Nat Geo Cameramen Caught In Giant Sand Storm

The World is an amazing place, and sometimes we need to be reminded of just how powerful and impressive it really is. Take this video for example. It was shot by a couple of cameramen from National Geographic who were in Africa filming some footage for the upcoming special Great Migrations, which airs this November. The filmmakers were simply hoping to catch a glimpse of a herd of elephants crossing the desert, and instead they became first hand witnesses of how powerful nature really can be. In this case, they were hit with a massive stand storm but fortunately for us, they just kept on shooting. Wow!

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English Channel Swimmer Sets Sights On Strait of Gibraltar

Yesterday I posted a story about quadruple amputee Philippe Crozon, who swam across the English Channel this past weekend in 13.5 hours with the help of specially designed prosthetic legs with built in flippers. Now, according to the Washington Post, the Frenchman has even bigger plans for a future swim.

After completing the 21 mile crossing of the Channel, Crozon announced that he next hopes to conquer the Strait of Gibraltar, a narrow strip of water that separates Europe from Africa near the mouth of the Mediterranean Sea. The Strait is just 9 miles wide, but offers a different challenge from the Channel in that the waters are much rougher and there can be a lot of shipping traffic moving through the area as well. No date has been set for this attempt just yet, but he hopes to make it in a year or so after completing more training.  (Thanks to the Outside Blog for the tip!)

Checkout the video below about Crozon's Channel swim which comes our way courtesy of Newsy.com.

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More On The Great Bear Rainforest Expedition

Last week I posted a couple of stories about an expedition of photographers who were exploring Canada's Great Bear Rainforest in an effort to capture the beauty of that place while studying the effects of a proposed oil pipeline through the region. The team returned with some stunning photos of wildlife that lives there and the environments which they inhabit, as well as a message of warning about the potentially devastating effects of development by oil companies.

Now, we have a YouTube video that captures even more of the photos, as well as some video footage, and the photographers themselves talking about the experience. The expedition was sponsored by the International League of Conservation Photographers, who are working hard to protect Great Bear Rainforest from possibly catastrophic disaster.

Thanks to Rick McCharles of BestHike for sharing this video about this important issue.

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Scenes From Yellowstone

Over the weekend I had a chance to edit some video together from my recent trip to Yellowstone National Park, an amazing outdoor playground that everyone should visit at some point. The scenery is unbelievable and there is plenty of wildlife to spot as well. The video below is just a hint of what you'll find there, with some shots of elk and bison, but also the Lower Falls on the Yellowstone River and the parks most famous attraction, Old Faithful. I hope you enjoy.

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Time Lapse Images From Orbit

It's been a fairly quiet day on the adventure news front, and since we're closing out the week, and preparing to head out for some weekend fun, I thought I'd post yet one more great video courtesy of The Adventure Life, who have shared great videos all week long. This one was shot from the International Space Station and while it isn't the longest clip you'll watch this week, it is an amazing time lapse of the Earth, caught from orbit. Enjoy!

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Skiing The Kashmir Mountains of India

When we think of great ski locations, India isn't generally one of the first places that comes to mind. But for remote mountain settings, it's hard to beat the Kashmir region of that country. The video below, shot by Jordan Manley, gives us a glimpse at what it is like to ski there however, capturing everything in a beautiful, almost travelogue style. It is amazing what we can shoot and edit ourselves these days. Just beautiful.

Thanks again to The Adventure Life for this one. Lots of great videos coming our way this week!




Kashmir - A Skier's Journey: Ep1 from Jordan Manley Photography on Vimeo.

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Cameraman Robbed By Manta Ray!

Another great video today courtesy of The Adventure Life. This time, it's footage of an underwater cameraman shooting some amazing shots of gigantic manta rays near Kailua-Kona in Hawaii, when one of them decides to make off with the camera. It's simply amazing to watch this big fella' glide ride up, grab the camera, valued at $5000, then disappear into the darkness.

I'd hate to have to explain that one to the boss. At least they caught the perp in the act.

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Chasing Legends - A Tour de France Film

Has anyone seen the film Chasing Legends? Being a big fan of the Tour de France, it looks really interesting to me. Judging from the trailer below, it looks like it gives us quite the behind the scenes look at what goes on at the race, with a nice dash of history and insight from the riders as well. The website says that the film is in select theaters now and available on DVD, but this is the first that I've seen of it. Any one have a review?

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Ski vs. Snowboard Crashes: No One Wins!

Quick! Would you rather crash while skiing or snowboard? The answer is obviously neither, and you'll come to realize that even more after watching the video below, which is a collection of some crazy stunts and awful crashes on both skis and snowboards.

Two words of warning though. First, some of these are pretty painful to watch, and secondly, if you're like me, you may want to turn down the sound, and just enjoy the video. Ouch on both accounts!

Thanks to The Goat for sharing this one!

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Race Across The Sky 2010 Trailer

With the 2010 Leadville 100 mountain bike race behind us, we can all now look forward to this year's edition of  the Race Across The Sky movie from Citizen Pictures. The video below is a sneak peek at what we can expect from the film, which is scheduled to be available to hit theaters November 4th. Do to scheduling conflicts, I didn't have the opportunity to see last year's edition of the movie, but I'm hoping to catch it this time out. Looks great!

Thanks to Ultrarob for the tip!




Race Across The Sky 2010 from Citizen Pictures on Vimeo.

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Life Cycles - A Beautiful Looking Bike Movie

There are two kinds of people in the world. Those who ride bikes, and those who don't. For those that do, the upcoming film Life Cycles looks like it is going to be pure, unadulterated bike-porn. The visuals look stunning in the trailer below, and will have you counting the hours until you can head out on your next ride. The film looks really great and will be available on DVD around mid-October. Preorder here. I recommend the Blu-Ray version!

