Claiming the Poles

If space exploration remains the final frontier, then the ends of the earth are next to last. And with large estimates of just how much mineral, oil and gas reserves there could be in the Arctic and Antarctic, the last great land grab may be upon us. In August of 2007, Russia used a three-person mini-submarine with an operable arm to plant a Russian flag into the north pole seabed - 13,981 feet below the surface. Now, according to a recent Reuters report, a claims race is taking place down south. The number of countries with "claims" to the Antarctic is progressing slowly. In all, at least seven countries (Argentina, Australia, Britain, Chile, France, New Zealand, and Norway) have made claims to parts of Antarctica, and two others (the U.S. and Russia) have reserved the right to such claims. But whereas the Arctic is open for mineral exploration, a 1959 international treaty ensures that only scientific research can take place on earth's most barren continent. So why the international positioning for natural resources that aren't technically their's for the taking? As Reuters notes, by 2009 all coastal countries will have to map out their continental shelves according to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea. And if the 1959 treaty were to ever be repelled or modified, these nine countries apparently want to be first in line to drill.
--Jason Kerkmans

Gorillas Pissed Off, Not Taking it Anymore

For the first time ever, a team of researchers studying gorillas in Cameroon, the small republic in Africa, have documented great apes throwing clumps of grass and tree branches at humans. The observations, which suggest a new level of animal aggression toward their upright counterparts, were made during a three-year study of Cross River gorillas on Cameroon's Kagwene Mountain.

"At first we didn't think too much of it, but then we realized that this is quite remarkable," Jacqueline Sunderland Groves, who headed up the team, told National Geographic News. "I don't think gorillas have been documented using this kind of weaponry before in the wild."

Great apes have long been known to use tools and researchers have observed primates throwing objects at predators or rivals before. But grabbing sticks and stones with you-want-some-of-this belligerence against humans is a relatively new phenomenon. In the American Journal of Primatology, where the team published its report, the scientists suggest the gorillas might have learned the unusually violent behavior from, wait for the big surprise, us.

In similar news, earlier this year researchers documented African chimpanzees fashioning "spears" to hunt small primates called bush babies. And an article in the latest issue of GQ, "The Violence of the Lambs," discusses the increase of animal-on-man violence around the world: leopards killing 22 villagers in India, packs of wild dogs in Albania viciously attacking small children and old people, good-natured dolphins breaking bad and pulling people under. The most disturbing? Elephants raping rhinos in Africa. 

Is it the beginning of an animal kingdom-wide "Falling Down"? We're still a tad skeptical, but as for the Cameroon gorillas, there are about 250 and they're facing numerous threats including rapidly diminishing habitat and an increase in hunting for the bushmeat trade. Look at it this way: They weigh 400 lbs, have thumbs, nothing to lose, and live near one of the world's largest collections of cheap AK-47s. Don't say we didn't warn you.
--Damon Tabor

Cycling Tour Returns to Missouri

Tour of Missouri, the state's largest annual sporting event and the youngest of three major U.S. cycling tours, announced its 2008 host cities today. Due to the success of last year's event, the second incarnation of the tour will be one day longer than the first – seven days of point-to-point cycling scheduled to begin September 8. Over 350,000 people showed up on the roads last year to cheer on the cyclists, providing a much appreciated tourism boost for the Show Me State. While the race isn’t as mountainous as similar, slightly larger events in California and Georgia, riders face 623 miles of deceivingly small hills. "It’s a heck of a lot tougher than people realize," says Brook Watts, the tour’s media relations director. "Right in the middle of America you’ve got some very tough terrain. Seven days of hard racing is a nice tune up for the World Championship only a week or so later." Around 120 of the world’s best cyclists, representing some 25 countries, will begin the tour in Kansas City and end in St. Louis, hitting a dozen cities along the way. Race organizers are expecting a return from last year’s winner George Hincapie, who formerly rode for the Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team, Lance Armstrong’s Tour de France superpower. The tour's high-profile racers are lending the U.S. some street cred in a sport typically dominated by Europeans, says USA Cycling's Andy Lee. “By having so many international, world-class athletes at these events people are beginning to realize that there is a very strong, established structure of professional cycling here in the U.S.”

