Go Outside With New Link To World Web
A new on-line service on the Internet’s World Wide Web is attempting to link everything from avalanche condition reports to reviews of the latest Gore-Tex rainwear. The web site, called Outside Online, is produced by Outside Magazine and Starwave Corp., a Seattle firm. The Internet address is http:/ /www.starwave.com/outside.
Other features eventually will allow cyberadventurers to read stories from magazine archives, swap information with other outdoors enthusiasts and even book a trek to Everest Base Camp.
It’s all enough to beg the question: Does the typical net-surfer ever pull away from the keyboard long enough to explore uncharted rivers? Or, conversely, does Indiana Jones know how to initialize a modem? “There’s a big crossover between computer users and outdoor people,” said Kate Delhagen, Starwave’s product manager. “They may be sitting in front of a screen all week, but on the weekends they’re out doing Eskimo rolls in their kayaks and bashing their knuckles on rock climbs.”
The Internet is heavily populated by 18- to 34-year-old males, a group that is well-represented among mountain bikers, cross country skiers and whitewater paddlers.
About 55 percent of Outside Magazine’s readers own home computers, according to publisher Larry Burke. The next generation of adventurers promises to be even more computer-literate. Internet surfers - and real surfers, for that matter - can jump from Outside Online to web sites maintained by the Appalachian Mountain Club, American Hiking Society, League of American Bicyclists and other groups.
Burke said his on-line service will eventually be connected to a far-flung network of other Internet sites maintained by local hiking clubs, national environmental organizations and sports associations.
He envisions a day when a climber on El Capitan might stop on a ledge, pull out a laptop, a modem and a cellular phone and down-load a list of pitons he needs for the next pitch. While he’s at it, he could check the weather forecast for the next 12 hours.
Those days are still quite a way off. Although much of the information in Outside Online is updated daily, the Sierra Nevada avalanche report available last week, for example, was two weeks old.
For the time being, the service is free. Eventually users will probably have to pay to log on.