The Red Bulletin US 05/21

BEYOND THE ORDINARY

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DREAM IT. PLAN IT. DO IT. THE RED BULLETIN 05/2021

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EDITOR’S NOTE

CONTRIBUTORS THIS ISSUE

For most of us, the past year has not exactly been exciting, with leisure taking a back seat to personal responsibility. But now, it seems, a shift toward normalcy is in motion. The urge for adventure—to plan something bold, or at least fantasize about it—is back. This issue reflects that. Our cover story, for instance, “Life on the Edge” (page 22), curates images from some of the world’s top adventure photographers to capture the spirit of doing wild things in wild places. The stuff of dreams.

HEATHER BALOGH ROCHFORT

WILDEST DREAMS

The Colorado-based writer was gratified to interview Navajo runner and women’s advocate Verna Volker for a short profile. “She is running for those who can’t and for those who no longer have a voice,” says Balogh Rochfort, who has written four books and stories for such outlets as Afar, The Washington Post and Backpacker. “I’m inspired by how she uses social media to enact change in the world.” Page 9

Leaving dense jungle and a snow-covered volcano behind, the equipment-laden protagonists of our Corcovado expedition get picked up in Patagonian Chile.

Elsewhere, there’s a full-throated adventure epic of a rare jungle-alpine exacta in Patagonia, “Full Circle” (page 44); an evocative guide to climbing the highest peak in seven states, “Seven Summits (American Style!)” (page 34); and a travel planner for pulling off a high-adrenaline RV vacation, “Rolling Base Camp” (page 82). We hope you can push yourself or find yourself outdoors soon.

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Roemer had to scramble to an opposing ridge to shoot our cover at the memorably named 350foot-tall rock formation Turkey Monster, located a few hours from his home in Bend, Oregon. “It’s pretty hidden,” says Roemer, who has shot for National Geographic, The New York Times, Outside and Patagonia.

“Even though it’s a massive tower coming out of the forest, it took some bushwhacking to get to this area to even find it.”

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TYLER ROEMER (COVER), ERICH ROEPKE

TYLER ROEMER

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CONTENTS May

FEATURES

2 2 Life on the Edge

Whether you’re ready to plan your next adventure or just dreaming, here are some wild images to stoke your imagination.

3 4 The (New) Seven Summits For a huge feat that doesn’t involve crowds or international travel, consider climbing one of the highest peaks in the U.S.

44 Full Circle

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DON’T LOOK DOWN For climber Zak Krenzer, the adventure is only half over as he approaches the summit of Forbidden Peak, located in the heart of North Cascades National Park in Washington.

The story behind a new short film documenting a quest for the purest of climbs that follows in the footsteps of legends.

5 8 Hidden Depths

Inside the unexplored passageways of a Mexican cave system, two intrepid divers discover something truly life-changing.

7 0 Hand-Built Frames

French photographer JB Liautard shares how he elevates his stunning mountain bike images into fine art.

70 SECRET SAUCE To achieve this enchanted picture, JB Liautard filled a wheelbarrow with water and shot into the reflection.

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THE

DEPARTURE

Taking You to New Heights

9 Navajo Verna Volker brings

Native women together

12 Falling into place amid

Iceland’s glaciers

14 A parkour athlete bounces

at an old quarry in Sydney

16 Swimmer Jaimie Monahan

finds focus in icy waters

18 Music producer Mike Mac

gets personal in a new song

20 Dave Grohl shares four

songs he wishes he wrote

GUIDE

Get it. Do it. See it.

79 Fitness tips from champion

kayaker Dane Jackson

82 Five trip ideas for high-

octane RV-oriented escapes

86 Dates for your calendar

88 The best camping gear 94 Anatomy of gear 96 The Red Bulletin worldwide

MATT BALDELLI, JB LIAUTARD, ERICH ROEPKE

98 Scaling chimneys in Slovenia

44 JUNGLE HACK

Mountaineer Stein Retzlaff uses a machete to force his way through the jungle in Chilean Patagonia.

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CHOOSE YOUR WIIINGS.

LIFE

&

STYLE

BEYOND

THE

ORDINARY

THE

MICHAEL HAUG

TIME TO RUN Navajo Verna Volker is bringing Indigenous women together through running—and raising awareness against abuse.

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Verna Volker was photographed on the Stone Arch Bridge in downtown Minneapolis on February 6, 2021.

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T H E D E PA RT U R E

“It’s a space for Native women to feel like they belong in the running community,” Volker says of Native Women Running.

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THE RED BULLETIN

MICHAEL HAUG

A

fter a quick scroll on Instagram, one thing is clear: It’s a whitewashed highlight reel.

Or at least that’s how Verna Volker felt in 2016, when she made the leap from Twitter and migrated to the popular photo-sharing platform.

Volker, a 48-year-old Navajo mother of four now based in the Twin Cities, had long enjoyed Twitter’s running community by participating in virtual challenges. But when she moved over to Instagram, she quickly realized that Native runners weren’t represented.

It’s not that Indigenous runners didn’t exist; she knew they did. But there was barely any visibility on social media—or any kind of media, for that matter.

“Instagram’s main page was all these really fit, beautiful white women running,” Volker says. “I just couldn’t see myself like that. I couldn’t ever relate to any of them.”

She kept culling through podcasts, magazines and fitness ads in search of any type of Indigenous visibility.

When she found little to none, she decided to take matters into her own hands.

In January 2018 she founded Native Women Running, an online community dedicated to highlighting and engaging Indigenous female runners.

“It’s a space for Native women to feel like they belong in the running community,” Volker says. “It’s also become a place where I want to bring positivity to our women in a world where we have to defend ourselves against oversexualized Halloween costumes and mascot names.”

Three years later, Native Women Running (NWR) has amassed more than 18,000 followers on Instagram and 7,400 on Facebook. As the community grows, Volker and other members continue to share their running-related

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stories. In particular, many NWR members use running as a means to heal from the abuse and trauma so prevalent in their communities: According to a Department of Justice report, 84 percent of American Indian and Alaska Native women have experienced violence at some point in their lifetime. More than half of Indigenous women have suffered from sexual assault.

While those numbers are staggering, the data only gets worse. In some counties, Native women face murder rates that are 10 times higher than the national average.

In 2016, the National Crime Information Center reported 5,712 cases of missing Indigenous women (even though a mere 116 were logged into the Department of Justice’s database). Because of this, Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women (MMIW) has become both a human rights crisis and full-scale movement in the United States.

“This is something that every Native woman is a part of,” Volker says. “Even if we’re not from the same tribe, we’re all sisters and we all bear each other’s trauma.”

In 2019, Volker and NWR decided to do something more to support MMIW. Rather than participate in a march, NWR hosted its first annual virtual run, in an effort to honor the missing women and children.

The inaugural event took place on May 5 to coincide with the National Day of Awareness for the Missing and Murdered Native Women and Girls.

“I wanted to create something that every woman

and every Native person could be a part of, wherever they are—by just stepping out their door and running in honor of our women,” Volker explains.

First, she connected with Dirk Whitebreast, the founder of Red Earth Running, which is the first Native-owned running company. Whitebreast offered to help Volker make T-shirts for purchase prior to the virtual run, with a portion of proceeds going to the Urban Indian Health Institute, a division of the Seattle Indian Health Board, which decolonizes data for Indigenous people. Volker was thrilled by the response of her community.

“We had people running all over the world, as far away as Australia, and they all were sharing their stories on social media,” she remembers.

Since the inaugural event, the MMIW Virtual Run continues to grow. While the 2020 event was changed to a virtual vigil due to COVID-19, the virtual run returns in May. This year, NWR is partnering with Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women USA, an organization dedicated to returning the missing women and supporting their families through the grieving process.

Ultimately, Volker wants runners to feel pride in their ancestry and remember that Native women have been running on this land for thousands of years. “It’s important for my women to know where they’re running and give acknowledgment to that land,” she says. “For us, it helps us feel even closer to who we are as Indigenous people.” —Heather Balogh Rochfort

“EVEN IF WE’RE NOT FROM THE SAME TRIBE, WE’RE ALL SISTERS.” 11

Aldeyjarfoss, Iceland

HANG TIME

When you’re a photographer, you go where the action takes you. “I was working on a project on the Icelandic glacier rivers,” recalls Czech lensman Jan Kasl, “when the guys from FlyOver Iceland called us over to see them shooting by helicopter.” By happy coincidence, FlyOver Iceland—an attraction that presents simulated flights on huge screens—was filming American extreme kayaker Evan Garcia plunging down a 65-foot waterfall. Which gave Kasl just what he needed for this composite shot. jankaslphoto.com

JAN KASL

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Sydney, Australia

FOLLOW THE LEADER Cool your boots, conspiracy theorists— you’re not looking at evidence of a covert cloning program. The truth is out there in Oz, where Eric Yip created this composite image with the help of parkour athlete Alex Robinson. “I shot it at an old quarry turned natural space south of Sydney,” says Yip of the picture that won him a semifinal spot in the prestigious Red Bull Illume photo contest. “The location has always had so much potential for making images—the basalt columns and the orientation at sunrise make it perfect.” eyxl.com.au

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ERIC YIP/RED BULL ILLUME

T H E D E PA RT U R E

This New Yorker has a unique approach to sightseeing—submerged in icy water, with only a swimsuit and cap for protection.

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aimie Monahan insists her swimming isn’t about being the fastest or breaking records. The 41-yearold ice, winter and marathon specialist says it’s simply about finding personal challenges that make her feel strong and creating memorable experiences. Perhaps it’s just coincidence, then, that those goals have led Monahan to conquer some of the world’s coldest feats of open-water swimming in just a standard suit and silicone cap.

The New Yorker has been a swimmer since her school days, but it was the promise of world travel that saw her dip a toe into icier water. In 2017, she was awarded a Guinness World Record for being the first person to complete the Ice Sevens challenge: swimming a mile on all seven continents, in water below 5°C (44°F)—including one “Ice Zero” mile at below 1°C. When Monahan found herself stuck at home in 2020, it pushed her to find new challenges to fit around her full-time day job in banking recruitment. She used her August vacation time to swim the iconic 28.5-mile Manhattan Loop on seven consecutive days.

Then in September she became the first person ever to swim a “quadruple” of the loop in one mammoth continuous 114 mile, 45-hour effort—a feat that saw her dubbed “Queen of Manhattan.” “I think I was looking for a way to feel strong after being cooped up for months,” she says. “I look back on 2020 and it’s probably one of the years I’m most proud of.”

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the red bulletin: How do you handle these challenges? jaimie monahan: A lot of things in life have taught me that you can only control yourself, not your environment.

The water is always in charge.

So it’s about just being aware of the power of the water, and that we’re minnows in comparison.

What are your techniques for managing the cold?

It takes a mental shift—you get in and your body almost immediately rebels. Your breathing tenses up, along with all your muscles, and you go into that fight-or-flight response.

Even if you’re very experienced, you still have that initial reaction. I always say that if I count to a hundred while I’m swimming, by the end of a hundred strokes I’ll feel good and have stoked that inner fire just through activity. For a longer distance, you have to keep a lot of checks on yourself: Look at your skin color—is it normal? I like to flex my hands and feet. And I check in with my breathing. If you feel too good, that’s usually a sign to get out. You can almost get a warm, euphoric sensation, and that’s one of the signs that maybe hypothermia is setting in.

In what ways does swimming in ice differ mentally from marathon swimming?

For me, they’re on opposite sides of the spectrum and yet also two sides of the same coin. In the ice, you have to be so intensely focused—if you lose sight of

Have you ever pushed too far?

I haven’t. You never want to end a swim [in a state] where you’re not in your right mind. You always want to be the one to pull yourself out of the water and walk away. I always want to get out five minutes before I absolutely have to.

What’s your favorite swim?

My answer always changes.

I have a dual nature. I live in Manhattan, surrounded by skyscrapers, and our waters here are some of my favorite places to swim, because you’re in the midst of this big city but there’s also wildlife. At the polar opposite, I’ve been fortunate enough to swim in Antarctica and the Arctic Circle, and any place where there are ice formations is so special to me.

