Interview: All-Star Paddleboarder Jamie Mitchell Reveals Training, Tactics, Survial Tips

By Tetsuhiko Endo; Photograph courtesy of Bernie Baker

It’s 32 miles from the Hawaiian island of Molokai to its northwestern neighbor, Oahu. In order to get there, you have to cross the Molokai Channel, whose Polynesian name, Ka’iwi, means “the channel of bones.” Widely considered one of the roughest ocean channels in the world, the Molokai is rife with changing currents, tidal effects, strong winds, and open ocean swells that can reach up to 30 feet. It has claimed the lives of watermen and fishermen for centuries, including that of the legendary Hawaiian big wave surfer and waterman, Eddie Aikau, who tried to paddle across the channel, on a rescue paddleboard, in a storm to get help for a capsized boat.

Paddleboarding, (not to be confused with its more popular cousin, stand up paddling --SUP) is a Hawaiian tradition that developed along with surfing but didn’t become a competitive event until the early twentieth century surf ambassador, Tom Blake, helped to re-popularize it, both in Hawai’i and in the Mainland. It involves lying or kneeling on what looks like a very long surfboard, and paddling what are often long stretches of open ocean. Although it fell out of popularity in the 70’s and 80’s it is currently seeing a resurgence.

Gear Review: Finally, A Camera Bag That Doesn't Say "Rob Me"

By National Geographic Adventure Contributing Editor Steve Casimiro, editor of The Adventure Life

Try as you might, you will never blend in in the souks of Marrakesh, nor will your Nikon or Canon DSLR nor the fancy adventure camera bag you bought to protect your gear. Despite your best intentions, nothing screams “rob me” in a hectic Third World market like an expensive piece of electronics and the shiny nylon that encompasses it. That’s why Think Tank’s Retrospective 20 ($159, shown in pinestone) has become my favorite camera bag for travel of any sort: While I’ll always have to be careful about flashing the camera, the Think Tank’s tweedy exterior could be mistaken for a hemp hippie satchel or natural fiber messenger bag filled with nothing more than a Lonely Planet guidebook.

Alaska Heli-Skiing: EpicQuest's Vertical Guarantee

By Greer Schott

Heli-skiing in Alaska can be epic, but so can the weather—there’s always the risk of being grounded. When you’re making the trek all the way to Alaska, the last thing you want is your adventure vacation to turn into a sit-in-the-lodge vacation.

That’s where EpicQuest’s new Ultimate Flex Package comes in. It’s like travelers insurance for skiers, and when you tack it on to your Girdwood, Alaska, heli-trip for a few hundred extra bucks, you’ll get guaranteed snowcat or Alyeska Resort skiing if your helicopter can’t take off. If bad conditions don’t let up, just try again next time–you get credit towards skiing on a re-scheduled trip at a later, hopefully calmer, date. It’s based on vertical, so you’ll be sure to get your 50,000 feet, now or later.

“Nobody’s ever thought of it this way before," says Chris Owens, EpicQuest vice president of operations. "We had to scratch our heads and ask ‘Are we crazy? Is this really the right thing to do?’ And the answer is, it is the right thing to do. “ Even so, “This kind of flexibility is unheard of in Alaska's heli-ski industry.”

And when you’re paying a few grand for the experience already, the flexibility is definitely worth the extra dough.

Need to Know: $5,250 for a 5 day heli ski package with Ultimate Flex add-on, http://www.epicquest.com/trips/snow/alaska/girdwood/

Photograph courtesy of EpicQuest

David de Rothschild's Plastiki Arrives in Sydney--Voyage Complete!

After sailing more than 8,000 nautical miles and spending 128 days crossing the Pacific in a boat made of 12,500 plastic PET bottles, the Plastiki expedition and her crew have safely and successfully reached their planned destination of Sydney to cheers of welcome and support.

We'll have an exclusive interview with David de Rothschild in the next day or so. Until then, feast your eyes on these arrival photos!

Photographs courtesy of Patrick Riviere, PLASTIKI

Adventure in 60 Seconds: This Week in Exploration

By Tetsuhiko Endo

A spate of good weather has seen summits all over the Karakorum this week, according to Explorersweb.com. The third slovak climber to ever reach the summit of an 8,000er, Tomás Rigóci, topped out on Broad Peak, the 12th highest mountain in the world, while the Basque team of Alberto Iñurrategi, Mikel Zabalza, and Juan Vallejo followed him shortly after while also opening a new summit route. Meanwhile, a Czech team of Radek Jaros, Libor Uher, and Petr Masek topped out on Gasherbrum II, the 13th highest mountain in the world.

Photo: Alex Honnold Breaking Speed Climbing Records in Yosemite

Thanks to Tom Evans for this photo of Alex Honnold's record-setting speed climb on El Cap last month. Check out Honnold and other remarkable adventurers in our Today's Ultimate Adventurers photo gallery. We also need your tips! If you know of someone taking on an extraordinary adventure, please drop me an email at [email protected]

Alex Honnold

Feat: Set speed records on two iconic climbing routes in Yosemite—on the same day.

