Photo by Paolo Marchesi

Michael Ferrara is skiing across Alaska, the long way. He’ll cover 900 miles from the ‘Pacific’ Ocean to the Arctic Ocean, and on the way he’ll post on the Outside blog. I’m not sure what kind of access he’ll have to computers while making his way north, but maybe he can drop us some updates over a sat phone. Ferrara is a first responder with decades of experience under his belt, and he’s making his trek to raise awareness about post-traumatic stress disorder that many first responders deal with during their careers.

I can’t wait until this thing thaws out. I can already see some of the rad neon poking through. I hope that climbing legend Jeff Lowe throws and 80’s party with the contents.

So in the video, when the helicopter picked up the guy with the pack, did the cameraman just have to walk down? Hardly seems fair.

Lowe is currently working on a film with Jon Krakauer called Metanoia. Check out their Kickstarter page.

via Adventure Journal

This looks like that spider from The Lord of the Rings is laying down webs but it’s actually just millions of small spiders. I’m not sure which I’d rather face. It seems that the major floods in Pakistan last year caused millions of spiders to take refuge in the trees for extended lengths of time where they spun these massive webs. That’s actually something of a relief - I’d hate to pitch my tent near a tree and wake up trapped in a web with millions of spiders.

It seems that the coyotes that are roaming Chicago’s north side are adapting well. Instead of chasing cars they’re changing their howls to sound like them. Residents have reported not only seeing a growing coyote population, but hearing them chime in and howl along with police and ambulance sirens in the neighborhood. Coyotes actually used to live all over Chicago, but were driven out by development in the 19^th century. So I guess this is one environmental spot of good news we can all enjoy.

Okay, I know we’re all sick of these HD time lapse videos by now. Sure, you can set one up on your GoPro and every high school kid is doing it, but that doesn’t mean they’re all terrible. Photographer Guido (real name) Perrini has shot the latest Xavier de le Rue sessions, and he also setup this time lapse with tracking shots at the local resort. Worth watching.

Snowboarder James Drummond of California spent a frightful 26 minutes lying headfirst in a tree well, his helmet cam catching the entire episode. He was finally able to reach for his cell phone and dial his wife, whom he told to call ski patrol to pull him out. “Are you serious?” Yes, indeed he was. The 50-year-old snowboarder survived after ski patrol rang him back and got directions to precisely where he was stuck.

Skip to about 2:50 to get past all the stupid posturing that opens the video. Dam Boarding may lead to certain injury and be against several federal laws, but c’mon, they’re Australian federal laws. It also looks like a good bit of fun, once you get over all the nasty bacteria you pick up in the mucky stagnant water.

via Wend

Yes, that Ireland, and yes, that Appalachian Trail. It seems that the Appalachian Trail, which stretches from Georgia to Maine runs all the way to the top of Newfoundland on a, extension that is referred to as International Appalachian Trail. Now the IAT will also run from Donegal to Antrim in Ireland. That Newfoundland and Ireland are separated by an ocean and not really part of the same Appalachian Range doesn’t seem to bother anyone. They point out that during the times of the Pangea landmass, before continental plates moved everything apart, it would have been one continuous trail. I suppose there’s no point in arguing, besides, who doesn’t want to end their AT hike at an Irish pub.

A 12-year-old Swedish boy accidentally fell into a bear’s den when skiing with friends at a resort. The bear woke up and bit him on both legs and clawed his back before it ran off into the woods. The boy survived the attack and had this to say from his hospital bed:

“I accepted death, that was the feeling, let it come,” the boy said.

Wow, they must teach Nietzsche at a young age in Sweden. The bear is still on the run, and it seems her cubs are stuck in the den. A local zoo has offered to take in the cubs if the bear doesn’t return.