Table of contents for October 2014 in Outside

Justin turkowski Last May, Turkowski photographed his girlfriend, national spearfishing champion Kimi Werner, cruising past a pod of dolphins near Haleiwa, on Oahu’s North Shore. “There are a lot of dolphin boat tours in the area, but I rarely see pods on a dive,” says Turkowski, who lives nearby. “We were trying to get our heart rates down so we could go deeper, which is essential when diving, but it was hard because we were so excited.” THE TOOLS: Canon EOS 7D, Tokina 11–16mm f/2.8 lens, ISO 200, f/9, 1/320 second THEO ALLOFS During a trip to Namibia’s NamibRand Nature Reserve in March, Allofs was hoping to take a few bird’s-eye shots of the area’s wildlife from a powered paraglider, 600 feet above the ground, when he noticed these fairy…

GOPRO MADE its name with wearable cameras, but that’s just part of CEO Nick Woodman’s grand vision: to grow the company into a multiplatform media behemoth. In June, GoPro went public, raising $427 million and, despite analysts’ dour predictions, nearly doubling its share price to $49.90 in the first week. As part of its effort to expand beyond cameras, the company now sponsors athletes like Shaun White and events like the annual GoPro Mountain Games in Colorado (full disclosure: outside is a sponsor). In other words, GoPro has borrowed from the playbook of another single-product business: Red Bull. White used to be a Red Bull athlete, and Woodman cites founder Dietrich Mateschitz as a business idol. To further compete, says Paul Meeks, a tech-industry analyst at Saturna Capital, the company…

CHANNEL SURFERS, beware: as you flip through this year’s Halloween fright fests, remember that the genre’s most enduring villain isn’t the homicidal maniac—Michael Myers and his rubber mask or freddy Krueger and his ironic striped sweater. It’s the ghastly wilderness, the dark recesses of forests, canyons, and swamps that shelter all manner of big-screen evil, from the slimy gill-man in creature from the black lagoon to the hideous albino cave dwellers of the descent. Which raises the question: Just what’s so nightmarish about the natural world? for starters, you’re on your own, bub. As the tagline of low-budget deliverance rip-off hunter’s blood notes: “out there, no one hears you scream.” (Itself a rip-off of alien, incidentally.) You’re unlikely to be stalked and terrorized by deranged beasts or ax-wielding lunatics in…

BY ALL ACCOUNTS, Steve Moro was healthy. He had a nagging neck injury from a long-ago car accident, but the 49-year-old marketing consultant rode his bike at least five times a week near his Burlingame, California, home, and the last time he visited a doctor, he was told that everything was great. Still, he didn’t feel great. He wasn’t recovering from tough workouts like he once did. In 2011, on a group ride, Moro met Dr. Richard Lee, a professor of medicine at Stanford University and cofounder of GeneSolve, a concierge medical practice. Lee listened to Moro and said he could help. Before his first appointment, Moro filled out an exhaustive online survey about his health, diet, exercise, and prescriptions. Then one of GeneSolve’s nurse practitioners followed up with a…

THOUGH O’DONNELL has been competing in full Ironman triathlons for only three years, he’s already one of the best in the country. During his 2011 rookie season he won Ironman Texas, and his fifth-place finish made him the fastest American at the 2013 Ironman World Championship in Kona, Hawaii. Credit the discipline he gained at the U.S. Naval Academy, as well as inspiration from his wife, two-time Ironman world champion Mirinda Carfrae. This month in Kona, O’Donnell will try to end the U.S.’s 12-year absence from the top of the podium. BY GORDY MEGROZ • “All the training I do is based on heart rate. In the past, I would ride easy for six hours with my heart rate at 120. It was base mileage—time in the saddle—but I wasn’t…

THE AVALANCHE hit the first house at 120 miles per hour. It was February 2014, and the slide was triggered by a group of skiers and snowboarders on Mount Jumbo, the peak that looms above the college town of Missoula, Montana. An eight-year-old child playing outdoors was pressed into a wooden fence and buried. The force of the avalanche’s blast blew out the windows of a second home and broke branches 30 feet up a pine tree. A hundred rescuers attacked the pile with probes and shovels. They found the child, alive. Three hours later, they also found a retired University of Montana professor buried beneath his collapsed chimney. He survived, but his wife, who was found nearby, died in the hospital. The skiers and snowboarders were unhurt. The woman…

