2020-11-01 Outside

GEAR TEST

2021 Ski + Snowboard

R E PORT

+ Live Bravely

RISK

The BASE 45
Jumper
Who Fell

to Earth Fresh

Ideas for

a New

Era of

Travel
Adventure
L IV ES!

FITNESS

Why Home Gyms
Are Here to Stay

EXPEDITIONS

The Cave That
Could Rewrite
Human History

ENDURANCE

The Zaniest Feats
of a Crazy Year

NUTRITION

Reboot Your
Breakfast

WE CALL IT
DAWN
PATROL.

“Time and time again, I have woken up far earlier than
would seem reasonable just to get my body moving …
knowing that I will have no other opportunity throughout
the day to get outside.
Lying in bed, with the alarm buzzing in my ear, it can
ZLLT SPRL Z\JO H JVSVZZHS L VY[ [V NL[ \W )\[ P[»Z
always worth it.
)SHJR +PHTVUK JHSSZ P[ +H^U 7H[YVS
Thanks to them ... I now call it a ritual.”
-BD Athlete Joe Grant

SHOP
TREKKING
POLES.

Outside Magazine Contents outside a d
ventur
11.20

2 0 20

Features

:KDW·V :URQJ fear and stress, or from 46 The Outsider
ZLWK -HE·V %UDLQ" watching someone die
in a fall, an avalanche, or Grizel: This Latinx
BASE-jumping pioneer whitewater? Australian through-hiker is using
Jeb Corliss is one of the psychologist and moun- her rising social media
original madmen, a fiend taineer Kate Baecher profile to spark a more
for the extreme who has created a training pro- nuanced conversation on
miraculously survived gram to equip guides and nature’s power to heal.
multiple crash landings athletes with a tool kit to
in a sport that rarely handle the worst mental 1
allows second chances. distress we encounter
Now, at 44, with a self- when we’re far from help.
diagnosed psychological
disorder, he’s embarking BY EMILY SOHN
on his most fraught
journey yet: into the 68 Too Close
depths of his own mind. to the Edge

BY DANIEL DUANE How young is too
young for risky adven-
48 Journey to ture? During a family
the Center whitewater trip that
of the Earth included her seven-year-
old daughter, TRACY
For nearly half a cen- ROSS faced this question
tury, legends of a giant in the most harrowing
cave in the Andes— way imaginable.
holding artifacts that
could rewrite human PLUS:
history—have beckoned Five portraits of some
adventurers and tanta- of our favorite outdoor
lized fans of the occult. photographers, and
Now the daughter of a the eight most creative
legendary explorer athletic achievements
is on a new kind of quest, of this very weird year.
to tell the truth about the
cave in order to save it.

BY DAVID KUSHNER

58 Emergency
Response
for the Mind

Wilderness pros are
trained to deal with
physical injuries,
but what about the
psychological trauma
that can result while
on an expedition, from

P H OTO G RA P H BY Grizel

Outside Magazine Contents Dispatches CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: COURTESY OF JULIA MANCUSO; COURTESY OF MALLORY.GALLERY/BECKHAM CREEK CAVE LODGE; EDDIE GUY; HANNAH MCCAUGHEY; COURTESY OF FLYLOW (BIBS) AND FJÄLLRÄVEN (SWEATER)

11.20 %,* ,'($
Julia Mancuso
knows where to 22 The Livability Revolution
ski and surf on
the same day. Starts Now: In many cities,
the pandemic has led to an
Arkansas’s unexpected positive—people
Beckham Creek reclaiming streets in ways
Cave Lodge that have made urban areas
more bikeable, walkable, and
14 enjoyable. Preserving that will
30 take work, but it’s worth it.
BY JOE LINDSEY
30
14 GEAR
2
Men’s Slackcountry Skiing:
One setup to shred them all.
Women’s Backcountry
Skiing: Gear to help you thrive
beyond the ropes.
Midlayers: Stylish insulation
with the right amount of
warmth.
Winter Boots: Footwear
that can take whatever the
season dishes out.

22 Men’s Snowboarding: Roam

the whole resort.

22 TRAVEL

Adventure Travel Bucket List:
Yes, summiting fourteeners
and rafting the Grand Canyon
are unforgettable experiences
you should totally have. But in a
moment when we’re rethinking
how to make the most of our
time outside, why limit yourself
to the expected? From crossing
a mountain range by bike to
spending a night in a lighthouse,
we came up with 23 surprising
ways to get you inspired for
2021 and beyond.

),71(66

Training: The home gym
of the future is arriving ahead
of schedule.
Tools: Massage guns suitable
for beginners and hard-
charging athletes.
Moves: Incorporating steep
inclines into your workout can
help improve strength and
agility.
Fuel: New-school takes on
breakfast classics.

%(7:((1 7+( /,1(6
3$57,1* 6+27

On the Cover: Ian Finch and Jamie
Barnes start the 930-mile canoe
section of their expedition following
the tracks of the Cherokee Nation
on the Trail of Tears. Location: Little
Tennessee River, March 2019.

COV E R P H OTO G RA P H BY Will Saunders



Outside Magazine Between the Lines

11.20

outside can bring on serious mental Feedback
health responses like anxiety and
depression. Sometimes, especially A Home Destroyed
during risky expeditions, old psy-
chological traumas can be triggered After marine biologist Wallace J. Nichols
and threaten group safety. These saw his house burn in California’s
realities come up repeatedly in CZU Lightning Complex fire, he wrote a
some of the stories in this month’s poignant letter to his daughter about the
Adventure Issue. In “Emergency experience (“We Lost Our Home to a
Response for the Mind” (page 58), Wildfire”). Many readers took to social
Emily Sohn writes about an Aus- media to voice their sympathy.
tralian psychologist and mountain-
Hard Feelings eer who wants to make preparation I am so sorry for I don’t know why
for mental distress a core part of your loss and so anybody thinks
You’ve probably heard by now that an over- outdoor professionals’ training. In moved by your this is a good time
whelming body of research shows that time “Walk Therapy” (page 46), we pro- letter to your for a fun vacation
spent in nature has a powerful impact on our file rising Instagram star @_Grizel_, daughter. As a getaway, but
overall health and wellness. I write that with who has built a following by shar- native Californian please stay away
confidence because Outside has been report- ing her experiences with depression with friends and from Taos, New
ing on this topic for nearly a decade, includ- while hiking the Pacific Crest and family in Monterey Mexico, thank you
ing four cover stories since December 2011, Appalachian Trails. And in “What’s and Santa Cruz very much. We
when we featured marine biologist Wallace J. Wrong with Jeb’s Brain?” (page 36), Counties, I am have been overrun
Nichols on the cover alongside the headline: Daniel Duane explores the men- deeply saddened by hordes of tour-
“This Is Your Brain on Nature.” Our brand’s tal health battles that spurred BASE jumper by the fires that ists, like swarms
mission is to inspire active participation in Jeb Corliss into one of the most harrowing ca- have become far of partying locusts
the world outside, so it only makes sense that reers in extreme sports. too common in our who think they
we’d get on our soapbox to shout about this The fact is, we didn’t realize that this issue beautiful state. As I have come to
research trend. What better way to encourage had a mental health through line until it was was reading your Brigadoon, where
people to immerse themselves in nature than well underway. Looking back, though, it’s not letter, I couldn’t the cares of the
by sharing the findings that it will make them surprising that the theme emerged. In recent figure out why your rest of the world
healthier and happier? years, an increasing number of athletes— name was so famil- never existed.
including several high-profile runners and iar. Then it dawned Elizabeth Winter
Of course, Nature Rx, like so many other climbers—have used their social media plat- on me that your Facebook
wellness quick fixes, isn’t always as effective forms to speak openly about their psycho- book Blue Mind
as it’s portrayed. Sometimes spending time logical struggles, helping remove some of was on my night- Just Add
the stigma and secrecy. This is a welcome stand. I started S’mores
trend. That people struggle in outside en- reading it a couple The Outside
vironments doesn’t mean the idea of nature of days ago, and I Podcast recently
therapy is moot; it just means that seeking can’t put it down. featured stories
refuge in the wild is more complicated than Megan Jones from listeners
we thought. Wrestling with that will only Facebook about their most
help us take better advantage of nature’s ben- memorable times
efits in the future. —CHRISTOPHER KEYES This made me at summer camp.
( @KEYESER) weep. An utterly If you have one
beautiful reminder you’d like to share,
Behind the Lens to cherish what we email podcast@ F R O M TO P : G RAYSO N SC H A F F E R ; ST E P H A N I E M E I - L I N G
have—even when it outsideim.com.
As she was photographing Jeb Corliss and his is taken away.
fiancée, Aly DeMayo, for“What’s Wrong with Nick Childs I’ve been listening
Jeb’s Brain?” (page 36), Stephanie Mei-Ling Twitter to the Outside
barely noticed when the temperature soared Podcast for about
to 107 degrees. “When I’m in the zone, I really On the Road a year now. The
don’t pay attention to a lot of outside fac- This summer we camp series was
tors,” she says. The Los Angeles native began published our guide the best! These
pursuing photography professionally when to the ultimate were such fun
she moved to New York in 2008.“I didn’t know socially distanced stories to listen
what type of photographer I wanted to be,” American road trip, to. They made me
says Mei-Ling. So she struck out on her own, with tips on every- laugh out loud,
turning her eye toward her community and thing from dog- and grimace. My
events like the annual Pride parade. Her next friendly national 11-year-old twins
project, funded in part by a grant from the parks to the best listened along
International Women’s Media Foundation, is driving itineraries. with me, and they
a series on Black maternal health. But one reader thought they were
questioned the great, too.
wisdom of traveling Anne Even
in a pandemic. Lander, Wyoming

4



Outside Magazine Between the Lines

11.20 Rose-Colored OUTSIDE: What’s life vest and dip me FROM LEFT: BORANA CONSERVANCY; TRACY ROSS
Memories the coolest place in the water. It feels
Go With Us you’ve been? nice, like you’re in a
When writer Tracy HOLLIS: The Mer- pool, but one that’s
As the world settles into a new normal, Kenya and Tanzania have Ross brings her kids maid Lagoon on the moving. It’s so much
reopened their borders to international visitors, and Outside GO is along on a river trip, San Juan River. It’s better, because the
gearing up for bookings in 2021. They’re experts at arranging immer- she hopes they’ll fall this stream that river tickles your body.
sive safaris led by the best guides. Depending on which country you in love with remote, comes from a can-
choose, you might spend time with the native Samburu and Masai, beautiful places yon. It was shallow What’s your favorite
track animals on foot or in a traditional canoe, spend an afternoon like she did. But last enough for me to memory from the
paddleboarding the turquoise Indian Ocean, trek around a volcano summer, with her son walk in, and you can Salmon?
in search of elusive primates, or sleep in a canvas-tent bush camp Hatcher and daugh- see traces of mer- The Twix ice cream
chosen specifically for its proximity to wandering game. Each trip is ter, Hollis, accom- maids—basically this bar from the Flying
created to inspire an ongoing appreciation of Africa’s wilds. panying her down really fast swoosh B Ranch. I also loved
the Middle Fork of moving in the water. the Fourth of July and
the Salmon River, I felt a mermaid tail hanging out with my
disaster nearly struck touch me! friend Brynn.
when Hollis suddenly
found herself alone What’s something
in the raft (“Too you don’t like so
Close to the Edge,” much about rivers?
page 68). Thankfully, Being on the raft
Hollis, now nine, has alone, because you’re
only fond memories like, “What if there’s
of the float. Turns a rapid ahead? What
out she was more if my family can’t
focused on the magi- catch me?”
cal creatures and hid-
den lagoons waiting Anything else?
to be explored. We Nothing. I love raft-
checked in with her ing. If it’s too hot,
about what makes my parents hold my
river trips so special.

6

“The possibility of surviving into old age had
never occurred to him. As a result, when the
doctors said he might not even lose his legs,
Corliss confronted a terrifying existential
question: What happens if I GRQ·W die?”

—DANIEL DUANE, PAGE 36

FROM LEFT: COURTESY OF TORREY HOUSE PRESS (2); SEAN WILLIAMS From Our confined to their :KDW :H·UH :DWFKLQJ
Contributors homes in the Colo-
rado Rockies. Though In Save This Shark, a new
Air Mail: Letters of they had never met, program on Outside TV, surfer
Politics, Pandemics, the two began send- Mick Fanning leads viewers on a
and Place, by Pam ing letters to each journey into the ocean to learn
Houston and Amy other across the more about these keystone
Irvine (October 13) Continental Divide. species. Human development
When the corona- Their correspon- has pushed some sharks, which
virus struck, writers dence follows the are critical to the balance of
Pam Houston and evolution of a friend- marine ecosystems, to the brink
Amy Irvine were ship during a period of extinction. The series ex-
of uncertainty and plores the cutting-edge science
upheaval, grounded and technology safeguarding
in a shared rebuke of these incredible animals, our
greed and a profound oceans, and our planet.
appreciation of
wilderness.

Mt. Nebo
State Park

ARKANSAS IS THE NATURAL CHOICE FOR SCENIC BEAUTY. BUT THAT'S JUST THE BEGINNING. ARKANSAS.COM 7
SEE WHAT'S HAPPENING IN THE NATURAL STATE, AND PLAN YOUR TRIP TODAY AT ARKANSAS.COM.

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8 O U T S I D E M AG A Z I N E 11.20

Knowledge
is power.

Understanding what cancer

clinical trial options

you andare available to your
loved ones

can make all
the difference.

CEDRIC THE ENTERTAINER

Stand Up To Cancer Ambassador

Photo By
JEFF KATZ

WATCHING MY MOTHER GO THROUGH HER CANCER DIAGNOSIS
TAUGHT ME THE IMPORTANCE OF CLINICAL TRIALS.