These glaciers and icebergs are thousands of years old and they almost give off their own energy.

You feel the cold that they generate when you’re in the water with them—it’s intense.

That’s such a thrill for me.

THE RED BULLETIN

RACHAEL SIGEE

CRACKING THE ICE

what you’re doing, you really can fall into some bad places.

I’ve seen it where people have a vacant look in their eyes and later you hear crazy stories of the pain they felt, or they blacked out the memory entirely. You have to take your ego completely out of it. It’s a constant matter of checking in with yourself. On the flip side, a marathon swim is almost a moving meditation, where I just let my mind go wherever it wants to. For me, it’s important to give myself free rein. Some people count, some people pray—you have to almost disengage and let your mind wander. We are so connected in this world, especially virtually.

We’re getting emails all the time, checking social media, bombarded by all these different subsets of life. But in the water there’s a break from that. I don’t want to downplay how difficult it is to swim for 45 hours! But it is, in some ways, a mental break.

ARIK THORMAHLEN

Jaimie Monahan

“THE WATER IS ALWAYS IN CHARGE. WE’RE MINNOWS IN COMPARISON.” THE RED BULLETIN

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“NO STRUGGLE OR INJURY DEFINES WHO YOU ARE.” 18

THE RED BULLETIN

Mike Mac

FIGHT SONG

The music producer taps into the story of his own spinal cord injury in a new anthem for Wings for Life.

M

DALURE, ALDO CHACON/RED BULL CONTENT POOL

ike McNamara’s life is like one of those songs that builds and builds, and you think you know where it’s going until it shifts. The shift feels wrong, until it takes you to a crescendo that gives you chills every time.

“A lot of people think, Mike’s injury must’ve made his life a lot harder,” says McNamara, 33.

“No. It made it better.”

McNamara, who lives in Los Angeles and goes by Mike Mac, is a music producer and a spinal cord injury survivor.

Along with Jordan Baum, he’s also one half of the 87’s, who—together with New Jersey rapper and Red Bull Records artist PineappleCITI— are creating an anthem for this year’s Wings for Life World Run on May 9.

Mike Mac and Jordan Baum of the 87’s, producers and songwriters who have worked with artists like Iggy Azalea.

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Wings for Life is a nonprofit organization dedicated to curing spinal cord injury (SCI).

The World Run is a walk, run or roll event where participants across the globe start at the same time and try to hold off a real or virtual chase car for as long as possible. This year’s event will be an app run due to COVID, but the app can be used as a workout buddy leading up to the event and a way to connect with other runners on race day.

Mac was 15 years old and captain of his basketball team when he went for a layup during a game. He made contact with a defender that sent him flying, and he landed on his back. He got up, unaware that he’d torn two ligaments in his back. A few days later he couldn’t run. A blood clot was slowly forming along his spinal cord, compressing it and causing waves of agony that made it hard to sleep, sit or stand.

Three weeks later he collapsed on the couch and couldn’t get up. He pushed himself onto the floor and tried again to stand.

“I touched my stomach and it was like Play-Doh,” says Mac, describing the loss of feeling.

“The next thing you know, everything was mush, and I couldn’t breathe.” A 6-inch spinal epidural hematoma had paralyzed him from the chest down. When Mac went to rehab after surgery to remove the clot, the doctor told him it was unlikely he’d ever recover.

“I said, ‘Well, I’m not leaving here until I walk again,’ ” says Mac. Three months later, with the help of forearm crutches, he did.

Today, Mac wears a brace on his right foot, the one inked with the mantra he adopted during his recovery: “Can’t Stop Me.” He always does something on the anniversary of his accident to stoke that mantra— this year, he and a buddy did a 2-mile hike, a 16-mile bike ride and 18 holes of golf. He does

For this new Red Bull Records track, the 87’s collaborated with PineappleCITI. All proceeds will go to support spinal cord research.

have a limp, which means the only thing he can’t do is run.

And running had been one of his favorite things; it calmed a brain that was always shooting off in a million different directions. It also fueled his competitive drive, turning him from the kid who came in last on a hilly training run to the guy who finished first every single time, eventually clocking 15:45 for 3 miles.

For the World Run anthem, Mac wants to channel the journey of his recovery. And he has a unique partner in PineappleCITI, who herself was unable to walk for two years after a near-fatal car wreck in 2016. They both know struggle and triumph.

And they know how to make the music that will turn their story into a sound so resonant, World Run participants and everyone affected by spinal cord injury will find something to latch onto.

But there is one message Mac hopes they all hear.

“You can do anything you set your mind to. I was paralyzed 18 years ago, and who would have thought I’d make a song for Wings for Life,” he says. “No struggle or injury defines who you are.

Never let it stop you.”

—Christine Fennessy Register for the app run at wingsforlifeworldrun.com. One hundred percent of entry fees goes to spinal cord research.

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Playlist

SONGS TO PRAISE

Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl has written some hits in his time, but here are four he wishes he had.

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JOHN LENNON “IMAGINE” (1971) “I really wish that I had written ‘Imagine’ because it’s such a beautiful song with a really timeless quality—the song just never sounds old. When I was young and I first started playing guitar—around the age of 10 or 11 years old—I would sit and strum along to [John Lennon’s] records all day long.

That’s how I learned to play guitar—John was my teacher.”

BAD BRAINS “SAILIN’ ON” (1982) “Bad Brains were America’s greatest hardcore punk-rock band in the ’80s. They were from Washington, D.C., and were the best live band I’ve ever seen in my life. I was in love with their music—it was so fast, so distorted, so dissonant. It made me want to drink a hundred beers and break windows. Now, if that’s not a good enough reason why I wish it had been written by me …”

PATTY & MILDRED HILL “HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU” (1893) “I wish I had written ‘Happy Birthday [to You],’ obviously, because I’d be making so much more money right now—it would be like owning the rights to pizza.

And maybe it would get me some respect at home, too. I have one daughter who wants to be a musician, and two [others] who look at me like I’m a fucking janitor.

They’re like, ‘Oh, that’s Dad’s job.

Whatever!’ Maybe one day …”

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DANNY CLINCH

KIM WILDE “KIDS IN AMERICA” (1981) “Every punk-rock boy I knew was hopelessly in love with Kim Wilde, and so was I. That’s why I recorded my own version of ‘Kids in America.’ It was in the days before [I joined] Nirvana and I did it on a whim. I was at my friend’s basement studio and I said, ‘Let me record this thing.’

It’s an iconic, anthemic song from the ’80s, and I love it as much as I loved her!”

MARCEL ANDERS

ast year was meant to be a big one for Foo Fighters’ Dave Grohl. In the spring, the L.A.-based drummer turned band leader was set to release a new album, followed by a world tour.

COVID-19 thwarted those plans, but Grohl didn’t sit still—instead, he shared short biographical stories on Instagram to entertain fans, engaged in an epic online drumming battle with 10-year-old Zulu-British prodigy Nandi Bushell and revisited the music of his youth, rediscovering songs he wishes he wrote. In celebration of the Foo Fighters’ 10th studio album, Medicine at Midnight, finally being released in 2021, the 52-year-old reveals four of the songs that have inspired him—and made him envious that he didn’t conceive them himself. foofighters.com

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LIFE ON THE EDGE Many of us just spent a year or more in lockdown, but the time for full-throated adventure may finally be upon us. Whether you’re ready to plan or still in the dreaming phase, here are some wild images, all taken by top adventure photographers in wilderness locations throughout the U.S., to stoke your imagination. Flip through the portfolio and picture yourself getting out there in a big way.

Words PETER FLAX

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HIGHER POWER FORBIDDEN PE AK

MATT BALDELLI

Climber Zak Krenzer approaches the summit of Forbidden Peak, located in the heart of North Cascades National Park in Washington.

The route up the mountain’s west ridge is celebrated in the iconic guidebook Fifty Classic Climbs of North America.

Experienced climbers say that there’s no easy way off the majestically rocky, 8,815-foot peak—that the adventure is only half over after you tag the summit.

DROP BACK

OH BE JOYFUL CREEK

MICHAEL CLARK

Kayaker Tim Kelton paddles over a waterfall, backwards, on Oh Be Joyful Creek, a Class V thrill ride near Crested Butte, Colorado.

In less than a mile, the creek drops 600 feet, meaning super-competent paddlers can bomb the whole stretch in less than 10 minutes. This is not a spot for intermediate paddlers to learn new skills; locals like to call it Oh Be Careful Creek for a reason.

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Locals like to call this Class V screamer Oh Be Careful Creek for a reason.

STRONG PULL AMERICAN FORK CANYON

Climber Lizzy Ellison muscles her way up Teardrop, a 5.13a route in American Fork Canyon. Located in the UintaWasatch-Cache National Forest, less than an hour from downtown Salt Lake City, American Fork is a wonderland for sport climbers, with hundreds of routes—from 5.7 to 5.14c— on the steep, pocket-filled limestone walls.

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PL AYING THE SLOTS

DUNHAM SLOT CANYON

DAN KRAUSS

Canyoneer Emily West rappels into the depths of Dunham Canyon, a slot canyon located near Kodachrome Basin State Park in southern Utah. The technical part of the canyon is not long—maybe 300 meters—but delivers a lot of photogenic payoff for those with the right skills.

It’s not exactly easy to get inside Dunham Canyon—but the visual payoff is worth the effort.

LINE ART

YOSEMITE VALLE Y Climber Brian Mosbaugh hits out on the “Long Rostrum” line, which is 120 feet long and hangs almost 2,000 feet above the floor of Yosemite Valley. This area is where highlining truly took off in the 1990s, as Dean Potter was the first to walk the Rostrum line untethered.

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TYLER ROEMER

The “Long Rostrum” line sits nearly 2,000 feet above the floor of Yosemite Valley.

FOOTLOOSE VIRGIN, UTAH

Freestyle mountain bike pro Rémy Métailler—who originally is from France and now calls Whistler in British Columbia home—hucks with real artistry on the legendary hills near Virgin, Utah. The terrain shown was home to an earlier iteration of Red Bull Rampage.

You can ride where Rampage was originally held, near the edge of Zion National Park.

JOE COOL

THE BERKSHIRES

DAN KRAUSS, MATT BALDELLI

Sometimes you can taste the sharp edge of adventure without any technical wizardry or physical suffering.

Here photographer Matt Baldelli captured his girlfriend, Megan—now his wife—as she sips sunrise coffee after a frigid fall night in the Berkshire Mountains of western Massachusetts.

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MICHAEL BALDELLI

The deck of the Perrine Bridge sits a whopping 486 feet above the Snake River.

J UMP SCARE

T WIN FALLS, IDAHO With the sun rising, a participant in an educational program at the Snake River BASE Academy jumps off the Perrine Bridge in Twin Falls, Idaho—the eighth-highest bridge in the U.S., soaring 486 feet over the Snake River. Sometimes the most important step in any meaningful adventure is taking the leap.

SEVEN SUMMITS (AMERICAN STYLE!)

If you’re looking for a huge summer adventure that doesn’t involve crowds or international travel, consider climbing the highest mountain in one these seven states. Trust us, they deliver the goods.

Words KELLY BASTONE

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THE RED BULLETIN

DAN KRAUSS

The full splendor of California’s High Sierra is on display for those who reach the upper flanks of Mount Whitney.

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CALIFORNIA

MOUNT WHITNE Y, 14,5 05 FEE T

Even if Whitney weren’t the highest summit in the Sierra (and the contiguous United States), it might still rank as California’s most stunning—which is saying a lot, given this state’s prodigious scenic endowment. Viewed from the Whitney Portal trailhead on the mountain’s east side, it looks like a soaring pile of granite meringue, with a deeply creased face surrounded by jagged towers that refuse to be gentled by buffing winds.