--Claire Napier Galofaro

Put Down the SPF 30

Thanks to waste in our waters and harmful CO2 emissions that cause global warming, coral reefs are dying at alarming rates. Now add another harmful component, a new report from the journal Nature says sunscreen might be to blame too. The report cites an Italian study confirming that, "the chemicals that filter ultraviolet (UV) light can activate latent viral infections in the symbiotic microalgae that the corals rely on for nutrition." Or, in other words, the same chemicals in sunscreen lotion that keep us from burning cause disease and death in the algae that feed the coral. Though the report goes on to claim that only 10 percent of the ocean's reefs are visited by tourists, The World Conservation Union's coral reef analysis included news that in 2005 alone "severe bleaching affected between 50 percent and 95 percent of coral colonies and killed more than half" in parts of the Caribbean. Coincidentally, 2008 is being called the International Year of the Reef. We're not saying don't wear sunscreen, but wear a long sleeve shirt and don't go overboard.
--Jason Kerkmans

Blade Runner Appeals Decision, Still Out of Olympics

After spending the better part of a year trying to reach Olympic qualifying marks, double-amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius will be skipping the Games this year, according to BBC News. Several weeks ago, the International Association of Athletics Federation concluded that Pistorius’s J-shaped prosthetic "cheetah" blades qualified as a technical aid, giving him an unfair advantage over able-bodied athletes. The 21-year-old South African appealed the decision, but recognizes that if the decision is changed, it can’t be done in time for the Beijing Olympics. The IAAF recently told The New York Times that it was unclear how this ruling would affect other amputees. They did say athletes must prove their prosthetic limbs do not provide an evident advantage. The IAAF made up a new $50,000 test to determine unfair advantage and called it the Pistorius test. Pistorius himself, and the International Paralympic Committee, believes it was inadequate and inconclusive. He has contacted American experts and plans to travel to the States for additional testing. "We have appealed and are busy setting things up for the testing," he told the BBC. "But it's a massive commitment, and there won't be time to get it all done before Beijing."

--Claire Napier Galofaro

2008 Winter Gear: OR

So there I was, an assistant editor fresh off a plane from Santa Fe, headed to the 2008 Outdoor Retailer Winter Market to do daily blog updates for Outside, when I got a text message from Outside Buyer's Guide Editor Sam Moulton.

“In bed with the flu. Can you be me for the rest of the day/evening?”

"Sure. Of course," I replied.

I double-checked his schedule. He had an appointment every half hour until 5 p.m. He barely had time for lunch. I had set his schedule up for him. "Karma," I thought.

OR brings more than 850 companies to Salt Lake City each winter and summer so that reps can show off their newest gear to thousands of journalists, distributors, importers and exporters.

It’s a four-day gear extravaganza where you can boulder with Chris Sharma, check out the new Gore-Tex Windstopper jackets while real snow swirls around you, and try to catch one of the dozens of cameras GoPro gives away every afternoon. Booths sprawl across two floors of the Salt Palace Convention Center. It's massive. As a first timer, I needed a map.

I hustled from meeting to meeting, working my tail off to stand in for Outside’s top gear guru. Everybody wanted to talk to him, so my day consisted of this conversation on repeat:

“Hey, where’s Sam?”

“He’s sick in bed with the flu. I’m him today.”

[Insert look of suppressed disappointment here along with some variation of “Oh, well okay, awesome! Let's show you the line then...”]

Lucky for me, the reps took extra time to describe everything  in detail.  By day three, Sam had fully recovered.  And I finally had enough time to make these videos to give you an inside look at how Outside learns about some of the gear we test for our biannual gear guide. —Christina Erb

Thousands of reps, journalists and gear wranglers flew into Salt Lake for the four-day market last weekend. The show brought together smaller companies like Carve Designs, Flylow Gear, and Crumpler along with industry giants like The North Face, Mountain Hardwear, Marmot, and Arc'teryx. Flylow, a freeride apparel company, showed off its stylish handmade, cattle branded $25 Tough Guy gloves while Mountain Hardwear unveiled $300 ultra-deluxe heated Red Savina gloves.

Hundreds of new, waterproof, breathable ski jackets lined booth entrances, including Helly Hansen's eco-friendly $325 Ekolab jacket.

