Listen to 'Watershed Chats' with Belinda Baggs

10 Min Read

The iconic waterwoman reflects on taking action on our greatest threat: climate change.

A Patagonia global sports activist and the co-founder of Surfers for Climate, Belinda Baggs shares her story with surf ambassadors Lauren Hill and Dave Rastovich of Waterpeople Podcast. She talks about acting on what she sees as the greatest threat to her son's health and wellbeing: climate change.

Belinda also shares solutions for getting involved today – from everyday changes we can all make, to applying systemic pressure for legislative change.

They talk through the critical importance of the dual and intertwined challenges of ecological and social justice, while acknowledging the "surf addiction" that shapes and guides daily life.

Banner image: Zoe Strapp.

Some Favourites

Just Ask Alex Megos. He is driving his aging Volkswagen down the curvy roads that thread the valleys of the Frankenjura. It’s June in rural Bavaria, where rolling green meets broad blue.

There Is Only Send or Fail

10 Min Read

In 2018 Lydia Zamorano and her husband Sonnie Trotter left home on a year-long climbing road trip with a 7-month-old baby and a 4-year-old in tow. She asked Becca Caldwell and Zoe Hart – two other moms with lots of experience living on the road – about their experiences and shared her own as well.

Living in a Van on the Road with Kids

6 Min Read

Obviously, I love to climb, and I love to eat. But I’ve learned that love alone isn’t enough.

From the Ground Up

6 Min Read

The mythological origin story behind the Patagonia name and philosophy, and proving what’s important isn’t what you accomplished, it’s how you got there.

Mountain of Storms

52:26:00

How many days can a small kid shred if a small kid could shred pow? Mac Anderson (age 3) finds out.

Raising Less Wasteful Kids—Starting with One Red Hand-Me-Down Jacket

10 Min Read

Rick Ridgeway

Rolling Stone called him “the real Indiana Jones.” His new memoir reveals why our friend Rick was always a great deal more.

Life Lived Wild

Rick Ridgeway

6 Min Read

Discovering that climbing is for them.

Higher Ground

6 Min Read

Finding the intersection of identity, stewardship and rock climbing.

Tread Lightly

10 Min Read

Not totally relating to some forms of climate activism, Josh Wharton found his own way to contribute.

Doing the Work

6 Min Read

Weather has a way of complicating – and enriching – everything.

The Complicated Gift of Inclement Weather

10 Min Read

Reflecting on risk and partnership in Pakistan.

The Lure of the Unclimbed

10 Min Read

Remembering the climber and conservationist.

Whitmore’s Legacy

10 Min Read

Eric Bissell captured his first published image with Patagonia on a climbing trip to establish a new route on Mount Ololokwe.

New Routing (and Photogenic Wildlife) in Kenya

10 Min Read

Alex Megos tells the story of his 'Bibliographie'. On August 5, 2020, he redpointed the long-standing Céüse project after some 60 tries over three years.

Primary Source

10 Min Read

Climbing has always been more than just a sport. It’s provided a way of life and a makeshift family to misfits who share a calling. As the sport grapples with its growing popularity, the people who anchor its core and community have more responsibility than ever.

Rediscovering the Soul of Climbing with 'Stone Locals'

10 Min Read

Last November, Fitz Caldwell (age 6) finished his first multipitch climb, Sunnyside Bench in Yosemite National Park. He did it with his dad, Tommy.

Sunnyside Up

6 Min Read

Tara Kerzhner climbs The Backbone (5.13a) of The Monkey at Oregon’s Smith Rock State Park, also known as Animal Village. Photo: Jules Jimreivat

Len Necefer & Tara Kerzhner

Elder Wilson Wewa tells the creation story of Animal Village. Tara Kerzhner and Len Necefer consider how these stories can reshape stewardship.

Smith Rock Is Animal Village

Len Necefer & Tara Kerzhner

15 Min Read

Lor Sabourin and Madaleine Sorkin racking up for the Incredible Hulk. Eastern Sierra, California.