Many yearn to stand atop those spires, and because Whitney can be summited in one 10- to 12-hour day (and chased with pizza, beer and a hot shower down in Lone Pine), it attracts throngs of fit mortals. In 2019, 84,000 people applied for hiking permits, which are limited to 100 day-use and 60 overnight passes per day from May 1 to November 1.

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A lottery system held every winter accepts pilgrims’ preferred dates before awarding permits for the summer and fall (because hikers often hit the trail before dawn, full moons are popular). But Cris Hazzard, a SoCal local and hiking guide who blogs about his adventures at HikingGuy.com, says that hikers with flexible schedules can skip Whitney’s lottery and nab unclaimed permits through recreation.gov.

His 30 visits to California’s highest summit have taken various routes—and mostly bypassed the lottery.

Hazzard has sometimes extended his trip to the top by backpacking to Trail Camp, a stark, rock-bound nest that “feels like Everest base camp because there are no trees, but there are a bunch of other people camped there, waiting to hike to the summit,” he says. Backpacking can be a good way to avoid altitude sickness (multiple nights at altitude help the body adapt to diminished oxygen), but overnight permits are THE RED BULLETIN

JIMMY CHIN

Denali’s supplicants must ascend 18,000 vertical feet to reach the summit—more than on Everest.

It takes time, fitness and relentless drive to reach the summit of Mount McKinley,

even harder to get. Thus Hazzard favors the two daylong routes from Whitney Portal: The 12.4-mile (round trip) Mountaineer’s Route gains the summit via a steep, talusfilled couloir requiring Class 3 scrambling, while the standard route via the Mount Whitney Trail (21.4 miles round trip) delivers superior aesthetics. Says Hazzard, “The ridgeline hike to the summit lets you look down into Sequoia National Park to see Guitar Lake and the most beautiful parts of the High Sierra.”

GEAR UP Salewa’s Wildfire Edge approach shoes ($170) feature a sticky Pomoca outsole for smearing granite on Whitney’s Mountaineer’s Route. An edging plate beneath the toes creates a stiff, secure platform on small holds, but the shoe’s flexy midfoot construction is optimized for on-trail striding. salewa.com THE RED BULLETIN

AL ASK A

DENALI, 20, 310 FEE T

Perhaps Mount McKinley’s clearest peer among iconic mountains is Everest, and even that famed 29,032-foot summit sometimes seems smaller than Alaska’s loftiest perch.

Better known as Denali, the mountain’s proximity to the Arctic Circle means that climbers often experience brutally cold, -40°F temperatures in April and May (prime season).

And its vertical rise is greater than Everest’s: Climbers there gain 12,000 feet from valley to summit, while Denali’s supplicants must ascend 18,000 feet to reach the top. That’s big. Yet in the realm of expedition mountaineering, Denali represents a killer bargain, costing about $10,000 for a monthlong guided trip (compared to Everest’s $75,000).

But you have to be prepared to throw down much more than money, says Joe Horiskey, an RMI Expeditions 37

You need crampons, an ice axe and rope to climb Rainier, which is riddled with crevasses.

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On summit day, climbers on Mount Rainier typically head out long before dawn and get rewarded with an incomparable sunrise.

mountaineer who helped pioneer guided Denali climbs in the 1970s. When groups fail to tag the summit (about 25 percent of RMI’s Denali bids) it’s not due to weather— though climbers routinely spend up to 12 days holed up in tents at 14,000 feet, waiting for storms to pass. Instead, the limiting factor is toughness. “What gets people is a lack of physical conditioning or mental determination,” Horiskey says. Other peaks in this story demand one hard day (or perhaps two on Rainier) but depending on the weather, Denali demands 14 to 30 of them.

The classic West Buttress route begins with a bush-plane landing on the Kahiltna Glacier, “and those views alone are worth the price of admission,” says Horiskey. Then, hikers strap on 60-pound packs and haul sleds using both snowshoes and crampons on a multiday ascent that shuttles gear up the mountain as climbers adapt to increasing altitudes. From 7,000 to 14,000 feet, Denali is a low-angle winter camping experience on glaciated terrain where hikers complete a series of back-carries designed to grow their fitness and acclimatization. Above the 14,000-foot camp, “the complexion of the trip changes dramatically,” says Horiskey, as climbers confront wilder weather and greater risk (like navigating 40-degree pitches without a fixed rope to gain the crest of the West Buttress at 16,000 feet). Summit day hardly backs off: Even without the heavy loads that burdened them earlier in the trip, climbers spend 12 to 15 hours (round trip) commuting between the 17,000-foot camp and the summit. The panoramas over Denali’s rugged flanks are incredible. But the greater reward is an uncorrupted mountaineering experience that’s increasingly difficult to achieve in today’s high-traffic terrain. “It’s such a pure summit,” says Horiskey. “It’s the last great adventure.”

GEAR UP Snuggling into a warm sleeping bag may be your only creature comfort for weeks on Denali, so make it the Feathered Friends Ptarmigan EX -25 ($779). Waterproof fabric on the collar prevents exhalation moisture from dampening the bag, and 900-fill goose down delivers intense warmth for minimum weight (just 3 lbs 12 oz for regular length).

WASHINGTON

MOUNT R AINIER, 14,410 FEE T

JAMES ROH

What’s mesmerizing about Mount Rainier is its exoticism.

No fewer than 25 glaciers drape across this perfect pyramid, making it look like an alien ice feature that dropped into the lush coastal conifers from outer space. It’s shockingly huge and improbably white. And climbing it demands a whole new lexicon of mountain skills: No one simply laces up their trainers and strides to the crater rim. Instead, you’ve got to don crampons, ice axe and rope while rest-stepping your way around human-swallowing chasms in the ice. It’s like climbing in Alaska—except that bagging this summit typically takes just two days. Consequently, Mount Rainier is where wannabe mountaineers cut their teeth. Guided programs often start with two days of skill-building (like learning to self-arrest with an ice axe) followed by two days up and back. May and June offer fewer crowds and crevasses but colder temperatures; midsummer attracts the most climbers but the route includes more awkward cramponning over patches of rock.

The classic Disappointment Cleaver (or DC) route from Paradise climbs and descends almost 2 vertical miles in about 30 hours. Groups first hike 4.5 miles to Camp Muir at 10,188 THE RED BULLETIN

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GEAR UP Petzl’s Glacier ice axe ($90) is perfect for climbing Mount Rainier: Its straight shaft makes it a secure handrail while rest-stepping, and its steel pick bites into the ice during self-arrest.

COLORADO

MOUNT ELBERT, 14,4 4 0 FEE T

If Elbert were a comedian, it would be Rodney Dangerfield complaining, “I get no respect.” No technical skills are required to reach this skyscraping summit, so even flip-flop-shod lowlanders feel emboldened to scale its sprawling flanks. People have even mountain-biked off Elbert’s summit. Plus, the dirt road leading to the busiest north-side trailhead is smooth enough for two-wheeldrive sedans. But because 14,000-foot altitudes can trigger debilitating illness even in acclimated hikers—let alone ones that just drove in from sea level—Elbert is responsible for a shocking THE RED BULLETIN

GETTY IMAGES

feet—but it’s a short sleep. Rising at 2 a.m. lets climbers kick their spikes into cold, trustworthy ice (all bets are off after the sun warms it to mush). The on-ramp into the alpine is Cowlitz Glacier, then the Muir Snowfield and Ingraham and Emmons glaciers. Slope steepness hovers between 40 and 50 degrees. Climbing in the dark offers few distractions from your ragged breathing and fatigue.

Then the rising sun promises that the summit is near, and most climbers experience an energy surge. Steam wafting from the crater vents attest to Rainier’s status as an active volcano (should it explode into eruption, its mudslides would engulf nearby cities). Wave to neighboring Mount St. Helens, Mount Baker and Mount Hood, which pierce the clouds you stand above. “There’s a lot of elation up on top,” says Peter Whittaker, who’s summited Rainier 254 times (starting at age 12). “It teaches you how to put up with being uncomfortable,” he says. And it underscores discomfort’s eventual rewards.

Climbing Elbert from the south side is arguably more beautiful —and definitely less crowded.

Mount Elbert isn’t the toughest peak in Colorado, but it is the tallest— and the elevation needs to be taken seriously,

number of rescue incidents: In 2020, this single peak accounted for 35 percent of all search-and-rescue calls in the area (and that’s in a county filled with so many towering summits and spires that its mean elevation is a lofty 10,790 feet). “People look at 4.5 miles [one way, on the easiest route from the North Mount Elbert trailhead] and think, ‘I do that all the time,’ ” says local search-andrescue member Becky Young. “But altitude changes everything, from how much you need to drink to how tired you’ll feel. That makes it a little like Mount Kilimanjaro. It’s not technical, but still a challenge,” she adds.

And like Kili, Mount Elbert is worth notching, crowds be damned. When Young climbs it for fun (rather than for S.A.R. missions) she approaches from the mountain’s south side, “which is by far the most beautiful way,” she says. That route starts from Black Cloud trailhead, located near two U.S. Forest Service campgrounds (Twin Lakes and Parry THE RED BULLETIN

Peak) that allow hikers to acclimatize with a night or more at Elbert’s base.

A predawn start is the standard—hikers should retreat below treeline before afternoon lightning storms assault the summit—and the 5 miles (one way) of good trail gains 5,250 vertical feet. The final stretch includes a mile-long ridgewalk and even a bonus summit: Hikers top out on 14,134-foot South Elbert before gaining Elbert proper. Plus, this route sees a fraction of the throngs that approach from the northeast. Says Young, “You can wave to the conga line, because mercifully, you’re not in it.”

GEAR UP Snowstorms have been known to visit Elbert even in July and August, so pack a mountain-worthy rain shell: The three-layer Patagonia Storm10 ($299) buffers wind with 100 percent recycled nylon ripstop—but weighs just 8 ounces.

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The UV intensities atop Mauna Kea are among the highest on earth.

HAWAII

MAUNA KE A , 1 3, 80 3 FEE T

Measuring Mauna Kea’s height from sea level, it’s an impressively tall peak: Hikers log 6 miles (one way) and gain 4,500 vertical feet from the Visitor Information Center at 9,200 feet (a road to the top also serves the Mauna Kea astronomical observatories).

But as a sea volcano, Mauna Kea isn’t based on land like the other mountains profiled here. Its foot sits on the sea floor, 3.6 miles underwater—and measured from there, the mountain reaches 32,696 feet, arguably making it the tallest on earth.

To appreciate its entirety, in February 2021 adventurer Victor Vescovo piloted his submersible to the foot of Mauna Kea, 27 miles offshore. Then he and two companions paddled sea kayaks to land, bicycled 35 miles up the dormant volcano and reached the summit by foot. “She is just an immense mountain, and yet unlike the jagged Himalaya, very quiet and majestic in her form,” says Vescovo, who’s climbed the planet’s seven highest summits.

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At its base, Mauna Kea appears “very different from the usual rocks and plains of other deep areas,” says Vescovo. The large slabs of pillow lava and its mounds of twisting, curving piles of basalt look “like a crazy dump of toothpaste on the bottom of the sea floor,” he says. More surprises awaited Vescovo on top, which was covered with more snow and ice than is typical for Mauna Kea. “Not exactly something one expects on a mountain in Hawaii,” notes Vescovo, who was nearly knocked down by the summit’s ferocious wind. “I was wishing for my crampons as we scaled the last hundred feet, but we were able to kick steps into the snow and ice and . . . yes, it was a lot more intense, and cold, than I expected.”

Many hikers, even ones who don’t begin their journey on the sea floor, report the same surprise at discovering Mauna Kea’s wintry upper reaches, which necessitate sturdy boots, a warm jacket and ample sun protection (thanks to its lofty elevation and low latitude, Mauna Kea’s UV intensities are among the THE RED BULLETIN

DAN KRAUSS, COREY ARNOLD

The aptly named Pearly Gates are on a more challenging route to the summit of Mount Hood.

highest recorded anywhere in the world). Colorful rocks and cinder cones turn the stark landscape into eye candy. Some of their lichens are so rare, they’re only found on Mauna Kea. And a spur trail leads to Lake Waiau, the Pacific Basin’s highest lake at 13,022 feet. These waters are sacred to native Hawaiians, as is the summit: It’s considered disrespectful to stand on the very top, where the goddess Poli‘ahu lives. Perhaps she’s responsible for stealing Vescovo’s chapeau. “Shrieking winds up top blew off my favorite hat, one I climbed Everest with,” he says. “So it seems that she demanded a special offering from me to ascend to her sacred summit. I just smiled, let her have it and kept going up.”

