Q&A with Into the Wild Stunt Double

Last year, professional kayaker Marlow Long, a producer with Young Guns Productions, got a call from Hollywood. A film crew was looking for a stunt double for some kayak scenes and Long, a 23-year-old with shaggy blond hair and a fit build, looked the part. The film, he would find out, was being directed by Sean Penn. It was a remake of the 1996 book Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer, which began as a story in Outside’s January 1993 issue. The story, as we all know now, was about 22-year-old Christopher McCandless, who, in 1992, walked into the Alaskan wilderness and never returned. In the film, Sean Penn wanted to include kayak footage from the Grand Canyon, since McCandless had once paddled nearly 400 miles on the Colorado River. They brought in North Carolina-based Long as their expert, and for 14 days in June 2006, he gave kayak lessons to Emile Hirsch, the actor playing the part of McCandless, and posed as McCandless on the bigger rapids. Look for a behind-the-scenes interview with the cast and crew of Into the Wild in Outside’s September issue, on stands August 14, by Outside editor Christopher Keyes (Watch a preview for the film and hear a podcast interview with Keyes on his experience reporting the story here). But for now, we caught up with Long to find out what it’s like when Hollywood pays you to kayak.

Outside: So they must have paid you the big bucks.
Marlow Long: Let’s just say I made the same amount in two weeks working with the film crew as I normally do in an entire year as a pro paddler, earning a salary from my sponsors.

Outside: What exactly did they have you doing?
Long: I taught Emile kayak techniques, everything from how to roll, to how to read water and how to maneuver his boat. We were using really long, old boats, so mainly I was showing him how to be comfortable in the boat. And then for the big wave trains, they shot me to be his double.

Outside: So when we watch the movie, can we tell it’s you and not Emile?
Long: If you slow down the clips on the big rapids, you can tell it’s me. But they even put makeup on me to make me look more like him.

Outside: How did the actor hold up when he was on the river?
Long: Emile had been in a kayak a long time ago, and he’s a pretty athletic kid, so he picked things up easily. The first time he tried to roll his kayak, he actually did it. It was crazy. But then he couldn’t do it again. He was fine in the flat water, but he was super timid in the whitewater.

Outside: What about Sean Penn?
Long: He’s a bit of surfer, so he was pretty comfortable in the water, too, but not really in the whitewater. At one point, Sean and I took a two-person kayak down. He sat in the front, holding a 15mm camera, and I was in the back, steering and paddling. The waves were huge and we totally submerged the boat.

Outside: Where did you guys sleep while you were in the canyon?
Long: We camped along the river. The funniest thing was seeing the Hollywood people hanging out in the wilderness. Some of them had never camped before.

Outside: Wow, so you were really re-living McCandless' adventure.
Long: It was fully catered. We hardly starved.

U.S. Last in Fuel Economy Standards

The United States is once again below the curve in environmental grades, this time ranking dead last in vehicle fuel-economy standards for industrialized nations, according to a report from the International Council on Clean Transportation. 

But the report also shows that the America would jump up on the list if legislation under consideration by Congress were passed into law, according to Reuters, who obtained a copy of the report. 

Fuel efficiency requirements for U.S. passenger cars have not changed since 1985, but the legislation currently under review, which the Senate passed earlier this year, would raise the requirement from 27.5 miles per gallon to 35 by 2020.

The increased fuel economy would help the United States surpass Canada, Australia, and South Korea in vehicle fuel standards, according to the ICCT, a coalition of transportation and air-quality experts from around the world that promote more fuel-efficient vehicles.    

Or, if the United States wanted to jump to the top of the list, it could mandate a switch to the Toyota Prius, which the Swiss just deemed the greenest car on the planet.  The change would drastically reduce C02 emissions, no doubt, and likely cut our dependency on foreign oil, but who would balance out the curve?   

Tour de France: Final Thoughts and a Changing of the Guard

The most difficult Tour to watch in the 20-plus years I've been watching them finished yesterday. I was on vacation for the final nine days of the race and limited to one or two hurried checks of the cycling sites each day, when I had time and a wi-fi connection. This turned into a daily pattern of turning on the computer, hoping to read race results but instead seeing a headline of another huge name going down in a doping scandal, feeling physically ill, then half-heartedly checking the standings of the riders still in the race. Happened again today, actually, when the news broke that Iban Mayo—a one-time Tour hopeful who had enjoyed a resurgent season after several underperforming years and was challenging for the yellow jersey in France—tested positive for EPO during the Tour. Guess we know how the resurgence happened.

During Lance Armstrong' reign, the talk on the final day of the Tour always turned to questions of whether or not he could come back and win again next year. During the 48 hours that Floyd Landis was a scandal-free Tour champion last summer, everyone was talking about whether or not he'd be able to come back from hip-replacement surgery to defend his title. But there hasn't really been much talk of next year in the wake of the 2007 Tour. When every day brings news of another rider getting banned from the sport, and when we still don't know the official winner of last year's Tour, talking about next year seems a little premature.

