Inhaltsverzeichnis für April 2013 in Outside

DANIEL SOHNER For one day each October, it’s legal to BASE-jump and rappel off the 876-foot-high New River Gorge Bridge near Fayetteville, West Virginia. It’s called Bridge Day, and last year 400 jumpers and 300 rappellers came from 41 states and ten countries. “It’s controlled chaos,” says Sohner, of Columbus, Ohio. “There are lines of people waiting to jump or lower from the bridge.” To capture these four figures in various stages of rappelling, Sohner aimed up from a boat on the river below. “The tricky part was exposing the photo so the ropes were washed out but the profiles were clear.” THE TOOLS: Canon 5D Mark ll, 70–200mm f/2.8 lens, ISO 640, f/4, 1/640 second LUKE TIKKANEN As soon as temperatures drop low enough to freeze the water seeping…

When the Bounty, a 180-foot-long tall ship, went down during Hurricane Sandy, writer Kathryn Miles was in a fortuitous position. She was embedded with the Coast Guard and had just finished her book All Standing: the Remarkable Story of the Jeanie Johnston, the Legendary Irish Famine Ship. Miles’s riveting account of the demise of the Bounty, “Sunk,” begins on page 78. Here, an overview of the ship’s tumultuous history. 1960: The Bounty is built for the 1962 Marlon Brando film Mutiny on the Bounty. 1998: The Bounty takes on water off the Georgia coast and is rescued by the Coast Guard and Navy. 2001: Robert Hansen Jr. purchases the ship and begins renovation. 2006: The Bounty is renovated again, for an appearance in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest.…

THE SCENE FADES IN from black. A hand held camera pans the inside of a car weaving through the streets of Misrata, on Libya’s coast. It’s April 20, 2011, and the city, a stronghold for antigovernment rebels, is under siege by forces loyal to Colonel Muammar Qaddafi. We see the driver, a rakish rebel, and his passengers, several photojournalists looking out the windows at the smoldering remnants of buildings. The cameraman asks, “Which way is the front line from here?” At that point, you realize what you’re watching: Tim Hetherington on his way to die. Hetherington, the man holding the camera, was one of the most respected conflict photographers in the world. Within a few hours of the car ride, the 40-year-old Briton was killed in a mortar attack, along…

You’re looking at the lightest and warmest material on the planet. Officially, it’s called silica aerogel, but it’s so lightweight it’s referred to as frozen smoke. The substance was developed in a lab 80 years ago, and that’s pretty much where it stayed until 2007, when NASA figured out how to use it to keep instruments warm on the Mars rover. Industrial manufacturers and gear geeks have been toying with it ever since. In 2010, apparel maker Champion put aerogel inside a jacket lining and sent mountaineer Jamie Clarke up Everest; he overheated. But designers kept tinkering, and this summer the material makes its debut in running shoes, sleeping pads, snow pants, and, yes, space suits. WHAT IT IS: Aerogel is 90 percent air and 10 percent silica. The silica…

THIS PAST WINTER, 14 of the world’s best big-wave surfers bobbed above Cortes Bank, an infamous seamount 100 miles west of San Diego, where a northerly swell promised massive waves. In the lineup were Californian Greg Long, 29, a leader in the movement to revive big-wave paddle-in surfing, in which surfers propel themselves onto monster swells instead of being towed in by motorized crafts, and Hawaiian Garrett McNamara, 45, known for chasing down the planet’s largest waves—including a tow-in ride in January that received worldwide attention when headlines claimed it was 100 feet tall—by any means necessary. When a mammoth five-story set approached, Long and Mc Namara both started paddling for the same wave. Normally, only Long would have been in position to catch it, but McNamara was on a…

To extend your trip, consult Peek.com, which offers one-day itineraries designed by locals in places like Máncora, Peru (surf school, kiteboarding, beach party), Seattle (Snow Lake hike, homemade ice cream, craft beer), and Laos (motorbike, fire dancing). Organizing food, gear, and accommodations for ten people can be a nightmare. Pathwrangler.com lets you create itineraries, gear lists, and rendezvous points so that everyone knows what to expect, where to meet, and what to pack. When Android was updated last June, it included Google Now, a location-aware service that highlights local weather, events, attractions, and restaurants. In December, Google added flight support, so you can check in, get flight updates, board with an e-ticket, and find a live show—all on your phone. And @airfarewatchdog is our favorite travel Twitter account, sending out…

