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Historical Badass
Alfonsina Strada, The ‘Devil In A Dress’ Who Rode The World’s Toughest Tour
She beat men, she beat women, she beat everyone.
The Calculated Badassery of Big-Wave Pioneer George Downing
Downing was the big-wave surfer’s big-wave surfer.
The Brief Life and Unexplained Disappearance of Snowboarder Marco Siffredi
He showed up, he blew up, he disappeared.
The Pioneer Climber Who Led in Tennis Shoes
Glen Dawson’s first ascents in Sierra Nevada paved the way to modern climbing.
Chad Kālepa Baybayan, Teacher and Master Navigator
A master of the old ways.
Bored by a Desk Job, Amy Johnson Became One of History’s Best Pilots
Amy Johnson traded in a life shuffling papers to become one of the most daring pilots in history.
Meet The Chain-Smoking, Cave-Dwelling Godfather of Ultralight Camping
Millican Dalton knew how to make an impression. When a correspondent from the Sunday Chronicle newspaper came calling in 1933,…
Aviator Beryl Markham One-Upped Amelia Earhart
You thought Amelia Earhart was badass? Markham flew across the Atlantic against the prevailing winds, surviving a crash landing.
Meet the First Guy to Chuck a Bomb at an Avalanche Hazard
Montgomery Atwater is one of the reason we can ski sweet, steep powder safely.
The 61-Year-Old Shepherd Who Shuffled His Way to an Unlikely Ultra Win
Cliff Young became a folk hero after his legendary “tortoise and the hare” win.
Colin Fletcher, the Father of Modern Backpacking
A self-proclaimed “solitary son-of-a-bitch,” Fletcher wrote the book on thru-hiking and wilderness survival.
Walter Greaves, the Vegetarian, One-Armed Cyclist, Rode Further Than Anyone
Meet your new favorite badass cyclist.
The Life and Mystery of Grand Canyon Pioneer Georgie White
One of the most mysterious river runners of all time.
Pioneering Travel Writer Ida Pfeiffer Was Not Afraid of Cannibals
She had no education, and no fortune, but she saw the whole world anyway.
‘Big Wall Bev’ Changed the Calculus of Women’s Climbing in Yosemite
“She found intense joy in the journey, not just the discovery, and the journey of her life is a story…
The Wild, Anarchist Homesteader of Big Sur Who Preserved Native Languages
Meet Jaime de Angulo—you won’t soon forget him.
Dora Keen Pioneered Some of Alaska’s Toughest Mountain Routes
Dora the Explorer has nothing on the this Dora.
Into the Heart of Africa With William Sheppard, the ‘Black Livingstone’
A stranger in his native land, Sheppard befriended Congolese tribes and shed light on Belgian atrocities in the Congo.
Mountaineer Bradford Washburn Danced on Alaska’s Breathtaking Rooftop
He climbed everything Alaska threw at him, and changed the sport in the process.
Aleksander Doba, ‘King of the Ocean,’ Paddled Across the Atlantic In His 70s
Three Atlantic kayak crossings in his 60s and his 70s made Doba a Polish national hero.
Badass Lady Librarians Rode Hard Miles to Deliver Education and Joy
A WPA program employed women librarians on horseback throughout rural America and it was awesome.
Seafarer Tim Severin Recreated History’s Most Incredible Adventures
Did an Irish monk sail to North America 1,500 years before Columbus? Tim Severin set sail to find out.
Kittie Knox Rode Her Bike Up and Over the 19th Century Color Barrier
Kittie refused to take no for an answer when bicycle clubs tried to enforce their whites only rules.
Nicholas Clinch Proved American Teams Could Make First Ascents Too
He wasn’t the biggest or the strongest, but he may have had the most fun.
The Motorcycle Queen of Miami Was More than Fast Enough
Long before highways, before cross-country road trips were a thing, there was Bessie Stringfield.
Leon Crane Survived a Plane Crash and 80 Days in the Alaskan Winter
One of Alaska’s greatest survival stories is of a city kid who lasted 3 months through a Yukon winter.
The Gentleman Badass: Conrad O’Brien-ffrench Was the Real James Bond
From espionage, to fast cars, and world-class skiing, not even James Bond could touch Conrad O’Brien-ffrench.
Dr. Cora Smith Eaton Was a Suffragist, Physician, and Pioneering Mountaineer
Smith Eaton never took no for an answer, whether in the backcountry or the voting booth.
Mountaineer Hamish MacInnes Saved Hundreds of Climbers—And His Own Mind
Climbing mountains wasn’t necessarily MacInnes’s biggest feat.
