National Geographic Adventure Magazine

Best of Adventure 2010: Vote for the Adventurer of the Year!

Adventurers of the Year: Allow us to introduce the outstanding individuals who made our year in adventure. Then vote for your favorite for our first ever Readers' Choice Award!

The Best of Adventure 2010 Hall of Fame: The Visionary

To cure the blind. It sounds impossible. Biblical even. And that�s exactly why Geoff Tabin—climber, medical pioneer, human dynamo—is just the guy to do it.

Best of Adventure: Must-Have Gear

West Coast Editor Steve Casimiro looks ahead at the 26 most groundbreaking products of 2010. This year's Best of Adventure gear picks were nominated in part by a panel of 34 retailers from across the country.

High Performance: Ski Training with Lindsey Vonn

Lindsey Vonn, downhill racing, and the secret path to Olympic gold. (Or: Why the Swedes never win.)

Next Weekend: Instant Adventures

Snowkite uphill in Idaho, ride Midwest waves (really), and OD on adventure at the Whistler Film Fest, plus 15 more escapes.

Travel West Texas

Forget West Palm. Warm up in west Texas. Dive desert springs, bomb Big Bend singletrack—but watch your step with the rattlers.

World Class

Three far-flung retreats take "going local" to new extremes.

The Big Trip: Argentina Uncorked

From Patagonia to Buenos Aires, Argentina's on sale. (That mean Malbec is cheap.) Go now.

Gear: Watches

High style, cutting-edge functions. The next generation of analogs takes performance to new heights.

The Digital Adventure: Portable Printers

Instant images anywhere: a look at three new portable photo printers.

Deep Survival with Laurence Gonzales, $earch + Rescue: Should Victims Pay?

Most backcountry searches don�t cost the victim a dime. Let�s keep it that way.

25 Best New Trips in the World

Now more than ever, travelers want their dollars to do more—for others, for the planet, for themselves. At least that's what we found while searching for the best trips of 2010. From wolf-tracking in Slovakia to rafting a forbidden river in Bhutan, here are 25 brand-new adventures, all of them just right for right now.

Nepal's Amazing Comeback: Peace + Trekking After the War

After a decade of civil war, the birthplace of adventure travel is back with a new 1,600-mile, trans-Himalayan trail. It may be time to re-rank your life list.

Extreme Norway: Europe's Next Adrenaline Capital

Bike until you�re breathless. Hike until your legs melt. Base jump (or don�t). Look out, Chamonix. Norway is Europe�s new home for all things action.

Next Weekend: Ski Report

Our annual roundup features 16 places where the perfect powder day awaits.

Gear: Skis and Snowboards

Versatility is in; über-specialized, out. This season's top skis and boards will dominate the terrain you do best—and everywhere else too.

Confessions of a Travel Addict: Ewan McGregor

If Betty Ford treated wanderlust, actor Ewan McGregor would be the first admitted. The 38-year-old gets his travel fix by working on multiple movies (coming up: Amelia, The Men Who Stare at Goats), then taking off for extended motorcycle tours across Africa and around the globe. For our annual travel issue, we asked the actor to share his hard-won wisdom. All of it, by the way, applicable to non-movie stars.

The Good Stuff: Quebec Cheese

Sled dogs, sure. But Quebec's superior cheeses will surprise you. Plus, the world's healthiest wine.

Road Trip: Vermont

In a mere 150 miles Vermont�s Route 100 delivers 13 ski-ready peaks, hundreds of acres of XC glades, and a front-seat view of America�s long-standing obsession with winter sports. The first rope tow (predecessor to the ski lift) made its U.S. debut near the Green Mountains, and modern snowboarding was invented in Londonderry by a dude named Jake Carpenter, aka Jake Burton. Adventure in the land where winter legends were made? Now that�s a road trip.

Gear: Camcorders

Sure, you can take good video with still cameras. But if you want to make a full-fledged movie, a camcorder is still the only way to play. These three are at the top of their game.

Gear: Point-and-Shoots

In the ever more crowded field of point-and-shoot cameras, we're left craving innovative, one-of-a-kind machines. We found five.

Gear: DSLR Cameras

A year ago, it was tough to find a DSLR with decent video. Now you'd be hard-pressed to find one without it. But only a few cameras shoot both formats well.

America's 100 Best Adventure Towns

The upside of a down economy? It forces you to consider all your options--and our own spectacular backyard has never looked better. We've built the ultimate, state-by-state guide to top outdoor hubs across the country. These 100 adventure towns offer something for everyone, whether you love hiking, skiing, biking, kayaking, climbing, snowboarding, or a little bit of everything. Stay for a long weekend or the rest of your life.Use our click-and-go map to select a weekend escape. Browse our recommended places to play, stay, and eat, or post your picks. Then decorate your desktop with free wallpaper. And this is just the beginning: We'll continue to add towns and seasonal weekend trip ideas. So make this your first stop when planning your next out-the-backdoor escape.

Leading Edge: Big Ideas for 2009

Seek out life on Mars, battle mass extinction, fly a new breed of personal airplane, fight poaching (with DNA). This year's bold theories, big thinkers, and groundbreaking products aren't just changing our world--they're reinventing it.

Nat Geo in the Field

After 333 days and 2,000 miles, wilderness savant Mike Fay found every last redwood. Now he wants to save them. �I thought I�d be able to just Google it,� says biologist Mike Fay of locating the country�s southernmost redwood tree. Instead Fay and his hiking partner, activist Lindsey Holm, found themselves on the southern border of Los Padres National Forest in California, clawing their way up a steep-sided canyon.

Deep Survival: In-Flight Moves

Flying is a daring undertaking: Whether you realize it or not, you�re putting yourself in a Coke can full of explosive fuel going nearly three-quarters the speed of sound. When things go wrong�as several recent incidents have shown�they tend to go wrong rapidly and catastrophically.

Next Weekend: 16 Trips Near You

Swim with sharks in Baja, fly-fish Hemingway's favorite Idaho spot, and drink like it's Bavaria in Georgia (or Washington). Still standing? We've got 12 more weekend adventures for peak fall season.

The Digital Adventure: Netbooks

On a recent flight to Idaho, I was deep into The Dark Knight when the guy sitting in front of me rocked his seat back so hard that my laptop crunched shut and nearly took my face with it. That was the moment I first longed for a netbook, the nascent class of micro-PCs that are half the size, weight, and cost of traditional laptops. Even in an industry slump, netbook sales are booming. Market research firm ABI expects 35 million units to be shipped worldwide this year and 139 million annually by 2013. Not bad for a product that virtually didn�t exist until late 2007. And that�s a crucial point: Netbooks are not just smaller laptops. They are a new breed of electronics, designed primarily to get online, view photos, watch videos, and do a little processing�in other words, the basic functions that occupy about 75 percent of our screen time. If it�s a sophisticated computer you�re after, look elsewhere. But for those of us who spend our lives in transit�for business or pleasure or both�a lightweight, no-frills machine with a screen that�s bigger than a smartphone�s is a godsend. If you really crave computing power, limited memory is offset by free online storage services. And netbooks offer peace of mind that laptops don�t: While $500 isn�t pocket change, you wouldn�t be devastated if the thing broke or got lost. If I were planning an extended trip—a month of trekking, say—I�d pack a netbook, rely on Wi-Fi, and avoid Internet caf�s altogether. There are dozens of options out there, but if you ask me, it really comes down to these three.