Wheeled carry-ons like the Gregory Alpaca 22 ($350; gregorypacks.com), which is made of supertough, water-resistant material and has a carry strap for when you need to quickly sling it on your back, are convenient. And bags like the LowePro Photo Hatchback ($99; lowepro.com) have specially built spaces for your DSLR, iPad, iPhone, wallet, and passport. But the best all-purpose travel bag for our money? The sturdy duffel. You can pack weeks’ worth of gear in one, and it’s lighter than a framed suitcase—so you can stuff it into small planes. Our favorite: the North Face Base Camp ($120; thenorthface.com), which you can drag through the airport, haul on a yak to Everest, and drag back home without hurting it a bit.…

Before you cough up the cash for extra travel insurance, make sure you’re not already covered: some insurance providers, credit card companies, and membership organizations provide medical coverage while abroad. If you’re not, compare insurers’ rates at Squaremouth.com. If you’re going somewhere risky, consider Global Rescue, which offers evacuation services for members of its international medical and security coverage (from $119 per trip; globalrescue.com). Better yet, the company now offers members weekly safety updates on every country—making it a better source of information than the State Department’s travel warnings, which can be six months old.…

JOHN MILLER felt terrible. The 44-year-old amateur track cyclist from Washington State had lost his extra gear—that boost of energy that propelled him to a pair of podium finishes in state-championship velodrome races since he’d picked up the sport in his thirties. Now he was finishing at the back of the pack and, during workouts, couldn’t hit his peak heart rates. He’d put on weight and developed dry skin. During the day he suffered from extreme fatigue, and at night he couldn’t sleep. Like many competitive athletes, Miller responded the only way he knew how: he trained harder. When that didn’t help, he finally dialed back his effort but felt awful anyway. “I’d finish a rest week and still feel lethargic,” he says. “It was like I was going through…

Q: SHOULD I TAKE IBUPROFEN BEFORE OR AFTER HARD TRAINING TO LIMIT PAIN? In a perfect world, you wouldn’t take non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), which include ibuprofen, before or after a workout. But there are some instances when it’s fine. First, the main reasons you shouldn’t. #1: NSAIDs can screw with your gut. Strenuous exercise can damage your GI tract, and research suggests that NSAIDs could aggravate that damage, compromising your ability to absorb nutrients and even leading to long-term digestive issues. #2: NSAIDs can impede your ability to adapt to exercise. NSAIDs work by inhibiting production of prostaglandins, compounds involved in the creation of collagen, which is essential to the health of most tissues in your body. “It’s possible that your bones and tendons and ligaments won’t get as…

When you OVERSTRIDE, you land with your foot far out in front of you. This causes you to brake with every step and increases your impact forces, thereby hurting your speed and, potentially, your body. Because of how they’re designed, thickly cushioned, high-heeled, heavy running shoes encourage overstriding. What most people call a MIDFOOT STRIKE is more accurately thought of as a flat-footed landing, in that the heel and forefoot contact the ground simultaneously. Running like this lessens impact forces and can lead to faster running, in part because the arch acts as a spring. Shoes that are lighter, lower, and flatter (less drop from heel to toe) help to encourage this foot strike.…

1960: New Balance introduces the Trackster, generally recognized as the first shoe seriously designed as a daily running shoe. September 1960: Abebe Bikila wins the Olympic marathon barefoot. 1976: Brooks introduces the Vantage, the first running shoe with an EVA midsole and “pronation control,” a big step toward what conventional running shoes look like today. 1977: Jim Fixx’s Complete Book of Running tops the New York Times bestseller list; Fixx wears Onitsuka Tiger racing flats on the cover. 1993–95: Tarahumara Indians win the Leadville 100-miler in Colorado wearing handmade sandals. 2004: Nike introduces the Free as a “training tool” to strengthen the feet and lower legs, an acknowledgment that most running shoes of the time provided no such benefits. 2009: Chris McDougall’s Born to Run becomes a bestseller, ushering the…

