Have a winter adventure of your own in Vancouver

by Kraig Becker on

Planning on heading to the Winter Olympics in a few weeks? Looking for something to do while you’re not busy with the curling match between Switzerland and Denmark? Perhaps you’d enjoy a little outdoor activity of your own while visiting beautiful British Columbia? Then you’re definitely headed to the right place, as Vancouver Island is one of the best adventure travel destinations in the world, no matter what season you go.

For winter adventures, the options are nearly endless. The snow begins falling on Vancouver Island in November and tends to stick around until late March, with the surrounding mountains remaining covered in the white stuff until well into the spring. Once the snow does start flying however, the local ski resorts, Mount Washington and Mount Cain, open for business offering great skiing and snowboarding for the beginner and the experienced snow bum alike. Mount Washington is the larger of the two, and more centrally located, and although Mount Cain is smaller, it is also a bit more remote and often less crowded. Both offer plenty of great runs, but if you’re more in the mood for cross country skiing, then go with Mount Washington, which has more than 34 miles of groomed trails and gets as much as 30 feet of snow annually.

If sliding down (or around) a mountain with skis strapped to your feet isn’t your cup of tea, then head to Vancouver’s West Coast to take in one of the other popular winter activities – storm watching. The raw power of the Pacific Ocean is regularly unleashed on the shoreline, with eight to ten foot waves smashing against the rocks, high winds pounding the cliffs, and copious amounts of snow and and rain blowing in off the water. Fortunately, there are a number of great viewing spots out of the gale force winds. Check out the Snug Harbour Inn or the Pacific Sands Resort for great views of nature’s raw power on full display.Vancouver Island is an incredibly beautiful place with mountain vistas and thick forests that are fun to explore year round. But the best way to visit the backcountry in the winter is on snowshoes, which are not only incredibly fun, but a great workout too. It’s the perfect way to spend the day away from the crowds and noise of the Olympic Village. But for a really amazing snowshoeing adventure, check out the Lantern Light Cross-Country and Snowshoeing tour around Mount Washington. This excursion hits the trail after dark, with a blanket of twinkling stars overhead and nothing but lanterns to light the trail ahead. It’s an experience you won’t soon forget.

There are plenty of other options for outdoor winter adventures on the island as well. For instance, snowmobiling is a popular pass time, with hundreds of miles of logging roads and backcountry trails open for exploration. Alternatively, consider packing a four-season tent and warm sleeping bag to go camping while you’re there, as there are camp sites open even in the winter months.

These activities are just a taste of what Vancouver Island has to offer, and once you get a chance to experience it all for yourself, you’ll want to book a return trip in the summer. When the snow melts, there is an entirely new set of outdoor activities to entice you to come back. From hiking to sea kayaking to mountain biking, Vancouver is equally intriguing in the summer as it is in the winter.

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10 things you probably shouldn’t do in a kayak (videos)

by Gadling Staff on

Thought to have been in use for at least 4000 years, kayaks are amazing little boats — and amazingly simple. Capable of holding a single person (or sometimes two), kayaks consist of a hull, a covered deck, and the cockpit in which a kayaker sits. These rugged little boats are designed for all kinds of adventures. Well, perhaps not all kinds of adventures…

The videos below demonstrate some of the best (and worst), and some of the cleverest (and stupidest) stunts anyone has ever attempted in a kayak.

Whale-watching can be an amazing, relaxing experience. It can also be a terrifying, body-crushing experience if a whale decides to breach … and land on top of you.

Buoyancy is one of the traits that make kayaks special. Therefore, jumping off the high dive in a kayak may have repercussions.

Just add water. Seriously: water + kayaks. They’re made for each other.

Pro tip: do NOT add a long, bumpy stair case to the mix. It will end badly.

Who said you need water to kayak? These innovators figured out how to kayak — while staying completely dry. Introducing “Urban Kayaking!”

Kayaking is an Olympic sport. Gymnastics is an Olympic sport. Why not merge the two for one extreme sport: kayak-nastics?

Snow is water, after all, so these kayakers aren’t taking too many liberties with the sport. On the other hand, they are taking a lot of liberties with their bodies … and with their fellow snowkayakers’ bodies.

If you were thinking snowkayaking would be safer if you just removed other people … think again. This guy breaks the world kayaking record by hurtling downhill at 46mph — but does that seem safe to you?

Never kayak alone. Because there’s no “alone” like the alone of being upside-down in the undertow of a waterfall.

Did we mention that you shouldn’t kayak alone? Unfortunately, friends aren’t always that much help, either.

Just keep it in the water and everything will be okay. Right?

Well… “okay” means different things to different people. Check out this last clip for a montage of some of the best kayaking wipeouts, rolls, and tooth-rattling splashes.

Want more? Don’t miss 10 Hilarious (and Painful, and Frightening) Ski Lift Videos.

Big Island Hawaii: Get your adventure on

by Katie Hammel on

There’s virtually no limit to the adventures you can have on the Big Island of Hawaii. SCUBA, snorkel, watch whales pass in season, take a helicopter flight over the island, or view lava up close from a boat, watching the fiery rivers pop and hiss as they land in the ocean. On the Kohala Coast, many of the resorts offer easy access to some of the island’s most unique activities. For others, well…you’ll need to get a bit more creative.

Stand-up paddleboarding
Kona Village resort offers guests several options for traditional Hawaiian water-sports, including stand-up paddleboarding, through its Alaka’i program. Alaka’i means “ambassadors of the waves” and the staff here really do try to fulfill that role by teaching guests not just about the logistics of each activity, but also about its historical and cultural significance to the islands. The Junior Alaka’i program is geared for kids 10-17 and includes three days of lessons in activities like paddleboarding, windsurfing, free diving, and outrigger canoeing. Guests at the Four Seasons Hualalai can also use the equipment at Kona Village.