Merrell's translucent jacket, The Gatherer, was one of the show’s most interesting concept pieces. The $99 lightweight, 100 percent nylon shell allows the wearer to stuff it with insulating materials such as newspaper, leaves, moss, and yarn, making it a good option for both creative types as well as people who like to carry emergency lightweight jackets in the backcountry.

Since early 2007, Scapegoat has rocked Outside’s pages four times with its Almanac, Rosti, Coaster, and McLean jackets. The owners showed up at OR with their first-ever women’s fall line, and the jackets (I tried on a couple) are among the best fitting I’ve ever worn: Less puff, more figure. Guys, think Christmas.

On the more techy side, Mammut will release its X-Zoom headlamp, the first-ever LED light with a zoom feature, 110m of range, and 190 hours of burn time in September.

Skis and snowboards were hard to find at OR as most of them will be unveiled at the SnowSports Industries America (SIA) show this week. Salomon did display its $925 Czar, big fat skis that come with a 620 Rocker shape and a 111m waist. Skier Mark Abma influenced the design by requesting sticks that would allow for more flotation so he could concentrate on huge powder jumps—and with a name like Czar, guess where they’re considering officially unveiling them to the public this fall? Da, my little Babushka!

Deuter, a 110-year-old German backpacking company and maker of the first-ever Shield Back System, displayed its redesigned Guide 35+ alpine pack. The $110 pack comes with removable back stays and foam sheets, a removable hip belt, side ski loops and attachment points for ice tools.

Beijing Owns Up to Olympic Deaths

After insisting that no "major" accidents had occurred in the construction of Olympic facilities, Chinese officials announced today that six workers have been killed and four injured over the last five years, according to The New York Times. The announcement was presumably intended to clear up rumors that began with The Sunday Times of London's “China Hushes Up Olympic Deaths.” The article reported that China has “systematically covered up the accidental deaths of at least 10 workers, and perhaps many more...” The piece went on to describe scenes of flailing bodies tumbling from windows, which were subsequently scooped up and discarded by police with stern mum's-the-word warnings to other workers. Thousands of migrant workers have flocked to Beijing from all over the country to assist in the construction of 31 Olympic stadiums and 45 training facilities. While Olympic-site construction deaths aren't terribly uncommon—at least 14 workers died in Athens and one in Sydney—Beijing officials were quick to provide a more modest number of casualties. The 2008 Olympic Games have already invited harsh criticism of China’s sub-par human rights track record and mistreatment of migrant workers.

--Claire Napier Galofaro

X Games: Shaun White, SuperPipe Hero

Shaun White's gold-winning SuperPipe performance last night left most of the crowds' jaws halfway to the snow. After placing second in the elimination round behind Japanese phenom Ryo Aono, no one was sure if the Flying Tomato would be dethroned.

In the end, White stomped his landings, grabbed his 1080s, and even threw a new trick in the mix: a frontside 1260 at the bottom of the pipe gaining him the shiny gold. Aono placed second with Kevin "Ironman" Pearce in third. Pearce earned the triathlon nickname because of his solid participation in three events: SuperPipe, Slopestyle, and Big Air.

"It feels medieval," White said in a press release last night of winning. The poster boy for snowboarding recently signed a ten-year partnership deal with Burton Snowboards, the longest agreement in the sport of snowboarding. Looks like we'll be seeing Mr. White for quite some time. --Alicia Carr

Photo Credit: Eric Lars Bakke/Shazamm/ESPN Images

Wolf Hunting Debate Heats Up

Conservation groups announced today that they will file a lawsuit in federal court to block a rule that will allow Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming to issue wolf-hunting permits. The groups oppose shooting wolves, which will be authorized under a special section of the Endangered Species Act, arguing that the animals’ overall numbers have not increased enough to ensure long-term survival.

“The federal government is giving the states a license to kill under almost any circumstance,” Louisa Willcox, a project director with the Natural Resources Defense Council, said in a press release. “It’s going to be open season on wolves.”

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials say the rule, which will go into effect 30 days after its publication in the Federal Register today, would allow Idaho and states in the Yellowstone area more flexibility to manage wolves in an effort to ensure the health of elk herds and protect private property. FWS said that wolf predation can have a substantial impact on some wild ungulate herds, and the agency also wanted to give ranchers and homeowners more ability to protect their livestock and dogs from wolf attack (according to the agency's records, wolves have killed 101 dogs in the area since 1995, and there have been two recorded incidents of wolves chasing or harassing stock).

