The Latest Adventure News: June
Your latest news from the Outdoor and Adventure world…
It's time for your monthly goody bag of digital outdoor musings, including inspiring Fastest Known Times (FKTs), race results, adventure movies, and other cool mountain stuff we have an inkling you'll love.
FKTs
#1 FKT
The Acadia Round in the eastern section of Acadia National Park in Maine hits all peaks in the region over a 53km loop and has over 2,700m of elevation gain.
In late May, Benjamin Lane broke the record in 7h13m40s for the fastest unsupported loop of the route in the men’s category, beating Will Draxler’s previous FKT just a month earlier, who completed it in 8h24m1s.
#2 FKT
One of Scotland's Great Trails, the Arran Coastal Way, offers walkers a challenging and rewarding 105km circular route around the stunning Isle of Arran. This year, Matt Stapley completed it in 14h34m6s, giving him a FKT.
#3 FKT
Another Scottish highlight: Chris Hinds created a new FKT on the North to South bikepacking route of the Badger Divide from Inverness to Glasgow in 16h19m29s, while Cat Morrison did so for the women in 21h20m.
Outdoor Articles
#1 Originally published in Adventure Journal
The Grand Teton iconic Cathedral Group skyline was forever altered by rockfall, until nature strikes again, that is. What was considered arguably one of the most iconic natural skylines in the world, made up of the Grand Teton, Teewinot, and Mount Owen, has considerably changed forever. It’s so altered, it’s visible from the valley floor.
What happened? Part of the Second Tower on the 13,775-foot Grand’s East Ridge collapsed in September 2022, changing the feature’s profile from an even-sided pyramid to a pointed spire. The modification is most apparent from the north, particularly from the Cathedral Group Turnout on the Jenny Lake Loop road in Grand Teton National Park.
Some people are saying it’s the most dramatic rockfall they have seen in the Tetons in their lifetime. However, it has to be noted that normal rockfall occurs almost all the time - just not usually on this scale.
Climbers in the park have had to steer clear of the area and are being advised by park rangers of specific hazards.
#2 Originally published in Another Escape
Mapping the mountains by hand is a precise and artistic endeavour, one that map artist, Jim Niehues, excels in.
In our digitally-orientated world, hand-drawn maps aren’t the norm, which makes them stand out all the more. Think about how much detail must go into shading every little crevasse, tree, and valley. That’s part of what draws Jim in to what he does.
Jim gathers his evidence flying above this dynamic and striking terrain, gathering aerial photographs for his maps. Back in the late 80s, Jim would take all images on film camera, draw a sketch of each ski resort before sending it via “snail mail” for resort approval, before making any changes to his work and painting the entire piece, which would again have to be mailed to the respective resorts for final approval.
Today, computers facilitate and speed up the process significantly. However, Jim remains true to his craft, painting every single detail by hand and by brush. Explaining his choice, Jim said “The human mind, hand and eye are so much more efficient at conceiving the distortions that are necessary to portray a complicated three-dimensional mountain and recreating the experience of being within the mountain terrain onto a flat sheet of paper.”
Fun fact: Jim has painted nearly every ski resort in North America.
#3 Originally published in Outdoor Photographer
Capturing arctic wonders: Why Svalbard in Norway is a photographer’s dream location. The remoteness of the Svalbard archipelago - sitting halfway between Norway and the North Pole - lends itself to offering unique photo opportunities.
For one thing, Svalbard is home to an abundance of polar wildlife both on land and in the sea - all of which make great photographic subjects. There is a good chance of seeing polar bears in their natural wilderness, along with walruses, birdlife and puffins, reindeer and Arctic foxes.
As for the landscape, Svalbard has over 2000 glaciers, which make for some of the most mesmerising photo subjects. The chances of seeing ice calve off the glacier and tumbling into the tranquil fjords below are quite high.
Sea ice is another natural part of the landscape that lends itself beautifully to photography. The sea ice in Svalbard extends all the way to the North Pole. In calm conditions, it is possible to cruise in a boat along the edge of the sea ice, making for an atmospheric photo subject.
The archipelago is famed for its majestic Arctic landscapes, extending out impossibly long distances. No matter which season you visit, the photographs shot there will stand out.
Results
🏆 Crankworx Innsbruck was back between June 21st and 25th as the only European stop of the Crankworx World Tour, and it really heated up the biking summer in the Tyrolean Alps. The best of the best competed across seven disciplines for the titles of the season - King and Queen of Crankworx and the Crankworx FMBA Slopestyle World Championships.
Austrian Valentina Höll won the women's Downhill in 3:41.228, and British Bernard Kerr the men's in 3:19.231.
🏆 The Western States 100-Mile Endurance Run is the world’s oldest 100-mile trail race and it recently took place on June 24th and 25th. The Run starts in Olympic Valley, California and ends 100.2 miles later in Auburn. In the decades since its inception in 1974, Western States has come to represent one of the ultimate endurance tests in the world.
This year, Courtney Dauwalter set a new course record in 15:29:33, crushing the former record by 77 minutes and 46 seconds. British athlete, Tom Evans, won the men's race in 14:40:22, improving on his third place finish last year.
🏆 The UCI Mountain Bike World Cup took place between June 9th and 11th in Lenzerheide, Switzerland and June 16th and 18th in Leogang, Austria, and what a season! Rachel Atherton claimed a remarkable 40th Downhill win in Lenzerheide. Keep scrolling to watch the highlights in the video below.
At Leogang, Lars Forster took the victory, just 14 seconds ahead of Luca Schwarzbauer in second, while Ondrej Cink came third.
🏆 Red Bull The Red Bull X-Alps is considered one of the world's toughest adventure races. It lasts almost two weeks (11 - 23 June) in which around 30 athletes run as much as 100km on foot, hike up to 4000m of vertical ascent a day, and fly by paraglider up to 150km a day.
This year, Swizterland’s Christian Maurer came in first in a time of 6d 6h 1m 51s, while Frenchmen Damien Lacaze and Maxime Pinot came second and third with times of 6d 18h 5m 55s and 6d 18h 47m 54s, respectively.
Movies
After two weeks of being awe-struck by Chile’s incredible MTB riding, scenery, and people, the SCOR crew arrived at the final stop on their South American tour: Huilo Huilo.
Keen to make the most of everything the area had to offer, riders Josh Lewis and Ludo May hit up El Traro bike park, followed by a blast down a volcanic glacier.
From pumptrack tricks and hero-dirt turns to high altitudes, high winds, and high fives, the riding leaves the duo buzzing.
Le Temps Suspendu explores the psychological universe of a climber who finds himself alone facing a wall of granite (280m high) and his own thoughts.
Tom Canac and Hugo Drouin have been exploring Quebec's cliffs for many years. Their minds were always captivated by the idea of climbing cap Trinité - the highest cliff carved out by the glaciers of the fjord.
Catch the UCI Mountain Bike World Series' U23 race highlights, joining the riders on the course as they take on the Olympic race format.
See you out there!
Team FATMAP