ROAM: LUANG PRABANG, LAOS IN THE LIFETIME of every traveler, we encounter two distinct types of unforgettable cities. There are the cities we love so much that we wish we could return there every year. For me, this list includes such places as Rome, Bangkok, Miami, and Vancouver. Then there are the cities we love so much that we must never, ever go back again. For me, that list is short: Luang Prabang, Laos. It’s the only city I’ve ever encountered that is so marvelous that I refuse to revisit it, because I can’t take the psychological risk that anything might disturb my perfect memories of the place. I was in Luang Prabang in August 2006, traveling with a man whom I had not yet married. We were in love…

GOPRO PRACTICALLY invented the wearable camera, and it’s still the biggest name in the business. But everybody from Sony to Contour now makes the tiny devices, and I wanted to find out which ones truly perform. So I enlisted the support of a crash-test dummy, code-named Dr. Bold, and sent three of them kayaking down Class IV whitewater, tomahawking in waist-deep powder, and sledding headfirst into trees. What I learned might surprise you. TESTER’S CHOICE GoPro Hero3 Black Edition GoPro shrunk the latest Hero to the size of a dental-floss dispenser and still managed to pack the power of a DSLR into a 2.6-ounce package. The Hero3 was tough enough to handle repeated head-butts into a boulder and came stock with a remote that, in addition to letting me hit…

Each June, as the six-week climbing season on Everest winds down, there is a familiar temptation around Outside headquarters to wonder aloud: have we finally said everything there is to say about the world’s most overexposed mountain? The answer, of course, is no—or, perhaps more accurately, never—because every year something transpires on Everest’s crowded flanks that is unprecedented or shocking or illustrative of the current state of modern alpinism. Sometimes an issue checks all three of those boxes, as with our report this month “Climbing’s Little Helper” (page 98), which explores the increasing use of the steroid dexamethasone, a.k.a. dex, among guided clients hoping to summit the world’s tallest peaks—a development that can have fatal consequences. Writer Devon O’Neil focuses on the case of Jesse Easterling, an amateur climber from…

TRUE GRIT We knew our February cover shot of skier Lindsey Vonn would generate a flood of mail (see “The Tally,” below right). What was surprising—and encouraging—was how many of you wrote in about Erden Eruc’s human-powered circumnavigation of the globe (“Around the World in 1,026 Days”). I was mesmerized by Eruc’s ten-year quest to circle the planet. It’s hard to imagine how anyone could have so much determination, drive, and courage. I deeply admire this man. JOACHIM ZUTHER GRANT, FLORIDA Absolutely amazing, and nearly beyond comprehension to consider what he achieved. I hope there will be more in the future about his amazing journey. MICHAEL FIOLA OVERLAND PARK, KANSAS Eruc’s accomplishment was so jaw dropping, I can’t imagine why he wasn’t on the front pages of newspapers, receiving medals,…

ONE OFFERS NAME recognition, the other premium retail positioning. Together they churn out an overpriced gimmick. That used to be the formula for product collaborations. (Burton Playboy snowboard, anyone?) But recently gear and tech firms, along with bespoke artisans, have broken the mold, teaming up to offer smart innovation and striking design. One example: a hand-forged pocketknife from Kaufmann Mercantile and Gene Wiseman. “I looked at hundreds of knives and couldn’t find the right combination of classic styling and modern materials,” says Sebastian Kaufmann. So he decided to make a house-branded blade with Wise man, a former horseshoe maker from Watts, Oklahoma. “He brought function and durability to my aesthetic vision,” says Kaufmann. The knife they produced was so popular, it sold out almost immediately, and a second run was…

