Survival

When Scott Pirsig’s close friend Bob Sturtz suffered a stroke deep in Minnesota’s Boundary Waters, Pirsig had no choice but to leave him in the wilderness and make a desperate sprint to get help

SAR crews in Oregon discovered the trapped motorist after he used his ingenuity to send an SOS signal

Executive producer Grant Kahler explains how the outdoor reality show went from a social experiment to survival of the meanest

The eight-episode series ‘Outlast’ pits survivalists against each other in a cruel game of psychological torture

He’s a big fan of survival shows, and I have a hunch he’s trying to recreate one on our trips

After the enormous earthquake in February, one group of Turkish mountaineers headed east, to help in any way they could

The ketchup conglomerate wants to celebrate the happy homecoming of Elvis Francois

Cold-weather athletes share their tales, advice, and trailside hacks about polar penis, a rarely-discussed—and yeah, really painful—ailment

The man plunged into a residential neighborhood in Oceanside, California, on Friday, and escaped with non-life-threatening injuries

The 2015 halfpipe world champion was buried by a slide while backcountry skiing near Tsugaike Mountain Resort

In 1976, Nanda Devi Unsoeld, the daughter of legendary alpinist Willi Unsoeld, died while climbing the massive Indian peak for which she was named. Decades later, friends, family, and surviving expedition members offer insights into what went wrong during this controversial adventure, shedding light on an enigmatic young woman who lived without limits.

A mother and her one-year-old son died after being mauled in the coastal town of Wales

For a community of hardy souls in Maine, there’s no better way to feel fully alive in winter than immersing yourself in the frigid Atlantic

Seacliff State Beach near Santa Cruz, California, felt the wrath of Mother Nature last week. These photos show the full extent of the damage.

From the whimsical to the epic, these are our favorite stories of the year

Cautionary tales from the official journal of the Wilderness Medical Society

Injured in the SoCal backcountry, a man got a break when two campers heard him screaming for help

British explorer Karen Darke wants to become the first paraplegic person to ride an adaptive cycle in Antarctica

As Ukraine prepares for months of frigid conflict with Russia, its troops might look to another nation that held its own against the Red Army in the cold: Finland.

Richard Carr was halfway across the Pacific, alone on a yacht, when he began sending frantic alerts that he was being kidnapped by pirates

The Covid-19 pandemic is a survival story—but instead of one human versus a wild animal or a snowy peak, it's all of us against one tiny virus.

We asked the Outside contributing editor how she got the idea for her much anticipated new book, ‘Small Game,’ and how she used her personal survival experience to make it come to life

In an excerpt from ‘Small Game,‘ her first novel, Outside contributing editor Blair Braverman introduces a cast of characters who will be dropped in a remote landscape for a survival competition. An ominous future awaits them.

Alone in the wilderness, facing a grizzly that was determined to kill him, Colin Dowler had only one option: fight for his life.

Need a backcountry overnight dwelling in a crisis? Survival skills instructor Jessie Krebs has you covered.

We binged ‘Human Playground,’ narrated by Idris Elba; ‘Aftershock: Everest and the Nepal Earthquake’; and ‘Thai Cave Rescue,’ a dramatized account of the 2018 ordeal, to figure out which ones are worth your time

Northwest College teammates Brayden Lowry and Kendell Cummings suffered serious injuries after fighting off an aggressive bruin in Wyoming

Hiker Rebecca Clark says she ended up with a hole in her back and lots of stickers and thorns, but otherwise she is OK

It began in the waters off Antarctica: a crew of eco-vigilantes found the illegal fishing ship they’d been hunting. It wouldn’t end for some 10,000 miles, when one of the vessels sank.

An injured hiker is lucky to be alive after she was spotted by a passenger aboard Colorado’s Durango-Silverton railroad

Leon Sparks, 44, was trying to summit three mountains in one trek when he tumbled down Colorado’s El Diente Peak

Hiker Andrew Devers went missing in Washington State’s Mount Baker–Snoqualmie National Forest with no food or water in June 2021

When a rafter was stung by a scorpion, she assumed she’d be fine. Within hours she lost her ability to see or speak clearly.

The death of Hilaree Nelson highlights a double standard that still exists with mothers in the adventure world

On the latest Out Alive Podcast episode, a fossil hunter in Florida explains what it was like to be ambushed by an aquatic reptile

After going missing on Monday while descending from the summit, Nelson was found by a search and rescue team

Two days after Nelson went missing on Manaslu, details about the ski mountaineer’s accident are emerging

Dropped into the Canadian wilderness to forage ingredients, each contestant is forced to abandon their ego—and ask for help—to prepare a three-course meal

‘Alone: Frozen’ wrapped up on Thursday, and the series crowned a female champion for the first time

There’s a reason that shows like ‘Alone’ hold our attention: we can’t help but imagine that it’s us out there.