When my mom was diagnosed with uterine cancer, I knew that I wanted her to have access to
the best treatments available. The journey taught me about the importance of learning all that
you can about the options available to you. I want all people diagnosed with cancer to have
access to the treatments that can help them become long-term survivors.
Cancer clinical trials may be the right option for you or a loved one. The more information you
have about clinical trials, the more empowered you will be to seek out your best treatments.

Learn more at StandUpToCancer.org/ClinicalTrials

Stand Up To Cancer is a division of the Entertainment Industry Foundation (EIF), a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.

Dispatches Big Idea

11.20

The Livability AS WITH MOST things that permeate our its Slow Streets program, barring motor- GEMENACOM/ISTOCK/GETTY IMAGES (BIKE)
Revolution lives, we notice traffic mainly by its absence. vehicle traffic—except for local access—to
Starts Now When communities across the country encourage exercise and play.
went into lockdown mode during the early
THE PANDEMIC HAS LED TO AN phases of the coronavirus pandemic, driving The result, there and in other cities, was
UNEXPECTED POSITIVE—PEOPLE dropped by nearly half. something Americans usually experience only
RECLAIMING URBAN STREETS IN WAYS while traveling abroad: stress-free walking
THAT HAVE MADE AMERICAN CITIES We still went outside: to run, to ride bikes, and cycling, on streets where cars are cour-
MORE BIKEABLE, WALKABLE, AND to walk the dog, to see blue skies and green teous guests rather than dangerous dictators.
ENJOYABLE. PRESERVING THAT WILL things, to stay sane. And when we did, we saw In some spots, entire blocks were converted
TAKE WORK, BUT IT’S WORTH IT. yawning expanses of empty pavement. For into plazas for open-air dining.
decades in American cities, anyone not in or
BY JOE LINDSEY on a motor vehicle of some sort has been rel- It’s callous to call a global pandemic an op-
egated to cramped sidewalks or constricted portunity, but the crisis has altered our view
bike lanes, and pressed into pocket parks. of public spaces in ways no other event could.
Scrabbling along at the margins of suddenly In Denver, which closed several streets to
empty roadways, we noticed the sheer un- through traffic, that wouldn’t have happened
fairness of it all. without a catalyst. “If we had tried to roll this
out pre-pandemic, we would have been met
To their credit, many cities moved quickly, with opposition,” says Eulois Cleckley, ex-
closing off streets to cars—and opening them ecutive director of the city’s Department of
by the dozens to non-vehicular use. Few did Transportation and Infrastructure. “But the
it faster or more aggressively than Oakland, situation people were placed in changed their
California, which converted 74 miles under perspective overnight.”

10 O U T S I D E M A G A Z I N E P H OTO I L LUST RAT I O N BY Hannah McCaughey



Dispatches Big Idea

11.20

“Streets are a form of technology,” says provide a vital safety valve. They’re easy and ,W·V FDOORXV WR FDOO
Kevin Krizek, a professor of transport at the relatively affordable—basically free, in the a global pandemic
University of Colorado. “They could and case of walking. They rely on existing, proven
should evolve with time.” systems, while e-bikes and other new tech- an opportunity,
nologies are well-suited to novice riders. but the crisis has
We can make cities friendlier and safer for altered our view of
walking and cycling—cleaner, greener, qui- And the infrastructure is cheap. Even com- cities in ways no
eter, and more livable. But we’ve wanted that paratively expensive approaches like pro- other event could.
for years, even as we failed to make it happen. tected bike lanes are a bargain at between
How do we do it differently this time? $20,000 and $100,000 per mile when mea- pandemic, air quality improved dramatically,
sured against the $1 million it costs to build
It won’t be easy. For decades, Americans that much car lane. with notorious problem areas like Los Ange-
have made driving our preferred mode of
transportation. Since 2018, federal spending What does the city of the future look like? les registering a 51 percent reduction in sooty,
for cycling and pedestrian infrastructure has It’s easy to point to someplace like Utrecht, in
topped $850 million per year, according to the Netherlands, with its plentiful pedestrian lung-damaging PM2.5 pollutants.
the Federal Highway Administration. That pathways and, at the city’s main train station,
sounds like a lot. But federal funding for roads gleaming new 12,500-spot bicycle garage Such cities are also safer. Twenty-nine cy-
in 2020 amounted to $47 billion. (the world’s largest). Or even London, where
cycling could increase tenfold in the years clists and 124 pedestrians died in New York
Meanwhile, even before COVID-19 struck, ahead, and walking fivefold. In 2018, the city
public transit ($15 billion in spending last announced a plan to build biking and walking City in 2019, while walk- and bike-friendly
year) was in a tough spot as it competed with infrastructure; Mayor Sadiq Khan recently
car-hailing companies and lost ridership, expanded the scope and accelerated the time- cities like Oslo and Helsinki recorded zero
which in turn forced fares higher to make up line, while Prime Minister Boris Johnson an-
the shortfall. Now it’s in survival mode; the nounced that the central government would fatalities.
Denver area’s RTD transit agency faces a pro- commit more than $2.7 billion to create a
jected $1.3 billion gap by 2026, while the East “new golden age of cycling” in the UK. They’re saner, too. Robin Mazumder, a
Bay’s AC Transit may be forced to cut almost
a third of its bus routes. Rebuilding will take But Utrecht, along with Copenhagen, has doctoral student in cognitive neuroscience at
time and money. “Transit is a complicated been building for decades, while London has
solution,” Krizek says. “It’s expensive, long- only begun. Perhaps the best example of a the University of Waterloo in Ontario, studies
term, and hard to convince people to take ad- fast, successful, recent transition is Paris,
vantage of.” which started just five years ago. Under Plan the effects of urban environments on mental
Vélo, Mayor Anne Hidalgo installed bike
Transportation issues negatively affect lanes and slashed car access and parking. In health. Cities, in particular downtown areas,
people of color far more than white commu- response, Parisians have tripled their trips
nities. Interstate highways that fueled sprawl by bike on some roads. Hidalgo calls the next where concrete dominates, are especially bad
and white flight were built on roads that cut phase the 15-minute city, where residents can
through, or over, Black, Latino, and immigrant get everything they need or want in that time for us, linked to increased stress and higher
neighborhoods. Redlining—denying minori- frame by bike or on foot.
ties essential services like mortgages—along rates of mental health problems.
with other discriminatory practices, prevented Of course, those solutions work well for
people of color from leaving cities even as pol- dense, compact Paris. But what about sprawl- Healthy cities are vibrant cities, with ample
lution increased and grocery stores and other ing U.S. cities? Many of them lack efficient
neighborhood businesses closed. public-transit systems. Still, approximately green space that absorbs heat and boosts
60 percent of all vehicle trips in the U.S. are
The inescapable result is that the trans- less than six miles, according to the Depart- emotional wellness. They also have public art,
portation systems we’ve built are hopelessly ment of Energy. That’s a suitable distance for
flawed and deeply discriminatory, and cars a bike, especially one that’s e-powered. which promotes wonder, boosts civic pride,
are still the easiest, most flexible choice for
most. Without them—or with vast reductions For walking, cycling, and so-called micro- and creates a sense of belonging for every-
in use—how will people commute or run er- mobility options like scooters to really func-
rands in bad weather, sometimes carrying tion as everyday transportation choices for one, especially marginalized communities. A
large, heavy loads, with family members rang- more than just hardcore commuters, Krizek
ing from infants to the elderly, on trips ranging says, there has to be a safe route from any- functional example? Oakland’s 90th Avenue
from half a mile to dozens of miles? where in a city to anywhere else. In its next
phase, Paris will add some kind of bike lane to bike lane, painted to evoke the city’s famous,
There has been justified criticism of hasty every street by 2024.
street closures by some transportation de- ornately decorated scraper bikes.
partments, but the truth is we must move U.S. cities are following suit. Last year,
quickly. “We’ve had a dramatic shake-up in Oakland released its first new infrastructure These cities are also economically stronger:
travel behavior,” Krizek says of the pandemic, plan for bikes in 12 years, with an emphasis
but that may be temporary. In a new study, on equity, so that all residents have access to lost productivity caused by traffic congestion
Krizek and lead author Meredith Glaser found safe, low-stress bike networks. In July, Den-
that of 30 large U.S. cities that instituted Slow ver unveiled its new Complete Streets design costs $305 billion a year in the U.S., accord-
Streets–like programs, only five were moving guidelines, explicitly noting for the first time
to make the changes permanent at the time of in the city’s history that it intends to give pe- ing to a 2018 study from data-analytics firm
their research. Most troubling, by late June, destrians, cyclists, and micromobility users
vehicle traffic nationwide rebounded almost the same safe street conditions that motor Inrix. And contrary to merchant fears, walk-
to pre-pandemic levels, while transit rider- vehicles enjoy.
ship languished at record lows. and bike-friendly districts often increase
When we build these kinds of cities, what
Cycling and walking aren’t do-it-all so- will they be like? Quieter, calmer, and cleaner, revenue to businesses, even as car parking is
lutions for cities. But as transit falters, they for starters. As traffic dropped during the
reduced. It turns out that those dining plazas,

protected bike lanes, and spacious sidewalks

are good for the bottom line.

The pandemic has been many things. It’s

an X-ray, showing how the disease of rac-

ism threatens our society. It’s a reckoning,

a once-in-a-century event forcing us to ac-

knowledge dysfunction and providing fresh

urgency to confront and solve it. And, as the

novelist Arundhati Roy wrote in The Finan-

cial Times, it’s a portal, a gateway between

worlds. “Historically, pandemics have forced

humans to break with the past and imagine

their world anew,” she wrote.

But here’s the catch: it wasn’t a portal we

chose to walk through. The pandemic made

that choice for us. What matters now is what

we build on the other side. O

Joe Lindsey writes the Cycle Life column for
Outside Online. He lives in Boulder, Colorado.

12 O U T S I D E M A G A Z I N E

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Dispatches 0HQ·V 6ODFNFRXQWU\ 6NLLQJ Marker Phoenix MAP Carbon
helmet $290
11.20 c Carbon fiber means the
Phoenix is lighter than most
d resort helmets, while the smart
placement of elastomer-style
padding adds comfort and low-
speed impact cushioning.

e

a
bf
g

'XDO i
3XUSRVH
h
ONE SETUP TO
SKI THEM ALL

BY MARC
PERUZZI

a. Black Diamond sides and back to d. Cast Touring able poles shorter the perfect flex, can buy the durable C O U RT ESY O F T H E CO M PA N I E S
Legend gloves $150 allow for impressive Freetour bindings for the park and power, and control full-metal-jacket ver-
A modern classic, ventilation. upgrade kit $345 longer for a skating at every length. The sion in a much more
the Legend is one of This aftermarket kit traverse. Swap race 97-millimeter waist approachable six-to-
the warmest gloves c. Flylow Baker lets you quickly swap for powder baskets in means you can rip it fifteen-DIN spring.
we’ve ever tested. bibs $420 out a Look Pivot toe- 30 seconds. in everything from
It’s super durable, The Baker offers piece for descending granular ice to shin- i. Atomic Hawx Prime
and we love that the weather protec- with a superlight f. Mystery Ranch deep powder. XTD 130 boots $975
it fits under the cuff tion and comfort of “pin-tech” toe for D-Route pack $110 The burliest version
of a jacket. technical bibs with a ascending with skins. This pack is great for h. Look Pivot 15 of this boot is for
relaxed fit for mobil- It’s built for the most in-bounds hike-to GW bindings $475 taking chances in-
b. Helly Hansen ity and style. Massive aggressive skiing. skiing and has the Long toe wings, a bounds and out, but
Steilhang jacket vents on the inner room you need for a short mounting there are flex options
$700 and outer legs lend e. Leki Peak Vario quick backcountry footprint, and best- for less hardcore
Warm enough for the cross ventilation on 3D poles $170 tour. It’s slim enough in-class downward skiers, too. Fifty-four
lift and cool enough warm climbs. Make these adjust- to wear on the lift. pressure on the heel degrees of motion
for hard charging, the make Look’s Pivot means easy uphilling.
Steilhang is smartly g. Blizzard Bonafide the top-performing Adjustable forward
body-mapped with 97 skis $900 freeskiing binding lean customizes
PrimaLoft synthetic Same name but of all time. Now you performance.
insulation, and also brand-new ski, now
sports vents on the redesigned to allow

14 O U T S I D E M A G A Z I N E

:RPHQ·V %DFNFRXQWU\ 6NLLQJ

c

Black Diamond Dawn Patrol

Hybrid pants $299

These uphill-ready pants

have waterproof material b
where you need it (the front)

a and breathable soft-shell

fabric—and huge leg vents—in

areas prone to overheating.

