Of all the risks climbers face when tackling Everest, COVID-19 is the one making headlines, this week with China marking a literal dividing line at the mountain's summit. There is no word yet how they’ll enforce this border at the top of the world, ...
Adventure
Things Worse Than Death: Why Laura Zerra Chooses a Life of Adventure
Laura Zerra is a self-proclaimed nomad, experienced hunter-gatherer, and an enthusiastic adventure traveler. She is also an expert survivalist who enjoys “finding comfort in the uncomfortable" and walking the road less traveled. Zerra is ...
Reel Warriors Reconnects Veterans Through Offshore Fishing
The pain and isolation that many veterans carry home from deployments can occupy some of the deepest parts of their being. When it comes to hope and healing, those depths can seem simply unreachable. Through offshore fishing trips, Reel ...
The Art of Controlled Chaos: My Trip to DirtFish Rally School
I have never driven a stick shift in my life, and now I’m facing a three-day rally-car program that ends in a multiterrain race. Through trees. And rocks. And debris. I know absolutely nothing about cars, racing, or motor sports in general, but when ...
Everest Base Camp Sees Its First COVID Case
Not even the top of the world is out of the pandemic’s reach. Reports out of Everest Base Camp have confirmed that the first case of COVID-19 has finally hit their ranks. Three climbers had shown symptoms of high-altitude pulmonary edema, or ...
7 of the Toughest Trail Races in America
If you think it’s totally normal to run until you hallucinate, reach total muscle failure, lose toenails, or can no longer feel your feet, you’re a perfect candidate for one of America’s toughest trail races. It takes a special type of person to ...
Naked and Not Afraid: A Profile of Laura Zerra
Laura Zerra is focused. The 35-year-old reality television star and social media influencer sits in an ice shack on a frozen river in South Dakota, her gloved hand tapping an 8-foot steel spear. A rectangle the size of a 60-inch ...
Contingency Planning: 5-Point Prep for Tech Failure
Our reliance on technology isn't going away anytime soon. We have cellphones, satellite phones, GPS communicators, and GPS beacons that relay our locations to those with a need to know. What happens when technology fails? In US Army small-unit ...
Rick Wilcox: The Most Accomplished and Least Known US Mountaineer
Chunks of ice break free from about 70 feet above, clacking off lower bulges before landing in heavy, dull thuds on the snow-buried slope only feet away. “Ice!” The climber that yelled down is pegged to the face of the wall by two ...
Buying the Right Sleeping Bag Made Simple
Perhaps no single piece of gear is more critical to comfort, and even survival, in the backcountry than a good sleeping bag. At first blush, you might think that choosing a sleeping bag would be a pretty simple endeavor. But fill material, ...
How To Stay Safe in Bear Country
Like most wild animals, bears have an innate and healthy fear of humans. If you’ve ever hiked through the Appalachian Mountains, the Northern Rockies, or the Alaskan bush, odds are you crossed paths with wild bears but never knew it. Bear attacks are ...
Marine Veteran Scotty Bob Brings BASE Jumping to Next Generation
When Coffee or Die Magazine last talked to Marine veteran Robert “Scotty Bob” Morgan, he was well on his way to living the dream of a professional BASE jumper. So, what exactly does a BASE jumper do? BASE is an acronym that stands for four ...
The Triumph and Tragedy of K2’s Epic Winter Season
This was no ordinary winter on K2, the world’s second-highest mountain. For the first time ever, a team summited 28,251-foot-high K2 in winter, marking the achievement of the last great first in Himalayan mountaineering. The successful team ...
A Beginner’s Guide to Snowshoeing
Blinded by the wind and stung by the cold, we set up our camp as the day grew dark around us. The two of us had snowshoed to Dogsled Pass, deep in the Talkeetna Mountains of south central Alaska. We hoped to explore nearby alpine valleys over the ...
5 Winter Survival Tips You Need to Know, According to the Boy Scouts
When the days grow cold and short, a lot of people use that as an excuse to stay indoors. But with a little bit of preparation and forethought, you can hike and backpack all through the winter without an issue. The Boy Scouts of America keep a ...