This Month's Gear: Fall Apparel

Swing State: Hot, cold, in between�the best fall trailwear can handle it all. Here's a look at this season's top performers.

High Performance: Longevity

Perhaps it�s too predictable: Experts find the world�s longest-living people in a remote mountain village on a tiny island in an exotic sea. They party hard, work into their hundreds, and still have sex into their 90s. But then the twist: Their secret isn�t red wine or yogurt or young lovers. The key ingredient to living and loving longer, it seems, is growing right in their gardens.

The Big Trip: Surefire Safaris

After a dozen years living and working throughout Africa�studying monkeys in Kenya�s Samburu National Park, directing Peace Corps operations in Uganda, and passing through nearly every other nation�I learned one indispensable truth about travel here: There are no sure things. The animals may or may not appear; the terrain may or may not be navigable; and the weather can be as unpredictable as the elections. But I also discovered a few places in East and southern Africa that deliver nearly every time I visit. (And these days, who really wants to gamble their hard-won travel dollars?) Within these two vast regions, you�ll find the best parks, the most game, and (no kidding) reliable infrastructure. It�s a dizzying variety, which is why I�ve selected my 12 favorite places�from the slopes of Mount Kenya to Zimbabwe�s Mana Pools�as well as the top outfits to get you where you need to go.

World Class: the Coral Triangle

Dive into the world's richest marine resource: the Coral Triangle. Here are our picks in Malaysia, the Solomon Islands, and the Philippines.

Wild Roads: California's Owens Valley

Wedged between two of California�s great ranges (to the west, the Sierra Nevada; to the east, the Inyo Mountains), the Owens Valley is a lush catchment basin buttressed by the tallest peaks in the lower 48. It�s also a high desert oasis�or at least it was until Los Angeles began diverting the valley�s water almost a century ago. (The ensuing California Water Wars inspired movies like Chinatown and books like Cadillac Desert.) But recently, thanks to a long-overdue water restoration program, the Valley has started to look a lot like its old self, and the fall colors offer reason enough to get reacquainted. Try fly-fishing the clear-running Owens River or sport climbing a sunny crag, then soak in natural hot springs near Mammoth Lakes�the best are just off Warm Springs Road�while basking in the alpenglow of the big peaks.

How to Survive (Almost) Anything

Survive Almost Anything: It's the one-year anniversary of the financial meltdown, a low-probability, high-impact event or "black swan" that hardly anybody thought about ahead of time. Well, we've been thinking. In the spirit of not getting caught off guard again, we uncovered a few more never-say-never scenarios. Don't say we didn't warn you. Learn about how to survive a tsunami, avalanche, pandemic, failed state, GPS shutdown, and much more.

Next Weekend: 16 Trips

Check out the season's best weekend trips near you. A moonscape hike in Colorado; biking a retired railway; Carolina canyoneering, and 15 more late summer sojourns.

Adrift at Sea: A Fishing Trip Goes Horribly Wrong

No one could have seen it coming. The sea that day was calm, the sky clear. For the seven men aboard a small chartered fishing boat in the Atlantic, conditions were ideal. Then the ocean rose up.

Andrew McCarthy: Going Back In

Andrew McCarthy discovers when someone you know dies in the wilderness, it's not always the end.

Rafting Oregon's Rogue River

Imagine 166 national parks you've never heard of. The Wild and Scenic River system protects our most spectacular waterways—and makes for some ripping raft trips. The king of them all? Oregon's Rogue River.

Adventure News: First In

Adventure news from around the globe: Everest season recap, greener windpower with kite technology, Tanzania's Ngorongoro Crater, the new Northwest Passage, Genghis Khan search in Mongolia, and much more.

The Digital Adventure: Affordable Video Cameras

My first year in California, I dreamed of making my own Endless Summer. And so, hauling around a beastly video camera, I shot my buddies catching wave after wave, then tried to edit hours of footage using two VCRs. But the challenges of assembling and sharing were too much, and like many in that era, I ended up with a pile of dusty tapes in the closet. Fast-forward to today. Video is now an indispensable part of our lives, a pervasive means of communication that�s cheap, easy, and instantly sharable. YouTube ignited the trend in 2005, but it really took off two years ago, when Pure Digital Technologies introduced the Flip, the camcorder turned cultural phenomenon that is now a staple on any adventure.

Special Report: Everest

Headlines. TV shows. Controversy. The world�s highest mountain is a perpetual source of excitement. So why are the planet�s best climbers elsewhere?

Gear: GPS + Hiking Shoes

Here, a road map to the best GPS units around—and how to pick the one that's right for you. Plus, trekkers, rejoice: A new crop of light hikers to bring stability to life's ups and downs. Reviewed by Steve Casimiro.

The Big Trip: British Columbia

It�ll be a few months before the Olympics arrive in Vancouver, but in one contest Canada already has the U.S. beat. As an outdoors outpost, British Columbia outscores the American West across the board. The Pacific-hugging province is as big as California, Oregon, and Washington combined. But with only four million residents (Cali alone has 36 million), BC�s rugged mountain miles are far less developed. Still, for all its immensity, the province has a knack for condensing its wonders into accessible packages. Fly into Vancouver and within two hours you can be hiking Whistler backcountry or paddling the coast of the Great Bear Rainforest. And these days, as the host city primps and preps for the Winter Games, consider tacking on a few days� stay: Catch Canada�s best speed skaters running drills at the freshly renovated Richmond Olympic Oval, or go all out Canuck and cheer on the home country�s hockey team as it practices in the Burnaby 8 Rinks. After a week in BC, you might be tempted to switch allegiance.

No More Bad Days

Two months into her grueling 2007 Arctic expedition, well past the point a normal person would have collapsed in tears, Rosie Stancer was still gung ho. The British adventurer, now 49, was hauling sleds that bore almost twice her body weight in an attempt to become the first woman to travel solo to the North Pole. Temperatures were dipping to minus 60�F, she�d lost two toes to frostbite, and the 478-mile route was littered with boulder-size ice chunks and gaps of open water. �I had a few tearful hissy fits,� Stancer admits. �What kept me going was my fool�s optimism.�

World Class: Lodges + Escapes

Ever since ecotourism took off in the early 1990s, European travelers have helped to spread the movement across the savannas of Africa and the jungles of Central America. Today they�re starting to look closer to home, and with good reason. Some of the most sustainable lodges on the planet are rooted in Old World ways. Take, for instance, Hotel Posada del Valle, a 12-bedroom, 19th-century farmhouse in northern Spain. Located on the remote Asturias coast near the steep mountains of Picos de Europa National Park, Posada sits at the center of one of southern Europe�s last wildlife strongholds. Brown bears still roam the forests, wolves hunt in the fields, and golden eagles soar the thermals. More than a dozen treks begin nearby, ranging from countryside strolls to 7,200-foot summits. When not exploring by foot (or canoe, mountain bike, or horseback), you can visit Posada�s rustic stone-and-wood dining room for organic farm fare—grown on the premises, of course (doubles from $90; posadadelvalle.com).

