Outdoor recreation
FILE - Emily Sweeney of United States reacts after her second run of the Luge World Cup women race in Sigulda, Latvia, Sunday, Jan. 9, 2022. Summer Britcher and Emily Sweeney have been USA Luge teammates for years. They’ve traveled together, they’ve competed together, they’ve gone to the Olympics together, they’ve stood on World Cup podiums together. Being on a sled together was not part of the plan. (AP Photo/Roman Koksarov, File)
Britcher, Sweeney giving women's doubles luge a try for US

By Tim Reynolds Nov. 23, 2022 10:26 AM EST

Athletes check the venue prior to the women's and men's lead semi-final of the IFSC Climbing World Cup Friday, Oct. 21, 2022, in Morioka, Iwate Prefecture, Japan. After Iranian climber Elnaz Rekabi joined a growing list of female athletes who have been targeted by their governments for defying authoritarian policies or acting out against bullying, a number of others have spoken out on their concerns of politics crossing into their sporting world. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Iran's Rekabi latest female athlete at risk in home country

By Stephen Wade Oct. 21, 2022 11:59 AM EDT

England's Alex Yee, right, New Zealand's Hayden Wilde, left, and Australia's Matthew Hauser celebrates after winning the gold, silver and bronze respectively in the men's individual triathlon at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, England, Friday, July 29, 2022. (AP Photo/Rui Vieira)
Yee wins 1st gold medal of this year's Commonwealth Games

By Courtney Walsh Jul. 29, 2022 10:32 AM EDT

FILE - Lindsey Vonn shows medals from her career as she holds a press conference after taking the bronze medal in the women's downhill race, at the alpine ski World Championships in Are, Sweden, Sunday, Feb. 10, 2019. Lindsey Vonn, Michelle Kwan, Mia Hamm, Billie Jean King and the late Pat Summitt are among the nine individual women who will be inducted into the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Hall of Fame this summer. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti, File)
Phelps, Vonn among those heading to US Olympic & Para Hall

Jun. 06, 2022 11:10 AM EDT

The North Korean flag flies above the North Korean Embassy in Beijing, Thursday, Feb. 17, 2022. As Beijing holds the winter Olympic games, hundreds of North Koreans are enduring perhaps the longest-running pandemic-enforced separation in the world. The isolationist Communist state has sealed off its borders so tightly that they've left their own ambassador to China stranded in Beijing. (AP Photo/Dake Kang)
BEIJING SNAPSHOT: N. Korea not at Games but diplomat remains

By Dake Kang Feb. 17, 2022 05:28 AM EST

FILE - Nathaniel Coleman, of the United States, competes during the bouldering portion of the men's sport climbing final at the 2020 Summer Olympics, on Aug. 5, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan. Sport climbing's popularity has risen in recent years as more climbers have turned out to scale walls indoor and out. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)
Sport climbing gets a boost with Olympic debut

By John Marshall Dec. 03, 2021 05:38 PM EST

A police officer wearing a face mask and goggles to protect against COVID-19, stands near a poster of a skier on the wall at a train station in Zhangjiakou in northern China's Hebei Province, Friday, Nov. 26, 2021. Zhangjiakou will host the FIS Ski Cross and Snowboard Cross World Cups this weekend as part of a series of test events leading up to the 2022 Winter Olympics. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
Chiangmai United vs Police Tero FC 11/27/2021

Nov. 26, 2021 07:28 AM EST

Brazilian Olympic skateboarder Rayssa Leal, 13, arrives at Sao Paulo's international airport in Guarulhos, Brazil, Wednesday, July 28, 2021. Leal who won the silver at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. (AP Photo/Marcelo Chello)
Brazil Olympic skateboarding is tropical fairytale for girls

By Mauricio Savarese And Tatiana Pollastri Aug. 06, 2021 02:35 PM EDT

FILE - First-place finisher Adam Ondra, of the Czech Republic, celebrates after the men's boulder finals at the climbing World Cup in Salt Lake City, in this May 22, 2021, file photo Climbing has always been a niche sport among outdoor enthusiasts. Inclusion in the 2021 Tokyo Olympics will take it mainstream and the world will see just how difficult it is clinging to tiny hand holds with fingers and toes. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)
ITF Czech Republic F1, Men Singles