Thanks to The Adventure Life for the tip!



Life Cycles OFFICIAL Trailer from Life Cycles on Vimeo.

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Contour Updates Helmet Cam With GPS Functionality

Contour has announced an all new helmet cam for their line-up that integrates GPS functionality for the first time. Dubbed the ContourGPS, the integrated global positioning sensor built into the camera will track the users position on the planet, as well as speed and elevation, while capturing on their exploits in stunning 1080p HD video.

This helmet cam will also connect with a newly updated Contour video community site, adding the ability to share your locations and movements right alongside the videos. The system is built on Google Maps which will embed a map next to the video footage that displays all the GPS information as the footage plays out.

This is kind of cool technology, although you'll want to turn it off when you don't want to give away the location of your favorite trail. The price for the new GPS enabled Contour is $349.

I got my hands on the ContourHD awhile back, and I've been playing with it lately to prepare for a full review. So far I really dig it, and its ruggedized construction is a great for active pursuits where you might do something that could damage it, i.e.: my mountain biking rides that generally lead to some crashes. I haven't had time to edit the footage together yet so you can get a sense of how it looks, but I'm quite impressed with the performance and features of the camera.

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Think Climbing In A Gym Can't Be Epic? Think Again!

It's the age old argument, Sport vs. Trad with gym rats getting all kinds of derision from both camps. Want to see just how great gym climbing can be? Then check out the video below and see for yourself. Now I'm the last person to say that climbing in a gym is better than being outside on the real rock and breathing the fresh air, but when you simply can't get outside for a climb, then the gym can be a great alternative. It just needs to be set up to offer a great challenge.

Thanks to William for sharing this video via his Twitter feed. Great stuff my friend!

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Bombing Down The Singletrack

To end the day today, we have some great video of mountain biker Mike Hopkins flying down a nice looking singletrack trail. This looks like a wonderful place to go for a ride on my new mountain bike, although I'd probably be going a bit slower. By the way, I officially broke in the new bike on my last ride, crashing hard, and breaking off a front reflector. Since it wasn't really need anyway, I just figure that I lightened up the bike some! ;)

Thanks to the Wend Blog and PinkBike for the video!

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Sender Films Present First Ascent: The Series

Sender Films make some of the absolute best climbing movies that you'll find anywhere, with their First Ascent Series being chief amongst them. The company has just released the box set of the 6-part series, which can be purchased here for $49.95.

Below is a teaser trailer of what you can expect out of these videos, with some spectacular scenery, great climbing, and excellent filmmaking. It's a glimpse of what you get on the 3-disc set and what Sender is all about.




"First Ascent: The Series" Trailer from Sender Films on Vimeo.

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The Hood to Coast Run is Tomorrow

Billing itself as the "Mother of all Relays" the 29th annual Hood to Coast Relay is scheduled to take place tomorrow, with 12,000 runners gathering to take part in the event. The run begins at the Timberline Lodge, located at 6000 feet, on Mt. Hood in the state of Oregon and ends in the town of Seaside on the Pacific Coast, covering 197 miles in the process.

The Outside Blog, who tipped me off to this story, says that for the past 12 years this event has filled it's quota of 12,000 runners on the first day that registration opens, so clearly it is a fun and popular race. The teams will set off from the start line in waves, beginning at 6:30 AM and the last team won't get underway until 6:45 PM. The course is divided into 36 legs, which range in distance from 3.6 to 7.4 miles, and each member of a team is expected to run at least three of the legs. Teams consist of 8 to 12 runners, who will cover the entire course over the two days of the weekend.

Looks like a lot of fun! Check out the trailer for the Hood to Coast movie below.




Hood To Coast Movie Trailer #2 of for Race Website from HoodToCoastMovie on Vimeo.

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Proof That Any Clown Can Kayak

This video really shows you how easy it is to kayak, even on semi-challenging waters. I mean, just take a look. Clearly any clown can learn to paddle.

Thanks to Paddling Life for the video!

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Trailer for 127 Hours, the Aron Ralston Story, Hits The Web

The trailer for 127 Hours was released yesterday, giving us a glimpse of the film that will tell us the story of what it was like for Aron Ralston, the hiker who had his armed trapped beneath a boulder while hiking in the backcountry of Utah back in 2003.  Eventually he was forced to amputate it himself, which saved his life and vaulted him to the public spotlight. 


The film stars James Franco as Ralston and is directed by Academy Award Winner Danny Boyle, the director who brought us Slumdog Millionaire. The trailer looks beautiful and it serves it's purpose to tease us for more. It certainly isn't what I expected, but in a good way. What are your thoughts?

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The Naturist Season 2, Episode 2

A few weeks back Teva's the Naturist returned with a great new episode showing us all how not to survive in the backcountry. Now he's back once again, this time with some tips on how to make your life a little more comfortable while in the wilderness.

I figure this is a perfect way to end a Monday. He's always good for a few laughs, and neither Bear Grylls or Les Stroud are in danger of losing their jobs.

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Rebecca Rusch Shares Her Leadville 100 Experience

Last Friday we had a video from Specialized rider Todd Wells, who shared his thoughts on the recently completed Leadville 100 mountain bike race. Today, we get a different perspective from another rider, sponsored by Specialized in the form of two-time defending Leadville champ Rebecca Rusch, who has earned the moniker "the Queen of Pain" thanks to her ability to suffer while racing.

Some of the best parts of this video for me were watching Rebecca go through her pre-race preparations, getting her food ready, going through the medical check, and so on. Before the race got underway, she mentioned that she would like to go after the course record, but everything would have to come together perfectly for that to happen. When she crossed the finish line for her second straight title, in just two tries, she ended up smashing the old record by more than 30 minutes.

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