A beacon pocket keeps your

device in easy reach.

d

e

Picture Aeron jacket $400 f
The Aeron is soft, breath- g
able, and made from sug-
arcane waste and recycled
plastic. A stretchy panel at
the neck allows your head
and the hood to turn in uni-
son, and large pit zips dump
heat fast. The waterproof-
ing is chemical-free.

h

C O U RT ESY O F T H E CO M PA N I E S +HDG IRU b. BCA Scepter hut-trip compan- Alugator is grail-level the previous version. abrasion-resistant
WKH +LOOV Aluminum poles $90 ion—slide it over a gear. The 34.4-inch Designed with input leather palm adds
A unique utility hook base layer while you telescoping shaft from sports ortho- durability. It’s only
GEAR TO HELP on the handle makes sort gear. lends maximum pedists, the frame’s lightly insulated,
YOU THRIVE easy work of flip- leverage, the D-grip updated back panel so best for high-
BEYOND THE ping risers and boot d. Sweet Protection handle is easy to use and hipbelt feel like output missions
ROPES levers. The length Ascender MIPS with gloves, and a part of your body. and warmer days.
is adjustable from helmet $200 joint allows quick The front pocket is
BY KIMBERLY 41 to 57 inches, and This is the brand’s conversion from specifically made for h. Dragon Excursion
there’s an eight-inch first helmet certified hoe to shovel. The avalanche tools, and X LL sunglasses
BEEKMAN foam grip for various for both mountain- hardened aluminum the pack accommo- $239
hand positions and eering and skiing. blade (complete dates both side and A modern take on
a. Arva Evo5 a breakaway wrist It weighs just 15.1 with weight-saving diagonal ski carry. glacier glasses,
transceiver $320 strap. Upgrade to ounces and is ag- cutouts) is flat— the Excursion X LL
Smaller than a carbon for $130. gressively ventilated, ideal for pit digging. g. Rab Khroma Tour features clean lines
smartphone, Arva’s with 108 holes, an Infinium gloves $100 and lightweight con-
avalanche beacon is c. Mountain Hard- air gap between the f. Ortovox Haute The Khroma Tour is struction. The lenses
wonderfully simple. It wear Ghost Whis- shell and the liner, Route 38S pack $190 so dexterous, you can block 100 percent of
uses one AA battery, perer skirt $200 and no earflaps. The Haute Route is fiddle with your gear, UV rays and improve
and a single sliding When a nostril- more streamlined grab a snack, and rip contrast, depth
switch controls searing cold front e. Mammut Alugator and ergonomic than skins without taking perception, and color
power and toggles moves in, wear this Pro Light hoe $100 it off. It’s wind- and vividness while also
between send and skirt while you skin. Lightweight and waterproof, and the reducing eye fatigue.
search modes. The It’s made with 800- sturdy, the new Detachable side
Evo5 locks onto the fill down and has a shields protect from
strongest signal full zipper, so you can glare and spindrift,
first in the case of remove it with your and a leash keeps
multiple burials, has skis on. It’s our go-to things secure.
a U-turn directional
alert, and comes with
a tether and belt.

O U T S I D E M A G A Z I N E 15

Dispatches 0LGOD\HUV BEST FOR: HILL TO HAPPY HOUR

11.20

BEST FOR: QUICK STOPS b

a &HQWUDO
+HDWLQJ

STYLISH
INSULATION
WITH THE
RIGHT AMOUNT
OF WARMTH

BY KELLY

BASTONE

d BEST FOR: THE UPHILLBEST FOR: LIGHTWEIGHT PROTECTION

C O U RT ESY O F T H E CO M PA N I E Sc

a. Fjällräven Greenland Re-Wool Pattern of uninsulated nylon between baffles stuffed lining. The package is supremely stretchy,
Knit sweater $160 with responsibly sourced 800-fill down, which and that airy elasticity gives this jacket an
This recycled-wool sweater is secretly dissipates moisture far better than other puff- uninhibited, barely-there feel that’s rare among
technical. Its 25 percent recycled polyamide ies do. A draft flap prevents summit winds from cold-weather apparel. Zipping up the high col-
improves abrasion resistance, so it stands blasting through the zipper, the hand pockets lar makes for a cozy refuge to shelter your chin
tough during skirmishes with zippers and are accessible when wearing a harness, and and nose. 9.7 ounces (men’s, pictured)
Velcro. Elbow patches made of reused poly- water-repellent treatments on the nylon
ester and organic cotton lend practicality and down hold off light flurries. 14.8 ounces d. Strafe Outerwear Aero Insulator
and classic good looks. And the knit is warm, (women’s, pictured) pullover $329
breathable, and flattering, making this the Baffles filled with 40 grams of synthetic
ideal layer for slope-to-après itineraries. c. Marmot Alpha 60 jacket $165 PrimaLoft insulation blended with aerogel (a
11.1 ounces (women’s only) From hiking on mild autumn days to high- porous, NASA-developed substance that’s the
output running and ski touring in cold condi- lightest solid material ever created) deliver a
b. North Face Summit Series L3 5050 tions, this insulated windbreaker banishes dazzling warmth-to-bulk ratio and dry excep-
down hoodie $475 clamminess. It pairs porous wind- and water- tionally fast, so they can handle sweat without
When you need both reliable warmth and resistant shell fabric with highly breathable becoming clammy or losing their R-value. The
sweat management, the L3 5050 is your Polartec insulation that provides a soft, fleecy kangaroo-style drop pocket keeps snacks
ticket. Designed specifically for inactive within reach and doubles as the jacket’s stuff-
stretches during mountaineering and ski sack. 8.8 ounces (men’s, pictured)
touring, this unusual jacket inserts bands

16 O U T S I D E M A G A Z I N E



Dispatches :LQWHU %RRWV

11.20

b

BEST FOR: DOING CHORES
BEST FOR: LOUNGING AT THE CABIN
BEST FOR: APRÈS DRINKS
c
a

BEST FOR: AROUND-TOWN WEAR

6WRPS ,W

FOOTWEAR THAT CAN
TAKE WHATEVER THE
SEASON DISHES OUT

BY MAREN LARSEN

a. Sorel Explorer b. Merrell Thermo won’t sweat out, and d light support, while 200-gram insulation, C O U RT ESY O F T H E CO M PA N I E S
Carnival $130 Overlook 2 Mid Shell 400-gram insulation the shearling lining and a waterproof
After a long day hik- WP $160 protects in subzero c. OluKai Malua and water-resistant inner bootie will
ing ridges, dodging Merrell’s fully water- temperatures. The Hulu $160 nubuck leather upper envelop your foot in
trees, and crushing proof workhorse beefy Vibram outsole This fuzzy slip-on make sure you stay slush-proof warmth
bumps in unforgiving boot does as well has five-millimeter offers serious trac- warm in mellow snow as you dig out the
ski boots, the sleek, strapped to a lugs designed to grip tion, which makes and rain. A wet-grip car and run errands
lightweight, cushy snowshoe as it does when it gets slippery. it a top-notch cabin sole with sawtooth on dreary winter
Explorer Carnival is taking care of winter (Men’s only) shoe. Gel inserts serrations provides days. The lightweight
a dream. With a felt tasks, from shovel- in the anatomical grip on slick surfaces, EVA midsole and
collar, a waterproof ing the driveway to PU footbed give and a removable, high-traction rub-
upper, and 100-gram putting up holiday washable insole ber outsole provide
insulation, it’ll keep lights. The full-grain means you can rock cushioning and grip
your toes cozy as leather upper con- them sans socks. without feeling too
you sip cocoa fire- ceals a waterproof- (Women’s only) clunky, while the du-
side. A thick EVA breathable mem- rable PU-laminated
midsole and a heel brane, so your dogs d. Columbia mesh upper has
just over an inch Hyper-Boreal Omni- metal accents for a
thick ease strain on Heat Tall $150 classy look that will
your aching calves. Columbia’s thermal- fit in at the office or
(Women’s only) reflective lining, the bar. (Men’s only)

18 O U T S I D E M A G A Z I N E

IT’S WILD OUT THERE.

When it gets too wild, we have
your RV covered. Basic plans

start at $125 a year with options
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Dispatches 0HQ·V 6QRZERDUGLQJ Jones Stratos snowboard $579
A sphinx among snowboards, the Jones
11.20 Stratos has a park deck’s tail, a powder gun’s
tapered body, a resort ripper’s sidecut and
flex, and a surfboard’s bottom contour. But
this all-mountain deck is no myth.“It’s a great
surf shape that can be ridden anywhere,” ac-
cording to one impressed tester.

Picture Demain a
jacket $500 c
The Demain is
constructed from b
the same ground-
breaking sugarcane d
waste and recycled
plastic as Picture’s
Aeron (see page 15).
The new mechani-
cally stretched wa-
terproof membrane
is light and solvent-
free, which makes
for a shell with all the
bells and whistles—
pit zips, powder skirt,
taped seams—and
far less guilt.

g

6KUHG WR 7RH e

TAKE ON THE WHOLE RESORT Ender stomps ver-
tigo-inducing drops.
BY DREW ZIEFF A grippy Vibram
outsole neutralizes
a. Burton AK and the Fovea fits f sketchy scrambles,
Gore-Tex 3L Freebird the Fornix (below) and the fit is superb,
Stretch bibs $580 flawlessly. The d. Volcom Iguchi jacket, the Slack is leather, Gore-Tex with closed-cell C O U RT ESY O F T H E CO M PA N I E S
A highlight of comfortable frame Slack vest $270 your ticket to a pack- membrane, and foam liners and an
Burton’s high-end and exceptional With a designated less playtime. PrimaLoft insulation ankle-enveloping Boa
outerwear line, the Zeiss-made toric probe sleeve, a that enable the glove closure system.
Freebird bibs pair lenses lend out- shovel-handle pocket e. Oyuki Tamashii to withstand the
three-layer Gore-Tex standing clarity in and separate blade gloves $120 frequent storms that g. Nitro Team
dependability with variable and low- holder, back padding, Oyuki’s Japanese bash Hokkaido. bindings $270
snowboard-friendly light conditions. straps for vertical artistry is evident in The Nitro Team is
fit and features. board carry, and every stylish stitch f. K2 Ender an all-business,
Seven zippered pock- c. POC Fornix SPIN more pockets than of the Tamashii, but boots $340 durable binding for
ets, stretchy move- POW Jeremy Jones grandpa’s birding it’s the goatskin Stiff yet cushy, the all-mountain freesty-
ment zones, and helmet $180 lers. Asymmetrical
dual vents on each Skate-bucket styling highbacks are re-
leg help you power conceals state- sponsive and tweak-
through big days. of-the-art safety able from park to
tech, including a powder, while canted
b. POC Fovea Clarity polycarbonate outer baseplates with
POW Jeremy Jones shell, weight-saving shock-absorbing air
goggles $180 aramid bridges that pockets help protect
We recommend pur- bolster an EPS liner, knees on impact.
chasing goggles and and shearing pads
helmet together to that abate oblique
ensure compatibility, impacts.

20 O U T S I D E M A G A Z I N E

– In –

TM

THE OUTSIDE
IS ALWAYS
OPEN

When you’re in Winter’s
Favorite Town, you have more
room to enjoy The Greatest
Snow On Earth® at Park City
Mountain, Deer Valley Resort
and Woodward Park City.
More room to fat tire bike or
snowshoe on our miles of winter
trails. And more room to relax
in a welcoming town filled
with restaurants, shops and art
galleries. Discover why Park
City, Utah is Winter’s Favorite
Town and learn to vacation
safely at VisitParkCity.com

UTAH

Dispatches Bucket List

11.20

Surfing the
Turnagain

Arm bore tide
in Alaska

22 O U T S I D E M A G A Z I N E P H OTO GRAP H BY Chris Burkard

From far left:
Bison at Vermejo;
falling star; wild-
flower bloom

FROM LEFT: SEAN FITZGERALD/TED TURNER RESERVES; TDUB303/GETTY IMAGES; THERESA BEAR/STOCKSY UNITED Now’s the Time Maine: The break at Higgins Beach stunning 558,000-acre reserve in
is just 50 miles from Shawnee northeastern New Mexico owned
to Rewrite Your Peak, where you can night-ski after by Ted Turner. It’s packed with
spending the morning on the water. pristine lakes, rivers, and views of
Adventure Travel the southern Rocky Mountains. You
2. Catch a can ride horses, have a stream to
Bucket List Fallen Star yourself to fly-fish for trout, and
hike 10,000-plus-foot peaks. And
Yes, summiting fourteeners and raft- Meenakshi Wadhwa, a planetary the ranch’s expert guides will take
ing the Grand Canyon are unforgettable scientist and director for Arizona you on wildlife tours to see bison,
experiences you should totally have. But State University’s Center of Mete- elk, mule deer, bears, coyotes, and,
in a moment when we’re rethinking how orite Studies, says her favorite place if you’re lucky, bighorn sheep and
to make the most of our time outside, why to hunt for meteorite fragments is in mountain lions. Vermejo also offers
limit yourself to the expected? We came Antarctica. With a little patience, you a tracking program for kids to learn
YT [MXL Āā WYVTVMWMRK [E]W XS KIX ]SY can find them closer to home. —T.G. which animal left behind that huge
MRWTMVIH JSV ĀþĀÿ ERH FI]SRH footprint in the mud. From $1,400
Where to go: “Head somewhere for two people, meals and two daily
1. Ski and Alaska: From Alyeska Resort, the that isn’t highly vegetated and sees activities included —Mary Turner
Surf on state’s biggest ski hill, it’s ten miles little precipitation,” says Wadhwa.
the Same west to a peninsula called Bird Examples: an arid desert, a dry lake 4. Watch a Desert
Day Point. From there, paddle out south- bed, or an open field where frag- Bloom in Spring
ward to the Turnagain Arm bore ments have been found in the past.
Hawaii-based alpine ski racer Julia tide, an up to ten-foot wave that There’s always life where you least
Mancuso, who surfed the Black Sea usually occurs twice daily, when What to bring: Meteorites have expect it.
after competing at the 2014 Winter the incoming ocean tide meets the high concentrations of nickel and
Olympics in Sochi, has a piece of outgoing water from the inlet. iron. Use a metal detector to narrow 5. Hike a Trail
advice for anyone who plans to your search. Reached
attempt this iconic same-day duo: Southern California: Get a few by Gondola
“Ski first, then surf.”You’ll be more runs in at Big Bear Mountain Resort What to look for: Once you have
motivated to take off ski boots before heading 120 miles south- a specimen, examine it against the Mammoth, California: The five-
than to put them on, she says. Here west to catch the point break of identification quiz at meteorites mile Mammoth Mountain Trail,
are three tried-and-true beach and Lower Trestles at San Onofre State .adu.edu. Prominent indicators reached via the Panorama Gondola,
mountain combos. Our pro tip? Park. Grab an O.G. taco from San- include a regmaglypt (a small offers views of the San Joaquin
Pack a thick wetsuit. —Taylor Gee cho’s on the way. depression caused by travel through River Valley in the Sierra Nevada.
the atmosphere) and an ash-like
coating called a fusion crust. If it Lutsen, Minnesota: The Summit
checks out, send it to a commercial Express drops visitors off at 1,690-
laboratory, like Actlabs, to confirm foot Moose Mountain. From there,
that your find is a visitor from space. take a 4.2-mile stretch of the Su-
perior Hiking Trail down to the base,
3. Go on enjoying views of Lake Superior.
an American
Safari West Virginia: The short aerial
trams of Pipestem and Hawks Nest
Until more international wildlife State Parks take visitors into a river
meccas reopen, why not safari in gorge. Hike out via the 4.5-mile
the U.S.? It’s by no means second- River Trail and two-mile Hawks
best. I recently went to Vermejo, a Nest Rail Trail, respectively. —T.G.

