Photo by Johnie Gall

So as it turns out, I like climbing. A lot. Enough to finally surrender the little boy’s harness I’ve been using for the past year and invest in something that’s made for me rather than my nephew. My only regret now that I’ve shelled out the money for Petzl’s revered Luna harness is waiting so long to do it.

The Function

I’m dipping my toes into a wide pool of climbing activities and plan on getting more serious about ice climbing and mountaineering, so I was looking for a multifaceted harness that even pros count on and, lucky for me, athletes like Sasha DiGiulian and Chris Sharma are fans of Petzl’s harnesses. The 2013 version of the Luna is super-lightweight and more thought-out than ever, and was constructed to perform whether you’re on the rock wall, picking at some ice, or falling (which I do plenty of).

The Fit

Unlike my little boy’s harness, the Luna was made to fit my body, meaning the distance between the waist belt and the leg loops was increased and the curve of the belt enhanced. The leg loop ratio was adjusted, and the belt is designed to be wider where you need extra support and thinner where you need unrestricted movement. The harness is made with an EndoFrame, meaning the belt and leg loops have double webbing for even load distribution. In other words: when you fall, it won’t hurt like hell.

Photo by Johnie Gall

The Details

The Luna was reinvented with DoubleBack aluminum buckles, which are lightweight and easy to adjust (I can’t tell you how happy that makes me). The gear loops are probably my favorite part—the harness has two rigid loops for gear toward the front of the harness for easy access to equipment, while flexible loops in the back of the belt are positioned to avoid creating pressure points when you have a pack on. Smart!

The Look

I’m a sucker for anything turquoise, and the cool blue and gray color combo of this harness is easy on the eyes. The harness is sleek, uncomplicated, feminine, and comfortable. After a year in a harness so old I could barely adjust the waist, I’m in climber’s paradise with the Petzl Luna.

MSRP $74.95, backcountry.com.

The change in music as Officer James gets out of his car to guide the mother duck and her ducklings off to the side of the road is priceless.

In case you missed it, the video reveals that the duck family was safely escorted to water in a ditch and swam away.

Well done, Officer James, well done.

Not surprising is the subtitle revealing that the traffic violator swam away, too. But what the heck is that white car doing passing a parked police car by going over a double-double line? And why didn’t a new pursuit begin?

Growing up in Arizona, Sierra Blair-Coyle frequented the local outdoor mall. Unlike most young girls, however, it wasn’t the promise of a new pair of jeans that drew her there—it was a rock-climbing wall. At age 8, Blair-Coyle began climbing routes that would eventually lead to a spot on her local climbing gym’s team and send her hurtling toward a career as competitive rock climber. And make no mistake: Sierra climbs to win. She was the youngest qualifier for the 2010 World Cup and just last year placed seventh at the 2012 American Bouldering Series Nationals. There’s no doubt about it: the 19-year-old Arizona State University sophomore is having a moment.

“My biggest professional goal is to help climbing become more mainstream,” Blair-Coyle tells Grind, noting that there’s been an increase in climbers over the past few years. And perhaps it has something to do with Sierra, who certainly seems to have captured the attention of other young, female climbers. And why not? The stunning blonde—who prefers to climb in shorts and a sports bra, a ribbon in her hair—looks like your average college student. She gives an intimidating sport a friendly face and an “if I can do it, so can you” approachability, a combination that makes her a perfect ambassador for Roxy’s Outdoor Fitness collection, an opportunity that allows her to share her climbing knowledge through blog posts for the surfwear brand and partake in photo shoots in remote locations.

“The highlight of my career was deep-water soloing in Maui,” Blair-Coyle says of her most recent jaunt with the Roxy team. “Roxy has given me so many incredible opportunities, like attending photo shoots [and] visiting the headquarters.”

Catalog shoots aside, Blair-Coyle has some serious goals on the horizon—and a serious training plan to help attain them: “My average week is crazy,” she explains. “When school is in session, I usually strength train in the morning and climb after class. I’ll climb and train for two days, then take a rest day.” With a few difficult climbs—a V9 and a 5.13 route—under her belt, Blair-Coyle has every right to keep her feet in the gym and her eye on gold, a looming reality if the Olympic Committee votes her way. “I would love for climbing to become an Olympic sport,” she says. “I will be the first athlete there trying out for the team.”

We’re keeping our eyes fixed on the podium.

Follow Johnie Gall on Twitter.

Surf photographer Tim Nunn and surfer Ian Battrick are tougher than you. The duo spent months snow camping in the Canadian wilderness, scouring Iceland’s remote coastline for surf, exploring the fjords of Norway, and hunting icy slabs in Scotland—all in the name of adventure.

