Gadling

Costa Rica seems like a tropical paradise with stunning beaches, dense rain forests, and active volcanoes. In recent years, it has become a popular destination for those looking to lounge in luxury as well as adventure travelers looking for an adrenaline rush. But a shadow has fallen across this paradise, as a number of hikers have gone missing in recent months, all under strange circumstances, and that has left some wondering if there is a sinister plot at work.

In August of this year, American David Gimelfarb went to Costa Rica on a vacation, and disappeared while hiking in Parque National Rincon de la Vieja, a thick jungle that is popular amongst backpackers. Gimelfarb's rented vehicle was found at the trail head, but there has been no trace of the grad student.

One American disappearing in a dense Central American jungle seems tragic, but not necessarily unlikely. After all, this is a remote and rugged place, where one misstep could lead to disaster. But it seems that Gimelfarb isn't the only person to go missing in that area this year. A British journalist named Michael Dixon recently disappeared without a trace while vacationing in the Guanacaste province, and American Craig Snell went missing there back in February of this year as well. Australian Brendan Robbins also was also mssing in the same region several years back, but was eventually identified by forensic evidence.

Dixon's recent disappearance has turned a spotlight back on all the cases, and investigators now believe there may be a connection between each of these incidences. They're not saying exactly why they believe this yet, but they are proceeding as if each of the missing men are still alive.

So, what do you think? Are these disappearances some kind of conspiracy? Are they connected in some way? Or is just a strange coincidence? Are adventure travelers being kidnapped or just being careless while out hiking?

The new website PublicEarth may still be in beta, but it's already showing plenty of promise for travelers looking to find hidden travel gems and inside information for their next trip. The idea behind the site is that it is set up in a wiki format allowing contributors to share their experiences and favorite locations with others in a unique and interesting format.

PublicEarth is the brainchild of Duncan McCall, an avid adventure traveler who has explored the far corners of the globe. While on those travels, he would often meet up with other adventurers, and swap stories over a few beers, sharing tips and secret destinations. Those conversations proved invaluable in getting the most out of those journeys, and upon returning home to the U.S., McCall wanted to come up with a way to create that same experience for travelers everywhere. PublicEarth was born from that idea.

The website's concept is simple. The plan is to combine "location searching and place discovery" with well designed and easy to use tools that make it simple for travelers to not only sift through the content, but also share their own experiences as well. With nearly five million places already in the system, it is clear that the concept is already resonating with travelers, who are contributing as much as they are reading.

The National Park Service announced a major change to the way it will distribute permits for those seeking to camp over night in the Grand Canyon yesterday, with administrators saying the move will level the playing field, allowing for every applicant to have a the same opportunity to earn one of the highly sought after permits.

Each year, the Park Service makes 11,500 permits available to hikers, but they also averages more than 23,000 requests for those permits. This discrepancy has led to a highly competitive situation, in which people will actually camp outside the Grand Canyon permit office in order to be first in line on the day the permits become available. Those who cannot go in person are forced to fax in their applications, and with only one fax line, that can turn into an exercise in frustration. Worse yet, hikers without access to a fax machine have to mail in their applications, putting them even further behind those that can physically visit the office.

Beginning in February of 2010, the Park Service will no longer accept applications in person however, and everyone will be forced to apply via fax or mail. This process should, in theory, give all applicants the same opportunity to to earn one of the coveted permits.

Winter is still officially a month away, but the snow has already started to fly, and ski season is underway in a variety of locations across the U.S. With Thanksgiving nearly upon us, many skiers and snowboarders will hit the slopes for the first time this week, and many of them will be wondering where the best snow can be found. Fortunately, for them, The Adventure Life has compiled a complete list of all of the ski resorts in the U.S., offering suggestions on where to go from Alabama to Wyoming, and just about everywhere in between.

All told, there are 481 resorts on the list, ranging in size from a few snow covered hills with a rope tow, to massive mountain resorts with multiple runs and chair lifts up to places where the air is thin. The Adventure Life offers links to the website for nearly everyone of those resorts, and when ever possible, a second link to the latest snow reports from the hill as well. So, if you want to know what the current conditions are at Snowbird, in Utah, for instance, you could go to this site to find out that they currently have 17" of powder, with more expected in the days ahead.

