The Adventure

Mastering the Rest Step - Secrets from a Lazy Hiker

by Adventure Travelperson

I led treks and far-flung tours for almost 30 years (for an Adventure Collection sister company of CMH’s), and before we started trekking in Tibet, Nepal, or wherever, I’d tell my clients--many of whom were (almost always needlessly) anxious they’d lag on the trail--that there was much little-known technique to hiking, and that the Rest Step could increase their stamina and enjoyment by, oh, 65%. They’d look at me like I was launching some kind of shaggy dog story, but I wasn’t, and many of them ended up thanking me at trek’s end for my little trail-side seminars.

(Not to get all Zen about it, but you never really master the Rest Step; you develop a relationship with it, and as you grow older, as the terrain seems to get a little steeper every year, your step adapts, and the relationship deepens. I’ve found Heli-Hiking a great laboratory for my ongoing dalliance with the Rest Step.)

To cut to the chase, this is what I’d tell my trek mates: Rhythm is everything. But establishing and maintaing a good rhythm takes practice. Your lungs are smarter than your legs, and you should let your lungs determine your pace, dictating to the legs, not the other way around. (If you watch people hike, you’ll notice that many of them hike with their legs, not with their lungs.)

If you’re walking efficiently, linking your breath with your step, you will burn almost all the oxygen you take in, and if you falter or break rhythm, you’ll often find yourself thrown into (non-dramatic, but noticeable) oxygen debt. (This sense of being a super-efficient furnace is a lot of fun, by the way. The Rest Step discipline is a very fun thing in general.)

It’s very difficult to establish rhythm when your steps are of varying length. So: it’s crucial to take steps of the same length as often as possible (something we tend not to bother with normally). It means looking ahead and locating a good place to put your striding foot, making strong, full-sole contact with the ground whenever possible (this helps avoid what I think of as toe-walking, which wrings the oxygen out of your hamstrings; I will turn my foot quite a bit in order to land it as flatly and firmly on the terrain as possible). When you’re taking steps of roughly the same length each time, you’re able to establish rhythm...and you will naturally begin to take smaller steps (which might mean a little slower, but far steadier pace; some of CMH’s heli-hiking guides call this the Wedding March Step).

And when your steps are regular and fairly short, you’ll notice that you’re able to use your quadriceps, or thigh muscles, less. Many people hike with their quads; they often begin one step before they finish another, and end up using both quads at the same time. If both knees are bent when you’re hiking, you’re using both quads at once, you’re guzzling oxygen and energy like a Hummer guzzles gas. But it’s possible to hike using one quad at a time. How? This is the really subtle aspect of the Rest Step, one difficult to describe. But when you concentrate on taking short, well-anchored, rhythmic steps, you can lock the knee of the striding leg very soon in the step. (And when you lock the knee, and shift your weight onto it, you take weight off the other leg, giving it a moment of rest and relaxation).

When you lock your knee, your push-off should provide enough force and momentum for you to use your leg like a strong pole, coming up and over your well-planted foot and straightened leg with surprisingly little effort...resting, in effect, if only for a short moment. (If you get the hang of this, at the top of the step, coming up and over, you’ll have an instant that feels like real weightlessness. No kidding. Some people worry that all this knee-locking is wearing on these notoriously cranky joints; my experience is that if you avoid snapping into the lock, but do it with respect, there’s little to fear.) 

And so: as the left foot, say, is locked and letting momentum do the work, you can use the gluteus muscles--the largest, probably the strongest muscles you’ve got--to swing your relaxed, off leg forward in search of anchorage. One step at a time. Up, lock, relax and swing the other leg, find a trusty anchorage, push off, lock the leg, and on and on. The mantras here are: use your leg as a pole. Shift your weight onto that pole. Avoid using small muscles, which gulp more than their share of oxygen. Use big muscles--the gluteus--whenever possible. Avoid over-depending on your quads (they get enough of a workout already). Learn--this can get wonderfully mystic--to loosen up and rest your legs even while you’re using them (tight muscles soak up more energy than loose muscles.)