GEAR UP Ball caps sacrifice your ears and neck to Mauna Kea’s roasting UV index, so choose the brimmed Fjällräven Abisko Summer Hat ($55). Its chin strap keeps it leashed amidst summit gusts, and waxed poly/cotton fabric fends off wind and rain without smothering your sweat.

OREGON

MOUNT HOOD, 1 1 , 249 FEE T

MATT BALDELLI

Like a ’68 Plymouth, Mount Hood is a badass brawler that’s short on subtlety and all about power. “It’s kind of a blue-collar mountain,” says Cliff Agocs, an AMGA Alpine Guide who coowns Timberline Mountain Guides and has summited Hood at least 100 times. “It’s like the smallest of the big mountains, so it attracts people that are delving into mountaineering for the first time, but it’s also steeper and harder than people expect.”

As with many volcanoes, Hood’s central plug of magma erodes more slowly than its flanks, so it actually grows slightly steeper over time—and currently, the summit pitches on Hood’s easiest routes measure 45 degrees. “On a snow slope, that feels pretty real,” says Agocs. Plus, Hood’s proximity to the Columbia River places it in a fire hose of weather. “That valley acts like a superhighway for moisture off the Pacific, which slams into the mountain and creates some really cold, gnarly storms,” Agocs explains. Hood’s trademark is rime ice: Climbers often get coated with sparkly crystals that encase them in a glittery white shell. Then, once they penetrate the cloud layer at 9,000 to 10,000 feet, they’re treated to a sunrise panorama that bests anything one might glimpse from an airplane window: The mountain rises alone above a heavenly blanket of fluffy batting.

Hood’s prime climbing season typically runs from mid-May through mid-July, after the avalanche danger has quieted but before melting snow makes rockfall routine. The classic Hogsback route up the peak’s south side spans 7 miles (one way) and 5,290 vertical feet; a midnight start is de rigueur.

You’ll want an ice axe, crampons and rope (and the skills to use them), plus a self-issued permit (available for free at the Wy’East Timberline Day Lodge). First-timers will find the southside route to be spicy enough, but repeat offenders with iceclimbing savvy may want to explore Agocs’ favorite springtime route up the Eliot Headwall on Hood’s north side. “There’s some really beautiful ice, about 150 feet tall, before you get to the mountain’s north ridge,” he says. “And the fun part is popping onto the summit and surprising everyone there from a direction that nobody expects.”

GEAR UP Microspikes provide inadequate purchase on the veins of hard ice that hikers typically encounter on Hood’s Hogsback route, so strap on Black Diamond’s stainless steel Sabretooth Crampons ($190), with front points that bite into steep, slick slopes.

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NEW HAMPSHIRE

MOUNT WASHINGTON, 6, 28 8 FEE T

The Northeast’s highest peak may be shorter than Western allstars, but it’s still a spanker—in part because it’s so mercurial.

“On its calmer days it can be very alluring and sucks you in, then punches you in the head,” says local hiking guide Steve Dupuis.

He’s summited Mount Washington in all seasons and shades of weather, along with all the White Mountain peaks exceeding 4,000 feet in elevation. But Washington’s the one “with an attitude,” says Dupuis. That’s because it claims more abovetreeline terrain than its neighbors, with about 2,000 vertical feet between the krummholz and the summit. Those vast barrens get slammed with some unique weather wizardry: On its summit, storms tracking east collide with northbound systems out of the south, and Washington’s funnel-shaped west side intensifies the battle by accelerating the wind. For decades, Mount Washington held the world record for fastest surface wind ever recorded (a neck-snapping 231 miles per hour). That’s big-league stuff.

The shortest and easiest route to the summit climbs through Tuckerman Ravine, where backcountry skiers come from April to June to carve their signatures on 40-to-60-degree snow slopes. June through October, hikers begin at the Pinkham Notch Visitor Center in Gorham to hike 4.2 miles and gain 4,300 feet to the summit. “That 4.2 miles is a massive void you’re crossing,” says Dupuis, noting that the valley generally enjoys flip-flop weather while the talus slopes see cold, wet wind for about 300 days a year. But on those 65 clear days?

Hikers see a panoply of peaks, including New York’s high peak, Mount Marcy, 134 miles away.

Once you’ve completed the classic route, consider tackling one of the innumerable variations on the Mount Washington summit theme—including Dupuis’ favorite route up the west side via the Ammonoosuc Ravine Trail (parking permit $5/day). That path parallels a series of waterfalls before leaving the trees near the Appalachian Mountain Club’s Lakes of the Clouds Hut (where hut keepers sell scrumptious baked goods). From there, it’s 1.4 above-treeline miles to the top of Washington. Craving even more? The Presidential Traverse links Washington with seven other mighty summits on a 22-mile point-to-point that’s mostly above treeline. Dupuis has completed more than 100 of them—and notched 30 Prezis in winter, when the weather observatory on Mount Washington’s summit routinely records temperatures of -35 degrees.

GEAR UP Ward off wintry weather—experienced year-round on Mount Washington—with the Mountain Hardwear Ghost Whisperer UL Jacket ($375). It packs to softball-size and weighs less than 7 ounces, yet delivers whopping warmth thanks to 1,000-fill, certified-responsible down.

Mount Washington is legendary for dishing out severe weather.

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Full Circle

In Chilean Patagonia, four adventurers follow in the footsteps of their heroes as they attempt a rare ski descent of a volcano surrounded by savage jungle. A new self-produced short film documents their quest for the purest of climbs.

Words NORA O’DONNELL Photography ERICH ROEPKE, STEIN RETZLAFF and THOR RETZLAFF

Wild beauty October 23, 2019: Ski mountaineer Stein Retzlaff descends Corcovado, a volcano in the Andes of Chile about 800 miles south of Santiago. A dense jungle surrounds the volcano before meeting the Gulf of Corcovado below.

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n life, there are the journeys that define you—the ones that build your character or give you a spiritual sense of purpose. When Yvon Chouinard and Douglas Tompkins drove a Ford Econoline van from Ventura, California, to Patagonia in 1968, it set the course for what they would do later in life: Chouinard founded the outdoor company Patagonia, and Tompkins co-founded The North Face. Both men became revered environmentalists and conservationists. But back in those early days, they were just two dirtbag adventurers eager to explore the wilds of South America.

Decades later, Jeff Johnson found the 16 mm footage of that 1968 trip and was inspired to follow in the footsteps of his heroes with a journey of his own, traveling from Mexico to Chile by boat. That six-month expedition ultimately became the subject of the 2010 documentary 180° South: Conquerors of the Useless.

Johnson was Patagonia’s first official staff photographer, and Chouinard had given him a tattered snapshot that Tompkins had taken of Corcovado, a majestic, snowcapped volcano surrounded by a nearly impenetrable

jungle. Climbing Corcovado—a remote peak summitted only by Tompkins at that point— became the final leg of Johnson’s journey.

Chouinard, along with rock climber Timmy O’Neill and Rapa Nui native Makohe, joined Johnson on the climb. (Serving as their cameraman was the future Oscar-winning director of Free Solo, Jimmy Chin.) But at the time of their ascent it was summer in Chile, and the top of Corcovado was covered with dangerously loose rock that kept the team from reaching the top.

“The rock was like kitty litter,” Johnson says over the phone more than 10 years later, while on a drive from his home in Santa Barbara to Yosemite. If there had been snow, Johnson explains, reaching the summit might have been possible, but without it, the climb wasn’t worth risking his life.

“But the real difficulty of the climb is in the jungle,” Johnson says. In that region of Chilean Patagonia, there are many summits that remain unclaimed because they are protected by a jungle so dense that intrepid climbers can’t discern treetops from the ground below.

Clockwise from top left: Erich Roepke, Stein Retzlaff, Rafael Pease and Thor Retzlaff follow in the footsteps of Chouinard, Tompkins and Johnson by attempting the first human-powered ski descent of Corcovado.

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Journey ahead Roepke, Pease and the Retzlaff brothers arrive at the beach near Corcovado with the help of two local fishermen. The boat trip took four hours.

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hen 180° South was released in 2010, it made a lasting impression on Erich Roepke, then an athletic and outdoorsy 17-year-old growing up in Northwest Oregon. “I remember seeing them struggle on camera for the first time and thinking, wow, this is a real adventure,” Roepke recalls. He was also moved by something Chouinard said in the film: “For me, adventure is when everything goes wrong—that’s when the adventure starts.”

A year earlier, Roepke had been backcountry skiing with his father and a family friend when they were caught in an avalanche. His father didn’t survive. It’s a moment in his personal history that Roepke openly acknowledges but isn’t ready to discuss. But he adds, “It stopped me from backcountry skiing for a while.”

While attending Lewis & Clark College in Portland, Roepke gained a lifelong friend upon meeting Stein Retzlaff, a Truckee, California, native with a voracious appetite for exploring the wilderness and a love of skiing in his DNA. Retzlaff encouraged Roepke to pick up backcountry skiing again, and together they started taking trips abroad. The enterprising duo even convinced Lewis & Clark’s finance committee to fund their spring break trip to Antarctica, which comically ended in Chile when they

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ran out of money and inclement weather kept them from hopping on the last flight of the season. “But we ended up going to Patagonia instead,” Roepke says.

There’s never one direct path to becoming professional adventurers—or full-time “dirtbags”—but the 27-year-old Roepke and 26-year-old Retzlaff are already embodying the mantras of their heroes. These days, Roepke travels around the world as a cameraman for various adventure projects, and Retzlaff has supported famed polar explorers Mike Horn and Børge Ousland on expeditions in the Arctic and Antarctic.

But their most ambitious adventure to date was inspired by the legacies of Johnson, Chouinard and Tompkins: In October 2019, they decided to attempt the first humanpowered ski descent of Corcovado and film it—without a support crew.

They did, however, bring some legitimate dirtbags along for the ride. Retzlaff was coming off an expedition with Horn and Ousland when he got the call from Roepke about Corcovado. Without hesitation, Retzlaff immediately flew home to Truckee to pick up his gear and his younger brother Thor, who’s well versed in the kind of Type 2 fun that the average person might find preposterous and excruciating. Roepke was already in Patagonia, having achieved the

On the first night of their expedition, the four men witnessed a perfect sunset before camping under the stars. At midnight they awoke to pouring rain and quickly set up tents.

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Onward!

Erich Roepke wields a Tramontina machete.

In Santiago, the group visited about 15 different stores in search of blades for the jungle. “Erich picked the best one,” Stein Retzlaff says.

“The rest barely broke branches.”

“I remember seeing them struggle on camera and thinking, wow, this is a real adventure.”

The team followed a small river as their main path to the volcano, though they tried to take a shortcut through the jungle. “It was far too dense and would have required three to four extra days’ worth of food,” Roepke says.

first ski descent of Tupungato, a 21,560-foot volcano on the border of Chile and Argentina, with Chilean snowboarding mountaineer and filmmaker Rafael Pease.

In fact, it was Pease who jogged Roepke’s memory of watching 180° South and inspired the idea of going to Corcovado. Pease, an accomplished backcountry snowboarder, had attempted the first ski descent of the elusive volcano in 2017, but he couldn’t make it through the jungle and had to turn back. “It was brutal,” Pease says. “Type 3 fun for sure, which is best enjoyed once you are home.”

The group took just two weeks to prepare, quickly assembling a mishmash of gear for

“Our packs were ridiculous, just out-ofthis-world heavy.”

