What It Feels Like to Kayak Over a Really Big Waterfall

Very few mortals will ever willingly plunge over a waterfall. And that's a good thing. Even the best of the professional kayakers suffer serious injuries when they descend waterfalls. Tyler Bradt, the current world-record holder for dropping 186-feet over Washington's Palouse Falls (seen in the video above), just broke his back on the current viral sensation, Abiqua Falls.

Kayaker Jesse Coombs, one of our previous Adventurers of the Year, successfully ran 96-foot Abiqua Falls last spring. It made a media splash then, but has surfaced again now on serveral major news networks. We asked Jesse to paint a picture of what it's like take the plunge (so we don't have to!).

Your last waterfall run just went viral—again! Can you describe what happens from the moment you put in your kayak until the moment you rise from the froth of the waterfall?
Jesse Coombs: Once you put in the water above the drop you are mentally and physically committed to running the drop. You have already studied the waterfall and picked out the exact line you want to run. You have mentally and physially practiced the motions and feelings on shore you will execute to have a successful descent.

Now that you are in the kayak, you first need to check your mental space to make sure you are comfortable and energized and ready to make the descent. Then you check that the photographer, in this case, Lucas Gilman, is ready. When he says the light is right and the cameras are ready, it is go time. You check yourself and your equipment one more time and visualize what you will do and what will happen. You take deep, calming breath, and when you are ready you head into the current that will lead you to where you need to go.

Gear Review: Nau's Better Than Cargo S-Cargo Pants

By Contributing Editor Steve Casimiro, editor of Adventure Journal. See more of Casimiro's gear recommendations in our Ultimate Hiking and Camping Gear Guide >> 

You know what drew me to the S-Cargo for travel pants? Under “design inspiration” Nau writes “I...hate cargos. But I love these.” Ha! Sometimes that’s the perfect approach—to take something you despise and craft it by eliminating the offending properties.

Me, I don’t particularly hate cargos, but I would agree they’ve overstayed their welcome. And no matter how utilitarian for travel, do you really want to be trying to sweet talk your way into an international upgrade looking like a refugee from boot camp? No.

The S-Cargos ($125), then, fit the bill ideally. They feature two extremely low profile pockets on the legs with just enough room to slip passport and Moleskine journal or perhaps a map, but otherwise look like normal pants. Normal meaning something you’d wear to work, dinner, etc.

The fabric is organic cotton with one percent spandex—and that one percent makes all the difference. When you’re into the third or fourth hour of your flight and everyone else is squirming against their restrictive denim jeans or plain cotton chinos, you’ll be smiling because the S-Cargos move with you in every direction. And movement, of course, is where travel begins.

Video: Wingsuit Daredevil Jeb Corliss Will Fly Through a Mountain Cave in China

By Samantha Cook; Photograph courtesy Jeb Corliss

Professional wingsuit flyer Jeb Corliss hit the Web a couple weeks ago with a video in which he throws himself off a 7,000-foot cliff and tries to grab a pair of balloons held by a member of his crew on the ground, while flying at a speed of 122 miles per hour. Now he will attempt something even more outrageous. See the video below of his recent trial flight.



On Saturday (which works out to be 1 am EST on Friday) Jeb will jump from a helicopter hovering at around 6,000 feet and fly through a cave located on top of Tianmen Mountain in the Hunan Province, China (photo above). He will continue his flight through a narrow gorge over staircases covered with spectators for about a mile until he can finally open his parachute.

Jeb will be using a new wing suit that gives him more control than ever. However, the jump is still extremely risky. “This is by far the most challenging project of my life to date and the most committing,” he said.  The most dangerous part of the flight will be the gorge. “I will be in a no-pull zone with no outs of any kind for almost 40 seconds. I will literally have to fly to live.”

The pressure is on. It’s expected that over 300 million people will watch the event live and China Central Television will air it during prime time to a possible 1.2 billion Chinese viewers. Jeb has been training for five months to prepare himself and hopefully he will be able to execute his mission safely.

 Stay tuned for updates or watch live here at tonight, Friday, 9/23, at 1 am EST.

Video: Steph Davis's Climbing Secret? It All Comes Down to the Fuel

Steph Davis: The Tactic from Prana Living on Vimeo.

Rock climber Steph Davis has been scaling walls for more than two decades. In that time she became the first woman to free climb the Salathe Wall on Yosemite's El Cap, and she has free soloed the Diamond on Longs Peak in Colorado four times. These days, when she gets to the top of a cliff, she takes the quick way down—she BASE jumps. For the past ten years she has also been vegan—and says it has made her a better athlete. It sounds counterintuitive to our conventional understanding of how to fuel performance. But Davis says it works. Below Steph answers some of our questions about her extraordinary experiences.