I’ve always been a secretly lazy hiker, and the Rest Step has been a boon for me over the years. I’ve discovered gears and gaits and gotten farther and kept happier using it, and I hope you can too.

What's Your Adventure IQ?

by Ellen Barone

Knowing yourself can help you have a better time on your next vacation. Take this quiz and discover if adventure travel is in your future.

1.    The unknown:
a.    Totally freaks you out, you'd never leave on vacation without a plan.
b.    You're okay with leaving some parts of your vacation up to serendipity, but you rely on favored brands, respected providers and trusted resources for the core essentials.
c.    Your dream is to buy a round-the-world-ticket and embrace the unknown with wonder, awe and ingenuity.

2.    Cultural differences:
a.    In theory, you're fine with different. In reality, you're much more comfortable when you know what to expect.
b.    A little goes a long way. You sprinkle your daily dose of different with a dash of the familiar.
c.    Where others see differences you find commonality. The ability to suspend judgment is just built into your DNA.

3.    Taking risks:
a.    Flinging yourself out of airplanes, running river rapids, or summiting thin-air mountain peaks is your idea of crazy. No way. No how.
b.    Sure, you're willing to challenge yourself and push the boundaries of your comfort zone. But only with the guidance and support of those with proven track records for success and safety.
c.    You inner adventurer is willing to try nearly anything at least once.

4.    Travel tech:
a.    Wherever you go, the techy toys go too. You wouldn't dream of leaving home without your smart phone loaded up with the latest travel apps, digital camera, laptop, iPod, Kindle, etc. The more the merrier.
b.    You like and use technology as much as the next guy, but you view gadgets as just another travel tool.
c.    To leave the technological tethers at home is WHY you travel. You abhor any device that keeps you connected to the 'real world.' 

5.    Trip planning:
a.    Your favorite way to prepare for a trip is by reading up on the destination. Guidebooks, travel magazines, novels, classics, Trip Advisor, you name it. You know more about the place than the locals by the time you leave home.
b.    Your intentions are good. You have the bulging files of dog-eared articles, restaurant reviews and well-thumbed coffee table books to prove it. Thing is, that's as far as it goes.
c.    You're a purist and purposefully avoid reading about the opinions and experiences of others. There's little you enjoy more than discovering a place with an open mind and fresh eyes.  

Scoring: Add up the total value of your answers i.e. One point = 'a' response; Three points = 'b' response; Five points = 'c' response.

If your score is:

• Less than 10:  TAKE A FLYING LEAP. You NEED an adventure. Please go somewhere now.
• 10-15: JUST SAY YES: You're ready, willing, and able but far too busy putting the needs of others above your own. Get out there more.
• 16 -20: LIFE IS GOOD: Your bags are packed. Passport's ready. You're already living life to the fullest. Where to next?
• 21- 25: ROCK ON: You're already living with the deliberate intent to enjoy the view. We applaud you!

Travel expert Ellen Barone did what many of us only dream of doing: at the age of 35, she traded a successful academic career for the wild blue yonder and set out to explore the world and herself. In the dozen years since that intrepid decision, she has turned passion into profession, journeying to more than 60 countries in search of evocative images and life-enriching adventures. Learn more at EllenBarone.com

Adventure Travel by Helicopter - What's it Really Like?

Sitting in a car or bus has a familiar sleepy vibration.  It’s a rare person in our modern world who doesn’t know riding in a plane is all about that hypnotic jet hum in an atmosphere thick with a hundred passenger’s quiet discomfort.  Millions of people know the smooth speed of an electric train and the hypnotic rhythm of a rocking boat.  But far fewer people know what it’s like to travel by helicopter, especially the big twin-engine Bell 212 - known as the safest helicopter in the world - used on CMH Summer Adventures. 