The Good Stuff: Pilsner

Roman Halbhuber, bearded and six foot three, strode out to greet me as I drove through a pine branch gateway, past a flag sporting a flying horse with a beer keg torso. �Welcome to Free Land of the Vogelsang,� he said, and handed me a cold Budvar.

Wild Roads: Quebec

Virtually locked down during the winter, the St. Lawrence River Valley gets its verve back come August. Take Montreal, which becomes the unlikely center of the hip urban universe with festivals galore (find a list at montreal.com). Though Quebec City is just three hours away by car, make a detour to the tallest peak in the province (3,176-foot Mont Tremblant), then wind along backroads through pine forests and small towns. The Qu�b�cois are �a hearty lot who worship the outdoors more than most,� says Jean-Fran�ois Boily of Parc de Mont Tremblant. They�re also francophones: Bone up on your French; English is definitely a second language.

America's Ultimate Parks

Our national parks may protect the counry's most storied landscapes—but it's up to you to get out and see them. Here, the tips, tricks, and detailed game plans you'll need for an unforgettable summer.

Ken Burns' Our Best Idea

I don't know how cold it was that January morning in Yellowstone, but the night before the temperature had been minus 20. My crew and I had rattled out to Mud Volcano in a snow coach to film at first light. The shoot was quick—subzero conditions tend to focus the mind—and after we crammed back into the cab and thawed the icicles in our nostrils, the driver pointed our treads toward the Hayden Valley.

Cat Fight

On the morning of his planned raid on the illegal gunmaker, Dharmendra Khandal wakes well before sunrise, purifies himself with a ritual bath, and then studies several verses of the Durga Saptashati, one of Hinduism�s holiest books. Given the nature of the war Khandal is waging, it seems an appropriate text. In it, the radiant goddess Durga—�the One who can redeem in situations of utmost distress�—rides on the back of a tiger, her ten arms brandishing weapons and a lotus flower as she hunts down and destroys the demon Mahisasura.

More Adventure, Less Money

The crash changed everything—including the economics of adventure. Now it's easier than ever to set the price for the trip of a lifetime. But you've got to play it smart. Here's how.

The Longevity Experiment

Dan Buettner knows a little something about longevity. He�s the holder of three separate Guinness World Records for distance biking: a 15,500-mile ride from Alaska to Argentina in 1987, when he was 27; a 12,888-mile journey across the Soviet Union in 1990; and a 12,172-mile jaunt through Africa completed in 1992. But it was research on longevity first published in National Geographic that really established his bona fides on the subject. The Minnesota native traveled to four countries to study the world�s heartiest humans. In Sardinia, Okinawa, Costa Rica, and Loma Linda, California, Buettner partnered with scientists to examine anomalous pockets where the number of centenarians vastly exceeded the statistical average. These areas became the subject of his book The Blue Zones: Lessons for Living Longer From the People Who�ve Lived the Longest (National Geographic). This spring Buettner continued his research, visiting a fifth zone, the Greek island of Ikar�a in the Aegean Sea.

iPhone Travel Apps

It's March in Saigon and I�m staring up at a huge portrait of Ho Chi Minh—the fourth of the morning—when I realize I know almost nothing about him. But I don�t reach for my guidebook. Instead I pull out my iPhone, tap on an app called Air Sharing, and within seconds I�m scrolling through dozens of Wikipedia pages, photos, and PDFs I�d saved for precisely this moment. Like that, I�m an Uncle Ho expert.

Extreme Kayaking: The Fall Guy

There isn�t a lot that scares Tyler Bradt, so before he steered his kayak off the lip of eastern Washington�s Palouse Falls and dropped 18 stories amid water rushing at 2,000 cubic feet per second, he recalls his mind running gin clear, just like the current. �There was a stillness,� says the 22-year-old extreme kayaker. �Then an acceleration, speed, and impact unlike anything I�ve ever felt before. I wasn�t sure if I was hurt or not. My body was just in shock.�

Gear: Next Best Things

Game-changing remakes of outdoor icons—bikes, tees, and more. Plus: Pro-grade cameras for plebs and the perfect watch for every wrist. Classics reviewed by Greg Melville, Steve Morgenstern & Doug Schnitzspahn. Watches and cameras reviewed by Steve Casimiro.

The Big Trip: Belize

Almost half of Belize is protected wilderness. Dense jungle, remote mountains, subterranean rivers, and hundreds of Maya ruins are still being mapped within its borders. But as Central America�s only English-speaking country and one of its smallest, Belize is also surprisingly easy to navigate on your own. Use the money you save on a tour operator to stay another week—you�ll want the extra time. Most Belize-bound travelers follow the winter escape route, but June offers an even better alternative. Prices are lower, and the sun-and-fun crowds have headed home, which means you�ll have the place almost all to yourself. The quickest path is a direct flight to Belize City. You can also fly to Canc�n, then hop a six-hour bus to the border—and save $300 in the process.

High Performance: Sunscreen

Just three miles into the Olympic marathon in Beijing last summer, American record-holder Deena Kastor, 36, felt a pop in her right foot and dropped to the ground in pain from a broken metatarsal. The cause: A deficiency in vitamin D had weakened her bones.

World Class: Lodges + Escapes

Summer comes early to the eastern Mediterranean, a land so steeped in history (Phoenician, Babylonian, Persian—the list goes on) that nearly every rock-strewn trail reveals a story of trade, conquest, and religion. Slip into the past at Yunak Evleri in Turkey�s Cappadocia region, once a crossroads for more than a dozen civilizations. Dating back to the fifth century, the hotel�s 30 cave rooms were carved by villagers eager to avoid passing armies (in some places, they dug entire subterranean cities with markets, churches, and monasteries). But don�t expect the austere conditions of yore—the restored rock world of Yunak is softened with big brass beds, Swedish jet stream showers, and other modern comforts (doubles from $160; yunak.com). Tempting as it is to hole up in your plush digs, the greater attraction lies outside: a 50-square-mile swath of volcanic tuff that has eroded into a stark wilderness of spires, gorges, caves, and plateaus. Trek, bike, or horseback ride across the otherworldly landscape. You can�t go far without stumbling upon archaeological sites where, thankfully, no tourist crowds roam.

The Good Stuff: Goat

A few years ago, I was road-tripping north to south across Argentina with two friends, following an old trade route that persists as a mostly dirt �highway� called Ruta Cuarenta (Route 40). We were maybe three days in when some teenagers working the snack bar in the shadows of the red-rock monoliths of Talampaya National Park offered us a tip. Drawing up a map, they insisted it would lead us to the best restaurant in an area otherwise known for vast, unpopulated expanses. La Rioja Province is fantastic country, but not the sort of place you venture to in search of gastronomic highlights.

