Outside Podcast

When a rafter was stung by a scorpion, she assumed she’d be fine. Within hours she lost her ability to see or speak clearly. It was the beginning of a nightmare that nobody in her group of experienced adventurers saw coming. After all, there aren’t supposed to be deadly scorpions in the United States. But as her condition grew more frightening, they began to believe they had a serious emergency on their hands. In this episode, a collaboration with the Out Alive podcast, we investigate how an unfortunate backcountry incident turned into a medical and scientific mystery.

John John Florence has remarkable physical talents, but his greatest asset as an athlete might be his enduring positive attitude. The 29-year-old is often his happiest when things go sideways and he’s forced to adapt. This explains why, after suffering a major knee injury earlier this year during a competition, the two-time world champion surfer decided to spend his rehab sailing from his home in Hawaii to Fiji, a 3,000-mile open-ocean crossing that was loaded with unpredictable weather, high stress, and some truly scary moments. We connected with Florence at the end of his voyage to find out how he’s always able to handle whatever comes his way.

There’s a reason that reality shows set in wild places hold our attention: we can’t help but imagine that it’s us out there. This is especially true when we watch Alone, the hit series on the History Channel that has contestants truly by themselves in all kinds of brutal environments, doing their best to both survive while also filming themselves. This raw approach to voyeuristic entertainment ultimately make us empathize with these hungry, tired, and frightened people—so much that we just can’t stop watching.

Spoiler alert: It’s not because you’re a wuss. Adults rarely cry because of pain or physical discomfort, so why do so many of us cry during outdoor sports? It happens to almost everyone, of all genders, including professional athletes like skier Cody Townsend and climber Emily Harrington. Writer and athlete Gloria Liu investigated this phenomenon, which she calls the Sports Cry, to figure out what causes us to get teary out there and whether it helps or hinders us.

There’s a reason a strenuous outing makes you desire a greasy mound of meat: it has a lot of what your body needs. This we learned from talking to six Outside writers and editors about their greatest aprés-adventure burgers, and by unpacking their stories with the help of two registered dietitians. As it turns out, most of us are underfed when we head into the wild, and the result is a deep hunger for carbs, protein, and fat. Which means that, physiological speaking, a burger delivers.

Eric and Pam Bealer were living in a cabin in rugged coastal Alaska when they made a dramatic decision: they would exit the world together. Pam was suffering from multiple sclerosis and did not want to see her disease through; Eric did not plan to live without his wife. When they set off into the wild for the last time, they left behind instructions for whoever entered the cabin first. For the final episode of our Summer Read series, author Eva Holland explores the mystery and meaning of a frontier couple who charted their own way out.

When retired art dealer Forrest Fenn hid a million dollars’ worth of gold in the Rocky Mountains, he sent thousands of people on a desperate journey. One of them, an ex-cop from Seattle named Darrell Seyler, risked everything on his search. In this first episode of the new series Missed Fortune, created by former Outside Podcast host Peter Frick-Wright and inspired by his magazine story for Outside, we join Seyler at the start of his obsessive quest.Missed Fortune is an Apple Original Podcast produced by High Five Content in association with 30 Minutes West and Outside magazine.

For Caitlin Giddings, leading cross-country bike tours was supposed to be the ultimate escape from the monotony of normal life. Instead it was a kind of torture. Giddings was in her twenties when she was seduced by the idea of turning her passion for cycling into a paycheck. She wanted freedom and adventure! What she got, however, was a lot of whining and grief from troublemaking clients, including a deranged madman and a guy who kept peeing on another rider’s tent. In this episode of our Summer Read series, she describes how her fantasy went so, so wrong.

To portray the hero of the Thai cave rescue in the new film Thirteen Lives, the Hollywood star had to go deep—literally. Mortensen plays the part of Rick Stanton, the legendary British cave diver who helped lead the rescue of 12 boys and their soccer coach from the far reaches of a flooded cavern in northern Thailand. The actor’s preparation included months of conversations with Stanton and a harrowing cave-diving adventure of his own. In this episode, producer Paddy O’Connell talks with both men about what it takes to endure the mental and physical challenges of swimming through dark, tight spaces, where just one mistake can kill you.

A group of high school sophomores set off on what was supposed to be a grand climb. Instead, it became one of the deadliest alpine disasters in North American history. It was 1986, and the Oregon students were seeking to complete an adventure program with the support of professional guides. As they made their way toward the 11,235-foot summit, a vicious storm hit. In this episode of our Summer Read series, we revisit a feature by writer Pauls Toutonghi that chronicles the tragedy and its enduring impact on a community that it changed forever.