DISTRESS SIGNALS While false alarms from personal locator beacons, or PLBs, are common—only 5 percent of PLB calls are real emergencies— they’re less so with satellite messengers. That’s because PLBs are either on (“I need help!”) or off (”I’m fine”), while satellite devices allow you to send brief messages to rescuers or friends. (For more on each type, see “Make the Call,” opposite.) Due to privacy concerns, neither Spot nor DeLorme, the two largest sat-device makers, would share false-alarm data with us, but both claim that the features on their units make it far less likely that someone will call in the cavalry for an upset stomach. DANGERZONES BETWEEN 2009 AND 2013, THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE AVERAGED OVER 3,000 SEARCH-AND-RESCUE DEPLOYMENTS EACH YEAR. HERE’S WHERE WE WERE, WHAT WE WERE…

BEST FOR: SPRING CORN Bergans Utakleiv $189 With its long hem, high collar, and hood, the Utakleiv is a soft shell designed to fend off unexpected weather, making it ideal for those late-season ski days when nasty squalls intrude on bluebird skies. pit zips cooled us down on sweaty boot-packs, and assorted pockets keep ipod, wallet, and avalanche beacon conveniently within reach. 22 oz; bergans.com BEST FOR: ARCTIC COLD Arc’teryx Ceres $750 Arc’teryx stuffed its expedition-grade Ceres with lofty 850-fill down and cleverly substituted synthetic insulation in key moisture-prone areas like the cuffs and collar and around the zippers. it’s a puffy that’s ready for the elements and still holds its loft even after hundreds of days cramming it into a pack. Add to that water-resistant Windstopper fabric to ward…

Status: Away Like a lot of people who work in the media, I got hooked on Twitter from the moment I created my profile. I found it to be an excellent source of news and opinions, a great way to meet colleagues, and an amazing tool for connection and participation during big events, whether a presidential debate or a World Cup game. over time, there were also periods when the platform became the ultimate procrastination device, leaving me distracted and exhausted. eventually I had to curtail my use, acknowledging that it was hurting productivity. That was probably a smart move, but the decision felt like defeat. Whenever I logged on, there were people I followed who seemed to have a near constant presence, apparently immune to the distractions I couldn’t…

WHEN THE cool nights of autumn arrive, there are few things I enjoy as much as a big fire. for that I need a substantial amount of timber, which means that I get to partake in another favorite seasonal activity: cutting firewood. Harvesting your own wood before winter sets in is a blast—great weather, great exercise—except for one thing: the cutting itself can be a pain. gas-powered saws have temperamental motors and leave you choking on fumes; the old 18-volt cordless variety tended to balk at anything thicker than a baseball bat and had dismal battery life. that’s why the 56-volt ego Power+ chainsaw is such a welcome addition to my arsenal. the brushless motor fires up at the flip of a switch and runs more efficiently. I was able…

IN THE OPENING scene of the short film “14.c,” which played to a sold-out crowd at Mountainfilm in Telluride this year, Kai Lightner hangs from a sandstone roof on Trebuchet, a 5.14b route in West Virginia’s New River Gorge. He pauses, legs dangling a hundred feet off the forest floor, then calmly pulls himself through the crux, his right heel hooked to an impossibly small ledge. It’s the kind of move you’d expect from a bouldering great like Daniel Woods or Adam Ondra, and it’s even more astonishing because Lightner was just 14. Now 15, the high school sophomore already has a packed resume, including seven USA Climbing youth national championships. Next year he plans to aim even higher. BORN THIS WAY: Lightner started climbing at a small gym in…

CHIA Serving: 2 tablespoons Protein: 3.3 grams Calcium: 129 milligrams Iron: 1.6 milligrams PUMPKIN Serving: ¼ cup Protein: 10 grams Calcium: 15 milligrams Iron: 2.8 milligrams CASHEWS Serving: ¼ cup Protein: 5 grams Calcium: 15 milligrams Iron: 2 milligrams HEMP Serving: 2 tablespoons Protein: 5 grams Calcium: 29 milligrams Iron: 2.8 milligrams FLAX Serving: 2 tablespoons Protein: 3 grams Calcium: 36 milligrams Iron: 1 milligram ALMONDS Serving: ¼ cup Protein: 8 grams Calcium: 96 milligrams Iron: 1.3 milligrams Claims that chia seeds increase endurance have yet to be backed by research, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t eat them. two ounces contains 360 milligrams of calcium—more than a full glass of milk. Pumpkin seeds are a terrific source of iron—a mineral often depleted during intense exercise—and provide high levels of…

