Place Name: First Place Contestant Name: AARP The Magazine Entry Title: Crossing the Ocean with Dad, by Oliver Broudy Entry Credit: Oliver Broudy Judge Comment: This is a profound and moving story in addition to a detailed look at one of the more novel adventures submitted: sailing the Atlantic Ocean. The trip felt urgent and necessary due to the father’s progressing cancer, and the father’s and the author’s inexperience lent an anxious energy to the story. Bookended nicely by an exciting in-the-middle-of-the-plot introduction and poignant, tear-inducing conclusion.
Place Name: Second Place Contestant Name: Outside Entry Title: Working in Antarctica Was Mindless Boredom. Until I Found a Pair of Skis. Entry Credit: Leath Tonino Judge Comment: Antarctica makes for an extreme setting, and Leath Tonino goes on more than simply a vacation there. He goes there for the sake of adventure itself, a chance at self-discovery as much as trodding largely untouched land. The result is a deep, often hilarious story that is layered in its adventure. But as the reality of the frozen nothingness revealed itself, the story highlights the freedom outdoor adventure sports provide us, the escape and meaning they provide.
Place Name: Third Place Contestant Name: SFGate Entry Title: I hiked Mount Whitney, the highest point in California — in a single day Entry Credit: Suzie Dundas Judge Comment: The author highlights the impressive feat through a nice mixture of measured reflections on the accomplishment and her diary-like entries from the hike itself. It tracks, seemingly in real time, the literal (and figurative) ups and downs of the 18-hour, 22-mile trek. A conversational tone and deeply relatable subheads carry the reader along, as if a friend is recounting their latest adventure over drinks.
Place Name: Honorable Mention Contestant Name: Outside Entry Title: Biking the Aquarius Trail in Utah Entry Credit: Stephanie Pearson Judge Comment: This article does a great job documenting the challenges and triumphs of the 190-mile trail, chronicling the history of how the trail came to be and explaining the rise of the sport of bikepacking. The tone is warm and self-deprecating at times, but the lesson — that it’s the journey, not the destination — is a sincere and meaningful one that all adventure-loving outdoor types can appreciate.
