Here’s a little factoid from the Outdoor Industry Association’s latest report on the economic impact of outdoor recreation: Americans spend a lot more on bicycling gear and trips ($81 billion) than they do on airplane tickets and fees ($51 billion). And here’s another: Americans spend almost as much on winter sports ($53 million) as they...
Whatever you think of Bill Clinton, you have to give him this: the guy doesn’t mess around with his health. He had heart issues (a quadruple bypass followed by stent surgery); he did the research; he talked to people (because if you are a former president everyone takes your calls) and decided to go on...
Aging is like sex and home maintenance: done well, it’s a source of pride and satisfaction. Done poorly, it’s a nightmare. Thankfully, there isn’t one secret to doing it well. You can figure out how to excel at this in your own way. But you can also learn by listening to others who have been...
We suspect the glamping bubble is about to burst. Why? Because movie stars have climbed on the bandwagon (as witnessed by the recent McConaghey-Alves wedding) and (the surest sign that a trend is in freefall) glamping apparently showed up on one of the Housewives reality shows. On the other (manicured) hand, most days we get...
We’re still a very new website—just 9 months and a few weeks—but our scrawny tentacles are stretching slowly around the globe. We are very pleased to announce that the island nation of Mauritius just became our 100th country. Well, strictly speaking, it’s not our country. It’s a country from which someone visited us. But we...
This sounds like a fairly ominous collection: detailed maps, rolling protests, killer kilocalories and powerful 80-year-olds. Read closely, though, all is benign. Except the calories. Ever find yourself in a new town and wonder about nearby recreational resources? It’s easy enough to find the national parks, and fairly easy to find the state parks. But...
Included in the news that Colorado’s Echo Mountain was up for sale—we can’t give you a price because it’s going to be auctioned—was this nugget: the state has 140 abandoned ski areas. Turns out these ghost resorts have their own website…as do ghost resorts in other states, including Alaska and New Hampshire. And a book....
Older people—including very fit and active older people—will sometimes stand in front of a mirror and say, What the hell? When did that happen? And what do I do about it? The problem is this: you never thought about what you ate. In your youth, you were burning calories like a madman or madwoman and...
The desire to travel is like the desire for sex. When you aren’t doing it, it seems like the most attractive thing imaginable. If you can’t fulfill your desire for travel—because, let’s say, you are working—it can grow into a mild obsession. Like sex. You start buying travel magazines. You visit travel websites then wipe...
If it seems to you that everything breaks down into haves and have-nots, you are as smart as you think you are. It’s a barbell world. You are at one end or the other. The middle class that connects the two extremes grows thinner and bends under the stress until it adopts a parabolic shape...
It’s been a painful week for exercise. First, a review of six studies of physical exercise found that 10 percent of the subjects—people who exercised regularly—actually experienced a decline on one of four common measures of heart disease (blood pressure, insulin, HDL cholesterol, and triglycerides). Seven percent scored worse on two measures. So, for reasons...
This appears to be late but we were here yesterday and no one showed up so we took off. Look for a slightly less pristine experience in your national parks this summer. You shouldn’t let that stop you from going: any visit there will still be a deep dive into unparalleled natural beauty. Or a...
Shoulder Season 2: (Supposed) Best Hikes in the U.S.
Mar 4, 2020
Shoulder Season 1: It’s soon time to hike
Feb 25, 2020
Klaus Obermeyer is a 100-year-old beast
Feb 22, 2020
The Soft Bigotry of Age Brackets
Feb 19, 2020
Ski North Korea! Also, Again: Climate Change
Feb 17, 2020
When obsessions collide: Pensions, skiing and climate change
Feb 15, 2020
Vail Speaks! Vail Speaks! (And More About Crowds)
Feb 14, 2020
Ski Passes Suck But Also Don’t
Feb 12, 2020
A mid-season reminder that (some) seniors ski free (or cheap) in (some) places
Feb 9, 2020
Every ski hill is Disney-fied
Feb 6, 2020