The takeaway? Six years in the making, a new coffee table book titled “Numb” is a frigid chronicle of Nunn and Battrick’s cold-water surf adventures. The stories and photographs within are not for the faint of heart—or warm-blooded—and include professional surfers Timmy Turner, Chris Noble, Raph Bruhwiler, Eric Ramsey, Sepp Bruhwiler, Josh Mulcoy, Pete Devries, Noah Cohen, Toby Atkins, Ryan Turner, and others.

“For those hardy enough to actually do it, ‘Numb’ is perhaps a blueprint—or at least inspiration—for radical, off-the-map surf adventures,” said Alex Dick-Read, founding editor of The Surfer’s Path.

While 6 millimeters of rubber may sound like serious armor to surfers used to boardshorts and the warm-water surf-trip hazard of razor-sharp coral, “Numb” proves that even the thickest wetsuit doesn’t offer much protection from run-ins with bears, cougars, and killer whales.

The pages of the book overflow with stunning imagery from some of the world’s coldest and most remote coastlines, interspersed with adventure stories spawned by the treacherous surf missions and wildlife encounters behind the photos.

A former photo editor at Wavelength, Europe’s longest-running surf magazine, Tim Nunn grew up surfing in the frigid waters of the North Sea and is now a freelance surf/adventure photographer and writer.

The limited-edition hardbound book is more than 200 pages and can be purchased at www.lunasurf.co.uk.

Certainly it is when it comes to the sport of kayaking and two 12-year-olds who are paddling beyond their years.

Sage Donnelly of Carson City, Nevada, and Henry Hyde of Denver, Colorado, have much in common besides their age and sport of choice. They compete and often beat adult competition, they have realistic aspirations of competing in the 2016 Summer Olympics, and they have conquered waterfalls, having gone where most kids their ages don’t even dream of going at age 9, let alone at age 12.

We caught up with the preteens for a Q@A about running waterfalls, something of a rarity among kayakers their age:

Sage Donnelly running Tellico River

Sage Donnelly

How old were you when you kayaked over your first waterfall, how big a drop was it, and where was it? I ran Graduation Falls in San Marcos, Texas, at the age of 8, which I think is about 15 feet.

How nervous were you as you approached the waterfall? I wasn’t really nervous because I watched my friend Chelsea run it first without any trouble.

What was that experience like? Super fun! I ran it several times!

What has been the biggest waterfall you’ve kayaked over? I have run several 15- to 20-foot straight waterfalls, including Brush Creek, Pauley Creek, and the Tellico River, but the 35-foot dam/ramp on the Feather River was the biggest drop.

Can you name all the waterfalls (with heights) you’ve done? Federal Falls on Pauley Creek, between 15 and 20 feet; Brush Creek, 20 feet; Tellico River, Baby Falls, 15 feet; Big Bend Dam, 35 feet. [Video below shows Donnelly at age 9 following her father down Big Bend Dam.]

RELATED: “Going Over and Staying In” Canoe & Kayak’s list of the largest waterfalls run where kayakers stayed in their boats

What’s more fun, going over a waterfall or competing? They are equal! I like waterfalls because they’re exciting and exhilarating, and I like competing for the same reasons, plus I get to see a lot of my friends I don’t see the rest of the year.

Sage Donnelly running Brush Creek

Is there a waterfall you hope to one day conquer? If so, which one and how tall? Maybe Pit River Falls on the Pit River in Fall River Mills, California. It is a 30-footer that’s pretty clean, but there are still consequences that I’m not willing to risk yet. I know of several broken paddles and a few helicopter rescues from it.

When you tell your schoolmates about kayaking waterfalls, what kind of reactions do you get? They think I’m crazy! I actually speak to a lot of schools about kayaking and being outdoors, and my waterfall videos usually get the biggest responses.

How surprised are they that you kayak? Most people know I kayak; it’s the waterfalls and Class 5 runs that shock them the most. I always have a lot of safety and perfect levels—and people—when I run harder stuff the first few times.

When did you start kayaking, and when did you start competing? I started kayaking at the age of 2 in a tandem kayak with my dad, and was in my own boat doing Class 2 rivers at age 5. I started running down river races at age 6, and I learned to roll at 7, and started freestyle competitions at that point.

Henry Hyde

How old were you when you kayaked over your first waterfall, how big a drop was it, and where was it? I think the biggest I have done is 25 feet, but my first one was 18 feet. There is video of it out on YouTube. I was 8 or 9 when I did it. It was in San Marcos, Texas. They call it Graduation Falls. [Video of this descent is below.]

How nervous were you as you approached the waterfall? I wasn’t really nervous about it too much. I was more nervous about—would I roll my boat up and not look like an idiot.

What has been the biggest waterfall you’ve kayaked over? The 25-foot one I did is called Adrenaline Falls. It’s on Lime Creek, north of Durango, Colorado. I was 10 years old when I did that one. That one is pretty technical as you have a 6-foot drop into the slot for the main waterfall. The waterfall is pretty easy, and it’s a deep pool for the landing. The hard part is hitting the 6-footer right and tucking your paddle tight as the slot is not even 5 feet wide. At the bottom of the 6-footer are two folding waves that try to knock you onto one edge of the boat or the other, so you kind of have to fight that. 