A mare named Oriana is lucky to be alive after a terrifying tumble down a ravine in Oregon

The longtime pro surfer and adventurer endured massive swells and perilous weather on his 2,400-mile voyage from California to Hawaii—all in a 20-foot survival craft

Public-health crises are greatly helped by accurate numbers. Why can’t we get a true count of heat deaths?

A group of researchers from University of California at Irvine investigated the link between SAR incidents, park visitation, and Twitter posts. Their conclusions could inform how hikers portray their own adventures—and view those of others—online.

The family of Lauren Davis desperately sought answers after she was fatally struck by a driver while biking to work in New York City in 2016. At every step, the criminal-justice system let them down, raising the question of what justice should look like for victims of traffic violence.

New Zealand student Anna Parsons broke nearly every major bone in her body in a fall in Yosemite National Park

The latest ‘Alone’ winner shares stories from surviving in Labrador and details behind preparing for the show

To portray the hero of the Thai cave rescue in the new film ‘Thirteen Lives,’ the Hollywood star had to go deep—literally

A group of high school sophomores set off on what was supposed to be a grand climb. Instead, it became one of the deadliest alpine disasters in North American history.

Season nine became a starvation contest, and the cast member who could conserve the most calories won

We pitted the fictional Netflix miniseries against the reality survival game show to see which came out on top

Greg and Julie Welch were relaxing at their campsite in Minnesota’s Boundary Waters when a tiny fire in a nearby bog suddenly exploded into a massive blaze that began racing toward them

The reality show’s cast members are beginning to wrestle with their emotions as temperatures drop and food sources dwindle

Heatstroke deaths are common and preventable. Here’s how to make safe decisions when you’re exercising in the summer.

When Cody Sheehy was six years old, he disappeared into the Oregon wilderness. More than three decades later, he insists the experience gave him an invaluable life lesson.

As a professional mountain guide, Jeff Evans is no stranger to close calls, and freely admits he’s skirted death more than once. But nothing he’s experienced has been as terrifying as the minute-plus he spent submerged under an onslaught of crashing waves.

Presenting three delightful tales of adventures gone very, very wrong

Brian Boland was a prolific creator of handcrafted hot-air balloons who set distance and altitude records all over the world. But on July 15, 2021, during a routine outing with a family in Vermont, things went dramatically wrong. Sarah Schweitzer examines Boland’s eccentric and adventurous life, and finds out what happened on his fateful last flight.

A father and son working a crab boat in Chesapeake Bay were caught in a rising storm when they realized that something was very wrong: water was coming up through the floor

Every season, the survival reality TV show features a few bushcraft specialists who approach wilderness living with an artistic flair

Once thought to be basically immortal, giant sequoias are dying in droves as fires burn bigger, hotter, and longer than at any other point in human history. Protecting them is possible, but managing western woods is a Pandora’s box of tough choices.

The outdoor world has produced another horror story involving a clumsy tourist, a lost cell phone, and a search and rescue mission

A British tourist trekking in Kyrgyzstan was enveloped by a massive slide. Rather than take cover, he filmed the whole thing. We are... glad he’s OK.

A massive slide on Italy’s Marmolada glacier sent rocks and ice tumbling down on multiple groups of climbers

An unidentified hiker went missing in California while retracing the footsteps of Jonathan Gerrish and Ellen Chung, who died with their one-year-old daughter of heat exposure and dehydration in 2021

Another contestant heads home early after the reality show throws viewers a few curveballs

Prep yourself with knowledge and tools before venturing out on your own

As an out-of-control blaze approached their home, a couple made what seems like a crazy choice: they ignored evacuation orders and stood their ground.

After kicking off an enormous slide on a familiar backcountry run in Colorado, our writer was forced to reconsider his relationship with skiing

Wildfire? Hurricane? Apocalypse? In this uncertain age, everyone should be prepared to escape in a hurry.

Plus, the emotional agony that comes with quitting the survival show early

After two young pilots crashed their small plane into the water off Hawaii, they realized their best hope for survival was to make it back to land on their own.

She didn’t seem up for the challenge—but her friend kept pushing her to keep soloing anyway

The Outside survival column returns with a shocking story from rural Massachusetts

Thanks to a lot of hard work, skill, luck, and love, these amazing animals emerged safely from the flames and disruption