Get Out!

New Year’s resolutions are a great way to take some time to think about goals for the next year, but there’s reason to be cynical about them. As John Katsares, personal trainer coordinator for Ohio State University’s Recreation and Physical Activity Center says in our article, Make Your New Year’s Weight Loss Resolution Stick , the New Year’s resolution attendance ‘bump’ at fitness centers usually is over by Valentine’s Day. I have a goal that I’d like to achieve in 2009: climbing in Yosemite. But I face stiff challenges, including fitness (I’ve had some injuries in 2008), time (I launched a magazine in 2008) and money (I launched a magazine in 2008). But over the course of the last year, I’ve either been reminded of or learned about a few tricks to help me reach my goal. For one, the ultimate motivators are buddies and goals . My 2009 goal is stated and I have two people who want to reach this goal, too. Hopefully, we’ll keep each other on track. We also have mini climbing goals to pr...

I’ve been thinking of what to give my niece and nephews (all under 10) for the holidays. The holiday would be Christmas in their household, but the question applies to all holidays and gift-giving celebrations. Well I’ve got my own little agenda with this one. They live in a household where they don’t go outside often and they watch a lot of TV. I, of course, want to turn them into environmentalist outdoor lovers and future backpacking, biking, climbing and paddling partners. Plus, I want to lead by example and try to move toward a zero-waste holiday event. Tall order, huh? Here are my best ideas: 1. Vintage outdoor gear. Think about it: what would be more meaningful to you, a new Swiss army knife or the knife your great grandfather used while in the Swiss army? A no brainer. My version is this: I am going to take a retired climbing rope and cut it into jump rope-sized sections. They can jump rope with their sections, but I will also use the ropes as a chance to teach them some basic...

In the course of my job as editor of Get Out! magazine, I talk to a lot of outdoor adventurers. When I talk to cavers, it’s usually a different experience than when I talk to others. I get a lot of suspicion – who are you, what’s your agenda and so on. When I ask them about their favorite caves, I often receive no reply. While this behavior can be off putting, there is a very good reason for it: cavers guard their favorite caves like nobody’s business. If you join a grotto – a local caving club – they are likely to first take you to a so-called sacrifice cave. That is, they’ll take you to a place that isn’t that great or pristine in order to check you out. Only when you prove your conservationist cred – and only after they’ve had a chance to teach you a thing or two about cave conservation – will they introduce you to an underground world you never knew existed. My favorite cave is right here in the Ohio River region. A couple of friends and I pieced together word-of-mouth information ...

While thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail, my friend Greg willed an amazing thing. He wanted to get to the nearest town and he said, “At the next road crossing, a blond in a convertible is going to pick me up and take me town.” Guess what. You got it – Greg stuck out his thumb and a blond in a convertible picked up him and took him to town. That, my friends, is trail magic. People who hike the legendary AT know a thing or two about trail magic. It occurs thanks to trail angels – those random people who help hikers by offering them rides, food, drink, sometimes even a place to stay. I think back on a lot of people who have helped me through the years. There was the woman who yelled words encouragement from her car when I was completing a triathlon (something to the effect of You Go, Girl!); the many other rock climbers who have shared ropes with my team on a rappel; the people who have picked me/us up when trying to return to our car after a backpacking trip; and, of cou...

During the time I was compiling the feature story Best of the Ohio Valley : Rivers, Waterfalls, Swimming Holes, my partner Attila and I took a hike to a rocky outcropping in West Virginia that we had eyed for years. The temperature hit something like 93 degrees that day. On the way to our destination, we eyed what looked to be a superb swimming hole. On the return hike, we ambled down to the creek and – sure enough – found a mini cascade emptying into a beautiful, deep pool surrounded by a little rock outcropping, sycamore trees and boulders. We hadn’t planned on a swim, so we took off our clothes (yes, we went skinny dipping) and I waded in far enough to see where the water was deep enough to dive. It was so cold that I surfaced yelping with shock and delight. I swam around the little pool and then returned to the rocks to air dry. It was pure bliss – one of my favorite moments of the summer. I had the thought that every kid – hell, every adult for that matter – should have the...

Note: Material this entry refers to might offend. One of the small pleasures of rock climbing is coming across that perfect climb name – one that cleverly describes the route (Totally Clips, Handsome and Well Hung) or the experience you can expect to have on the climb (Just Say Yo to Jugs, Not on the First Date, Mid-Height Crisis) or just has a fun reference (Where’s the Beef and Where’s the Bolt, Jimi Cliff, etc.) One of the not-so-small displeasures is coming across the far too many misogynistic names of climbs. So what to do? I’ve begun renaming these climbs – I just cross out the old name in my book and my friends and I come up with a new name – and I invite you to join me. And be sure to tell other climbers, guidebook authors, publishers and especially the dudes who names these climbs that it’s not funny to name a climb that attempts to degrade half of the world’s population (although the name really reflects on the person who named it that). Funny is funny, even when it’s s...

I have a bad back from a mountain biking injury I sustained when I was 21. Every so often, the problem really flares up. Right now, for example. (Two words: vitamin I.) During the month of May, I traveled to three events on behalf of Get Out! and when I wasn’t driving, I was sitting in front of the computer. I supposedly prioritize my health, so I make sure to get some sort of exercise a day, even if it’s walking uptown (about a 15 minute walk from my home in the small college town of Athens , OH) and back. The problem is, a half hour walk cannot undo the *entire rest of the day* spent in front of a computer. The result? I haven’t ridden my bike in two weeks and I had to cancel (postpone!) a climbing trip to The New last week. So much for prioritizing my health. I have a friend who is also an entrepreneur. He’s gained 40 pounds in the last couple of years. He doctor recently told him he’s pre-diabetic, which is really, really bad news no matter how you look at it. He’s cut out t...