IT’S HARD TO THINK of three more influential masters of holistic environmentalism than Michael Pollan, William McDonough, and Michael Braungart. Their classic books The Omnivore’s Dilemma (Pollan) and Cradle to Cradle (McDonough and Braungart) changed the way we think about food and consumer products—and did it by inviting readers to consider greater possibilities instead of browbeating them into limitations. This month finds all three offering long-awaited follow-ups. In Cradle to Cradle, McDonough and Braungart—an architect and a chemist, respectively—introduced a manufacturing paradigm of continuous product reuse. No more planned obsolescence! Shutter the landfills! The ideas were ambitious, but some did find their way into the real world—every U.S. Postal Service Express and Priority Mail envelope is now cradle-to-cradle certified. In The Upcycle: Beyond Sustainability—Designing for Abundance (North Point Press, $28),…

How do you find the world’s best empty beaches, mountain epics, weekend escapes, and secret paradises? Just listen to us. To pull together the 2013 Outside Travel Awards, we spent months on the road—our correspondents and editors traveled from the Philippines to Switzerland to Namibia to Nepal to Brazil and then some—plus countless hours interviewing industry professionals. The result is 42 fresh trips that we guarantee will change your life. Also: five remote countries on the rise, and the best personal tech, tools, and luggage. BEST OUTFITTER: Natural Habitat Adventures To pick the year’s top travel company, we did on-the-ground reporting, conducted hours of interviews, and pored over surveys submitted by hundreds of outfitters. Competition was fierce, as this response from a New Zealand company indicates: “Our guides are a…

Despite tens of thousands of talcum-sand beaches and wild jungles, the Philippines have had a tough time shedding a seedy image. And to be sure, grim things have happened over the past decade. Kidnappings. Bombings. Riots. But the country has 7,107 islands, and the handful of sketchy ones, like Jolo and Basilan, are easily avoided. The rest of the country is affordable, exceedingly spectacular, and largely empty. Only four million people visited last year, a fraction of the hordes arriving in Thailand every few months. Where to aim? Start with Palawan province, in the archipelago’s far west, which stands out as one of the world’s best-kept tropical secrets—a 1,764-isle, karst and banyan fantasyland of black cliffs, mint-hued lagoons, and blindingly vibrant reefs. Eighty-one cultures call the area home, and to…

Yes, posting Instagram photos from your iPhone is great. But for pictures you’ll want to print or edit beyond a kitschy filter, go with something between your phone and a DSLR. The Nikon Coolpix P7700 ($500; nikonusa.com) is a point-and-shoot that takes HD video, has a wide focus range, and may be the best night-shooting camera in its class. For more control, look to mirrorless interchangeablelens compact cameras, designed to provide DSLR quality (read: large sensors) into a compact body. The Sony Nex 6 ($1,000; sony.com) is a favorite for its speed, HD video, multiple lenses, and endless options. Plus it tucks into your jacket pocket when you’re done.…

“It’s a forgotten place,” says Allie Almario, vice president of the climbing outfitter Myths and Mountains. “People might think it’s in Africa.” One of those three tiny gumdrops north of Brazil, Suriname is sandwiched between Guyana to the west and French Guyana to the east. When Almario stepped ashore there some 15 years ago, she was one of an estimated 60,000 annual tourists. Today that figure is closer to 200,000, and it continues to grow—slowly. “The last thing we want is mass tourism,” says Rabin Boeddha, a senior policy officer at the Ministry of Tourism. Thankfully, that’s hard to imagine. More than 80 percent of the country is untouched tropical forest, and nearly half of that jungle is protected as the Central Suriname Nature Reserve, a Unesco-recognized park. More than…

AGE 30 6 FEET 165 POUNDS SAN RAMON, CALIFORNIA In March, when Major League Soccer begins its 18th season, fans will be looking for a fresh infusion of talent as they mourn the departure of MLS’s biggest name, David Beckham. Enter San Jose Earthquakes forward Chris Wondolowski, who grew up playing ball just a short drive from the Quakes’ home field and is now one of the league’s most dangerous strikers: in 2012, he tied the single-season scoring record with 30 goals, earning a league MVP award. Here’s how Wondo copes with MLS’s brutal eight-month, 34-game schedule—give or take a playoff run. → “You can run on a treadmill all day, but when you get out on the field, it’s a whole different level. That’s why I try and do…

