12.9-mile after-work solo scramble up the north face of Point 4630. The term “microadventure” was coined (or at least popularized) by British adventurer Alastair Humphreys, who defined a microadventure as “short, simple, local, cheap – yet still fun, exciting, challenging, … Read More
Packraft History Current Packraft Companies Below is an alphabetical directory of established companies in the packraft industry. Aire USA Maker of the unique BAKraft packraft line. BAKraft packrafts feature self-bailing cockpits and separate air chambers inside Vectran fabric tubes. aire.com … Read More
Anatomy of a Packraft Cockpit Configurations The cockpit of a packraft is the area in which a paddler sits. There are three broad categories of packraft cockpits: open boats, decked boats, and self-bailers. No one cockpit type is necessarily best, … Read More
68.5-mile packraft trip down the Tokositna, Chulitna and Susistna Rivers, from the Peters Hills to Talkeetna Some weekends are just weekends, and others are a week of adventure ratcheted down to a couple days. In July 2019, Brett Woelber, Tim … Read More
Report and analysis of a March 2019 calving event at Portage Glacier There are many metaphors for the sound of a glacier calving: A rifle going off. Trains colliding. The crash and roll of thunder. None of these descriptions fully … Read More
20.3-mile hike and packraft loop around Cantata Peak, in Alaska’s Chugach State Park The September 2018 heatwave was so intense that Alaskans started referring to it as a new season: Second Summer. High-temperature records across the state were shattered, and … Read More
Purchased September 2017, reviewed August 2018 The Abisko Trail T-Shirt is a “lightweight trekking” lyocell-blend base layer from Swedish company Fjällräven. At $60 retail this is about as expensive as a short-sleeved base layer top gets, but last year I … Read More
25.3-mile variation on the Bomber Traverse backpacking route, in the Talkeetna Mountains of Alaska In early August I found myself at the Snowbird Glacier Hut, poring over the Bomber Traverse Map with three Canadian women who had just made it … Read More