Lor Sabourin & Madaleine Sorkin

A conversation between Lor Sabourin and Madaleine Sorkin.

Queering Climb Mentorship

Lor Sabourin & Madaleine Sorkin

13 Min Read

George Lowe (left) and Joel Kauffman (right) share stories while camped beneath Palisade Crest in the Sierra Nevada, California.

Tad McCrea

On an intergenerational new routing trip in the Sierra, Tad McCrea asks, What if your best adventure is the one you’re already on?

Too Far, Too High

Tad McCrea

7 Min Read

Clouds over the heart of Tutokanula (El Capitan). We are grateful to the original, present and eternal stewards of what is also called Yosemite National Park in California. Photo: Austin Siadak

Mailee Hung

Fifty years ago, Yvon Chouinard, Tom Frost and Doug Robinson set down an ethic for climbing that emphasised restraint and respect for the rock. In 2022, it’s needed more than ever.

Bring Back Clean Climbing

Mailee Hung

10 Min Read

Aaron Mike climbs an unknown boulder at Oak Flat. Tonto National Forest, Arizona.

Len Necefer

As we make a transition to renewable sources of energy, let’s not renew the same old mistakes.

Oak Flat Is No Sacrifice Zone

Len Necefer

10 Min Read

Grant Kleeves casts off into the bowling alley. Yentna Glacier, Alaska.

Jack Cramer

Lessons from a close one in Alaska.

A Partial Ascent of Mantok 0

Jack Cramer

9 Min Read

Pete Whittaker

For routes like Crown Royale, a lot of what goes into putting them up is falling down.

A Seventh Chance

Pete Whittaker

4 Min Read

Zoe Hart gives Mika and Buni a boost while climbing Le Brévent, high above their home in Chamonix, France. Photo: Pierre Cadot

Patagonia

Education through risk, consequence and building the skills to live simply.

Parenting: Disaster Style

Patagonia

2 Min Read

What’s more intimate than crack climbing? narinda gets up (and close and personal) on a Yosemite Valley classic.

narinda heng

What's a Climbing Road Trip Without a Car?

narinda heng

8 Min Read

The Mirror Wall offered very little opportunity for natural protection, like camming devices, nuts or pitons, so there were some massive runouts. Greenland.

Sean Villanueva O’Driscoll

Giving failure a chance in Greenland.

The Wall as a Mirror

Sean Villanueva O’Driscoll

7 Min Read

Before attempting La Esfinge, Rhiannon Williams cooks a dehydrated meal as the light fades on Mount Huandoy in the distance. Peru.

Alexa Flower

No Pressure

Alexa Flower

8 Min Read

Located only a few minutes from the city's centre, Cuvier is one of the oldest climbing sectors in Fontainebleau, France – the hotspot of the bouldering world.

Zofia Reych

The Gifts of the Forest

Zofia Reych

8 Min Read

Katie Lamb

Make It Last

Katie Lamb

6 Min Read

In the mountains, as in life, someone must go first. Both as a guide and activist, Juliana García has led the way for women in the alpine. Pico de Orizaba Volcano, Mexico. Photo: Esteban Barrera

Lise Josefsen Hermann

Her Place in the Mountains

Lise Josefsen Hermann

8 Min Read

Jirishanca is not the kind of mountain I would have drawn as a child, but it’s the ideal one I would draw now after decades of climbing—the epitome of a beautiful, technically challenging mountain, but also moody.

Josh Wharton

Hard alpinism in the Cordillera Huayhuash endures as the climate changes the routes.

Jirishanca

Josh Wharton

4 Min Read

Mina Bakhshi, Haniya Tavasoli and Sughra Yazdani check out a range of cams during a climbing ranger presentation about the evolution of climbing gear and the tools needed to climb in Yosemite National Park, California.

Lauren DeLaunay Miller

Afarin! Good Job!