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an expedition of seemingly endless ecotones and disciplines—ocean, beach, jungle, canyoneering, ski mountaineering and ice climbing. And since they were their own filming crew, they packed four cameras (and lenses), solar panels, battery arrays and drones. Each climber was carrying more than 100 pounds on his back. “It was completely ridiculous, just out-of-this-world heavy,” Roepke says.

“We didn’t have sponsors,” Retzlaff adds.

“We’re wearing the biggest hodgepodge of equipment, just scrounging up whatever we could to make it work.”

Once they arrived in Santiago, they spent 12 hours driving around trying to find machetes. Only Roepke had the foresight to purchase a name-brand blade instead of a cooler-looking knockoff, which the others would come to regret.

From Santiago, they drove more than 800 miles south to Corcovado National Park, took an overnight ferry and then hired two

Snag city “We knew the jungle would be rugged to navigate,” says Thor Retzlaff, 25, pictured with Stein. “We were getting caught up on just about everything.

Our pace was unimaginably slow.”

“Our blades dulled, making the effort exhausting,” says Stein Retzlaff. “We resorted to pushing our bodies through slimy branches and dark jungle bogs.”

“I have learned to adapt my expeditions to their own surroundings,” says Pease, 26, who is using nalca leaves as rain protection.

“The stalks are edible and delicious.”

As the others pushed ahead, Thor stayed behind to film them by drone. When he caught up, “Erich captured the agony of my repositioning three bags and skis,” says Thor (above).

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local fishermen to take them to the shore below the mountain. They arrived at the rocky beach near the volcano at sunset, the air a mild 65 degrees. “I’ve never been to a place that beautiful that felt so wild,” Roepke says. That first night, they decided to sleep out in the open air and take in the scenery.

But then the rain hit in the middle of the night. Roepke awoke with a start and saw his tent sprawled out and covered in sand.

Retzlaff, who didn’t have a waterproof bivy sack for his sleeping bag, was rolled up on the ground in an oversized garbage bag.

They quickly set up tents, but their gear was already soaked.

“It was so uncomfortable,” Retzlaff says.

“Our shoes never dried the entire trip. Every morning you’d have one extra sock, but you’d slide it into a squishy cold boot.”

The next day, they soldiered up the river draw for about a mile, but the rain turned into a downpour. Setting up a tent was pointless; the water would wash it away.

“We’re in complete disaster mode, borderline hypothermia,” Roepke says. To get warm, they huddled against a cliff, constructed a makeshift shelter out of giant nalca (Chilean rhubarb) leaves and built a small fire.

Retzlaff’s eyes teared from the smoke, his hands bled, insects nipped at his neck and a fountain of snot poured from his nose.

Roepke turned on his camera, and the two friends started laughing. They were living the kind of struggle they saw in 180° South—and loving it.

“We weren’t missing out on that struggle at all,” Roepke says. “But we don’t get down.

It’s hard to be miserable when you’re cracking up at how miserable Stein looks.

Once you have someone else to laugh who’s equally messed up, you can’t be angry.”

“You already expect it’s going to be super shitty and not rainbows and sunshine the whole time,” Retzlaff adds. “We took off all of our clothes except our rain jackets. We’re butt naked underneath, just skipping around and chopping down wood to build a fire and having the most fun.”

As they crept deeper into the jungle, the off-brand machetes barely cut through branches. They fell neck-deep into bogs filled with leeches and clambered over trees, not aware they had climbed them until they were on top of the canopy. Their average speed was about 100 meters per hour.

“It’s the most horrible part,” Johnson recalls of his own journey through the jungle. “We were so exhausted. Even with a normal pack, it’s snagging on everything. It’s character building—going all day just on the verge of snapping because it’s so frustrating.

And these guys had skis on their packs!”

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fter three long days, the four climbers reached the snow line. They had traveled only 4.5 miles. Once on snow, the ascent was more manageable, but when the terrain switched to ice and the morning stretched into the afternoon, things became shaky. “The ice around us was melting out so fast that we couldn’t hammer in our ice screws,” Roepke says. They kept going but eventually reached a point where proceeding—up another pitch at 90 degrees—felt too risky.

They decided to turn around about 100 meters from the summit, at almost the exact point Johnson had turned around more than a decade ago. “I was disappointed,” Roepke says, “but it never registered that we fucked up. We set out to explore and realized it was way harder than we expected. Whenever something like this happens, you have to redirect—and then we’ll become equally stoked by that two seconds later.”

So they did. The skiing was spectacular, with amazing afternoon sunshine and spring corn snow. They paid homage to their heroes, gained a deeper respect for the landscape and became even more intertwined as a family of friends.

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“It’s kind of like the quest for the Holy Grail,” Chouinard says at the end of 180° South. “Who gives a shit what the Holy Grail is—the quest is what’s important. The transformation is within yourself.”

Johnson knows this, too. “These guys are true adventurers,” he says. “They are just going for it, but they’re smart. If they don’t make it, it’s not the end of the world. That’s what’s so special about what they did. The spirit of it was really pure. That’s what true climbing is.”

A year and a half later, the Corcovado crew have released two separate short films, each using different footage from the expedition. Pease created an artful ode to the overwhelming power of Mother Nature titled Korovadu, the volcano’s name by the Indigenous Mapuche people. “It’s a wild place that needs to be protected,” Pease says.

“If people decide to go into Patagonia, they must go with respect, knowledge and care.”

With his film, Roepke took a more personal approach by paying tribute to Johnson and 180° South for inspiring his entire way of life, much in the way Chouinard and Tompkins had inspired Johnson. “It was the most rewarding expedition I’ve done so far,” Roepke says. He titled the film Full Circle.

Once we saw the snow line, we were stoked,” says Stein.

“It was a relief to drop my other gear,” Thor adds. “I thrive in the snow, too.”

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So close ...

Thor Retzlaff does his final rappel off of Corcovado, heading down to his skis.

“It was a miracle the weather broke for us on that day,” says Stein. But the melting ice kept the team from reaching the summit by a mere 100 meters.

“We set out to explore and realized it was way harder than we expected.”

“We are fortunate to be able to explore and create memories in such beautiful and fragile environments.”

Flying high Thor Retzlaff records the team by drone, just below the summit. “This shot captures the bountiful inconvenience of adventure and the blessings of failure,” he says. The short film of their journey, Full Circle, is now available on YouTube.

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HIDDEN DEPTHS

Exploring narrow, unmapped underwater caves deep in the Mexican jungle is fraught with danger.

But for two of the world’s most intrepid cave divers, what they discover in these unexplored passageways can be truly life-changing.

Words KLAUS THYMANN and RUTH McLEOD Photography KLAUS THYMANN

Klaus Thymann enters the water of the cave—colored yellow near the surface by tannic acid from recent rainfall—with his camera, watching closely for any sign that the underwater housing is leaking.

A video light illuminates the path ahead, along with a light on his helmet, which he calls his “third hand.”

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laus Thymann is 1,000 feet inside an underwater cave in Mexico, 30 feet below dense jungle, navigating a constricted passageway that’s barely bigger than he is—around 2 feet from floor to ceiling.

The Danish-born photographer and cave diver is shooting what are likely to be prehistoric human bones, so he has had to adopt a plank position with his arms outstretched, using his lungs to control his level in the water; if any part of him touches any surface, he could destroy these artifacts by disturbing silt that could also leave him with zero visibility.

Under this intense pressure, Thymann— who estimates he has spent several hundred hours in caves like these during his career—is the most stressed out he’s ever been on a dive. But he knows that if he’s unable to stay calm, he’ll get through his supply of air too quickly and there’s a high chance he could drown.

This is cave diving at its most extreme.

Cave exploration is a better description, since most of the routes Thymann and his diving partner, Alessandro “Alex” Reato, survey have not yet been mapped, making the pair the first humans in modern history to lay eyes on whatever awaits them around the next dark corner. “Your 60

body screams panic in these situations,” says Thymann. “You are underwater, in darkness, in a confined space, so stress levels are high. But your survival depends on your being calm. You have to develop the skills to subdue that intuitive fear.”

Squeezing expertly through spaces small enough to make most wince, these underwater explorers are willing to go where most can’t or won’t, carrying with them all the equipment they need to avert disaster if something goes wrong —and things often do. “It’s not really a question of if but when something will go wrong, meaning you just have to be prepared for it,” says Thymann. “There is no dive buddy. I frequently squeeze through gaps so small I have to tilt my head sideways, and in that position another diver can’t get to you.

“When it comes to gear, we have at least two of almost everything. Two is one, one is none, as we say. Packing and preparation are done with military precision, as even a little thing can be what saves the day. I don’t like risks. I work methodically and don’t deviate from my protocol; this is how I justify doing this.

I plan, I prepare, and then of course I’ve had extensive professional training and

Top left: You can’t see it from the air, but beneath the dense jungle there’s access to the underwater caves. Above: They may be filled with air, but the dive tanks top 20 pounds each, meaning they must be ferried to the site one at a time.

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Locating the cave “We start out with our porter, Jesus, walking in front of the 4x4, chopping at vegetation with his machete, but at some point the road and jungle merge, so we get out and walk. Alex’s Italian arms get excited as he talks, disturbing a hornet nest. We run but still get stung. We’re heading for the GPS THE RED BULLETIN

coordinates that mark the position of a cenote—our access point to the underwater river system.

We find cenotes from our Mayan contacts; from seeing on a map where the water should go; from diving and seeing light above; and from others who have told Alex they’ve found a hole in the jungle.”

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Time travel “I’ve been cave diving for less than 10 years, but I’ve dived all my life. I remember freediving as a kid, going down with a net to catch octopus in the Mediterranean. I like the challenge of cave diving; I like doing things that are complicated and haven’t been 62

done before. Once I enter the rabbit hole, I just want to go further into it. Diving the underwater rivers feels like entering a time capsule; time doesn’t exist, as there are no outside factors to disturb you—no daylight, no noise, just the sound of your

breathing. As we swim through the water, we enter an ancient time, experiencing what no one has for hundreds and thousands of years.

However, diving is also very much about time—you have to keep track of it to survive and know your limitations.”

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“Exploration cave diving isn’t for everyone— it takes claustrophobia to a new level.” have built up experience. It helps that my personality is über-rational, so I generally solve issues well under pressure—be that on a mountain, inside a glacier, deep underwater or on the edge of a volcano.”

During a varied career as a journalist, photographer and explorer, London-based Thymann, 46, has trekked new routes to explore the glaciers of Uganda and Congo; was the first person to scuba-dive the world’s clearest lake, New Zealand’s Blue Lake; and has led expeditions to mountains on six continents, all with the aim of furthering knowledge and awareness of the climate crisis. And this mission, he says, is similarly important: “It’s an expedition with a purpose and that’s what I find interesting. I need that purpose. All of the peaks have been summited, so now you get things being done in multiples—the Three Peaks Challenge or whatever—an artificial goal in order to set a new record.

I have a lot of respect for people who are able to do it, but there is no benefit to the world of the 100th person standing on top of a mountain. I’m trying to come back with something that benefits science and

helps us make informed choices about how we behave on this planet.”

It was in Mexico—Reato’s current home —that Thymann first met the Italian cave diver and former army cartographer, through friends, in 2016. The pair soon realized they shared a love of mapping and heading off the beaten track; Reato had explored more than 40 miles of the country’s caves. “I have a similar appetite to Alex in terms of going places where others don’t,” says Thymann. “Even most people who enjoy cave diving won’t crawl down a piece of rope into a hole in the jungle they can barely squeeze through, having walked for miles through dense jungle. But we like the parts that are still really wild, and to get to that frontier you must engage with nature differently.

Exploration cave diving certainly isn’t for everyone—our sort of cave diving takes claustrophobia to a new level. With Alex, I feel that I’ve found a partner in crime.”

So when Reato contacted Thymann last year to tell him about his discovery of this ancient skeleton, the Dane was all in. “In this case, if it wasn’t the bones and the fascinating insights into the past they might give us, it could be for an environmental purpose, like trying to map underground rivers to help protect them,” says Thymann. “The caves here in Mexico are unique; they’re the world’s largest underground system and we need to preserve them—for the habitat, for the reef, for what it provides, and just because it’s a huge archaeological site.”

