Trekking Great Sand Dunes National Monument, Colorado

Table of Contents:
A photographer works to get the last light in Sand Dunes National Monument, Colorado.
Photo: Nate Burgess

Sunset, Tamarindo, Costa RicaExposed:

Exposed:
The sun sets over the beach of Tamarindo, Costa Rica
Nikon D200, 1/350, f10, 100iso
Photo: Elizabeth Cox

Halstatt Lake, Salzkammergut, Austria

Exposed:
Halstatt, Salzkammergut, Austria
Nikin D200, 1/80, f4.8, 100iso
Photo: Ryan Kirkland

Lightning strikes the Arizone Desert

Exposed:
Lightning strikes the desert in Arizona. Lightning is common during the summer monsoon season.
Nikon D700, 15s, f4.5, 200iso
Photo: Nate Burgess

Tuna at the Tsukiji Fish Market, Tokyo, Japan

Exposed:
A Tuna awaits processing at the Tsukiji Fish Market, Tokyo, Japan
Nikin D200, 1/3, f5.3, 100iso
Photo: Erick Pound

Sunrise over Monument Valley, Arizona

Back Cover:
Sunrise over the Monument Valley, Arizona.

Tracing the Edge

Tracing the Edge

Hot on the heels of the very successful series ‘The Season’ Fitz Cahall and Bryan Smith are back. This time, working with Patagonia, they have created a nine-episode serious entitled ‘Tracing the Edge’. The goal of ‘Tracing the Edge’ was to follow three athletes and learn about how they got where they are and where they plan to go from there. Gerry Lopez, a pioneer in the pipeline surfing scene in Maui, Hawaii; Colin Haley, who was bugging his mother to drop him off for multi-day trips in the central Cascades long before he could drive; and Krissy Moehl one of the top endurance runners in the world share their passion for what they do. As with ‘The Season’ the cinematography is stunning (if not a little repetitive), but the true gem in the series is the passion these athletes have for their sport.

http://www.patagonia.com/us/patagonia.go?assetid=55194

According to Fitz Cahall, a new series of ‘The Season’ is set to be released in the Fall of 2011.

Mountaineering: Freedom of the Hills

Mountaineering: The Freedom of the Hills

Originally published in 1960 this text (known colloquially as the ‘climber’s bible’) still deserves a place on your bookshelf today. Mountaineering covers all aspects of climbing from gear selection to rock, mixed alpine, and expedition climbing. Recent editions also cover waterfall climbing, land stewardship, and weather. If you climb or are interested in climbing and don’t already have this book this is the one to ask for for the holidays. Mountaineering grew out of a number of outlines used to teach a mountaineering course in the mid-forties all assembled called the ‘Climber’s Notebook’. Numerous changes in mountaineering equipment and techniques stemming from WWII outgrew the ‘Climber’s Notebook’ and today the 8th edition of Mountaineering includes changes and updates from over 40 active climbers and educators. It’s the culmination of hundreds of authors’ contributions and decades in the making. Whether you’re just learning or reviewing skills before a big climb this book deserves to be at the top of your list. It will no doubt become a well read and annotated book in your library.

http://www.mountaineersbooks.org/

127 Hours

127 Hours

This reently released movie is based on Aron Ralston’s  book Between a Rock and a Hard Place. For those not familiar with the book, Ralston was trapped after a chock stone fell and pinned his arm during a solo hike through Blue John Canyon in Utah. After a grueling, you guessed it, 127 hours, Aron broke his radius and ulna and amputated his own arm with a cheap multi-tool. He still wasn’t out of the woods. He faced a 65 foot rappel and a trek back to his truck. After the rappel he stumbled upon a family out for a hike who summoned help. He was later rescued by helicopter. The tale is an incredible story of survival. And, although the movie was good, I vastly prefer the book. I do understand the challenge of filling an entire movie with what essentially amounts to 127 hours of being trapped in one place. Ralston’s hallucinations helped fill in much of the back story, but the rest was a lot of barely coherent mumbling that did little but detract from the truly amazing and inspirational story of Ralston’s fight to survive.

