The Feds are looking at all the people heading into the backcountry with bear canisters and trying to figure out how they can get in on the action. Currently their $50k a year testing program charges manufactures about $150 to test a ‘bear-proof’ product. The canister is loaded with food and dropped into a bear’s pen, and if the animal doesn’t tear it apart, it get’s the government’s certification. The government is considering changing this process and then charging more for certifications.

Sure, bears are tough, but I’m sure they tear up their claws trying to mangle some of the metal bear-proof dumpsters. So what’s a vegan to do? I guess they’re not allowed to use any certified bear canisters.

This is the kind of trouble your kids get into when you raise them in a place like Utah: abundant cheap couches, loads of snow, old skis, and plenty of free time. At least it’s not like every other state in the U.S. where kids are just sitting around listening to music and smoking weed.

A Florida woman received a valuable lesson about domestication and the food chain when a hawk swooped onto her second-floor balcony and picked up her 2-pound Chihuahua. It had been playing with her other small dog when she heard the thing screaming and ran to find out what was wrong.

Ciocho rushed through the open door and saw the 2-month-old tan and white puppy in the hawk’s talons. The hawk, which was poised to take off, dropped the dog and flew away.

Once hawks learn how easy it is to pick off tiny domestic dogs, they should again thrive in Florida.

Legendary Filmmaker Werner Herzog took some time off from his last project (reading Where’s Waldo) to film Cave of Forgotten Dreams. Shot in 3D, Herzog documents artwork more than 30,000 years old that was found in a cave in 1994. The film looks more epic than the time Herzog saved Joaquin Phoenix.

via Adventure Blog

It is difficult to imagine a better year on record for powder addicts. La Niña has been more than generous, dumping massive amounts of snow across the West. How much? Well, check in with Backcountry Magazine or the Adventure Journal, and then think about how old you’ll be the next time La Niña rolls through. Now’s the time to get after it, my friends.

I would almost expect this level of naivety from a ski resort near Provo, Utah, but in Colorado it just seems sad. The level of confusion this could create is something you might never live down.

Those boxy backpacks designed to be worn while portaging a canoe between lakes in Northern Minnesota are now considered cool. I can’t wait to wear mine while riding my fixed-gear bike to the nearest non-multinational coffee shop. Duluth Packs‘ sticking to their roots and making everything in America is apparently the latest trend in Manhattan fashion.

“Minnesota is exporting cool,” said Michael Williams, a New York-based men’s apparel marketer and expert in the so-called heritage brands trend.

Indeed. Wait until they get a hold of the Barenaked Ladies and Prince on the East Coast.

via GetOutdoors

Photo from flickr.

I am not a bug person. Or a spider or snake person for that matter. The idea that a bug exists in Costa Rica that’s so large that it could crawl over my mouth while I’m sleeping and suffocate me is enough to make me want to avoid the place for the rest of my life.

via Vagabondish

It looks like they’ve gotten enough snow along I-80 South to run some ski BASE in the spot normally reserved for paragliders. If you’re watching this and thinking, “That doesn’t look entirely safe,” well, you’re probably right.

via Adventure Blog