Chris Sharma, The NPR Interview

	A Face For Radio: Sharma hangs tight on his 2005 Witness the Fitness. (Corey Rich)

Thursday on National Public Radio's All Things Considered, 26-year-old climbing phenom and frequent Outside personality Chris Sharma sits down with Melissa Block to discuss his approach to climbing, his quest to find what he calls "king lines," and why he screams as he goes for a hold.

The ATC crew was nice enough to send over a sneak teaser, which you can listen to, here . If you've never heard Sharma climb, his style is just as distinctive without the visuals.

And for public radio buffs, the segment will mark an interesting first. NPR has started running short video clips online with certain stories. For this one, Sharma demonstrated his craft at a local crag near D.C. —Grayson Schaffer

World Records We Really Shouldn't Cover

Georgian athlete Lasha Pataraia, 27, used his ear to drag a 17,050-pound military helicopter more than 86 feet across an airfield near the Georgian capital of Tbilisi. Pataraia, who believes he set a world record, attached one end of a rope to his ear while the other end was tied to the front wheel of the chopper (can you hear me now?) After completing the task and almost fainting, Pataraia told Reuters, "I hope in the future with both my ears to move a subject twice as heavy as this one."--Damon Tabor

 

If She Can Treat Him...

Dr. Mateja de Leonni Stanonik, a 32-year-old physician from Slovenia who accompanied Guinness-record marathon swimmer Martin Strel during a 66-day swim of the Amazon (Outside, February 2007), is hoping to spread the concept of telemedicine to the developing world. Dr. Stanonik, the only doctor on Strel's crew, used hi-def cameras and a computer with electronic medical equipment to consult over the Internet with members of a virtual medical team around the world. During Strel's 3,274-mile swim, Stanonik had to treat the long-distance swimmer for dizziness, vertigo, high blood pressure, diarrhea, nausea and delirium. "One could say that I had a custom-built ER suite outfitted with telemedicine equipment and satellite connections," Dr. Stanonik said. Thankfully, no toothpick fish were involved.--Damon Tabor

Aaron Fotheringham's Wheelchair Backflip

In our December issue, we report on Aaron Fotheringham's amazing feats of wheelchair daredevilry. Here, he demonstrates his signature backflip.

Bode Miller is Back in Action

Bode Miller's back injury won't keep the legendary bad boy from racing in the season-opening World Cup this weekend. The 2005 overall World Cup champion, who ditched the U.S. ski team to go independent this season, announced today that despite his hurt thoracic region of his upper back, he's still gunning for Sunday's giant slalom on the Rettenbach glacier. —Christina Erb

Review: 2008 Rock Shox SID

If you've ever ridden a Rock Shox SID, you're familiar with the two things the fork is most known for: unmatched weight and slightly unpredictable steering. The latter was a direct product of the former, as the minimalist design left the fork susceptible to flex. Despite the relatively loose handling, though, the SID has been a favorite of cross-country pros who value weight above all else. “They were willing to accept compromises for light weight,” explained Rock Shox product manager Sander Rigney to a collection of journalists who had gathered in Moab, Utah, October 12-14 for the launch of the 2008 SID. “But we didn’t want people to have to make those compromises.”

For the 10th anniversary of the fork that changed mountain-bike racing, SRAM (the cycling component company bought Rock Shox in 2002) has relaunched the SID with the first top-to-bottom redesign since it hit the market. And after racing on one across 60 miles of wildly varied desert terrain at the 24 Hours of Moab two weeks ago, I can say that the new SID is a marked improvement over the original. While still light enough to keep gram-counters happy, the new SID boasts a trail-ready 100mm of travel (versus the 80mm of its predecessor, though it can be set for 80mm) and beefier 32mm stanchions (the upper tubes). This puts it in the sweet spot for endurance and trail riders—who aren’t afraid of some rougher terrain or of weighing more than 142 lbs. The 28mm stanchions of the old SID were a concession to weight concerns but were also flexier than those built on the 32mm dimension that has become standard across the industry.

Further boosting rigidity is something Rock Shox is calling the Power Bulge. This is a visible addition of extra material on the lower legs—which are forged from magnesium—at the high-stress area where the bushings sits. Fans of Rock Shox’ popular Reba cross-country/trail fork will be familiar with the platform settings on the new SID, as it uses an almost identical Motion Control system.

Gear Guy: Which soft shell breathes enough for high-energy activities, such as trail running?