Adventure travel by helicopter in the mountains is like nothing else.  The combination of relatively slow speeds compared to a plane, and proximity to the earth for a truly bird’s eye view of alpine grandeur, offers the passenger an unparalleled intimacy with flight.

Leaving the ground is the first eye-opener.  The helicopter takes off slowly, rising vertically for several metres, and there is a second or two when if feels like the machine could go any direction - and it can.  Then it leans forward slightly and begins to accelerate, quickly reaching cruising speed.  This is about the point when the cameras start clicking.

As a passenger in a helicopter, your sensitivity to changes in speed is very acute.  In a jet, it is impossible to get a feel for speed because of the high cruising altitude.  When “cruising” in a Bell 212  during a CMH Summer Adventure, you’re right at mountaintop level, or lower, doing around 200 kilometres per hour – about the average speed of a Formula One race.

If you’ve ridden in smaller helicopters, which often feel like they are rotating back and forth, the Bell 212 is unbelievably stable – sort of the Limousine of helicopters.  While it has two engines, and can fly on one engine if the other should fail, the mighty Columbia Mountains force the Bell 212 to fly slow to around 100 kilometres per hour while climbing - think highway speed, but looking out the window at a glacier.

Unless they're in a rescue scenario, pilots don’t just fly straight up a vertical mountain face.   A good mountain pilot, like those we work with from Alpine Helicopters, will read the terrain for the easiest line just like a mountain guide, crossing passes at their lowest points, avoiding unnecessary altitude gain and loss, watching the wind and weather, and always keeping an escape route open if conditions change.

On the way down, the helicopter can lose altitude fast enough to put your stomach in your throat – up to 1000 metres per minute – but the pilots save those kinds of speeds for when they’re alone in the helicopter.  With passengers, they slow the descent to give everyone a smooth, comfortable, photogenic ride.

If you’ve never been in a helicopter, riding in a Bell 212, on route to one of the myriad experiences of a CMH Summer Adventure, is the ultimate way to give it a try.  Not only do you get a scenic flight in the world’s safest helicopter through some of the world’s most beautiful mountains, but at the end of the flight you are left in a breathtaking location with a guide to spend the day in a mountain paradise surrounded by raw, quiet, untouched wilderness.

Photos by Topher Donahue.

Air speed information for the Bell 212 provided by Alex Holliday, Safety Manager for Alpine Helicopters.

A Camera's View of the New Bugaboos Via Ferrata Experience

This spring the CMH guides built a new Via Ferrata in the Bugaboos on a little-known rock buttress of smooth quartzite know as Trundle Ridge. Last month I photographed one of the first teams to ascend the new route. CMH Bugaboos assistant manager Peter Macpherson was our guide for the day. We talked about how diverse the CMH Summer Adventure program has become, and how hard it is to describe the experience. Grandparents can go on leisurely hikes near the helicopter, while their kids climb a via ferrata or hike all day, and their grandkids slide on alpine snowfields and splash in tiny streams - and then afterwards everyone sits down together for a gourmet dinner. How do you compare that to the average adventure travel experience?

From the view out the window of the helicopter of the CMH Bugaboo Lodge, just minutes after finishing a coffee, to standing on the summit of the via ferrata with the otherworldly Bugaboo Spires in the background, here are a few shots that tell the tale better than words:

The next day two of the via ferrata climbers went on an eight-hour hike along a serpentine ridge overlooking the Bugaboos.  One of them sat on the tundra with a view of the Bugaboo Spires and a palette of watercolours, painting the toothy peaks and nibbling lox  croissants. The other two went hiking with their kids in a wonderland of glaciers, wildly-coloured lakes, and beaches of crystalline sand.

Want to see more of what the CMH Summer Adventure is all about?  Subscribe to this blog - or better yet find out for yourself!

Photos by Topher Donahue

My Favourite Adventure Photo Chosen For Banff Festival

In this era of ever-finer specialization in mountain sports, the Banff Mountain Festival remains a refreshing celebration of all things mountain.  The annual event, held every fall at the spectacular Banff Centre overlooking Banff, Alberta, has become the world’s gold standard for adventure festivals. 

