How We Know Spring Is Here
“Spring is when you feel like whistling, even with a shoe full of slush.” -Doug Larson
Book Review: Dangling Without a Rope
In Dangling Without a Rope: A Life Discovered, Barbara “Bobbe” Belmont shares eleven of the many stories she’s told over the years.
Remember How Tough You Are
“Why do people say ‘grow some balls’? Ball are weak and sensitive. If you wanna be tough, grow a vagina.” -Sheng Wang
Women’s Adventure Team Holds 1st in Offroad Race
Bethany Hamilton and Chrissie Beavis, sponsored by Women’s Adventure, are in 1st place among American teams and rank 7th overall in this women’s international off-road race. Here’s a photo gallery!
Spring 2013 Issue
Highlights of the Spring 2013 issue: Forage for Food. Train Like a Pro. Cast Your Line. Dive a Shipwreck. Retreat in Texas Hill Country. Try Canyoneering, SUP Racing, Fly Fishing, Road Biking, and Poi!
Weighing the Risks and Rewards of Wreck Diving
At what point does something uncomfortable, something that makes you anxious, something that could land you in the morgue turn into something you must do?
Not Where I Intended To Go
“I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I ended up where I needed to be.” — Douglas Adams
Photography as Activism: Supporting Voice in Afghanistan
The Streets of Afghanistan project’s life-size photographs depict life in Afghanistan, as Afghans see it. With this exhibit, Mountain2Mountain Founder Shannon Galpin aims to empower voice for the Afghan people.
Adventure Makes The Heart Sing
“Inside all of us is HOPE. Inside all of us is FEAR. Inside all of us is ADVENTURE. Inside all of us is A WILD THING.” —Maurice Sendak
One Boulder at a Time
Seven women will summit Mt. Shasta this weekend in an effort to raise money for Big City Mountaineers’ Summit for Someone program. One climber was immediately hooked. “I thought, ‘Wait a minute—I can climb a mountain with a group of rad women and raise funds to support youth to get outside? Why wouldn’t I do it?’”
Changing Lives One Bicycle at a Time
World Bicycle Relief’s program is targeted at all men, women, and children who would most benefit from access to transportation.
More Than Gold
Inspired by American distance runner Jenny Simpson’s incredible talent, this mini-documentary reveals what drives her and motivates her to train and race when times get tough to become the best of the best.
Dawn of the New Year
Surrounded by couples in lip locks and rogue packs of 16-year-old Italian boys, we five female travel companions counted together the last seconds of 2011. “Tre, due, uno!” The crowd erupted with slurred shouts of “buono anno!” and I realize this night makes up for a year of lost time.
The Importance of Exploring
“A person needs at intervals to separate from family and companions and go to new places. One must go without familiars in order to be open to influences, to change.” —Katharine Butler Hathaway
Health and Happiness
Do you feel the effects of the seasons? How do you maintain health and happiness through these chilly months? Winter has just begun, so let’s all band together, striving for wellness and joy this year!
Solo Traveler
I prefer to travel alone. I’m at my most selfish and self-indulgent when I fly solo. I also feel at my most vulnerable. Sometimes, I go to countries where a wandering single white woman is an attraction in and of itself. Are there moments of discomfort? Of course. Do I feel in danger? Very rarely.
The Adventure Moms
Being a kid is an adventure. Being a mom is an adventure. And while the outdoor adventures may change when children come into your life, they don’t have to stop.
Afraid No More
As I lay there, face down on the bottom of the passage, I reveled in the quietude of my breath under trillions of gallons of seawater. I was alone and I was content. I knew they would be searching for me and with any luck, they’d find me before my teeth started to chatter.
Tribute to a Teammate
This is our first adventure race, and we are doing it together, for fun, and with no competitive intentions. We’re the only all-female team in the two-person open division. Our goals: Have fun and don’t finish DFL (dead effing last). But she is smoking me, and we are actually doing pretty well.
Distinguishing the Good Stuff
Why am I so hesitant to weed out my water bottle collection? Because each bottle is connected with a memory or meaningful event. Sure, the memory won’t disappear with the bottle, but the bottle is a concrete reminder of the event. Read on for examples.
Sagebrush and Sheep
I crossed seven states in 10 days, visited friends, congratulated a couple on their beautiful wedding, and saw some amazing places along the way. When I finally parked my vehicle for good, I looked up and saw I made it back to Colorado just in time to watch the sunset.
Top Films Spotlighting Adventuresses
The Women in Adventure Sports Film Festival was founded, surprisingly, by two men. Paul Fitzpatrick-Nager and Kevin Shea felt women were under-represented at adventure film festivals, so they started their own. Women’s Adventure magazine was a proud sponsor of the inaugural event.
Paragliding in Aspen
I’m running hard and barely moving. The drag of a glider, the awkward tangle of a harness, and the weight of the pilot yoked in behind me hold me back. I dig my toes into the mountain side, push off with each giant stride, and soon my legs are kicking in the air instead of pawing at the ground.
Travel and the Power of Serendipity
It reads like a recipe for disaster: Ride a three-wheeled auto-rickshaw over 3,000 kilometers. Across India. In two weeks. With no support. I am to choose my own route across the country: from the eastern hills of Meghalaya to the Rajasthan desert, only hours from the Pakistani border.
Breaking Free
A self-inflicted mental obstacle had leashed me to the road, preventing me from enjoying the full spectrum of bike-riding bliss. Busting down that barrier took years, encouragement, help from experienced friends, and opportunities to learn in safe environments.
Camp Lessons: You Can Still Be Mature In A Chicken Suit
At camp, crazy is cool. Laughter makes anyone beautiful, and the crazier we dance together, the closer we become. Whether you’re a 16-year-old Counselor In Training or the 65-year-old activities director, camp keeps everyone in this limbo between childhood and adulthood.
A win win situation
Female artisan groups in Janakpur, Nepal, find support through annie O, a boutique owned by Annie Waterman and based in Boulder, CO.
Save a buck, buy a bike?
Are you saving up for a new kayak, pinching pennies for a new pack, or scrimping in the hopes of buying new skis this winter? Don’t overlook the savings you can rack up in the grocery store.
Tips on setting up a charity event
It is yet again that time of year when those of us at Grab My Wheel have picked up an additional job. One that we don’t get paid for and actually pay to be a part of it.
Insects Are Everywhere (Thank Goodness!)
Insects aren’t as dangerous as you might think, and the short list of real (i.e., poisonous) culprits is, well, short.
It’s About Thai(m)
Sometimes referred to as the “Art of Eight Limbs,” Muay Thai involves fast-paced sparring in which participants can strike with knees, elbows, fists, and feet.
Better Than Peak-Bagging
Big City Mountaineers teaches teens to summit the metaphorical mountains of their lives.
Summer 2010 Editor’s Letter
In the Bangladeshi town where I lived, I was the only girl on a bike. I wore a head scarf and a conservative tunic to ride between the chicken farm that doubled as my house, the vocational training center where I taught English, and the desolate beach where I unwound by walking alongside the Bay [...]
Loving Local?
My latest crush is a committed locavore. He eats eggs laid by happy chickens that range freely on a nearby farm. Any produce he doesn’t grow in his own garden he purchases at the farmers’ market.
Going Slowly to the Summit
A summit push is full of challenges, both mental and physical. Sometimes it’s the brutal cold, other times the biting wind, altitude sickness, or alpine-start darkness that calls into question the challenge and the journey ahead.