I'm looking for the perfect trail running jacket: soft shell to eliminate the noise of nylon, breathable so I don't overheat, and resistant to light rain and wind. Am I chasing a unicorn, or does such a beast exist?

— Blake
Lexington, Kentucky

Unicorns exist, don’t they? At least, if you have the right frame of mind. And maybe that’s the key to the “perfect” trail-running jacket. “Perfect?” I don’t know. “Pretty good?” Yeah, we can do that.

Regular readers will remember that last winter I often extolled the virtues of REI’s Mistral Jacket ($140; rei.com), made with a light version of Polartec’s PowerShield material, which is my preferred stuff for soft shells.

Do you have a question of your own?

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Photo: Skyline Full Zip Wool Top (courtesy, Ibex)

Tour de France Wiping the Slate Clean

After a 2007 Tour de France so marred in doping scandals, the International Cycling Union has agreed to let a laboratory create baseline biological records of top contenders. Changes in the rider's blood could indicate dope-usage, the New York Times reported Wednesday. Dubbed the "athlete passport program," details are still fuzzy as far as which of the thousands of biomarkers tested will analyze the cyclists dope-tinkering, however, officials think this program has moved the sport to the forefront of the anti-doping movement. —Alicia Carr

Give us your take in our comments section below. How do you think this will affect next year's race—same speed/same endurance or a whole new game?

The Prince of Darkness Prefers Fiberglass

Patrick Lesko, a 34-year-old superfan and woodworker in Canada, tried and failed to give former Black Sabbath frontman Ozzy Osbourne a wooden canoe paddle hand-carved from Canadian black cherry. Lesko first missed Ozzy at a meet-and-greet, then was unable to score a $1,000 backstage pass for the Edmonton show before they sold out. "I'm not gonna say, 'What a jerk,'" Lesko told the Edmonton Sun. "Do I still love Black Sabbath more than anything? Hell, yeah." Lesko isn't sure what he'll do if he's unable to give Ozzy the otter tail-style paddle, which took 25 hours to make and cost an estimated $500. Air guitar, buddy, air guitar.--Damon Tabor

Gear Guy: I need a little more wiggle room than my old mummy bag offers. Any suggestions?

Encampment Sleeping Bag (courtesy, Big Agnes)

I went camping in the Adirondacks recently, and my sleeping bag—which once seemed comfortably roomy—had mysteriously become pretty tight. It must have shrunk in storage; weird, huh? In any case, who makes a good synthetic, roomy bag for middle-aged people in the 15 to 20 degree range?

— John
New York, New York

Yes! That’s a common problem—shrinking sleeping bags. The darned things!

Chances are you no longer want or would be comfortable in a mummy bag, the bag you probably had in storage. Mummies are efficient because you aren’t heating up a lot of extra space inside the bag. But they can be, well, snug. Like a mummy! Full rectangular bags are much roomier and more comfortable, but they’re inefficient because you do have to warm up a lot of interior air. The solution: A semi-rectangular bag. It’s trimmer than a full rectangular, roomier than a mummy, and pretty warm.

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Ian Wynne Smashes Channel Record

Olympic medalist Ian Wynne smashed the world record for crossing the English channel in a kayak, knocking off a whopping 22 minutes from the previous record. The 29-year-old arrived in Calais in 2 hours, 59 minutes, 6 seconds after battling against a strong cross wind and navigating one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world--then he had to deal with the French.
--Damon Tabor

Explorer Wants In to "3-Pole Club"

British explorer Adrian Hayes plans on setting off for an expedition to the South Pole in early November and hopes to join an elite club of 14 people who have walked to the ‘three poles of the Earth’ — the North and South Poles and Mount Everest. If successful, he will also be the first person in history to have completed this feat in the shortest span of approximately 19 months. Hayes's trek through Antarctica to reach the South Pole should take 50 days and will be unsupported and unassisted, meaning no re-supplies, other outside assistance, or use of skidoos or parasails. Stiff upper lip mate, stiff upper lip.--Damon Tabor

Kelly Slater Detained in Israel

Israeli police detained eight-time world champ and our 30th Anniversary cover boy, Kelly Slater, for pushing a paparazzi photographer early Saturday morning the Associated Press reported. Slater was exiting a hotel in Tel Aviv with supermodel Bar Rafaeli (go Slater!).

The American surfer, who was released after questioning, is in Israel promoting peace by teaching children from Gaza and Israel how to surf. --Alicia Carr

24-hour Kayaking Record (almost!)