Using calculations based on historic water levels, they know the bones could

Above left: Thymann—providing the only light in the pitch-black cave—follows the navigational line.

The scenery changes constantly: “Two kicks of your fins and you’re somewhere that looks totally different.” Right: Reato readies his mask for diving.

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“There’s a sense of awe about the find . . . it makes you humble.” be more than 9,000 years old, which would make them some of the oldest ever discovered in the country. And the race was on to document the find and collect a sample for analysis, guaranteeing the bones official protection from looters who plunder sites such as these.

“We knew we had to keep the exact location of the bones to ourselves,” says Thymann. “What has happened in the past is there’s been an archaeological find, but then you can’t surround it in barbed wire, and when people have come back it’s gone. To me, it’s such a weird thing. I don’t understand it. Even though it’s probably a very small minority doing the looting, they pose a disproportionately big risk. It happens all over the world; there’s a black market for artifacts. So we knew we had to be careful—and quick.”

Thymann doesn’t drink any alcohol for at least a week before a dive. He exercises every day and sticks to a healthy diet—extra pounds do nothing for your ability to inch through cramped spaces. “For weeks, I prepared from my base in Europe. For an expedition, I bring more than 100 items. I keep things in working order, but I still test it all before heading out. Alex sent me a sketch of the area with the bones and we discussed approaches. We have defined roles: Alex leads the exploration and I document it and create the material the archaeologists and scientists need.”

When Thymann arrived in Tulum to meet Reato and head into the jungle, he was—as always—prepared for anything.

But no matter how many times he ventures into the depths of the Yucatán underwater caves, it never becomes routine. “Before heading into the cave, I felt a mixture of extreme excitement but also disbelief,” Thymann says. “I was thinking, ‘These are prehistoric human bones and this is insanely special.’ There is awe around it. It makes you humble in a way. You’re just looking at a tiny piece of a very big puzzle. And that’s a very healthy way of looking at things sometimes. It reminds you that your little life is not so significant.”

Gear list

Preparation is key, and a mission of this kind requires 100 lbs of vital equipment.

1. Two independent tanks with a regulator and pressure gauge attached 2. Fins. Thymann uses normal fins, which are slightly longer and heavier than cave fins and help counterbalance the weight of his camera 3. Wetsuit. He has a 5 mm suit, hood, 3 mm vest and boots 4. Secondary dive light (first backup), which is attached to his helmet with a bungee cord 5. Helmet, which is customized to hold lights 6. BCD (buoyancy control device) with two bladders—the second is a backup 7. Primary light, attached to a battery with a cable 8. Video lights 9. Line markers, used for navigation.

Thymann’s are bespoke, circular “cookie”-shaped

markers, so on wellused lines he can feel which are his 10. Third light (second backup) 11. Dive pouch, which holds tools and spare parts, reels and a spare mask for deeper dives 12. Camera housing with dome and handle 13. Underwater flashes 14. Dive mask 15. Bottom timer, which displays depth and time (backup to dive computer) 16. Camera housing for a small compact camera (mainly backup) 17. Surface marker, which can be inflated at the surface entry point with a line attached, or, once submerged, float camera housing to the surface quickly in case of an issue 18. Primary reel 19. Dive computer 20. Wrist slate, used for navigation 21. Bigger slate and pencil (with wrist strap), used for advanced notes

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Fully equipped “When cave diving, everything’s complicated. Communication underwater is complicated, because you can’t talk, so you use sign language. But then a lot of time in caves you can’t see, either, so you communicate with light signals. Then, if we’re doing something that involves a fairly complex task, we use a slate that we can write on with a pencil.

Cave diving in itself is taxing; the basics you have to monitor are time, depth, gas consumption and navigation. Then adding something else complex, like doing photogrammetry [surveying and mapping] or THE RED BULLETIN

photography underwater, is extremely difficult. I have to know where every piece of gear is, by feel, so I can reach it in zero visibility if I need to, and know how to instantly unclip and untangle it. For instance, my pencil has a bungee cord that sits around my wrist like a bracelet. If I’m writing, that’s a tool I might need for the recalculation of gases, and for navigation, too, so that pencil is insanely important. But then I do have a spare pencil in my pouch.

And I carry a knife to sharpen it underwater if I need to.”

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Slow and steady “Having swum hundreds of meters into the cave, I’m in an appendix section of it, hovering above prehistoric bones. The space is so tight there’s less than an elbow’s length between the dome on my underwater-camera housing and skull parts, including loose teeth that lie beneath the fine-grained silt. Any wrong move will disturb this archaeological site and cause damage. It’ll also cause a silt cloud to rise, creating zero visibility, which is a really bad scenario.

There’s so little room I can’t even swim, so I’m planking, stretching out my body, arms and legs. I’m being positioned

by Alex, who’s holding me by the ankles and maneuvering me around. To navigate, I signal using my hands—index finger forward and Alex slowly

pushes me forward. As I try to remain zen in this cavediving yoga position, Alex hits the top of my leg. We’ve rehearsed this and I know what to do. I release a tiny bit of air from my lungs and descend about 5 centimeters, just enough to avoid a lowhanging part of the cave roof.

Every small movement here is a feat in itself. We move a few centimeters at a time, across an imaginary grid, to document everything.

I check my pressure gauges constantly to ensure I’m not using too much air and that I can still get out of here. The whole operation takes 70 minutes. I shoot about 500 images of the area where the skull is, which will be put into a photogrammetry model so scientists can navigate the cave on a computer screen.”

Bubbles created by the divers accumulate and merge at the roof of the cave. Here, it’s essential they don’t come into contact with the porous cast rock that surrounds them; even a small impact will cause damage.

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Off the chart

Reato lays down a fresh navigational line from his exploration reel in this unexplored cave and ties it off to a stalagmite.

“Mapping is a big part of what I do. Whether it’s mapping glaciers or new trekking routes in Uganda, I try to map out new terrain, both in a conceptual and very straightforward, practical manner, and these underground river systems are one of the only places on the planet that hasn’t been mapped. That makes it very exciting. There are many risks— the equipment can fail, the cave can collapse, you can have a

heart attack underwater or get lost in a cloud of silt—but the reality is that most deaths while cave diving happen due to navigational errors. Cave diving follows a tried-and-tested method of having a string to follow out, but the caves are not simple one-lane roads; they’re more like distorted spiderwebs. One wrong turn can lead you further away from the open water, and at some point you run out of air.”

Thymann uses UV light to assess damage to the bones. Below: Close to an intact jawbone lies a molar with good potential for DNA extraction.

Body of evidence “There are lots of indications that this is a prehistoric skeleton. For now, that’s based on the historic water levels and the current water depth. By combining the two measurements, you can see what’s realistic. The depth of the site is 10 meters [33 feet], which means that the last time the caves were dry in this area was between 8,000 and 10,000 years ago. And it’s totally unreasonable to think somebody could have died and floated into these caves against the current. So it makes these bones potentially some of the oldest human remains to be found in Mexico.

But that will depend on the THE RED BULLETIN

exact date. The water-level calculations indicate the youngest the bones should be, but of course there’s nothing to say these bones couldn’t have been here for a significant period before the water level rose. For now, having completed this part of the mission, we head out and surface. It’s a success, and we have all the material we need to file permits with the Mexican authorities that allow us to take a sample for analysis.

The DNA can reveal fascinating insights into our ancestors and underline the huge archaeological value of these river systems.”

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HAND-BUILT FRAMES

Jean-Baptiste Liautard takes bike photos that are one of a kind. A 2019 winner of Red Bull Illume, an international photography contest for adventure and action sports, he elevates mountain-bike photos to a fine art, imbuing images with poetry and mystery. Here, in his own words, the French photographer explains his craft and the behind-the-scenes work that helps him get the images he wants.

Words PATRICIA OUDIT Photography JB LIAUTARD

Extraterrestrial The image that took the top spot in Red Bull Illume 2019 has all the magic of a scene from E.T. The secret? “I filled a wheelbarrow with water and then shot into the reflection,” explains Liautard, 25.

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Jean-Baptiste Liautard turned to photography after a bad bike crash— which sidelined him from the sport he had loved since he was 13. A broken shoulder set him on a new path—one that would become his passion: “I started shooting with GoPros and bought my first camera when I was 18.” Liautard took hundreds of photos of his riding friends while he was studying for a degree in photography—and then clinched his first contracts with cycling magazines and bike brands after graduating.

When asked to name his favorite locations to shoot, he singles out two—British Columbia, with its forests wreathed in mist, and the deserts and strange rock formations of Utah. His photographs stand out for their unexpected elements and his signature artistic approach.

“Taking a beautiful cycling image takes creativity, time and planning, especially for the jumps,” he says, going on to explain his obsessive attention to detail. “I’ve often spent 10 minutes placing a branch in a particular spot.” Such meticulous preparations, where the rider is an equal partner in a demanding and rigorous process, are not easy—but they yield magnificent results. jbliautard.com

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Dropping in “I love working with the particles in the air,” says Liautard. “There’s nothing contrived in this image: All these tiny specks—like a curtain around the rider— are raindrops. In these kinds of shots, nothing is calculated. I have to react in the moment. And I often only get one chance to nail the image.” Liautard notes that shooting at night isn’t just tough for him; the rider also has to contend with the conditions. “And that’s another factor to manage— allowing the athlete to give their best without injuring themselves.”

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Flash dance All these images required lighting magic of one sort or another. Says Liautard: “On the top left I used a long exposure and an LED strip to capture the silhouetted image of Thomas Genon.

For the image on the top right, of Paul Couderc spraying down his ride, I put orange gel on the flashes to get this texture. The image on the bottom left is from last summer, with Kilian Bron at Lake Salagou in southern France.

Here I put a flash on a drone (the same as for the photo on the bottom right, taken in Cappadocia). I was on my own, which meant I had my camera in one hand and a phone controlling the drone in the other. During the last shot the drone was almost out of battery and it started beeping, but Kilian caught it before it crashed!”

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Very bright idea Nailing the money shot (at right) in Cappadocia took time and risk. Says Liautard: “We had a racing-drone pilot with us and we put a lit distress flare on the drone [see above]. We had to light the mountain with a headlamp for the drone to take off and follow rider Kilian Bron. The ball of fire you see in the back is the light from the distress flare. Since my lighting depended on the drone, I pushed my camera in its wake. It’s not easy for the rider either, as he was in a gully moving from shade, where he’s riding blind, to light. Kilian could have fallen if the drone was late on the turn.

And to ratchet up the risk, embers were flying off the drone, which meant we had to put out several sparks!”

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YOU DON’T JUST NEED A VACATION. YOU NEED AN RV.

GO ON A REAL VACATION

guide Get it. Do it. See it.

LEGEND OF THE FALLS Paddling legend Dane Jackson reveals how he prepares to kayak the world’s wildest rivers.

Words JEN SEE

COREY RICH/RED BULL CONTENT POOL

Dane Jackson takes the plunge down the 134-foot Salto del Maule waterfall in Chile.

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G U I D E

Do it TRAIN LIKE A PRO

“I’m a product of being surrounded by kayaking growing up,” says Jackson.

“I was watching kayaking videos instead of Barney.”

“THE RIVER IS THE BOSS”

But champion kayaker Dane Jackson knows a thing or two about prepping to tame the whitewater.

Dane Jackson has dropped down 100-foot waterfalls, run big-water rapids and won multiple freestyle world titles. At 5’6” and 155 pounds, he has a near-perfect build for the sport he loves. “When we’re doing big waterfalls or running whitewater, people sometimes assume we’re just idiots in inner tubes,” Jackson laughs. “But we’re actually professionals who do a lot of training for those big moments.”