Here’s the thing, though: I’m optimistic. Guardedly so, sure. But still optimistic. Riders who were around in the drug-fueled '90s—riders who have dominated cycling until this season—still stick to the script when talking about drugs in the sport. But there’s a wave of younger riders who are more outspoken about the problem than any of their predecessors. And, to their credit, they do not seem to hold the veteran racers beyond reproach. It's great to see 24-year-old riders talking candidly about the damage Alexandre Vinokourov, Michael Rasmussen, and their blood-boosting cohorts have done to the sport. The young guard of the sport even staged a protest during a late stage of the Tour, stopping in the middle of the road and forcing the veterans—including soon-to-be-fired yellow jersey Rasmussen—to ride around them.

If you ask me, there are way too many men who raced in the doping heyday of the '90s now in management positions within the pro teams. Men with secrets shouldn't be running teams full of men with similar secrets. I wish more squads would follow the example of T-Mobile and hire as their managers people from outside the cycling world, men who have never been in Michele Ferrari’s motor home or ridden for Jan Ullrich.

Still, it truly does seem like things are getting better. A few teams have begun instituting internal doping controls that are nearly impossible for their riders to evade, the UCI and WADA are catching more cheats than ever before, and Rasmussen didn’t fail any tests at all. He was kicked out of the Tour and fired by his team—while wearing the yellow jersey!—simply because people didn’t trust him. That is unprecedented in sport. Any sport. Imagine a zero-tolerance policy like that in baseball. If the Majors banned players they didn’t trust, Hank Aaron’s home-run record would be plenty safe.

Yes, this Tour was hard to watch. But it was hard to watch like it would be hard to see your close friend go through an intervention. It’s messy, but it’s for the best. And if the message sticks, everything will get back to how it should be. I think we’ll look back on this Tour as a necessary and successful changing of the guard in cycling. That may sound naïve in light of the past two weeks, but that’s what I honestly believe. Plus, the alternative would just be too painful. Because, at the end of the day, I still love this sport too much to walk away. So congratulations, Alberto Contador and Linus Gerdemann; congratulations, Cadel Evans and Tom Boonen; and congratulations, WADA and all your anti-drug chemists. We're counting on you.

—John Bradley

(Photo by Beth Schneider)

QuiksilverEdition Paddleboard World Championships

Six-time champion, Australian Jamie Mitchell took the 11th Annual QuiksilverEdition Molokai to Oahu Paddleboard Race for a ride Sunday, winning in record time--four hours, 48 minutes, and 23 seconds. With 15-to-20 knot easterlies and open ocean swells of four to six feet, it's no wonder Mitchell was stoked on the hundred-yard glides he kept having.

"I trained the hardest I've ever trained the past three or four months for this race," Mitchell said of the 32-mile race across the challenging Ka-iwi Channel, "It's really satisfying to know that the hard work paid off."

More appropriatly applauded for her stalwart performance is 22-year-old Australian Shakira Westdorp--a rookie who gave five-time and defending champion Kanesa Duncan a run for her money. Westdorp took first place only five minutes before Duncan landed on the Oahu shore with a time of five hours, 59 minutes, and 52 seconds, and she had to fix a broken rudder mid-crossing.

Westdorp wasn't the only first in the competition; Stand-up paddleboarding made a debut in this year's World Championships as its own major division. The winner? Kevin Horgan. By 13 seconds. Horgan overtook second place Victor Marcal in the last mile.

Horgan competed two years ago as the only solo stand-up paddler, finishing after 10 hours. Of his six hour win, he said "I just chopped off four hours! Waterman can, that's my motto."

How'd he do it?

"Earlier this summer I did a four-day, 175-mile paddle from New York City to Newport, Rhode Island," Horgan said, "That was the perfect training for today."

Tour de France Stage 18: The Penultimate Leg

Outsprinting three breakaway companions for first place in Friday's 131-mile leg, from Cahors to Angouleme, was France's Sandy Casar, a member of the Francais Des Jeux team. Alberto Contador maintained his overall lead with one minute and 59 seconds over Cadel Evans of Predictor-Lotto. Levi Leipheimer kept his third place standing overall, only two minutes and 49 seconds behind Contador.

Saturday, at the Tour's time trial and final stage, from Cognac back to Angouleme, it could be any of the three top riders' game. The riders will take off three minutes apart in reverse order (Leipheimer then Evans then Contador) onto the 34.5-mile course. With a three minute overall lead on Leipheimer, Contador has a good chance of catching up with the Discovery Channel team member since he's starting only six minutes after him.

The west to east direction of the time trial course should give the riders a tailwind and the course only varies by 350 feet which will give Evans the advantage, the New York Times reported. Evans finished the first time trial in second place, behind the now absent Vinokourov.

"It will be the most difficult day of my sporting career," yellow jersey holder, Contador, told the NY Times, "It could change my life."

Above Photo:

Sandy Casar celebrates the win. (Beth Schneider)

Tour de France Stage 17: A Clean(?) Slate

So far so good on the Tour front. It seems they've made it through a day without expulsions, explosions, and other abnormalities (or should we call them normalities at this point?).

