Pure Outside

I’ve been telling everyone I know that a friend and I are going to run the West Coast Trail this summer. The 75 km long run will be tough, including ladders, cable cars over rivers and a hell of a lot of elevation gain and loss. The inevitable question always comes up. Why? Most people [...]

Have you ever tried to find a specific piece of information about a trail? Have you ever looked for current conditions on a ridge where you’re going to go hiking? Have you ever needed to know when gates into a particular area are open or closed? It’s incredibly hard to find some of this information. [...]

Like in Tofino, Ucluelet is a great place to go to surf. Although they don’t have any hiking specific stores, it’s also a great place to launch to some great hikes in the area. Check out Ukee Bikes below to rent a bike to see the area. Surfing Relic Surf Shop Website | Directions | [...]

A new series of posts is coming to PureOutside. It’s called What is it? From all my time outdoors and working in an outdoor gear shop, I’ve spent a lot of time asking and answering the question, “What is it?” It might be about some piece of obscure climbing gear and someone doesn’t know a [...]

This post is from Chris Presslauer, a friend of mine I’ve known for a while. He recently returned to Vancouver Island after spending some time in Finland and had to get out to some local Island mountains. ———- This trip report is for Mt. 5040 which I hiked back on July 5th.  This hike has [...]

I introduced the idea of the Group Fitness Journal a few weeks ago.  It’s almost time. A few short notes about the Group Fitness Journal before we begin. Instead of always talking about the group fitness journal, and saying group fitness journal this and group fitness journal that, I’ve given it a name. It shall [...]

As the summer comes to a close, I look back on all the great adventures we had. The weather is still great and there’s tons of time to get out in the sunshine while you still can but the temperature is dropping and the days getting shorter. The summer brings out the races on Vancouver [...]

I can’t remember who came up with idea first. If it was my friend Ryan or if it was me. I have a feeling it was Ryan. I wouldn’t come up with something as crazy as running the Juan De Fuca trail with little long-distance running experience. The idea grew into a plan. Then an [...]

In July I had the chance to get up the modest peak of Gemini Mountain at 1516m. I’ve seen it many times from the neighbouring  Green Mountain but only now planned to hike it. If you haven’t been to Green or Gemini yet, you should plan a trip out there as soon as you can. [...]

Finding the motivation to get outside and moving around on a regular basis is hard. It’s even harder when it’s dark outside, the weather sucks, you’re tired and have a lot to do. The easiest way to be active regularly is to make it a habit. If you’re trying to work out, run or bike [...]