This image, a 35mm slide I snapped in Argentine Patagonia, has been chosen as the Signature Image for the 2010 Banff Mountain Festival. 

The image was captured during an outrageous trip that included climbing three first ascents, surviving a 100-year storm in Patagonia, and watching Argentina's economy collapse from a Buenos Aires hotel window.  A story I wrote about the expedition was selected for publication in the anthology Adrenaline 2002, The Year's Best Stories of Adventure and Survival.

To get the shot, I jumped across first and crouched on the icy floor of the shallow crevasse.  This gave me a terrifying angle on my partner, Jared Ogden, making the leap.  Like many adventure photos, the reality of the situation was not as bad as it appears.  The crevasse is only a couple of metres deep, and fall would likely have resulted in little worse than a sprained ankle.  However, with the granite wall above, the cloud patterns and peak in the distance, the textured walls of ice, and the un-posed action of the climber, this is the photo I have taken that best captures the electric emotion of adventure.  

It is an honor to have the image selected to represent such an iconic celebration of the mountains.  This honor follows my first book, Bugaboo Dreams - a story about Canadian Mountain Holidays, mountain guiding in North America, and the invention of heli-skiing and heli-hiking - which was a finalist in the 2008 Banff Mountain Festival.

The Banff Mountain Festival is an extraordinary event.  Located in the heart of Banff National Park, surrounded by vast tracts of wilderness and the summits of the Canadian Rockies, the Banff Centre is a world leader in collaboration and research in the arts and culture, whose mission is “Inspiring Creativity”.  The Festival highlights the best speakers, books and films telling stories of philanthropy and intercultural problem solving, hair-raising tales from the cutting edge of adventure sport, and the often beautiful and sometimes violent human interaction with the natural world. 

The 2010 Banff Mountain Festival will run from October 30th to November 7th, and will attract 10,000 people from all over the globe.  As in past years, attendees will be able to choose from over 30 events, including the year’s best adventure films, readings from legendary adventure authors, presentations by prominent adventure personalities, shopping in an unsurpassed adventure book collection, and a trade show featuring the latest and greatest adventure products.

If you cannot make it to the event, check out the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour.

Photo by Topher Donahue and represented by Aurora Photos.

6 Reasons Hydration Packs Suck for Adventure

It was on a 10-hour bus ride across the Peruvian Andes from Lima to Huaras, the bustling town at the heart of the Cordillera Blanca, where my suspicions about hydration packs were confirmed.

The twisting mountain road and the banana pancakes from breakfast were already wrestling with my tummy. Then I looked across the aisle and saw a fellow tourist’s hydration pack tube. It snaked from his backpack, along the stained seat edge, and under the passenger beside him. My stomach churned, and from then on, I’ve referred to hydration packs as “germ samplers”.

Sure, there’s a place for hydration packs. They work great for some outings. REI has a good article on how to choose the right hydration pack. 

I use them on occasion. But only in environments where I’m pretty comfortable ingesting almost anything the mouthpiece might touch and when I need my water bottle to collapse when it’s empty. Some manufacturers now put little covers over the mouthpiece, which helps a little, but dirt and nasties still seem to find their way under the thing.

Including the Petri dish effect of hydration packs, there are six major reasons I prefer old-fashioned water bottles:

1. The Germ Sampler.
2. I love stopping, taking off my pack, sitting down, looking around at a piece of wild splendor, sipping from a cool stainless steel bottle, and having a little chat with my adventure partner. 
3. There are few things worse than being miles up the trail and hearing your partner say, “My water broke...”
4. In cold weather, even the fancy hydration packs with insulated tubes freeze much more quickly than wide mouth water bottles – as if a few millimeters of foam will keep water from freezing in a little tube.
5.  Sucking plastic, when you’re already sucking air, is highly unpleasant compared to chugging effortlessly as if from a glass.
6. With a water bottle, every time you take a drink you get a pretty good idea of how much water you have left. With a hydration pack, you get thirsty, suck down all your water without paying attantion, and then when you run out you beg your adventure partner to share their water.

