Category archives for Deep Survival
Deep Survival with Laurence Gonzales
$earch + Rescue: Should Victims Pay?
Posted by Mary Anne Potts on November 17, 2009 Most backcountry searches don’t cost the victim a dime. Let’s keep it that way. On April 25, 2009, Scott Mason set out to hike the Presidential Range in New Hampshire on a popular, 17-mile route that crosses several peaks, including Mount Washington. Mason had decided to do it in one day. With his training and…
Deep Survival: How to Build a Fire
Posted by Mary Anne Potts on October 6, 2009 After a million-plus years of tinkering, we’ve finally found a foolproof way to make fire. (Just ın time for winter.) Text by Contributing Editor Laurence Gonzales, author of the books Everyday Survival and Deep Survival No one knows exactly when humans first mastered fire, but there’s evidence that it was more than a million years ago. In the 1960s the paleoanthropologist F.…
Deep Survival: Most Airplane Accidents Are Survivable – Here’s How
Posted by Mary Anne Potts on September 3, 2009 This year, 500* people have died in airline accidents. Here’s how to avoid being the next. Text by Contributing Editor Laurence Gonzales, author of the books Everyday Survival and Deep Survival; Illustration by William Duke Flying is a daring undertaking: Whether you realize it or not, you’re putting yourself in a Coke can full of explosive fuel going nearly three-quarters…
Deep Survival with Laurence Gonzales
Anne Frank’s Extraordinary Act of Survival
Posted by Mary Anne Potts on June 9, 2009 Anne’s Great Act How a young girl hiding in an attic, writing in her journal, transcended what it means to survive. Text by Contributing Editor Laurence Gonzales, author of the books Everyday Survival and Deep Survival; Illustration by Marc YankusIf she had lived, Anne Frank would have turned 80 this June. Hers was an extraordinary…
Deep Survival: Lessons From an Oil Rig
Why Dangerous Places Are More “Safe”
Posted by Mary Anne Potts on April 21, 2009 Text by Laurence Gonzales Occasionally, I Iike to visit some place where the objective hazards appear so great that I can remind myself what paying attention really means. The way we behave in environments full of risk is pretty different from how we act in the safety of our world at home. For example, I…
Deep Survival with Laurence Gonzales
When Times Were Really Tough
Posted by Mary Anne Potts on February 6, 2009 Text by Contributing Editor Laurence Gonzales, author of the books Everyday Survival and Deep Survival Lucy had a small brain, tiny bones, and wasn’t even four feet tall. But Lucy, the australopith, was a survivor. Many years ago, I read of a discovery that set my mind on fire. An American paleoanthropologist named Donald…
Deep Survival with Laurence Gonzales
First-Time Skydiver Survives Instructor’s Heart Attack
Posted by Mary Anne Potts on February 4, 2009 Text by Contributing Editor Laurence Gonzales, author of the books Everyday Survival and Deep Survival After deploying the parachute on the first skydive of his life, Danie Pharr, 25, realized that the instructor strapped to his back, George "Chip" Steele, 49, was strangely silent, MSNBC reports. Realizing that Steele was in no condition to get the…
Deep Survival with Laurence Gonzales
Hudson River Plane Crash Remarkable in Aviation History
Posted by Mary Anne Potts on January 15, 2009 See more incredible photos at ABC News >> Text by Contributing Editor Laurence Gonzales, author of the books Everyday Survival and Deep Survival I first began to write about airline crashes in the early seventies. Ever since then, I've tried to learn about and write about both the joys of aviation and the business of avoiding airplane crashes–or else surviving…
Deep Survival with Laurence Gonzales:
How to Control Panic
Posted by Mary Anne Potts on January 6, 2009 When we hear the word “panic,” most of us imagine someone running around and screaming. But panic takes many forms. It can be thought of simply as any behavior that occurs when the level of stress or emotion is high enough to prevent conscious thought and deliberate decision-making. For example, most people panic when they…
Deep Survival with Laurence Gonzales
Bad news: Disaster is Inevitable (Even on Wall Street). Here’s How to Avoid It.
