Remember when Outside magazine was about adventure sports and not trying to be the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue?

Lindsey Vonn in a bathing suit on the February cover of Outside magazine elicited no surprise responses around the office. The women were annoyed, the men delighted.

When did Outside stop being about adventure sports and start being a cross between Maxim and the Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue?

The ski racer — remember, she skis for a living! — is holding a jump rope like it’s a whip, and showing way more cleavage than, as one co-worker put it, “you would ever see in ski wear.” Inside, she’s photographed in a pseudo-dominatrix outfit.

I took my teenage daughter to ski with Vonn last winter as part of Vonn’s Ski Girls Rock program at Vail and was delighted at the way she took the time to connect with young ladies who want to bond, build confidence and develop teamwork and social skills.

It’s worth noting that she started the program because, as she said at the time, “Having good role models makes a difference.”

I have to say that I hope neither of my daughters ever appears under the headline “60 Perfect Things,” even if they are the #1 “thing.”

Kyle Wagner is the editor of the Travel and OutWest sections at The Denver Post.

Kyle Wagner

More than 1,800 people registered to run in the first Commitment Day event held Jan. 1 in Denver.

Getting up before, say, noon on New Year’s Day isn’t most people’s idea of a good time, but running a 5K at 9 a.m. on Jan. 1 turned out to be the perfect way to start 2013.

This was the first Commitment Day run (commitmentday.com) put on by Life Time Fitness, which rolled out in Denver and 25 other cities last week, with 39,016 signed up to run nationwide, according to Lauren Flinn, public relations specialist for Life Time. More than 1,500 were said to have actually shown up in Denver, but 1,820 had registered, with a portion of their $39 fee going toward a handful of charities (you could also waive your registration and instead enter by fundraising a larger entry fee for charity).

As usual, groups in tutus and other costumes turned out to have a good time, and it wasn’t a race, so families were walking with strollers and. My family — including one teen who began under some protest but ended smiling — ran the whole way if only to stay warm in the starting temperature of 18 degrees.

A couple of things I really liked about this event: First, even though we could pick up our bibs ahead at Runners Roost, the T-shirts could be obtained only by finishing. So when you see the gray shirt with a big orange “C” on it, they did it. Second, committing to the year of fitness doesn’t have to end with the run — Life Time offers 365 days of commitment. If you aren’t a member of one of their gyms, you can still participate in the Commitment Weekends, which offer things like yoga challenges that are open to the public.

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AFP PHOTO / Jose Dominguez Barre

Denverites Michael Bermel and Kaitlin Pianowski were treated like celebrities in Cancun International Airport when Pianowski was the 14 millionth passenger through.

Denver residents Kaitlin Pianowski and Michael Bermel knew their trip to Cancun was going to be “magical,” they say, but they never expected it to be this special.

As they were checking in for their flight home at Cancun International Airport yesterday, they were informed by the gate agent that they were going to be upgraded to First Class. Why? Because the computer had determined that Pianowski was the 14 millionth passenger in 2012.

“We were in shock,” Pianowski says. “We were led to security, where we met the director of tourism, the director of sales for the airport, and the director of the Cancun Airport. A woman then appeared dressed in traditional clothing with a banner congratulating me on being the 14 millionth passenger.”

Afterward the couple — who had spent a week in Cancun to celebrate their 16-month anniversary — were escorted through security, where a mariachi band awaited and news media had gathered to take photos and video and interview them.

“They led us into the main terminal and presented us with gifts and a plaque,” Pianowski says. “We were then told we would receive an all-expenses-paid vacation to return to Cancun, paid for by the airport.”

She was also presented with a Mayan calendar and asked to sign a “message of hope” for future generations, to be preserved in a time capsule. Her message reads: “My hope is to have health, wealth and happiness for all families, friends and people you love in the whole world. Peace to all countries and Cancun and prosperity for all countries as well, with much love Kaitlin.”

Cancun is reporting that the 14 million passengers for 2012 surpasses last year’s record of 13.6 million, and is in part attributable to the focus on the Mayan region, the new era for which begins today (and is being marked by parties in some parts of the world). Mexican Caribbean Hoteliers – which includes Quintana Roo and the Yucatan – reported a 10 percent increase in bookings this season over last year.

Although Pianowski and Bermel say the Maya events were not the motivation for their trip, they understand the fascination with the culture and have always enjoyed their previous visits to Mexico.

“It was a tremendous honor to be the one to get to do that,” Pianowski says. “It was very overwhelming and an exciting experience to say the least.”

Kyle Wagner is the editor of the Travel and OutWest sections at The Denver Post.

Dean Krakel

Looking down the cirque. Pikes Peak.

Now whose bright idea was this—Tom Brown and I trudging up the Barr Trail with heavy packs on a cold winter night?

“Help! Help!” A woman’s quavering voice in the darkness. “Help me. Pllllleeeease help!” She sounds desperate, distant, panicked.

“She may have fallen” T.B. conjectures. “Or worse….”

Ever on the lookout for a distressed damsel we flick our headlamps on, scan beams over rocks and pines. Shine them over the drop-off below us. Nothing.