“The states have done an excellent job managing wolves, and this revision will provide the extra flexibility they may need to manage wolves for some time in the future,” said Jay Slack, Acting Regional Director for the Service’s Mountain-Prairie Region. “Nonetheless, we will not authorize removal if it brings wolf populations below management population targets."

Conservationists counter that elk populations are healthy and preexisting rules already allow killing wolves if states can show they are the primary cause of elk, moose, or deer depletion. In a December 2007 essay called "Fire Away," Outside correspondent Douglas Gantenbein argued that wolf hunting might actually be beneficial to the animal's survival. "If the wolf can obtain the status of prized big-game trophy—and many think it can—it will have the most powerful ally of any animal in America: the hunter," Gantenbein wrote. "As we've seen with elk and migratory waterfowl, having the support of high-caliber advocacy groups like Ducks Unlimited and the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation is the most effective way, by far, to get adequate protection from government game managers."

Predictably, Outside received a torrent of letters and "cancel my subscription" emails from incensed readers and outraged conservationists. "This is nothing more than a means for gun-toting guys to act out on animals their detachment and anger toward who-knows-what," one reader wrote. "We don't need guns to manage wildlife." (Our personal favorite: "Idaho Governor Butch Otter is a rabid dog.")

Want to weigh on the wolf-hunting debate? Post a comment or register your opinion in our survey here.
--Damon Tabor

X Games: First-Time Gamer Wins Snowboard Big Air

Twenty-year-old Torstein Horgmo, from Norway, took the gold last night in the Snowboard Big Air contest. A first-time X Gamer, Horgmo pulled a switch backside rodeo 900 to clinch the gold medal--a trick he'd only been thinking about doing but had never actually attempted. His last-minute decision to go for it came when he didn't have enough speed to go through with his original plan: a switch backside 12.

This is a major comeback season for Horgmo after a serious back injury kept him from snowboarding. "I did not expect this to happen at all," Horgmo said in a press conference last night, "I hurt my back and I was out for three months. I couldn't be happier with where I am right now. Feels like gold." --Alicia Carr

Photo Courtesy of Ian Troxell

X Games: Catching Up With A Victorious Gretchen Bleiler

Some might say this is the year of Gretchen Bleiler: She scored her third X Games gold in Women's Snowboard SuperPipe on Friday night in her hometown of Aspen, Oakley gave her a signature clothing line (the first for any of their athletes) which she rocked down the SuperPipe, and she's currently gracing the cover of a major, national magazine during a period of extreme progression in female riding.

Her win came narrowly. She had to omit one trick due to excessive speed.  But back-to-back 720s and a crippler 540 gave her just enough to knock out silver-medalist, Aussie ripper Torah Bright and bronze-medalist Kelly Clark, who attempted an unprecedented-in-competition 1080.

Outside caught up with Oakley-team rider and super babe Gretchen Bleiler at Aspen's The Little Nell for Eggs Benedict, a show-and-tell of her new line, and a look at what she's up to this year.

Outside: How long have you been practicing your winning run?
Gretchen: This was the first time I've done this run. I've been working really hard the last year on the alley-oop, but the cab 720 I just learned last week. I was in Breckenridge hiking my butt off trying to get this trick down. My coach was up there filming me which is the best tool. What you feel you're doing and what you're actually doing are two totally different things so after a few days of watching video and doing the trick over and over, I finally got it. It's not perfect yet.

Outside: Kelly Clark's 1080 attempt was a complete shock to everyone. Did she turn up the pressure?
Gretchen: I was inspired for my second run. I haven't seen Kelly do a 900 since the Olympics so I was really happy for her that she stepped it up. I knew she had it in her.

Outside: With our Best Jobs issue on the horizon, shed some light on your path to success.
Gretchen: I started competing when I was 16 so during my senior year in high school, I decided to defer for one year from college. All of my friends went off to school while I worked at the local bakery. Their moms would come in and tell me news about them and it made me question, "What am I doing? I'm a ski bum." But I had a great year and was invited onto the U.S. Snowboard Team. Not going to college was a big risk, but it gave me success and happiness in the end.

