Hip Sip

by Erik Olsen on

It’s been a little while since we posted anything
gear-wise. Now this is not a big deal. It’s just something I came across in one of the outdoor mags I read. Nalgene is
a name you probably know if you carry much liquid with you when you head out. I’ve got a pair of Nalgene water bottles
for camping and hiking.

They’re great. The plastic is durable, the seals are remarkably tight and they
carry a lot of water or gatorade or whatever. But they’re pretty big, and you can’t really get by without lugging them
wherever you go. Others must have the same issue – space and size – because Nalgene has released a cool little bottle/flask
that you can strap to your hip. It’s fit 12 ounces of liquid…and is very nicely designed.

The first thing
that came to mind was that this would be a great little flask for skiing/snowboarding. Which means, of course, I’m not
talking about using it to hold water. Well, at least Bode Miller would know what I’m talking about. Anyway, the handy
little 12 ouncer retails for about $9.

Making the Grade: Euro-Hikes

by Kraig Becker on

I love
to take a big grueling hike in the mountains. I’ll get into it big time, setting up the tent, slogging up the trail.
Then, of course,  we break out the freeze dried meals and sit down to a delicious dinner of powdered lasagna.
Yum. In Europe, they do things a little differently. There, hikes are more likely to end in a pub or a
mountain cabin, where the smell of peat fills the air and some beer hag is drawing Steins of the sudsy stuff large
enough to park your Jet Ski in. Well, not always. But it makes for a good image, doesn’t it?

Americans used to
vast, gaping Western expanses are likely to frown upon some of these 
Euro-Hikes listed here in the New York Times. But let us not judge them so quickly. There is history
in there thar hills, and it behooves us Yanks to learn a little bit about our cousins overseas, and get a little
exercise in at the same time. For example, how about a hike along Hadrian’s Wall? Did you know that
this famous wall, built by Emperor Hadrian in AD 122 was an 84-mile national trail? That’s nothing to
scoff at.  And Gran Paradiso, which became Italy’s first national park in 1922, has got a eponymous
peak that stands at over 13K. Pretty sweet.

Rheinhold Messner's Demons

by Erik Olsen on

If you’re at all into mountaineering or climbing, then you know the name Rheinhold Messner. He is one of the
biggest names in the history of the sport. And you also likely know that one a fatal expedition many years ago, Messner
lost his brother Günther who died on Pakistan’s Nanga Parbat in 1970. For years Messner has been criticized for
abandoning his brother, an accusation he denies…and has long denied. Well the story goes on, and as you can see in this fine piece in Outside,
Messner is as vigorous and defiant as ever about his own role in the tragedy and about the details of his brother’s
fate.

It is a long, detailed story, but one worth reading if just for the drama and the character study of
Messner that the story lays out.

Hiking to the North Pole…in the Dark

by Erik Olsen on

Here’s a great story for extreme fans everywhere. Two adventurers, Børge Ousland and Mike Horn,
will very soon embark on an epic trip the likes of which has never been attempted, or at least completed, before (and
there are very few of these types of accomplishments left). On or around January 16, these two guys will head out to
walk to the North Pole…in the dark. Yes, they will do it in the heart of winter, when the sun is as scarce as
elephants and giraffes in that part of the world.

National Geographic
Adventure has got a long piece on the trip and the dudes themselves.  These are not warm cuddly characters.
these guys are, to use the parlance du jour, extreme. Each is broadly experienced in cold travel and a bit sick in the
head. Take Horn, "one of the most revered explorers in Europe".

Over the last ten years, he has crossed the length of the Amazon River with a boogie board, he followed the Equator
around the globe sans motorized transport, and perhaps most amazing of all, completed a 12,400-mile continuous
circumnavigation of the Arctic Ocean by foot, ski, mountain bike, kayak, monohull sailboat, and catamaran. Dude, you
are hard core.

Anyway, this is a fine piece of writing and a nice way to make yourself feel really unaccomplished in life.