Posted by Mary Anne Potts on December 4, 2008 Whether on mountains, in air travel, or on Wall Street, disaster is bound to strike. It’s just part of the system. So, how to avoid it? I’m going to tell you a mountaineering disaster story, and it may sound familiar. Risks were taken. Precautions were minimal. Mistakes were made. Conditions deteriorated rapidly. It wasn’t just…
Deep Survival with Laurence Gonzales
Why We Crave Risk
Posted by Mary Anne Potts on October 28, 2008 Text by Contributing Editor Laurence Gonzales, author of the books Everyday Survival and Deep SurvivalIllustration by Paul Blow There are certain foods and drinks that most people would consider empty calories, such as sodas and many kinds of snacks. When we eat or drink them, we feel nourished, when in reality we’re still lacking the…
Deep Survival with Laurence Gonzales
Mob Mentality: The Failures of Groupness
Posted by Mary Anne Potts on September 29, 2008 Text by Contributing Editor Laurence Gonzales, author of the books Everyday Survival and Deep Survival Illustration by David Plunkert The power of groupness is not to be underestimated. It has been the downfall of organizations, blinding them to evidence that was there for everyone to see. In the 1930s, the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea…
Deep Survival with Laurence Gonzales
Everyday Survival Nationwide Book Tour
Posted by Mary Anne Potts on September 9, 2008 Meet Laurence Gonzales and have him sign your copy of Everyday Survivial during his upcoming nine-city book tour. Monday, September 227:00 p.m. Talk/Signing Bookstall811 Elm StreetWinnetka, Illinois Wednesday, October 1 7:30 p.m. Talk/Signing National GeographicWashington, D.C. Tuesday, October 77:30 p.m. Talk/Signing Tattered Cover1628 16th StreetDenver, Colorado Wednesday, October 8 7:30 p.m. Talk/Signing Boulder Bookstore1107 Pearl…
Deep Survival with Laurence Gonzales
How Hypersensitivity Can Save Your Life
Posted by Mary Anne Potts on August 12, 2008 Text by Contributing Editor Laurence Gonzales, author of the books Everyday Survival and Deep Survival Illustration by Arthur E. Giron When Peggy Orenstein, a best-selling author, was told that she had breast cancer, she remarked with odd detachment how curious it was that the colors all drained out of her world. She noticed “how the…
Deep Survival with Laurence Gonzales
Everyday Survival: Losing Your Cool Makes You Stupid
Posted by Mary Anne Potts on July 16, 2008 Acting cool is not the same as being cool. As the head of training for the Navy SEALs once said, "The Rambo types are the first to go." Siebert wrote in his book The Survivor Personality that "combat survivors . . . have a relaxed awareness." People who are destined to be good at survival…
Deep Survival with Laurence Gonzales
Everyday Survival: Get Out of Your Comfort Zone
Posted by Mary Anne Potts on July 9, 2008 In our August 2008 issue (on newsstands now), we’ve published a new feature by Laurence Gonzales, "Everyday Survival," featuring 14 real world skills for any crisis. Here, we’ve pulled just one of his potentially life-saving tips. Gonzales’s new book, Everyday Survival: Why Smart People Do Stupid Things, will be released in September. Every new challenge…
Deep Survival with Laurence Gonzales
Lightning Victim Likely Saved By Wet Clothing
Posted by Mary Anne Potts on July 2, 2008 In the News: Doctors are amazed that a Minnesota man survived being struck by lightning last Friday while trying to save his outdoor furniture. Though the bolt zapped the metal button on his baseball cap and and the steel tips of his work boots, his wet clothing may have prevented the jolt from traveling through…
Lost Outward Bound Kids Found in California Backcounty
Posted by Mary Anne Potts on June 25, 2008 Text by Editor John Rasmus Update: The Associated Press just reported that the nine kids and two guides lost in the Sierra Nevada have been found! Details of what exactly happened are unknown at this point. This case of the missing Outward Bound group in California is baffling. I can’t remember an instance when such…
Deep Survival By Laurence Gonzales
#4 The Dangers of the Vacation Mindset
Posted by Mary Anne Potts on May 15, 2008 The unconscious conclusion we draw is that our little corner of the world is safe. Our culture of plenty keeps us permanently in a vacation state of mind. Text by Contributing Editor Laurence Gonzales, author of the book Deep SurvivalIllustration by Dan Page Last summer I traveled to the Outer Banks in North Carolina. The…
Deep Survival By Laurence Gonzales
#3 Emotional Connections
Posted by Mary Anne Potts on April 3, 2008 Text by Contributing Editor Laurence Gonzales, author of the book Deep Survival I once worked on an assignment for this magazine with a photographer named Mark Gamba. Mark was an avid steep creek boater. He and I were knocking around on an Army base in Oregon, watching helicopters take off and land, when he told…
Deep Survival: Brain Vs. Gadget
Posted by Mary Anne Potts on March 12, 2008 On a solo backpacking trip this winter, reader Nate Freund was stranded high on California’s Ontario Peak during a snowstorm. Read his story, then see Deep Survival author Laurence Gonzales’s analysis of the situation. Submitted by Reader Nate FreundAfter reading your article "Folk Wisdom" in National Geographic ADVENTURE [April 2008], I was inspired to write…
Deep Survival: #2 Folk Wisdom
Posted by Mary Anne Potts on February 13, 2008 FOLK WISDOMBy Contributing Editor Laurence Gonzales, author of the book Deep Survival One of the most respected psychologists of our time is Steven Pinker, a professor at Harvard and the author of numerous books on human behavior and evolutionary biology. Pinker says that our brains contain a “baloney-generator” that offers up explanations of our behavior.…
Your Story: What Saved You?
Posted by Mary Anne Potts on February 7, 2008 In his Deep Survival column in the March issue of National Geographic Adventure magazine, award-winning writer Laurence Gonzales discusses the decisions that led an expert skier to die in an avalanche in Alaska. Now we want to know your survival experiences. What was the thought process that kept you alive? Please post your comments and…
Deep Survival #1: Gut Instincts
Posted by Mary Anne Potts on February 7, 2008 By Contributing Editor Laurence Gonzales, author of the book Deep Survival (Editor’s Note: This is the first Deep Survival column by award-winning writer Laurence Gonzales. Send in your survival stories and questions in the comment area below and Gonzales will give his feedback.) FATALLY FALSE POSITIVESOn December 6, 1988, Todd Frankiewicz was on Tincan Mountain…