Italian Daniele Bennati's quick stride shot him into first today during the final sprint of the 17th leg of the race giving him the first Tour stage win of his career. The 114-mile stage from Pau to Castelsarrasin took the Lampre Fondital team member four hours, 14 minutes, and four seconds to complete. Germany's Markus Fothen came in second with Martin Elmiger, of Switzerland, right behind in third.

Sliding into the position of overall leader is Spain's Alberto Contador. He had been trailing Michael Rasmussen in second up until Rasmussen's dismissal from the race after Wednesday's leg. Contador leads with one minute, 53 seconds over Cadel Evans of Australia. American cyclist, Levi Leipheimer, is in third, two minutes and 49 seconds behind.

As reported on the Tour's Web site, it's been 16 years since a stage began with no yellow jersey holder—that was when Rolf Sorenson crashed and was too injured to continue racing.

(Left, Daniele Bennati celebrates the win; right, Alberto Contador in the yellow jersey,)

Photos by Beth Schneider

Dam Control

More than four thousand pounds of explosives were used to blast the top off of Marmot Dam Tuesday, marking the beginning of largest dam removal in the Pacific Northwest in more than forty years. 

Eight feet of concrete was removed from the 47-foot high dam, and five more blast over the next two months, in addition to jackhammers working daily, will bring down 100-year-old structure sometime this fall.  The removal is being coordinated between Portland General Electric, which oversaw operation of the dam, and nearly two dozen environmental, civic, and governmental organizations.    

“Today this partnership took a great step toward restoring a breathtaking river for fish, wildlife and people,” Peggy Fowler, Portland General Electric President and CEO, said in a statement.

The removal will renew 100 miles of steelhead habitat and 11.5 miles of class IV whitewater. 

The project also kicks off the removal of eight more dams in the next five years in the Pacific Northwest, which we chronicled in our August issue. 

To see a video of the blast, check out marmotdam.com.

Tour de France Stage 16: Tour de Soap Opera

Wednesday was a wild one in the French Alps. It began with riders protesting the current doping scandal and, after winning the 136-mile 16th leg up the Pyrenees to the Col d'Aubisque and maintaining the title of winner overall, it ended with Michael Rasmussen being kicked off the Tour for lying about his whereabouts during training. It was revealed that Rasmussen had been training in Italy, despite telling team officials he was in Mexico. A decision is being made Thursday whether the whole Rabobank team will leave the race or not.

Three minutes and 10 seconds behind Rasmussen, in Wednesday's race, was Alberto Contador of the Discovery Channel team followed by Predictor-Lotto's Cadel Evans coming in five minutes and three seconds behind the leader.

Another rider pulled off the Tour today was French Cofidis team member Cristian Moreni of Italy. Having tested positive for manufactured testosterone earlier in the race, Moreni was led away by police at the end of the 16th leg and has been expelled.

As if all the doping scandal wasn't enough, the New York Times reported that two small explosions went off along the race route in Spain. The second explosion occurred before the riders arrived so there were no injuries. The Associated Press reported the explosions followed a warning from the Basque separatist group ETA.

(Photos by Beth Schneider)

Crikey, "Croc Hunter" Gets Wildlife Preserve

Steve Irwin, the late Australian conservationist known as the "Crocodile Hunter," will be commemorated with a new wildlife reserve in Australia named in his honor.

The soon to be Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve is a 333,585 hectare chunk of land in Irwin’s home state of Queensland that is home to the endangered northern quoll, a carnivorous marsupial, and the speartooth shark.   

The land was purchased by the Australian government and the park will be managed by the Irwin’s family.  The popular television host was killed last September when a poisonous stingray barb pierced his chest.

After his death, his family vowed to continue his conservation efforts.

“Steve was in awe of the prolific wildlife of the Wenlock and Ducie rivers bordering the reserve and he would have been proud to see the property protected as a wildlife reserve,” Terri Irwin, Steve’s widow, told the AP. 

Tour de France Stage 15: Vino Battles Back

Favorite and Kazakh, Alexandre Vinokourov, stole the win Monday in the 15th leg of the Tour--a 122-mile ride from Foix to Loudenvielle-Le Louron--with a sprint on the last five climbs of the stage. He ended with a time of five hours, 35 minutes, and 28 second.

It was Vinokourov's fifth stage win in his Tour career and his second this year. He took first in Saturday's time trials in Albi, however, couldn't quite hold suit on Sunday when he lost nearly 29 minutes to overall leader, Michael Rasmussen, after a spectator's flag intertwined with a teammate's wheel, causing the him to crash into Vinokourov.

"I wasn't motivated yesterday...but the team told me I could still win stages. I gave my all," Vinokourov told the Associated Press Monday.

During the 15th leg, Rasmussen maintained the overall race lead by securing the second podium spot, coming in five minutes and 31 seconds behind Vinokourov. Siding up to Rasmussen, 24-year-old Spaniard, Alberto Contador, slid in two minutes and 23 seconds later. He is second overall with Australia's Cadel Evans currently in third, U.S. rider Levi Leipheimer trailing in fourth, and German Andreas Kloeden rounding out the top five.