After battling sea sickness for the first 10 hours of his paddle, Simon Blackburn, a 40-year-old kayaker and explorer, was forced to abandon his attempt to break the Guinness world record for 24 hour surf ski paddling. Blackburn set off on Sunday from the coast of Durban, South Africa and hoped to cover a distance of approximately 150 miles. The current Guinness World record was set by American surf ski endurance paddler Randy Fine in 1986, when he covered about 120 miles in 24 hours. Blackburn plans on resting up before lining up any future attempts.--Damon Tabor

Q&A: Selling Part of Bus 142

When Fairbanks resident Kasey Cory put the speedometer from Bus 142 up for sale on eBay, it wasn't, in his words, to make money; it was to start a debate.

And that’s exactly what the 25-year-old engineer got. Dozens of Outside readers have left heated comments on the Outside blog, National Public Radio interviewed him, and in his town of Fairbanks, he has been confronted by locals.

Jon Krakauer immortalized Christopher McCandless’s 1992 death in the article "Death of an Innocent," which appeared in the January 1993 issue of Outside magazine. For some people, McCandless’s story turned the abandoned Fairbanks bus into a pilgrim’s shrine—one many people have trekked to since reading Krakauer’s subsequent book Into the Wild.

With the film version of the book, directed by Sean Penn, now in theaters, there’s renewed interest in McCandless’s life and potential for more visits to the bus—and for more artifacts to be taken. Recently, Penn told the Associated Press that someone exchanged McCandless's boots with a pair of their own this past summer.

Flame On! Olympic Super Torch Going up Everest

Sports officials in China announced Wednesday that the Olympic torch is ready to be relayed to the world's highest peak before the Beijing summer Olympics in 2008. To withstand Everest's grueling conditions and reduce chances of an embarrassing flame out, Chinese scientists at a design lab have made technological advancements to protect the Olympic flame from low temperature, thin oxygen, torrential rain and strong winds (it's gone out before: after a torrential downpour at the 1976 Montreal Games, an official was forced to relight the torch with a cigarette lighter).

Gear Guy: What's the difference between a 3.5-season and 4-season tent?

I'm looking for a relatively inexpensive tent for winter camping.

Alpenlite XT Tent (courtesy, Eureka!)

I've seen some tents advertised as a three-and-a-half-season, but I'm not exactly sure what this means. What is the difference between a three-and-a-half-season tent and a four-season tent?

— Michael
Poynette, Wisconsin

We're getting into the arena of hair-splitting, but the difference is something like this: Most tents that are meant to bridge from fall to winter are labeled "convertibles." Convertibles typically have zip-out panels that you can leave at home in warm weather to expose more mesh or take with you when it's chillier. Some also have poles than can be left home.

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Booty Causes International Stir

A Spanish warship held a US treasure-hunting vessel at gunpoint yesterday, believing it had taken $500 million worth of gold from a sunken galleon in Spain's territorial waters. After blocking the ship, the Odyssey Explorer, near Gibraltar, the Spanish navy boat threated to open fire when the captain refused to let police board. The Explorer was then escorted to the Spanish port of Algeciras to be searched. Odyssey, the Florida-based company running the treasure hunt, insists the shipwreck was outside any country's territorial waters but has so far refused to give the exact location or the ship's name. Earlier this summer, Spain seized another Odyssey vessel, the Ocean Alert.

--Damon Tabor

Paddlers Take on Big-River Dams

Katie Scott, 20, from Helena, MT, one of the top female kayakers in the world, has set off on a several-month journey to paddle the Marsyandi River in Nepal, the Brahmaputra River in India and the White Nile River in Uganda. Along with vet Scott Ligare and a cast of paddlers including Rush Sturges and Çharlie Center, Scott plans on shooting a river doc called "The Last Descent" which will document kayakers tearing it up on three major rivers that are threatened or in the process of being dammed. "Some of the World's Greatest Rivers Seen for the Last Time," goes the tagline. Big ups on the project, but we hope they're wrong...
--Damon Tabor

Outside's Founder on TV Tonight

Want to know what it really takes to live the life Outside? Watch the magazine's Founder/Editor in Chief, Larry Burke, tonight on Bloomberg Television’s “Night Talk” segment at 8 PM EST.

And, if you missed Burke on CBS News Sunday Morning (on October 14), watch it now on CBS’s website.

Plus, hear more from Burke in our podcast interview on Outside Online, where he spoke about the early days of Outside and dished on his adventures, from smuggling pop culture into Soviet Russia, to the motorcycle accident that had him pronounced legally dead.

