Outdoor Activities | Product description

Aug 7, 2025

You Don’t Have to Build Your Own Sleeping Platform to Camp In your Car

　　I remember the first time I saw someone sleeping in their vehicle for fun. It was 1999. I was in Vail, and I hit a parking lot après party with a dude who was sleeping in his Ford Ranger pickup. He had built a plywood sleeping platform with all of his ski gear stored beneath, allowing him to camp out...

Aug 7, 2025

The 8 Best Instant Coffees for Backcountry Adventurers

　　Thanks to instant coffee, which has been commercially available since the late 1930s, saving weight in the backcountry and still getting zooted on caffeine is not new. When I started raft guiding a century ago in the late ’90s, we used to mix up heaping spoonfuls of Folgers with General Foods International Coffees Suisse Mocha and Orange Cappuccino powders to...

Aug 7, 2025

These Are the Best Bike Racks on the Market

　　The right bike rack makes transporting your ride easy, secure, and stress-free. Whether you’re hauling an e-bike, mountain bike, road bike, or fat bike, a well-designed rack should be intuitive to use and built to last. We tested 22 racks across 8 vehicles with a range of bike types, prioritizing ease of use in real-world conditions, including cross-country road trips...

Aug 7, 2025

First Look: How Troxus Makes Choosing an E-Bike Easy

　　The e-bike industry is a crowded place these days. What used to be a niche in the cycling world now has enough brands and bikes to make your head (and wheels) spin. Fortunately, one manufacturer stands out from the pack. Troxus, a San Diego-based e-bike innovator, makes a model for every style of rider and offers unbeatable technology and warranty...

Aug 7, 2025

These Are the 5 Best Bike Packs for Every Adventure

　　When it comes to carrying gear while biking, theres lots of options and lots of factors to consider. So much depends on whether you’re riding a hot lap, an all-day epic, if you have in-frame storage, or if you’re just riding gravel with some single-track connections. Our testers have done the leg work (pun intended)—biking up and down the West...

Aug 7, 2025

Lakeside Voyages Across the Mountain State

　　West Virginia’s famed country roads offer an open invitation. Weaving across rugged terrain and through spirited small towns to uncrowded gems and world-class outdoor adventures alike, the roads form a latticework of endless possibilities for road trip itineraries. Five customized Mountain Rides can help connect activities that range from pristine biking to productive fishing, with prime camping options all along...

Aug 7, 2025

How Nebraska Does On-Water Adventures

　　Nebraska may be landlocked, but don’t let that fool you—this state is full of ways to make a splash. With designated Wild and Scenic rivers, trout-filled creeks, and scenic lakes, water plays a surprisingly central role in the Cornhusker State’s outdoor culture. Whether youre floating in a cattle tank with friends, casting flies into spring-fed streams, or paddling through forested...

Aug 7, 2025

Psilocybin Helps My PTSD—But I Won’t Mix Mushrooms With Skiing

　　Apparently, one of the trickiest parts of negotiating the ski slopes on a large dose of psychedelic mushrooms is “knowing which end of the lift the mountain part is on.” 　　“I was so confused about when to get off the ‘flying seat’,” explained the snowboarder regaling his buddy about a recent six-gram day. 　　 Also Read: Jim Harris...

Aug 7, 2025

The Good Influence of Triathlon’s Social Media Stars

　　Meet Carolyn Carter, Noel Mulkey, and Nikki Hawkes – three content creators redefining what it means to be a triathlete in the digital era. With massive followings on TikTok and Instagram, they’re not just documenting workouts and race days – they’re inspiring a whole new generation to dive into the swim-bike-run life. 　　In this roundtable, we dig into the real...

Aug 7, 2025

This After-School Program Is Turning High Schoolers into Mountaineers

　　Last winter, now 17-year-old Isobel Chi found herself on Washington’s Sasse Mountain with a group of fellow high schoolers and a handful of adult leaders. The early February hike was a regular outing for the Seattle-based Mountaineers Adventure Club (or MAC, pronounced as one word), a youth program designed to provide outdoor recreation opportunities for 14- to 18-year-old Seattleites. Every...

Aug 7, 2025

Do You Love Hiking Trails? It’s Time to Donate and Volunteer.