Tuesday will be a day of rest for the riders before they embark on a 135-mile stage that hikes up two category one climbs and two "beyond category" climbs to the peak of the Col d'Aubisque.

(Photo by Beth Schneider)

We So Called That

Last week at the Hardrock 100 ultrarun, near Silverton, Colorado, Patagonia ambassador Krissy Moehl, knocked a half-hour off the previous course record. Now, a moment of self-congratulation: In our 25th Anniversary issue, Krissy was one of the 25-year-old athletes who we thought would soon be making her mark. Here she is making good on that prediction, just in time for her, and our, 30th birthdays.

Alan Webb Smashes American Record in the Mile

Alan Webb broke a quarter-century-old American track record in the mile on Saturday, running 3:46.91 
at a meet in Belgium, breaking track and field hall-of-famer Steve Scott's time of 3:47.69.

 

The time makes Webb the eighth fastest miler in history. Webb, 24, has been having a tremendous year, breaking several of Scott's meet records at major competitions around the country, and ran the fastest 1,500 meter time in the world so far in 2007 on July 6, 3:30.54. So it wasn't entirely unexpected that he'd be challenging Scott's time in this marquee distance for track and field. He did it July 21 at the Atletiek Vlaanderenmeet, a low-profile track meet in Belgium, running the four laps in 56.1, 57.4, 56.8 and 56.2 seconds, according to his agent, Ray Flynn. Webb says his next goal is the world record, 3:43.13, held by Hicham El Guerrouj since 1999.

Steve Scott's time has been a target for American milers since he set it in 1982.

Scott issued this statement through U.S. Track and Field: "I'm happy that it was Alan who broke it, and I believe at the end of the day, when all is said and done, that people will consider him the greatest distance runner America has ever had. He has such range, he's so young and he's accomplished so much. I have nothing to be ashamed of, losing the record to him. "

Here's the transcript of the teleconference Webb had after the meet, provided courtesy of U.S. Track and Field. The photo of Alan was also provided by U.S. Track and Field.

Q: Alan, tell us about your race.

A: It was a cool race because the meet itself was very low-key. There wasn't a huge crowd. I felt really, really good. I had two pace-setters. It was basically me and two pace-setters from the start. I just got right on their tails, and one guy went through 800 and another guy through 1200. We were about 2:49 at 1,200 meters. At that point, I gave it everything I had. The chips fell where they were, and here we are.

Q: Were your splits a little slower early on than during your race in Paris?

A: It was a little bit slower than planned. We slowed down the second lap. The second pace-setter kind of fell off a little bit. I was a little worried he wasn't going to be able to go the whole way. I think he might have been hurting a little bit and wanted to be sure he could get through in a decent time. We slowed down the second lap, which is kind of unusual for a world-class 1500 or mile.

The planned pace was 2:48 [for 1200m] but we ended up being about 2:49. That wasn't exactly ideal, but I was confident because I felt really good. It's one of those things you've got to roll with the punches. They did a really good job and obviously I broke the record so I can't complain.

Q: Which meant more, breaking this record or breaking Jim Ryun's record when you were in high school?

A: Definitely this one, mostly because I was shooting for it. This race was set up so I could do this. When I broke Jim Ryun's record I really wasn't sure if I could do it since I had only run 3:59 at that time. My senior year in high school I wasn't trying to run 3:53, I was just working as hard as I could. Obviously it was a goal, the world record has been my goal since I was 14, but it wasn't as planned to go for it that day, whereas this was very planned. I wanted to run under 3:47.59.

Q: What were your thoughts when you hit three-quarters of a mile at 2:49, did you feel good about your chances to break the record?

A: Definitely. I knew I had a little bit left going with a lap to go. I felt I had a really good chance.

Q: At one point did you think you might have to seek out and set up a race of your own in order to break the record?

A: I knew I had to do it at some point this year. This whole spring we were talking to different meets to see who wanted to put on a full mile. Nobody was really cooperating, so we said we'll just set up our own.

Q: What is now at the top of your goal list?

A: That's easy, man. World record - that's the next thing. There's only one more record that I really want, and that's the world record. That may be more of a long-term goal, but it's been the goal my whole life. At this point, my short-term goal is Osaka and to become the best miler in the world, here and now. My next goal is to be the best miler in the world and win worlds.

Q: Was there a 1500 split?

A: I think it was 3:31.5-ish. [For the entire race], I wanted to run under 3:47. Now I can say I'm a 3:46 guy, which is pretty cool.

Q: There were a lot of other American athletes Americans at the meet. Were they cheering you on?

A: That was the coolest part, because the biggest crowd was the 30 Americans who drove up with me. It was athletes cheering on athletes. It was so awesome to have those guys there and it really inspired me to be able to do something like that at an intimate situation where those other athletes got to see it first-hand, right there. They were steps away from me. With 300 to go, all the Americans were stationed right there, so it was so cool.

Q: What does this do for your confidence in Osaka, and what is the difference for you in running a championship race vs. a one-off mile.