LAST YEAR IN NAZARE, PORTUGAL, THE BRAZILIAN SURFER NEARLY DROWNED WHILE TRYING TO RIDE THE BIGGEST WAVE EVER SURFED BY A WOMAN. MOST OF THE ALPHA MALES WHO DOMINATE THE SPORT SAY GABEIRA DOESN’T BELONG IN THEIR RANKS, BUT AS MATT SKENAZY FOUND OUT, NOTHING WILL STOP HER FROM GOING BACK IN. THE MORNING SHAKES WITH A DULL AND CONSTANT ROAR. Clad in a wetsuit and inflatable life vest, Maya Gabeira turns the throttle on her jet ski and motors out of the Portuguese harbor of Nazaré. The sun is just rising over the red tile roofs on shore. Riding alongside her is Carlos Burle, her big-wave-surfing mentor and tow-in partner of eight years. Two fellow surfers are on board with them: Felipe “Gordo” Cesarano is sitting behind Burle, and…

1. Pack the bombproof North Face Base Camp XL duffel with food, cash, batteries, and warm clothes, and stash it in your trunk. $170; thenorthface.com 2. Duct tape. Seal doors and windows in the event of a chemical spill, or safely remove glass shards from broken windows. $5; ducktape.com 3. Outdoor Products 9.5-by-12-foot tarp. Use it as a shelter, a rain trap, and even a makeshift raft. $60; outdoorproducts.com 4. Trash bags. Stuff them with leaves to make a warm blanket. $8 for 25; glad.com 5. Strong synthetic rope. $7 for 50 feet of three-millimeter cord; pmirope.com 6. A multitool like the Leatherman Charge TTi is ideal for small repairs. $170; leatherman.com 7. Kitty litter. Portable traction anywhere. $12 for 26 pounds; armandhammer.com 8. Black diamond’s Evac 7 shovel is…

ONE NIGHT, LATE IN THE SUMMER OF 2012, discussion at my dinner table turned to the venerable topic of What to Be When You Grow Up. My older son, Griffin, then nine years old, wanted to be an “underwater pale -ontologist.” His little brother, Huck, then seven, wanted to be a monkey. “Do you know what I do for a living?” I asked Huck. His eyes grew wide. “All you do is sit on your computer and say, ’Blah blah blah Congress, blah blah blah Mitt Romney’!” We all—OK, mostly my wife—got a big laugh out of that. For my birthday that year, she and the boys gave me a print emblazoned with BLAH BLAH BLAH. It’s hanging in my office. Huck was not wrong. At the time, I was…

LEATHER is the original soft shell. it’s relatively breathable and fairly water-resistant, making it ideal for variable conditions. THE PRO MODEL designed for professional mountain men, the eddie Bauer guide is packed with features—like primaloft gold on the back and insulation on the palm that resists packing down by ski poles. they’re also great for rope work, if you’re into that sort of thing. $129; eddie bauer.com THE SWEDISH CLASSIC Family-owned swedish manufacturer Hestra has been making wool and leather work gloves for four generations. its Fall line demonstrates how well the company has dialed in the details, from exterior seams that improve dexterity and minimize contact—think seamless undies—to plush neoprene wrist closures for bomber insulation. $145; hestragloves.com THE ORIGINAL this is the glove that started it all. introduced in…

IT’S ONLY ten minutes long, but Sweetgrass Productions’ Afterglow is arguably the most cin-ematically profound ski movie ever made. The clip was shot entirely at night—a first for the genre—deep in the backcountry of British Columbia and Alaska, and the breathtaking footage achieved by the Sweetgrass team did not come easily. Nick waggoner, Sweet-grass’s 28-year-old founder and the director of After -glow, oversaw crews that illuminated ski runs as long as 2,500 feet using washing-machine-size lights that were airlifted—along with scaffolding, wires, and generators—onto four-by-four-foot platforms. Octo-copter drones and on-the ground cameras captured skiers clad in LED-studded jumpsuits, leaving bright contrails of billowy powder behind them. It’s beautiful and eerie and looks expensive—and it was. “I’m not willing to say how much we spent on this project,” says Waggoner, but…

PLENTY OF companies like doing good—Patagonia has long donated 1 percent of its sales to environmental causes. But enlightened capitalism has its risks: Ceos are duty-bound to maximize profits, and they gamble with their jobs if they invest too heavily in living wages or sustainable materials. So when Davis Smith founded apparel brand Cotopaxi in 2013, he registered it as a benefit corporation, which allows executives to pursue the public good in addition to profit. “I don’t have to worry about being sued by shareholders,” he says. “we’re a business, but the core of the brand is about helping people.” It’s an idea that’s picking up steam. Maryland first introduced the designation in 2010. Since then, 24 states (plus washington, D.C.) have followed suit, and more than 950 benefit corporations…