See Steph and Mario Richard BASE jumping in our Extreme Photo of the Week gallery >>

Tell us your experiences with food and training in the comments section below. 

Outdoor Tips + Advice: What’s in Your Fall Day Pack?

By Contributing Writer Aparna Rajagopal-Durbin, Faculty Member and Diversity + Inclusion Manager at the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS); Photograph by Brian Hensien/NOLS

Fall means school, changing leaves, football, holidays, pumpkins, and—for those of us in the Rockies—enjoying that last bit of mosquito-free balminess before winter descends.

Fall is also unpredictable. Even a planned day hike to Popo Agie Falls, not far from our office in Lander, Wyoming, can turn into a chilly, rain-sodden slog if you aren’t prepared. So besides what you normally carry in your daypack (which I blogged about a couple of months ago here), below are some additional items to stash in your fall pack.

1. An Orange Vest and Hat
If you are heading out on a hike in the Rocky Mountain West, there’s a chance you’ll be sharing space with hunters as the game season gets under way. Please don some bright colors so they’ll notice you.

2. Rain Shell
This item should be in any daypack, but is particularly important in the fall. Summer’s short afternoon thunderstorms have given way to perpetual mistiness. Better stay dry.

3. Warm Hat/Gloves/Socks
I felt a chill in my hands and sandaled feet this morning as I biked to work. Fall means the beginning of cold extremities, so keep those doggies, paws and ears warm. (I recommend a fleece-lined woolen hat—it’s not as itchy as bare wool.)

4. Thermos
What’s better than hydrating? Hydrating with a hot drink on a chilly day. Don’t let the weather dissuade you. Head out, but heat up some hot yumminess and take it along to treat yourself when you feel that chill in your bones. I prefer hot cocoa, but cider or tea also does the trick.

5. Camera
The aspen leaves are turning from green, to orange, to yellow. Capture those colors for your next Facebook photo album (and to make your friends who are sitting behind their computers jealous about all that deciduous delight you’re traipsing through).

Packing for more than a day hike? Check out what NOLS students take on Fall Semester courses.

Remembering Italian Mountaineer Walter Bonatti, 1930-2011

By David Roberts; Map of 1954 Italian route up K2 by Computer Terrain Mapping

In December 2003, for a feature article, "The Bitter Legacy," for Adventure hailing the 50th anniversary of the first ascent of K2, I traveled to Dubino, Italy, to interview Walter Bonatti at his home. He hosted Charlie Buffet (a French journalist fluent in Italian) and me for three days with unstinting hospitality. Bonatti had been a hero of mine since adolescence, when I’d first read his electrifying climbing memoir, My Mountains. Now, despite the language gap, I felt intensely honored as Bonatti replayed every detail of the harrowing ordeal than K2 had meant for him.

Then, when I asked him about his astonishing solo new route on the Petit Dru in 1955, Bonatti fetched a rope and some carabiners from his garage and reconstructed the “bolo” device that he’d used to surmount a blank wall on the fifth day and save his life. Few moments in my 33 years of freelancing have been so thrilling.

I regard him today as perhaps the greatest mountaineer of all time. But beyond that, he was a kind, thoughtful, and generous man. The bitterness of K2 had not soured him. As we parted, I remarked that he had the bearing of a man who had fulfilled his dreams. Yes, he replied in Italian, at 74 he felt realizzato: “A man should live to realize himself. If not, life makes no sense.”

Read more from David Roberts on Walter Bonatti in the New York Times:

Exploits, Now Not So Daring

Walter Bonatti, Daring Italian Mountaineer, Dies at 81

Gear Review: Revo Stern Sunglasses Make Life Look Better

By Contributing Editor Steve Casimiro, editor of Adventure Journal. See more of Casimiro's gear recommendations in our Ultimate Hiking and Camping Gear Guide >> 

Earlier this summer I was at the beach, raving to my son about the clarity of the water. “The kelp,” I said, “it’s so golden. And the blue...I can’t remember when I’ve seen the water so blue.”

“I don’t see it,” he said. “Maybe you should take off your sunglasses.”

I took off the Revo Sterns. D’oh! Back to everyday color.

Revo claims its new polarized lenses are revolutionary and, while that’s a fairly typical marketing overstatement, they are a dramatic improvement. It’s true that my local section of the Pacific has rarely looked so good, and no doubt some of that is due to the “Water” lens. But revolutionary? Let’s call it a great evolution.