For ski bums across the country, this is an invaluable list, with suggestions on where to ski no matter where they are. But for some industrious soul, it will no doubt be seen as a challenge as well. How long before someone sets out to ski every one of these 481 resorts?

Do you struggle with what to get your favorite ski bum for Christmas each year? Have plenty of cash, but unsure what to buy? Then you're in luck, as Utah ski resort Elk Meadows has gone on the Internet auction block, looking for a new owner. But you better have deep pockets, as the auction, which opened on Friday, has a minimum bid of $1 million.

Elk Meadows was originally designed to be an exclusive luxury ski and golf area, catering to an upscale clientele. But its location made it difficult to attract that crowd. While it is located in a very scenic area, with good ski runs and plenty of snow, it is more than four hours south of Salt Lake City, requiring visitors to bypass a number of other excellent options to hit the slopes. The resort closed its doors following the 2001-2002, averaging just 20,000 visitors per year.

The winner of the auction will likely get quite a bargain. Elk Meadows comes complete with six ski lifts, covering more than 1300 vertical feet. Reportedly, there are other pieces of infrastructure in place as well, but the company that is conducting the auction says that the resort will require a lot of work to get up and running again. Consider this investment property a "fixer-upper".

The bid deadline has been extended to 6 PM Mountain Time on Monday, in order to allow more potential buyers to consider purchasing the property. As of this writing, the highest bid is $1,051,000, and it is unclear if there are other interested parties who may make a move to grab the resort on the cheap. If you'd like to make a bid of your own, head over to LFC.com and get your Christmas shopping started early.

In recent years, one of the most popular destinations for adventure travelers has been Antarctica. The lure of visiting one of the most remote, and rugged places on the planet is a strong one for travelers who have already trekked, paddled, and climbed their way across the other six continents. But for the less adventurous traveler, it can be difficult to understand why someone would even want to venture so far south, and spend their vacation in an arctic environment.

U.K. newspaper The Independent is here to help both kinds of travelers with their guide to Antarctica, which is a well written and comprehensive look at what it's like to travel in and around the frozen continent, starting with the question "Why?". The article notes that last year just 38,200 people made the trip, most aboard luxury cruise ships, and part of the draw is that so few people get the opportunity to experience the stunningly beautiful, but desolate landscapes that are the hallmark of the place.

The travel guide also discusses such topics as the best places to begin your Antarctic voyage, recommending New Zealand, although Chile is a popular starting point as well. Readers are also given an overview of the terrain and what they can expected while cruising the icy waters of the Southern Ocean. The Independent even addresses the issues with ships running aground in recent years, noting that while there have been some high profile incidences, they remain rare, and steps have been taken to ensure the safety of tourists in the region.

This is an excellent article for those who are interested in making the trip to the southern end of the world or for those that just want to know what that type of voyage entails. Be prepared however, as there are few bargains when it comes to traveling to Antarctica.

November marks the beginning of the tourist season in the icy waters off the coast of Antarctica. It is mid-spring down south, and travelers with a sense of adventure, and plenty of cash, are heading to the frozen continent to get the opportunity to visit one of the last true frontiers on the planet, and possibly get a glimpse of Emperor Penguins while they're in the neighborhood too.

The past few years have been challenging ones for Antarctic cruise ships. In 2007, the MS Explorer sunk after hitting an iceberg, and last year two more ships ran aground while maneuvering through the treacherous waters. Fortunately no one was hurt in those incidences, although the sinking of the Explorer did create an ecological disaster when tens of thousands of gallons of fuel were released into the water.

With the 2009 tourist season barely underway, there has already been in incident in the Weddell Sea, off the coast of the Antarctic Peninsula, where a Russian icebreaker called the Captain Khlebnikov became trapped by ice for the better part of two days. The ship, which carries roughly 100 passengers, found itself stuck behind large icebergs when winds shifted, causing the ice to close all access to open waters. While the boat was never in any real danger, it was unable to continue along its intended route, preventing those aboard from following their intended itinerary.

Polar explorer Eric Larsen has just begun an epic adventure that will literally take him to the ends of the Earth over the course of the next year. Eric has set out on his Save The Poles Expedition, in which he plans to travel to the "three poles" within one calendar year. Those poles include the North and South of course, but also the summit of Everest, which is often referred to as the third pole in adventure circles.