Junko Taibei, the First Woman to Climb Everest and the Seven Summits
The Japanese mountaineer stood just 4’9″, but her accomplishments were larger than life.
Climber Dougal Haston Was the Mick Jagger of the Mountains
The hard-climbing, hard-drinking Scotsman redefined Himalayan alpinism and notched first ascents throughout Europe and Asia.
To Share or Not? The Badasses Who Chronicled Washington’s Wilderness
And the feud that followed them to their graves.
Bush Pilot Don Sheldon Was a Definitive Badass
This legend of Alaskan flight was the man in the Alaska Range for more than 30 years.
How ‘Steel Grandpa’ Gustaf Håkansson Pirated Sweden’s Toughest Bike Race
He didn’t take “no” for an answer, and won the whole darn race.
A One-Armed Legendary River Runner
After he was a Civil War hero but before he oversaw the US Geological Survey, John Wesley Powell ran the…
Rock Climbing Pioneer Sonia Livanos Was 99 Pounds of Dynamite
Small in stature, giant in accomplishment.
She Used Bananas for Axle Grease and Elephant Fat for Motor Oil
Aloha Wanderwell, first woman to drive around the world, had one heck of a name and one heck of a…
John Fairfax, Shark Wrestler and Gunfighter, Also Rowed Across Oceans
How does this guy not have a Hollywood blockbuster telling his story?
Emma Gatewood Survived Domestic Abuse to Become an Appalachian Trail Legend
She was the first woman to thru-hike the AT, but certainly not the first to seek a trail as a…
Tom Blake Taught Us What It Meant To Be a Surfer
Tom Blake set the tone for surfing as an all-consuming lifestyle; a surf bum, a dirtbag before those were things.
Wilfred Thesiger, First Foreigner to Cross Arabia’s Emptiest Deserts
Thesiger was the last of the Great English explorers, lunching in a dinner jacket in London, quite at home among…
Natalia Molchanova, World’s Best Free Diver, Vanished During Final Dive
She was the standard-bearer for free divers, until she disappeared without a trace during a recreational dive.
Tom Frost Was the Photographer and Engineer Behind Climbing’s Golden Age
Frost took the photos, climbed the routes, and designed the gear that spurred the clean climbing movement—the glue behind America’s…
Gertrude Benham Couldn’t Stop Climbing Mountains and Walking Entire Continents
Meet the little-known climber and wanderer who bagged more peaks and miles than almost anyone who’s ever lived.
Enid Michael, Yosemite’s First Woman Naturalist, Was a Badass Climber Too
Enid and her husband Charles climbed Yosemite without ropes because, she said, “they’d be an insult to the mountain.”
Kayaker Lars Holbek Pioneered Sierra Rivers and Wrote Whitewater’s Bible
Meet the man who led the charge on many of the Sierra’s wildest first descents.
Charlotte Fox Survived Everest’s Most Infamous Disaster to Keep on Climbing
Surviving Everest’s tragic 1996 blizzard was only part of Charlotte Fox’s mountaineering life.
Earl Shaffer, the First Thru-Hiker of the AT, Embodied the Trail’s Soul
Maps? Earl Shaffer didn’t hike with no stinking maps.
Climber Jeff Lowe Changed The Calculus of Possibility
The best climber of his generation climbed everything he wanted to and then some.
Brock Little Showed the Big-Wave World There Was No Such Thing as Too Big
Nobody had more fun surfing terrifying waves than Brock Little.
The Man Who Paddled a Kayak From Germany to Australia
Oskar Speck paddled 30,000 miles in one of history’s most unbelievable voyages.
How Socialite Rosalie Edge Became the Conscience of American Conservation
Edge used her considerable wealth to help save entire ecosystems and shake up the conservation movement.
Ryko’s Historically Badass Ride Across Australia
Edward “Ryko” Reichenback broke the speed record for biking across Australia, documenting a vanishing Aboriginal culture along the way.
How Sea Kayaker Andrew McAuley Came Heartbreakingly Close to Making History
Andrew McCauley came heartbreakingly close to pulling off one of the greatest sea crossings in history.
They Called Him Ice Warrior: The Badass Who Rivaled Messner For World’s Best Climber
Jerzy Kukuczka was the second climber to scale all 14 of the world’s highest mountains, but that’s not why he’s…
Killing a Leopard With His Bare Hands Was Only the Beginning for This Badass
Carl Akeley was the father of taxidermy and museum dioramas, as well as a hunter, inventor, and conservationist. Lots of…
The Van Buren Sisters Were Tough-As-Nails Suffragist Moto Pioneers
They ran out of gas and water, faced snowstorms and tornados, and were arrested for wearing men’s clothes, in their…