WE’VE COME A LONG way from 2011’s Tarmacgate, when 100-odd JetBlue passengers were stranded for seven hours on the runway. Delays are down, airlines are investing in posh new terminals, and the app revolution and sharing economy mean that there are more options than ever when it comes to flights, lodging, and staying connected. Still, it’s not all gravy. Airfares are up, partly due to a spate of mergers, and United, American, Delta, and Southwest now account for the majority of domestic seats. What does that mean? There’s no simple way to game the system, and airlines will gouge you for food, bags, and legroom. Then there are the challenges of staying healthy and safe while abroad. Follow these indispensable rules and they will change the way you travel. Oh,…

1. The Stick Sprinter With the Sprinter, you control the pressure, so rolling out large muscles like quads or hamstrings takes just a swipe. And because it’s thin and only 19 inches long, it travels easy, too. $35; thestick.com 2. NormaTec MVP Recovery system Hook up the compression boots (not shown) to boost circulation to tired muscles. Arm and hip sleeves (from $450) complete the package. $1,750; normatecrecovery.com 3. 110% Double Life shin/ calf sleeves The tried-and-true rest-ice-compression-elevation (RICE) recovery protocol has never been simpler, thanks to 110%. Its compression sleeves have pockets that hold the included ice packs. AISO available for knees, thighs, and arms. From $50; 110playharder.com 4. Marc Pro electrical muscle stimulator Electrical stimulators like the Marc pro create small contractions that increase blood flow to sore…

1. You’re cycling on a two-lane highway in rural South Carolina when a truck full of teenagers forces you off the narrow shoulder toward a ditch. What do you do? • A. Try to grab the tailgate to keep yourself upright. Let go when the road widens or reaches an intersection. • B. Drop the hammer and show those hicks what your quads can do. • C. Dive headfirst into the ditch. Helmet technology has come a long way in the past few years. • D. Stay clipped in, keep your grip on the handlebar, and try to roll on one shoulder as you go ass over teakettle into the ditch. 2. It’s the middle of your sailing adventure from Florida to the Virgin Islands, and a solar flare takes…

MICHAEL UTLEY DOES NOT REMEMBER MUCH ABOUT HIS DEATH. Over the years, he has woven together a narrative of what happened using threads collected from witnesses, friends, and family. On May 8, 2000, Utley, a 48-year-old stockbroker, was golfing with his coworkers Dick Gill and Bill Todd, along with their friend Jim Sullivan, in the village of Pocasset, Massachusetts, about three miles south of the Cape Cod Canal. Shortly after lunch, the dark clouds that had been mushrooming in the distance all morning were hovering close enough to merit the bleating of the course’s storm horn—time to clear the green. Gill, Todd, and Sullivan immediately headed toward the clubhouse. Utley walked back to the hole and returned the flagstick. Seconds later, the guys in front heard a thunderous crack and…

I WEAR A LOT OF WOOL. Always have. And while I love my merino boxers, socks, and base layers, my favorite woolen top is probably the first one I can remember coveting: a Pendleton shirt. I was an impressionable teen at a canoeing camp in Wisconsin’s Northwoods; the counselors were the coolest guys on the planet. They taught me the lyrics to Jimmy Buffet tunes and how to do truly remarkable things, like start a wet fire with birch bark and flip a canoe from your knees onto your shoulders. “When it got cold at night, they put on Pendleton shirts, like the Snap-Front Canyon pictured here. Naturally, I begged my parents for one when I got home—and haven’t stopped wearing them since. It’s not as soft as merino, but…

HOW TO: SHOOT LIKE A PRO TIPS FROM COREY RICH >Approach selfies like portraits. pay attention to composition. >Let it blur. if you shoot something in motion at 1/1,000 second, it looks frozen in time. But action shots turn creamy and beautiful at 1/5 second. >Use backlighting. expose for shadows. Cut off body parts. Break the rules and find what works. >Alter the angle. lie on your stomach; stand on top of a car. it’s the only way to see things differently. PEAK DESIGN CAPTURE POV CLIP If you’ve ever tried mounting an action cam onto a chest strap or backpack, you’ll know that it’s almost impossible to get smooth footage while on the move. peak design solved this problem with the Capture clip, which uses a stabilizing pad, locking…