Since childhood, Jackson has been in the water. Growing up, he lived in an RV with his

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family, traveling around the country in pursuit of whitewater. His father, Eric, who competed in the Olympics in slalom, designed kayaks and taught classes. At age 2, Jackson could paddle his own boat, and he could roll a kayak by the time he was 8. From his kayak, Jackson has seen some amazing places—like Chile’s Rio Claro, which serpentines through a narrow gorge lined by jagged cliffs. He lives for such challenges: “When I’m out there, I’m on a natural force that I don’t get to experience anywhere else.”

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Fitness

O N TH E WATE R

“Kayak shape beats gym shape” “Normally, regardless of where I am or what I’m going to do, once I get on the water, I do some forward strokes and back strokes to get my body warmed up. I like to lean forward and back and twist side to side in the kayak to get my back loosened up. For me, gaining fitness and staying in shape, it’s just about maximum kayaking. When I’m kayaking, I’m not only having fun and hanging out with good people, I’m also learning and getting in better shape for the sport I do, rather than getting in gym shape.”

D RY L AN D

ROBERT SNOW/RED BULL CONTENT POOL, COREY RICH/RED BULL CONTENT POOL

JEN SEE

“In the gym, shoulders are my priority” “If it’s a choice between off-water and on-water workouts, I will always choose on-water. I’m definitely on the far side of the spectrum when it comes to that. Sometimes, like in the fall, there’s not a lot of water around, so I go to the gym. Because shoulder injuries are common for kayakers, shoulders are always my main focus at the gym—dips, bench press, pull-ups and push-ups.

I also try to be active as much as possible. Like if I play disc golf with friends, we’ll run the course. We don’t spend three hours out there.

We’re done in 20 minutes.”

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TEC H N I CAL PR E P

“I don’t drop into the biggest thing right away” “When it comes to going to a new place—whether it’s big-water rapids, waterfalls, whatever—I want to make sure I’m confident in my skill in that type of whitewater.

If I want to run big waterfalls, and I’m going to run some of the biggest ones I’ve ever done, I’ll practice on smaller ones leading up to it. If I’m going to Mexico, I’m going to go run some of the known places I’m comfortable with. Then I’ll head to that first descent section. The first day is always a bit more of a chill day. I don’t drop into the biggest thing right away.”

“I’M SERIOUS ABOUT SAFETY” “Although we have a certain amount of control, the river is the boss. I always want to have a friend near big features where something could go wrong. Maybe there’s a cave below a waterfall or a big circulating feature. Even when we’re just scouting, we always have a 50-foot rope on us.

When it comes to pretty much anything in kayaking, we try to be safe.”

M E NTAL FOC U S

“I always visualize as the water is changing” “I always need to have some form of a plan. And just because I’ve had good success on one waterfall doesn’t mean that I can rubber stamp that to the next waterfall.

I’m never going to be on the same stretch of whitewater. I try to imagine what a section of whitewater is going to do, or what the lip of a waterfall is going to do.

I picture it and put myself into what I think is going to happen. If I’m wrong I have to adapt, which honestly happens more often than not. Very rarely is it like, ‘Oh, this is exactly like I imagined.’ ”

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Do it

Recreational vehicles seem tailor-made for kick-ass pandemic adventures. You can drive a rig to a choice wilderness spot, roll right out the front door to a wild time—then come back and socially distance in style with a cold beer and hot shower.

Here are five ideas for high-octane RV-oriented escapes.

Words DAVE HOWARD

MOUNTAIN BIKING HURRICANE, UTAH

Set on the fringes of Zion National Park, just two hours from Vegas, the region that encompasses Hurricane, Virgin and St. George (and is home to Red Bull Rampage) features classic high-desert singletrack. RV options range from the civilized (the Temple

Sequoia & Kings Canyon National Parks have stellar hiking and climbing.

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View RV Resort in St. George has a pool and Wi-Fi, and Red Rock Canyon State Park serves up hot showers) to the fully self-contained (that is, bring your own water—but it’s free). For the latter, pull your rig into one of the many spots along SR 9 or Sheep Bridge Road on the way to Zion or the BLM’s Hurricane Cliffs

Recreation Area, which is a launching point for 36 miles of singletrack. Once set up there, you’ll be in the shadows of a can’t-miss experience: the world-class Gooseberry Mesa Trail, a flowy, up-and-down 13-mile loop with outrageous overlooks. Also nearby: the JEM Trail, an out-and-back that can be combined with

Goulds Rim or the Hurricane Rim Trail to form 20-plus-mile loops. When you set off on a rim above the Virgin River, with Zion looming as an epic backdrop, you’ll have no doubt that you’ve arrived at mountain biking’s promised land. Rent a bike at Over the Edge Sports in Hurricane.

CLIMBING SEQUOIA & KINGS CANYON NATIONAL PARK

It’s hard to be here and not want to climb something.

Everything is so oversized— the namesake trees, the Tehipite Dome (the largest in the Sierra) and so on—that you feel like you’re in a giant’s playground. And while Yosemite (justifiably) gets all the headlines, in SEKI you’ll find huge granite faces without the masses on the walls. By one count there are 365 established climbs there, touching all skill levels, nearly half of which are trad and slightly more than a quarter of which are bouldering problems. This being national parkland, larger RVs are banned from parts of the sinewy roads, so the best option is to set up base camp at the Dorst or Lodgepole campground and hop on the Sequoia Shuttle, which will deliver you to the walls, or the trailheads that take you to them. Quickest access point: Moro Rock, a granite dome whose west face serves up 1,000 vertical feet of fissures and knobby holds festooned with a variety of routes. Up top, there are vistas of the entire Great Western Divide, the range that forms part of the border between Kings Canyon and Sequoia.

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ROLLING BASE CAMP

Go RV’ing

COURTESY OF GO RVING

RVs are an ideal way to chill in style and wake up right where the action is.

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G U I D E

Do it Yampa River State Park has six access points with spots where you can live out of your rig.

RIVER RUNNING STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, COLORADO

The Yampa is a choose-yourown-adventure kind of river.

It’s the last free-flowing stream left in the Colorado River system, and that damfree status opens up myriad float and paddle options, depending on your timing.

When the snow melts in May and June, the Yampa rises into a frothing beast that makes for trips of up to five days covering 71 miles with the likes of Holiday River Expeditions. Traversing Dinosaur National Monument, you’ll have question-your-significance

moments peering up at 1,000-foot canyon walls and watching peregrine falcons soar and bighorn sheep skitter along the narrow ledges. If you prefer your RV HQ to launch a mellower experience, wait until summer and cherry-pick your own Huck Finn floats, using any of the 13 access points along the 134-mile-long stretch through Yampa River State Park. Six of those access points feature places where you can live out of your rig— and if you don’t have a second vehicle, companies like Good Vibes River Gear offer shuttles between various points. For a truly chill day,

hit up Backdoor Sports in Steamboat Springs, where you can rent a tube and a shuttle ride for $20, float for a lazy couple of miles, then grab some of the Occasional Mustache hefeweizen at the Storm Peak Brewing Company to take back to your mobile castle.

SURFING TOFINO, BRITISH COLUMBIA

Wrap your head around this: In this small, funky, insanely scenic town dangling off the western edge of Vancouver Island, it’s possible to surf some of North America’s best waves and snowboard in one

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Frothing in the spring, the Yampa is for floating come summer.

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Go RV’ing

day. Bald eagles and cranes cruise the thermals, while whales and otters ply the Clayoquot Sound during the ferry ride there. To catch the waves on Cox Bay, head to either end of the pancakeflat, expansive stretch of sand, where you’ll find cagey beach-break swells. Novices can head to more-popular nearby Long Beach, a 10-mile-long dune that delivers lower-voltage longboard action. Catch morning waves, then sneak in some end-of-season turns on Mount Washington, which features 1,660 feet of vertical. There are numerous options for parking your rig, but the obvious choice is the newly opened Surf Grove—the only campground actually on Cox Bay, where the 130 fully serviced RV sites are privy to 800 feet of beach access.

Pacific Surf Co. has an on-site surf shack with board rentals, lessons and outdoor showers.

(RV rentals will also be available there this spring.)

Provided you bring the right wetsuit, you won’t want to stop surfing in Tofino.

GETTY IMAGES, COURTESY OF GO RVING

HIKING WHITE MOUNTAINS, NEW HAMPSHIRE

Home to the Presidential Range—Washington, Adams, et al.—the Whites serve up some of the most open, bracingly scenic highelevation ridge hiking in the East. The range also delivers famously fickle weather, which makes the RV extra handy as a base camp. Set up shop at Lafayette Place Campground in Franconia Notch State Park and you’ve got your choice of the area’s burly but astonishingly beautiful day hikes. Take the Old Bridle Path from the campground up the knifeedge Franconia Ridge to the top of Mount Lafayette (5,260 feet), and splash around in the cascades on

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You can tackle some tough backcountry adventures without really roughing it.

the Falling Waters Trail on the way down. For a shorter trek straight from your doorstep, go to Lonesome Lake, where you can take a plunge, then grab a nap at

the Appalachian Mountain Club hut before looping back.

For a bigger challenge, relocate your operation about an hour east to the flanks of iconic Mount Washington, at

6,288 feet the highest peak in the Northeast (for more details, see page 43). Reserve a site at Lafayette as far in advance as possible; not for nothing is the place popular.

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See it

Calendar

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April-July 30

NO GYAL CAN TEST

Unusual times call for creative solutions, which is why pro snowboarder Travis Rice founded this new tour that celebrates the full spectrum of competitive snowboarding. In this format, there are no practice runs, so the goal is to find the best line and land tricks that will impress the judges in an all-natural environment. Rice assembled Olympians and X Games champions—who are known for their freestyle skills on man-made courses—to compete alongside seasoned backcountry riders.

The results are jaw-dropping, with the winners crowned the best all-around snowboarders in the world. See the best highlights from the event, only on Red Bull TV. redbull.com

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May

KENTUCKY DERBY Available now IMPARABLES: RED BULL BATALLA This documentary follows 16 of the best MCs in the Spanish-speaking world as they compete in the international finals of the fast-paced freestyle tournament known as Red Bull Batalla. The film, shot in the Dominican Republic in a fully augmented-reality environment, gives viewers a behind-the-scenes look at all of the MCs and their stories, including the unlikely winner from Mexico, Rapder. redbull.com

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It’s time to dust off your seersuckers and fancy hats for the most exciting 2 minutes in sports. (But if you don’t want to get all gussied up, then it’s perfectly acceptable to keep on those stretchy pants you’ve been wearing for the past year.) Watch the action from home while sipping mint juleps and cramming chocolate pecan pie in your face— because treating yourself is important self-care. redbull.com

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MARK CLAVIN/RED BULL CONTENT POOL, MARCOS FERRO/RED BULL CONTENT POOL, COURTESY OF AKEEM SMITH

Available now NATURAL SELECTION

After opening in New York to critical acclaim, the exhibit Akeem Smith: No Gyal Can Test moves to Detroit with an expanded presentation featuring new sculptures and audio installations that explore the dancehall culture in Jamaica. Described as part poem, part anthropological homage, Smith’s entirely unique artistic lens uses existing artifacts to explore the coloniality, diaspora and voyeurism of a stillactive community across cultural, economic and temporal divides. redbullarts.com

GO WHERE THE ROAD TAKES YOU. AND THEN SOME.

GO ON A REAL VACATION

GET OUT THERE Whether you’re into backcountry adventures, car camping or day hiking, here’s the best new stuff to make your time outside more comfortable and fun.

Words JOE LINDSEY

Front Runner’s rooftop tent is spacious but has a surprisingly low profile when you hit the road.

