Becoming the All-Terrain Human: [New York Times] "Kilian Jornet Burgada is the most dominating endurance athlete of his generation. In just eight years, Jornet has won more than 80 races, claimed some 16 titles and set at least a dozen speed records, many of them in distances that would require the rest of us to purchase an airplane ticket. He has run across entire landmasses (Corsica) and mountain ranges (the Pyrenees), nearly without pause. He regularly runs all day eating only wild berries and drinking only from streams."
posted by Fizz
on Mar 23, 2013 -
24 comments
Gigapixel image of the Khumbu Glacier and Mount Everest Taken by filmmaker David Breashears this is a gigapixel image of Everest (the mainly rock peak to the left of centre) and surrounding area taken in Spring 2012. To get an idea of the scale Everest basecamp can be seen in the bottom-centre area of the image. Best viewed fullscreen.
posted by jontyjago
on Dec 19, 2012 -
32 comments
"It was hot as blazes as we tore through the south side, pulling up at lights all the people laughing at the white kids doing their little dance in the car." John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats performs '
The Sign,' by Ace of Base, interspersed with a story about the song and hand-signal dancing.
posted by kaibutsu
on Mar 17, 2012 -
29 comments
El Tiede: The Mountain. A timelapse of shots taken from the El Tiede mountain, known for being an excellent site for astrological observations. Includes a timelapse of the Milky Way, as seen through a sandstorm coming off from the Sahara Desert. (SLYT)
posted by flibbertigibbet
on Apr 16, 2011 -
15 comments
Towering over New Hampshire at a height of 6,288 feet,
Mount Washington is the highest peak in the Northeastern United States. It has been ascended by countless hikers from all walks of life, including (for the first time ever)
a paralyzed dog.
[more inside]
posted by dhammond
on Sep 22, 2010 -
41 comments
Lookout Mountain Laboratories (Hollywood, CA) was originally built in 1941 as an air defense station. But after WWII, the US Air Force repurposed it into a secret film studio which operated for 22 years during the Cold War. The studio produced classified movies for all branches of the US Armed Forces, as well as the Atomic Energy Commission, until it was deactivated in 1969. During this time, cameramen,
who referred to themselves as "atomic" cinematographers, were hired to shoot footage of atomic bomb tests in Nevada, Utah, New Mexico and the South Pacific. Some of their films have been declassified and can be seen
here. [more inside]
posted by zarq
on Sep 14, 2010 -
6 comments
Fifty years ago today, the bodies of
Jean Vincendon and François Henry were finally being brought back to Chamonix. The two young mountaineers had set-off for the ascent of Mont-Blanc and found themselves blocked in an ice storm on their way down. A rescue team found them several days later, sitting on the glacier by temperatures of -30°C at 4000 meters of altitude. They were alive,
photographed even, but could not be brought down and died later on, abandoned in the wreckage of the old Sikorsky rescue helicopter which had crashed beside them. The operation fiasco caused a total reorganization of the mountain rescue service in France.
posted by rom1
on Mar 19, 2007 -
6 comments
Living on top of Mt. Washington. 09:50 PM Thu Aug 18, 2005 EDT - ...
In the air this morning there was an undeniable chill and on the ground a touch of frost...Clear air pooling south from Canada opened views to the distant Adirondacks as well as deep into Quebec and all our surrounding states...just six week until snow can be expected.
Just a taste of this daily "blog" kept by observers living on the top of the
tallest peak in the Northeast US. Redux of a
previous post, but the blog is interesting enough to put it forth once again.
posted by Jazznoisehere
on Aug 25, 2005 -
24 comments
Mountain Voices. 'This website presents interviews with over 300 people who live in mountain and highland regions round the world. Their testimonies offer a personal perspective on change and development.'
posted by plep
on Apr 10, 2005 -
2 comments
Some stories are longer than others.
In the early 1900s,
Burro Schmidt spent 32 years (or 38, depending on your source) digging a
1/2-mile tunnel through a Mojave mountain. Why? Because it was easier than hauling his gold and his burros down the back road.
"Solely, he labored long days.... The tunnel was solid granite, which needed no shoring, except at the entrance to the tunnel. Being at 4200 foot elevation there was a shortage of oxygen, making his labor even more difficult. He was trapped many times by falling rock and injured as many times."
(But the story doesn't end with him.
More >> )
posted by mudpuppie
on Jan 11, 2005 -
11 comments
The Appalachian Trail is a continuous marked footpath that goes from Katahdin in Maine to Springer Mountain in Georgia, a distance of about 2160 miles. It passes through 14 states and takes about 5 to 7 months to hike through. Hey, if a
blind man could do it, so can you. If you are not actually up for hiking right this moment, you could always...(more inside)
posted by Secret Life of Gravy
on Oct 8, 2002 -
22 comments
'Kilimanjaro in 5 Days' is a fun article I saw in 'The Charlotte Observer' when I was back east for Christmas. Mainly, it's fun for me because I climbed it myself, back in november 92, along the same route. The climbing costs are here. Anybody else been and want to comment on this article (or not been and want to comment)?
posted by Sean Meade
on Jan 1, 2001 -
7 comments
byron smith of the current canadian everest expedition has made it to the summit! he was going to send a live broadcast from the summit, but unfortuantely the conditions have prevented that from taking place; so the team is going to descend to camp IV and try to broadcast from there. stay tuned for it, it should prove interesting. --
Everest 2000 - Daily Dispatch
posted by palegirl
on May 20, 2000 -
3 comments
