped by a 10-wave set.
Hello, people of Earth, iPhone junkies, and readers of this website. If you followed the Cloudveil/Adventure Life Ski Jump App iPhone contest, you know it ended a few days ago, with the top spot nabbed by Tobias Pecival, who has requested professional assistance as he leaves the game behind and ramps back into regular life. Tobias’s jump was a remarkable 166.286 meters.
It’s hard to explain in a headline, but this video from The Surfer’s Journal is a wonderful concept: Take Dan Malloy, eminence grise of egalitarian board design, match him with up-and-coming pro Dane Reynolds, who lives for the shortboard, and send them into knee-high Ventura shorebreak for a board swap. Each throws the other a curveball.
In honor of Independence Day, here’s a story on the part of northern California and southern Oregon known as Jefferson State–the state that declared independence as a new territory in 1941, only to see its dreams of autonomy fade away. By chance, the adventure potential in Jefferson is off the hook. By coicidence (or not), your truly is heading to a family reunion along the Rogue River in Oregon and spending the next week in the heart of Jefferson. I hope this piece holds you over–and I hope you get there and check it out for yourself.
Talk about taking off behind the peak. This sea turtle is buried deep. Perhaps it’s one of those thrill-seeking turtles from Nemo. Or maybe a wayward soul foraging in the surf zone for tasty kelp only caught, carried, and drilled. Whichever, the little dude’s in for quite a ride. In fact, so’s the photographer, Clark Little, a native Hawaiian who’s spent the last couple of years shooting the maelstrom where surf meets sand, mostly in the ultra-gnar of Waimea shorebreak. Little has a new photo book coming out and, though it hasn’t even been produced, it has surf and photo fans abuzz…CONTINUE>
It feels like a good day to be in motion. Maybe a little biathlon’s in order. Start off with a little mountain biking, end with a sunset run. Yes, indeed, that would be a perfect day. Especially if it opened with slickrock and closed with wildflowers. Well, free desktops are good a beginning.
Sadly, frighteningly, bikes are one of the most commonly recalled outdoor products, and the Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced quite a few callbacks in last month or two, including models from Cannondale, Dahon, Norco, REI, and Trek. Is your bike among them? Take a look.
60-Second Expert: How to Manage Your Climbing Skins
‘Pillow Line’ Is A Charming Stop-Motion Winter Delight
Telluride Contest Has a Winner: Home-Made Video Grabs the Loot
8 Days of Climbing + 10 Pounds of Tequila = New 1,100-Foot Tepui Route
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