Outside: So, what's on the agenda for this year?
Gretchen: Next year, I have to start re-qualifying for the Olympic team so this year I'm going to play a little more and compete a little less. Mainly I'll be in the backcountry on heli-trips in Japan, Russia, and Canada. And, of course, the launch of my new clothing line in September. I have to tell you, some random guy proposed to me on the mountain and I was sure it was because of my outfit. --Alicia Carr

Credit: © Eric Lars Bakke/Shazamm/ESPN I

Peter Will Go

Pro Surfer Peter Mel can be ready at a moments notice to cut into a wave that’s taller than a six-story building. Right now, he's waiting in California for the swells on the North Shore to rise so the Quiksilver Big Wave Invitational in Memory of Eddie Aikau can be held. When the Waimea Bay waves do rise, he’ll have less than a day to get to Hawaii before competing against 23 of the world’s best surfers. Quiksilver holds the contest - sometime between December 1 and February 29 - only if the swells outside the bay measure a minimum 20 feet for a full day. Outside caught up with Mel as he kept an eye on the weather and waves.

--Jason Kerkmans

Outside: How do you prepare for an event that may take place thousands of miles away with only a few hours notice?
Mel: It can be difficult. Especially since I come from the mainland. It’s the surfer’s responsibility to know when it might happen, so you become an amateur meteorologist, looking at maps and forecasts. The anticipation is hard but you have to roll with the punches and be prepared to get over there whenever it looks possible. A big problem we have right now is that the NOAA [ The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration] buoy is out of commission and so we’re basically out of factual information. We have to rely more on estimates. But even if the event wasn’t going to happen I’m always paying attention to the reports. I chase swells, it’s my job and I’m passionate about it.

Outside: How do you train for an event that might not occur?
Mel: Right before last time the Big Wave Invitational almost happened [January 13, 2008] it ended up that I was driving to another surfing event in Oregon and got a call that there was a big swell in Half Moon Bay, California. So I turn around and go there. That night I get another call that the Quiksilver could be happening. So, the next morning I landed in Hawaii and had to be ready for the event. [It didn’t happen because of the lack of wave quality that day.] I’m becoming a travel agent of sorts also. I know that the latest flight I can catch from the West Coast and still make it to Hawaii in time for my heat is a 2 a.m. departure out of Las Vegas that lands at 6:30 a.m. on the island.

Outside: What does the Quiksilver Big Wave Invitational mean to you?
Mel: It’s the biggest surfing event in my career. I went to Hawaii for my first North Shore experience when I was 14. I met Richard Schmidt, who became my mentor and who was an invitee for the Big Wave event. I remember the images from 1990 when he finished second and they stick with me to this day. I’ve been going every year since then, and I’m 38 now. I’ve been a member for 13 or 14 years and in that time the event has been held five times. Richard and I only competed together twice in the Big Wave before he was the one who passed the torch to me. He went to Quiksilver and said he wouldn’t be able to do it anymore and that sort of opened the door for me. And even though I never got to formally meet Eddie Aikau we all idolized him as kids and being invited was and is a great honor. Eddie is the father of Hawaii’s big wave surfing.

Readers eager to scout the same swells Mel watches, can get Web updates from Quiksilver.

A Shrinking Amazon

Brazilian officials responded to yesterday's reports of record deforestation rates in the Amazon with an agreement to add federal police and environmental agents to areas devastated by illegal clearing, according to the Associated Press. Farmers will be forced to register before planting, loggers will be turned away, and fines will be distributed to those who buy things produced on illegally deforested land. The Amazon is nicknamed the “lungs of the world” because it creates one-fifth of the earth’s oxygen. But its breaths are getting smaller. It is now at least 1,250 square miles (that's around 600,000 football fields) smaller than it was just five months ago. Officials assume that when they’re finished analyzing satellite images, they will see that the cleared area is quite a bit larger. Unfortunately, past warnings havn't stopped the loss. In 1998 Outside’s Tad Friend took a close-up look at the fiery, diseased, and deadly consequences of Amazon deforestation. Check it out here.

--Claire Napier Galofaro

X Games: Skier Tanner Hall Scores Seventh Gold

Montana's twenty-four year-old Tanner Hall took home the gold medal in the Skiing Men's SuperPipe Final last night, fending off second-place winner Simon Dumont. The victory meant an overall record seventh X Games gold for Hall.

My drive this year was to train for this one event," Hall said in a press release. "At this point, this is one of my last big goals at X Games."

