Mark Laita was bit by a black mamba—and survived—while working on photography for this latest book, Serpentine. He talked to Joe Spring about the process, and we gathered some of the photos—including the one above: a pit viper—over at outside online dot com.
Frank Bures tells the previously-not-widely-told story of the couple who got caught in one of the biggest wildfires in Minnesota history.
HAPPY WEEKEND!
Start it off with this: Katie Heaney went dogsledding. Like, actually dogsledding: “It’s weird to make actual plans for something that sounds more like a dream—to just pick a day and book it. But way up north in Minnesota, up at the Wintergreen Dogsled Lodge, a person really can go dogsledding. It’s even a website: dogsledding dot com.”
Europe’s highest football pitch
While the beautiful game may be found at higher altitudes in Bolivia, there’s something special about this uncovered gem in Gspon, Switzerland.
Set in the heart of the Swiss alps, “Ottmar Hitzfeld stadium is carved into a mountainside 2,000 meters (6,561 feet) above sea level… The field, surrounded by vertiginous peaks near the resort of Zermatt, was built on one of the few patches flat enough to hold it. There wasn’t enough room for a proper pitch, so the team plays on a three-quarter-size field akin to a five-a-side field. The turf is artificial, because grass won’t grow at this altitude. And because the village is too high for traffic, players arrive by cable car.”
Right, so how do we exchange our team bus for a team cable car?
Psh. Santa Fe is 7,000 feet above sea level, and I have played soccer, multiple times, while in Santa Fe.
Specialization at an early age often leads to injuries, Scott Ronsenfield writes. If you want your child to be a world-class athlete—or, rather, if your kid wants to be a world-class athlete—this is the formula: multiple sports to start, then choose one by age 15.
Barefoot running—as in “running while not wearing anything on one’s feet”—through New York City.
Want to stop time? Go skiing with your four-year-old.
It’s OK to admit it. Gordy Megroz has some suggestions.
6