http://www.foxsearchlight.com/127hours/

Seen: 180° South

180° South

Yvon Chouinard and Doug Tompkins are both well known in the climbing and conservation communities as is their 1968 journey to Patagonia. Both call the journey the best trip of their lives — one that inspired not only the conservation mission of their personal lives but also served as inspiration for their companies. Yvon went on to found the clothing company Patagonia and Doug founded The North Face. 180° South follows filmmaker Jeff Johnson’s own trip to Patagonia inspired by Yvon and Doug’s 1968 journey. Jeff makes his way south via  boat from Seattle, WA to Patagonia. As Yvon said in the movie “true adventure begins as soon as something goes wrong” and Jeff truly has himself an adventure. Jeff finally makes it to Patagonia where he meets up with Yvon and Doug. Jeff fails in his bid to climb Mt. Corcovado, the ultimate goal of his journey, due to the lack of ice and poor quality of the rock. It’s obvious, however, that Jeff has found more than he was looking for in his journey. The only critique of the movie comes in the form of a warning: be careful not to stay awake at night and dream of your expeditions and then call work and quit in the morning. This movie will make you want to do just that. — Erick Pound
www.180south.com

Seen: The Season

The Season

I had an extra few minutes today, so I was able to finish watching the final episode of The Season. If you’re not familiar with it, it’s a web series produced by Bryan Smith and Fitz Cahall that follows five adventurers throughout their individual ‘seasons’. You can find all 22 episodes online or on iTunes.

When I first saw the trailer of the The Season last year, I was intrigued. We’ve all seen the hardcore ski movies, climbing movies, and countless other adventure films. And although those types of movies certainly are wonderful (raise your hand if you eagerly anticipate the annual Warren Miller movie), they seem to blend together at times. They all feature great music, world class videography, and amazing athletes. The scale of those films is what throws me off though. The adventures portrayed don’t seem obtainable for a ‘regular’ person.

The aspect of The Season that I found so great is just that…these adventures seem attainable. I appreciate that Smith & Cahall covered real people who love their sport and this brings a level of reality to the series. Every story they followed includes some issue that we all have to deal with from time to time: injuries, family life, jobs, and weddings just to name a few. Even though I’m not a world class snowboarder, extreme kayaker, or mountain bike racer – I could identify with the struggles each of these athletes had to deal with.

My two favorite aspects of the series had to be the music and the videography. The producers did a great job at matching the music to each athlete’s personality, activity, and mood. Smith & Cahall were able to partner with some great artists to lay down a soundtrack that’s truly inspiring. The videography in this series is nothing short of spectacular. The producers were able to get shots of the athletes in their natural surroundings that capture the moment in a way you don’t often see. Some of my favorites included following a mountain biker through the woods and capturing kayakers battling unforgiving currents.

The only thing I didn’t love about The Season was the narration. At times the words seemed forced, almost as if it wasn’t clear which words needed the most emphasis, so they were all stressed equally. Still, the story was told and the producers were able to get the point across. In the end it’s a very small part of the entire experience and doesn’t take away from the inspiration.

I’m excited to see what these two great producers come up with next. Hopefully The Season has provided them a means to expand their production capability so we’ll see more great movies soon. The inspiration these two have provided me (and countless others) is out of this world! — Shane Williams
www.theseasontv.com

Between a Rock and a Hard Place

Trapped in a remote canyon in Southeast Utah for a week with his hand pinned between a chockstone and the canyon wall, Aron Ralston faced an impossible choice.  With no way to call for help and with no one aware of his location, he determined that amputating his hand to free himself was the only way to avoid dying alone in the canyon.  Although Aron admits to the critical mistake of not informing anyone of his plan and setting off alone to explore the canyon, his management of the situation and his ultimate survival in the face of unimaginable challenge is impressive. Aron recounts from the memory of when he first fell in love with the outdoors through to his journey out of the canyon after amputating his own arm, and this superbly written account of his often dangerous encounters is an inspiring testament to the power of the outdoors and the will to survive.

Retail: $14 (Buy)