“While some lenses address this problem by blocking this entire color range (resulting in color distortion and the inability to accurately recognize colors),” says the company, “the Revo Water lens filters only specific wavelengths, resulting in accurate color that eliminates the blue haze without color distortion.”

The Stern is a strong frame that’s a cross between a Wayfarer and a Frogskin. It’s thick and bold and looks like it would weigh heavy on the bridge of the nose, but in fact feels quite light and comfortable. The lenses are polycarbonate, the frames nylon with elastomer nose pieces. Light transmission on the Water lens is ten percent.

The Pacific isn’t on the Pantone chart, so I can’t quibble about accuracy—I just know that everything I looked at looked better. A whole lot better.

Getting the Shot: Photographer Dawn Kish on Shooting the Needles

Photographer Dawn Kish did not take this image of John "Verm" Sherman climbing Super Pin in the Needles of the Black Hills from the ground. That would be too dull for the vertically-bound adventure photographer, who is also an avid rock climber. Here's Kish reveals how she captured this image, which is featured in our Extreme Photo of the Week gallery.

Adventure: Where were you located for this shot?
Dawn Kish: I was located on the next pin over. It was one of the warm up pins called Tent Peg. They climbed up and left a rope up for me on the anchor. I jugged (ascended) up the line and put myself on rappel, so I could go up and/or down the rope for the best angle.

Outdoor Skills and Advice: Ten Tips to Decoding Backcountry Weather Patterns

By Contributing Writer Aparna Rajagopal-Durbin, faculty member and Diversity + Inclusion Manager at the National Outdoor Leadership School (NOLS); Photograph by Ashley Wise

A lightning storm had just struck, with bolts hitting the peaks less than a quarter mile away. After waiting it out in lightning position, my NOLS coursemates and I thought the worst of it was over, and headed to our tents, which were perched on a buttress below Mount Victor. As we started a class on leadership styles, we observed a dark cloud build-up over the peak. Halfway through class, the mass started to swirl ... fast. (Remember the sky in Ghostbusters, right before Gozer is summoned?) Minutes later, as we hunkered down in our tents gripping the walls as they flapped fiercely in 100-mile-per-hour winds, the funnel cloud touched down. A tornado? At 11,000 feet?

On a monthlong expedition in the backcountry, you are at the whims of the weather gods. Out there, the weather report isn’t a mouse-click away. And while adequate layering and gear can prepare you for the worst, there are also some ways you can predict what the weather gods might have in store for you today.

Climbing "the Strike" in the Black Hills Needles with Legendary John "Verm" Sherman

Photograph by Dawn Kish

John "Verm" Sherman is a legend among us. He pioneered bouldering and invented the V-scale for grading bouldering problems. He also championed the development of bouldering at Hueco Tanks, Texas. Quite a legacy. Here Sherman tells us about climbing "the Strike," ascending all Ten Pins in a single day in the Needles of South Dakota's Black Hills, with local guide Cheyenne Chaffee last summer. Photographer Dawn Kish climbed and rappelled several spires, as well, to document the feat (her tips are coming up next, stay tuned). Sherman is the author of several climbing books, including Stone Crusade, Sherman Exposed, and Better Bouldering 2nd edition (due out in October). See the image in our Extreme Photo fo the Week gallery.

Adventure: For starters, is this type of geological formation unusual?

John "Verm" Sherman: There are hundreds of such spires in the Black Hills Needles, hence the area's name. Molten granite and pegmatite intruded into metamorphic schist in such a way to form fins and spires. The softer schist has eroded away, leaving the spires. In my experience—I've climbed in over 600 areas in the U.S.—this is unique. I have been to other areas with lots of spires, but almost always they are made of sandstone, not granite.

Adventure: Why is this pin called Super Pin? Do they all have good names?

John "Verm" Sherman: Of the 10 Ten Pins, Super Pin and Hairy Pin are the most challenging and dangerous because Pete Cleveland did the first ascents of both and he was determined that these spires would be elite level climbs with very little fixed protection.

Legend has it that he led Super Pin with only one piece of gear and upon reaching the top rigged his rope to descend and pulled it before anyone else could climb it, leaving himself as the only person bold enough to stand atop the spire. Later, climbing legend "Hot Henry" Barber established the line I'm pictured on, which is still very scantily protected, but not the unabashed death route Cleveland's path is. Nevetheless, climbers still debate whether a fall on Barber's line would end your career or not.

On this day my partner was a local guide, Cheyenne Chaffee. We set our belay up high in a notch between Tent Peg and Super Pin with the plan being if I fell, Cheyenne would jump out of the notch down a 40-ft face vertical face below. Timed right, this would pull enough rope through the belay system that neither he nor I would hit the ground. We don't always climb that way.