Outside July 2018

The first time I took an international trip on my own I was 23. I bought a one-way ticket to Taibei, where I planned to teach English and earn enough money to travel the world. The only wrinkle: I had no job lined up, no contacts in the city, and no idea where I was going to stay. My flight arrived at 10 P.M., and after clearing customs I jumped on a shuttle bus. By the time the driver pulled over at a busy intersection, it was well past midnight. Was this the final stop? I was jet-lagged and completely disoriented. So, like millions of travelers before me, I turned to my Lonely Planet guidebook. Then I jumped in a cab and pointed to the Chinese characters next to a…

Carving a Legacy in Snow In our April issue, contributing editor Christopher Solomon chronicled the life and tragic death of Adam Roberts (“A Terror Way Beyond Falling”), a prolific skier who struggled with mental illness. Readers connected with Roberts’s story and told us why. Thank you for posting the video “Remembering Adam Roberts” (online). Reading the magazine story after working the night shift left me wrung out, because I could relate to some of his personal torture. Watching the video, about the passionate life that he led, lightened my heart. Rest easy, Adam. Mike Deubel Powder Springs, Georgia I appreciate this story very much. It helps to know the truth about the unconventional among us. They are often very bright stars struggling to control their gifts, thoughts, and impulses. I’m sure he is loved and…

When Outside sent photographer Jesse Burke on writer W. Hodding Carter’s attempt to reenact Benedict Arnold’s 1775 journey to Quebec (“Up the Creek,” page 74), the two men may not have been on the same page about just how historical the reenactment was going to be. Carter had enlisted the help of a four-person crew and was determined to leave no detail overlooked—right down to the drop-front pants, leaky boat, and, yes, rum rations. “Both the original feat and the re-creation were just nutty,” says Burke. The biggest difference: Carter wasn’t quite as ruthless as Arnold was. “The group invited me into their inner circle really quickly, and it started to feel like I was part of the community,” he says. First Things We’re Reading in July Two titles from Outside writers…

YES, DOPERS SUCK. And it’s true that no sport has been as plagued by performance-enhancing drugs as professional cycling. In the early 20th century, riders used cocaine (to pedal faster) and morphine (to hurt less). The extreme doping that turned Tour de France cyclists into superhumans started in the early nineties. It was about a decade later that Lance Armstrong settled on his favorite cocktail, an elaborate mix that included injections of EPO to boost the amount of oxygen his blood could carry, IV bags of his own blood that he’d siphoned during the off-season to further heighten oxygen levels, and testosterone patches to aid in muscle recovery. Consider that age the Open Class Doping Era. It lasted about 20 years. As my friend and colleague John Bradley wrote in these…

IT’S EARLY NOVEMBER, and head-high surf pounds the Pismo Beach Pier, on California’s central coast. But Chris Burkard has solid footing on the railing. Without hesitation he bends his knees, pivots 180 degrees, and backflips into the great Pacific washing machine. I lose sight of him for what feels like a minute before he appears in the whitewash. Another monster wave rumbles in. Burkard catches it and bodysurfs to shore. “That’s not warm,” he yells, shaking out his wet hair like a dog. “I don’t drink coffee. I have a hard time focusing, but all I need to do is jump in the ocean.” “Not warm” is hard to believe coming from someone who treads water next to icebergs. When the 32-year-old photographer isn’t working in eastern Greenland or Alaska, he’s here,…

Chris Burkard is almost always traveling in search of great photo subjects (see “Vision Quest,” page 16), and time and again he finds himself drawn to cold-water environments. “Sitting in freezing water trying to photograph with numb hands is exactly the sort of adventure I’m searching for,” Burkard says. For this photo, he convinced his friend, big-wave surfer Keith Malloy, to hop on a last-minute flight with him and go hunt swells on the south coast of Iceland. Midtrip, though, they reached the glacial lagoon Jökulsárlón and spent an hour paddling around icebergs. “Later on we ended up getting really good surf,” Burkard says, “but this was still one of our favorite experiences.” —MARLEY WALKER On Burkard’s first winter trip to Iceland, in 2012, he and some friends set out before…