The purpose behind Eric's Save The Poles campaign is to promote the use of alternative, clean energy sources as a method to reduce our carbon emissions. The environments in which he'll be traveling are fragile ones, and they are all being dramatically effected by global climate change in some profound ways. Larsen hopes that during his year-long journey he'll be able to collect data that helps demonstrate just how these places are changing.

The expedition officially got underway this week, when Eric, and two companions, set out from Patriot Hills in Antarctica for the South Pole. This will be the first leg of his journey, which is expected to take roughly 40 days, covering approximately 500 miles on skis. In the spring, he'll turn his sights north, and go after his second goal, the North Pole, which is another major arctic undertaking, but one that will be quite different from his Antarctic travels in some significant ways. Finally, next fall, he'll make his bid for the summit of Everest, during the post-monsoon climbing season, hoping to reach the summit of the highest mountain on Earth.

You can join Eric on his expedition by following along on his blog, where he has already made several audio dispatches from Antarctica, and he'll be keeping us abreast of his progress at every stage of the adventure.

Ever wanted to try a 100 year old Scotch chilled to perfection? Than listen up, this story is for you!

According to this article from the BBC, the New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust has announced plans to retrieve a pair of crates buried in the Antarctic ice following a failed attempted to reach the South Pole more than a century ago. The crates contain bottles of McKinlay and Co whiskey, and were first discovered back in 2006 beneath the remains of a hut built to shelter explorers from the harsh polar climate. That expedition, led by Ernest Shackleton, came within 97 miles of reaching the Pole before turning back, leaving equipment and supplies, including the whiskey, behind to lighten their load and speed their progress.

The Trust hopes to recover the whiskey, and restore the bottles, before placing them in another one of Shackleton's huts located on Cape Royd. The organization is slowly rebuilding that hut so that it exactly resembles the condition it was in when the famed explorer and his team set off on their epic journey.

Of course, the Trust isn't the only one interested in recovering the crates from the ice. Whyte and Mackay, the distiller that now owns the McKinlay whiskey brand, hopes to get their hands on a bottle as well. This particular blend has been out of circulation for decades, and they would like the opportunity to recreate it and beginning selling it again too.

Shackleton was one of the foremost polar explores of his day, and at the time of the expedition, he was locked in a desperate race to become the first man to reach the South Pole. He would eventually lose that race to Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen, but his exploits in the Antarctic would continue for years to come. In 1914 his ship, the Endurance, became trapped in the pack ice, and Shackleton and his crew spent 10 months at the mercy of the shifting ice. Eventually, the ship was crushed, and all hands were forced to abandon ship. It would be another five months before they were rescued, but not a single life was lost on the expedition, making it one of the greatest survival stories of all times, and cementing Shackleton's place in exploration history.

Way out west, in the Black Range Mountains of New Mexico, there is a quiet little ranch tucked away in the thick pine trees, where cowboys still ride the trails and rustic bunkhouses give guests a place to lay their head at the end of a busy day. That place is the Geronimo Trails Guest Ranch, an adventure resort that lets us live out our wild west dreams on horseback in a pristine setting.

Located four hours from both El Paso and Albuquerque, Geronimo Trails falls well off the grid. The ranch is 85 miles form the nearest stop light, with all power generated through the use of solar panels and water supplied from nearby streams. The area is so remote, that visitors may as well turn off their cell phones when they arrive, as coverage ends 70 miles back down the road.

This eco-conscious approach helps to give the ranch a quiet, serene setting, allowing guests to rest and soak in the rustic atmosphere. And when they're done relaxing, there are plenty of things to do as well. Situated on one of New Mexico's designated scenic byways, Geronimo Trail gives access to plenty of outdoor adventure. Whether you're on horseback or hiking on foot, you'll be able to follow in the footsteps of Billy the Kid, Butch and Sundance, and even Geronimo himself, while exploring mountain meadows and beautiful, wide open vistas. There are even Native American ruins to discover, with ancient cliff dwellings and caves with wall paintings to give travelers a glimpse into what this part of America was once like, before the settlers came west.