Your Photo of the Day: The Adventure Challenge

Each day we'll feature a new reader photo on the website—and the very best of them could appear in the magazine. Post your top photo to the photo album on the NG ADVENTURE fan page on Facebook to enter.

Deal of the Week: Alaska on Sale

Ever heard of the Chigmits? It's that strip of 6,000-foot peaks just west of Anchorage, where the Alaska and Aleutian ranges meet (think glaciers, waterfalls, Dall sheep galore). And this summer, it's 20 percent off if you travel with Alaska Alpine Adventures. The veteran outfitter has slashed the price of its ten-day "Kontrashibuna Lake/Gladiator Combination" kayaking and backpacking trip from $2,650 to $2,100 per person (all-inclusive), saving you more than 20 percent. Spend the first few days paddling Kontrashibuna Lake's turquoise waters, then buckle your backpack straps and hike up into the Gladiator Basin, a U-shaped valley high in the Chigmits. You'll ogle magnificent Alaskan vistas, day after day without running into a single human specimen.

Top 10 Outdoor-Sports Rivalries

As March Madness kicks off this week, talk around ye old office water-cooler will likely revolve around NCAA basketball. But that doesn't mean college hoops fans should have all the fun. So we decided to give you ADVENTURE crowd your own bracket-like list to debate: a run-down of the best modern rivalries in outdoor sports. And when we say rivalries, we don't mean to imply that these athletes snipe and bicker like Rock of Love contestants. We mean, simply, that they're vying for their sport's top spot—and pushing each to be better in the process. Here, then, are our picks for today's Top 10 Outdoor-Sports Rivalries in climbing, cycling, ski racing, and more

Your Photo of the Day: The Adventure Challenge

We're pretty sure our readers' adventure photos rival those of the pros, so we're launching a challenge to see if it's true. Each day we'll feature a new reader photo on the website—and the very best of them could appear in the magazine. Post your top photo to the photo album on the NG ADVENTURE fan page on Facebook to enter.

Interview: Ed Viesturs, CEO

On March 25, Ed Viesturs, America�s preeminent high altitude mountaineer, will officially un-retire. The man who once told ADVENTURE "I have no desire to climb above 8,000 meters again,� will return to Everest for the eleventh time on a team sponsored by Eddie Bauer, gunning for his seventh summit. "I�m just trying to keep up with Lance,� he says. But while Viesturs�s time away from the high peaks was short, it was hardly unproductive. Since climbing all 14 of the world�s 8,000-meter mountains, Viesturs has co-written a memoir, No Shortcuts to the Top (Broadway), and the book�s themes—teamwork, risk management, and goal-setting—have attracted a very slick set of followers: business execs. (The president of steel giant Arcelor Mittal recently flew the climber to Delhi to speak at their global sales meeting.) We caught up to Viesturs as he packed for Everest to ask him about his transition from base camp to the boardroom. Now if we could only get Wall Street to adopt Viesturs�s risk management strategies�.

Your Photo of the Day: The Adventure Challenge

We�re pretty sure our readers� adventure photos rival those of the pros, so we�re launching a challenge to see if it�s true. Each day we�ll feature a new reader photo on the website—and the very best of them could appear in the magazine. Post your top photo to the photo album on the NG ADVENTURE fan page on Facebook to enter.

David de Rothschild: Voyage of the Plastiki Building the World's Most Unlikely Boat

Last October, we brought you the story of David de Rothschild, the British explorer who plans to sail 11,000 miles across the Pacific Ocean from San Francisco to Sydney in a 60-foot catamaran made of used two-liter plastic bottles and other recyclable materials. Readers responded vigorously.

Without stepping off of dry ground, de Rothschild and his team have already faced a host of challenges, but now comes the hard part: building, and then sailing, the Plastiki. Departure date is set for the end of April, so over the next several weeks we will take you behind the scenes where, in a vast and otherwise empty pier overlooking San Francisco Bay, one of the world�s most unlikely boats is taking shape.

The Big Trip: Australia

Australia�s outback may be the world�s best place to get (far, far) away from it all. The country�s rugged center—about two-thirds the size of the continental U.S.—is populated by fewer than a million people. (That�s about one person every two square miles.) The best way to up-close-and-personalize this vast landscape is to road-trip right through it. Book a car in Adelaide, South Australia (this is not the time to upgrade to a gas guzzler), dig out that Books on Tape edition of War and Peace, and devote at least a week to cruising the Stuart Highway all 1,925 miles to Darwin, capital of the Northern Territory. Head down under anytime from April through November—it�s a furnace the rest of the year—to maximize your side-trip options. From Aboriginal-led hikes out to towering Ayers Rock to overnights at old prospector haunts and dips in cool red-gorge streams, a zip through the outback is a lesson in living history.

The Daily Catch: Today's Photo

See the latest image in our adventure photo challenge.

World Class Cape Town

For wildlands with cosmopolitan appeal, head to the edge of Africa.

Paris has the Left Bank, Sydney has the Opera House, and San Francisco has the Bay. But with two oceans, steep mountains, long white beaches, and a World Heritage�designated floral kingdom where wild zebras roam, Cape Town takes first place on my personal list of the world�s most spectacular cities. And Twelve Apostles Hotel and Spa is the perfect base camp (doubles from $410; 12apostleshotel.com). It�s close to hip urban enclaves—the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront�s caf�s, pubs, and restaurants are a short drive away—but occupies a natural world of its own.

The Daily Catch: Today's Photo

See the latest image in our adventure photo challenge.

Hard Science: Radar Aids Arctic Expedition

Polar explorer Pen Hadow started prepping at a young age for his unusual career. For the first six years of his life, he was subjected to an "Arctic conditioning" program at the hands of his elderly nanny, who had refined her methods while looking after Sir Peter Scott, son of legendary British explorer Robert Falcon Scott. To toughen him up, she made Hadow play outside with no shoes, in little more than shorts and a shirt, during the Scottish Highlands� rough winters. The early training paid off: In 2003 he became the first person to walk alone (swimming when he had to) from Canada to the geographic North Pole without air resupply—a feat no one has ever repeated, though several have died trying. He�s still doing things the hard way. This month he sets off on a 1,245-mile, $8 million polar odyssey on foot, towing an innovative radar unit designed to penetrate ice and gauge its exact thickness. The new application will capture the first true measure of the ice cap—and help scientists determine how soon it will melt. ADVENTURE caught up with Hadow shortly before his departure.

The Daily Catch: Today's Photo

See the latest image in our adventure photo challenge.

The 100 Greatest Adventure Books of All Time

What are the essential ingredients in a great adventure story? The Latin root of the word, oddly enough, means "an arrival," but adventure almost always entails a going out, and not just any going out but a bold one: Sail the Pacific on a balsa raft; pit your skills against K2; sledge to the South Pole. It is a quest whose outcome is unknown but whose risks are tangible, a challenge someone meets with courage, brains, and effort—and then survives, we hope, to tell the tale.

