They're throwing out their library of old magazines at the SI office, and (no surprise, considering much time I still spend there) I happened to stroll in there and find one on the Throw Away pile. It's the 25 Anniversary Special Edition of Outside magazine (October 2002)... and yes, the entire magazine is still there in Outside's online archives.
It's impossible to pick out the best story, but ya gotta start somewheres - so my first recommendation is going to be Tim Cahill's excellent piece on Iran. How's this for a sample quote?
"Let's say your mother has suffered a terrible accident — it doesn't matter what — and she is bleeding to death in the backseat of your car. The hospital is a 30-minute drive away. The streets are wide, two or three lanes in either direction, and they are filled sidewalk-to-sidewalk with slowly moving cars. It is the worst traffic jam you have ever seen in your life. Your mother has ten minutes to live. How will you negotiate these gridlocked streets as your mother's eyes dull and death steals up on her?
That's how everyone in Iran drives, all the time."