For most rock climbers, conquering Yosemite’s Half Dome or El Capitan is the dream of a lifetime. For Alex Honnold, it’s simply another day at the park. On June 22, Honnold conquered both routes on the same day, setting two speed records in the process. The morning started with Honnold going up the regular route on the northwest face of Half Dome in just two hours and nine minutes, shaving a full 41 minutes off the old record. From there he proceeded to El Cap, where he also scaled The Nose in just six hours, giving him a combined time for both routes of eight hours and nine minutes. That impressive time also happens to be a new speed record for completing both routes back-to-back.

In the Field: June 22, 2010

--by Kraig Becker

Gear Review: The Improved Casio Pathfinder PAW5000-1 GPS Watch

By National Geographic Adventure Contributing Editor Steve Casimiro, editor of The Adventure Life

When your phone has a GPS built into it, who carries a compass these days? But what about when the battery dies or you drop it in the drink and the fog rolls in and south looks like north? Short of carrying a dedicated compass, which all the experts recommend but few people do, the model built into the Casio Pathfinder PAW5000-1 ($450) is a solid option. The Pathfinder line is immensely popular, but not always so easy to use—there’s a lot squeezed onto those little faces—but this newest model adds a second hand, which doubles as a pointer to north and makes it an immensely usable device, not just a novelty.

David de Rothschild's Plastic-Bottle Boat Approaches End of Voyage in Australia

By Greer Schott; Photograph by PLASTIKI

When Adventure first reported on David de Rothschild’s 8,000-nautical mile voyage on his plastic-bottle boat in 2008, we wondered: Was his noble goal--to raise awareness about the Eastern Garbage Patch by the sailing from San Francisco to Sydney on a boat made of 12,500 recycled plastic bottles--too lofty to accomplish?

The answer, it looks like, is no. Sailing into port at Mooloolaba, Queensland yesterday, de Rothschild’s Plastiki is on the final leg of its 127-day journey, on schedule to dock in Sydney on July 25th. Despite initial design challenges (de Rothschild insisted the bottles be featured prominently on the boat in their original form) and reports on Sunday that Plastiki sent out a call for assistance 200-nautical miles off of Australia, the crew insists they haven’t ever been in serious danger.

It’s been the opposite actually: the engineless boat requested an escort because winds weren’t strong enough for them to make progress to their scheduled port. Even so, it’s been “high dramas on the high seas,” says de Rothschild, and considering that even the Plastiki crew admits to the “unpredictable nature of the Plastiki’s sailing capabilities”--the boat can only jibe, never tack, and is extremely hard to sail--we’re pretty impressed.

Alaska-Yukon Expedition: 5 Tips For Hiking With Vicious Swarms of Mosquitos

Follow adventurer Andrew Skurka as he skis, hikes, and rafts 4,720 miles through eight national parks, two major mountain ranges, and some of North America's wildest rivers in Alaska and the Yukon from March to October. Read his blog updates here.

The section between Dawson City, YT, and Fort McPherson, NT, will be memorable for several things. It was the first of my huge pushes: 390 miles long with two weeks of food. This leg was also great training for the upcoming Brooks Range: conditions were cool and damp, my pack was heavy, the route was mountainous, and willow was the best material with which to make fire (no trees). But the most memorable part of this leg will probably be its living up to one of the names that was jokingly suggested for this expedition, “The Great Mosquito Loop.”

How bad were they? It’s all relative, of course, but they were certainly the thickest and most aggressive that I’ve ever experienced. For many consecutive days my ears were filled with a constant high-pitched whine, to the point where I took notice of the rare moments it was absent. I had a string of “worst bugs ever” situations--I thought my campsite had been bad until I dropped into a creek the following day, and I thought the creek was bad until I tried taking a break near a lake, etc. There were nights I stayed moving until 2 a.m., just so I didn’t have to stop and make camp. And I took many impractical routes (i.e. not the path of least resistance) just to minimize them.

Cobra Boxing in Thailand? Worse Wipeouts? Nat Geo AMAZING Shares the World's Bizarre-But-True Tales

By Alexandra Gordon

Nat Geo AMAZING! will air for a second time this Friday on NGC at 7:00 p.m. EST, showcasing the bizarre, fascinating, and outright weird events around the world. This episode of the 10-part series takes you to King Cobra Village, a small town in Thailand where cobra boxing is almost as commonplace as walking your dog. While the cobra snakes are a protected species, this doesn’t stop the villagers from trying their luck at facing one in a fight--hardly a fair match.

If slithering snakes aren’t really your thing, the program also puts together a “Top 3” segment. Witness bruises, bumps, and scrapes while watching the top three motorcycle wipeouts. You may want to consider wearing a helmet, or even avoiding bikes all together after seeing riders tumble through the air. Bridge jumping, sword swallowing, and extreme kayaking are also on the list, along with more thought provoking facts and footage. In print version, Nat Geo AMAZING! 100 People, Places, and Things That Will Wow You details the world's 100 most fascinating people, places, and things in its pages. So, now that you know about flying cars and city-dwelling penguins, breaking the awkward silence over a couple hot dogs may be a little easier.