Since the beginning of women’s sports, a question has loomed: who qualifies as female?

When a technological breakthrough gives some athletes a major advantage, how should we think about the victories, the medals, the world records?

Some of the most hardcore athletes in the world are elite race walkers. Moving faster than most people can run, their sport pushes the limits of endurance, pain tolerance, and fueling.

After suffering a mental health crisis during a mountaineering expedition, National Geographic photographer Cory Richards walked away from his climbing career. After a terrible rafting accident, Outside writer Katie Arnold nearly ended her marriage. This summer, they are both telling their stories.

After ‘My Octopus Teacher’ won the Oscar for Best Documentary, the producers realized they had left an important voice out of their movie—indigenous South Africans who had been silenced and separated from the ocean by apartheid

Caroline Gleich is a renowned climber and skier, a climate activist, and now the Utah democratic party’s candidate for US senate

What does a professional kayaker do when he realizes he’s in the twilight of his career? He releases a rap album, of course.

Three days in total blackout darkness doesn’t sound that hard, until you hear this story about someone who tried to do it

If your family dog ran off on its first camping trip, how far would you go to get them back?

Is the Aurora Borealis magic, science, or something in between?

When the British Empire finally put boots on top of the world on May 29, 1953, the news was entrusted to a young man named Ten Tsewang Sherpa, who ran 200 miles to Kathmandu

Athletes train for years to overcome pain, exhaustion, and fatigue. But some people take it too far and are never the same again.

When PTSD from military service in Somalia changed the course of Chad Brown’s life, the subtle art of catch and release fly fishing changed it back

Movies don’t get much better than surfer-heist popcorn flick ‘Point Break’ (1991). Movies don’t really get much worse than surfer-heist popcorn flick ‘Point Break’ (2015). What happened?

“Forever Chemicals” keep mud out of your boots and make rain jackets waterproof, but they’re about to be illegal

Where did eagles come from? Why are grizzly bears so mean? In this Audible Original excerpt, host James Dommek Jr—the great-grandson of a famous Iñupiaq storyteller—travels around the state sharing legends from different cultures and traditions

Singer-songwriter David Lindes found his way into running with help from the most unexpected teacher: a bull moose

We think of New York as having a rat problem, but cats are doing just as much damage

Look around the start line of an endurance race and you don’t see many tall competitors. Look on the podium, and you never see any. Why is that?

When Marty Moose strolled into Santa Fe looking for a mate, he became a viral sensation in New Mexico. But that did nothing to help his search for love—and it created big issues for wildlife managers.

People dream of boating or swimming with whales. But that’s based on the false assumption that they are gentle giants that don’t bother humans.

How do you make the best of a golf addiction? Add running.

Adventures can provide fuel for romance, but only if you know how to take what you learned in the mountains back home

The abandoned vehicle where Chris McCandless died teaches us a lot about modern Alaska

Before she became famous for her lawsuits against former President Trump, the writer took a road trip for an Outside story that had her asking total strangers if they had sex outdoors.

What’s an acceptable baseline of fitness? According to the most adventurous American president in U.S. history, it was an ultra endurance trek.

Is Taylor Swift an elite endurance athlete? On the Eras tour, the singer-songwriter is performing three nights a week, singing and dancing for as long as it takes most people to run a marathon.

After a certain number of hours, endurance races are basically eating competitions

In-N-Out Burger’s iconic palm trees are a reference to buried treasure, but they also make the restaurant a very unlikely climate change indicator

We try to gain a competitive edge from things like nutrition, recovery, weight training, and new shoes. But what if becoming a parent does the trick?

After 50 years, one of the most consequential environmental laws in U.S. history may no longer be relevant to the world we’re living in

Mountain lions are becoming more aggressive. Or maybe they aren’t?

Our founding host, Peter Frick-Wright, is returning—and we couldn’t be more excited

When you’re one of the greatest skiers of all time, there are some things you only say to the person you trust most in the world

Honoring the life of someone who spent their days exploring wild places often means embracing the pursuits that brought them joy

People all over the place are creating outrageous unofficial athletic contests that are equal parts grueling and just plain silly. What’s going on?

Spiders and other hairy scary critters are everywhere. It’s best—for us and the planet—if we can figure out how to coexist.

There’s no way to guarantee that your kids will embrace nature and adventure, but you can do some things to point them in the right direction

For endurance athlete Dillon Quitugua, ultramarathons became a way to work through the pain of the abuse he’d suffered as a child

Indigenous model and activist Quannah ChasingHorse lives her life in two very different worlds

The singer, songwriter, and guitarist for the Postal Service and Death Cab for Cutie applies the same approach to ultramarathons that he does to touring: just keep moving

Nothing says “for better or for worse” like forcing your wedding guests to trek 60 miles to a ceremony deep in the jungle

What really happens to you when you spend months trekking the Pacific Coast Trail? Getting tired and filthy is just the start of it.

