The Shorts — The Swallow and the Anchor
The Swallow and the Anchor
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Check out “Going Into the Wild,” another essay Joe wrote on hitchhiking–but this time thumbing cars not boats, through Interior Alaska.
Music: Drop of Water In the Ocean by Broke for Free • In This Minute by A Single Voice • If the Battersea Power Station Could Fly by A Single Voice • We Wish You a Merry Christmas by United States Marine Band • Sailor’s Lament by Jason Shaw
Tracks provided by Mevio’s Music Alley and Free Music Archive.
El Avalanchisto
El Avalanchisto
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When Matt McKee first heard about the position forecasting avalanches for Minera Pimenton, a gold mine in the Chilean Andes, it sounded like the snow geek’s dream job. But mere hours after his plane touched down in Santiago, Matt started getting hints that maybe he had walked into a situation that more closely resembled a nightmare: a den of avalanche paths, a mine full of workers who didn’t believe in avalanches and a country that looked for someone to blame if things went wrong. Today, we bring you Matt’s story of trying to make it out alive.
You can read Matt’s unabridged version of the story from the 2008 International Snow Science Workshop here.
Music: Young Blood by Black Pistol Fire • mountain_soul_fire by woodrowgerber • Letters Home by emFrik • The Undefeated by Vienna Ditto • Dark Spots by A Crooked Pulse
Tracks provided by Mevio’s Music Alley and Free Music Archive. Additional music composed by our talented friend, Amy Stolzenbach.
The Shorts — 365 Days
365 Days
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“In the day to day tangle of life, it’s easy to let go of the things that provide that focus, and calm and perspective,” writes Fitz Cahall. “I find that serenity so easily in wilderness. How do we carry that home?” While on a trip to Minnesota’s Boundary Waters, Fitz resolved to do something back in “regular life” to try to tap into that quietness every day, for one year.
Music: Wide Eyed by Stillborn Identity • Eclosion by Salmo • Shoulda Said Something by Unquiet Nights
Tracks provided by Mevio’s Music Alley and Free Music Archive. Additional music by the one and only Amy Stolzenbach.
Adventure 1000
Adventure 1000
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It’s January. Time for our annual Year of Big Ideas. This year, we talked to Alastair Humphreys, a 2012 National Geographic Adventurer of the Year. Among other things, Alastair has walked across India, and 1000 miles through the largest sand desert in the world, cycled 46,000 miles around the world in four years and rowed across the Atlantic.
People often come up to him after his talks and tell him they wish they could go on the kinds of adventures that he does. Alastair believes that they can. Today, he explains what he’s learned about what it takes to make an adventure happen. Here’s to another year of big ideas, and to committing to them. Happy 2015.
Music: The Floodwork Fireflies by A Single Voice • Neo Zen by Ketsa • Shine by Publish the Quest • Ripping Susan by A Single Voice • Then You Were There by Ketsa • The Rent is Late by Publish the Quest
The songs by Publish the Quest came off their new album, A Thousand Kinds of Gold. Other tracks provided by Mevio’s Music Alley and Free Music Archive.
Flying Deep
Flying Deep
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There comes a stage in a great athlete’s career when the pursuit of technical difficulty takes a back seat. It gives way to simplicity, an aesthetic and possibly to an iconic style that leaves an impression on a sport. Will Gadd is one of the most accomplished mountain athletes ever. Most people know him as a climbing legend, but he also holds that stature in the fringe sport of paragliding where he has won competitions and held the single flight distance record for a decade. Last year, Will and renowned pilot Gavin McClurg embarked on a truly incredible trip down the spine of the Canadian Rockies. The goal was to create a continuous line through the air. At night, they landed in the alpine, slept and repeated the process–for 35 days. The trip changed Will’s perspective, not just on the craft, but on how he pursues adventure.
This episode contains some explicit language.
Music: Original Score by Amy Stolzenbach • Wake Me Up by Jacob Bain and Publish The Quest • Language Of Its Own by Jacob Bain and Publish The Quest • Monsoon Rains by Jacob Bain and Publish The Quest • Sundialing by Caribou • Shine by Jacob Bain and Publish The Quest
