You can’t have it all—unless you go to Truckee, that is. It’s less than 15 minutes from the north shore of Lake Tahoe and it’s paradise for adventuresome types like me. It’s the perfect combination of mountains and beach. You want watersports? They have that. Climbing? You betcha. World-class skiing? Duh. Mountain biking? Hell yeah! Apparently it’s also a great place for golfing, but I wouldn’t recommend doing that on purpose.
Author: Melissa McGibbon
Melissa McGibbon
Melissa McGibbon is the Senior Editor of Outdoor Sports Guide Magazine. She is an award-winning journalist and is a member of the Society of American Travel Writers and the Adventure Travel Trade Association. Her work also appears in Outside Magazine, Lonely Planet, SKI Magazine, Backpacker Magazine, Elevation Outdoors, Scuba Diving Magazine, and Matador Network. She is usually in pursuit of adventure, travel, or some daring combination of the two. IG @missmliss // melissamcgibbon.com
Red Rock Canyon Climbing By Melissa McGibbon Climbing towers the size of skyscrapers in the desert seems normal—climbing desert towers within catapulting distance of actual skyscrapers does not. It’s among the oddest of juxtapositions to see a bustling city with a torrent of flashing lights and ring-a-ding-dings billowing out of what would otherwise be an ocean of arid earth and tumbleweeds. But there it is, just 425 miles south of Salt Lake City, the opulent metropolis of Las Vegas set against the backdrop of a contrasting quiet and graceful escarpment of Aztec Sandstone known as Red Rock Canyon.
By Melissa McGibbon Your training team is bigger than you realize. Every day people go to bat for you, for me, for all of us who are striving to be stronger, faster, better. They have a hand in the design and innovation of the products that help all of us achieve our goals, and they share in our passions and triumphs. We’ve culled together a sampling of some of the best gadgetry to give you the edge while you train and when you race.
Favorite Pieces for Practice Did you read my recent article, Bend It Like Buddha, about yoga and now you need to know what to wear? Jump on the bendy believers bandwagon and try these on for size.
It’s -2 degrees Fahrenheit, but feels like -9 with wind chill. I haven’t felt my toes in two days and my speech is starting to slur–a warning sign of hypothermia. I have dressed in my most serious base layers under my micro-puffy, shell, big puffy combo and I’m lurching over the rails on the lower bridge in the Ouray Ice Park at the 18th Annual Ouray Ice Festival to watch Simon Duverney sack the Men’s Elite Climbing Competition on the Mighty Aphrodite route—it’s truly a thing of beauty.
Open Your Mind, Your Heart, and Your Hips By Melissa McGibbon 30 years ago, when the first issue of Outdoor Sports Guide was running through the printing press, my mom, along with every other aerobicizer, was likely getting her workout on wearing trendy new leg warmers that cleverly matched her leotard and high-top kicks, bouncing around to the popular new videotape Workout: Starring Jane Fonda. A few iterations of leg warmers and many thankful innovations in sport science later, fitness fanatics are far more focused on downward-facing dogs than jumping jacks, and Ms. Fonda no longer holds the keys to…
Improve Your Climbing Grades I need to climb the Grand Teton. I just do. Problem one: I’m an inconsistent climber. I live in a place with a non-exhaustive list of outdoorsy pursuits so I divide my time with other activities, like swinging from trees, swimming, and biking. This behavior has pigeonholed me into a route niche of only what I can accomplish off the couch. Can you relate?
During my first flight lesson a number of thoughts swirled through my mind, such as, “Heyyy, look at me! I’m flying all by myself,” “Oh crap, I’m flying all by myself,” and “Gee, it’s only 8:00 am. I bet no one else I know has already learned how to fly today. Most people are just settling into their offices, preparing for their daily agendas. Suckers! Not me, I’m flying. Flyyyying!!!” It’s no secret that Utah is known for its world class skiing, mountain biking, climbing, and polygamy, but This Is The Place is also renowned as a global paragliding mecca.…
SPRING CLEANING ~ FOR YOUR GEAR By Melissa McGibbon Photo props provided by: Ballard Designs, Household Essentials, Maytag, The Good Home Co., and World Market. Is there an odd aroma coming from your gear room? Has a fungus sprouted in your climbing shoes? Mildew growing in your backpack? Did you shove your stinky down sleeping bag in its compression sack after your last camping trip and forget about it all winter? You have spent a lot of your hard-earned loot on your adventure aids, so you’ll want to do some upkeep to help preserve your booty. It’s surprisingly easy to…
Tell all your friends Jackson sucks. Stickers displaying this message are seen on many a bumper in the Teton Valley. Ask any local and they will likely confirm the sentiment.