O U T S I D E M A G A Z I N E 23

Dispatches Bucket List E XT R E M E - P H OTO G RA P H E R /G E T T Y I M AG E S . O P P O S I T E PAG E , C LO C KW I S E F R O M TO P L E F T: GA B R I E L A H E R M A N /GA L L E RY STO C K ; GA R R E T SU H R I E /CAVA N I M AG E S ; A DA M WO O DWO RT H /CAVA N I M AG E S ; C O U RT E SY O F M A D E L E I N E CA R E Y.

11.20

6. Rappel
Down a

Waterfall

Sometimes enjoying a
waterfall from afar just
doesn’t cut it. If you’re
an experienced climber

and comfortable with
ropes, belays, and setting

anchors, consider falls
where you can legally
climb and rappel. You

want the water flow to be
low enough that your feet

always touch the rock
face. If you’re a novice,
book a guided trip with an
outfitter, like Northeast
Mountaineering in New
Hampshire (from $100)
or Da Life Outdoors in
Kauai (from $185). —T.G.

24 O U T S I D E M A G A Z I N E

Clockwise from top structing my backyard dream bar
left: Basket of clams; from piles of scrap wood, and the
Badlands storm; finished product has a rustic South-
coastal biolumines- west vibe. I dubbed it the Cholla Bar,
cence; Nick Heil at his after a type of cactus that’s com-
homemade bar mon around my New Mexico home.
I needed a project to keep from
going stir-crazy during lockdown, but
mostly hoped to lure friends I hadn’t
seen in months over for a socially
distant drink. It worked! On a sunny
afternoon, I made margaritas while
we feasted on smoked-chicken
sliders. We all felt like we’d got out of
town, and for a few beautiful hours
life seemed close to normal—the old
normal. —Nick Heil

10. Take Your
Parents on Their
Dream Vacation

Isn’t it about time you paid them
back?

11. Forage for
an Ocean Feast

Do a grunion run in Southern
California: In spring and summer,
receding waves reveal hundreds of
small, tasty grunion fish flopping on
shore at night as they lay their eggs
in the sand. Buy a fishing license
and check the spawning schedule
online at the Department of Fish
and Wildlife. Then head to the
beach, scoop them up by the doz-
ens, and fry them in a skillet.

7. Eat at a hotel can only be reached by an lotta electronics. Everybody’s setup Go clam digging in Washington:
Restaurant 8.5-mile hiking or horseback ride. is different, but a laptop and a hot Grab a shovel, download a permit
You Can’t Backpack in for a ranch-style meal, spot, road maps or dedicated GPS, from the Department of Fish and
Drive To stay at one of the canvas tents on- and a roadside emergency kit are Wildlife website, and make your
site (from $195), or pitch a tent in a good place to start. way to Long Beach Peninsula, in the
The Famous River Hot Dog the surrounding wilderness. southern part of the state, arriving
Man, New Jersey: Floating the Del- Step three: Saddle up. Check right before low tide. During the fall
aware River is hungry work. That’s Tennessee Pass Cookhouse, the forecasts and head to Middle and winter, you’ll find locals digging
why tubers, kayakers, and canoeists Colorado: Want to treat yourself to America’s Tornado Alley, which for razor clams, a delectable bivalve
stop at this river barge, just north of a fancy meal and earn it, too? Ski, spans South Dakota south to that’s as fun to catch as it is to eat.
Trenton, that serves hot dogs and snowshoe, or hike a mile from the Texas, preferably in May or June.
burgers to those drifting by. Nordic Center near Leadville to this Stormchasing includes long hours Dive for lobster in the Florida
restaurant at 10,800 feet. Order the of driving with no guarantee you’ll Keys: Florida’s famous mini-
The Deck @ Piste, Wyoming: bison burger for lunch or the stuffed see a twister. Have a backup itiner- season for spiny lobster is just two
In the summer and fall, the gondola pheasant for dinner. —T.G. ary for bust days. days long, on the last consecutive
at Jackson Hole Mountain Resort is Wednesday and Thursday of July.
free after 5 P.M. and ferries guests 8. Chase a Storm Step four: But really, just hire a With a saltwater fishing license, a
to this outdoor restaurant 2,700 guide. Play it safe and book a repu- lobster permit, your scuba gear,
feet above the valley. Come winter, Step one: Study up. To spot a table service like Extreme Chase a measuring gauge, a pair of gloves,
it closes to skiing at four o’clock be- tornado and live to tell the tale, you Tours in Oklahoma. —T.G. and something called a tickle stick
fore reopening for dinner service at must understand how they behave. (a rod used to rouse the crusta-
5:30. For the ride down, order the $5 Take online classes with Skywarn, 9. Build Your ceans from their holes), you can
to-go cocktail, bartender’s choice. a National Weather Service pro- Own Bar bag up to six a day. —T.G
gram, and pick up the Storm Chas-
Minam River Lodge, Oregon: ing Handbook, by Tim Vasquez. Bars are good places for bad times, 12. Watch the
Located in Eagle Cap Wilderness, in but with the majority of them closed Ocean Glow
the northeastern part of the state, Step two: Gear up. What you’ll these days, I decided to build my in the Dark
this historic hunting lodge turned need: a car, a copilot, and a whole own. I spent more than a week con-
Kayak on a moonless night across
Puerto Rico’s Mosquito Bay on
any day of the year to see one of
the brightest bioluminescence
displays in the world. —T.G.

O U T S I D E M A G A Z I N E 25





Dispatches Bucket List

11.20

13. Help a and FDR Drive to access 480-acre O P P O S I T E PAG E , C LO C KW I S E F R O M TO P L E F T: J ES S E T H O R N TO N /A L A M Y STO C K P H OTO ; E VG E N I YA SAV I N A /STO C KSY U N I T E D ; DA N I E L K I M /STO C KSY U N I T E D ; CO U RT E SY O F J O N G I F F I N
Through-Hiker Randall’s, where you’ll find nine miles
of car-free, waterfront walking trails.
Step 1: Find out where a long-
distance trail like the Appalachian, Seattle Stairway Foot Tour: This
Pacific Crest, or Continental Divide route covers 65 miles, 11,000 feet of
crosses a remote road. Use an up-and-down elevation, and 15,000
online trail map to determine the stairs. Find the map at outside
mile marker. You can find average online.com/seattlestairs. —M.T.
start dates and mileage per day on
websites like The Trek and Halfway 16. Go on a
Anywhere. Use those to calculate Bikepacking
when hikers are coming through, or Surf Trip
ask the trail’s Facebook group.
Hit these breaks by bike and you
Step 2: Buy food. Anything a won’t have to do battle for a park-
through-hiker isn’t likely to carry ing spot. Plus, spending the night
themselves, from fruit and soda to at nearby campsites will give you a
cheeseburgers, will be a godsend. head start before the crowds de-
No need to get fancy. scend. Just attach a surfboard rack
to your bike, get a seat pack for
Step 3: Set up shop. Find a good your other gear, and start pedaling.
spot for a few camp chairs and a
cooler, and wait. You’re now a trail North Carolina: With 200-plus
angel, and you’ll make the day of any miles of coastline and a 200-day
hikers who come through. —T.G swell window, Cape Hatteras
National Seashore makes for
14. Cross a an ideal bikepacking trip. Beach
Mountain Range camping isn’t allowed, but four
on a Bike campgrounds dot the shoreline,
including Oregon Inlet and Frisco.
There’s something so satisfying The best breaks are S-Turns and
about a point-to-point mountain- Old Lighthouse Jetties, but stop
bike ride, especially when it takes anywhere the waves look good.
you over a massive range. We
recommend the 36-mile ride from Southern California: Start by
Rollinsville, Colorado (about 22 camping at El Capitán State Beach,
miles west of Boulder), across the 20 miles north of Santa Barbara,
Continental Divide and into the ski where there’s a hollow point break.
town of Winter Park. You’ll ascend The next day, pedal 32 miles south
a pleasantly steady 3,200 feet up along Highway 101 to Carpinteria
an old railroad grade, peaking out State Beach, the closest place to
around 11,700 feet and taking in pitch a tent near the infamous
classic high-alpine views. Traverse Rincon Point. Then ride 48 miles
a dramatic set of trestles near the farther south to Malibu, spend the
top, then descend a dirt road (with night at Leo Carillo State Beach,
the option to jump onto singletrack) and paddle out early in the morning.
into Winter Park on the other side.
You can ride back the next day, but Florida: Kick off your trip on Palm
here’s a better idea: get a friend to Beach’s Reef Road, near one of the
meet you for lift-assisted downhill state’s best surfing spots. Pitch your
laps at Trestle Bike Park on day two. tent at nearby Peanut Island Park.
Now you’ve got a ride home. From there, the sandbar breaks at
—Gloria Liu Boynton Beach Inlet are just 20 miles
south. Then bike eight hours north
15. Take an on Highways A1A and 1 to Sebastian
Urban Hike That Inlet State Park. You can stay over-
Feels Far Away night and catch waves just north
of First Peak, Kelly Slater’s original
The Inman 300, Los Angeles stomping ground. —Erin Riley
County: The first urban through-
hike route was pieced together by 17. Head
Bob Inman in 2012. It now covers Overseas
225 miles and 360 steep stairways. for a Year
Find the guidebook at outside
online.com/inman300 and start If you’re itching to get off the
knocking off portions. continent, consider doing it as an
expat. As more companies have
Randall’s Island Park, New York embraced working remotely during
City: From Manhattan, cross over the pandemic, it might be time to
the Harlem River via the Wards finally spend that year abroad. You
Island footbridge at 103rd Street

Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada:
Visit this Martian landscape 50
miles northeast of Las Vegas for its
swirling, impossibly red Aztec sand-
stone, the remnant of a Jurassic-
era inland sea. —T.G.

21. Think “Oh
S––t, That’s a Long
Fall” on a Hike

Kalalau Trail, Kauai: This 22-mile
trek along the island’s Na Pali Coast
combines narrow ledges, frequent
rainstorms, and a raging ocean wait-
ing below should you lose your foot-
ing. But make it to the beach at the
end and you’ll never want to leave.

Clockwise from top Longs Peak, Colorado: The
left: Thorny Mountain Keyhole Route to 14,259-foot Longs
Fire Tower; Kauai’s Peak is “not a hike!” warns Rocky
Kalalau Trail; Valley Mountain National Park’s website.
of Fire State Park; a Sheer vertical rock faces mean
hobbit hut at Forest that an unroped fall would likely be
Gully Farms fatal. Combined with unpredict-
able weather, it’s why more than
have plenty of choices: Georgia, more than a mile into the earth. The Forest Gully Farms, Tennessee: 50 percent of those attempting
Barbados, Estonia, and Bermuda are surrounding region offers hiking, Built into the hills of this 15-acre this 15-mile-round-trip undertaking
among the adventure destinations kayaking, and fishing. From $1,200 farm are three hobbit huts that feel never reach the summit.
that have introduced extended visa more like something out of New
incentives to attract digital nomads. Thorny Mountain Fire Tower, Zealand than the American South. Beehive Trail, Maine: This 1.4-mile
Just be sure to check application West Virginia: The only bookable The eight-person rental includes classic route in Acadia National
requirements, which often stipulate fire tower east of the Mississippi, two sleeping huts, a kitchen hut, Park should not be overlooked. Hik-
minimum salary. —E.R. this four-person cabin, available and a bathhouse. You can pick veg- ers ascend iron rungs and ladders
from May to October, has become etables and gather eggs from the along steep cliffs to reach the sum-
18. Visit the so popular you’ll need to reserve property’s farm, and also hike to a mit, which has views of the Gulf of
Chillest Place your spot months in advance. Once nearby waterfall. From $295 —E.R. Maine. —T.G.
on Earth you make it up the 65-foot tower,
there are breathtaking views of the 20. Explore an 22. Set Up a
According to Quiet Parks Interna- surrounding ridges. It’s located in Alien Landscape Hammock
tional, a nonprofit that researches Seneca State Forest, so you can on an Empty
the world’s least noise-polluted tack on a few nights of camping, Bisti/De-Na-Zin Wilderness, Beach
locales, it’s Maui’s Haleakala Crater. kayak the Greenbrier River, or hike New Mexico: You won’t find water,
up to 23 miles of trails. From $85 facilities, or practically any trails at Even if it means a 5 A.M. wake-up call.
19. Overnight this 45,000-acre wilderness area in
Somewhere East Brother Lighthouse, the northwest corner of the state. 23. Get to a
Unusual California: For a remote getaway Just an expanse of strangely beau- National Park
in a major city, plan a few nights at tiful rock formations and badlands, by Amtrak
Beckham Creek Cave Lodge, this five-room bed-and-breakfast. the legacy of a prehistoric swamp.
Arkansas: A winding road ascend- An active lighthouse since 1873, the Grand Canyon National Park,
ing through the Ozarks brings you inn sits on an island in San Francisco Mono Lake, California: This Arizona: Hop on the Southwest
to this four-room vacation rental Bay, a ten-minute ferry ride from million-year-old saline lake, 240 Chief route, which runs from
built into a natural cavern. Don’t be Richmond. It’s one of more than a miles east of San Francisco, is twice Chicago to Los Angeles, and stop
fooled by its mysterious exterior— dozen lighthouse turned hotel prop- as salty as the ocean. Calcium- at the Flagstaff station. From there
this cave dwelling feels like a luxury erties in the country, and bookings carbonate “tufa” spires shoot up you can take a shuttle 80 miles
resort. There’s an indoor waterfall, help fund maintenance and restora- from the placid waters, resulting north to Grand Canyon Village.
a gourmet kitchen, and the option tion of the island. From $345 in an eerie display of the lake’s
for a guided tour of the connected, peculiar chemistry. Shenandoah National Park,
wildlife-filled cave, which extends Virginia: Ride the Crescent line—it
connects 12 states from New York
to New Orleans—and get off at
Charlottesville Station, just 24
miles east of the park’s Rockfish
Gap entrance.

