Black kids have had few heroes in the great outdoors. Until now.

Andrea Marouk

Follow Elliott Boston up Aconcagua at Outside Online.

IF 31-YEAR-OLD Elliott Boston climbs the Seven Summits, he won't be the first. (That was Dick Bass, back in 1985.) Nor will he be the youngest. (See Japanese climber Ken Noguchi, age 25.) Or the speediest. (Seven months from first ascent to last: New Zealanders Rob Hall and Gary Ball.) Or the slowest. (American Eric Simonson took 25 years.) But if he can tick off McKinley, Cartensz, Vinson, Kilimanjaro, and Everest in the next 17 months—he already topped out on Russia's Mount Elbrus last August and he hopes to summit Aconcagua in late February—he will be the first African-American to reach the milestone. By day a credit analyst from Orange County, California, Boston has been climbing for only eight years, so this isn't about challenging Ed Viesturs to a race up the Hillary Step. (On 18,510-foot Elbrus, he relied on guides.) "When you look at the history of African-Americans in the outdoors, you find Matthew Henson," he says, referring to the man who conquered the North Pole with Robert Peary in 1909. "But otherwise this area is untouched. This is all about showing minority kids that there's someone like them out there climbing." Look for Boston at Everest base camp in May 2002. And soon after, his mug on a billboard near you. —Bruce Barcott

Hype ! The last word in clogs for jocks Go figure. Having borne for a thousand years the same relationship to fashion that the tater has to gastronomy, the lowly clog is now the hottest ticket in jockware. Merrell Performance Footwear has sold more than a million slip-ons since launching its line in May 2000, and most every other outdoor footwear firm, from Vasque to Salomon, offers clogs this season for your every need. But one company is poking fun at the backless fad. Last fall, technical-boot purveyor Montrail unveiled the world's first mountaineering clog. The VerClog, according to marketing director Boo Turner, is a Montrail Verglas technical alpine boot surgically altered by a cobbler. "It has a classic wood lasting board, so it's completely rigid for technical ascents and crampon techniques, such as frontpointing," she says. For reasons of public safety it's probably a good thing that (1) the VerClog is actually a spoof, (2) there's only one pair, and (3) it isn't for sale. On the other hand, it's a pity: If the current footwear mania reaches its inevitable conclusion and clog dancing sweeps the après-ski scene, the VerClog would kick some serious butt. —Bill Vaughn