Elsewhere on the Big Island, you can rent a board from Hilo’s What Sup Big Island, where daily paddleboard rental is $65, or $75 for a half day with lunch and beginner lesson.



Outrigger canoeing
Outrigger canoes, traditional Hawaiian boats, resemble regular canoes that have an added support (called an outrigger) added to one side. These canoes can go quite fast, and are more stable in rough waters than regular canoes. As part of Kona Village’s Alaka’i program, guests can learn to paddle one, and once they have successfully learned to maneuver a six-person outrigger canoe, they are free to use one and two-person canoes on their own for the remainder of their stay.

On the Kohala Coast, the Fairmont Orchid also offers outrigger canoe excursions and Sky Blue Canoe offers lessons and rentals. A 90-minute tour is $65.

Surf lessons
It’s practically sacrilege to go to Hawaii and not take a surf lesson. The instructors at Kona Mike’s Surf Adventures are all certified in CPR , First Aid, and professional rescue. Group lessons start at $99 and private lessons are $150 and each lesson includes two hours of in-water instruction.

Horseback riding
Hawaii’s Big Island has a surprising number of cattle ranches, all thanks to a few cattle who were gifted to King Kamehameha back at the end of the 18th century. When, a few decades later, those cattle had reproduced and began to be a nuisance, King Kamehameha III recruited some Mexican cowboys, which the locals dubbed “paniolos”, to handle the problem. Today, paniolos still work the ranches, many of which welcome guests for daily horseback rides. Na’ alapa Stables at Kahua Ranch is one of these. Located less than an hour north of Kona, the ranch offers 2.5 hour rides for just under $90. The price is well worth it for the beautiful views down to the ocean from the ranch’s 4000-foot elevation.



Snow skiing
Snow skiing…in Hawaii? That’s right. Mauna Kea, an inactive volcano, reaches over 13,000 feet above sea level (and over 30,000 above its base on the floor of the ocean, making it the tallest mountain in the world, technically). The top of the mountain is home to an observatory and is the ideal place to do some serious stargazing all year round. And thanks to the elevation of Mauna Kea, Hawaii actually has snow several months of the year! There’s just one catch to skiing Mauna Kea: there’s no ski resort there. So intrepid adventurers have a friend drive them up the mountain, where they strap on their own skis and snowboards (or just grab a sled…or even a cardboard box) and ski or sled down the mountain. If you want to ski in Mauna Kea, you can sign up with Ski Hawaii, which runs group tours for $250 per person, or rents equipment for as low as $50 per day.

New device will let you text, twitter from remote places

by Kraig Becker on

The Consumer Electronics Show has been going on in Las Vegas the past few days, with a host of new gadgets and gizmos being announced, including everything from new digital camera, ebook readers, and even 3D LCD TV’s. One product that was announced, and may be of interest to travelers heading to remote places on the planet, is the Earthmate PN-60w, a hand held GPS device from DeLorme and SPOT, that will allow adventurers to more effectively communicate from locations that are not covered by cell service.

The new device pairs one of DeLorme’s GPS units with SPOT’s next generation Satellite Communicator, to send custom message from the backcountry. The Earthmate wil have all the regular features you’d expect from a GPS, including base maps, in this case covering the entire world, navigation, electronic compass, and so on. But it will also wirelessly pair with the Communicator, allowing the user to type text messages and send them to friends and family back home via satellite.

For its part, the Satellite Communicator allows for adventure travelers to call for help, should the need arise, from nearly anywhere on the planet. It also lets the user to share tracking information and custom messages that can easily be interfaced with Twiter, Facebook, Geocaching.com, and SPOT’s own SPOTadventures.com.

The Earthmate PN-60w will be available later this spring, but pricing, for the device and the communications service, have not yet been announced. If DeLorme and SPOT stay true to form however, you can expect global communications to become available and affordable for the average consumer.

Rowing across the Atlantic to end slavery

by Sean McLachlan on

Slavery is not dead.

There are millions of men, women, and children forced into physical and sexual labor around the world, but the problem is often drowned out by other headlines.

In order to bring attention to the modern slave trade, a team of ten athletes is Rowing Against Slavery across the Atlantic Ocean. They’ll be stuck in a small boat for weeks, each one rowing two hours and taking two hours off as other team members take the oars, nonstop until they make the entire 3,000 mile journey.

The team hopes to beat the previous world record for rowing across the Atlantic, which is 33 days, but more importantly they will be raising awareness for an often hidden crime.

There are some grim facts and figures on their website, and more on the website of Anti-Slavery International, which was founded back in 1839 but still finds itself fighting a global problem.

It’s noticeable that both sites use the term “slavery” instead of “human trafficking”, which technically only refers to slaves who are moved from one place to another through force or deception. Instead they call slavery what it is. There appears to be a trend in the media of using the nastier-sounding term “slavery” when referring to slaves in Africa or Asia, and “human trafficking” when referring to slaves in the U.S. or Europe.

Slaves in U.S. and Europe? Yes. Many women and children are forced into prostitution in the developed world and there’s no shortage of child workers, like the blueberry farm in Michigan that ABC News found was using children as young as five. Kids as young as twelve are allowed to work legally on U.S. farms. Child labor is often considered slavery because the children have no choice about working, and are often denied access to education and are subject to sexual exploitation.

To follow the team’s adventure across the Atlantic, check out their blog. There’s a donate button if you want to help the effort to free the slaves. In the land of the free, what could be a better cause?