Now I use stainless steel water bottles whenever humanly possible. Even if you doubt the potentially harmful effects of storing water in plastic, or prefer using old soda bottles for environmental reasons, water from a stainless steel vessel just tastes better.

Photo of enjoying a water break at while heli-hiking at CMH Bobbie Burns by Topher Donahue.

What Pack do I Need for Heli-Hiking?

The easy answer is: NO PACK AT ALL. 

For anyone who doesn’t bring a pack, CMH lodges provide daypacks that are small enough to hike or climb unencumbered, but big enough to hold your lunch, water, sunhat, and jacket.  With a helicopter to provide easy escape from the mountain elements, we have a lot of options and you don’t need to carry too much. 

If you want your own pack for heli-hiking and other summer adventures, that’s great.  Using your own pack is nice.  But don’t fret it.  That’s why we call it HELI-hiking.  It’s not about the pack.

Even a trusty book bag works, but a pack with a little more space makes packing - and then later finding your sunscreen in the bottom of your pack – that much easier.  If you prefer your own, here are a few things to look for in a good heli-hiking pack:

• Around 25 litre capacity - buy your friend the bigger pack.  

• Roomy exterior pocket for easy access to cameras and trail favors - tight pockets look cool in the store, but are a pain to use.

• Lightweight material and design with no frame or super-light internal frame - heavy helicopter should equal light pack.

• Hydration system is handy but not necessary – why not just stop and look around while drinking?

• Ventilation along the back area – it gets warm heli-hiking under the bright alpine sun.

• External strap system of some kind in case you need a little extra space - adventure travel doesn't happen by the litre.

• Bought in an actual, real, live, retail store like REI where you can try on several options for the best fit - as in not bought online with your iPhone while driving in traffic just before your trip. 
  

Touching mountains as wild, vast and un-developed as the Columbias of British Columbia with only a small daypack on your shoulders is a treat that only heli-hikers get to experience.  The light-footed sensation of moving easily through such terrain, surrounded by untouched wilderness the likes of which few modern humans ever see, is alone worth the price of admission. 

Heli-hiking-as-good-as-it-gets photo by Topher Donahue

Choosing the Right Adventure Travel Company

by Ellen Barone

Finding it difficult to choose the right adventure travel experience? Here are a few tips from the Wild Pair to help you choose the adventure of your life...

Stretch & Tone

When we join an adventure travel tour, we want more than just calorie-burning and adrenaline pumping. We want to stretch the boundaries of our awareness. We want to come back home having learned something new. Maybe it's a few sentences in a formerly-impenetrable language. Or, new cooking skills that we can utilize in our own kitchens. Perhaps we learn about the geology of the landscape we are navigating. Or the history of a country that didn't even exist before the First World War.

We look for companies that are married to the concept that education is a fundamental part of travel. We yearn to learn.

Green Is Our Fave Colour

Aware that our very presence can erode the fragile environments and ancient cultures we have come to visit, we look for companies that tread as softly as possible in the regions they visit.

Never be afraid to ask an outfitter about personal philosophy and impact awareness. Inquire how a company's practices benefit local communities and what they do to help protect the cultural and natural heritage of the places they visit. If they can commit to the betterment of the planet, you can commit to traveling the planet with them.

Putting a Smile on the Customer's Face

Of course you want to seek out companies with a strong commitment to guest services and a rock-solid rep for looking out for the health and safety of their clients. But, you can go further. Check on an outfitter's accreditation and its membership in respected organizations like the Adventure Travel Trade Association, Sustainable Travel International, The Rainforest Alliance, The International Ecotourism Society and the Adventure Collection. These are top-notch vetters that demand a high level of accountability and service.

