Cathleen Calkins

It's six p.m. on the first Saturday in April, and the Thompson Pass, AK parking lot is a ghost town. Save for a dozen tents, RVs and construction trailers tucked beneather the famous spines and faces of Chugach snow and rock, the place is deserted. But as the clock pushes closer to seven, Tailgaters begin to trickle back to camp like bees to a hive.

T he sun glints off Cook Inlet as the pilot maneuvers the Boeing 757 toward Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport. It’s 4 o’clock on a September afternoon in 2010, but it feels earlier. As we approach, I glimpse three of Alaska’s big peaks – Hunter, Foraker, and Mount McKinley, also known as Denali. I am about to embark on a 17-day road trip to get to know Alaska and its Rotarians. I’ll drive almost 900 miles, much of it on two-lane highways. I’ll cross mountain passes guarded by peaks permanently encased in snow and ice. I’m told nothing is subtle in Alaska.

The descent from Thompson Pass to Valdez is one of Alaska’s most stunning roadways. The Richardson Highway follows a single switchback on a high plateau, where views of glacial fields abound, before dropping into Keystone Canyon, a narrow slice wide enough for a two-lane highway and the Lowe River.

After passing through Lucerne Valley's dust, we drive up the northern flank of the San Bernardino Mountains in California on a road unremarkable but for corkscrew curves. However, boredom vanishes as we pop out at an overlook and pause to watch the early evening light illuminate Gold Mountain. Cumulus clouds are painted by strokes of red, purple and electric orange. Dark tones accent their underbellies as the Big Bear Valley comes into view. We're here to explore a lively arts scene in the mountain crest communities, and I realize the setting has provided inspiration to those artists.

Ignoring looks from other passengers, we lug heavy packs and drag skis behind us down bus 204s narrow aisle. My partner, Scott, hads the driver a note written in Cyrillic. It asks that he let us off at the 208th killometer of the only road connecting the south end of Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula with its northern territory. The driver grunts a response and motions for Scott to find a seat. It's at the end of this ride where we hope to find ours: a climb and ski on Bakening, the 7,467-foot extinct volcano located in central Kamchatka.

The Russian carrier Vladivostok Air plans to start flying between Siberia and the United States in July, the only direct service between the two regions.

When Tatiana Klepikova first met fellow Siberians Ariana Reida and Andrei Suknev, the conversation turned to the 1,200-mile trail Reida and Suknev were helping to construct around the world’s oldest and largest freshwater lake, Lake Baikal. But it wasn’t until Klepikova, then a member of the Rotary Club of Irkutsk-Baikal, recounted their chat to Vladimir Donskoy, 2004-05 governor of District 5010, that the idea of a club with an ecological focus was born.

Think taking an outdoor activity online doesn’t make sense? Think again. As with many other outdoor activities and sports, gravitating toward an online social network hub or forum seems to be the trend. This is true even with the active pursuit of hiking. Alex Genadink, founder of the new hiking website ComeHike.com, is betting his site might be your next hiking destination.

One of the newest trends in outdoor adventure clothing design is the hybrid down. Perhaps inspired by the hybrid car, the new version of down offers the same amount of warmth in a trimmed down sportier model. Columbia Sportswear is leading the charge with its new Reach the Peak down hybrid jacket.

When I found out I was going to gear test Columbia Sportswear’s shell offerings for a heli-ski trip I was planning, I had mixed feelings. I love gear but I wasn’t sure I would love Columbia’s. I even questioned my friend Randy on a morning mountain bike ride. Without prejudice I asked, “When I mention the brand Columbia what immediately comes to mind?” His reaction was the same as mine – words like heavy, non-technical, and entry-level spilled from his lips. Then the jackets – the Women’s Peak Power shell and the Men’s Peak 2 Peak shell – arrived at my doorstep and I was forever changed. This is not your neophyte-neighbor’s outdoor wear.

Content for award-winning vacation planner for years 2007 and 2008.

Kali Kopley, proprietress of Uncorked and Soupa, both located in the Village at Squaw Valley, is adding a third way to enjoy food and wine this winter. Her new enterprise, Petra, is set to open December 18 in The Village at Northstar. Located across from The North Face and next to Burton on the corner of Gondola Way and Copper Lane, Petra, like Uncorked, will be a wine bar and retail sales outlet. But Kopley is adding a food element this time around. The menu will feature Mediterranean tapas, or small plates. Because Kopley loves the winter experience, she decided on The Village at Northstar because “it is happening.” Not to mention her Uncorked concept is a successful mainstay in the Village at Squaw Valley.

As warmer temps signal summer is close, it’s hard not to notice the growing number of people abandoning the treadmill for a run outdoors. It’s a migration we can count on every spring. But if you are new to running or have never run, the thought of joining all these other runners on the same sidewalks or trails can be intimidating. Rightfully so: Especially if you are on the outside looking in. That’s why we’re posting six great reasons our VIPs have suggested you should take up running this summer; we want you on the inside track so you’ll have no regrets come September.