Magazines

#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...

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#BlackLivesMatter, Black Lives Matter, Diversity, Ice Age Trail, Magazines, National Parks, Sierra Club, Winter, Wisconsin / 07.03.2021

In and of itself, the journey across Wisconsin’s Ice Age National Scenic Hiking Trail is a monumental undertaking. But the 1,200-mile walk from Potawatomi State Park, on the shores of Lake Michigan, to the St. Croix River at the Minnesota border is made all the more daunting by the deep snow and frigid temperatures of a Wisconsin winter. Despite the hazards posed by prolonged exposure, thru-hiker Emily Ford, who set out from the eastern terminus in January, remains determined to complete the almost-three-month-long trek. If she completes her journey,...

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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...

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An American Ascent, Commentary, Diversity, Essays, Grand Canyon, Magazines, National Geographic, National Parks, Public Land, The Adventure Gap, Yosemite / 14.07.2020

  HALFWAY INTO OUR two-week paddling trip through the Grand Canyon, my longtime friend Jim Moss had a sudden realization. After a thrilling day exploring limpid blue pools and towering waterfalls beneath the desert rim, we sat in beach chairs drinking ice-cold beer along the banks of the Colorado River.“You know? I’ve made more than 40 commercial guiding trips through this place,” he said. “In 25 years, I think you’re the first African American I’ve ever seen down here.”There’s a statistical reason for this: Although Black Americans represent 13.4...

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Alpinist, Climbing, Diversity, In Memoriam, Magazines, Podcast, ReThinkOutside / 29.04.2020

A few weeks ago I was asked to read aloud a story that I had written for Alpinist Magazine in 2018. The Force of The Soul is the premier edition of the new podcast series "Alpinist Out Loud". I am really grateful to my editor Katie Ives for encouraging me to write this profile of the late French climber Hugues Beauzile. It was nominated that year for the Banff Mountain Film & Book Festival award for Best Magazine Article. This compelling narrative of an incredibly driven and compassionate...

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Diversity, Essays, Expedition Denali, Magazines, Public Land, Uncategorized / 06.08.2018

Over my coffee on a Saturday morning I reached for a new magazine at the top of my reading pile. I actually thought it was the Patagonia catalog, thrilled to see at first glance a person of color on the cover. On closer inspection, though, I realized that it was the American Alpine Club “Guidebook to Membership”. A tight close-up image of a face with apparently dark skin wearing glasses had that vaguely artistic quality that offers little in the way of relevant information but draws the viewer in...

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