Glacier National Park, Montana:
Take the Empire Builder line, which
travels between Chicago and Port-
land, to the East Glacier Station for
access to the park’s Two Medicine
Entrance, eight miles north. —E.R.

O U T S I D E M A G A Z I N E 29

Dispatches Training

11.20

30 O U T S I D E M A G A Z I N E I L LU ST RAT I O N BY Eddie Guy

Fittest of Them All

THE HOME FITNESS SOLUTION OF THE FUTURE IS ARRIVING AHEAD OF
SCHEDULE. ARE REAL-LIFE GYMS OVER? BY ALEX HUTCHINSON

THE PITCH SOUNDS tailor-made for fitness people just as likely to stick with a home exer- the streamed classes and workout programs
in a socially distanced world. A sleek mahog- cise program after a year as were participants are well designed and progress is easy to
any cabinet, suitable for even the most elegant in a supervised gym program. Streaming a live track. But the highest hurdle for home work-
living rooms, conceals a cleverly designed sys- class on Mirror and seeing on-screen icons out systems, according to Beauchamp, is so-
tem of weights and pulleys for strengthening indicating that your friends are doing it, too, cial connection. That’s why Peloton—which
pretty much every muscle in your body. For- could serve a similar function. features a range of interactions with other
get the expense and inconvenience of a gym— users, including virtual high fives and video
it’ll pay for itself in less than six months. What Even in non-pandemic times, getting peo- chats—has been so successful. The extent to
are you waiting for? ple to follow a fitness plan is tricky. “The vast which other connected-fitness companies
majority of people are not sufficiently active,” are able to deliver on that social dimension
Just one detail: the Portable Gymnasium, says Mark Beauchamp, a professor of exercise will weigh heavily toward their fate. “Some
introduced in 1861 by “orthopoedic machin- and health psychology at the University of of these will flourish,” Beauchamp predicts,
ist” Gustav Ernst, is no longer available. And British Columbia. Promising convenience “and some of them might fade.”
its modern successors—overengineered con- and next-gen technology only gets you so far.
traptions that made big infomercial promises “People see these shiny gadgets and think, It’s not only about psychology—the qual-
but generally turned out to be more suitable as Maybe that’s the magic bullet that’ll get me ity of the experience matters, too. Few would
clothes racks—have yet to bring Ernst’s vision to exercise,” he says. “But whether the nov- expect sitting on a Hydrow smart rowing
of a gymless future to fruition. elty is enough for them to stay with it in the machine to fully deliver the feeling of cutting
long term is debatable.” along the Charles River on a misty morning in
That may be changing. Even before the sync with your boatmates. Nor can pounding
pandemic hit, pundits speculated that an in- Exercise psychologists use something a heavy bag with FightCamp’s punch trackers
flection point had been reached, thanks to a called self-determination theory to assess truly mimic sparring. “Not to be too poetic
new generation of technologically advanced, whether a fitness program will spark lasting about it,” Beauchamp says, “but boxing is a
attractively designed, and—most important— motivation. The framework suggests that dance, with two people responding to each
socially connected home fitness systems. we have three basic psychological needs that other’s moves.”
Peloton, the high-end spin-bike company, must be satisfied to optimize performance
received an IPO valuation of $8 billion last and well-being: autonomy, or the feeling that Still, where many people are concerned,
fall, and a host of competitors are coming up we’re choosing our own actions; compe- Tonal and other home fitness companies are
behind it: Mirror for the cardio crowd, Tonal tence, the sense that we’re mastering a task; betting that convenience and design count
for strength training, FightCamp for boxing, and relatedness, which refers to social con- for a lot, and that a virtual workout is better
and so on. (See “Home Game,” below.) nection and belonging. than no workout at all. “We can pack a gym’s
worth of equipment into something that
Then came the coronavirus, which super- Tonal and Mirror tick the box for auton- seamlessly fits into your home and your life,”
charged equipment sales and, according to omy. After all, you bought the thing, and you Stadler says. Somewhere in the ether, Gustav
Tonal chief marketing officer Chris Stadler, can choose to work out anytime you want. Ernst is nodding his head in agreement.
transformed consumer behavior for good. The perception of competence is possible if
The San Francisco company’s strength-
training system uses electromagnetic resis- Home Game competing systems from time form feedback using 3D
tance to simulate weight up to 200 pounds, Echelon ($1,200, plus $40 motion sensors and artificial
and it guides progress with artificial intelli- The connected-fitness per month) and SoulCycle intelligence.
gence. Sales of the $2,995 unit tripled when market is getting ($2,500, plus $40 per
the pandemic shut down gyms, and Stadler crowded, with options month) also available. Specialty
is confident that these new users will stick ranging from merely
around regardless of when and how gyms expensive to ridiculous. Resistance Name an exercise and
reopen. Indeed, where the old brick-and- Here are some of the someone’s working to bring
mortar fitness model is concerned, “I think major players. Tonal’s chief selling point it home. Hydrow ($2,199, plus
there’s no return to normal,” he says. is its weight system ($2,995, $38 per month) and Ergatta
Aerobic plus $49 per month). In- ($1,999, plus $29 per month)
The idea that home fitness could replace stead of schlepping around make smart rowing ma-
neighborhood gyms goes against what most If you’ve already got a stacks of iron plates, you chines. Hone your left hook
researchers tend to believe. “There’s a general smart trainer or a treadmill essentially push or pull with FightCamp’s punch
consensus that gym-based programs must be at home, the most acces- through a magnetic field trackers ($439 without
better when it comes to exercise adherence,” sible option is cycling and whose resistance can be gloves or bag, plus $39 per
says Paul Jansons, a research fellow at Deakin running app Zwift ($15 per dialed up or down. Tonal rival month). Mirror’s reflective
University in Australia. Certainly, gyms have month). If you don’t, Peloton Tempo ($1,995, plus $39 per display ($1,495, plus $39 per
a lot to offer—not just equipment, but also ($2,245 and up, plus a month) uses conventional month) provides access to a
social interaction and opportunities to learn $39-per-month subscrip- weights but promises real- bevy of gym-style classes.
from others. But Jansons says there are ways tion) is the big name, with
of boosting the support people feel when
working out at home. In one study, he showed
that guidance offered by telephone made

O U T S I D E M A G A Z I N E 31

Dispatches Tools

11.20

Percussion a. TimTam Power- b. NordicTrack c. Hypervolt with d. Compex Fixx 1.0
Section Massager Pro $500 Percussion Bluetooth $349 Massager $300
This tool rivals the Massager $99 At ten inches long, Known for its muscle-
MASSAGE GUNS SUITABLE Theragun Pro (below) This quiet, no-frills this model packs stimulation devices,
FOR BEGINNERS AND HARD- for power, functional- model is much more a mighty massage Compex entered the
CHARGING ATHLETES ALIKE ity, and effectiveness, affordable than its into a compact de- massage-gun game
but runs quieter. It counterparts. But sign. It delivers good in 2019 with the
BY CHRISTINE YU has three speeds, there are trade-offs. percussion at three Fixx 1.0. It’s a good
plus modes for warm- Although it has three speeds and is no lightweight option
WHEN MASSAGE Plus, it feels good. up, lumbar, neck, and speed settings, it’s louder than a set of (1.7 pounds), with the
To use, let the recovery massages. not as powerful as hair clippers, making power and percussion
guns first appeared in There are three at- the others here. The it the quietest here. of more expensive
2016, they changed head of the mas- tachments, including massage felt a bit While the 2.5-pound models. The ergo-
the game for recov- sager glide over your one that heats up, superficial—more device initially felt nomic handle is easy
ery obsessives. The skin, kneading the for deeper tissue vibration than heavy, the weight lent to hold, the device
devices provide a targeted muscle for a relief, and a vibrating percussion. While it just the right amount runs at three speeds,
combination of vi- minute or two. If you ball that boosts the may not be the best of pressure to the and it includes one
bration and “percus- find a cranky spot, shaking sensation. A option for someone massage without any attachment (two
sion”—rapid punch- add pressure, but few uses took care of who trains intensely, extra effort. And like others are available
ing by a mechanical don’t go overboard— lingering discomfort it could work well the Theragun, it syncs for $30). The lowest
arm—that can help too much force can in my outer shin. It’s a on sensitive muscles via Bluetooth with an setting primed my
relax muscles, reduce cause the muscle bit hard to maneuver, or for those with a app that, using data quads and calves, and
fatigue, and improve to contract. And in part because the low pain threshold. from Apple Health the highest helped
range of motion. don’t forget to work power button (which Overall, the power- and Strava, delivers me avoid the dreaded
the areas above and also cycles through drill-shaped tool recommended warm- next-day dead leg.
They work below, Yuen says. the speed settings) was comfortable to up, recovery, and But like the TimTam,
because the body is located on the maneuver and easily body-maintenance the power button is
responds to pres- After some rigor- inner handle. Hitting reached pesky knots routines. It gets on the handle, so it’s
sure, stretching, and ous (and relaxing) it unintentionally can in my upper back. smarter, too, with easy to switch off
force by increasing testing, here are turn a soothing knead AI that learns your while using.
a function of the the best new mas- into an unexpected b workout habits to
autonomic nervous sage guns. pummel. deliver personalized
system called para- massages.
sympathetic activity, a
says Cameron Yuen,
a physical therapist
at Bespoke Treat-
ments in New York
City. That in turn
promotes blood flow
and nutrient uptake.

d Therabody Theragun Pro $599
The Theragun combines strong
32 O U T S I D E M A G A Z I N E percussion and a dizzying array of
customization options. It’s a great
tool for serious athletes—just being

c free of those relentless calf knots

could justify the price tag. The device
was comfortable to hold and didn’t
cause hand fatigue. The downside:
it’s the loudest and heaviest of the
group, at 2.9 pounds.

PHOTOGRAPH BY Hannah McCaughey

Moves

,W·V $OO 8SKLOO IURP +HUH

INCORPORATING STEEP INCLINES INTO YOUR WORKOUT
CAN HELP IMPROVE STRENGTH AND AGILITY

BY BECKY WADE

THERE’S A GOOD 40 yards long, and pace. Maintain good Bounds will come in handy those who sprint and
about 30 minutes. posture while lifting while climbing or trail jump, will benefit.
reason runners say your knees and pump- Why: Encourages a running. How: Start with your
“Hills pay the bills.” These are Bevan’s ing your arms. Leaning strong push-off and How: Repeat the feet a little wider
Not only is hill favorite drills, in- slightly into the hill full hip extension, steps for bounds, but than shoulder width
training crucial for spired by running can also be helpful. beneficial for runners increase your pace to apart. Bend down
rolling courses like coach and father of and climbers. a stride (one notch into a half squat while
the February 2020 hill training Arthur High Knees How: Push off the below a sprint). You’ll swinging your elbows
Olympic Marathon Lydiard. Warm up ground with one foot, spend less time in the back and launch
Trials; it’s also the with a jog or a brisk Why: Boosts reac- driving your leg up air but generate more yourself up the hill.
ultimate workout walk, then do five tion time and builds and as far out in front power with every As you land, go
multitasker. As repetitions of each power—useful for of you as possible push-off, reaching the straight back into a
Rice University exercise, walking skiers and mountain while maintaining hill’s peak much more half squat and con-
women’s track down in between. bikers. good posture. Land on quickly. “Keep your tinue the cycle. Don’t
and cross-country How: Starting at the the front foot while hips high—don’t sit,” come to a complete
coach Jim Bevan Gentle Start bottom, push off with swinging the back leg Bevan advises. “Relax stop until you’ve fin-
explains, running one foot while driving forward to repeat on from your shoulders ished the sequence.
uphill strengthens Why: Hills tax legs the other knee up the other side. Your and neck to achieve a “It’s kind of like a
muscles, boosts differently than level with enough power hip flexors should feel full arm swing.” dynamic squat with
speed and agility, ground. Bevan recom- to get a few inches a stretch, and your a jump at the end,”
stretches the Achil- mends easing into it off the ground. Land, arm swing should help 0RGLÀHG Bevan says. Aim for
les, and promotes with a gentle climb. then push off with with the movement. Frog Jumps ten solid frog jumps
hip extension. That This will lead to bet- the leg that was just in each repetition.
makes it beneficial ter form and higher in midair. “Keep your Springy Strides Why: This exercise Once you’ve mas-
for everyone. All you aerobic capacity. toes cocked so you strengthens the tered the modified
need are a pair of How: Keep your eyes land on the ball of your Why: These are all muscles in your legs, version, you can
shoes, a hill roughly focused on the top foot and not the toe, about improving your feet, and core. All progress to full frog
and ascend at an easy and try to come down coordination, which athletes, especially jumps, bending your
beneath your center knees 90 degrees.
of mass,” Bevan says.

