Wilderness survival isn’t all bow-drilled fires, rabbit snares, and no-holds-barred cougar wrestling. Generally speaking, survival skills are just a set of techniques you can use to not die.
For no-nonsense pointers on how to come home in one piece, we turned to Steve Dessinger, who directs programs for the famously spartan Boulder Outdoor Survival School. They’re not all that sexy, but they might save your life.
Barefoot running is everywhere – even the shoe store. Americans spent an estimated $59 million on “minimalist” footwear last year, and that number appears to be on the rise in 2013.
But eager as we are to fit in, we weren’t ready to bare our soles without getting answers to a few questions. So here it is – our introduction to the barefoot running trend in less than 550 words starting… now.
People have run barefoot since prehistory, but the recent fad is largely credited to Christopher McDougall’s 2009 best-seller, Born to Run. The book follows members of the Tarahumara tribe – known for running marathons in just sandals.
McDougall’s book claims running in an altered style with minimal footwear can reduce injury and increase speed. A 2010 Harvard University study largely supported these claims, and the craze was on.
Barefoot running advocates say running unshod encourages a running style that generates less impact, resulting in less injury.
Traditional running shoes are padded in the heel, causing most runners wearing them to land with their heel first. This “heel strike” generates a major impact, even when cushioned by running shoes.
Study of traditionally barefoot runners in Kenya found they preferred a different style of running. These runners used shorter strides and landed first on the ball of their foot, generating less impact.
Not everyone agrees on this – a 2013 study of a different group of Kenyan barefoot runners found them heel striking, just like runners using running shoes. What everyone can agree on is that running with a forefoot strike generates less impact than heel striking.
That’s the $64,000 question. The Harvard study doesn’t directly tie heel striking to injury. But other studies have tied running shoes and orthotics to knee pain, shin splints, and a host of other common running injuries.
At least one recent study has presented another side of the story, though. A Brigham Young University study published in February found increases in Bone Marrow Edema (caused by stress fractures) in the feet of runners who switched to barefoot running.
This study is not widely considered a verdict against barefoot running, but rather evidence that a transition in running styles or shoes should be done very gradually. Experts recommend spending a month or so practicing the barefoot stride on short walks or jogs before incorporating it into your running.
Advocates for orthotics and stabilizing shoes often compare bad feet to bad eyes; you can’t train away pronation or supination any more than you can squint away near-sightedness, they say.
But barefoot running discussion boards are full of runners with”bad” feet who have fixed their stride with minimalist shoes or none at all. Podiatrists on this side of the debate invoke Wolff’s Law, which states that bones change structure and shape depending on how they are used.
Sounds like “jumbo shrimp”, right? But “minimalist” shoes are popular among runners who want to break into to barefoot without stepping on hypodermic needles. Exactly how much support a shoe can offer and still be considered “minimalist” is very much a matter of debate, but what all these shoes have in common is a zero-drop sole: a sole that pads evenly from heel to toe.
The biggest sellers in the minimalist shoe market are the iconic Vibram Five Fingers - more commonly known as those goofy “toe shoes”. Popular as they are, it’s worth mentioning that Vibram is in the midst of a class-action lawsuit, alleging the company made false claims about the benefits of going unshod.
Outside Online – You don’t know how to run
As part of the first unsupported American expedition to the North Pole, John Huston skied directly into polar winds, took an unexpected dip in the Arctic Ocean, and basically lived off Pemmican stew and deep-fried bacon for months.
We don’t have anything like that planned, but we still gave Huston a call last week to pick his brain on how to plan for success in the world of big adventure. Check out his four tips below.
Travel is food for the soul. But the adventurous spirit has no taste for bus tours or tourist traps – to satisfy it, you’ll have to go well off the beaten path.
For guidance on that journey, we turned to the best-fed soul we know - Myths and Mountains founder and experiential travel guru Antonia Neubauer. Read on for her tips on making the most of our travels.
Avoid safety in numbers. It is difficult – if not impossible – to have an authentic experience when traveling in a large group, Neubauer says. Members of these groups often learn more about their fellow travelers than about the place and the culture they are actually visiting.
Instead, travel solo or with a small group of friends. This will keep you nimble, and make it easier to actually sit down with locals or visit with them in their homes. And if you’re really planning to get off the beaten path – don’t expect to spend each night in a luxury hotel.
Places change, guidebooks don’t. The process of editing and publishing guidebook takes time, Neubauer says, and that means even the most current guidebooks on the market often contain information that is two years old or more.
Regard printed figures about restaurant and hotel costs a general guide, not as Scripture, and always trust good local sources over even the best guidebooks.