A: For Osaka, it gives me confidence because I know I can run fast. I think my race in Paris gave me more confidence for Osaka. Today it was me and a couple of pace-setters, so I was alone out there. It's different when you've got other guys around you. Running a championship race is very different than what I did tonight. It gives me confidence and tells me I'm moving in the right direction, but there's still lots of work to be done. Osaka is a separate thing.

Q: You said you had planned this race out. Did that present any mental challenges to you during the race?

A: Yes and no. It was almost like a positive and a negative. Because it was so planned out and everybody knew about it, that adds a little bit of pressure. But at the same time, if you were there, it was so low-key. It was just me out there, seeing if I could do it. Before the race I thought to myself, hey if I don't do it, then everybody will understand that he went after it tonight and he'll have other opportunities. It's part of being somebody who is one of the best runners in the world. You have to deal with pressure, and obviously I handled it pretty well.

Several questions were posed to Webb's agent, Ray Flynn, a former world-class miler who was in the race the night Scott set the previous American record in 1982:

Q: Ray, tell us about the race.

A: "He ran very even splits the full way. I heard Alan tell you the second pacemaker got off the pace a little bit, but he finished so strongly that it was never in doubt, especially in the last 500.

"He's got a lot more in him. He can run a lot faster than he ran in Paris and he can run faster than he ran tonight. He definitely has a lot more there. He was very impressive, very strong. Everybody who saw the race was impressed.

Q: You've been involved in a lot of great races as an athlete. What was it like watching him tonight?

A: The race reminded me so much of the old races we ran in Koblenz and Oslo. It's a 6-lane track in the woods. It didn't have a lot of spectators, but Alan ran with a lot of power and control and it reminded me so much of the old world-record races that I experienced and was part of when Ovett and Coe were running and they had all these record attempts. Alan really ran with that kind of direction tonight. Everybody who saw it was impressed.

Q: What kind of achievement is this for Alan?

A: It means he's run faster than Sebastian Coe, faster than Steve Ovett, faster than Steve Scott. What else can you say? Alan's only 24 years old. There's a lot left in his career.

---Justin Nyberg

Wilderness Medicine: Bees and Dog-Sized Spiders

   The media often focuses on attacks made by big scary animals, but the animals responsible for the most damage in the US are arthropods: insects, arachnids, and crustaceans.  Of all venomous animals in the US, hymepotera (bees, wasps, and ants) cause the most deaths.

    Many people have allergic reactions to their stings and go into anaphylactic shock.  Stings are rather common when you come in contact with certain types of bees because they are social insects defending their hives.  Once a stinger is in your skin, it releases pheremones that attract other bees to you.  The best thing to do: get inside, under water, or cover up.  To prevent problems, including death, find out if you are allergic and carry an Epi Pen.

   Spiders bites can be dangerous too.  There are roughly 50 types of spiders that bite humans in the US, and of those the brown recluse likely has the most dangerous bite.  A bite can lead to dissolving tissue, so get to a hospital right away.  The good news?  Spiders are not as aggressive as bees and usually only bite in defense when trapped under our clothing.  They have the name recluse for a reason, they want to stay away from us.  If we were their prey, it would be another story.  "If spiders were as big as German shephards there would be no humans left on earth," said Edward Otten, a professor of emergency medicine and toxicology expert.

Wilderness Survival and First Aid: When You're Lost

    For the next three days we'll be throwing up advice from the Wilderness Medical Society's annual conference in Aspen.  The society was founded in 1983 to teach the medical community how to prevent and treat health problems in the wilderness.  Their membership and research has surged dramatically in the last 24 years.  We are here to take advantage of their expertise and share it with you.

   When you first realize you are lost the first thing you should do is stop, said survival expert Peter Kummerfeldt.  Kummerfeldt is the former survival instructor for the US Air Force Academy and now owns and teaches classes for Outoor Safe.  You need to stop because hormones flush your system causing a fight or flight response.  Your heart rate picks up, your skin tightens into goosebumps, and your judgement is affected.

   Sit down for 30 minutes and drink some water if you have it.  Let your body return to a calm state.  After half an hour, you are ready to judge your situation and make a decision.

Tour de France Stage 12: A Classic Sprint Wins It

Belgium's Tom Boonen of Quick Step outsprinted the leading duo in the final 150 yards of the 12th stage to bring in the win. Boonen's time on the 110.9-mile leg from Montpellier to Castres was four hours, 25 minutes, and 35 seconds with Erik Zabel of Germany and South Africa's Robert Hunter just trailing, respectively in second and third. Italy's Daniele Bennati placed fourth with Thor Hushovd from Norway just behind in fifth.

The 12th leg's main event went down around the 35-mile mark when two riders, Spain's Amets Txurruka and France's Pierrick Fedrigo, broke away from the main pack, gaining an 11-minute lead at one point. They were tracked down in the final 1,000 meters.

With overall standings unchanged, Denmark's Michael Rasmussen still holds onto the yellow jersey despite being kicked off the Danish national team for violating drug-testing rules.

The Tour's 12th leg was overshadowed by the Danish Cycling Union's (DCU) late Thursday decision to dismiss  Rasmussen from the national team. Rasmussen failed to inform officials of his whereabouts during training in June, a rule that is in place in order to be able to administer sporadic doping tests.