“If you’re human please respond,” the voice wails.

“Hey!” I yell. “We’re human!”

“#@%@$@#%!!!!” She screams. “I thought you were a #&^#@$#* mountain lion!”

How could anyone confuse our heavy footed progress with a lion’s soft stalking?

“Mountain lions don’t make noise,” I yell back. Probably not very comforting to whoever she is. Wherever she is. Out there. Somewhere. No response. Good. A rescue would have screwed things up.

Turning the headlamps off T.B and I proceed onward and upward. A fat slice of silver moon illuminates the trail. Pikes Peak looms hard against the star lit sky. Getting to the top of that big thing–that’s the goal.
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This is my mom. At the pyramids of Giza, just outside traffic-filled Cairo. Photo by Ricardo Baca, The Denver Post

It’s such a surreal experience — standing at the foot of the Great Pyramid of Giza. Breathing the thick air, the sand beneath your feet and the sculpted rock under the weight of your hands. Taking it all in — three pyramids within throwing distance of modern urban sprawl. Registering the immensity, the antiquity. Questioning the impossibility of such an ancient feat. And, of course, fending off the relentless tout who really wants to sell you 10 postcards for six Egyptian pounds (about $1).

We did it. My 75-year-old mom and I tripped to post-revolution Egypt for two weeks, and we saw everything we wanted to see. Initially I was surprised my mom was into the trip. Then we planned it out, with the help of a savvy, backpacker-friendly travel agent — even as friends and family (concerned for our safety) tried talking us out of the trip.

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Ricardo Baca

Trip planning can be a blast. It can also be stressful. Guidebooks are a great starting place regardless.

Everybody has their own unique style of travel, right? It’s why people like to say, “If you travel well with somebody, you’ll be just fine when you _____________.” (Fill in the blank, really — “get married,” “move in together,” etc.)

For those playing catch-up, I recently got back from my first trip to the Middle East — two weeks with my girlfriend in Israel and Turkey, and two weeks in Egypt with my 75-year-old mom. This blog series is about the latter half of this trip.

Mom and I travel well together, but we do have different styles. I’m a backpacker — crowded bus terminals, on-the-fly decisions, hilarious amounts of discomfort and all. Surely if my mom were 40 years younger, she’d be into the comedy of 25-hour bus rides and dorm sleeping accommodations in gun-filled train station basements. But my mom isn’t a backpacker, and while she doesn’t need four-star hotels, she prefers to have a western toilet attached to her room.

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The author in a big gust of wind. Mt. Shavano. Sean Krakel

Damn this wind, I think, just as a thunderous roaring gust nearly knocks me off my feet–nearly blows me backwards off Mt. Shavano’s 14,229-foot summit. A quick boulder clutch with mittened hands saves me but in the process I gouge my knee on a pointed rock — you know, bang it in that really special place.

“Ouch,” I say, feeling dizzy, pressing my face against the boulder’s icy shoulder. Well maybe not “ouch,” but something like that.

“Winter’s coming,” my son Sean says, face buried in a hooded parka, oblivious to his father’s pain. “We better get down.”

Storm clouds swirl around us. Pellets of wind whipped snow rattle against our clothing. I’m wondering if I can even walk with the painful twinge in my knee. The bite valve on my hydration bladder is frozen solid.

Today is my birthday. I am 60 years old.

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Check out these two short videos about Daniel Suelo, who has lived without money in a cave near Moab, Utah for over 10 years. It’s an interesting study in economics, homelessness and personal philosophy.

The first one’s above; the second one’s here.

[/media-credit] Singletrack trail beneath autumn aspen trees on the east side of Kenosha Pass near Jefferson.

What’s the coolest Colorado thing to do in October? Well, okay, the second coolest thing?

Running amok among the autumn leaves, that’s what!

Enough of blossoms and flowers and green leaves and pitter-patter panting down a trail in shorts and t-shirt. Time to don the tights and jacket, suck in some frosty air and go for the gold. Or yellow. Or red. Or brown. Or orange. The high country is a kaleidoscope of color right now and what better way to see it then on a trail run?

How else to feel the crunch of fallen leaves and pine needles underfoot, to enjoy the weird, wild light filtering through leaves and forest, to smell the pungent scent of decay, to hug aspens and be one with the wind and the willows?

Julie Engel going strong at mile 18. Georgia Pass. Dean Krakel.

Past the prime viewing you say? Not really. Not yet. There’s still time. I know. I’ve been out there ummmm… doing research. And anyway, I prefer my leaf viewing past the prime. Fewer tourists.

I’m not going to list my entire favorite close to Denver places here. That’d be a long list and many of those trails are short: Three Sisters and Elk Meadow Open Space Park near Evergreen; Beaver Ranch near Conifer. Places I’m at all the time. Because I live close by. Would it be worthwhile to drive up from Denver to visit them? Hmmmm. Depends on much your while is worth I guess.

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This is absolutely adorable.

And just dead-on, if you’ve ever navigated a mountain bike down a narrow trail.