Adventures

TREKKING IN MONGOLIA’S ALTAI MOUNTAINS

By: LOWA Ambassador Lisa Ballard My latest trek, in August to the Altai Mountains in western Mongolia, was certainly full of surprises, starting with the journey to get there....

St. Cuthbert's Way Ultra 100K Takeaways

By: LOWA Ambassador Rachel Boim Take aways: St. Cuthbert’s was different for a lot of reasons I literally chose to run the 105k the day before, I had...

St. Cuthbert’s Way Ultra 100K

LOWA athlete Rachel Boim won the women’s division of the St. Cuthbert’s Way Ultra 100K, the second 100K+ she’s ever run. With a time of 13:03:10.687, she came in 6th...

Pakistan 2018 - By Jess Roskelley

I’ve been hearing stories of climbing in the Karakorum range of Pakistan since I was a kid. My dad, John Roskelley, along with an assortment of well-known climbers, did the...

Mt. Wilson “Make it a Double”

“It’s just a 10K… of gain.” This is the slogan that draws participants to this annual, noncompetitive mountain running event. Allow me to introduce to you, Mt. Wilson “Make it...

Best Backpacking Escape from New York City - By Todd Smith

Just 40 miles north of Grand Central Station, Harriman State Park offers backpackers a unique way to escape the bustle of New York City on more than 200 miles of...

Cracking The Ice - By Beth Goralski

* Photograph by Janette HeungThe moment I swung my ice axe and heard that solid, “thwunk” of the pick setting solidly into the ice, I was hooked. The screw I’d...

LOWA First Flight - By Lisa Ballard

I had the chance to visit the Outer Banks, the long skinny chain of barrier islands on the coast of North Carolina. No mountains to climb there, but we did...

Pico de Orizaba - by Lisa Ballard

The purpose of my trip to Mexico, November 1 to 7, 2017, was not to climb mountains, but the chance to hike to the Piedra Grande huts on Pico de...

Ben Nevis: Hiking To The Top Of Great Britain - By Lisa Ballard

I have this addiction to standing on top of the highest mountain wherever I travel in the world.With the opportunity to visit the Scottish Highlands for the first time, there...

Where Man Himself Does Not Remain - By Sunny Stroeer

* USA Congress definition of wilderness: “An area where the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain.”The...

Happy Birthday Hike - By Lisa Ballard

I always celebrate my birthday (May 20th) with a hike, which is not easy. During mud season, the trails in the Adirondack Park, where I usually basecamp in midspring, are...

Bubble Rock - By Lisa Ballard

When the opportunity to visit Acadia National Park came up earlier this month, my first thought was, “Finally a chance to climb Cadillac Mountain.” Cadillac is not particularly tall, but...

Brooks Range Vol-Biv - by Cody Tuttle

* Photo: Cody Tuttle I never imagined Alaska to be so big, so daunting, and so all-consuming on every level. Every moment I was reminded that this was a much...

Lessons from the Trail: A Note About Footwear Choices - By Sunny Stroeer

“Wait - you are going to be wearing boots today?”I hear that question a lot. You see, I am a mountain runner and high altitude endurance specialist. In my world,...

A Band of Thieves - by Alexander E. Hillary

The trail started by winding up through the dense Beech forests of the Routeburn. ...

Kayaking Glacier Bay National Park - by Max Seigal

Months of planning had culminated to this instant as we sat on the transport boat waiting to be dropped off in Glacier Bay National Park. Here we would spend the...

Trekking The Inca Trail To Machu Picchu - By Lisa Ballard October 09, 2019

In 2008, I traveled to the Cordillera Blanca region of the Peruvian Andes to go trekking. When I returned home, my family thought it a sacrilege that I had gone...

Lowa Alpine SL GTX: The 1 Boot. For 1 Very Long Glacier. - By Robert Mads Anderson

Arriving at Concordia, a clearing K2 at centre stage.Having never been to...

Rainbow Mountains: Hiking in Peru’s Technicolor Range - By Lisa Ballard

An alpaca named "Adolfo" eats his lunch on summit ridge of Mount Winnikunka, after carrying his food there on his back like...

Tackling Unfinished Business on Kusum Kangru - By Sunny Stroeer

In the fall of 2019, LOWA athlete Sunny Stroeer spent seven weeks in the Himalayas - first, to lead a team in the Everest region through her women-focused high altitude...

Hiking The Dunes at Great Sand Dunes National Park - By Lisa Ballard

Last October, I had the chance to visit Great Sand Dunes National Park, the geological phenomenon wedged between the San Luis Valley and the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in Colorado.At...

Failure and Success in the Mountains - By Alexander E. Hillary

Late last year my brother George and I began the journey to Mt Everest. As a Hillary, perhaps our whole lives have led to that journey, but in 2019 it...

The Tonic of Wildness

“We Need the Tonic of Wildness” -...

Postholing on the Nichols Creek Trail - By Lisa Ballard

This spring, the snow wouldn’t stop, putting the kibosh on any hiking in the Beartooth Range near my home in Red Lodge, Montana. There were plenty of other outdoor opportunities,...

Don't Distance Yourself From Mother Nature - by Cyndi Wyatt, LOWA Ambassador

Setting the new norm.My first steps onto the trail attempting a recent solo 14er summit, I felt as though roots grew from my soul through the bottom of my LOWAs...

Hiking Humboldt - by Lisa Ballard, LOWA Ambassador

There is nothing easy about hiking up Humboldt Peak (14,070 feet) in Colorado’s Sangre de Cristo Range. First, there’s the mileage, about 14 miles round-trip from the trailhead to the...