Don’t just know where you want to go, know why. Take some time to identify what interests you about a certain place, then plan an itinerary around it. Research the region’s history, food, craft, religion or pilgrimage sites in advance and you’ll find it easier to plan a rich and meaningful trip.
If you are designing your own trip, read the itineraries of tour operators that guide in the area. While their exact trips might not be a fit, they should include some ideas you may not have found in your research.
Creating a meaningful experience takes time. Never opt for a whirlwind tour of a part of the world you want to visit – you probably don’t get to travel that often, so make it count when you do.
Neubauer suggests a two-week minimum for travel abroad. And with some exceptions, she says longer is better.
The right guide can take a travel experience to the next level. Often locals themselves, the best travel guides can connect you directly with the communities you visit, and can open the door to a world of experience you may not have even known existed.
Be wary of any guide who wants to take you to a specific market or shop, says Neubauer – guides in many parts of the world will pull a commission from any sales they bring in.
Seek out guide recommendations from travelers who have visited the area before you travel there, and try to contact them in advance. The very best guides are rarely available for last-minute bookings.
Neubauer’s company, Myths and Mountains, provides prepared and custom experiential adventures in Asia and South America.
You’re screwing up your training. But that’s all right – you’re not alone. If you aren’t an elite athlete, there’s a good chance your physical conditioning is suffering from a few basic mistakes.
In the quest to make the most of our workouts, we sat down with elite climber and fitness coach Brad Jackson of Summit Strength Training. for a no-nonsense talk about what we’re doing wrong and how to fix it.
Working out doesn’t give you license to eat whatever you want. Quite the opposite, in fact – what you put in your mouth before and after a workout is just as important as what you do in the gym.
“Stop thinking of food as fun, and start thinking of food as fuel,” says Brad. “You wouldn’t put cheap gas in a Ferrari.”
Brad recommends his athletes follow the Paleo diet, which cuts out grains and sugars, among other things. Within an hour of a workout, he suggest a meal that is high in carbs and protien, but low in fat (egg whites and mashed sweet potatoes are a perfect option).
Learning any new skill presents some challenges. But those challenges are dwarfed by the effort required to unlearn existing patterns and habits.
When learning a new technique in the gym, take the time to understand the mechanics of the movement before incorporating it into your routine. Learning the wrong methods at the outset will not only set you back, it will set you up for injury.
Brad recommends practicing weightlifting techniques with an unloaded bar several times before adding weight any weight. Then add weight gradually, only lifting as much as you can with perfect technique. Joint tissue is weaker than muscle tissue, so pay attention to knees and shoulders while lifting.
Weightlifters have a saying: “Lifting weights doesn’t make you stronger, recovering from lifting weights makes you stronger.” That’s a lesson many fitness enthusiasts forget, says Brad, placing them at risk for serious injuries.
Strength-building hormones like Testosterone and Human Growth Hormone are at their peak levels during sleep, and can be diminished by fatigue. Not taking time to sleep between workouts will not only leave your body open to injury, but can actually slow your progress.
Brad recommends eight hours of sleep a night, and 24-72 hours of recovery time between workouts. If you don’t feel amped for your workout when you go into the gym, don’t force it – a hesitant attitude is often a sign that your body hasn’t fully recovered from your last session.
On your average trip to the gym, do you come through the door with specific movements and exercises in mind? Or is your workout determined by what equipment isn’t occupied by sweaty homunculi?
Training without a clear set of goals isn’t exactly a waste of time, says Brad, but is a very far cry from ideal. Having a plan with clear goals and time frames will give structure to your training, and will keep you accountable.
Brad recommends a serious self-examination before you plan a conditioning routine. Take some time to identify your weaknesses, and build challenging but attainable goals around them.
No self-made exercise regimen can compete with the knowledge of an experienced personal trainer or fitness coach. An expert coach will provide insight on your strengths and weaknesses, and will be able to teach exercise movements to perfection.
Brad recommends approaching a coaching relationship as a lifelong journey. “You can never perfect your training,” he says. “You can just always work on it. It’s an educational process that never ends.”
To read more about Brad’s techniques, or to contact him directly with questions, visit summitstrengthtraining.com
Look around you. You’re boxed in – walls on all sides and wood, carpet, or linoleum under your feet. That droning, buzzing noise you hear? It’s not going away – not today, not ever.
You’re in a trap - but don’t start gnawing at your limbs just yet. With the right training, it’s possible to break free from office doldrums and find work in the great outdoors. Just check out one or all of these five classes and train to become a cage-free human being.
