north pole hotel 31

Adventure Quickies: Patagonia Closes Its Doors for Climate Change, Outdoor Adventure Insurance, and More

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By: Kraig Becker
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Adventure Quickies are our weekly round up of all of the things we didn’t have time or space to cover elsewhere. They include briefs on new gear items, trail stories, and big expeditions, with links to find out more. So here’s what we have on tap this week:

  • Patagonia Closes its Doors to Protest Climate Change: Outdoor gear manufacturer Patagonia is once again putting its money where its mouth is when it comes to climate change. Today, the company has announced that it is closing all of its stores and offices worldwide to allow its employees to join the Global Climate Strike taking place all day today. The event is encouraging people from around the world to protest in demand of more action against the threat of climate change. A noble cause if there ever was one.
  • Spot Offers Outdoor Adventure Health Insurance: Let’s face it, our outdoor, adventure lifestyle can sometimes be a big risky or hazardous to our health. So in order help keep us safer in those endeavors, a company called Spot has a launched a new line of health insurance designed specifically with outdoorsy folks in mind. Plans start at $20/month and cover as much as $20,000 in out of pocket medical expenses. Check out the Spot website for more info and visit Gear Junkie to get a look at what this insurance is all about.
  • World’s Northernmost Hotel Opens in 2020 in the Arctic: Adventurous – not to mention well-heeled – travelers looking for a unique experience will want to check out what Luxury Action has planned for 2020. The company plans to open a temporary hotel – using glass igloos – located at the North Pole, allowing guests to stay for three days at a time .The price for the excursion? A cool $105,000.
  • Endurance Swimmer Crosses English Channel 4 Times: There was a time when swimming the English Channel was seen as quite the feat of endurance. The bar has been significantly raised on that challenge however as earlier this week an endurance athlete and cancer survivor named Sarah Thomas became the first person to swim it four times in a single go.
  • ‘Spanish Stonehenge” Remerges After Decades Under Water: A massive drought across Spain has had a surprising side effect, unearthing an ancient site that was built nearly 5000 years ago. Dubbed the “Spanish Stonehenge” the site was covered in water back in the 1960s when a hydroelectric damn was built nearby. But with water supplies dwindling it has reemerged after decades have passed.
  • Land Rover Becomes Official Vehicle Partner for U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team: After unveiling the new Defender last week, Land Rover continues to make headlines this week by announcing that it has become the official vehicle partner of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard team. In doing so, it has also become the title sponsor for the Land Rover U.S. Alpine Ski Team, the Land Rover U.S. Grand Prix series, and presenting sponsor of the “Visa Big Air Presented by Land Rover” events.
  • Free Entry Into U.S. National Parks on September 28: Just a reminder that next Saturday, September 28, is National Public Lands Day, which means all U.S. National Parks will offer free entry. The parks will welcome more than 100,000 volunteers on that day to help with an enormous backlog of maintenance issues, but it is also a great time to visit these iconic destinations on the cheap.
  • The Reggie Ramble is the Next Big Thing in Gravel Racing: Gravel bikes are all the rage right now in cycling and so are gravel races. The next big event to join this trend is the Reggie Ramble, which takes place next weekend on September 28. The event is taking place in Warkworth, Ontario, Canada and features three individual courses of 65, 130, and 200 km (40, 80, 124 miles). Hundreds of riders are already signed up, but you can join the peloton here.

That’s all for this Friday! Much more coming next week.

Kraig Becker
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