Inside the minds of free solo climbers

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Free solo climbing is the most extreme way to climb a mountain. No ropes to prevent a fall, no packs full of gear to slow you down, nothing extraneous to get in the way of you and the rock. The recent National Geographic article about Yosemite’s current crop of free solo climbers captured the intensity [...]

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Dangerous animal of the month—shocking pink dragon millipede

Animal encounters

As the list of endangered animals around the world grows, it’s easy to forget that there are creatures out there that have never been officially catalogued or even photographed. In the past decade or so, more than a thousand new species have been documented in Southeast Asia. One of the flashiest—and deadliest—is Thailand’s shocking pink [...]

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More climbers go higher, faster

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Here’s a roundup of climbing news about those who take on the globe’s highest mountains as well as others who are pushing the boundaries of rock climbing. On Everest, a team that includes a 16-year-old American girl and her father is getting ready to move from Base Camp to Camp One (located at 20,000 feet). [...]

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Freedivers go deep

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Today marks the end of Vertical Blue 2011, an annual competition in the Bahamas where freedivers descend on a single breath hundreds of feet into a watery hole. The current world record holder, William Trubridge of New Zealand, took 4 minutes 13 seconds to descend nearly 400 feet into the abyss and then hoist himself [...]

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Roz Savage takes on Indian Ocean

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British ocean rower Roz Savage began her journey across the Indian Ocean yesterday, launching from Fremantle, Australia en route to Mumbai, India. During the 4-month journey in her 23-foot long rowboat, she’ll row nearly 4,000 miles (6,300 km) through the world’s most pirate-infested waters. In addition to eluding pirates, Savage will be coping with monster [...]

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Book review—Pink Boots and a Machete

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As a scientist-explorer with a thirst for extreme adventure, Mireya Mayor has already survived more dangerous predicaments than most people will ever encounter. Her book opens with a terrifying account of a plane crash she survived in the Congo—and that’s just for starters. Whether she’s fending off crocodiles in Africa, diving with great white sharks [...]

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Sarah Outen begins mega-expedition

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On April 1, British adventurer Sarah Outen set off on her 2 ½ year, 20,000-mile journey around the world. Using a kayak, a bicycle, and a rowboat, she will circumnavigate the globe under her own power. It took her just four days to get from the Tower of London to France, though the English Channel [...]

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Dangerous animal of the month—tarantula hawk

Animal encounters

Among wasps, there is a curious subset of predators called spider wasps that stalk and kill spiders for a living. The kingdom of spider wasps is ruled by the orange-winged tarantula hawk, whose preferred prey is—you guessed it—the tarantula. The tarantula hawk inhabits the high desert regions of Arizona and New Mexico and is generally [...]

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Top 10 adventure sites

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In celebration of Armchair Adventurista’s first year of life, here’s a list (not in any particular order) of the very best adventure sites we’ve found this year. Whether you want updates on expeditions all over the globe, you’re itching to launch an adventure of your own, or you just need a little dose of inspiration [...]

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The strange story of the Berserk

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When does a free-spirited, rebellious explorer cross the line into just plain crazy? The story of the Berserk’s Norwegian captain, Jarle Andhøy, is a cautionary tale for the most audacious adventurers out there. Andhøy, 36, has a history of scuffles with the law. In 2002, he traveled to the Arctic Circle to follow in the [...]

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