ADVENTURING. A New Category of Outdoor Sport.

By Lisa Ballard

Honestly, I don’t have Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). During the summer, I just like to do a lot of things outdoors. Friends call my place, “Camp Lisa,” because a typical day includes a sunrise paddle, a hike or trail run before lunch, then a multi-mile bike ride to a local ice cream stand. We might cap the evening with a swim across the lake or a wildflower dog walk. (My dogs don’t like to lie around much either).

My work as an outdoor writer and photographer plays perfectly into my love (need?) to move, preferably on mountains and waterways. Take my assignment in May in New River Gorge National Park, in West Virginia. In two days, I sped across ziplines, balanced on a ropes course, whitewater rafted through the gorge, hiked to a clifftop for a spectacular view of the iconic New River Bridge, then dangled my LOWA Valetta’s over the river during a “bridge walk.”

Wearing a climbing harness and clipped to a cable that runs the length of a 3,000-foot-long, 18-inch-wide catwalk, I made my way across the steel guts of the bridge, under the roadway. Eighteen inches is plenty wide to walk naturally on the ground, but from 876 feet in the air, on steel scaffolding that vibrates with every truck rumbling overhead and sways with every gust of wind, it was a memorable adventure.

By no coincidence, the place where I stayed was called the ACE Adventure Resort, a 1,500-acre playground for adrenaline junkies. Founded by a couple of raft guides in the 1970s, it now offers 15 different heart-pumping pursuits.

At ACE, I had a revelation. Lots of people crave a range of outdoor activities, and like me, they’re better at some than others, and they’re game to try new things, like a bridge walk, so I coined a new category, “adventuring,” to describe this quest for multiple experiences.

I’m lifelong adventurer. Certainly, some of my adventures are singular, like trekking in a remote mountain range, but many are multi-sport, for which the hardest choice is what footwear to bring given limited luggage allowances. Lowa has that covered whether I’m backpacking in the Andes or snowshoeing in the Alps. For my trip to New River Gorge, my Valetta’s were the perfect choice. Big mileage and a heavy pack weren’t an issue, but I needed traction and comfort. And they sure looked good at the local coffee shop!