Rasta Barista

On a trip to jamaica a few years back I decided to detour just north of Kingston, near Hardwar Gap in the Blue Mountains, where an old Rastaman was reputed to grow the best coffee on Earth. Jamaican Blue Mountain is one of the world�s most sought-after specialty coffees, selling for as much as $54 a pound in New York City and $10 a cup in Tokyo. But it�s hard to find even in Jamaica, since the vast majority of the crop is commercially grown, machine roasted, and then exported. Only a few backwoods growers still roast the old-fashioned way, selling their harvest to locals and passersby.

Will Paddle For Whisky

Paddling hard through spray-capped swells and breaking chop in 20-mile-an-hour winds, we rounded a ragged point on the western shore of Jura and set out across the Sound of Islay. Beyond the chaotic seas, the current ripping south, we could already see a brilliant smear of white in the distance, a telltale gleam that could be only one thing in Scotland�s Inner Hebrides: the broad, whitewashed, and stenciled wall of a single malt Scotch distillery. Our guide, Tony Hammock, estimated the force of the current, took a compass bearing, and shouted out our heading. If we kept this pace, he told us, we�d fight our way to the distillery within the hour.

Why Go Now? Deep Discounts Make Africa Affordable

While the global economy sinks, we're seeing the glimmer of a silver lining in pervasive travel deals—particularly in Africa. To better understand the opportunities, we asked Africa Adventure Consultants president Kent Redding to fill us in on finding deals, travelers' roles in local economies, and why the bargain tide will change in 2010.

How can a potential traveler find deals and discounts? Is it rude to just ask for one?

There are so many discounts right now, it can be a bit overwhelming—even for us...

The Daily Catch: Today's Photo

See the latest image in our adventure photo challenge.

Long Weekend Trip Ideas

Looking for some adventure this Presidents' Day weekend? We've found 32 easy, affordable, out-the-backdoor escapes.

Secrets of the Southwest

Moab gets a face-lift. The Grand Canyon shows off two secret falls. And the Colorado River makes room for untested paddlers. Presenting the 20 best adventures in the Four Corners, where everything old (even the ancient stuff) is new again.

Instant Ironman

Finally, the right combo of sports to make you race-fit, faster than you ever imagined.

From the time he was a teenager, Justin Burger spent most of his free time, 20 hours a week or more, training for endurance races—ultramarathons, 24-hour mountain bike competitions, 12-hour kayak races. His hard work paid off. The 23-year-old Houston-based personal trainer routinely finished near the top of the podium at premier adventure races across Texas. "After I started college, though, I just had less time to exercise," he says, "so I expected the worst." Conventional fitness wisdom told him his results would plummet when his workout time was halved. Instead, he got faster.

The Daily Catch Adventure Photo Challenge

We�re pretty sure our readers� adventure photos rival those of the pros, so we�re launching a challenge to see if it�s true. Everyday we�ll feature a new reader photo on the website—and the very best of them could appear in the magazine. Post your top photo to the NG ADVENTURE fan page on Facebook to enter.

Today's Pick: Extreme Elephant Tracking

As the world's largest land animals clash with the world's most destructive (us), scientists scramble to protect the footloose pachyderms. Now a revolutionary trek following one six-ton Kenyan's steps may unlock the mysteries of migration—and provide the answers to peaceful cohabitation.

Today's Pick: Wild Islands Wallpaper

Life's a breeze amid the trade winds: Download your piece of paradise.

Deep Survival: What Lucy Knew

Many years ago, I read of a discovery that set my mind on fire. An American paleoanthropologist named Donald Johanson had discovered the bones of a woman who lived almost 3.2 million years ago, making her our earliest known ancestor. The scientific community was equally excited by the find because it proved that people walked upright long before they evolved the large brains characteristic of modern humans. This was a big deal because the most famous researchers of human evolution, Louis and Mary Leakey, believed that we had developed our modern brains before we walked upright. But Lucy, as the new fossil was named, proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that the opposite was true.

Next Weekend: February 2009

Check out the season's best weekend trips near you.

Deep Survival: How to Control Panic

When we hear the word "panic,� most of us imagine someone running around and screaming. But panic takes many forms. It can be thought of simply as any behavior that occurs when the level of stress or emotion is high enough to prevent conscious thought and deliberate decision-making.

High Performance: Malaria

For Gretchen Garman, 29, a Peace Corps volunteer in Malawi, the symptoms came on suddenly and violently. "I was exhausted but otherwise fine, and then all at once I was nauseous, vomiting, and had a 103-degree temperature," she says. Two weeks earlier Garman had accidentally fallen asleep without a protective mosquito net and been bitten by the checker-winged species that carries malaria.

The majority of malaria victims worldwide are children under five, "but travelers who enter into endemic regions are just as susceptible as small children because they�re naive about the risks," says Joseph Vinetz, M.D., president-elect of the American Committee on Clinical Tropical Medicine and Travelers� Health. Of the 1,564 diagnoses in the United States in 2006, for instance, all involved travelers who had contracted the disease abroad, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Six cases were fatal.

Wild Islands 2009

Pick Your Paradise: Life's a breeze amid the trade winds. Here are our favorite action isles.

Modern Piracy: The Lawless Sea

As the pirate captain waits for his next sortie, he tells the story of his last. A crew member on a Thai palm-oil tanker working for the captain gives him the layout of the freighter and an exact time and place to hit it in the Singapore Strait. The captain phones the boss of a Hong Kong triad, an organized crime syndicate, who agrees to pay him and his crew $9,000 up front, another $50,000 on delivery of the stolen ship, and arranges fake papers for it under a new name.

Norway: Fjords + Freestyle

One hundred ten miles north of the Arctic Circle, dawn crowbars past the room�s blinds before 4 a.m. There is no sleeping. We rise and find a groaning board of Norwegian cold cuts, herring, and brown cheese the color and shape of industrial soap. Outside a van rumbles to life, coughing exhaust among the towering racks of drying cod that line a small harbor. We pile into the vehicle, skis stowed beneath the seats, and drive into the morning chill, tracing the hem of a long fjord until the road ends. Clipping into bindings, we push away on the slushy path of the local Nordic ski club. When it ends, we move farther into the untracked mountains.

The Big Trip: Hut-to-Hut Skiing

The most spectacular of hut-to-hut trails, the Haute Route through the French and Swiss Alps, is also spectacularly crowded: Cross-country pilgrims share the circuit with about 200 other skiers each day, then bunk with them at night in huge dorms festooned with sopping garments. Thankfully, you don�t have to schlep all the way across the pond for a jaw-dropping Nordic tour. North America has built its own portfolio of equally impressive hut-to-huts in the years since WWII, when at least one veteran who had served as a special ski trooper in Europe returned home and later re-created the famous Alps circuits in his own backyard. The trend took hold from there, and the results, from steep Rocky Mountain runs to rolling North Woods loops, are more remote—and far less trodden—than the Alpine classics they mimic. And with what you save in airfare to Chamonix, you could make tracks to more than one.