Henry Hyde during a competition

What’s more fun, going over a waterfall or competing? I definitely prefer competing over waterfalls these days. [Hyde admitted that after a couple friends got hurt, he doesn’t do waterfalls as much nowadays.] I am working hard toward the U.S. Olympic Team trials for slalom in 2016. A gold medal in the Olympics means a whole heck of a lot to me, and it would mean even more to my country.

Is there a waterfall you hope to one day conquer? If so, which one and why? I suppose there is one waterfall I’d like to do. Well, it’s more like a whole bunch of them. They’re on the Micos, El Salto, and Santa Maria rivers in Mexico. Almost all of them are big with nice soft landings. These are the kinds of waterfalls that you can do tricks off of and the water is warm.

When you tell your schoolmates about kayaking waterfalls, what kind of reactions do you get? Most of my classmates are pretty shocked and amazed by what I do in canoe and kayak. The school administration has been pretty cool about letting me have time off to compete. I usually get lots of homework to take with me, too. I just got back from Europe. I spent two weeks in Spain and France racing in the Pyrenees Cup, an ICF Slalom World Cup rankings race series at La Seu d’Urgell, Spain, and Foix and Pau in France. I’m only 12, so there was no way I was making the podium. I was racing against the world’s best slalom paddlers. But I got to hang out with people like Tony Estanguet and Jessica Fox, both gold medalists in slalom at the 2012 London Games. You can really learn a lot from watching those two run a course. It also gave me a much more thoughtful approach to what I was doing. Besides, how many 12-year-old kids can say they raced on Olympic and World Cup race courses?

How surprised are they that you kayak? The interesting thing with my friends and schoolmates are their parents. They instinctively think “OMG, that’s so dangerous!” In reality, what I do on the water is way safer than what I do on the football field in the fall. Football has a higher incidence of concussions than kayak ever could possibly have.

Photos courtesy of Sage Donnelly and Henry Hyde.

Thanks to Gearjunkie for tip. 

Photo of Dora is courtesy of Sheldon Nicolle

Dora is a peregrine falcon and, as you will see in the bird’s-eye-view video below, she is quite the hunter.

Sheldon Nicolle, an expert falconer who has been hunting with trained raptors for more than 10 years, decided to attach a camera to Dora’s back and let her hunt.

“As a falconer who has trained and hunted with several different hawks and a falcon, I have always wondered what it would be like to take a ride on the back of a raptor,” Nicolle wrote in an email to GrindTV Outdoor. “The beauty of the outdoors from 1,000 feet or more, the thrill of the chase, the mind-numbing stoops, twists, and turns a raptor can make while pursuing their quarry–I just wanted to experience a hunt from their perspective.

“Having the privilege of witnessing a raptor pursue game with a front-row seat is unparalleled–it’s a window to nature.”

Now you can look through that window, too, thanks to Nicolle’s YouTube video. We pick up the video at the 2:35 mark. At 2:50, Dora suddenly goes into a dive-bomb and sounds like a jet swooping down. It is shown in slow motion, too:

What you see is the view from behind the falcon’s head. If you watch the entire video, you can see the falcon’s head turning every once in a while.

Dora took numerous flights with the camera before this footage was captured.

“After numerous flights, all incredible in their own right, I finally captured a successful hunt where Dora took a drake gadwall (male duck) in a style that is truly characteristic of a peregrine falcon—a breathtaking stoop, followed by the punch with a clenched fist that will typically kill the prey on impact,” Nicolle told GrindTV Outdoor. “I typically trade Dora what she’s caught, in this case the duck, for a garnished lure. When I get home, I’ll breast out the duck for myself and the rest is saved for Dora to eat later. It’s truly a hunting partnership.”

Falconry, in case you didn’t know, is “defined as the art and sport of hunting with a trained raptor,” Nicolle, a resident of Denton, Texas, explained. “I’ve heard people call it ‘extreme bird watching,’ but it is really much more than that. It is having a love of nature, it is enjoying the outdoors, it is appreciating and respecting the raptors we employ and the prey that we pursue, and it is understanding the rules and laws that govern the sport—it’s a lifestyle. It is not a gun you oil up and put in the cabinet till next season. It is a sport that teaches patience, it teaches responsibility, it’s a passion.”

Runway 10 begins right at the edge of the Maho Beach, so arriving aircraft must begin their final approach over water, startling sunbathers. Image by Beauty

Depending on how you look at it, Maho is either a beach with a lot of air traffic or a runway with a lot of sunbathers. Princess Juliana International Airport’s runway 10 begins just about where the sand ends at narrow Maho Beach on the Dutch side of the Caribbean island of Saint Martin. Planes make their final approach over the water, buzzing beachgoers and generating mini-sandstorms as their jet engines blast past. It makes for a jaw-dropping juxtaposition as bikini-clad sunbathers bask in the shadow of 747s floating a few hundred feet above.

