amazing Archives

A Ride Through Taroko Gorge, Taiwan [VIDEO]

Matt — Tue, 19 Aug 2014 12:00:36 +0000

Taroko Gorge, Taiwan is an enormous cavernous gorge (over 2000 feet long and 200 feet tall) carved out of the mountains on Taiwan’s East Coast over several millennia by the Liwu River. A highway follows the gorge, which is also criss-crossed with some of the country’s most spectacular hiking trails.

The best way to see the gorge is on those trails or from the road a bicycle or motorcycle. I’ve written before about hiking and biking in Taroko Gorge.

Last Sunday my friend Mei Mei from Taipei came to visit me in Hualien and she mentioned that she hadn’t seen Taroko Gorge since she was in high school almost 20 years earlier. So, I had to take her for a Sunday motorcycle ride up the gorge. Before we left, I grabbed my Go Pro to see if I could capture the magnificence of the drive on video.

Music: Hearts on Fire by Scomber on CC Mixter

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The Ten Most Stupid Ways to Reach Mongolia (Video)

Matt — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 16:12:28 +0000

Well, I’m sure that they’ve discovered more than ten. They have been doing this ridiculous rally since 2004.

I’m talking about the Mongol Rally 2012, a charitable free-for-all rally of ridiculousness from Great Britain to Mongolia organized each year by The Adventurists. The rally is comprised of teams driving themed cars (the stranger the better) across 10,000 miles of mountains and deserts.

There is no set route and back up cars are not allowed. It’s the most gonzo rally on earth.

256 teams participated in this year’s rally, including a couple on their honeymoon wearing their wedding clothes, a car with a bathtub on the roof (the press release did not explain why), a car with a yak on the roof (I think the reason is fairly self-explanatory) and a group of three paraplegics who call themselves The Wheelie Wanderers who took on the rally entirely unsupported.

The weirdness of the rally is unequalled. It also does a lot of good for charity. Since 2004 the rally has raised £2.3 million for charity, including £300,000 this year.

It has also resulted in uncounted fits of laughter and incredulous looks of disbelief.

Here’s this year’s video, The Ten Most Stupid Ways to Reach Mongolia, which highlights the rally’s silliness.

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Skier Ani Hass Fought Off a Bear by Punching it in the Face

Matt — Tue, 02 Aug 2011 20:33:57 +0000

I’m in love. Ani Haas, a very attractive and very determined former U.S. Ski Team member, scared away a mother black bear that she encountered while jogging by punching it in the face. She was out for a run when she was confronted by an angry mother bear with cubs. Check out her interview on the Today Show above.

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Red Bull Illume 2010 Exhibition Headed to Denver, Colorado

Matt — Wed, 25 May 2011 21:56:34 +0000

Every year Red Bull holds a contest called the Red Bull Illume Image Quest seeking the best action and adventure sports photographs in the world in ten categories. This years winners can be viewed on the NatGeo website here.

An exhibition of this year’s top fifty photos has been making its way around the world in the past months, and has visited many major cities, but none so fitting perhaps as what is arguably America’s most famous outdoors adventure city, Denver, Colorado. The exhibition will show every night from 8:30pm – 11pm at the Denver Performing Arts Complex in Denver, Colorado from June 3-12.

The price is right: free. You can bet that it will be packed. Below are a few of my favorite photos that didn’t make it into the top ten.

[nggallery id=33]

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Watch it Now! Paul Nicklen: Tales of ice-bound wonderlands on TED.com

Matt — Tue, 10 May 2011 00:49:10 +0000

Paul Nicklen is a wildlife biologist turned nature photographer. In this talk Nicklen discusses his work as a photographer and problem of melting polar caps with a passion and sadness that cannot be faked. He receives a standing ovation for this heartfelt presentation and, in my opinion, is a likely contender for TED.com talk of the year. If you haven’t seen it yet, you must watch it now!

Photo courtesy of Suzie Katz on Flickr.

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Watch it Now: the BBC’s Human Planet

Matt — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 18:33:46 +0000

I don’t know why I had never seen this before my aunt emailed me the trailer yesterday. Most of us have heard of the BBC’s Planet Earth series. Now, imagine the same caliber of cinematography and storytelling used to depict the most fascinating cultures and rituals of the human world. That is the BBC’s Human Planet series.

This series consists of eight 50-minute episodes, each examining the way humans interact with different geographical and ecological features of our planet, such as rivers, jungles, desserts, etc.

The BBC website for the series, which has lots of photography and reportage itself, can be found here.

If you haven’t seen it yet, watch it now.

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Espanol Under the Volcano | Baraaza Guides

Matt — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 17:16:37 +0000

A short feature about the most beautiful Spanish classroom in the world that I wrote for for Baraaza Guides.

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Watch it Now! Pat Burgener Does the First Switch Backside Triple Cork 1440 in History

Matt — Fri, 15 Apr 2011 18:21:26 +0000

This is Pat Burgener. Pat is 16 years-old and lives in Switzerland. He’s some kind of snowboarding prodigy.

This video is of a session that he had last week. Frustrated by the poor spring conditions, he spent the day reshaping one of the jumps in the park and then sessioning it. In five hours he learned three new tricks–including a switch backside cork 1440. He is the first person in history to have landed one.

I still can’t even stick a 720. Good work Pat.

Pat Burgener First Switch Backside Triplecork 1440 April 2011 from FreestyleTV.ch on Vimeo.

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Watch it Now! Asses of the Caribbean from VBS.tv

Matt — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 19:56:54 +0000

I’ve posted before about VBS.tv, a web TV station started by Vice Magazine, that makes the best gonzo journalism available today. Before I posted The Vice Guide to Liberia, and the Illegal Border Crossing Simulation. Today I present you with Asses of the Caribbean. The folks at Vice heard that there was an area in northern Columbia where the majority of men have sex with donkeys until they get married. So, they head down there with a camera and what they find is, funny, disturbing, and graphic: viewer discretion is advised.

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Ben Saunders Undaunted, Going Ahead with North Pole Speed Record Attempt

Matt — Wed, 09 Mar 2011 03:15:53 +0000

The weather is poor this year, but that’s not stopping Ben Saunders from trying to break the world record for reaching the North Pole by land from Canada this year. All ski teams headed for the geographic North Pole from Resolute Bay, Canada this year cancelled their trips three days ago (March 6^th) due to a raplidy dwindling time window for the trip and delays due to poor weather conditions (you can read the story on ExWeb here). That, however, hasn’t stopped world record hopeful Ben Saunders from going ahead with his trip. Saunders should arrive in Cape Discovery in Northern Canada tomorrow, where he will depart alone, on foot, traveling by ski and snowshoe, pulling on sled carrying all of his supplies, in an attempt to break the two current world records for reaching the pole from Canada, which are 36 days, 22 hours by dogsled, and 41 days, 18 hours on foot.

Saunders has attempted the record twice before, but was thwarted by equipment and fuel problems. Thus, he has named this expedition North 3.

Usually, teams require a minimum 60-day time window to be sure they will reach the pole. This year ski teams abandoned their trips because the time window for their trips had already fallen to 51 days, and their departure remained uncertain because of bad weather.

Since he’s working with limited time already, this doesn’t appear to be a problem for Saunders.

Best of luck Ben!

Be sure to check back here for updates on his progress.

Ben Saunders – North 3 from Ben Saunders on Vimeo.

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