 

Circumnavigation by Muscle

After 13 years, two months, and 24 days, Brit Jason Lewis and his team recently completed the first circumnavigation of the globe by muscle power alone.  Lewis rollerbladed, walked, biked, and pedaled a boat while enduring malaria, altitude sickness, and two broken legs after being hit by a car in Colorado.

The thing he missed the most during his 45,000-plus mile journey across five continents, two oceans, and one sea?  According to an interview with the The Sunday Times, "sitting by the fire and drinking a warm beer."  Spoken like a true Brit. —Joe Spring

Ski With Picabo Street!

Ladies, it's time to get philanthropic and throw your ski cowardices into the wind! The three-day Powder Girls clinic in Aspen, Colorado, hits the mountain December 6-9th and your instructors, three-time U.S. Olympian Picabo Street, World Championships bronze medalist Jonna Mendes, and Olympic gold medalist Donna Weinbrecht, don't want to hear any whining.

With only 30 clinic spots available, they're bound to go fast. The price? A donation of $2,500 to the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team Foundation. Not only with that snag you one of those coveted slots, you'll get other goodies like a three-day lift ticket, two days of ski instruction from the ladies themselves, three days of VIP views of the Women's Alpine World Cup races, yoga classes, a Powder Girls gift bag, and other sweet stuff. Score a spot here. Our future Olympians will thank you. --Alicia Carr

What's New Pussycat? Tom Jones Paddling Cali Coast

Tom Jones, endurance athlete and environmental activist, is entering the final leg of his record-setting 1,250-mile expedition to paddle down the coast of California on a 14-ft. paddleboard. Since August 4, Jones has been making his way from Crescent City to San Diego in an effort to bring attention to the amount of plastic polluting oceans and harming marine life. Hundreds of surfers and environmentalists have welcomed him along the way, then presumably turned around and gone home after discovering that no, in fact, it was not that Tom Jones.

Climbing Speed Record Broken on El Cap

Bavarian brothers Alexander and Thomas Huber raced up the Nose of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park in 2 hours, 45 minutes, and 45 seconds last Monday setting a new speed-climbing record.

"The Nose is the most famous route in the world and El Capitan is the most important rock face in climbing," Alexander Huber said in a press release.

The brothers, 38 and 40, respectively, actually notched the speed record for this route four days prior to their October 8th finish beating Hans Florine and Yuji Hirayama's time of 2:48:50, by a mere 20 seconds. Inspired to try again, the brothers finished three minutes before Florine and Hirayama's time on their second go round. --Alicia Carr

"

And The Nobel Goes To...

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and Al Gore for their contributions to the world's understanding of man-made global warming.

The Former Vice President and the IPCC, a United Nations group of scientists, were presented with the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize Friday. Of Gore, the Nobel committee said, Gore "is probably the single individual who has done most to create greater worldwide understanding measures that need to be adopted." --Alicia Carr

Because It Rocks up There

Just when you thought Everest couldn't become more of a spectacle, they went and decided to throw a rock concert up there. Don't worry, it's for a good cause. On October 13, musicians and mountaineers alike will gather together for "Everest Rocks", a 14-day trek that culminates with an acoustic set at base camp and a full-on rock concert later in Kathmandu. The events will benefit The Nepal Cancer Relief Society and performers include Mike Peters from The Alarm, Slim Jim Phantom of the Stray Cats, Nick Harper and a couple odd members of 80's band The Fixx (little known fact: Sherpas love British New Wave the way Germans love Hasselhoff). Daily blog updates at www.lovehopestrength.com/everest/about-the-trek/  
--Damon Tabor

The North American Ecotourism Conference

The North American Ecotourism Conference was held in Madison, Wisconsin, from September 26 to 28.  My first trip to the picturesque town of Madison was enhanced by the talks of pushing the largest industry in the world—travel and tourism—towards eco-friendliness.  The conference was held down the street from the State Capitol, in the Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, overlooking Lake Monona. 

What is ecotourism? 
On Day 1, I attended a pre-conference session led by Costas Christ, contributor to National Geographic Adventure magazine and Chair of Tourism for Tomorrow.  He spoke about tourism’s identity as a powerful engine for growth and development and how that power may be used for bettering the environment instead of damaging it.  A high number of travelers are interested in visiting natural places like parks and there are ways in which to channel tourism to support these natural places that people are visiting. 