ON THE NIGHT of Sunday, October 28, 2012, Coast Guard lieutenant Wes McIntosh and the crew of his C-130 transport plane were holed up in a hotel room at North Carolina’s Raleigh-Durham Airport. They’d been relocated there the day before, after winds from Hurricane Sandy had forced runway closings at their base in Elizabeth City. The seven-man flight crew congregated around the TV, flipping between Sunday Night Football and the Weather Channel. It was nine o’clock, and the Denver Broncos had just taken the lead over the New Orleans Saints when McIntosh’s phone rang: the Coast Guard’s North Carolina Sector Field Office—the regional command center in Wilmington—had received a distress e-mail from Tracie Simonin, director of the HMS Bounty Organization. The 180-foot, three-masted ship, a replica of the famous 18th-century…

1. You want to alleviate a chronic injury. WORTH A TRY: Shoes that put you closer to the ground make it easier to stay in a good running position, which can lessen stress on your musculoskeletal system and help you break the injury cycle. BEAR IN MIND: Shoes are a tool, not a magic bullet. A history of chronic injury indicates underlying weaknesses and imbalances that probably warrant strength and flexibility work, and possibly professional attention. 2. You want to get back into running. WORTH A TRY: If you’ve been away from it for a while, you’ll probably be a cleaner biomechanical slate than habitual runners, and your body might more easily adapt to how minimalist shoes encourage it to run. Also, you’ll start at low mileage and progress gradually,…

ONES TO WATCH THE FAVORITES Wesley Korir, 30, and Sharon Cherop, 29 The 2012 men’s and women’s winners, both Kenyan, will be back to defend their titles. THE AMERICANS Meb Keflezighi, 37 The Mammoth Lakes, California, pro is riding a hot streak, finishing fourth in last summer’s Olympics, and will likely be the top Yankee finisher. Jason Hartmann, 32 The Michigan native came from nowhere to take fourth in the 2012 race. Shalane Flanagan, 31 After a tenth-place finish at the London Olympic marathon, the much hyped Portland, Oregon, runner has something to prove. THE CROWD PLEASERS Ben Beach, 62 The Maryland resident is bidding for a record-breaking 45th consecutive Boston Marathon. Brian Gerhardson, 52 This local has run nine races in costume—from Bollywood drag to a cocktail dress. For…

It’s easy to get caught up in gadgetry. I should know. I’ve been reviewing outdoor gear for more than a decade, and it doesn’t take much to have me geeking out about midsoles and membranes. But in a previous life, I was your typical dirtbag paddling guide. I used to think shiny new gear was for poseurs; wearing my dad’s old wool sweaters instead of fancy new fleece gave me pride. Which is probably why I’m so enamored with Topo Designs’ Klettersack. While highly engineered packs undoubtedly have their place (technical peaks, heavy loads, long distances), they can be overkill. For knocking around local trails, an old-fashioned top-loader like the Klettersack is all you need. The Cordura fabric takes a beating, the heavy-duty plastic buckles are easily replaceable, and it…

“I became something of a shoe whore,” says Tilin of his experience reporting on the running-world battle between footwear traditionalists and the growing legions of back-to-basics striders (“You Don’t Know How to Run,” page 86). Tilin decided to see for himself how the two classes of shoes compared. At a track near his home in Austin, Texas, in 95-plus-degree heat, he started with cushioned soles, switched to minimalist, then went barefoot. Only problem: after a mile without shoes, he realized that the scorching synthetic-rubber track had blistered his feet.…

This month’s issue truly spans the globe. Between the annual Outside Travel Awards (“Power Trips,” by Tim Neville and Stephanie Pearson, page 46), photographer Scott Soens (that guy on the cover), and the debut of our Roam travel column (“Don’t Mess with Perfect,” by Elizabeth Gilbert, page 104), we take you to the 35 countries highlighted on the map below. We’ve also recounted some memorable moments from the lives of our intrepid contributors. 1. MEXICO: Gets pulled over for speeding, accuses officer of being a fake, has fine increased $50. 2. CHILE: Films Yvon Chouinard and Doug Thompson climbing the Corcovado volcano for adventure film 180° South. 3. ALBANIA: “It’s Europe 150 years ago,” says Neville. “Some places look like a limestone Yosemite.” 4. NAMIBIA: Takes four-hour flight on a…