Full Throttle: BRCC Driver Noah Gragson Returns to Daytona
NASCAR driver Noah Gragson, in the No. 9 Bass Pro Shops / TrueTimber / Black Rifle Coffee Company Chevy Camaro, is one of the hardest-charging young guns in racing — and he’s pedal-down powering toward another winning weekend in Daytona. In only ...
6 Ways to Beat Cabin Fever This Winter
This can be a hard time of year. The holidays are over, and we’re ready for spring — but it’s still winter. For many people that means not leaving the house, or the couch, until the middle of March. But let's face it, there are only so many shows you ...
Mountaineering Hacks: Popping Viagra and Teetotaling on Top of the World
High-altitude mountaineering is a miserable endeavor. In the rarefied air of the world’s highest peaks, there’s simply not enough oxygen for the body to function normally. At great height, however, our genes kickstart a whole host of corporeal ...
Nepal Team Edges Out USA’s O’Brady for Historic 1st Winter Ascent of K2
Near sunset on Saturday, a team of 10 Nepalese Sherpa climbers paused just short of the summit of the world’s second-highest mountain. Even amid temperatures dipping below minus 60 Fahrenheit, and with the lethal promise of the looming night on the ...
Meet Cal Fire’s Pranay Manghirmalani
It takes a special kind of person to stride into the hellscape of a raging wildfire and do battle with an actual force of nature. Pranay Manghirmalani is one of those people. He talked with Free Range American about where he’s from and why he does ...
Hellespont: I Swam from Europe to Asia and Earned My Survival
I stopped swimming to poke my head above the waves and figure out where I was. While treading water, I met a chilling sight — nothing. Through the spray of the 30-knot winds coming off the water, I could barely make out a cell phone tower on the ...
‘There Is Magic in Suffering’ — The Allure of the Ultramarathon
6 a.m. — At the trailhead of the Illinois and Michigan Canal State Trail, three runners silently step up to the starting line through the morning fog. There are six spectators on hand. The trio of runners have their arms folded against the early ...
A Conversation with ‘Professional Caveman’ Donny Dust
This story originally ran on Oct. 15, 2020 on The Ultimate Predator. Even the most experienced, seasoned hunters get a chill when imagining themselves stripped of their gear, alone in the wilderness. It’s a pretty extraordinary thing, then, to ...
2020 FRA Holiday Gift Guide: The Adventure Travel Wish List
Shopping for traveling adventure seekers is tough. So much gear marketed at globe-trotters is straight junk, like outlet adapters we’ll never need, passport wallets, or goofy hats and vests. And a good adventure, if anything, helps us pare down on ...
American Woman Free Climbs Yosemite’s El Capitan in One Day
While most Americans remained glued to the news, watching the presidential election results slowly roll in during the wee hours of Nov. 4, American climber Emily Harrington was hard at work adding her own personal mark to a historic week, becoming ...
The 2-Continent Photography Escapades of Martin and Osa Johnson
Martin and Osa Johnson relied on Boculy, the elephant tracker who joined them on many of their African safaris. They sometimes referred to him as the “Little Brother of the Elephant” because he knew the precise locations of the elephants no matter ...
Big Wave Surfing: An American Just Rode One of the Biggest in Surf History
Big wave surfing walls as tall as a seven-story building is a dangerous and complicated business. Mason Barnes is in that business. And business is good. In October off the coast of Portugal, Hurricane Epsilon combined with a low-pressure system ...
Adventure Dogs: Here’s How to Pick the Right One
Whether you’re hiking a new trail, sleeping under the stars, or casting a line for hidden fish, any outdoor adventure is always better with your best friend. While human friends may scoff at the idea of walking several miles in the rain, the right ...
Smagical Thinking: The Life and (Near) Death of Phil Smage
Sweat dripping down his face, Phil Smage sat on his Kawasaki KLX 110 pit bike at the starting line of the first-ever Pastranaland Pit Bike Championship. Nine national-level motocross competitors were beside him — all gunning for ...
Antarctic Ice Marathon: A Trial by Fire
I passed the threshold of the aircraft door and the cold cut through my piled-on layers of down and fleece in a flash. The cold went straight to my bones, and the primitive, reptilian part of my brain spoke, informing me that this ...