Artificial light makes it impossible for most people in North America to see the Milky Way. But we don’t have to live like this.

When Pam Houston traveled to the nordic island nation to ride its unique breed of spirited horses, she wasn’t just after an adventure—she was urgently seeking a way to be well again

You say yes, of course. But what about those other wild opportunities that you’re not so sure about?

America’s most classic hiking route is generally a safe place for an adventure. But not always.

When your most cherished childhood experience becomes impossible for your own kids, there’s only one choice: recreate it for them yourself

When W. Ralph Eubanks began exploring his family’s homeland, he fell in love with it—and came to understand how this troubled part of the state gave birth to the blues

Backpacker editor Zoe Gates sets off to discover if chatbots are the solution to our trip-planning woes

There are passionate birders and then there’s Peter Kaestner, whose devotion has him traveling the globe in pursuit of the ultimate record.

After years of pushing himself to go as big and far as he could, Alastair Humphreys realized that the most valuable trips we take are usually the ones right out our doors

Your head is pounding, your muscles are cramping, and your heart is racing. And that’s just the start of it.

If you want to know what it was like to travel this legendary trail, there’s only one way: get on a horse and follow all 2,000 miles of it

Studies show that astonishing experiences in nature can have life-changing benefits, and that even small everyday doses of time outdoors can have immediate impacts

The actor’s flight into space in 2021 left him with an urgent desire to make us aware of the fragility of our home—a feeling that has yet to fade away.

There’s a reason the acclaimed author wrote his latest book in the voice of a stray dog: it enabled him to run free all over an imagined seaside park

When veteran climber Mark Jenkins came up with a plan to witness a solar spectacle from the summit of a 20,000-foot peak, he had little idea what he was getting himself into

Working the front lines of America’s wildfires is a difficult and dangerous job, but that doesn’t mean everyone who signs up is chasing adventure

As America continues to grapple with political uncertainty and an uneasy relationship with the planet, the author and environmentalist makes the case for an expansive and inclusive grassroots movement

Jimmy Chin and Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi’s new film, ‘Wild Life,’ captures the saga of Doug and Kristine Tompkins, whose devotion to conservation and each other led to the creation of extraordinary national parks in Chile and Argentina

Among the world’s harrowing marine survival stories, the strangest might be a crew’s escape from one of the earliest submarines

You don’t have to be an astrology buff to believe that the moon and stars have a special kind of power in our lives

When the largest tornado ever recorded touched down in central Oklahoma, storm chasers, meteorologists, and thrill seekers were expecting a show. What they got was a deadly lesson in the power of nature.

How have these indoor spaces have become hubs for the outdoor community?

When a BASE jumper slammed into a red-rock tower and his parachute snagged on a ledge, there was only one way to save his life: go up and get him.

Some experiences are unforgettable for both very bad and very good reasons

In her podcast, ‘FOGO: Fear of Going Outside,’ Ivy Le takes on the great outdoors—very, very reluctantly

Chasing the elusive permit fish is an exhausting endeavor for the most seasoned anglers. So why would a total newbie even try?

Challenging solo trips can be immensely rewarding. Just ask competitive bikepackers, who ride grueling courses through the backcountry carrying everything they need to survive to the finish line.

There’s no more difficult or uncomfortable physical challenge than holding your breath underwater for an extended period

When Scott Pirsig’s close friend Bob Sturtz suffered a stroke deep in Minnesota’s Boundary Waters, Pirsig had no choice but to leave him in the wilderness and make a desperate sprint to get help

Why do we keep skiing, despite the crowds, the cost, and the unpredictable conditions? Spend an entire day on a chairlift and you’ll find out.

In Aspen, Colorado, and other alpine communities, the future depends on making sure the weirdos and oddballs are still welcome

She was one of the world’s best big-mountain freeskiers—and then, suddenly, she decided she was done

For an episode of our new podcast, ‘The Daily Rally,’ the professional skier talks about learning to get out of his own way while on an expedition in Alaska

Emily Pennington wanted to see it all. But life on the road was fiercer than she ever imagined.

After suffering a brutal accident while on a kite-skiing expedition expedition in Patagonia, Jim Harris’s painstaking recovery took a sudden leap forward when he had an experience with magic mushrooms

Endurance athlete Mallory Arnold was struggling with extreme fatigue when her coach made an unexpected suggestion: start eating meat again

For a community of hardy souls in Maine, there’s no better way to feel fully alive in winter than immersing yourself in the frigid Atlantic