KEEGAN SWIRBUL CARBONDALE, COLORADO WHEN A CYCLIST beats Lance Armstrong, he doesn’t usually get invited to dinner and called the future of cycling by the sport’s disgraced but still competitive alpha male. But that’s what happened last August when 17-year-old Swirbul won the Power of Four mountain-bike race in Aspen, Colorado. Swirbul kept pace with Armstrong over 36 miles and 9,000 feet of vertical gain, then dropped him on a grueling final climb. At a time when cycling is in desperate need of a clean break from its past, Swirbul’s win put him at the front of a new crop of young riders and gave the sport a fresh face to celebrate. PEDIGREE: Swirbul’s talent for endurance racing became clear when he competed in a regional mountain-bike series as a…

FIVE YEARS AGO, Sir Ranulph Fiennes, often referred to as the world’s greatest living explorer, began plotting to knock off one of the last great milestones in polar exploration: skiing 2,000 miles across Antarctica in winter. Fiennes, who was the first to reach the North and South Poles by land and is the oldest Brit to have climbed Everest (at age 65), originally conceived the expedition as a two-man assault. But the mission was deemed so perilous—a rescue is nearly impossible in winter because of the cold—that Britain’s Foreign Office, which regulates journeys on Antarctica, refused to issue permits unless the expedition was completely self-sufficient. So Fiennes adapted. His expedition, dubbed the Coldest Journey, is now one of the largest nongovernment initiatives ever: a six-person, 200-ton caravan with more than…

For decades, Albania was an isolated backwater ruled by a dictator, Enver Hoxha, who refused to let anyone in or out of his sad little hellhole. Even after communism collapsed and the borders cracked, the war in neighboring Kosovo and gun-toting thugs kept the Adriatic nation a shadowland. What a difference a few years makes. Sandwiched between the former Yugoslavian republic of Montenegro to the north and Greece to the south, Albania today is rapidly playing catch-up, thanks to stabilization agreements with the European Union that dumped more than $700 million into the country. That’s good news for us: it’s every bit as beautiful as Croatia, far less polished, and home to a nascent adventure-tourism industry. Roads are slowly improving. New trails already wend through the rugged 8,000-foot Albanian Alps…

In the early seventies, bands of Australian backpackers discovered an obscure stepping stone in the Indonesia archipelago, Timor-Leste. There, about 380 miles north of Darwin, they found Edenic beaches, soaring mountains, and dense forests. It was cheap, gorgeous, authentic—and very short lived. From 1975–99, a vicious civil war tore the former Portuguese colony apart. Zip ahead 14 years and East Timor (it became independent in 2002) is exploding once again, this time in a promising way. Getting around can be tough on treacherous mountain roads, but the Timorese are taking strides to attract visitors. The swanky Timor Plaza Hotel, the country’s only four-star accommodations, is slated to open this year in Dili, the capital. Dive shops take aquanauts on scuba safaris around Nino Konis Santana National Park to drift with…

With hundreds of virgin summits, empty rivers, and staggering ice-curdled fjords, Greenland has long been a blue-ribbon destination for adventurers willing to wrestle logistical whales. Skiers traverse the Mexico-size ice sheet with kites. Climbers bag first ascents using boats as base camps. The entire 836,000-square-mile country has just 75 miles of roads and a population that could fit inside Dodger Stadium. Despite the limited infrastructure, the frosty playground is changing fast. Last summer, according to NASA researchers, a record 137 cubic miles of Greenland’s prehistoric ice sheet melted away for good. Traditional villages are thinning out as young people look for opportunity 2.0. Ships routinely haul in fishing quotas faster in bays that are thawing sooner. “You don’t need science to tell you about climate change,” says Bo Lings, owner…

Airlines are merging and prices are rising, but a few basic rules will save you time and money—and make your trip more comfortable. 1. Look for tickets on Tuesday or Wednesday—airlines announce discounts on Monday but then offer lower airfares to fill leftover seats fast. Also, most people book their flights immediately after payday. Avoid the resulting hike and book after the seventh of the month. 2. If you’re flying without a carry-on, try Spirit Airlines. Legacy carriers like Delta and United fold the fees into the price of everybody’s tickets. Spirit parses the expenses: don’t bring a carry-on, pay less to fly. (The downside: $35 for a carry-on spot when you book or $100 at the gate.) For checked luggage, Southwest gives you two free bags and charges $75…