Lauren DeLaunay Miller

14 Min Read

Nico Favresse

How the worst climbing conditions can bring out the best in us.

Riding Out the Storm

Nico Favresse

5 Min Read

Dane Steadman

Three friends, an avalanche and an iPhone on Yashkuk Sar I.

The First Ascent of Tiger Lily Buttress

Dane Steadman

4 Min Read

The psychology of the perfect ride.

Moments of Flow

10 min Read

In a tiny Colorado ski town, the world’s oldest mountain-bike club is facing the complicated reality of recreation gone right.

The Writing on the Wall

10 Min Read

An interview with Gabo Benoit, trail advocate and mountain-bike mayor of Coyhaique, Chile.

Trails for Everybody

10 Minutes

An Ode to Larix Iyallii.

Larch Love

11 Min Read

A lesson in the rules of trail building.

Water Always Wins

10 Min Read

How one suburban mountain biker’s vision for a trail system reshaped a former industrial town – and turned trail building into a family tradition.

At the River’s Edge

6 Min Read

As editor of the world’s largest mountain bike magazine, Nicole Formosa showed her audience the world’s largest issues – and revealed the sport’s resistance to confronting them.

Moving the Needle

10 Min Read

Searching for an honest adventure right out their backdoor, a group of skiers and snowboarders travel south from Reno, Nevada on bicycles loaded down with ski and camp gear.

The Last Hill (Until the Next One)

15:40

“I’m generally bad at drawing boundaries between different riding styles,” Carston Oliver admits. “I just try to find the fun on whatever bike, terrain or ‘type’ of ride I’m on.”

Sakeus Bankson

For the Love of Dirt

Sakeus Bankson

4 Min Read

The Sickness – a slab-filled trail north of Pemberton, British Columbia – traces the edge of a plateau above the community of Mount Currie, the present-day seat of the Líĺwat Nation and home to most of its 2,200-plus members.

Ryan Stuart

Together as One

Ryan Stuart

11 Min Read

After six long days in the South Chilcotin Mountains, we started our final descent back to the truck with our minds consumed by thoughts of dry clothes and cold beers.

Will Cadham

Ultralight Foolishness

Will Cadham

9 Min Read

Scientist Emilé Zynobia zips through a golden sea of coffee crops and banana trees after winding through colourfully painted neighbourhoods in Manizales, Colombia.

Lucas Isakowitz

Descending through Colombia’s coffee country, a crew of mountain bikers explores how climate change is impacting one of the world’s most cherished beverages and the lives of those who depend upon it.

Over-Roasted

Lucas Isakowitz

16 Min Read

Alexandera Houchin

In learning her ancestral language, one mountain biker finds a different way to relate to the world, herself and her community—and ride her bike.

In Relation to All Things

Alexandera Houchin

6 Min Read

Betty Birrell goes full send on Floppy Bunny, her go-to warm-up lap on Mount Fromme in southern British Columbia. Photo: Travis Rummel

Darcy Hennessey Turenne

After nearly 30 years on the hallowed trails of southern British Columbia, Betty Birrell still thinks life is one big playground—and that you’re never too old to send.

North Shore Betty

Darcy Hennessey Turenne

9 Min Read

Millions of buffalo once thrived on the Great Plains; the stolen homelands of the Jicarilla Apache, Cheyenne and Ute Nations. Concrete buildings and highways can’t erase their history. Photo: Leonardo Brasil

Renee Hutchens

Following in Indigenous Footsteps on the Ute Pass Trail.

All Trails Belong to Mother Earth

Renee Hutchens

7 Min Read

The Blue Derby trails through northeast Tasmania's ancient Gondwanan forests have been a revelation to mountain bikers. Photo Stu Gibson

Mike Blewitt

Mountain biking saved Derby once already. As the loggers move in, can it save the town again?

Gondwanan Trails

Mike Blewitt

8 Min Read

Patagonia