6 Tips for Beginner Outdoor Sport Climbers (5/8)
With the weather warming up, you’re bound to want to take your climbing from the gym to the crag. Here are 6 tips for beginner outdoor sport climbers as you expand your horizons.
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Six Moderately Long Walks
The long trails of America catch our imaginations: the Appalachian Trail with its steep rolling mountains, the Pacific Crest Trail with its alpine beauty, and the Continental Divide Trail’s rugged wilderness. These trails are serious undertakings that require money, equipment, and most of all, time. What if you’re short on one or even all of these? There are other routes in America’s National Trail System, and a few outside of it, that can be accomplished without tackling the Triple Crown. Here are six moderately long walks where you can wander off for a month or two without being gone for a whole season.
Staff Gear Favorites: Part 3
Your favorite piece of gear can be like a good friend. You might only see it a few times each year, but it can feel like no time has passed. RRT’s staff has many gear favorites; here are some pieces in particular that have won our affection year after year.
GORE-TEX, PFCs, and Pollution: Harmful Chemicals In Outdoor Gear
Rain jackets, boots, gloves, and other equipment made using high-performing GORE-TEX waterproofing have historically contained PFAS and PFOS. For those, like me, that aren’t chemically literate, this essentially means that waterproof materials are made with harmful chemicals.
5 Short Long Trails: Lesser-Known Thru-Hikes for the Everyday Adventurer
The long trails of America catch our imaginations: the Appalachian Trail with its steep rolling mountains, the Pacific Crest Trail with its alpine beauty, and the Continental Divide Trail’s rugged wilderness. These trails span thousands of miles and multiple states, as do most of the other routes in America’s National Trail System. They are serious undertakings that require money, equipment, and most of all, time. What if you’re short on one or even all of these? These are five lesser-known thru-hikes in the US, all one hundred miles or more, that can get you the taste of a long trail without 4-5 months of walking.
Thoughts on Wilderness: Protecting a Sanctuary
Wilderness, the word itself is music. Edward Abbey states more eloquently than I our feelings about wilderness, a sanctuary that beckons me relentlessly. But what is wilderness?
Staff Gear Favorites: Part 2
Your favorite piece of gear can be like a good friend. You might only see it a few times each year, but it can feel like no time has passed. RRT’s staff has many gear favorites; here are some pieces in particular that have won our affection year after year.
Because it’s There: Finding Purpose for Adventure
When asked why he desired to reach the summit of Mt. Everest, legendary mountaineer George Mallory allegedly replied, “Because it’s there.” Does one need any more reason than that? Of course, we all know how Mallory’s story ends- he disappeared on his summit attempt and his remains weren’t discovered until half a century later. It is still hotly debated whether or not Mallory reached the summit of Everest on that expedition, but most adventurers will agree Mallory’s three simple words were a strangely elegant, sufficient answer: because it’s there.
Through Fire and Flame: Attempting a Tahoe Rim Trail Thru-Hike
Since mid-way through college, it’s been a goal of mine to complete a thru-hike of the Tahoe Rim Trail (TRT); Emma has also had this goal. In August of 2021 we set out to attempt our mutual goal.
College Outdoor Clubs: A Necessary Resource
Image you’re a parent and your kid has just come home from college. They joined a club with a crazy group of dirtbags and now spend every weekend outside getting sunburnt, climbing, backpacking, and caving. Your first thought might be, “Oh lord, they’re gonna drop out and live in a van down by the river.” I want you to know it does not always end up that way. However, you probably will have to work with them on showering more often. Whether you are the worried parent or the adventure-driven kid, college outdoor clubs are important and can be life changing.
