Found these very cool little earrings on Etsy carrying a message that transcends cultures, ages, and genders. Let it snow, baby! They’re made of recycled sterling silver and cost forty bucks. Me, I’d like to see them as cufflinks…CONTINUE>
From the monthly archives:
December 2009
While on Sao Tomé, a small island off the west coast of Africa, Surfer Magazine editor Sam George met a kindred surfing spirit in an 11-year-old boy. Sam came home, but he never forgot the little grom. Six years went by. Sam left Surfer and had success as the co-writer of Riding Giants. But something went missing in his relationship to the sport that had nurtured him since he first paddled out some 40 years before, so he decided to go back, back to Africa to try to find the young African in which he saw so much of himself…CONTINUE>
Bill Levitt, Mayor of Alta, Passes Away at 92
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If you ever passed through Alta Lodge, you no doubt broke bread with Bill Leavitt, the owner of the lodge and, for 34 years, the mayor of Alta–Leavitt was a fixture there, a friendly face, a walking treasure of powder skiing lore, and a wonderful man with which to sit and share a meal while the snow piled up outside. Leavitt, 92, passed away yesterday after collapsing in the dining room at the lodge…CONTINUE>
Discoverers are calling it one of the most significant finds in South Pacific archaeology: In the remote island nation of Vanuatu, Norwegian researchers have found 71 headless skeletons buried in an old coral reef…CONTINUE>
After the disillusionment over the alleged faking of the BBC Wildlife Magazine photo of the year, it seemed like we need a pick-me-up. So here are a handful of other winners from this year’s competition, which saw 43,000 entries. My fave is this striking black and white of starlings swirling about Gretna Green, Scotland…CONTINUE>
Critics Allege Wildlife Photo of the Year Was Faked
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It’s a stunning image, but an award-winning photograph of a wolf jumping over a farm gate is being attacked as a misrepresentation—that the wild wolf is in fact a trained wolf from a wildlife park. Two months after Spanish photographer José Luis Rodrîguez’s picture of an Iberian wolf won the world’s most prestigious wildlife photography competition, held by the BBC Wildlife Magazine and Britain’s Natural History Museum, a Finnish magazine accused Rodrîguez of setting up the shot…CONTINUE>
NY Times Fawns Over Danny MacAskill. Nicely Done.
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Danny MacAskill doesn’t need the New York Times to legitimize his sick trials riding, but it doesn’t hurt. The Grey Lady has just posted a fairly lengthy profile on the Scottish bike mechanic turned YouTube sensation…CONTINUE>
Be Careful, Lange Girls. Be Very, Very Careful
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The Local Lange Girl contest is well under way, and unlike last year, when a half-dozen gender-confused dudes made their way into the running, only one XY chromosome carrier is representing the burlier half. It looks like peoples are taking this competition seriously. Too bad. It looks for all the world like someone scraped the Hotties of Myspace fanpage, actually…CONTINUE>
If you’ve been around the ski world awhile, you might remember the “Stop the Brutal Grooming” campaign that sprang up in the 1990s. The bumper sticker protests focused on ski areas’ habit of turning fresh powder into beginner-friendly corduroy, but it could also apply equally to bulldozing ski trails to flatten terrain and remove boulders, stumps, and other natural features. The practice is common, but it damages the ecosystem, costs more in off-season maintenance, and only extends the ski season by a week, says a new study by the University of California, Davis…CONTINUE>
Solve the Mystery of the Unidentified Alps
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Here’s something to noodle on while you’re lounging in post-holiday sloth: The Library of Congress has piles of images in its collection that it can’t identify. It has crowdsourced the sleuthing work via its Flickr page, and here’s one from somewhere in the Alps shot in the 1890s, which commenters seem to think is St. Moritz. How about you–any ideas?…CONTINUE>
Time Lapse: When the Biggest Stars Come Out to Party
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No matter how much time you spend outdoors, you will never see the Milky Way like this. Even on the best viewing nights, the galactic bulge is just little more than a smudge in the sky. But with a digital camera, an extended shutter speed, and some patience, you can snap pics that will you blow you away. And with a simple method of stitching together still images, you can produce a gorgeous little film like William Castleman’s…CONTINUE>
Seasons Greetings, But With More Seasoning
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However you celebrate this holiday season, here’s hoping it’s a healthy, happy, and snowy one…CONTINUE>
Every boy has a firewood story. Some girls, too. A hand axe was the first dangerous tool my dad trusted me with, and a chainsaw was the first that could do real damage. We’d cut up the deadfall on our two and a half acres in the mountains of Pennsylvania and haul it back to Virginia, where the heap of logs in the side yard would soon give way to a neatly stacked wall of fuel…CONTINUE>
Saying Goodbye to Your Favorite Skis
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John Bresee is too busy as lord of the Backcountry.com realm to return my emails, for which I am both understanding and sympathetic, so I’m just going to poach something from his blog without asking. Isn’t that what you do in this new media world? Well, it’s for an excellent cause. This is good writing, darn good, and peoples need to read it for themselves, rather than the self-indulgences they’ve come to expect here. Release the hounds if you want it removed, JB.
In this short piece, John prepares to say goodbye to his skis, but like all good ski writing, it’s not about the skis themselves, but the life they help lead and the guy who rides them. All you bloggers and aspiring freelancers, pay up…CONTINUE>
The end of the year is a good time for pondering the big questions in life, like where did I come from and why am I here and when is Santa going to bring a massive dump of 5% powder? In that spirit, here’s a wonderful video from the American Museum of Natural History that takes you on a tour of the known universe. Talk about an adventure. And never thought an animated video could make you homesick, but by the time you’re on the edge of the universal boundary, you’re ready to get back to the tiny blue marble we call earth, stat. When it comes into view again, you’re stoked–and marveling at the almost incomprehensible scale in which we live…CONTINUE>
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
