National Geographic Adventure Mag.: October 2003 Contents

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In the Magazine This Month
October 2003, Volume 5, Number 8

•	Features
•	Departments
	• Journal
	• Gear
•	Also in the October 2003 issue

Features

The Lure of Impossible Places
TIM CAHILL has done everything extreme from swimming under the North Pole to crossing Death Valley in the summer. Why does Cahill always go extreme? He was asking himself that same question.

Land of Extremes
The deepest cave, the largest tree, the most massive mountain: They're all in America, all like nowhere else on Earth. Higher, older, bigger and badder—here are 50 places that hold national titles in Mother Nature's record books. And here's how to explore them best. BY MCKENZIE FUNK Special Feature >>

The Second Act of Krakatoa
The 1883 explosion of Indonesia's Krakatoa volcano was a globe-shattering cataclysm, leaving 36,000 people dead and nothing but three craggy islets poking out of the Indian Ocean. Today the volcano is rising again—and welcoming daring divers and lava junkies. BY JAMIE JAMES Read excerpt >>

Online Extra
Photo Gallery
Fifteen years had passed since Jakarta-based photographer Martin Westlake first climbed Krakatoa. Last year, Westlake returned to Ujung Kulon National Park to pay homage to the fire god once again. See outtakes from Westlake's spectacular journey through the jungle, across the Sunda Strait and straight up the cone. Enter gallery >>

How to Track a Siberian Tiger
They're big—up to 670 pounds (250 kilograms). They're rare—about 450 in existence. And they live in one of the world's most ungodly places—the isolated, subzero Bikin River valley of the Russian Far East. DAVID QUAMMEN investigates the fate of the last of the monster cats. Read excerpt >>

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Departments

JOURNAL

Frontiers
Call it Everest for the everyman. At 19,340 feet (5,895 meters) Tanzania's Kilimanjaro is one of the easiest of the Seven Summits. Passing from grassland to glaciers, it's also the most beautiful trek imaginable. BY JERRY BEILINSON Read excerpt >>

Online Extras
Q&A:
Even on Kilimanjaro, the everyman needs a little help to get to the top. More often than not that help comes from poorly trained and under-equipped porters. Here, Scott Dimetrosky of the Himalayan Explorers Connection discusses the perils a porter faces while climbing a deceptively dangerous mountain. Read Q&A here >>

Exclusive:
As soon as Vincent Keipper turned his back on Kilimanjaro's Furtwängler Glacier earlier this year, he heard the ice begin to stir, then a loud crack. "We turned to see the ice mass collapse with a roar," the amateur adventurer says. But Furtwängler is not the only big block of ice feeling the heat in the new millennia. Read more about the condition of equatorial glaciers in our online exclusive >>

Wild Roads
Old-growth forest, gladed meadows, cozy lodges, and some of the highest country east of the Mississippi. All this awaits on a four-day multisport spin through the Virginias. BY CLIFF RANSOM

The World on the Cheap
Adios, Acapulco. Mexico's Nayarit region is everything the tourist hot spots aren't: inexpensive, uncrowded, authentic—and full of beyond-the-beach activities. BY MELISSA WAGENBERG

The Essentials
It's canyon can-do in the fifth edition of our know-it-all sports guides. We tell you what to bring, where to go, and how to play safely in desert slot country. BY ROBERT EARLE HOWELLS

Next Weekend
Yeah, Moab's gotten bigger. It's also gotten better. And there's no better time to go than fall. Plus, 18 more quick-hit adventures in every region of the country. BY JIM GORMAN AND CLIFF RANSOM

Special Report
Thirteen climbers were ascending the popular Exum Ridge Route on Wyoming's Grand Teton when lightning struck, leaving one of them dead and several others seriously injured. The inside story of one of the most dramatic, and most successful, rescue operations in U.S climbing history. BY JERRY BEILINSON Read story >>

Books
Move over, NASA. Mars Society president Robert Zubrin has a plan to get humans to the Red Planet—and if his Mars on Earth is any clue, he'll do it on his own terms. Plus skiing Antarctica, and animal tales—from monkeys to mollusks. BY ANTHONY BRANDT

Adventure on the Web
Blind climber Erik Weihenmayer's advice to disabled people seeking outdoor adventure: Team up, get prepped, do it. Plus, what happens when the polar ice caps melt, and a 14-mile-high (22.5-kilometer-high) extraterrestrial peak. Read excerpt >>

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GEAR

Layering Lightens Up
Say goodbye to that fat, fuzzy fleece of yesteryear. Today's high-tech fabrics provide warmth and comfort in lightweight, form fitting styles. Mix and match our favorites for men and women—T-shirts, pullovers, vests, softshells, and parkas are all represented—and you're ready for adventure in any climate. Plus, the perfect outdoor underwear for you. BY MELISSA WAGENBERG

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