Photo: Zach Mahone Spirited Away Chasing whitewater and culture in the land of the rising sun Words by Brittany Parker Photos by Zach Mahone Paddling the Mitake River on the main island of Japan brought the crew all back to zero. The tension built up in our bodies from missing our connecting flight and having to stay the night in Beijing dropped from our shoulders, moved through our hands and into the water....
It’s summer adventure season and you’re going to need a bag to carry your gear. We took a close look at two backpacks that are ready for surf, sand, and waves — or just about any water activity you have in mind. The Patagonia Black Hole 25L is a tried and true all-around performer, while Da Kine’s Cyclone II Dry Pack offers some surf-specific features we loved. Patagonia Black Hole 25L...
The LifeStraw Mission is a gravity water purifier that is great for backpacking trips, camping, living abroad, or prepping for disasters. Weighing only 1.17 pounds with a 5-liter size available, it’s suitable for individual use, but the Mission is designed with group use in mind, with a 12-liter bag option and a high-volume capacity to purify 12 liters per hour. Backpacking for more than one night requires extra weight, and a huge contributor to that weight is often water....
Campsite in Hoover Wilderness. Photo by Andy Cochrane After an early start and a handful of hours fighting through low scrub, we reached the subalpine around 9,000-feet. Much to our delight, the forest opened up including a mix of large firs, granite slabs, and lush meadows. With no understory, it became easier to navigate and move quickly, allowing us to go off-trail in search of solitude. The change in group moral was palpable....
You know you can’t just waltz into the gym and do whatever looks hard. You need a solid goal, and then you need a plan on how to get there—safely. Without those two things, you’ll end up looking exactly the same as (if not worse than) you do right now. Worse, you could get injured, which would mean a lot of pain, inconvenience, and time out of the gym. We called in L....
The wildfires scorching northern California, which so far have killed at least 41 people and destroyed 5,700 structures, forced the cancellation of the inaugural Virgin Sport Festival of Fitness on October 14 and 15. A press release from the company cited poor air quality from smoke and ash as a major factor in the decision but also said organizers did not want to divert first responders (needed to control traffic during the races) from battling the flames....
If you like to excel in all facets of life and have every intention on breeding a super baby, get running: New research suggests men who exercise may have smarter kids, according to research published in Cell Reports. [Editor’s note: Before we delve into the study, know that the research involved mice—not men—so we can’t translate the results onto humans just yet. We can only make inferences until further research is done....
Words by Mathew B. Shaw. So you’re familiar with Papa Joel Tudor’s prowess on mid-length single-fins–he’s literally ridden them into the [surf] history books (“…by the late ’90s [Tudor] was devoting half of his water time to shortboards—all carefully replicated from the late ’60s and ’70s,” Matt Warshaw notes in his History of Surfing). You’ve seen the slate of longer, wider alternative shapes the big brands are rolling out. You’re intrigued by the single-fin specialist Devon Howard’s styling on the new egg model (the CI Mid) from Channel Islands....
Figuring out the vagaries of weight loss can be frustrating and confusing for people who struggle to drop pounds and keep them off. But recent research from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center has shed a little light on what could be a workable strategy for some people: timing their eating only to the daytime hours when they’re more active. In the study, researchers used a new high-tech feeding system that uses sensors and automated equipment for doling out specific diets at specific times for mice (who are nocturnal)....
High-impact movements are the enemy of healthy knees, right? Dead wrong, says Paul Ochoa, a physical therapist in New York City. In fact, it’s what keeps them going strong. Popular opinion says that as we age, we need to give our joints a break. Box jumps and basketball are a younger man’s game. Over time, too much pounding degrades cartilage, puts excess pressure on tendons, and causes arthritis. Or we simply creak when ascending a f light of stairs....