Gear: GPS, Cameras, Watches

Dodge traffic jams, check gas prices—for a new breed of GPS units, maps are just the beginning.

World Class: Bhutan

In the kingdom of Bhutan, even lodges have a royal pedigree. Take Aman�s 16-room retreat just outside the capital city of Thimphu (100,000 people, no stoplights), which shares a forested hillside with the residences of four queens. Or its pastoral eight-suite inn in Punakha, which was once the royal family�s farmhouse and remains surrounded by terraced fields of red rice. In fact, each of Aman�s six properties (including the new one in Trongsa, opening this spring) occupies regal real estate in this Switzerland-size Shangri-la.

Special Report: The Uncertain Fate of Congo's Mountain Gorillas

In our March 2009 issue, writer Mark Jenkins examines how the bloody upheaval in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has affected one of the planet�s largest populations of mountain gorillas. His story focuses on the head ranger of Virunga National Park, Emmanuel de Merode, who brokered a groundbreaking peace accord with rebel leader Laurent Nkunda, allowing his rangers to operate behind enemy lines and monitor the gorillas. Today, General Nkunda, who Jenkins describes as "slick, brutal, and ambitious,� was arrested by Congolese and Rwandan soldiers. It is a remarkable turnabout for Nkunda, who had become one of Congo�s chief power brokers. But the arrest does not assure peace in Congo, nor does it ensure the safety of the mountain gorillas. The man replacing Nkunda, General Bosco Ntaganda, is known as "the butcher" and is also wanted on crimes against humanity. De Merode�s work continues and, as Jenkins explains, he will most likely have to keep rewriting the rules of conservation to ensure the mountain gorillas� survival.

Leading Edge: Animal Collective

Earth, wind, and fire have their patrons, but among musicians, water is the go-to element. Mendelssohn wrote "Fingal's Cave" after an 1829 jaunt to the Scottish coast, and the Beatles all lived in a yellow submarine just south of there. But the motion of the ocean finds its fullest expression in the music of Animal Collective, indie rock�s most exciting band by a nautical mile. The New York Times once described their songs as "blowing up into big, woolly clouds," but that�s only half of it—Animal Collective's newest kaleidoscopic pop record, Merriweather Post Pavilion, is wet with scuba dives, Lisbon shores, and even bioacoustic recordings of the deep sea itself.

My Shot Adventure Islands Wallpaper

Wiped out? Burned out? Escape winter's woes with desktop wallpaper of our favorite wild isles.

Deep Survival: Hudson River Crash Remarkable in Aviation History

I first began to write about airline crashes in the early seventies. Ever since then, I've tried to learn about and write about both the joys of aviation and the business of avoiding airplane crashes--or else surviving them when they happen.

As I write this, the crash of US Airways Flight 1549 into New York City�s Hudson River happened just about three hours ago, and this is my first response to it. As a pilot and a journalist who writes about aviation, I know from long experience that it's much too early to be weaving detailed explanations of what happened. No one knows yet. It takes time to gather the facts, interview those involved, and examine the wreckage.

The system of airlines works so well that it sometimes seems miraculous to me that we can move so many people around the world, day and night, and have so few accidents. It's an extremely complex system, designed for safety as well as making money. And as a result, something as complex as the crash of an airliner takes a long time to unravel. Be patient. Don�t jump to conclusions.

Adventurer of the Year Rob Gauntlett Dies

It is with heavy hearts that we pass along the worst kind of news: The BBC reported Saturday that Rob Gauntlett, who shared the 2008 Adventurers of the Year award with James Hooper, was in a fatal accident while climbing in the French Alps.

Field FAQs: Adventure on the Cheap in 2009

Question: Like many people these days I�m feeling broke. But I�m hoping to take a great trip in the new year rather than stay home watching CNBC. What do you recommend?

Answer: For now, forget the assault on Everest or diving the Bikini Atoll—the types of sojourns that will set you back many thousands of dollars. Suze Orman might say don�t go anywhere, but I say these turbulent times simply mean we must get creative, back to basics, and, if possible, off the grid.

News: At Least 11 Killed By Avalanches This Week

Seven Canadian snowmobilers are dead and one is missing and presumed dead after a series of avalanches hit their group in the backcountry near Fernie, British Columbia, Sunday. Also on Sunday, a snowmobiler died near Hart's Pass, Washington, and on Monday a 15-year-old Utah boy was killed snowmobiling in the Uinta Range. A Lake Tahoe skier is dead from a slide at Squaw Valley on Christmas Day. A Wilson, Wyoming, man perished in a slide in-bounds at Jackson Hole on Saturday. And Monday morning, with the resort closed for avalanche control work, an avalanche crashed into Jackson�s mid-mountain Couloir restaurant, causing severe damage and knocking workers about, including a patroller who was partially buried. There were no deaths or serious injuries in Monday's slide, but it was a gnarly punctuation to a hellacious week. The season total for North American avie fatalities stands at 18--and it isn't even New Year's.

World Class: Belize

Most visitors to Belize head straight for Ambergris Caye, the country�s largest and most touristed island. While no one would call Ambergris frenetic, an even mellower alternative is Cayo Espanto, a private island less than three miles away, where guests can paddle from open-air bedrooms toward the Western Hemisphere�s biggest barrier reef (villas from $1,295, including meals; aprivateisland.com). Other seaside pursuits include snorkeling, sailing, bonefishing, and excursions to Ambergris, whose funky shops and eateries are within a seven-minute boat ride. But chances are Espanto�s solitude will grow on you—as will its stable of award-winning chefs, who prepare local dishes whenever and wherever you�d like. Creole lobster under the stars, anyone?

World Class: Costa Rica

For more than a decade, Pacuare Lodge was mainly a springboard for rafting trips on its namesake river. That was prior to the 15-room eco-retreat�s transformation from d�class� to deluxe ($326 per person; pacuarelodge.com). The new bungalows are electricity free, but polished hardwood floors, net-draped four-poster beds, and hot showers by candlelight don�t exactly make for hardship. Right out the door is one of Costa Rica�s highest canopy rappels, plus whitewater paddling through lush canyons. The Pacuare River surges up to Class IV this time of year—and a former one-night wonder has gone high-class to match.

Wild Roads: Arizona

North of Phoenix, saguaro cacti give way to evergreens. Traffic eases and the temperature drops. A silent expanse of volcanic mountains (notably the 12,000-foot San Francisco Peaks) stretches across the horizon. North America�s largest ponderosa pine forest is up here, and so is some of the best mountain biking in the country. Tony Fanelli, of Sedona Bike & Bean, chalks it up to the varied landscape. "We�ve got three stages of riding all within an hour�s drive," he says. "True desert, red rocks, and that high Rockies pine." Pedal Sedona and Prescott, paddle the Verde River, and, oh yeah, peruse that mile-deep gash in the Earth most folks call the Grand.