The bars and restaurants have embraced the airport vibe with airline arrivals and departure times listed alongside drink specials and air traffic control chatter piped through speaker systems. Despite the danger, no serious mishap has occurred at the airport since 1972. In an effort to maintain that safety record, additional security fences have recently been installed to deter thrill seekers from trying to experience those jet engines up close. Idling jets regularly wash the beach in 100 mph winds, effectively keeping it groomed and free of vegetation. Check out this beach blanket runway below.

Daily airline timetables are listed outside local bars and restaurants, some of which also broadcast control tower radio traffic. Image by WikiCommons

Despite the obvious dangers, the airport hasn’t experienced a major mishap since 1972. Image by WikiCommons

The curious airport was featured in Microsoft Flight Simulator X. Image by WikiCommons

The constant jet engine blasts effectively groom the beach and prevent vegetation growth. Image by PO BAG 1

Additional fences have been installed to deter daredevils from trying to experience jet engines up close. Image by HaMe RaNG

Large jet engines can generate winds in excess of 100 mph for more than 200 feet in their wake. Image by WikiCommons

The History Channel program “Most Extreme Airports” ranked Princess Juliana the fourth-most dangerous airport in the world. Image by HaMe RaNG

James Bramlett poses with 69-pound, 9-ounce striped bass, a catch that is now officially a world record. Photo by Joe Songer/Al.com

James Bramlett, an Alabama angler who caught a mammoth striped bass in late February after his ailing wife had persuaded him to go fishing, has learned that his catch has been approved as a world record.

James Bramlett, 65, landed the 69-pound, 9-ounce striper in Alabama’s Black Warrior River after a 25-minute struggle.

The catch, weighed on a certified scale, exceeds the previous landlocked striped bass record, set in 1959, by 15 pounds.

Joe Songer of AL.com met with Bramlett soon after the catch and took the photo that accompanies this post.

Songer also broke the news this week that Bramlett was notified by the International Game Fish Association about his record submission being approved in the landlocked striped bass category.

For the sake of comparison, the overall all-tackle record (not landlocked) is an 81-pound, 14-ounce striper caught in Long Island Sound off Connecticut in 2011.

Bramlett’s striper measured 44.1 inches long and boasted a girth of 37.75 inches.

Songer’s photo is an eye-catcher, and when we posted a story about the catch in early March several people commented that the image looked fake because there’s no way Bramlett could have held up so large a fish so easily.

If you look closely, though, the fish is hanging on a stringer, and Bramlett is merely standing alongside the fish.

View Surfer magazine’s incredible photo gallery from opening day at Teahupoo

In the end, wave-of-the-day honors have to go to Koa Rothman, who pulled into what appears to be one of the biggest tubes ever photographed. He didn’t emerge, but he did survive. How he managed to escape is still unclear, because a closer look at the massive wall of ocean that swallowed him seems to surely equal death. Scientists should study it. Of course, there were some other notable standouts, including Raimana Van Bastolaer, Alain Riou, Wade Goodall, and all-around big-wave-big-water-big-shark slayer Mark Healey, whose paddle-in to multi-pump in the pit rides were things of beauty. But enough smoke blowing. Watch for yourself.

A German fisherman and his group were just about to give up after a slow and unproductive day of fishing off the Norwegian island of Soroya when a huge, world-record fish changed their plans.

Michael Eisele of Kiel, Germany, hooked into a monster Atlantic cod that had his knees shaking when the fish breached the surface after having battled it for more than 30 minutes.

So big was the fish, two of Eisele’s friends kept ahold of him for fear he’d be pulled overboard. The fisherman also needed help from the two to heave the behemoth fish onto the boat.

The fish was 5 feet long and weighed a whopping 103 pounds, making it the biggest cod ever landed by a recreational angler. If approved by the International Game Fish Association as a world record, the fish would supplant the current world record of 98 pounds, 12 ounces, caught 44 years ago off New Hampshire.

“It was an indescribable feeling,” Eisele told the UK Daily Mail. “It was a fish of a lifetime. I am a little proud to have the record.”

To give an idea how impressive the catch was, consider that the record for the biggest cod caught in British waters is 58 pounds.

The UK Telegraph reported that an owner of two fish-and-chip shops calculated that a fish the size of Eisele’s record fish would provide 200 portions of the iconic British meal.

But the fish won’t be headed to anybody’s plate. Eisele is donating the cod to the Norwegian Fisheries Museum in Bergen where it will be stuffed and mounted for all the world to see.

Photos used by permission of Michael Eisele