Hall's run was nothing short of ornate: a right side 900, left side 1260, and a backside 1080. Dumont fell short by two hits out of the pipe (Hall knacked seven). The pair also went head-to-head last year, with Hall winning.

Outside spotted the victorious shaggy blonde skier looking bright-eyed early this morning at a low-key breakfast place in Aspen. We're guessing the celebration party was a bit less exciting than the win. --Alicia Carr

Credit: © Eric Lars Bakke/Shazamm/ESPN Images

Belgium Bans Political Talk At 2008 Olympics

Belgium's Olympic Committee issued a ruling yesterday that will prohibit its athletes from raising human rights or political issues during the Beijing Games, according to the International Herald Tribune. The committee said it would require all athletes to abide both by a strict code of conduct and refrain from wearing any symbol or insignia that could be construed as politically provocative (a "Free Tibet" patch would be a no-go).

"Not a single participant in the games will be allowed to give a political opinion at the Olympic venues," the committee said in a statement on its website.

Outside of official Olympic venues, however, the committee said athletes will be free to hold forth and pontificate to their hearts' content. (Careful, though: travelers going to China are often warned not to bring up "The Three Ts"--Tienanmen, Taiwan, and Tibet). As the 2008 Olympic Games draw closer, China's human rights record and environmental policies receive an increasing amount of media coverage in the U.S. and Europe.

Last week, the Dutch government issued a call saying China's human rights record must improve and that the Olympics should be used as an opportunity to press for reform in the country. In December, Washington D.C.-based Human Rights Watch issued a statement calling for the Bush Administration and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to pressure China to improve its human rights record.

"There is a window of opportunity now to address abuses, especially those tied directly to the arrival of the Games in Beijing," said Sophie Richardson, the agency's Asia advocacy director. "We expect top US officials to set out what improvements they want the Chinese government to make before August.

In April, 2007, after it announced plans to relay the Olympic Torch through Tibet and up Mount Everest, four U.S. activists were arrested on the world's highest mountain for unfurling a banner calling for Tibet's independence. China, for its part, has warned foreign citizens against engaging in "activities concerning the sovereignty and unity of China."
--Damon Tabor

Companies Unveil Indoor Positioning Sytems

GPS? That's so 1.0. And global positioning system technology--virtually ubiquitous in everything from runners' watches to your grandmother's Crown Vic--can't penetrate satellite signal-blocking roofs and floors. Now, a growing number of companies are researching Indoor Positioning Systems (IPS), a technology they hope will one day track everything from the movement of firefighters inside burning buildings to patients in hospitals.

IPS, which uses radio, ultrasound, or infrared signals to track an object, has so far been deployed by an Oslo-based company called Sonitor in 20 hospitals in the United States and Europe, which use it to track patients and medical equipment. Since October, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center has been testing different IPS technologies to create a "smart room" that can detect a doctor or nurse and display patient information on bedside monitors. Sounds great, but can it find my car keys in the morning?
--Damon Tabor

Old Faithful Steaming Live

Yellowstone National Park launched a live Web cam of its most famous geyser yesterday. The camera, mounted in a nearby tree, updates a live image of the steaming hot spring every 30 seconds or so, often catching wildlife and unsuspecting tourists. Old Faithful, appropriately named, is famous for being dependable; it shoots hot water 100 feet in the air every 90 minutes. Although it’s not the park’s largest or most regular hot spring, visitors flock there for its frequency. Old Faithful’s Wyoming basin is home to almost 150 of the earth’s 600 geysers, a few of which are visible on the park’s Web cam. The video displays a time in the corner that predicts—within 10 minutes, 90 percent of the time—when Old Faithful will next erupt.

--Claire Napier Galofaro

26.2 Miles on the Big Screen Tonight

The first ever non-fiction feature film based on all 26-plus miles of marathon strength, struggle and triumph debuts tonight at 7:30 p.m. (local time) on more than 500 theater screens across the country (from Brunswick, Maine to Victorville, California). The documentary, Spirit of the Marathon, follows six competitors - including world-class runners Daniel Njenga and Deena Kastor  as well as a first time marathoner and a father/daughter duo - as they prepare for and race in the Chicago Marathon. Filmed on four continents and more than four years in the making, Spirit of the Marathon has already captured the 2007 Best Picture Award at the Mammoth Film Festival and the 2007 Audience Choice Award at the Chicago International Film Festival. But tonight's premiere and an encore showing on February 21st will be the film's only two theatrical releases. Also featured in the movie are a number of famous athletes including Alberto Salazar who's interview with Outside can be found on newsstands in the February issue along with a complete Master Plan to help you get on your feet and running your best. Not ready for the full marathon? Read Outside's 12-week half-marathon training plan from Terrrence Mahon (coach of American half-marathon record holder Ryan Hall) and set your sights on one of 30 upcoming races this spring.