G U I D E

C A R

GSI PINNACLE PRO CAMP STOVE

SNOW PEAK FIELD COOKER PRO. 3

YETI CROSSROADS 60L DUFFEL

FRONT RUNNER ROOFTOP TENT

NEMO PUFFIN INSULATED BLANKET

THERM-A-REST AIR HEAD DOWN

This sleek two-burner stove might be (no joke) the hottest piece of gear this summer. With dual piezoelectric ignition and 22,000 BTUs of steaksearing heat, it can get dinner going pronto, but precise burner control lets you slow simmer or poach like a good gas range. It’s compatible with single-use propane canisters or larger refillable LPG tanks, and the nonstick drip pan makes cleanup a breeze. Folded for storage, it’s a bit larger than a laptop. $200; gsioutdoors.com

Rooftop tents are often awkward and heavy, so people leave them attached, where they wreck your MPG. But since the Front Runner has a low profile and weighs just 93 pounds, it’s easy to remove when not in use. Its spacious 96-by-51inch footprint fits two adults. The foam mattress provides insulation and sleeping comfort, while a rain fly seals out elements without limiting ventilation. The telescoping ladder offers easy access. $1,099; frontrunneroutfitters.com

SINAN CELIK

C A M P I N G

This four-piece set provides all you need to whip up an outdoor feast. It includes 3- and 4-liter pots with lids, a mesh strainer for rinsing veggies or draining pasta and an 8-inch iron fry pan. The durable all-metal bodies are easy to clean and work on gas or charcoal (campfire grate) surfaces. Cool-touch wood handles offer control and safety even without the included hotpad.

And the entire set nests together for compact storage. $136; snowpeak.com

Rooftop tents have thick mattresses, so blankets are a comfier choice than sleeping bags. The Puffin’s curved edges offer coverage for side sleepers or sitting around the campfire; a clever “foot nook” keeps your toes tucked in. The highloft synthetic insulation provides cozy warmth, and the DWR-coated ripstop nylon shell wards off spills and snags. An integrated stuff sack lets you create a plush pillow. $100 (1 person), $150 (2 person); nemoequipment.com

This spacious new duffel features the same kind of thoughtful, rugged design you see with Yeti’s coolers. The clamshell opening provides easy access, and foam-reinforced walls hold it open.

With long-wearing nylon fabric and durable carry handles, you don’t have to be gentle with it.

Two removable divider panels and internal compression straps create order out of the jumble usually found in duffels. The 60-liter size is perfect for long weekends. $250; yeti.com

Pillows are a camping conundrum: essential for quality sleep but bulky to pack. This combines the best parts of a fluffy down pillow for comfort and compact air-inflatable construction for easy storage. The 4-inch-thick air chamber offers support, while the 650-fill down insert replicates the feel of a quality home pillow. The curved shape fits inside sleeping-bag hoods or pillow pockets—and it packs down to a grapefruit-sized stuff sack. $60-$70; thermarest.com

The Nemo Puffin blanket has a clever “foot nook” to keep your toes tucked in and cozy.

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G U I D E

B AC KC O U N T R Y

Forget flimsy shelter in the backcountry; you want a roomy tent that will stand up to squalls.

This three-season tent, which weighs 5 lbs 5 oz, has a four-pole design that sets up fast and withstands gusty winds, and the seam-taped rain fly will keep downpours at bay. The 87-by50-inch footprint provides roomy living space for two. Large mesh panels ensure proper airflow in summer heat, and double vestibules provide plenty of storage. $159; thenorthface.com

At last, a bag for all of us side sleepers. It has a roomy shape cut for side sleeping, patterned to move with you as you roll over. Insulation (comfortable down to 35 degrees) is mapped to body points: 650-fill down in the legs and torso and denser synthetics at the hips to relieve pressure points. The jacket-style hood cinches down to limit drafts and has an integrated pillow pocket. Available in regular, long and women’sspecific models. $250; bigagnes.com

BIG AGNES SIDEWINDER SL35

MSR TRAIL BASE FILTER KIT

JOT COFFEE

NITE IZE MOONLIT MICRO LANTERN

SEA TO SUMMIT ETHER LIGHT XT

Even hardcore thru hikers obsess over morning java. But you can ditch your press, grinder and beans with this concentrated coffee extract.

Just add a tablespoon to hot or cold water for a perfect cup. Jot’s proprietary extraction process is versatile enough for espresso, regular coffee, even cappuccino-style drinks. New fair-trade offerings include limited batches made from single-origin crops like the women-owned Finca La Virgen farm in Nicaragua. $24/14 cups; jot.co

Save your headlamp batteries: The even glow of this tiny lamp is more pleasant for inside your tent. It’s just 2.3 inches in diameter and weighs less than an ounce, so it’s easy to toss in your pack for any excursion. It runs 60 hours on two replaceable coin-cell batteries; just clip the integrated carabiner to a tent accessory loop or a jacket zipper pull for steady illumination for reading or digging through your pack. $10; niteize.com

This ingenious water-filter kit combines two technologies in a versatile 1-pound package that easily fits in any pack. The simple trail filter offers quick refills of bottles or hydration bladders with its intuitive squeeze-pump action.

At camp, attach it to the 2- or 4-liter reservoir bags to create a no-fuss gravity filter. The filter material is 99.9 percent effective against bacteria, parasites and particulates and is fieldcleanable. $140-$150; msrgear.com

It’s tempting—and risky—to pick the lightest sleeping pad. This mat is a nice compromise: just 17.3 oz (regular size), but with 4 inches of plush, air-sprung Thermolite insulation to eliminate pressure points. Dot-weld construction provides a more realistic mattress feel than baffled pads, with a quiet face fabric that won’t ruin your sleep.

The Airstream Pumpsack makes inflation easy.

With five sizes, there’s a fit for those up to 6’7”. $180-$220; seatosummitusa.com

SCOTT RINCKENBERGER

THE NORTH FACE STORMBREAK 2

C A M P I N G

Coffee snobs who want to keep things simple will like the versatility of Jot’s concentrated extract.

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MSR’s inventive Trail Base system has both a simple filter for the trail and a high-capacity setup for camp.

G U I D E

H I K I N G

ADIDAS TERREX TRAILMAKER MID GORE-TEX

The Gore-Tex liner in these light hikers repels water and mud to keep your feet dry. A cushy EVA midsole and stabilization frame cushion rock strikes and add ankle support, with the responsive feel of good running shoes. The Traxion rubber outsole and rubberized toe rand offer confident footing on steep scrambles. The secure lace closure offers a comfortable fit without hot spots. $150; adidas.com

On technical terrain, trekking poles offer balance and support while reducing wear and tear on your body. These poles up that significantly with an elastomer shock absorber that reduces peak forces up to 40 percent. The sturdy, lightweight, three-piece telescoping aluminum poles extend from 39 to 53 inches. Ergonomic Cor-Tec cork grips provide exceptional control and dexterity, and the 234-gram weight won’t hold you back on steep climbs. $140; leki.com/us

BLACK DIAMOND NITRO 22 PACK

Spacious and versatile yet compact, this pack is ideal for technical day adventures. The ReACTIV suspension keeps loads comfortably and securely centered, while the airy back panel keeps things cool. Zippered panels access 22 liters of smartly organized gear space, and the hydration pocket features an external sleeve to route the hose along a shoulder strap. The shovel pocket and pole straps simplify storage of bulky items. $130; blackdiamondequipment.com

BUFF COOLNET UV+ GAITER

This tube might be the most versatile piece of clothing you can bring on a hike. Buff doesn’t promote it as a mask, but they’re popular for that use, and post-pandemic, it’ll remain useful as a neck gaiter, headband, hat, balaclava and hood.

The lightweight fabric (made from recycled polyester)—with UPF50 protection, HeiQ+ cooling technology and Polygiene odor control— is perfect for warm weather. Available in 100plus colors and patterns. $22-$26; buffusa.com

DANIELE MOLINERIS

LEKI MAKALU LITE COR-TEC AS

The Black Diamond Nitro 22 packs a lot of space and technical capability into a compact package.

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GARMIN FENIX 6 PRO SOLAR

This watch gets 14 days of battery life, and even more from its solar charging lens. That powers features like wrist-top GPS and topo maps, physical data like pulse oxygenation and heart rate variability, and outdoor-specific info like barometric pressure and weather forecasts. Go further than maps with point-to-point navigation and ascent-planner mode to help set a sustainable pace, and 14 recreation profiles from hiking to SUPing. $800-$1,100; garmin.com

Go off-grid with the Fenix 6 Pro Solar, which can charge itself and offer storm alerts.

MARMOT PRECIP ECO JACKET

Pack some insurance with this lightweight shell, one of Marmot’s all-time best-selling jackets. The 21st-century tweak is a nylon face fabric made of recycled material, featuring a PFC-free finish that’s bonded to Marmot’s NanoPro waterproofbreathable membrane for full protection in intense cloudbursts. The hood can roll into the collar, and underarm zippers help manage heat.

Available in regular, big, tall and women’s fits and a rainbow of colors. $100; marmot.com

MAVEN B.3 BINOCULARS

They’re compact, but these feathery specs pack serious power and clarity for birding or other wildlife watching. Choose from 6, 8 or 10x magnification. Maven’s B series is its highestquality optic, featuring a polymer-covered magnesium frame, low-dispersion ED glass lenses for durability and superior vision in low light. Custom-build options let you pick accent colors for focus rings or add a personalized engraving. $500; mavenbuilt.com

G U I D E

A N ATO M Y O F G E A R Two innovative outdoor products, deconstructed.

STOKO K1 KNEE BRACE

HIDDEN HELP

$400; stokodesign.com

They look like regular tights, but the K1 contains 90 feet of high-strength cabling, providing the support of a knee brace in a comfortable form.

CONTROL DIALS Lying flat on the small of your back, these two knobs allow users to individually fine-tune the tension in each leg.

S TA B L E F O R C E

If a user’s knee enters a compromised position, the cables in Stoko’s so-called Embrace System act like artificial ligaments to stabilize the joint.

B O DY M A P P I N G The K1 system was designed after engineers analyzed millions of data points on how the human body moves, to maximize range of motion.

SMART KNIT

Made with highcompression (and sustainable) fabric, the K1 is knitted with seamless channels for the internal cabling.

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SOFTER UPPER The upper is constructed from a microfiber that feels like leather but breaks in quickly and has a great deal of flexibility.

NO-EDGE TECH

The Hiangle Pro has no inside edge; instead, it rounds up along the midfoot, giving climbers a more continuous surface on which to apply pressure.

CURVED SHAPE The aggressive downturn shape is ideal for modern indoor competition problems and lets climbers more easily roll from a toe hook to other moves.

ROUNDER HEEL

Instead of a conventional 90-degree edge, the radical heel design has a continuous curve and no heel wrap, allowing for more dynamic transitions.

MINIMAL SOLE

The thickness of the Stealth C4 rubber is mapped, with only 2.1 millimeters by the toes for maximal sensitivity and more stability elsewhere.

BRENNDAN LAIRD

FIVE TEN HIANGLE PRO $160; adidas.com

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GLOBAL TEAM

THE RED BULLETIN WORLDWIDE

The Red Bulletin is published in six countries. The cover of this month’s U.K. edition features B-Boy Sunni, who is one of the breakers helping to reinvent, reinvigorate and reimagine the local scene for a new era.

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Funnel vision At 1,180 feet, the chimney of Slovenia’s Trbovlje Power Station is Europe’s highest and—as two fearless free climbers can now attest—is also home to the world’s tallest artificial multipitch climbing route. With the Tokyo Olympics delayed, becoming the first to scale this lofty structure was exactly the kind of challenge gold-medal hopeful Janja Garnbret (pictured nearing the top in January of this year) and fellow Slovenian Domen Škofic needed.

You could say the odds of victory at the next Games—whenever they happen— are now stacked in the duo’s favor.

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The next issue of THE RED BULLETIN is out on May 18.

THE RED BULLETIN

JAKOB SCHWEIGHOFER/RED BULL CONTENT POOL

Action highlight

BD Athlete Nalle Hukkataival

Jeremiah Watt

COMMITTED. There’s only one way to reach the top. You try and try again. There’s always failure. You learn from your past mistakes. Train some more. Gain experience. Then you try harder. Fail and fall again. You take a beating. Get hurt. And keep coming back. But in the end, when you pull past the point of no return, steady your breath, and stare down what’s between you and success, you know what you have to do. Commit. We know what it takes. At Black Diamond, we’re committed to catching the falls along the way.