Tomorrow, the 13th stage, a 33.6-mile time-trial, may give Rasmussen a run for his yellow jersey. And while Boonen is wearing the green jersey as best sprinter, the three grueling mountain stages in the Pyrenees coming up may make it hard for him to retain it.

(Photo by Beth Schneider)

No, This Won't Be Cold At All...

New York Photographer Spencer Tunick is asking people to volunteer to pose nude on a freezing Alpine glacier in Switzerland in an effort to highlight the effects of climate change on the nation's shrinking glaciers.

If global warming continues at its current rate, Greenpeace says, most Swiss glaciers will disappear by 2080. Prospective volunteers will have to start making travel arrangements now as Greenpeace hopes to make the event, which will occur at an undisclosed location, as green as possible—that means public transport and no airplanes.

Thousands of people have posed nude in Mexico City, London and Amsterdam for Tunick's famous nude photographs in the past.

Paws Up, Montana - Choose Your Own Adventure

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Last month I was fortunate enough to spend a long weekend at Montana's Paws Up, a 37,000-acre cattle ranch that's recently been converted into a luxe adventure lodge firmly entrenched in Montana’s cowboy heritage, yet chic enough to put up the Rolling Stones when they played Missoula. (It also made the list of Outside's top adventure lodges in the July 2007 issue). Think of it as choose your own (soft) adventure: options include low-key river rafting, epic fly fishing, horseback riding, mountain biking on singletrack and fire roads, ATVing, clay shooting, and hiking through the Big Sky wilderness--in the midst of a working cattle ranch.

Accommodations vary from posh digs in one- and two-story ranch-style cabins, each with expansive views of the tree-choked wilderness to a safari-esque Tent City, six luxurious canvas tents pitched next to the Blackfoot River. This ain't roughing it; each tent is outfitted with space heaters, ridiculously comfortable beds, down comforters, and plush rugs, while the Tent City itself has a Tent Butler to help out with anything, from cooking s’mores on the fire to prepping a breakfast feast.

In addition to the guided outings, you can also take a solo hiking or mountain bike trip throughout the property (opt for the 12-mile Sunset Trail, which carves through a wide swath of terrain before cutting through a cow herd en route to the adventure center). But of all the activities offered by Paws Up, likely the most memorable will be your visit to Spa City, a series of canvas tents pitched on wooden platforms open to the surrounding wilderness. Forget the New Agey tin of "mood music." Instead, listen to the mountain breeze and the distant roll of thunder while getting a hot stone massage. One word of advice? Schedule your treatment at the end of the day, lest you be forced to rally post-massage for your trip to the clay-shooting range.

~Nathan Borchelt

View a travelogue photo gallery of my trip to Paws Up.

The path to Spa City:

Q&A: U.S. Trail and Mountain Running Champ Rickey Gates

In the span of one week this June, Rickey Gates became America's new king of the mountains.

The 26-year-old Boulder, Colorado-based trail runner beat some of the best off-road racers in the country at the U.S. Mountain Running Championships, held June 24 at the Cranmore Hill Climb in North Conway, New Hampshire. Then, he did it again at the U.S. Trail  Championships, held on a steep 7.5 mile course the next weekend at Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

Usually, it takes weeks for runners to recover from a brutal race like Cranmore, which features some long, nasty downhill sprints. After winning that race in 1:02:48, ten seconds ahead of runner-up Paul Low, Gates was at Steamboat the next weekend, out-kicking Teva pro Simon Gutierrez, 41, by a single second in the final stretch. The impressive performances earned him a berth on the Teva U.S. Mountain Running Team and a chance to compete in the mountain running world championships in Switzerland this September.

Gates is full-time bartender and waiter who trains without a watch, doesn't have a coach, doesn't keep track of his workouts, and lives in an off-grid cabin outside Boulder. After the races, he moved to Europe for the summer to compete in the European running circuit, where he found an internet connection and sent Outside Online these thoughts on winning the most impressive double-header in trail running, bloody toes, and how to stay sane while training like a champ.

OUTSIDE ONLINE: You managed to beat the best American runners in mountain running and trail running in separate races one week apart, winning the national championships in each. That's insane. How does it feel to be you right now?

RICKEY GATES: I don't know what to say about winning the two national championships. I went to New Hampshire to make the team and worked it out with my schedule to go to Steamboat the following weekend in the event that I needed another qualifying race. Having made the [U.S. national team] already in New Hampshire, my intention in Steamboat was simply to enjoy myself. Jon Severy (my best friend from high school) would be there as would my high school running coach. My mother would also be there. So really, I just wanted to use the opportunity to spend some time with them. Run the race and enjoy it which is something that I don't always get to do, you know, treat it as just a training run, enjoy the scenery, enjoy the event. You have to put your mind somewhere else for these races. Somewhere stoic. And now that I think about it, my outlook on the race may be the reason why it went so well for me. Although I was the first to the top on the first lap of the ascent, I was barely in the top ten by the time we'd made it back down to the bottom for the start of the second lap. I was able to relax on the downhill and simply not care that I was being passed by so many other racers. It wasn't until about halfway up the second and final lap that I realized how badly everybody else was hurting, I think primarily because they underestimated a second lap. That's what made this race interesting. I rounded a corner only to find some of the top amateur runners in the nation walking the steep sections of the race. It was at that point that I decided to take the race seriously.