Keep It Real

We like our travel to be authentic rather than canned. We love local flava. Whether you decide to you explore the African savanna with native Maasai warriors or heli-hiking through the Canadian Rockies beneath the majestic Bugaboo Spires, it should be a first-hand experience that is unique to your group and seizes on spontaneous events that occur during the trip. When you visit another environment or culture, it should be a catalyst to internal discovery that lasts long after your suitcase is unpacked and your passport is tucked away. That's why we look for companies that not only offer innovative and compelling activities, but also demonstrate a passion for creating the conditions in which genuine experience can take place.

It is Counting on Them That Counts

Let's face it, we're all weighed down by responsibilities at home and on the job. We've got family, friends, pets, deadlines, emergencies, tragedies, complications we have to deal with. There is something truly liberating in planning nothing and enjoying everything, secure in the knowledge that every aspect of your trip has been carefully researched and developed for you. New can be exciting, but when it comes to trip commitment we look for outfitters with decades of experience behind them. We know they have remained on top by gathering the best local guides, pioneering exploratory expeditions to new destinations and devising innovative ways of experiencing familiar haunts.

Seek and Ye Shall Find

Surf the net, or, better yet, use your online and real life networks. Ask others who are into adventure travel which companies they swear by. As you undoubtedly know, people love to share their expertise and experiences. They will pump up their favorite providers and dump on the duds. Their honesty is invaluable.

Ask the Experts

We asked a few industry leaders and travel experts what it takes to keep travelers returning year after year. They have seen it all; from the infancy of adventure travel to its sophisticated and polished present...

Know Thyself

1) Make sure you know what you want to get out of a trip.

2) Know your parameters (time, budget, physical activity).

3) Look for a company where the people who answer the phones are experts on the trip you're discussing, not just reading the information from a cheat sheet. Ideally, the person you're speaking with should know the region and share your passion.

4) Make sure the travel style of the company - which you can glean from the individual trip itineraries and descriptions as well as more generally from the company catalogue, brochures and web site - fits your own.

5) Remember that a pure price-to-price comparison can be misleading. Make sure the exact same items (for example, international and domestic airfares, meals, hotels, other transportation) are included in the totals that you're comparing, and factor in the priceless importance of adequate, reliable risk coverage.

 - Don George, The Adventure Collection

Promises, Promises

It seems every company promises the best guides, the best food, the best service, but do they provide a safety net for the unexpected? Here are a few suggested questions to ask to make sure your backside is covered.

* Do provide around-the-clock logistical and air support services? (this is especially important in the event of cancelled, delayed or changed flights?)

* Do you include medical evacuation, expense, and assistance coverage, with access to a board certified emergency physician?

* What assurances do you provide to protect my travel investment?

* Do you accept major credit cards?

* Are my deposits and payments placed in a U.S.-based financial institution or an offshore entity?

* Are my deposits and payments in a convertible currency?

* How will you protect me from currency rate fluctuations? (Some international currencies have fluctuated by as much as 40% over the past 12 months) How to do mitigate the fuel surcharge risk?

* What are your payment/cancellation terms and conditions? What are your cancellation policies in the event of a U.S. State Department, Centers for Disease Control, or World Health Organization travel warning?

* Do you offer optional trip cancellation/interruption insurance, including cancel for work reasons?

* Does your company participate in a U.S.-based seller of travel/consumer protection program?

* Does your company possess current liability insurance with an A-rated company?

- Jim Sano, Geographic Expeditions

Personality Plus...

Creativity and Passion:  This is actually at the top and bottom of my list. It is what I look for first and what I look for after the due diligence.  I look for their site, the interaction with their staff and their brochure to pull me in with interesting and unique itineraries, great stories, a passion for sharing great trips with others.  If I don't feel this I move on.