　　When Teresa Martinez was a mountain-bike racer, she suffered a recurring anxiety dream. Days before any competition, Martinez would envision herself woefully unprepared, five minutes before the start. First, her shoes would go missing, then her bike, then her water bottle, then her gloves. With her gear finally gathered, she still had to find the starting line. “And then, you...

Aug 7, 2025

5 Great Hikes in a State You May Have Overlooked

　　If you’ve ever thought something like, “It’s just corn out there in Nebraska,” we’re gonna enjoy telling you how wrong you are. Beneath its wide skies and quiet prairies lies a rugged and surprising variety of landscapes with trails galore. Whether youre winding through ponderosa pine forests, trekking past otherworldly rock formations, or standing atop towering limestone bluffs, the Cornhusker...

Aug 7, 2025

Your Adventure Dog Benefits from a Healthy Diet and Exercise, Just Like You

　　Proper diet and exercise are just what the doctor ordered when it comes to living a healthier and longer life, for us and our canine friends. “Just like people, the secret to longevity for dogs is to eat healthy and exercise,” advises Dr. Justin Toth, veterinarian and owner/founder of Dallas Highway Animal Hospital. Here are a few ways to help...

Aug 7, 2025

He Fell 200 Feet During a Trail Running Race—And Lived to Tell the Tale

　　Stuart Terrill’s life forever changed in a blink of an eye during a competitive mountain running race this past summer. 　　On July 13, the 22-year-old from Crozet, Virginia, summited 11,000-foot Hidden Peak at Snowbird ski resort above Salt Lake City. He was an hour into the 8.7-mile Cirque Series race serving double duty as the 2024 USA Track and Field...

Aug 7, 2025

Two Longtime Friends Cross Frozen Arctic Island After Years of Setbacks and Cancer

　　Ray Zahab first noticed that something was wrong with his body in the spring of 2022. “I just started to feel like shit,” he told me, chuckling. The Canadian ultrarunner was 54, and he felt like his body was breaking down. Even his warm up runs began to feel grueling. He was constantly out of breath, napping several times a...

Aug 7, 2025

What Is Mount Everest Season? We Answer Your Questions About the World’s Highest Peak.

　　Mount Everest holds a special aura for hardcore climbers and casual fans of the sport alike. Every year, the worlds highest peak attracts several hundred climbers who attempt to reach the top. But not everyone is familiar with the dynamics on the mountain, the guiding industry, or even the route to the top. Below, we answer a handful of familiar...

Aug 7, 2025

Wally, Chicago’s Most Charming Retired Firefighter, Is Climbing Mount Everest at Age 74

　　In the social chatter of Mount Everest Base Camp, everyone has heard about Wally. 　　Thats the nickname given to Viorel Stirbu, a 74-year-old man who has become a crowd favorite in the mountaineering community. Wally is an American citizen who speaks with a thick Romanian accent. He was born in Romania but sought asylum in the United States 45 years...

Aug 7, 2025

Tyler Andrews Was Running to the Top of Mount Everest When a Crucial Piece of Gear Broke

　　It recently took me 25 minutes to walk a across Mount Everest Base Camp to the edge of the Khumbu Glacier to meet American ultrarunner Tyler Andrews. 　　I had to stop frequently along the rocky path—which is at 17,500 feet above sea level—to cough and catch my breath. During the stroll I often thought about Andrews upcoming attempt to run...

Aug 7, 2025

Mount Everest Climbers Visit the Pangboche Monastery to Pray for Safety

　　When you walk into the Sherpa village of Pangboche, which is about ten miles from Mount Everest Base Camp, it feels like youre stepping back in time. 　　The town sits on a hillside at 12,000 feet above sea level, just off the trail to Everest and 22,349-foot Ama Dablam. With its stone homes and meandering yaks, Pangboche is a throwback...

Aug 7, 2025

Lessons Learned During the 2015 Nepal Earthquake

　　I remember the shaking. 　　The vibrations were so severe that I could not stand up. After a few seconds, the soil beneath my feet liquified, and the village I was standing in began to spin like one of those sketchy teacup rides at an American county fair. 　　I also remember the noise. In an instant, the planet itself became a...