OUTSIDE: How sore were you after the back-to-back races in the mountains?

GATES: After New Hampshire, I was in severe pain.  I work in a restaurant in Boulder, and for two days I was practically worthless on the dining room floor. I knew in advance, though, what it would do to my body. I had two massages in between races just to get my body back in line. I've lost two toe nails as a result though. Which somehow seems like a right of passage in this sport. I liken it to the scars that crack climbers accumulate on the back of their hands or the bruise that violin players form beneath their chins. It shoes that you're making an attempt to take it to the next level, or that you're a complete idiot and should buy larger shoes and cut your toe nails more often, one of the two.

OUTSIDE: That's gross. Anyway, tell me about the race to the finish in Steamboat. Sounds like it was a very close finish. It came down to a real race for the finish—something unusual in mountain races like these.

GATES: The race came down to the final downhill. Two miles of gradual descent where the lead started with me, then went to Simon [Gutierrez]. I lost another spot to Clint Wells, who is an exceptional runner. Payton Batliner was close behind me and who I've lost to (by quite a bit, I should add) on more than a couple occasions. When it comes down to two miles of gradual downhill, you simply have to hope for the best, because it doesn't necessarily separate the fast from the slow or the fit from the unfit. Often times it is simply a matter of guts. You begin to wonder how much abuse your feet and ankles can take. The pace, if I were to guess, was around low 4 minute miles which I simply can't do on the flats or on the track. Clint and I worked together for a little while and started to close the gap on Simon. Only when I had reserved to letting the race come down to 2nd or 3rd did Clint say, "You've got it." He dropped off ever so slightly then. There was a half mile to go at this point and I was faced with the choice of a solid 2nd place or a potential 1st. Steadily, I closed the gap between me and Simon, and we exchanged leads a couple times in just a short distance. I finally got ahead of him and stayed ahead of him. Without hesitation I can say the final 200 meters were the fastest of my life. I immediately took my shoes off after crossing the finish line to find both of my big toes bleeding. It was a wonderful feeling.

OUTSIDE: You're pretty new to the sport. How did you come to it?

GATES: I wouldn't say that I'm new to the sport. I'd say that only recently have I gotten fast enough to be recognized. As for the terrain, I grew up around Aspen,CO, where you can train on nice roads or awe inspiring trails. I love running the trails around Boulder and Aspen more than anything in the world. I'd say that there is nothing that compares to it. To be able to race the same trails and do well in the races is simply the icing on the cake.

OUTSIDE: What's your training like?

GATES: My training is the simplest of anybody I know. Ask me how far I am running tomorrow and I probably won't be able to tell you. Ask what I ran two weeks ago and again, I'd struggle to tell you. Like most runners at my level, I used to keep a log of every mile and every minute, how I felt, what was working, what wasn't. I used to run two speed workouts a week. A long run on Sunday. etc. Not only did this approach never really work for me, but furthermore I saw it then and see it now almost as a sort of sickness. I am anal-retentive by nature. It used to be that if my shoes weren't lined up correctly before I went to bed that I wouldn't be able to fall asleep. I'd keep thinking about them until finally I'd get out of bed and re-align them. To have one more element of my life governed by rigidity finally became too exhausting. Two years ago, I made the vow to do away with my watch, and training log. I only write down two things anymore. I write the date of purchase on a new pair of shoes and make sure to buy a new pair two months later to the day. And I write down my place and time on the back of my race bibs. That's it. I go for a run every day. If I feel good I go hard. If I'm tired I go easy. My miles are shorter than most (rarely going above 60 miles/week) and faster. Quality over quantity. On occasion, I'll run just a few miles a day for days and days. The flip side is that occasionally I'll run an all out effort day after day when my body feels that it can. There is nothing scientific about it. It is about quieting that which is around you and listening to the greatest coach in the world: your own mind and body.

OUTSIDE: Why do you do mountain running, rather than road races, where there's more money and sponsorships?

GATES: I honestly don't think that I could make money on the roads. I don't have the build for it. Even if I did, would I really enjoy it? I run because I enjoy running. I have a friend with a Nike sponsorship. He runs big races on the track and on the road, but has told me how little he actually enjoys it. To him it is a job.

OUTSIDE: Where do you hope to finish in the World Mountain Championships in September?

GATES: I don't think that a top ten finish at worlds is out of my reach. I am excited for what is in store for the American team this year. We could potentially have the strongest team that we've ever had and one of the strongest teams at worlds. The team will be a combination of both great talent and long time experience. I am writing this from Europe where I am getting a feel for the competition with every race that I run. It is exciting to be here where the sport is already at a much higher level than it is in the States. Not to say that the Europeans are any faster than we are, but rather that there is simply more of structure. Race directors are in constant contact with the top athletes, trying to get them to come to this race or that race. It is simply better represented, that's all.