Spirit of the Marathon trailer

--Jason Kerkmans

Virgin Space Travel

Virgin Galactic showcased the final designs for its SpaceShipTwo on Wednesday, according to BBC News. The eight-seater space plane, now somewhere around 60 percent complete, is scheduled to make her maiden voyage in 2010. Over 200 tourists have already booked and another 85,000 have registered an interest in commercial space flight. The two-hour low-orbit trip will set them back $200,000; Virgin announced that they have already collected millions of dollars in deposits. British billionaire and Virgin founder Richard Branson, who graced the cover of December’s issue, talked with Outside about his plans to single-handedly commandeer space. "We're at the birth of an enormously exciting new era," he said. "Instead of being citizens of a country, we'll just be earthlings, with citizen-of-the-world passports."

--Claire Napier Galofaro

Extreme Skier Billy Poole Killed During Cliff Jump

Billy Poole, a rising star in the extreme skiing world, was killed on Tuesday after taking a fall during a Warren Miller film shoot in Utah's Big Cottonwood Canyon. According to news reports, Poole, 28, fell badly and cartwheeled through rocks after jumping off a cliff in an area known as Wolverine Cirque. He was flown by helicopter to Salt Lake City's University Hospital, where he died at about 1:30 p.m., according to the city's Sheriff's Office.

Penn Newhard, a representative for Black Diamond, a ski company that sponsored Poole, told the Salt Lake Tribune that the extreme skier was a dedicated athlete who was well-liked on the ski circuit. "He was highly regarded as an up and coming and talented young athlete," Newhard said.

Poole, who was raised in Missoula, Montana, and had been skiing since he was a child, had appeared in magazines, billboards and ski films from Argentina to Japan. According to Black Diamond's Web site, one of Poole's most recent backcountry accomplishments had been in Little Cottonwood Canyon, where he was the first skier to jump over the telephone wires at Cardiff Pass, a "stuntman huck" over 30 feet.

“His stature was increasing," Black Diamond's chief executive, Peter Metcalf, told the Associated Press. "He was inspiring, outgoing, friendly, the perfect ambassador for a company like Black Diamond”

“In this sport," Metcalf told the AP, "death is part of life.”

--Damon Tabor

UAE to Build First Green City

British architect Norman Foster is preparing to create the world's first Green City—a place with no cars, no waste, no carbon footprint. He clearly likes a challenge: The “green city of the future” is going to be in the middle of the desert in a region currently emitting more greenhouse gas than almost anywhere else on the planet. Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, pledged $15 billion to clean-energy development, a portion of which will be used to build Masdar City in seven phases over the next ten years. Foster, the chap responsible for London’s Millennium Bridge and Wembley Stadium, told Reuters that it's especially not easy being green in the desert. "It is probably the most idealistic project in the world today and the most relevant to any conferences from Kyoto to Davos," he said adding, "This is a specific response to a place that is more climatically demanding in terms of achieving zero carbon." The 50,000-resident city will be walled, dense, powered with wind and solar energy, and include a public rail and shuttle system.

-Claire Napier Galofaro

Former Jockey Conquers Shackleton's 1915 South Pole Route

American explorer Doug Stoup and Richard Dunwoody, a retired British horse jockey, became the first to reach the South Pole via a route first attempted by famed explorer Ernest Shackleton in 1914. Dubbing their expedition "Beyond Shackleton," the team set off near the Ronne Ice Shelf on December 1, and then dragged 250-pound sledges for 48 days across more than 650 miles of hellishly cold, crevasse-riddled ice and snow.

"This has been the hardest thing I have ever undertaken, both physically and mentally, with every day a 12-hour slog, often uphill, on skis and pulling cumbersome sleds that just seemed to get heavier as we got lighter," Dunwoody told the BBC. "I am exhausted."