The Life: Nicholas Kristof

Nicholas Kristof figures he can do the most good in places other journalists typically avoid, far-flung spots like Darfur, western China, and the islands of Vanuatu, writing about topics—genocide, sex trafficking, acute poverty—most would sooner ignore. But it�s how he gets there that really sets this Pulitzer Prize�winning New York Times columnist apart: Kristof has mastered the art of no-frills, down and dirty travel—across 140 countries and six continents—which means lots of sneaking across borders and negotiating with unsmiling armed men. ADVENTURE caught up with him just after he�d returned from China, where he spent his time slipping into Tibet to report on human rights abuses.

The Big Trip: Peru

Every trekker who tackles the 5,900-foot gain of Peru�s Inca Trail eventually ponders an ancient mystery: Were the folks who carved the original route to Machu Picchu awesomely adapted to high-mountain life? Or just oblivious to little courtesies that future visitors from sea level might appreciate, like switchbacks?

High Performance: Fish Nutrition

Americans� seafood consumption—16 pounds per person per year—is at an all-time high. But the facts on fish are more confusing than ever. Health experts say we still aren�t getting enough of it, while marine biologists swear that if we eat any more, we�ll wreck the planet. Thankfully, there are responsible ways to consume seafood without contributing to the damage.

Beyond Green Travel: Top Ten Worst Green Travel Destinations

I am a firm believer that travel, no matter the destination, can be a powerful learning experience. In fact, some of my worst trips have been among the most interesting. They are the places I still tell stories about. But when looked through the lens of sustainable tourism principles—being environmentally friendly, helping to protect cultural and natural heritage, supporting the well-being of local people--there are some places that stand out, and its not for the better. So here is my top 10 must-avoid travel destinations list (or at least consider this warning so that you know what you are getting into before you go).

Best of Adventure Video: Francois Bon

Adrenaline Award: In pursuit of pure gravity
When his guides asked why he was climbing Argentina's 22,834-foot Aconcagua, Francois Bon had an unusual response: silence. "I tried not to tell them," he says. After all, they might not have helped him reach the summit if they'd known he was planning to jump off.

Best of Adventure Video: Gretchen Bleiler

Spirit Award: Snowboarding's fresh take
Gretchen Bleiler remembers the moment it hit. "After the Winter '06 Olympics, I went to the Daytona 500 and waved the green flag," she says. "Then it was straight to Tahoe for a Vans Cup. I was standing at the top of the half-pipe, but I felt nothing," she says. "Something was wrong."

Best of Adventure Video: Ashley Clements

Humanitarian Works Award: Dynamo in the disaster zone
The cyclone-ravaged Irrawaddy Delta in Myanmar. Iraqi refugee camps in Jordan and Lebanon. Georgia after the Russian invasion. These are not destinations most people seek out. But Ashley Clements is not like most people.

Best of Adventure Video: Emma Stokes

Discovery Award: The new Jane Goodall
By most standards, 2008 was not a banner year for wildlife conservation—unless you talk to Emma Stokes. In August, she dropped the equivalent of a neutron bomb on the scientific community: the existence of 125,000 lowland gorillas in a nearly untouched region of northern Congo.

Best of Adventure Video: Maroy Correa Estenos & Sam Stime

Field Science Award: Going long on the Amazon
The Amazon River is the largest and arguably most important waterway on the planet. It is also one of the most neglected. Maroy Correa Estenos, 26, and Sam Stime, 29, want to change that.

Best of Adventure Video: Rob Gauntlett & James Hooper

Imagine this. You climb Mount Everest by the time you're 19. And that's tame. You want to try something outrageous, something never before attempted. How about traveling from geomagnetic pole to geomagnetic pole in one frantic dash?

Best of Adventure Video: Rick Ridgeway

From mountaineer to environmental advocate.

Best of Adventure Video: Deia Schlosberg & Gregg Treinish

Culture Award: Trekking the forgotten Andes
Two years. 7,800 miles. No roads. That was how Deia Schlosberg, 28, and Gregg Treinish, 26, vowed to trek the length of the Andes. They had no idea what they were getting into.

Best of Adventure Video: Pemba Gyalje Sherpa

Heroism Award: Savior on K2
On August 1, 2008, at just about 8 p.m., a massive serac cleaved from a glacier near the summit of K2, the world's second highest mountain, and barreled down a section of the Cesen climbing route called the Bottleneck. In an instant, one climber was dead, key safety lines were swept away, and 17 climbers were trapped above 27,000 feet with little chance of escape.

Best of Adventure Video: Ben Skinner

Journalism Award: Five years in bondage
It was near the front lines of the Sudanese civil war, in 2003, when journalist Benjamin Skinner met his first slave. His name was Muong Nyong, and he had run barefoot for two weeks across the burning desert to free himself. As Nyong told his story, Skinner decided to do what few had done before: uncover what it was like to be a slave in the 21st century.

Best of Adventure Video: Kelly Slater

Athleticism Award: One surfer to rule them all
It's early summer in California, and a west wind swell is running along the cobblestone point breaks off Santa Barbara's coast. Several surfing luminaries have paddled out just before sundown, a not uncommon occurrence here on this semisecret beach just east of Ty Warner's billion-dollar Beanie Baby compound.

Best of Adventure Video: George Steinmetz

Photography Award: Africa's eye in the sky
Most photographers pride themselves on being able to see the big picture. George Steinmetz actually straps himself into a motorized paraglider and hovers hundreds of feet above the world's most spectacular scenery to create his signature panoramic images. Time and again he has returned to Africa, where his "flying lawn chair" has enabled him to capture some of the best known photos that National Geographic has published of that continent.

Best of Adventure: Adventurers of the Year

Fourteen people who dreamed big, pushed their limits, and made our year.

Best of Adventure: Must-Have Gear Photo Gallery

The future is here, and look what it's brought: a camera that knows if you've blinked, ski gloves that detect impact, a cell phone that reads hand-writing, and other gizmos that just might be smarter than their users. Here's everything you'll need to seize the day and sleep well at night in '09.

ADVENTURE IQ Quiz

Think you�re a real adventurer? Take our 2008 year-in-review ADVENTURE IQ quiz and see how you measure up.

Best of Adventure: Hall of Fame Award

From prisoner of Panama to power broker: Why Rick Ridgeway traded a life on the edge for a chance to reinvent the wilderness.

Best of Adventure: Photography Award

ADVENTURE takes a paraglider ride above Africa with aerial photographer George Steinmetz.

Gear Experts: ADVENTURE's Retail Advisory Board

Our Best of Adventure gear picks were nominated in part by a panel of 34 retailers across the country. Use our map to find a gear expert near you and learn about their public programs and outdoors access.

50 Top Ecolodges

From bring-your-own bedroll bungalows to high-thread-count villas, these 50 ecolodges are redefining travel for a greener generation.

Field FAQs With Holly Morris: Exit Strategy

Sabbatical 101: When it's time to take flight, and how to do it right. Plus, the Iran that few foreigners know but all should see.

Deep Survival: Experience Seekers

Scientists claim to have ID'd the brain's adventure center, but our appetite for the unknown is more complicated than we think.

