Adventure Activism

#BlackLivesMatter, Adventure Activism, Black Lives Matter, Climbing, Destinations, Diversity, Essays, Everest, Expedition News, Full Circle Everest, Outdoors For All / 11.04.2022

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one's lifetime.” ~ Mark TwainThe walk from Phadking to Namche is a six-mile climb up a narrow trail of steep stone steps along a dusty path. Much of my training at 920 feet of above sea level in Wisconsin over the past year had done little to prepare...

#BlackLivesMatter, Adventure Activism, Diversity, Environmental Journalism / 04.04.2022

Almost 60 years after the first successful American ascent of Mount Everest, a team of U.S. climbers aims to make history once again on the world’s highest peak. Led by Philip Henderson, a former instructor at the National Outdoor Leadership School and a veteran Himalayan mountaineer, this group, made up of athletes from across the country, aspires to be the first all-Black American expedition to reach the summit. This new project, called the Full Circle Everest Expedition, was announced at the Outdoor Retailer Summer show this August in Denver. Set to begin...

#BlackLivesMatter, Adventure Activism, Climbing, Diversity, Environmental Journalism, Everest, Outside Business Journal, Outside Magazine / 28.08.2021

Almost 60 years after the first successful American ascent of Mount Everest, a team of U.S. climbers aims to make history once again on the world’s highest peak. Led by Phil Henderson, a former instructor at the National Outdoor Leadership School and a veteran Himalayan mountaineer, this group, made up of athletes from across the country, aspires to be the first all-Black American expedition to reach the summit. This new project, called the Full Circle Everest Expedition, was announced at the Outdoor Retailer Summer show this August in Denver....

Adventure Activism, Black Lives Matter, Breaking News, Climbing, Outdoor Recreation, The Adventure Gap / 21.04.2021

More people of color should be certified mountain guides. To lead in the spirit of that intention The Joy Trip Project is excited to announce the availability of the first Crenchaw Climbing Scholarship for an American Mountain Guides Association Single Pitch Instructor Course. This opportunity is available to those over 18 years of age who identify as Black, Indigenous or a person of color. Best candidates must also be dedicated to advancing the diversity, equity and inclusion of outdoor recreation and environmental conservation as a wilderness guide or...

#BlackLivesMatter, Adventure Activism, Adventure Racing, Black Lives Matter, Diversity, Magazines, Sierra Club, Sierra Magazine / 11.04.2021

Adventure racer Clifton Lyles assembled his most recent team of action-sport athletes to make history. Given a chance to try out for a spot on World's Toughest Race: Eco-Challenge Fiji—Amazon Prime's 2020 revival of a reality series that broadcast from 1995 to 2002, hosted by Bear Grylls—the former US marine put together Team Onyx, the first all-Black American adventure-racing team. Lyles is one of a growing number of Black men and women making a name for themselves in adventure racing, an adrenaline-fueled sport that pits competitors against one another...

Adventure Activism, Banff, Breaking News, Commentary, Diversity, Magazines, National Geographic, Public Land / 01.03.2021

At some point I went from indulging a childhood fantasy to setting a life goal. I know that in the mid 1980s I imagined creating a career of adventure, but the realities of making an honest living relegated my job prospects to positions first in sales and marketing, then in print journalism. More than a decade ago I started to attend the annual Banff Mountain Film Festival in the Canadian Rockies of Alberta to report on the culture of environmental filmmaking and action sports. It was there that...