Word of Mouth: Referrals from friends are always a good option if you know they have similar travel interest in not only destinations but more importantly in types of accommodations, activities, guides etc.  Past guests that return multiple years are important. If you are considering a new provider/operator don't hesitate to ask to speak with guests who have traveled with them on more than one occasion as well as guests who have take the tour you are interested in. Call the past guest versus emailing them so you can get a real feel for their impression of the company and trip.  Ask them details about the activities, lodging, guides, daily routine and options. Take into consideration trips change based on many factors (weather, tourist season, group dynamics etc.)

Website and Office Staff:  The website tells me a lot about a company. If you are like most folks you look at the "about us" page.  I look for personal stories about how a company got started, videos and photos about their guests and guides. Check out their Facebook Fan/Like page and see how they are interacting with their guests and how guests are posting and responding.

Years in Business: This is important in terms of experience in running programs through tough times financially, economically and politically

Are they privately owned? This might not be important to you but I like working with privately owned companies. I feel they are often more creative in their approaches to destinations and itineraries.  Many companies today are part of larger corporations or investment groups.  I tend to choose mom and pop companies. You can speak with the owner and the buck stops with them.

Awards/Memberships:  I take these with a grain of salt unless I know what sort of standards or qualifications were involved.

Focus:  I look for focus within a niche and/or a destination. I'd rather travel with an operator who focuses on biking in Piedmont versus running multisport trips around the world. Likely they either are local or are very connected with the local areas.

Guides: Having local guides is a must. Period.

Commitment to Responsible/Sustainable Travel:  There should be something on their site or in their brochure which talks about their value statement. Whether they employee local guides and stay at locally owned properties or support a non-profit or project in the areas they offer tours.

Review the details: What is included in terms of meals, local drinks, tipping in hotels and for day guides. Are their some options in the level of activity for more or less?  What type of restaurants and accommodations do they use...hopefully places that might not be well known by guidebooks or TripAdvisor. If they are good they are one step ahead.

Maximum/average group size:  Will they run the program if they only have 4 or 6 guests? What is the maximum size? I prefer group sizes of 12-16 as I think this size offers a good sense of diversity within the group and interesting conversations and opportunities.

- Kathy Dragon, Travel Dragon

The Bottom Line

The point of it all - experience, expertise, technology, and technique is this: To enable you to have the unparalleled thrill of heading into the unknown, armed with confidence in your leadership, to inhabit the vastness, and discover the wonder of being somewhere utterly new. Sven Lindblad, Lindblad Expeditions

What about you?  What specific traits do you look for in an adventure outfitter?  Share your good news/ bad news stories here!

BON VOYAGE from the Wild Pair!

ABOUT THE WILD PAIR: Ellen Barone and Judith Fein,

They're smart, sassy, savvy, award-winning travel journalists and photographers and now they've joined forces to become THE WILD PAIR, bringing you cutting-edge information and tips on how to turn your next vacation into a life-enhancing experience.

Photo: Cariboo Heli-Hikers by Topher Donahue.Choosing the right Adventure Travel outfitter can improve your outlook in any situation!

Abby Sunderland, Jordan Romero and Teen Adventure

By now, everyone has heard of 16-year-old Abby Sunderland’s effort to sail around the world and 13-year-old Jordan Romero climbing Mt. Everest.  Blogs, talk shows, and print media are buzzing with criticism and praise for the teen adventurers.  It is easy to see both sides of the controversy. 

On one hand, the effects of isolation on the sea and the lack of oxygen at altitude on the developing teen brain are not well understood.  The parents who publicize these children’s efforts appear to be capitalizing on their children’s risk taking.

On the other hand, teens are capable of so much more than our culture gives them credit for.  The very shelter we smother them with might also be stunting their growth and causing issues in other ways.  By the time most kids from developed nations are teens, they will have spent as much time in front of the television as Abby has spent in a boat and Jordan has spent wearing boots. 

One could argue that the expense of Sunderland’s rescue was unnecessary. Another could argue that the expense we’ll bear in the future, in the form of health problems caused from a diet of junk food compounded by an Xbox lifestyle, will dwarf the cost of any ocean rescue.