Best New Adventure Travel Trips 2009

National Geographic Adventure presents the 25 best new adventure travel tours in the world.

Gear: Digital Cameras

From a GPS-enabled point-and-shoot to a full-size rig with unprecedented speed (sayonara, shutter lag!), meet the cameras of 21st-century travel.

Next Weekend: Instant Adventures

Check out the season's best weekend trips near you.

The Big Trip: The Ski Report

North American resorts are gearing up for another all-star season—and we�ve got the beta. From British Columbia to Maine, here�s the best of what�s new for winter �09.

Special Report: Steve Fossett Update

A year after celebrated aviator Steve Fossett went missing, an unforeseen wrinkle in the case emerges—and a new search begins.

High Performance: Flu Season

Don't spend your vacation flat on your back with the flu. Beat the bug with well-timed exercise, the right vaccines, and a few sneaky strategies.

The Life: Richard Flanagan

Why Hollywood�s next great visionary is loath to leave the outback.

First In Photogallery

Every month, the magazine features stunning adventure photographs from around the globe, from groundbreaking expeditions to emerging destinations.

Did Steve Fossett Fake His Death?

On Monday, hikers stumbled upon possible items belonging to Steve Fossett. Is this the end of the mystery of what happened to the famed aviator?

Wild New Zealand!

Adventure Travel in New Zealand: Here's everything you need to plan your next trip, including an adventure guide, photos, and video.

The Best of What's Next

Big thinkers, innovative ideas, and game-changing products—consider this your guide to an ever shifting world.

The Big Trip: Japan

Trade Tokyo�s frenzy for far eastern wilds.

David de Rosthchild

David de Rothschild Profile: Voyage of the Plastiki: Can David de Rothschild sail 7,500 miles across the Pacific in a plastic bottle boat?

Ski Buyer's Guide

Faster, lighter, more powerful skis, boards, and boots. Here�s your guide to the coolest cold-weather gear.

Next Weekend: Instant Adventures

Check out the season's best weekend trips near you.

Survivor: Gabon - Jeff Probst Interview

Charging elephants, leopards in the catering tent, and the potential for new tourism to the central African nation.

Performance: Sports Injuries

A new breed of sports injury treatments gives you more (legit) options than ever before.

Four Corners Fugitives

Ten years ago, a band of survivalists roared through the southwest, guns blazing, then vanished. David Roberts reports.

World Class: Lodges + Escapes

Global Travel Editor Costas Christ's ecolodge recommendations in Morocco, India, and Brazil.

The Other "Gustav" - Burundi's Man-Eating Crocodile

As tropical storm Gustav picks up speed, we are reminded of another deadly force of nature....

Best Places to Live: The Next Great Adventure Towns

We've found the 50 next great adventure towns!

Best Places to Live: The Next Great Adventure Towns

We've found the 50 next great adventure towns!

8 New Africa Adventures

Global Travel Editor Costas Christ recommends eight new trips across Africa--South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Zambia, Senegal, and Guinea.

Africa Safari: Tracking Namibia's Black Rhino

Writer Mark Sundeen travels 150 miles across the Namib Desert with Save the Rhino Trust founder Rudi Loutit.

Photo Gallery: Sights Unseen

See stunning adventure photos from around the globe.

Win a Trip to the Adventurer of the Year Awards!

Enter to win a trip for two to the Adventurer of the Year Awards in Washington, D.C., at the National Geographic Headquarters.

K2: Accident Updates, History, Facts

K2 Climbing: News, history, and fast facts on the world's most dangerous mountain.

Survive Almost Anything

Survival Skills: 14 real world strategies for any crisis.

"Life's an Adventure" Photo Contest

Check out our readers' best adventure photos, then share your favorites for the chance to win prizes.

Gear: Travel Bags, Tech

TSA got you down? This season�۪s smart, stowable carry-ons, abuse-proof haulers, and travel-savvy tech will put you on the fast track.

The Life: Kira Salak

From Tibet to Congo, Kira Salak travels on the edge.

The Ghost Ship of Filey Bay

Three teams are braving the North Atlantic for diving�۪s most historic prize: the legendary ship of John Paul Jones.

Field FAQs with Holly Morris

How to make a surley teen pick bush pig over Burger King.

Go Green: Top Biking Cities

How American cities are turning the daily commute into a joy ride.

Performance: Olympic Training

What it takes to raise your game (it's easier than you think).

Adventure Town: Sandpoint, Idaho

Idaho's Last Stand: Lakefront living in a tight-knit mountain retreat.

Wild Roads: Colorado

Enter a world of sand dunes, ghost towns, and handlebar-high wildflowers.

Special Report: Fallout on Chile's Futaleuf̼

After a major volcanic eruption, what will become of South America�۪s top whitewater river?

The Big Trip: Survival Schools

From backcountry emergencies to hostile fire, practice for the unexpected at these five outdoor academies.

Instant Adventures August 2008: 32 Easy Weekend Escapes

Check out the season's best weekend trips near you.

World Class Lodges and Escapes: August 2008

Global Travel Editor Costas Christ's picks in Vietnam, Tanzania, and Maine.

World Class Lodges and Escapes: June/July 2008

Global Travel Editor Costas Christ's picks in Namibia, Honduras, Papua New Guinea.

Instant Adventures June/July 2008: 32 Easy Weekend Escapes

Check out the season's best weekend trips near you.

Living It: Deep Survivor

The dire consequences of a vacation state of mind. By Laurence Gonzales

Edward Norton on Being Green

The Incredible Hulk actor talks about his new movie, his favorite adventures, and being green.

Best of the Great Parks: Most Beautiful Places

Use our guides, maps, and GPS coordinates to find the most scenic places in the national parks.

Gear: Sunglasses, Watches, Digital Cameras

Sunglassses, classic and performances watches, and travel-ready cameras: the stuff of summer just got a serious upgrade.

Ultralight Sky-Trekking the Southwest

Soar above the Southwest's most remote landscapes in ultralight winged kites.

Road-Tripping Russia: 6,000 Miles to Moscow

A trip across the newly opened Trans-Siberian Highway is a look at globalization gone wild.

Special Report: Everest Gets Torched

How the Olympics ruined a peaceful climbing season on the world's tallest mountain.

Young Explorers Dogsled Across Ellesmere Island

This past spring, six up-and-coming eco-adventurers, one veteran explorer, and 30 yelping sled dogs embarked on a 1,400 miles push across Canada's Ellesmere Island.

The Big Trip: Sulawesi, Indonesia

Ancient ways, deep diving, and monkey business in Southeast Asia. A ten-day jungle expedition to the ends of the Earth.

Wild Roads: South Dakota

Try a four-day road trip in South Dakota's Badlands, America's still Wild West.

Photo Gallery: Morocco

Driving the backroads of North Africa is nothing less than a total immersion in the exotic��from casbahs and markets to mountains and desert sands.

Photo Gallery: Iceland

Volcanic moonscapes, massive floodplains, thundering waterfalls, and Europe's largest glacier��adventurous activities in Iceland are as bountiful as the imagination.