The Story of Special Boots - by Mary Ann Kondro

My husband, Leo, loved his LOWA boots. In the moments of his life, he had two pairs of LOWA boots which took him on adventures in the wilds of Southeast...

Tough Enough To Take Bitter Cold - by Lisa Ballard

Normally, when the weather forecast calls for below-zero nights and single-digits days, torpor sets in. I curl up by our fireplace, boots and pack dormant by the door, until the...

Embracing Doubt & Uncertainty: The Drive Behind a Successful FKT - by Sunny Stroeer

The magic of the Grand Canyon is hard to describe. It’s a powerful, sacred space that cast its spell on me decades ago when I laid eyes on it for...

Wildlife Photography: Focusing on My Feet to Get Award-Winning Shots - by Lisa Ballard

“You’re a mother!” fretted my trekking partner, sitting on my legs. Her weight kept me from tumbling off a 500-foot cliff in Ethiopia’s Simien Mountains while I focused my camera...

Why Climb Mountains - by Kurt Wedberg

Sierra Mountaineering, International, Inc. founder, Kurt Wedberg, shares some thoughts on why he's so passionate about climbing mountains.Why Climb Mountains?Amid all the hardships COVID brought to our lives, the pandemic of...

I Taught My 70-Year-Old Father To Ice Climb - by Max Seigal

It’s hard to believe my dad turned 70 a month ago. Every day he continues to prove to me that “age is just a number.” He will forever be young...

The Dusky Track | New Zealand's toughest trek, by Phoebe Anderson

Here's a link to the full video. The Dusky Track is considered New Zealand's toughest marked trek, spanning 110 km through Fiordland National Park. The region receives a staggering 7 meters of...

The AWExpeditions Summit Scholarship | Making the world’s wildest places more accessible to women

Sunny Stroeer at 17,000ft on a new route attempt in the HimalayasSunny Stroeer started AWExpeditions because she’s passionate about being a woman who feels at home outside in the world’s...

The Mount Marshall Marathon | By Lisa Ballard

Mount Marshall (4,360 feet) is one of the 20 trail-less monsters in New York’s Adirondack Park. I grew up in Upstate New York, aiming to bag all 46 peaks in...

Footprints | By Allen Crater

We cut our first elk tracks five miles in, post-holing our way through heavy snow often reaching past the knee. Kyle has taken the front, breaking the trail, one foot...

Heart of Stone: Denali's Mt. Huntington Just Got A New Summit Route | by Luka Lindič

Catch Ines on an episode of "In Her Own Voice," a series by the Cutting Edge Podcast, where she talks all about being a trailblazing female climber, a mother, and...

An Alpine Garden in Colorado | by Lisa Ballard

For many years, my favorite way to destress was packing up my tent and fly rod and trekking to a remote alpine tarn filled with trout. However, over the last...

The Hip Hold | by Lisa Ballard

There are many accidental inventions of consequence. Take the water balloon, the result of a scientist, Edgar Ellington, in 1950, who was trying to create a waterproof sock. When he...

The Iditarod Trail Invitational 350: Reflections of a Rookie by Sunny Stroeer

I’m not a skier. Actually, that’s not true: I AM a skier; a semi-competent downhill skier to be precise. I know next to nothing about cross-country skiing. And yet, a...

The Wild, Wild Western Hajar Mountains, Oman | by Robert Mads Anderson

The Western Hajar Mountains had already treated us to more vertical than going up and down from Everest Base Camp, rougher trails than clambering up the Baltoro to K2 ,...

Mind Over Matter: Summiting Colorado’s Mt. Harvard | by Lisa Ballard

Colorado’s 58 peaks over 14,000 feet in elevation appeal to anyone who loves to stand atop big mountains. Getting to the top of one of these geological giants ranges from...

The Iditarod Trail Invitational, Round 2: Make Good Choices | by Sunny Stroeer

For the full blog post and Sunny’s “Make Good Choices” video about the Iditarod Trail Invitational, visit sunnystroeer.com. DAY 1. RACE START TO BUTTERFLY LAKE: 25.4 MILES, 1300FT OF ASCENT.8 HOURS 59 MINUTES, 2840 CALORIES BURNED....

ADVENTURING. A New Category of Outdoor Sport.

By Lisa BallardHonestly, I don’t have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). During the summer, I just like to do a lot of things outdoors. Friends call my place, “Camp Lisa,”...

Choosing The Unconventional

By Alexandra Maria Garcia, LOWA AmbassadorOn May 21st, 2022 I ran my first ultramarathon in the Mount Mitchell State Park in North Carolina. The Quest for the Crest 50K, which boasts to be...

Q&A with Ambassadors Lanny and Tracy Barnes

What are three essentials you always carry with you on hunting treks? First Aid Kit, Survival Kit (fire-starting supplies, rope, emergency blanket, etc), and Snacks (no one wants a hangry...

Filling The Freezer

Filling The Freezer, by LOWA Ambassador, Lisa Ballard My left leg was falling asleep under me as I lay awkwardly on my side on a ledgy, steep outcropping in Eastern...

Why our Female Ambassadors Inspire Us

Top left, clockwise: Sunny Stroeer, Alex Garcia, Lisa Ballard, Lanny Barnes.In recognition of Women’s History Month, we’d like to take a moment to show some love for the incredible women...

Sleepless in Alaska

LOWA Pro Team Athlete Sunny Stroeer writes about her recent experience - completing her third Iditarod Trail Invitational, biking across the frigid, remote Alaskan wilderness. Images courtesy of Sunny Stroeer.My...