Bear Grylls has had some extreme injuries in the outdoors. At age 21, he broke his back in a parachute accident in Zambia, when the chute failed to open during a 14,000-feet jump. He fractured three vertebrae and spent a year in rehabilitation.  He has also broken a shoulder in Antarctica, been bitten by a [...]

When a black bear in Wannaska, Minnesota found itself in a sticky situation, local residents scrambled to come to its aid.  The bear, which had been living in a drainage culvert, quickly became stuck in heavy snow after an early thaw caused water to flow through its makeshift den. Despite its best efforts to dig [...]

While California skiers are rejoicing over the state’s record-breaking snowfall this year, many wildland firefighters are starting to get nervous. Winter precipitation means spring plant growth—and to a wildfire, plants are nothing more than fuel.  Of course, California’s record-breaking precipitation does have some benefits. It’s helped alleviate the state’s longstanding drought. Plentiful rainfall also encourages [...]

My heart pounds as I pull just one more time against my hangboard, a piece of wood designed with finger-sized slots for warming up the hands for rock climbing. I’m desperate to grasp any bit of possible help before all the cameras point at me and I’m expected to climb a challenging ascent in front [...]

If you saw the Jungle Book movie as a kid, you might remember the scene in which Baloo scratches his back against a tree (just before singing the “Bear Necessities,” if memory serves). While scientists have long observed bears doing this in the wild, they weren’t sure why—until recently.  A new study suggests that wild [...]

Finding water in the mountains sounds like it should be easy, whether from streams formed by melting snow or fast-running rivers meandering through valleys.  But in reality, you might find yourself on a high mountain ridge with no obvious source of food or water. Or, at lower elevations, the terrain might be too dry to [...]