Outdoors
Shelling Out: 10 Best Winter Sports Hardshells
There’s no such thing as bad weather — only bad gear. And in the age of industrial manufacturing and waterproof fabrics, there’s no good excuse for bad gear.
Outdoors
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OutdoorsLocked In: 5 Best Ski Bindings
Bindings often go overlooked in favor of the flashiness of a new pair of skis or boots. But as your only contact point for control and power transfer along the 170-180cm boards you’re strapping on, and your final line of safety in a major crash, they’re the most important piece of gear for a successful and safe season.
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OutdoorsMountain Chargers: 5 Best Skis of 2014
A new pair of skis is more than just a new piece of expensive gear: it’s an investment in winter stoke.
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OutdoorsThe Architect
Now in its seventh season, the Salomon Freeski TV channel has covered the sport exhaustively.
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OutdoorsTested: Evolv Iceman Bouldering Pad
Bouldering is a relatively new evolution in rock climbing, and lacking ropes or other protection makes it one of the more dangerous. With steep overhangs and extremely technical moves, you’re going to spend a significant portion of the day falling on your butt, making a good crash pad absolutely essential.
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OutdoorsThe Best Cyclocross Bikes for Every Rider
Cyclocross racing pits riders on bikes with drop bars and knobby tires against each other on multi-lap courses over a mix of grass, dirt, pavement, sand, mud and sections that force riders to carry their bikes over barriers and up stairs and hills. Racers attack from the line, and the intensity doesn’t diminish for the duration of the 30- to 60-minute events — it’s a redline-all-the-time, full-contact affair.
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OutdoorsConquering La Ruta de Los Conquistadores: The Film
Nearly a year after his training began, Dirk Shaw called from Costa Rica, where he had just completed the final mission in The Road to La Ruta: the race itself. He explained how he’d learned to enjoy the process as much as the culminating event.
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Outdoors30 Minutes With: Robert August
If you’re looking for a lesson in the good life, look no further than Robert August. At 18 he starred in The Endless Summer, the first great surfing film, taking him on a seven-month world tour of uncharted breaks.
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OutdoorsTested: NW Alpine
There are big-name brands in the outdoor clothing market that turn out lustworthy, cutting-edge shells, baselayers and insulation pieces season after season. But every once in a while, we stumble upon a small brand doing things a little bit differently yet equally well.
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OutdoorsDon’t Underestimate the Whites
For thru-hikers of the AT, the White Mountains are a cruel joke, coming near the end of a months-long journey that begins in the gentle hills of Georgia. With nary a flat mile the trail follows the spine of the Presidential Range before exiting into Maine and the final miles to Katahdin.
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OutdoorsKit: Hiking Hut-to-Hut in the White Mountains
Even when you’re sleeping in huts every night, hiking in the White Mountains requires considerable planning. With New Hampshire’s notoriously unpredictable weather, it’s wise to hope for the best but prepare for the worst.
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OutdoorsTested: Icebreaker Sierra Long Sleeve Zip
We’ve been wearing Icebreaker’s Sierra Long Sleeve Zip jacket ($180) all summer and fall for mountain hiking — and though merino sheep have a few more centuries of wear-testing on their coats than we ever will, we’ve managed to form some opinions of our own.
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OutdoorsKit: Multi-Day Hiking
It doesn’t take much to pack for a day hike: throw on a coat, pull on your boots and tuck a beanie in your back pocket in case the weather turns chilly. But if you’re heading into the woods for more than a stroll, a little preparation goes a long way, whether it be technical fabrics to combat inclement weather, a portable stove to heat your three square, or dominos to entertain companions after the sun sets.
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OutdoorsKit: Free Solo Climbing
Sometimes the mountains just call your name. Whether you’ve got a season to train for a summit bit up Mt.
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OutdoorsKit: Upland Hunting
As the mercury drops, game enthusiasts from across the fruited plain trade in their drift boats and fly rods for double barreled breach-break shotguns, some blaze orange, and a Labrador, if they’re lucky. Upland hunting takes many shapes and forms depending on where you call home: there’s the cold Northeast, the prairies and cornfields of the Midwest, the Intermountain region on down to the South.
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OutdoorsThe Complete Guide to Running Your First Ultramarathon
You’ve probably been hearing more about them: occasional murmurs of very long distance races, men and women running six marathons across the Sahara, a 3,100 mile race in Queens, NY, in the middle of summer. Ultrarunning, or running more than a 26.2 mile marathon in a single shot, seems an unlikely pursuit — and it is.
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OutdoorsFlexible Footwear: 5 Best Approach Shoes
Somewhere between short day hikes in Yellowstone and forays above the tree line to bag a couple of Colorado 14ers last year, you probably realized your trail runners or light hiking shoes just don’t cut it on off-trail, gnarly terrain. Technical approach shoes blend everything you like about your trail-running shoes — ankle support, beefy soles, light weight — with the sticky rubber and technical details of a climbing shoe or heavier boot.
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OutdoorsThe Easy Way Up: Heli-Hiking in the Bugaboos
The rotor wash from a Bell 212 helicopter is startlingly strong. Though I was getting used to the pick up and drop off routine — kneel, huddle together, cover your face — every time the helicopter landed I was nearly blown off my feet.
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OutdoorsTested: Topo Designs x Howler Brothers Klettersack
Retro gear is retro for a reason: modern outdoor gear design performs better than its forebears in almost all respects. But we still have a soft spot for the leather, wool, canvas alpine designs of the 1950s and ‘60s — you know, before things got all sleek and neon.
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OutdoorsKit: Vermont 50 Ultramarathon
There are basically two schools of thought when assembling a kit for an ultramarathon: comprehensive preparation and more weight, or as minimalist as possible. For first-time ultra-distance runners, the decision can be a little confounding.