Massive waves up to 20 feet tall are beginning to form on the Great Lakes due to strong winds associated with a winter storm that brought heavy snow and rain to the region, reports CNN. Large swells have already been spotted onLake Michigan and Lake Ontario could get up to 20-foot waves at its center, reported CNN Meteorologist Michael Guy. On the southern shores of Lake Erie and Lake Huron, waves could reach heights of up to 10 feet....
Everyone gets a little wistful after Labor Day Weekend. You’ve probably been inundated with people saying things like, “Can you believe the summer is over? and “It’s going to be Thanksgiving before we know it!” Here’s an unpopular statement: Good riddance. Have you ever tried to throw a party in the summer? It’s a nightmare. Everyone is out-of-town, or double-booked, or keeping the date open in case a last-minute invite to a beach bungalow comes through....
The Place: The Skylodge Adventure Suites listed on Airbnb located in Cusco, Peru, are three transparent capsules that hang 1,312 feet above the ground from the cliffs of Mt. Via Ferrata. Spending a night in these six-windowed capsules handcrafted from aerospace aluminum and weather-resistant polycarbonate gives you a 300-degree view of the Sacred Valley. Twenty-four feet in length and eight feet in height and width, each capsule includes a bathroom, dining area, four beds, and solar-powered lights....
Alex Honnold and Tommy Caldwell climbed the The Nose route on El Capitan in 1 hour and 58 minutes on Wednesday, as reported by Gear Junkie, breaking their previous record and reaching the goal that they set out to accomplish all spring: climbing the route in under 2 hours. The duo arrived in Yosemite earlier this season with their sites set on breaking the speed climb record of 2:19:44 held by Brad Gobright and Jim Reynolds set in October 2017....
Over the course of his five decades releasing records, Loudon Wainwright III has never been amongst the most commercially successful songwriters working, but he has never been less than one of the most fascinating. The son of the decorated Life magazine columnist Loudon Wainwright, Jr., his is a literary vision of folk music often so personally revealing as to engender intense discomfort. Over the course of frequently traumatic, failed relationships with fellow folk-music icons Kate McGarrigle and Suzzy Roche, he never shrunk from chronicling in forensic detail the minutes of those romances on songs like “Crazy Kate,” “Mr....
Want to fish pointed one direction, regardless of current or wind? Learn to rig a dolly anchor setup on your fish ‘yak with a few basic tools and components. Most kayak fishing anchor setups can be cumbersome when mounted to your stern and hard to adjust from your seat. The dolly anchor setup gives you a versatility to move the anchor from stern to bow as conditions dictate, all from the seat of your boat....
If you want to clean up your facial hair for spring, look no further than the 1990s, says John Flemal of Urban Lift Salon in Chicago. 5 Handsome Leather Wallets for Spring 2019 Read article For some middle ground between clean-shaven and a lumberjack beard, heed Flemal’s advice. These three styles shape up your facial hair, whether you want to tame an unruly beard, accentuate sideburns, or rock a mustache....
Slacklines are everywhere these days, so where’s yours? While you can rig one temporarily in a park, having a stationary setup you can keep in the backyard will provide that daily reminder to practice, practice, practice. And really that’s the only way to get good at any sport. Another great thing about a personal fixed rig is you can tinker around with basics or work on advanced skills as you progress — without an audience to witness every fall....
Going through the Huckberry site is like a journey through some of the best pieces of fashion one could buy. Clothes you could wear to work and then go straight out to the bar with friends. When you find some of these items on sale, you should jump on that deal. One of our favorite items on sale at Huckberry right now is the Rhodes Footwear Dean Boots. When you are looking for some new footwear, the Rhodes Footwear Dean Boots would make for a great purchase because of how you can wear them anywhere....
Jessica Boone / Getty Images Coconut oil isn’t healthy — never was and never will be. That headline practically broke the internet last month, after the American Heart Association called out coconut oil specifically as a troubling source of saturated fat. In its updated advisory, AHA noted that coconut oil is 82 percent saturated fat (by comparison, canola oil is just 7 percent) and that it elevates LDL cholesterol as much as butter or beef fat....