I L LUST RAT I O N BY Chris Philpot O U T S I D E M A G A Z I N E 33

Dispatches Fuel

11.20

Magic Spoon cereal
$39 for four boxes
Magic Spoon’s cereals
may riff on kid favor-
ites, but they’re high
in protein, sugar-free,
and gluten-free. While
they come in fruity and
frosted flavors, we liked
Chocolate Cheerios–
esque cocoa best:
they boast 11 grams of
protein per serving and
don’t get soggy.

Beyond the The Cereal School berry, these frozen Culture’s take on it four flavors, mixed
Breakfast Burrito $30 for 12 servings waffles have 12 grams boasts silken, supple berry’s ripe, mellow
These individually of protein per serving. curds and 19 grams sweetness was the
FROM CEREAL AND WAFFLES packaged servings Made with whole of protein in every crowd-pleaser.
are aimed at the keto grains and cage-free 5.3-ounce package.
TO COTTAGE CHEESE, RETOOLED crowd. Each provides eggs, they’re a quick The newly expanded Sweet Nothings
16 grams of protein and comforting meal. roster of flavors smoothies
TAKES ON MORNING CLASSICS and just a single gram The mouth feel might features bright, fruit- $48 for 12 servings
of net carbs. The fla- be a bit on the gritty laden iterations like Sweet Nothings’
BY JESSE SPARKS vors recall the cereals side, especially if blueberry acai chia “spoonable smooth-
we grew up eating, you’ve had limited and strawberry chia. ies” come in five
IF YOU’RE LIKE us, you’ve probably out- but texturally they’re exposure to protein flavors, including
grown sugary yogurts and breakfast cereals. a bit homogeneous— powder, but they’re Dannon Oikos Pro coffee, peanut but-
But recently, young brands have reimagined no loops or flakes a big improvement Fuel yogurt $2 ter, and flax- and
old-school morning options into nutrient- here. Each holds its over the nutritionally Slurpable yogurt chia-laden blueberry
packed power meals. The market is eating own, but cocoa and questionable offer- won’t be new to beet (our favorite),
it up. Last year, Magic Spoon, a direct-to- fruity are standouts. ings of the past. Yakult fans. But Dan- with recognizable
consumer cereal brand, received $5.5 million non’s version, with ingredients like dates
in seed funding. And cottage-cheese maker Off the Grid waffles Good Culture 25 grams of protein and cashews and no
Good Culture raised $8 million. $6 for eight servings cottage cheese and 100 milligrams of artificial stabilizers
Available in a variety $2 and up caffeine per bottle, or food dyes. Another
Beyond serving up nostalgia (if it’s possible of flavors, including Gone are the days of can help you avoid perk: the 3.5-ounce
to feel nostalgic about the chalky cottage cinnamon brown watery, sugar-spiked that midmorning cup comes blended,
cheese of yore), the new offerings fast-track sugar and wild blue- cottage cheese. Good slump. Of the brand’s so spills are unlikely.
fueling on harried mornings. “They give peo-
ple an easy way to fit in a satisfying breakfast,”
says Marisa Moore, a registered dietitian nu-
tritionist in Atlanta. “Top with a drizzle of
nut butter and some fruit, and you’re all set.”
Here are some of our favorites.

34 O U T S I D E M A G A Z I N E PHOTOGRAPH BY Hannah McCaughey

KEEP MOVING WITH A
HAPPY CHEESE SNACK

For easy, on-the-go nutrition, BelGioioso Snacking Cheeses are the perfect go-to adventure snack. With as much
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outside a d 2 0 20
ventur

BASE-Jumping pioneer Jeb Corliss is one of the original madmen,
a f i e n d f o r t h e e x t r e m e w h o h a s m i r a c u l o u s ly s u r v i v e d m u lt i p l e
c r a s h l a n d i n g s i n a s p o r t t h at r a r e ly a l l o w s s e c o n d c h a n c e s . N o w ,
at 44, with a self-diagnosed psychological disorder, he's embarking
on his most fraught journey yet: into the depths of his own mind.

by D A N I E L

Duane

3 6 OUTSIDE MAGAZINE 11.20

photographs by

Stephanie

mei-ling

Corliss
at Skydive
Perris in
Southern
California

GUTTER CREDIT TK

11.20 OUTSIDE MAGAZINE 37

O N A W A R M,
B R E E Z Y I Nf e b r u a r y d a y 2 0 0 0 ,

strapped on

j e b c o r l i s s e d g eA p a r a c h u t e a n d s t e p p e d t o t h e

3 1 0 A f r i c a .of a
- f o o t sandstone cliff

in South

To Corliss’s left, the Umgeni River poured CORLISS RECOUNTED all this to me last The paramedics,he said,“looked at me like
green and clear off the cliff to become Ho-
wick Falls, a gargantuan shaft of water that winter while steering his big Winnebago RV I was a complete lunatic. They’re like, ‘Your
crashed off rock ledges and thundered into
a deep pool below. Straight ahead, in the di- northbound on Interstate 15, toward a sky- back is probably broken. Your hips look bro-
rection Corliss intended to soar after open-
ing his parachute, whitewater rapids flowed diving center east of Los Angeles. Dressed ken. Your legs look broken. Everything looks
into a forested valley.
entirely in his trademark black, with a broken. And we’re going to have to carry you
Corliss knew that big waterfalls can create
enough air turbulence to destabilize a para- gleaming bald head and a toothy, square- out and probably bounce you off every rock,
chute,but he was 23 years old at the time,rel-
atively new to the sport and driven by hungers jawed snarl, he spoke in a measured but re- and it’s going to take six hours. You need pain
and agonies he hadn’t begun to name. Corliss
had not yet honed his judgment through two lentless torrent of dramatic anecdotes and medication.’ I’m like, ‘No, I don’t want it,’”
decades as the international face of profes-
sional BASE jumping—of seemingly crazy self-analysis. Corliss can Corliss said. “And they’re
leaps from the world’s tallest bridges and
skyscrapers, violent deaths of fellow jump- talk for hours without a like, ‘You’re going to have
ers, and gruesome injuries of his own.
break, as if storytelling is Tapping away to give us a good reason.’
Ambient winds were light and the view at once his deepest com- at a l a p t o p, I’m like,‘I know what hurts
stunning. Corliss counted down: Three, two, pulsion and crucial to the right now, and when I go to
one.
performance art that has he had come to the doctor I want to be able
Just a kid really, he jettisoned from the cliff
and adopted the conservative prone posture become his life. suspect that he to tell him what hurts. If
of a BASE jumper who considers the act it- Broken and immobilized you give me that shit I’m
self plenty exciting and doesn’t need to up
the ante with flips and tricks. Arms spread in the pool below Howick suffered from not going to know.’”
wide, with a small pilot chute clutched in his
right hand, Corliss accelerated toward ter- Falls, Corliss said, he’d lain some kind of So Corliss lay in elec-
minal velocity—BASE jumping is sometimes perfectly awake as fresh- mental illness; tive agony for hours while
crassly referred to as committing suicide and water crabs dug into his the dumbfounded rescue
choosing to save yourself—then threw the
pilot chute, which triggered his main chute. torn flesh. he could think workers rigged a cable
At that instant, he made a seemingly minor
error: he allowed his left shoulder to dip “When I hit the cliff, of no other across the Umgeni River
below his right. As a result, the main chute it sliced my butt open,” and hauled him up and out,
opened asymmetrically and swept Corliss
directly into Howick Falls. he said. “Like, flayed me explanation for and then to the trauma unit

Sucked inward and downward by the roar- open. They were attracted the disturbing of a nearby hospital. There,
ing water, Corliss bounced off a rock ledge by the blood and were eat- thought patterns even as doctors stitched
hard enough to snap his sacrum, break a ver- ing the open wound.” his wounds, he continued
tebra,and dislocate his tailbone. Impact with
a second ledge shattered his right knee and From the passenger seat he’d had since to refuse pain medication.
left foot, and broke every rib on his right side.
He fell another 100 feet into the deep pool at of Corliss’s RV, I asked how childhood, Worse by far, though, in
the base of the falls. Underwater, turbulence that felt—you know, just Corliss’s telling, was the
thrashed his body, then released him to the
surface, where he drifted into the shallows. out of curiosity. much less the six weeks of recovery in a

“The helplessness and peculiar use hospital room, where he
not being able to move and he’d made of was entirely dependent
having really small crea- on a nurse with a bedpan

tures chew on you is…” ad u lt h o o d . every time he wished to

He paused. “Unpleasant. I relieve himself. (“If there’s

would say, if you can, avoid a hell, it’ll be a bedpan for

that at all costs.” me,” he said.)

“So where does that experience rank in Corliss pulled off the freeway into the

your personal pantheon of pain?” windy desert town of Perris, then took a

“At the top, for sure.” wide, quiet country road past sun-parched

Paramedics eventually reached him and grass below the San Bernardino Mountains.

prepared a syringe of morphine. Turning into the palm-lined driveway of

“I was like, ‘No, I don’t want morphine,’” Skydive Perris, he rolled to a stop in the big

Corliss recalled. His face stiffened, as if the asphalt lot and finished the waterfall story

world should have known that any pain with one of his standard narrative moves: an

medication would undermine the central abrupt shift from horror to reassurance that

project of his time on earth. all was for the best.

3 8 OUTSIDE MAGAZINE 11.20

In his yard
with Ziggy

“The funny thing is,” Corliss said, killing he could think of no other explanation for a slight limp, led me outside, past shade
the engine, “that accident was a catalyst for the disturbing thought patterns he’d had shelters and a swimming pool absent of any
my entire career. If I had not hit that water- since childhood, much less the peculiar use swimmers,and into the Bombshelter Bar and
fall, had I not been injured that way, I would he’d made of adulthood. Corliss couldn’t Grill. The tables were empty, but staff mem-
never have become a professional BASE say what category of mental illness it might bers smiled at him like country-club workers
jumper. I would have had to continue being a be—he refuses to seek diagnosis, skeptical greeting the golf pro on a rainy day—or, more
graphic artist. And I really do think that one of mainstream psychiatry and its pharma- accurately, employees at a strip-mall climb-
saved my life. It helped me work through a ceutical cures—but I’d flown to meet him in ing gym nodding to Alex Honnold.
lot of psychological problems I’ve had since San Diego anyway, curious to hear more.
I was young.” With a lunch salad and a lemonade, Cor-
In Corliss’s RV at Skydive Perris, looking liss took a small table and started at the be-
CORLISS’S PSYCHOLOGICAL problems, and through the massive windshield, we quickly ginning. He was born in 1976 in Abiquiu,
especially his current beliefs about them, realized that the winds were way too high to New Mexico,to parents who traveled Central
were the reason I’d come. Weeks earlier, by be jumping out of a plane. Wind socks were and South Asia, buying art to sell in the U.S.
phone, Corliss told me that his grandfather taut, tumbleweeds flew past, and small air- By age seven, Corliss had been around the
always wanted to write an autobiography craft sat grounded near the runway. On one world three times and spent a year between
but died before getting around to it. Corliss, level, it was a bleak scene: the pro psycho rural India and a community of Tibetan Bud-
at age 44, was trying to avoid this outcome in his lonely Winnebago, parking lot empty dhist exiles in Nepal. His family—he has two
by writing his own eventful story before it because everybody with a normal life and a sisters—eventually settled back in Santa Fe,
was too late. In the process, tapping away job is off doing something meaningful. But where Corliss’s mother, Gigi, had grown up
at a laptop, he had come to suspect that he Skydive Perris is a second home for Corliss. and still had Pueblo Indian relatives.
suffered from some kind of mental illness; Perfectly content to be there even without a
jump on the horizon, Corliss, walking with Corliss enjoyed hiking with his mother
in the Sangre de Cristo Mountains while

11.20 OUTSIDE MAGAZINE 3 9

she foraged for mushrooms and berries to do. And if I die doing it, I get what I want. did it again, with the same result—botched
sell in town. He struggled in school—less
with academics, which came easily, than It’s a win-win. It was an incredibly twisted landing, shredded flesh.
with bullying. In sixth grade, Corliss fought
back against a pack of boys with such unre- thought process.” Months later, Corliss jumped from a
strained savagery that his parents decided to
homeschool him. Corliss was too young to act on his incli- bridge near Santa Barbara and broke his foot

Corliss’s father, meanwhile, descended nation; BASE jumping takes money, a car, so badly that it folded up against his ankle.
into drug abuse, according to the family. He
was “a brilliant man,” Gigi told me, “but he and a lot of freedom. But, he told me, just For the first time, though, he was enjoying
believed that drugs were mind-expanding.
He liked to take psychedelics and everything the idea of it was good for him. life—all these ways he’d envisioned killing
else you can think of, and it was more impor-
tant to him than his family was. It eventu- “In a really strange way, it saved my life,” himself suddenly became paths to fulfill-
ally destroyed his mind and our relationship,
along with any bond he had with the chil- he said, “because I would be in a super dark ment. Plus, he was meeting other weirdos
dren.” (Corliss’s father could not be reached
for comment.) place where I was gonna kill myself, and I with similar passions.