OUTSIDE: Thanks Rickey. Good luck this summer in Europe.

-Justin Nyberg

Tour de France Stage 11: An Ill Wind

South African sprinter Robbie Hunter gave the wildcard Barloworld team a second stage win in the Tour de France on Thursday, following teammate Juan Maurico Soler's surprise win in the Alps two days ago. Hunter just edged Fabian Cancellara at the line in a bunch sprint that was missing big names like Tom Boonen, Eric Zabel, and Thor Hushovd. Michael Rasmussen held onto the yellow jersey, as most of the main contenders for the overall finished in the main bunch.

Boonen was caught up in a crash with about 800 meters to go in the stage, while Zabel and Hushovd got caught behind a split that formed when winds started battering the peloton on the flat, 113-mile stage between Marseille and Montpellier. Also caught up when the peloton split was Christophe Moreau. The French national champion and podium hopeful crashed about halfway through the stage. Though he suffered only minor injuries, he was at the back of the field talking to the race doctor, when strong  cross winds split the peloton. While all of the other big names rode off in the larger front peloton, Moreau found himself in a smaller group off the back. His team was forced to ride at the front to limit the damage, but Moreau still suffered a huge blow to his podium hopes as he rolled through more than three minutes down and fell from sixth to 14th in the general classification, six minutes, 31 seconds behind Rasmussen.

Boonen, meanwhile, will be upset over missing the chance to add to his lead in the green-jersey points competition. The Belgian star entered the day with a 16-point lead over Zabel and was in perfect position to take maximum points on the day, as Zabel was caught behind, and Boonen's Quick Step teammates were leading him to the line. But several riders at the front of the bunch misjudged a turn on the winding road to the finish, and Boonen was caught up in the chaos. Hunter was by far the fastest of the survivors, though he probably started his sprint a bit too soon and was just barely able to hold off Cancellara at the line. By virtue of the 35 points he collected for the win, Hunter now sits 11 points behind Boonen for the green jersey.

One great surprise at the finish was a brief glimpse of Alexandre Vinokourov at his attacking best. With his hopes for yellow all but gone after a crash left him struggling through the Alps with nearly 50 stitches in his knees, Vinokourov has apparently decided to make the most of things by at least trying for some stage wins. The Astana leader burst from the field about two miles from finish, much as he did in winning the final stage of the 2005 Tour. He wasn't able to make the attack stick this time. But the excitement that came just from seeing him blast from the front like that was a reminder of the sort of attacking flair that the leaders of this Tour have so far mostly failed to deliver.

There was a bit of bad news for U.S. fans on Thursday, as American Dave Zabriskie finished the stage outside the time limit, meaning he will not be allowed to continue in the race. Zabriskie, who rides for Team CSC and who appeared to have the best climbing form of his life coming into this Tour, had been complaining about his knee for several days. He told reporters that he simply couldn't apply the power he needed to keep up with the peloton and had been sitting in second-to-last place heading into Thursday's stage.

 

—John Bradley

(Photo by Beth Schneider)

Bid Strong for Livestrong

A solid gold replica of Lance Armstrong's M Frame sunglasses is being auctioned off by Oakley to benefit the Lance Armstrong Foundation.  The auction, which starts July 19 and closes on July 29, corresponds with the final 10 days of the 2007 Tour de France.

“For nearly 20 years, Oakley has been there for me, on and off the bike,” Armstrong said in a statement. “Now, together we can help make a difference to millions of those who are living with cancer.”   

The sculpture is hand-crafted in 18k gold and is a replica of the glasses Armstrong wore during his Tour De France victories.  Dig deep into those couch cushions if you want a shot at them though. Bidding will start at $9,999 and will end at 5:26 pm Paris time on the 29th, or 11:26 Eastern Standard time, just as the riders in the tour are scheduled to make their final sprint to the finish.

Check out the shades starting on the 19th at ebay.com via item #160135266040.   

Whole Foods Gets Earth-Friendly With Designer Bags

Americans throw away 100 billion plastic bags a year and recycle less than one percent of them, the Worldwatch Institute, an environmental research and advocacy group in Washington, told the New York Times

While canvas and other cloth grocery shopping bags have been on the shelves for years in an attempt to promote less waste, Whole Foods Market is taking a different approach...through fashion.

Twenty thousand limited edition canvas bags, by high-end London designer Anya Hindmarch, are in the process of being released across Whole Foods stores. With the slogan "I'm not a plastic bag" printed on each bag's side, the $15 totes are selling like crazy and are being limited to three per customer. Just last month, a release in Taiwan ignited a stampede, sending 30 people to the hospital and dispatching riot police.

Whole Foods is not the only one making a change. San Francisco is the first city in the U.S. to ban nonbiodegradable bags replacing the harmful with the environmentally-friendly: biodegradable and compostable bags. Other cities considering this option are Boston; Baltimore; Annapolis, MD; Portland, Ore; and Santa Monica and Oakland, Calif.