SKIING Klipsch Image S4i Rugged, $100 The controls are big enough to use with gloves, and there’s a mic for chairlift calls. The resilient earbuds also deliver rich audio and are comfy under a helmet. klipsch.com SWIMMING Underwater Audio SwimBuds, $30 Water muffles sound, but the SwimBuds’ triple-flanged design keeps H2O out of your ear canals and the tunes crisp. Pair it with UA’s waterproofed iPod Shuffle ($149). underwateraudio.com RUNNING Yurbuds Ironman Inspire, $60 A twist-lock system keeps the earpieces in place even if you’re doing backflips (verified). They’re also water-resistant and have a built-in mic. Bummer: they’re plenty loud but light on the bass. yurbuds.com MULTISPORT Skullcandy Cassette, $50 The strength of these headphones is in their versatility: the removable headband (not shown) collapses for easy stashing, the ear…

ON A SUMMER DAY INSIDE THE PENTAGON, MARK CUCUZZELLA IS MOBILIZING THE TROOPS. “Everyone stand up. I want you to feel this,” Cucuzzella barks from the front of a big conference room. The audience is full of military officers dressed in Army or Marine Corps fatigues, Air Force blues, and Navy khakis. They’ve assembled in the Library and Conference Center, part of the Department of Defense’s massive headquarters in Arlington County, Virginia. The officers quickly get to their feet. “Now pretend like you’re jumping rope,” Cucuzzella says, and the officers start to quietly pogo off the balls of their feet. Epaulets bounce. Combat boots meet carpeted floor and produce muted thuds. “One, two, three! One, two, three!” Cucuzzella says. The officers speed up their hops to match his cadence. “Up…

1. Prepare your body. Do these strengthening exercises daily for two weeks before your first run in your new shoes, then keep doing them three times a week. >TOWEL CRUNCHES: Use your toes to pull a towel toward you. Do three sets of ten with each foot. >WEIGHTED-SOCK SWINGS: Loop a long sock with a one-to-two-pound weight between your big toe and other toes, then wrap the rest around your foot. Sit on an elevated surface and raise and lower your foot as much as you can, as if you’re stepping on and off a gas pedal. Then swing the sock through a wide pendulum. Do ten reps of each exercise twice, then switch to the other foot. >DONKEY KICKS: Get on your hands and knees. Raise one bent leg…

BY THE TIME JESSE EASTERLING STUMBLED INTO THE MOUNT EVEREST EMERGENCY CLINIC, HE WAS NEARLY INCOHERENT. It was a chilly afternoon at Base Camp, May 17, 2009—two days before the beginning of summit season, when a clear weather window would send hundreds of climbers scurrying up the south side of the peak. Easterling, a stocky 27-year-old insurance salesman from Seattle, entered the clinic—a simple tent staffed by two doctors—wearing a T-shirt and talking gibberish. “What’s your name?” asked Dr. Torrey Goodman, 53, an altitude specialist from Hawaii in her first season working on the mountain. Easterling mumbled something. She asked again. “What’s your name?” More gibberish; he couldn’t stop fidgeting. Goodman and the other doctor in the tent, Eric Johnson, a former president of the Wilderness Medical Society, were alarmed…

THESE DAYS exacting adventurers can specify the camber on a pair of Wagner wood skis, select hull materials on a P&H sea kayak, or put pumpkin seeds and cranberries in a Chocomize candy bar for about the same price as the premium off-the-rack version of each of those items. Made-to-order gear is nothing new, of course. Vans and Adidas have offered pick-your-color-scheme kicks for years, and boutique outfits like Feathered Friends and the Limmer custom-boot company have been crafting bespoke outerwear for even longer. What’s starting to change is everything in between. Due to a shifting global economy and technological advances, small-to-midsize companies are beginning to realize that letting customers put their stamp on the gear they buy is smart business. For starters, the availability of interactive Web tools has…