Before we dive in
I want to call your attention to a massive project that just went live. Last week at Outside, we published a cool interactive feature about the Grand Canyon, which featured a bunch of awesome women, like:
Katie Lee, who spent half a century working to restore Glen Canyon, a lost place that was even more astounding than Grand Canyon
Nikki and Colleen Cooley, who want to get more Native people working in some of the the outdoor world's most coveted positions
And Georgie White Clark, foul-mouthed, brusk, famously rude to customers—and a pioneer in Grand Canyon.
Here’s what I’m reading this week
We Need to Fix Ultrarunning's Gender Problem: Let’s be clear: If we all had the same opportunities to get to the starting line, we wouldn’t need to take gender into account. [Stephanie Case for Outside]
Charlotte Fox, 1957-2018, Accomplished High-Altitude Mountaineer, Dies: She climbed five 8000-meter peaks, Dhaulagiri and Everest among them. [Alison Osius for Rock & Ice]
Road Biking While Female: You're a woman who rides a bike? I'm assuming you've been the target of lewd comments, threats, and maybe even outright assault. It has to stop. [Blane Bachelor for Outside]
For Des Linden, Lauren Fleshman, and Jax Mariash, Careers in Running Come with Side Businesses: It might seem as though these elites have their hands full—and they certainly do—but the bottom line is that the careers of professional runners are short, and the smart ones have the next step lined up. [Amanda Loudin for ESPNW]
For Outdoor Women, Having It All Is a Fantasy: Three new memoirs go deep on some big, existential themes—grief, life's meaning, creativity, and motherhood—while giving us inspiring examples of women chasing adventure with kids in tow. [Christine Ro for Outside]
Last but not least: How to fuel your next adventure
Yes, eating a 4x4” slab of carrot cake is how I train to backpack 250 miles over 14 days. I sense success* on the horizon.
* indigestion