Over lunch at the Bombshelter, he de- was like, No, don’t waste “I was actually start-
scribed his father as verbally abusive, prone
to vicious tirades. “Now I suspect he had an it. If you’re going to die ing to get happy and make
undiagnosed mental illness,” Corliss said. He
allowed that his father’s drug use was a form anyway, do something friends,” he told me. “I
of self-medication.
with your death. Anyone “I’m standing even got a girlfriend.”
“I never saw my father not on drugs,” he
said. “It’s why I fucking hate drugs with can shoot themselves. I’m there going, Corliss soon bought a
a passion. If people want to use drugs for going to do something camcorder and put it to
themselves, knock yourself out, but don’t be
around me, because I think you’re a fucking where the outcome can ‘This sucks, good use. In 1999, he and a
idiot.” This turned out to be one of Corliss’s
core preoccupations: over and over, he told possibly be death. And that this makes friend bought last-minute
me that he never touches drugs, never takes is what helped me hold on me feel like plane tickets to Venezuela,
a sip of alcohol or even coffee, and that the for the next three years.” paid a local Cessna pilot
entire point of sensory perception is to ex-
perience reality as it is. Dulling or distorting s –– t , ’ ” h e s a i d . $150 to fly them over 3,212-
that perception in any way, as Corliss sees it,
is worse than foolish. THE ACRONYM BASE re- “I’m shaking foot Angel Falls, opened
fers to the four catego- the door, and jumped into
In 1989, Corliss’s family relocated to Palm
Springs, just across the San Jacinto Moun- ries of fixed objects from u n c o n t r o l l a b ly. the jungle, without food,
tains from Perris. His parents’ marriage
deteriorated; while his mother started an which jumpers hurl them- I’ve always water, survival gear, or an
acupuncture practice, his father left home selves: buildings, anten- described it as a exit plan. They spent the
for long periods and, according to Gigi, came nae (as in radio towers), night on top of Angel Falls
home only when he needed money. Corliss,
meanwhile, became suicidally depressed. spans (bridges), and earth hurricane inside and then jumped off.
At 14, he began playing Russian roulette
with loaded handguns. Corliss was 15 when (cliffs). Humans have been your head—every Real TV picked up the
Gigi asked his father to leave for good. Soon dabbling with the idea footage. A year later, after
after, while she was out of town for a few
days, Corliss says his father moved back into since at least 1617, when nerve ending is Real TV bought footage
the house. Corliss demanded that he leave.
When his father resisted, Corliss said,“I was an Italian inventor named screaming, Don’t from Corliss’s Howick
like,‘Well, you’re going to leave in one of two Fausto Veranzio is thought do this.” Falls accident for a few
ways—on your own two feet or in a body bag. to have made a prototype thousand dollars, he saw a
You decide.’” According to Corliss, his father
chose the former. parachute, leapt off Saint way to make a living. Just

Deeply unhappy, unable to find any Mark’s Basilica in Venice, two and a half months
meaning in his own existence, Corliss was
flipping channels on TV one day when he and miraculously sur- after his accident, he was
came across footage of a BASE jumper leap-
ing from a cliff. “That’s perfect,” he recalled vived. Early stirrings of the modern sport plotting spectacular jumps and filming them
thinking. “If I do that, I will have done
something few human beings are willing to came in 1978, when filmmaker Carl Boenish from multiple angles. He began to collect

shot footage of himself parachuting off El licensing fees for the use of his clips in com-

Capitan in Yosemite. mercials and TV shows. Hardly anyone else

Matt Gerdes, author of The Great Book was doing this at the time, so Corliss became

of BASE and owner of Squirrel Wingsuits, the worldwide go-to for BASE footage, earn-

a manufacturer of BASE-jumping gear, es- ing enough to travel and jump year-round.

timates that there were only a few hundred In 2003 alone he circled the globe six times,

active jumpers worldwide in 1997, when completing 400 jumps in 16 countries on

Corliss first gave it a try. “Jeb came into the five continents.

sport when it was almost completely un- Corliss began to construct a persona

derground,” Gerdes told me. “There was no around his black-only dress code and bra-

network, and the only way to learn was from zen unauthorized or otherwise illegal jumps

a friend. Very few people even knew what off marquee features like the Golden Gate

BASE jumping was.” Bridge, the Eiffel Tower, and the 1,149-foot

Corliss was 18 when his grandparents paid Stratosphere Tower in Las Vegas.

for skydiving lessons, and 21 when he bought Tim Rigby, a professional skydiver and

a BASE-jumping parachute and drove with Hollywood stuntman, met Corliss at Sky-

a friend to a small town in the Sierra foot- dive Perris during those years. “He was very

hills. There, on a moonless night, he jumped quirky,” Rigby recalls. “But BASE jumpers

off a road bridge into a mountain canyon. In are a weird bunch. I’ve been on jumps with

inky darkness, Corliss botched the landing cops and drug dealers, investment bankers,

and was dragged across gravel hard enough military guys—it’s a crazy, eclectic group,

to shred flesh. Bleeding profusely, he drove and Jeb fit right in.”

back to the motel, cleaned and bandaged Like everyone who BASE-jumps fre-

his wounds, then returned to the bridge and quently, Corliss witnessed a lot of death. On

4 0 OUTSIDE MAGAZINE 11.20

“I needed that
trauma to work

through my
trauma,” Corliss

says of BASE
jumping. “I was
fighting the fire
burning in my mind
with more fire.”

PHOTOGRAPH BY jeb corliss 11.20 OUTSIDE MAGAZINE 4 1

October 5, 2003, he traveled to Cañon City, He knew precisely how dangerous BASE ward—a boon to BASE jumpers, who wel-
Colorado, for the inaugural Royal Gorge Go
Fast Games, a BASE-jumping and highlining jumping was but figured that, as he put it, comed the opportunity to move quickly
festival held at the U.S.’s highest suspension
bridge. Corliss had brought an early-model “If I die in the process of trying to work on away from cliffs and extend the feeling of
wingsuit—a full-body jumpsuit, made of
nylon, equipped with baffles that fill with air my mind, and trying to fix the damage that’s flight. As wingsuit design and technique im-
during a free fall and become rigid, allowing
the wearer to soar like a glider. going to kill me anyway, that’s an OK way proved, however, the allure of proximity fly-

Crucially, a wingsuit enables a jumper to to die, right? Trying to save your own life? ing became irresistible.
steer, and Corliss had been experimenting
with an emerging subdiscipline known as Without it, I’m dying anyway.” Corliss says he never wanted to be the
proximity flying, a beautiful but sketchy en-
deavor that involves flying perilously close That attitude translated well to what was world’s greatest proximity flyer. The only
to fixed objects. At the festival, Corliss and
an elite Australian jumper named Dwain then the cutting edge of BASE jumping— way to claim that title, after all, is to fly
Weston planned to wow the crowd by jump-
ing from an airplane and flying their wing- aerials, in which jumpers mimic Olympic closer to fixed objects than any other nut-
suits close to the bridge—Weston above the
span, Corliss below. The jump and approach divers by turning flips and twists before case is willing to go. Corliss saw the lethality
went fine, but as Corliss emerged from under
the bridge, he flew through a mysterious opening their parachutes. Aerials radically of this—keep pushing that limit and even-
cloud of airborne debris. Unhurt, he pulled
his chute. increase the likelihood of a bungled chute tually you’re going to hit something—but

“I remember being so excited—like, ‘Oh, opening, which can mean he still became the tech-
my God, I can’t believe that worked!’” Cor-
liss said. Once he landed, he realized he was death, so they require more nique’s most successful
covered in blood.
skill and higher risk tol- early popularizer. In 2010,
“Then,” Corliss said, “I see a severed leg
on the ground.” erance. In October 2004, Corliss jumped off a cliff

Weston had hit the bridge at 120 miles an leaping from the Jin Mao “J e b w a s in the Swiss Alps. Banking
hour. The airborne debris had been body
parts and blood. Tower in Shanghai, Corliss the coolest, and turning his wingsuit
pulled off his most compli- gnarliest BASE through a gorge like some-
“It was so extreme and violent that I cated aerial to date, a dou- thing out of Star Wars,
went into shock instantly,” Corliss said. “It
took me six months before I came out of ble-twisting quad front— jumper on Corliss captured helmet-
that fog.” But eventually, he started jump-
ing again. He loved planning missions and four front flips combined earth,” says cam footage that attracted
traveling the world with friends, doing crazy with two complete body a million views in the first
shit and leading a life of passion, but jump-
ing never had anything to do with pleasure. rotations. Once he landed, author Matt 24 hours on YouTube, a
Almost every time, he felt sick with fear be-
forehand. “I’m standing there going, ‘This Corliss looked back up to Gerdes. “He huge number for the time.
sucks, this makes me feel like shit,’” he said. watch his friend Roland was by far the (Currently, the clip has over
On a handful of his most risky jumps, he’s “Slim” Simpson leap from 33 million views.)
gone through what he calls psychological
trauma. “I’m shaking uncontrollably,” he the same building, open most intense, In 2011, he jumped out
says. “I’ve always described it as a hurri-
cane inside your head—every nerve ending his parachute, crash into an ‘I can die at of a helicopter in China
is screaming, Don’t do this. It’s something adjacent building after the and, for a Chinese TV au-
I have to fight and struggle and beat back.”
But, he continues, “I needed that trauma lines became tangled, and any moment and dience estimated in the
to work through my trauma. I was fighting
the fire burning in my mind with more fire, sustain fatal injuries. I don’t give a hundreds of millions, flew
like when you have a forest fire and you start Corliss didn’t slow F –– k ’ j u m p e r i n through a 100-foot-wide
a smaller fire to block the larger one. I was natural arch in the side of
setting these little fire walls, trying to burn down. Hired to host his
in front of it, trying to stop it from eating
me alive. I needed this to survive. Without own Discovery Channel the world—at Heaven’s Gate Mountain.
it I was going to put a bullet in my head. So
when people are like, ‘Oh, this is like heroin. show, Stunt Junkies—the the far fringes Corliss soon was dreaming
You’re a heroin addict,’ it’s like, ‘No, this is perfect invitation to pump of an even crazier stunt: a
food. This is water. This is air.’”
the brakes and welcome of a fringe so-called touch-and-go,

a little comfort into his sport.” in which he’d fly down a
life—he played hooky from snowy mountain slope,

production to attempt an getting closer and closer

illegal nighttime jump off to the ground until he

the Empire State Building. brushed his feet against the

Corliss was caught, arrested, and banned for snow and pulled away.

life from the skyscraper. Discovery fired him. In January 2012, while plotting the stunt,

“Jeb was the coolest, gnarliest BASE Corliss traveled to Cape Town, South Africa,

jumper on earth,”says Gerdes.“He was by far for HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel.

the most intense, ‘I can die at any moment Ten years earlier, he’d flown a wingsuit off

and I don’t give a fuck’ jumper in the world— 3,500-foot Table Mountain and suffered a

at the far fringes of a fringe sport.” bad landing. Now he planned to confront

his old nemesis by repeating the jump for the

WINGSUIT FLYING, too, has historical cameras. The Real Sports shoot went well:

roots among long-dead Europeans with Corliss made his jumps, flew his wingsuit

dangerous ideas—in this case, a Parisian tai- down the peak, and conducted interviews.

lor named Franz Reichelt who,in 1912,sewed But he also noticed a rocky ledge that of-

himself a “bird man” suit and leapt from fered a promising training opportunity for

the Eiffel Tower, with bad results. Mod- his touch-and-go project.

ern wingsuits didn’t emerge until the late Corliss asked a friend to climb up and

1990s, and Corliss himself bought the first attach two helium balloons to the ledge,

commercially available one in 1999. Wing- about six feet apart, each balloon on a six-

suits allow an experienced pilot to soar two foot length of string. He jumped off Table

feet forward for every foot he falls down- Mountain yet again, planning to hit them.

4 2 OUTSIDE MAGAZINE 11.20

Corliss and
fiancée Aly
DeMayo before
a jump at
Perris

As he flew closer, a gust of wind blew one waiting for a rescue? Or I could not pull and legs.’ It was, ‘You mean there’s a chance I’m
of the balloons sideways, causing the string then just impact. No suffering, no pain—just going to live?’”
to catch on a lower chunk of rock. With the be done.”
balloon now hovering just six inches above Corliss wasn’t just thinking about that
the ledge, Corliss smashed his legs against His mind suddenly announced that it was particular accident, either. He was thinking
the rocky outcropping. He was traveling at time to open his chute or die. “I remember about his whole way of being in the world.
more than 120 miles per hour. thinking, ‘Well, good thing you like pain. The possibility of surviving into old age had
How much time can I get? Five minutes? An never occurred to him. As a result, when the
“It blows my legs completely apart,” he hour? Whatever it is, I want it.’” doctors said he might not even lose his legs,
said, “and as I impact, I bounce and tumble, Corliss confronted a terrifying existential
doing a couple of flips with a full twist.” Corliss’s parachute opened in a twist, question: What happens if I don’t die?
slamming him into the mountain. His in-
Any other jumper would likely have spun juries included two broken ankles, a bro- CORLISS RECENTLY proposed to his long-
out and died on impact, but Corliss’s experi- ken fibula, multiple shattered toes, a fully time girlfriend, an athletic woman named
ence with aerials allowed him to regain con- ruptured ACL, a gash in his right shin from Aly DeMayo who works in a classified ca-
trol and resume flying. In that moment, he which tattered muscle hung in threads, pacity for the Department of Defense at
said, his mind partitioned into two distinct and quadriceps muscles degloved from his Camp Pendleton, near San Diego. About
streams of consciousness: one analyzing upper leg—stripped off the bone, that is, and ten miles inland from the base, Corliss and
practical matters, like how to pilot a shred- pulped inside the skin. Protein from his rup- DeMayo share a modest suburban home on
ded wingsuit and where to land, the other tured muscles entered his bloodstream and a cul-de-sac, among trailer parks and strip
assuming that he’d die from his injuries and pushed his kidneys toward failure. As he was malls. At first glance, the interior felt like
considering whether it made sense to open loaded into an ambulance he heard a para- a fastidiously maintained Airbnb: freshly
his parachute at all. medic say,“Looks like a double amputation.” painted walls, matching gray and black fur-
niture, and rugs that appeared to have been
As Corliss put it: “Do I want to have a “When I heard that,” Corliss said, “the
slow, painful, agonizing death while I’m thought wasn’t, ‘Oh God, I’m gonna lose my

11.20 OUTSIDE MAGAZINE 4 3

purchased during a single visit to a local through. I earned that experience, and I stop: Corliss served as technical adviser for
showroom. A closer look revealed Corliss’s
personal touch. Everything on the walls and should have gotten to have it.’ I don’t like the wingsuit flight in the 2015 Point Break
shelves spoke directly to his two primary
interests: sharks, appearing in underwater pain—I like the challenge of confronting it.” remake; he jumps with DeMayo now and
photographs taken by Corliss himself, and
death, as represented by Corliss’s enormous Nevertheless, Corliss said, Table Moun- then; and he was negotiating a major stunt
collection of skulls and skull-related art.
(DeMayo, herself a serious skydiver and tain was the beginning of an exorcism. As for for an American television studio when the
BASE jumper, apparently had little input
when it came to the decor.) the nature of the demons cast out, it seemed pandemic hit.