Ecotourism bridges the conservation of landscape, species, and resources and the development of communities that are being visited to ensure that the people in these destinations are receiving education, clean drinking water, food, and have proper sanitation and access to medication.  The International Ecotourism Society (TIES) describes ecotourism as “a form of tourism that entails responsible travel to natural areas and which conserves the environment and sustains the well-being of local people.”

Here are some stats on the negative impacts of tourism, as stated by the International Ecotourism Society:
• 109 countries have coral reefs, and in 90 of them reefs are being damaged by cruise ship anchors and sewage, tourists breaking off pieces of coral, and commercial harvesting.
• Cruise ships in the Caribbean are estimated to produce more than 70,000 tons of waste each year.
• The average 18-hole golf course uses at least 525,000 gallons of water a day—enough to supply the irrigation needs of 100 Malaysian farmers.

Green Confusion! 
What is it to be green?  How can we tell if a lodge or resort is as green as they claim to be?  At the session titled “Eco-Labels and Certification” Abigail Rome, John Imes, and J. Michael Robbins approached this issue. 

Eco-travel increased by ten percent over the past year; however, there aren't enough regulations associated with eco-certifications, so it's possible that lodges can call themselves an "eco-lodge" but not necessarily do all that much to help the environment around them.  There’s a lot of green hype, without the guidelines to back up the talk. Travel service providers need to be clear, candid, and sincere with travelers about their goals and their levels of effort with social and environmental issues. If travelers begin standing up for the environment, then tourism providers will be forced to make steps towards being more environmentally sensitive. Consumers have a lot of power over the travel world—they hold the cards with each and every travel decision they make.

There are quite a few properties that are really trying to make a difference environmentally.  Fairmont Hotels and Resorts have the Green Partnership program, and Kimpton has the EarthCare program, both of which keep up on the best sustainable practices in the hotel industry, promoting environmentally-friendly practices throughout their locations.  The challenges hotels face when trying to make these changes include the cost of certification, the difficulty in changing a particular hotel’s corporate image, and the time and money it takes to train staff members for eco-friendly practices. 

Cultural Tourism and Voluntourism
On the third day of the conference, I attended a session on cultural tourism and voluntourism—both becoming extremely popular travel choices.  Cultural tourism, which ensures the protection of the environment, heritage, and culture of a destination, is a huge part of ecotourism.  Voluntourism allows both visitors and locals to share thoughts, resources, and labor, and in return both parties gain an awakening of sorts.

We travel with the intention to visit another community, to see, feel, and experience life in another destination, which in turn allows us to more fully appreciate our own homes.  Cultural tourism preserves and protects the culture of a travel destination while allowing tourists to enter the community and share the lives and traditions of the people living there.  Voluntourism allows travelers to become involved with the issues that affect the place they are visiting, and offers these travelers a way that they can help the community. 

Examples of voluntourism include Turtle Island, a resort in Fiji that invited ophthalmologists to visit and during their visit they would perform cataract surgery on locals, as many of the locals had serious cataracts that impaired their vision.  Intrepid Travel would take visitors to an orphanage in Cambodia where visitors could spend a little time with one or more of the children.  An organization in San Diego takes volunteers to a village in Mexico, where they stay for five days and build beehives for a women’s beekeeping coop.  These experiences not only help the people living in the travel destination, but they open travelers’ eyes and change their lives as well.

Some websites on voluntourism and cultural tourism:

www.travelersphilanthropy.org
www.voluntourism.org
www.responsibletravel.com

-Erika Lloyd

Iran to Host Mountaineering Assembly

Iran announced today that it planned to host the 8th annual International Mountaineering and Climbing Assembly. According to PR man Hossein Rezaee, the conference will be a great opportunity for mountaineering and climbing society of Iran to gain invaluable experience and exchange their views with the world. 

Shackleton Redux

If first you don't succeed, try, try again...
Descendants of Ernest Shackleton and his team of explorers are preparing to retrace the steps of the legendary--but failed--Nimrod expedition to the South Pole. In 1908, Shackleton and crew were forced to retreat after coming within less than 100 miles of their goal. Descendants of the explorers--Patrick Bergel (Shackleton's great grandson), Tim Fright (the great great nephew of Frank Wild, Shackleton's companion on all expeditions, and Henry Adams (great grandson of Jameson Boyd Adams, Shackleton's second in command)--will depart in 2008 on a journey expected to take around 80 days and cover 400 miles. The group plans to reach the 97-mile mark on the date where Shackleton stopped precisely a century earlier, then continue on to take care of some unfinished business.--Damon Tabor