It’s often said that the national parks are America’s best idea. No argument here. And it all started with designating Yellowstone National Park, a particular stroke of genius. This remarkable landscape of hot springs, geysers, and incredible wildlife became the country’s first national park in 1872, starting a revolution in protecting special landscapes in the United States and around the...

　　Poop it out, pack it down. 　　Thats the new directive for climbers on Mount Everest this year. On Thursday, February 9, Nepali officials told the BBC that mountaineers ascending the worlds highest peak will have to bring their feces down to Base Camp using plastic wag bags. The rule was instated by the Pasang Lhamu municipality, the local government that...

　　I often joke that thru-hikers are total fearmongers. Alone on a trail with nothing but a few friends, a cell phone that has no service, and all our thoughts, we dwell on the challenge posed by upcoming terrain, and we then spread these worries to one another like a common cold. 　　Oh, man, you think Tennessee is tough? I heard...

　　Last week I spent six hours skiing in the Vermont rain, and it actually didn’t suck–largely because I was swaddled in invisible toxic chemicals, known as PFAS or “forever chemicals.” I’m speaking of the key ingredient found on and in nearly every piece of outerwear with any kind of water repellency: the chemicals that keep us dry through any weather....

　　Editor’s note: New details about the fatal incident have been added to this report as of Feb. 15. 　　Renowned telemark, big mountain, and expedition skier Katherine “Kasha” Rigby, aged 54, is confirmed dead in an avalanche in Kosovo during her #tourdepiste project. Euro News Albania reported on Feb.13 that a 54-year-old foreign citizen lost her life in an avalanche at...

　　Outside sent travel experts on a quest to discover the best ways to experience Texas, based on their interests. Now you can enter for a chance to win your choice of one of six itineraries for your very own Texas adventure. 　　Choose Your Texas Adventure Get Back to Nature on the Texas Gulf Coast Unplug on a Dallas Wellness Retreat...

　　Talon Vance, 13, lived in an apartment complex in suburban Colorado Springs with his mom and Aunt. Other relatives lived nearby. Typically, he spent much of the week with his father, half brother, half sister, and grandparents, all of whom lived together not far away in a different town. All of that would change in August 2022: Talon’s mother, Rebecca...

　　Vivek Puri first noticed the symptoms in 2012. Instead of hanging or swinging by his side as he walked, his arm curled inward and up, his wrist hanging right around his belt buckle. It was strange, he remembers, but subtle enough that he simply adjusted his stance and moved on. 　　But then the 38-year-old Northern Virginia-based businessman began experiencing more...

　　The wall of snow struck Loren Ennis on his heelside, punched his snowboard forward, and sent him sliding down the mountain on his back. The impact happened so suddenly that Ennis struggled to understand what was going on, even as his body began to sink into the churning debris. 　　“I thought that maybe somebody had run into me,” Ennis, 32,...

　　Ahead of the 2024 season, the International Federation of Sport Climbing has released a policy to prevent eating disorders among competition climbers. The policy, developed by scientific experts based on the findings of an International Olympic Committee, marks the first time any international federation has taken an active step to limit the pervasiveness of Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport. Ultimately,...

　　I read a lot of search and rescue reports. 　　These brief accounts, often published on Facebook or on government agency websites, are windows into dramatic lifesaving missions that sometimes involve helicopters and dozens of personnel. No, the writing isnt exactly Shakespeare, and the photos are often grainy and of poor compositional quality. But I still find these statements to be...

　　High in the thin air of Pakistan’s Karakoram Range, Christina Lustenberger paused to look up. A mere 900 feet above her, the snowcapped summit of a granite spire known as the Great Trango Tower soared to over 20,600 feet. Scaling its bulging face felt like climbing on a giant basketball, the world falling away into empty space on all sides....