Shelves in the living room held horizon- clear to me that they had something to do Still, something inside Corliss had
tal stacks of large-format art books: Skulls
Sourcebook, The Mammoth Book of Skull, with his father’s emotional cruelty and drug shifted. “I went through that exorcism and
Skull Style. On one stack sat a skull cast in
metal and outfitted with steampunk gears abuse—hiding from life, love, and respon- the demons were released,” he said. “And
and pipes; on another, a skull carved from
shiny black stone grinned cheerfully. And sibility in altered states of mind. Whether honestly, don’t tell my fiancée this, but I
of course there was an actual human skull,
minus the jawbone. Corliss meant to or not, he’d long since think my feelings for her helped. Before her

An elegant glass display case held doz- proven himself capable of the opposite, of I couldn’t stop.”
ens of gorgeously carved smaller skulls, a
giant fossilized shark’s tooth, a pig fetus in confronting fear and pain at its most ex- Corliss maintains that BASE jumping
a jar, the upper halves of two human skulls
refashioned into bowls, and a femur carved treme, even transform- saved his life; a central theme
into a flute. Ceramic vessels held human
ashes,including Corliss’s grandfather,Dwain ing that confrontation of his memoir is that it al-
Weston, and one of Corliss’s sisters.
into fame. lowed his troubled younger
“She committed suicide six months ago,”
Corliss told me, holding a small photo of It would be unfair to In that moment, self to create a life of pas-
her. Suffering from bipolar disorder, ac-
cording to Corliss, she’d been living in Palm Corliss not to mention his mind sion around something he
Springs near their father at the time. “She that this explanation partitioned into loved more than living. Now,
was losing her mind,” Corliss said. “Each doesn’t resonate with though, as Corliss put it to
time she had a psychotic break, she’d go
catatonic and be unable to move or speak. him. Rather, he’d lean two distinct me, “I’ve found a person I
She basically wrote us a note that said she
didn’t want to do that anymore.” toward a more universal streams of love more than that, so I don’t
one. If you think BASE have to do it anymore.”
Corliss, as far as I could tell, had come to
the opposite conclusion—that life was worth jumping is fundamen- consciousness: He stood up from his couch
living, even if guaranteed to end. His recov-
ery from Table Mountain had been every tally about facing mor- o n e a n a ly z i n g and opened a sliding glass
bit as awful as the one from Howick Falls, tality—not suicide, but practical door. He stepped onto a lawn
including six weeks in a hospital (complete putting oneself on a so uniform in color and tex-
with bedpan). He went right back to jump-
ing; that’s how Corliss makes a living, after collision course with matters, like ture that it could have been
all. As soon as he could walk again, in 2013,
Corliss flew through a 25-foot-wide slot in a death in order to seize how to pilot rolled out by sod contrac-
mountain for a Chinese TV audience in the life—proximity flying is tors that morning. Under a
hundreds of millions.
a supreme expression a shredded blue California sky, young
Likewise, Corliss was still thrumming
with rage over pain meds. Sitting on a couch of that, of edging ever wingsuit, orange and lemon trees ran
in his living room, he told me that, two years closer to a lethal flame. the other down a slope at the back. In
after Table Mountain, he saw footage from Corliss’s original vi- the middle of the grass, Cor-
the accident in which, as Corliss screamed
in pain, a friend told doctors to administer sion of a touch-and-go considering liss had built a raised bed that
morphine. Corliss told me he’d confronted
the friend. is the logical next step: whether it made overflowed with tomato vines
tiptoeing up to the line and herbs.
“I’m like, ‘Dude, you’re an asshole. You
know how I am. That was a mistake, because between life and death, sense to open his Corliss’s face softened, as if
now I feel like you distorted my experience.
What I thought I was feeling, what I thought and actually touching it parachute at all. realizing the comic incongru-
I was going through, isn’t what I was going before stepping back. ity of the scene: living room

One could say that full of skulls, yard brimming

Corliss, during his final with new life. “My fiancée is

training run on Table Mountain, meant only really the gardener,” he said. “She tends all

to practice that tiptoe phase, but stumbled this stuff.”

and nearly fell across the line to the other Warm and dreamy, Corliss’s eyes wan-

side. By that point, though, unlike when dered back across DeMayo’s handiwork until

he was 23 on Howick Falls, Corliss had be- something stopped him. “Actually, that one

come the master of his own unique dance is mine,” he said, snapping back into him-

with death. Instincts honed in five thou- self. He pointed to a little green vine in the

sand jumps, and hardened through horrors middle of the box and said, “I planted that

like Dwain Weston’s airborne body parts, myself. It’s a superhot chile pepper called

gave Corliss the ability to choose: open your the Reaper.” O

parachute right now and suffer the agony of

whatever short life remains, or don’t and die DANIEL DUANE ( @DANIELDUANE) IS

instantly. He had long since learned the hard THE AUTHOR OF SIX BOOKS. HE LIVES

way that human life was never guaranteed IN SAN FRANCISCO.

to be anything but short and excruciating,

and that his own most deeply held values If you or someone you know is having
demanded courage in the face of that truth. thoughts of suicide or self-harm, call
the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
In any event, as the years piled up after toll-free from anywhere in the United
Table Mountain—and especially as he began States at 1-800-273-8255.
to write his book—Corliss realized that he
no longer needed to jump. Neither did he

4 4 OUTSIDE MAGAZINE 11.20

exposure outside a d 2 0 20
ventur
Portraits of the Artists

FIVE OUTDOOR PHOTOGRAPHERS TAKE A TURN ON
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE LENS

BY SOPHIE MURGUIA

Brad Ogbonna

This spring, when Ogbonna traveled from his home in Brooklyn to western Norway to shoot
a film, he had no idea how much the world was about to change. But on March 13, when the
32-year-old returned to his hotel after a day of filming on a remote fjord, he and his colleagues
turned on CNN International to see the president declaring a national emergency due to the
coronavirus.“We were all freaking out,” he recalls.“Are we going to be able to get home, or are
we going to be living in Norway for the next couple of months?”Ogbonna made it back to New
York, but only after a ten-hour trek through the mountains and a series of flights that took him
from Oslo to Amsterdam to London.

PHOTOGRAPH BY KYLIE CORWIN

11.20 OUTSIDE MAGAZINE 4 5

the outsider

Walk Therapy

GRIZEL IS USING HER RISING SOCIAL MEDIA

PROFILE TO SPARK A MORE NUANCED CONVERSATION

ON N AT U R E ’ S P O W E R T O H E A L

By erin berger

IT WAS DURING her first solo backpacking attract runners facing similar challenges). sion—you seem so happy,’” she wrote in one
trip in 2017 that Grizel realized how far she’d
come, and how ready she was for change. What sets Grizel apart is her desire to address Instagram caption. “And my answer to you:
The then 26-year-old mental health thera-
pist (who goes by her first name profession- a wide spectrum of mental health conditions, ‘YES, I am fucking happy. But also, I’m fuck-
ally) was on an eight-day hike on California’s
High Sierra Trail when a violent storm hit in and to add nuance to the promise of working ing sad too. There is space for both.’”
the middle of the night. It rained and hailed
like nothing she’d seen before—and she’d through them outdoors. While many publica- With Underneath It All, Grizel uses her
grown up in Miami.
tions, Outside included, tout nature’s positive experience as a therapist to dive even more
Until she went on that trip, Grizel had
been a self-described timid person and ca- effects on people with anxiety, depression, deeply into these topics. “Grizel has this in-
sual hiker. But after surviving a sexual assault
earlier in the year, she set her mind on a solo and PTSD,Grizel considers those issues mess- nate ability to see her story reflected in oth-
hike, hoping the experience would be em-
powering and transformative. “You think ier than they’re often portrayed. She worries ers without taking away from their story,”
you’re going to die,” she says of the after-
math of the assault. “I wanted to make sure that presenting outdoor recreation as a quick says Gale Straub, cofounder of Ravel Media,
that everything I did had more purpose and
meaning.” So she flew from her home in Ten- fix can be misleading. which produces the podcast. In a recent epi-
nessee to Las Vegas, hitchhiked to Yosemite,
and spent a week on the trail feeling scared To highlight that, Grizel draws sode with through-hiker
and alone. After enduring the storm and
climbing Mount Whitney the next day, she on personal experience, including Will Robinson, Grizel
realized she wasn’t afraid anymore. “I re-
member laughing to myself,” she says. “I was her own battle with chronic depres- stepped back to hear his
like, if this is it, then I’m fine. Ever since then,
I’ve been trusting myself.” sion. After moving from Florida to “ G r i z e l h a s t h i s experiences as an Army

Before the trip, Grizel was struggling with east Tennessee in high school, she innate ability veteran and a Black man,
nearly every aspect of her life—her belief in fell in love with hiking in the Blue but also shared her own
Christianity, a series of bad relationships,
the office she worked in—but fear of letting Ridge Mountains.“In the outdoors, t o s e e h e r s t o r y stories when she discov-
others down had prevented her from mak-
ing any big changes. After returning from I always felt a little bit better, but reflected in ered ways their mental
the High Sierra Trail, Grizel was determined I was never able to pinpoint why,” health backgrounds in-
to trust her gut. She quit her job and adopted
a dog named Rue. In the years that followed, she says. others without tersected.“When my de-
she through-hiked the Appalachian and Pa-
cific Crest Trails, traveled the country in a More recently, she learned that pression is bad, I want to
Ford Transit van called Arthur, and gradu-
ally attracted more than 25,000 followers on a life lived mostly outside, while ta k i n g a w ay isolate from other people,
Instagram. Now 29, Grizel has established a
successful brand, carving out a social media at times blissful, isn’t a cure-all. from their because I don’t want to
niche by sharing mental health resources and During her AT hike in 2019, she hurt anybody,” she told
personal reflections. She supports herself by
working with companies like REI and Back- struggled with depression, then s t o r y, ” s ay s Robinson. “I know ex-
country, writing stories and producing spon-
sored content. She also hosts Underneath It with guilt about having those feel- Gale Straub, actly what you’re saying,”
All, a new podcast that features conversations ings while immersed in nature. he replied. “When I’m at
with other outdoorspeople on such topics as
racism and anxiety. “Everyone around me very much c o f o u n d e r o f my darkest moments, I

Recently, other prominent adventure ath- expressed, ‘This is the best thing Ravel Media. feel like my depression is
letes have opened up about their mental health ever,’” she says. “I had four days contagious.”
battles. Through-hiker Heather Anderson
wrote about her off-trail depression. Ultra- where it was just depression, sad- Grizel had plans to
runner Rob Krar revealed his lifelong struggle
with depression (and now hosts camps that ness, tearfulness. It’s extremely tackle the Continental

isolating.” When she finally con- Divide Trail this year.

fessed how she was feeling to a fellow hiker, The pandemic put that dream on hold, along

the friend was distracted by her phone. “Peo- with #vanlife in general. When we spoke—on

ple are like, ‘Wow, that sucks.’ And that’s the Zoom, naturally—she was renting an apart-

end of it,” Grizel says. ment in Utah. Although opportunities to share

With her growing platform, Grizel hopes travel stories were suddenly limited, Grizel’s

to model a more compassionate approach to following only increased in 2020, perhaps

these important on-trail conversations. “The because mental health issues are more rele-

outdoors is such a healing space, but it only vant than ever. “I think people got stuck with

takes one person to fuck it up,” she says. “If I themselves and had to face themselves over

can make a difference to that one person and the past few months,” she says.

tell them how to listen or be present, then I Grizel’s long-term goal is to run workplace

did a good job.” emotional training and retreats for outdoor

On her YouTube channel and her blog, companies. She knows that building an Insta-

Grizel Caminas, she tends toward traditional gram following helps her gain traction in the

outdoor content—travel recaps, suggestions industry, but she also acknowledges that the

on building out a van. She gets more per- platform’s tendency to reflect only the happy

sonal on Instagram, posting reflections about part of people’s lives can be unhealthy. She

panic attacks or self-worth between odes to combats that with raw honesty, a refreshing

her dogs and advice on avoiding giardia. She’s alternative during the trials of COVID-19.

careful not to present tidy mental health tips “I’ve said it a million times—it’s okay not to be

or I’m-all-better-now sentiments. “I can’t okay,” she wrote in an April post. “Whatever

tell you how many times I get, ‘Wow, I never you’re feeling is valid, and I want to help make

would’ve guessed you struggle with depres- sense of what I can.”

46 O U T S I D E M A G A Z I N E P H OTO G RA P H BY Grizel

outside a d - 2 0 20
venture

On the
Pacific
Crest Trail

OUTSIDE MAGAZINE 47