Passenger strips nude, tries to open an emergency exit door mid-flight

by Iva Skoch on

It seems that we have been averaging about one crazy passenger a week lately. And those are just the ones who make it into the press!

You typically read about the in-flight drunkards, angry folks, and people with out-of-control children. But I can’t remember the last time we had a ‘misbehaving nudist’ story.

The AP reports that an American Airlines flight from Boston to Los Angeles was diverted to Oklahoma City yesterday after a passenger emerged from the bathroom naked. He then tried to open an emergency exit door before being subdued by other passengers, specifically the members (no pun intended) of a professional soccer team.

Members of the New England Revolution of Major League Soccer (and others on the plane) saw the erratic passenger near an exit door, grabbed him, and placed tie wraps on the man.

American Flight 725, a Boeing 757, arrived in Oklahoma City at 1:35 p.m. CDT, and said nudist was taken into custody in Oklahoma City and placed under psychiatric evaluation.

Makes you wonder what he was doing in the bathroom naked. Some sort of mile-high club self-initiation?

Climbing Everest Naked

by Neil Woodburn on

It sounds like something I’d be dumb enough to try; scale the top of Everest and strip naked at 29,000 feet to celebrate.

Damn it if someone has already beaten me to it.

Last year a Nepali climber did just that. While it sent some chuckles through the climbing community, others weren’t so amused. Everest is, after all, the holiest mountain in the country and local Nepalese were shocked at the sacrilegious act which some have likened to stripping in church. The episode has caused such an uproar, in fact, that Ang Tshering, president of Nepal’s Mountaineering Association, has argued for “strict regulations to discourage such attempts by climbers.” I would assume that concern for one’s own private parts in minus 10 degree temperatures would be discouragement itself, but apparently it isn’t.

There is, however, a bit of irony here that has been nicely pointed out by Guardian Journalist Hank Wangford. It seems that naked mountain climbing may have originated many years ago on Everest itself (or at least very near it). The above photo is of legendary climber George Mallory crossing a stream in 1922 on his way to the holy mountain. Way to go George!

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Glacial Shrinkage: Taking one for the Environment

by Neil Woodburn on

What do glaciers and shrinkage have in common?

Two things when you combine glaciers with global warming and naked bodies.

Photographer Spencer Tunick, who has been making quite a name for himself by taking pictures of mass nudes, has recently turned his lens towards a good cause: global warming.

The photographer, who never seems to have a problem drumming up nude models, enlisted the help of 600 people who hiked to Switzerland’s Aletsch glacier this morning, took off all their clothes, and posed for the largest mass nude shot ever taken on a glacier (I’m taking a wild guess on this one).

The event was to draw attention to the plight of Europe’s rapidly decreasing glaciers, most of which are expected to disappear by 2080 if warming trends continue. The Aletsch glacier itself has receded 377 feet in the last two years and has become the poster child of global warming within Europe. 600 naked people frolicking on its slopes probably haven’t helped in keeping temperatures low, but has at least raised some awareness about the issue amongst those searching for porn on the internet.

One for the Road: The Naked Tourist

by Kelly Amabile on

I read Lawrence Osborne’s The Naked Tourist last year when it was released. I noticed that it’s now out in paperback — just in time for you to throw in the summer beach bag! And since we have not mentioned it yet here at Gadling…no better time than now: Subtitled, In Search of Adventure And Beauty in the Age of the Airport Mall, the book is a fascinating read, although dry at certain points. (Or maybe those were the parts that were just a tad bit over my head? It’s a smart read.)

During his six-month journey from Dubai to India, followed by visits to Bangkok, Bali and Papua New Guinea, Osbourne shares his personal insights about “the psychological underpinnings of the tourist trade.” He focuses on the why of travel — why the heck do we do it? He wanders while pondering “whereverness”. There is much to contemplate from his travel observations. If you’re in the mood for this kind of deep thought summer reading, than be sure to get your hands on a new softbound copy.

Best Nude Beaches

by Willy Volk on

I visited one nude beach, once.

Cape Town’s secluded Sandy Bay is a wind-protected cove that our friend told us was great for letting it all hang out. After spending a few days at the gorgeous, trendy, topless-friendly (but ridiculously overcrowded) Clifton Beach, we decided to mix things up and head farther afield. Sandy Bay was, as promised, remote, quiet, and pristine. It was also filled with creepily bronzed, withered middle-aged men who were so evidently trying to ogle my junk that I couldn’t relax. In short, it was fun, it was different — but it was time to go.

If the thought of getting your daily dose of Vitamin D in the buff titillates you, you might want to check out USA Today’s picks for the world’s best nude beaches:

  • Hawaii’s Little Beach
  • Vancouver’s Wreck Beach
  • France’s Cap d’Agde
  • Antigua’s Hawksbill Bay
  • Miami’s Haulover Beach
  • Oregon’s Rooster Rock State Park AND Collins Beach
  • St. Martin’s Orient Bay
  • Australia’s Samurai Beach
  • San Diego’s Black Beach

Prefer your nudism a little more active? Why not try nude skydiving, nude dining, nude discoing, nude bungee jumping, or nude running?