Outside Podcast

Last year, ski mountaineer Jim Morrison completed what many have called the boldest ski descent in the history of hairball skiing: the direct North Face of Mount Everest. The accomplishment is the subject of Jimmy Chin's new film, "Everest: The Other Side. "

There are few folks on this planet who are in the same realm as Jim when it comes to bold firsts. Luckily, Outside Days has a way of bringing these types together. Jim was joined on the fest's Ideas Stage with Alex Honnold and Fitz Cahall, hosts of the podcast Climbing Gold. Alex has spent his career redefining what is possible on rock walls and Fitz—host of the first outdoor podcast, the Dirtbag Diaries—has spent his career helping us mere mortals make sense of why people do objectively bonkers things.

Alex and Fitz sat down with Jim for a live recording of the Climbing Gold Podcast to discuss Everest, decision-making, risk, why we spend time in the outdoors, and what happens when the margin for error gets very small.

Recorded live at RESET Hotel, presented by Outdoor Collection by Marriott Bonvoy

What's on the outside of outer space? Nobody knows, not even a guy who spent 36 years at NASA. 🌌

Paddy heads to Reset Hotel outside Joshua Tree National Park to stargaze with Dr. Gary Blackwood, aerospace engineer, former NASA Exoplanet Exploration Program leader, and (yes) alien hunter. We get into why he’s convinced we’re not alone, how telescopes can sniff out breathing planets from light years away, the Habitable Worlds Observatory, the Belt of Venus, a Hurricane Hilary backpacking mishap, a lightning round (quasars vs. pulsars vs. Jar Jar), and what Gary would ask visiting aliens first.

Plan your stay at RESET, part of Outdoor Collection by Marriott Bonvoy: https://www.marriott.com/brands/outdoor-collection.mi

If you’re a skier or snowboarder and you’ve never packed into a movie theater with a few hundred other snow-starved fiends to shout and cheer and ring in the winter season by watching your favorite past time reflected back at you on the big screen, you’re missing one of the best rituals in the outdoors (ironic, given that it happens indoors). This collective act of snow-summoning has become an annual ritual for hundreds of thousands, thanks in large part to one man: Warren Miller. For over 70 years, the films have reliably sent people into autumn evenings around the world glowing and ready to shred. This year, the film’s 77th edition features a new star and, for the first time since Warren himself was at the helm, that star is also the film’s director. Katie Burrell needs no introduction to Outside Podcast fans; this is her third time on the pod in less than three years, but her previous spots were due to her best-in-class comedy chops and massive social presence. This time, the conversation has a bit more heft: You’ve been handed a legendary winter sports franchise … now what?

In this week's Long Read with Outside Magazine Features Editor Fred Drier, we explore an entirely different kind of poaching than the one you're thinking of. This isn't a story about illegally hunted grizzly bears or gray wolves, it's about trees.

In the Pacific Northwest, loggers venture deep into national forests to illegally cut down protected species of trees that they can then sell as specialty lumber for thousands of dollars.

Today's story was reported by Nick Davidson, about a high profile case of timber poaching that occurred in Washington's Olympic National Forest in 2018 and how a team of forest service rangers and investigators ended up cracking the case by using tree DNA.

We love our extreme endurance athletes, like Ironman champions, the lady who walked to the South Pole, and Alex Honnold. But, regardless of how many times we stare slack jawed at their accomplishments, we never stop asking: Why? Why do they choose to do these outrageous, objectively un-fun things? Record setting open ocean rower Kelsey Pfendler has the most relatable answer for these un-relatable outdoor pursuits: “ There’s a part of me that I don’t get to be unless I’m in those places.”  In July 2026, Kelsey became the first American woman, youngest woman, and fastest person overall–breaking both the women's and men's records–to row solo and unsupported from California to Hawaii. Nothing about the 2,400-mile journey is easily identifiable to regular ole outdoor folks, but Kelsey’s ideas on the importance of endurance sports, fear, and motivation are relevant to everyone. After all, who doesn't need a little motivation to push harder when the going get tough?