After a nearly two-month journey, Stoup and Dunwoody reached the Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station on January 18, which happened to be Dunwoody's birthday, and celebrated with coffee and biscuits. (Happy Birthday, Doug!).  During the course of the unsupported expedition--meaning no food drops, no resupply, and lots of lonely nights--Dunwoody and Stoup burned about 8,000 calories a day and each lost close to 30 pounds.  Additionally, Dunwoody says he suffered snow blindness and altitude sickness. Stoup, an accomplished explorer mentioned in a 2001 Outside article about Antarctica, nearly lost his life while the team was trying to cross a crevasse field and James Fox, another expedition member, had to pull out of the mission after suffering mental and physical exhaustion. (Hey, it could have worse. Shackleton's expedition ended with their ship, the Endurance, becoming trapped and then crushed by sea ice and the stranded crew living off of seal meat for several months.)
--Damon Tabor

Bode's On Top

Bode Miller became the most successful American skier on Sunday in Austria in his typical, out-of-control fashion by completing a run that included skiing off a downhill fence without wiping, according to the Associated Press. The one-time Outside cover boy is now standing alone atop the list of American World Cup winners with 28 career victories, and he's also traveling alone this year after leaving the U.S. Ski Team in May, 2007. With the 2010 winter games in Vancouver on the horizon, and a not so great public showing in the 2006 games, maybe Miller will listen to Outside contributor Brian Curtis's 2006 advice on how to be liked.

Then again, maybe not. Nearly a year ago, Miller told the Associated Press that he won't take part in another Olympics, a stance he's softened on some but never denied.
--Jason Kerkmans

Lisa Rands Sends The Mandala

Lisa Rands became the first female climber to send Chris Sharma's The Mandala (v12), a virtually hold-free line that runs up a house-size rock in Bishop, California last weekend.

Sharma solved the near mythical line in 1999 and, for nearly the past two years, Rands has been trying to follow suit. The Mandala is one of the most famous and popular bouldering problems in all the world, and this season the 5'4 powerhouse made it up clean on her third attempt.

"When I did it, it felt really easy. I thought 'why didn't I do this last year?'" she said, laughing. "The first two days, I kept doing the first move slightly incorrectly. I couldn’t do the second move. Finally, on the third day, I decided to get pushed into the hold to feel the right spot and do the next move. Then I dropped off, and tried it again, and I got it!"

Wills Young, Rand's husband, describes the climb in his blog Bishop Bouldering: "Lisa was psyched to achieve this goal that she's been aiming for since last season when she first started trying it. A torn bicep, weird weather conditions, a mystery illness, and a flim project revolving around her ascent of the super-highball This Side of Paradise (v10) kept her from success then, but this season, on just her third day of tries, she climbed the line at the third attempt, saying that moments before doing it, she felt strangely certain of success. She nailed the critical, and for her extremely long, first move to perfection, and powered through the rest of the sequence with precision, only hesitating for a second before turning the lip onto the icy summit."

But don't count on Rands to start bragging. She's already got her mind set on her next goal, the Teva Mountain Games' Bouldering World Cup June 6-7, 2008 in Vail, Colorado. —Christina Erb

French Sailor Circles the Globe in Record Time

Francis Joyon spent just under two months alone, by choice, on a boat without heat, little rest, and no engine, according to The New York Times. He arrived home in France on Sunday having broken the world record for sailing solo around the world. For 57 days, 13 hours, 34 minutes, and six seconds, the Frenchman sailed his 95-ft trimaran around the southern reaches of the earth--from South Africa, to Chile, to Australia--dodging icebergs, ships, and fierce winds. He climbed up the 105-foot mast five times to fix a damaged girder and relied on solar panels and wind turbines for communication. He broke several records along the way--crossing entire oceans in mere days. Thousands gathered at the imaginary finish line in Brest, France to welcome him home. The 51-year-old broke the same record for the first time in 2004, but it seems that there’s a bit of competition between him and a certain British lady. In 2005, Ellen MacArthur, who attended his homecoming celebration on Sunday, beat Joyon's record by one day. This time, Joyon pummeled MacArthur’s by a full 14. Although she was reportedly rather complimentary about Joyon’s accomplishment, she added that “records are set to be broken.”

--Claire Napier Galofaro