Jun. 29, 2021 12:24 PM EDT

New South Wales Police Commissioner Mick Fuller speaks to media during a COVID-19 update in Sydney, Monday, June 28, 2021. Two naked men were rescued by emergency services from an Australian forest after they were startled by a deer while nude sunbathing on a beach and became lost, police say. (Joel Carrett/AAP Image via AP)
Police rescue spooked nude sunbathers from Australian forest

Jun. 28, 2021 02:24 AM EDT

People relax at the shore, Thursday, June 17, 2021 at Island Beach State Park in Ocean Gate, N.J. As New Jersey prepares for July 4 fireworks displays, the state's parks have already seen an explosion in popularity, with more than 100,000 people signing up for annual park passes as part of New Jersey's COVID-19 vaccine incentive. (AP Photo/Mike Catalini)
NJ residents flock outside as vaccine earns free state parks

By Mike Catalini Jun. 25, 2021 09:41 AM EDT

Editorial Roundup: U.S.

By The Associated Press Jun. 23, 2021 11:53 AM EDT
Excerpts from recent editorials in the United States and abroad: June 22 The Kansas City Star on hubris and COVID...

Editorial Roundup: Pennsylvania

By The Associated Press Jun. 23, 2021 09:00 AM EDT
York Dispatch. June 22, 2021. Editorial: By coming out, former Penn State standout Carl Nassib proves his courage The...

Editorial Roundup: Kansas

By The Associated Press Jun. 22, 2021 07:00 AM EDT
Kansas City Star. June 17, 2021. Editorial: Neglect, indifference by Wyandotte County set the stage for teenager’s near-drowning ...

FILE - In this March 12, 2020, file photo, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice speaks during a press conference at the State Capitol in Charleston, W.Va. The U.S. Department of Justice has weighed in on a new West Virginia law that bans transgender athletes from competing in female sports, asserting in a court filing Thursday, June 17, 2021, that the ban violates federal law. Justice signed the bill despite warnings from some lawmakers that the NCAA could retaliate and decide not to hold college tournaments in the state. Justice had said that while it concerned him that the state could miss out on a sporting event, he believed the benefits of the law “way outweigh the bad part of it.” (F. Brian Ferguson/Charleston Gazette-Mail via AP, File)
Indoor mask mandate ends on West Virginia's 158th birthday

By John Raby Jun. 20, 2021 02:39 PM EDT

FILE - Delicate Arch is seen at Arches National Park on April 25, 2021, near Moab, Utah. Record visitation and long lines at Arches National Park in Utah are reviving a push for a reservation system. KUER reports Arches is on track to have its busiest year ever, and that increase in visitation has caused the park to close its gates over 80 times so far in 2021. (AP Photo/Lindsay Whitehurst, File)
Long lines revive push for new system at Utah national park

By Kate Groetzinger Jun. 20, 2021 08:00 AM EDT

Trekking guide Ang Phurba Sherpa speaks during an interview with The Associate Press in Kathmandu, Nepal, Monday, June 7, 2021. Most Sherpa guides in Nepal famed for the climbing skills have had little or no work guiding foreign trekkers on Nepal's mountains because of the pandemic but trekking guide Ang Phurba Sherpa is spending his savings to help fellow guides and workers who are struggling for their livelihood. (AP Photos/Bikram Rai)
Sherpa guide uses savings to help colleagues during pandemic

By Binaj Gurubacharya Jun. 14, 2021 09:05 PM EDT

New hiking trail app designed to help avoid crowded trails

Jun. 14, 2021 08:57 AM EDT
SEATTLE (AP) — Hiking season is underway in the Pacific Northwest and there’s a new app for outdoor enthusiasts looking to explore some of Washington State’s...

Big South Fork visitors spent $24.3M in nearby communities

Jun. 14, 2021 06:49 AM EDT
ONEIDA, Tenn. (AP) — The National Park Service reported Friday that visitors to Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area last year spent $24.3 million...

People shop at the La Vega market in Santiago, Chile, Saturday, June 12, 2021, amid the new coronavirus pandemic. The Chilean capitol has reinstated quarantine measures due to the increase in COVID-19 infections. (AP Photo/Esteban Felix)
The Latest: Lebanon marks daily record of vaccinations

By The Associated Press Jun. 13, 2021 01:40 AM EDT