Some have said that Abby Sunderland’s parents should be tried for child abuse. It could just as easily be argued that any parent who uses the television as a baby sitter should face the same charges. 

Kids doing exceptional and controversial things are nothing new, but we’re in the infantile stages of reality television, social media, and blogs like this one.  My hope is that our wickedly powerful, but still painfully clumsy, modern media machine will not stifle these kinds of ambitions.  Kids need to have the freedom to pursue their dreams without the keyboard pundits tossing anonymous rants at them.  When a teen goes too far, like the 13-year-old Dutch sailor recently blocked from a solo voyage, authorities step in with or without our rants. 

For most teens, the best approach lies somewhere in between.  Encourage teens to pursue a bit of outdoor adventure - with professional training when needed - like sailing, surfing, mountain biking, climbing, skiing or hiking.  Encourage them to avoid the all-too-common sedentary lifestyle that young bodies and minds were never meant to live.   The real issue here is not the few kids who are pushing the limits of adventure, it’s the millions who have never tasted adventure at all.

Last Child in the Woods - It's More Than a Holiday

I just read one of those books that could change the world.  Last Child in the Woods, by Richard Louv, is a best seller of such magnitude that its implications will send ripples through families, universities, and - hopefully - our entire culture.

In it, Louv coins the term “nature deficit disorder”, and gives the reader a shocking view into the wide range of issues today’s children face and how many of the issues can be blamed – at least in part - on how little direct contact with nature they have compared to earlier generations.  The book opens the floodgates of contemporary studies that are in the process of proving that our electronic, indoor, hyper-compartmentalized lifestyles are liable for issues including ADHD and obesity – and that time in the natural world has therapeutic potential to help with the very same issues.

The other day I watched my twin three-year-olds grow hyper and irritable as a spring snowstorm prevented even a short play in the garden.  It seemed obvious that the time outside was crucial to their learning and happiness as I reread a few of Louv’s best lines:

“Increasingly, nature is something to watch, to consume, to wear – to ignore.”

“As far as physical fitness goes, today’s kids are the sorriest generation in the history of the United States.”

“They (researchers) say the quality of exposure to nature affects our health at an almost cellular level.”

“Pediatricians now warn that today’s children may be the first generation of Americans since World War II to die at an earlier age than their parents.”

“The CDC found that the amount of TV that children watch directly correlates with measures of their body fat.”

“A study of Finnish teenagers showed that they often went into natural settings after upsetting events; there, they could clear their minds and gain perspective and relax.”

“There is a real world, beyond the glass, for children who look, for those whose parents encourage them to truly see.”

“Children’s Hospital and Regional Medical Center in Seattle maintains that each hour of TV watched per day by preschoolers increases by 10 percent the likelihood that they will develop concentration problems and other symptoms of attention-deficit disorders by age seven.”

“I was intrigued by the way children defined play: often, their definition did not include soccer or piano lessons.  Those activities were more like work.”

“Typical Americans spend 101 minutes in their car daily, five times the amount they spend exercising.”

“Time in nature is not leisure time, it’s an essential investment in our children’s health (and also, by the way, in our own).”

“Two-thirds of American children can’t pass a basic physical: 40 percent of boys and 70 percent of girls ages six to seventeen can’t manage more than one pull-up; and 40 percent show early signs of heart and circulation problems.”

Louv reveals that even our playgrounds, parks, and arenas are not providing the experience in the natural world that has nurtured children’s development since the beginning of time.  And the Internet, while a gateway to the world in so many ways, is entirely devoid of the very same sensory experiences that nature supplies in abundance: the smell of a pine tree; the deep vibration of a wave crashing into a rocky shore; the tickle of a cool breeze blowing off a snowfield.  

For adventure travelers, skiers, mountaineers, hikers, farmers, gardeners, sailors, surfers, people like us in the business of providing exceptional experiences in the natural world, or anyone who finds time in nature is essential to their health, "Last Child in the Woods" puts to words something we have been feeling for a long time.

Photo by Topher Donahue