The WFR (pronounced woof-er) course is the most universal requirement in the outdoor industry. The week-long course teaches students to deal with everything from heat stroke to shattered femurs in the backcountry, making it a pretty good idea for anyone who plays hard outdoors. And if you want to guide or teach outdoors, you will almost certainly need one.
Our favorite WFR teacher? The Wilderness Medicine Institute of NOLS reigns supreme in the outdoor medical community. They offer WFR courses across the country from $585.
No matter how fit or adventurous you are, you’re not likely to make any friends in the great outdoors if you mess things up. So if you want to work under the big blue dome, it’s a good idea to become familiar with some basic Leave No Trace principles.
The Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics offers some in-person courses for folks looking to become LNT gurus, and also offers a wealth of info online. Spend some time reading their literature to avoid inadvertently breaking the rules of the wilderness.
For a quick primer, check out this free online course. (Warning: creepy robot voice)
The life of a raft guide is an enviable one. But life on the river isn’t all adrenaline rushes and Chaco tans – guides are responsible for the safety of the people of their boat, and need to be ready to perform a rescue if things go sour.
That’s what swift-water rescue training is all about. Courses are available for all levels of expertise, and teach everything from basic rope throws to full-on boat rescues. Many rafting outfitters offer their own training schools, so check with the company you’re interested in working for.
Or, you can check this global directory of swift-water rescue teachers
Top-rope rock climbing isn’t known to be all that tough. But without the use of proper anchor-building and belay techniques, even this relatively safe form of climbing can be dangerous.
When hiring staff, many more adventurous summer camps and youth programs require something like a Single Pitch Instructor certification. This certification is reserved for confident traditional rock climbers who have taken a course to learn the skills of teaching and guiding students on relatively short rock routes.
Find a single-pitch climbing instructor program
Before this one, a caveat – finding work in the ski patrol or ski guiding industry is tough, and usually requires years of experience and even one or two good connections.
But all great journeys begin with a single step, and a good introduction to the world of ski guiding is instruction from the American Institute for Avalanche Research and Education, or AIARE. The official organization for all things avalanche, AIARE has designed the curriculum for three levels of avalanche training.
A Level I course will cover the basic skills needed for backcountry skiing, which Level II and III courses prepare students for the challenges presented by professional guide work.
See an AIARE course provider directory
Aaron Mulkey is one tough S.O.B. One of North America’s strongest ice climbers, he has spent more than a decade finding and climbing hundreds of previously undiscovered ice falls in the cowboy country of Northwestern Wyoming.
Just reading Mulkey’s blog Coldfear makes our hands go all cold and clammy. So we got him on the phone to share tips on leading a braver, bolder life in the great outdoors.
Cold fingers and toes are a part of life in the outdoors. But while our smaller appendages often feel like they are about to fall off - sometimes they actually do.To make sure we can always count to 20, we turned to our trusted outdoor medicine guru - Wilderness Medicine Institute of NOLS Curriculum Director Tod Schimelpfenig – to help us spot and treat frostbite.
“It’s okay to get cold feet and hands,” says Schmelpfenig. “That’s what happens. But it’s not okay to tolerate those for very long.”Skin that is numb, white, and waxy is cause for concern, and should be warmed as soon as possible in warm (99-102 degrees Fahrenheit) water or against warm skin (armpits are excellent). Avoid heating frostbitten skin over a fire or stove – the combination of numb skin and high heat is a recipe for serious burns. Frostbite can only truly be diagnosed when frozen tissue has been thawed. Once warmed, frostbitten tissue will swell, turn red, mottled-blue, waxy, or grey, or develop fluid-filled blisters. Any of these symptoms is a sign of serious injury, which must be treated as soon as possible. Do not allow frostbitten tissue to refreeze.
Flaking out on New Year’s Resolutions is so common it’s almost expected (just try to buy a one-month gym membership). But it doesn’t have to be that way.
We turned to Boulder-based sports psychologist Dr. Doug Jowdy, whose clients run the gamut from Olympic athletes to aspiring 5k joggers, for tips on being better, healthier humans in 2013.
Successful resolutions are more than just year-end goals, they are serious lifestyle changes. Spend some time consulting with friends, family, and experts before setting off on your new path.
“Mentally prepare yourself for the change just as you would mentally prepare yourself for starting a new job,” Jowdy says.
Changing your behavior isn’t easy, so don’t be ashamed to take it slow. Set realistic weekly goals to keep yourself on track, and anticipate setbacks like injuries or a lack of time. Don’t let missing your mark one week discourage you from sticking with your new habits.
“Focus on the process,” Jowdy says, “and not necessarily on the outcome.”
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