Women in the Wild 2019: Amplifying Women in the Outdoors

Women in the Wild returns for its third year of celebrating and amplifying the voices of women in the outdoors. We are honored to connect and share the stories, wisdom, and adventures of remarkable women in our community. They share a common bond that goes beyond their love for the outdoors and adventure, as there is a deep rooted desire to have meaningful impact on their communities, the world around them, and other women.

Adventure is not defined by the activities they do, but by the way they choose to live, the risks they choose to take, and the willingness to bring their full self forward in everything that they do. Their courage lies in being themselves. Choosing a career in the outdoors or a lifestyle built around time outside, while wonderful, can come with challenges and sacrifices. You will find that many of the women we interviewed have left well-paying careers for a path filled with uncertainty in pursuit of passion.

We hope you will find their honesty, vulnerability, and resourcefulness as inspiring as we did. In a world filled with beautiful photos on social media, the grit behind the lifestyle is often lost, as is the deeper adventure to even make these lifestyles possible.

It’s been a personal mission to help change the narrative of what it means and looks like to be an “adventurer” of some kind for the past decade. When I first embarked on my own adventures in mountaineering, I was often the only woman and person of color. The books I read that inspired me to go off on these adventures were of men very different than me and my upbringing, yet there was still a spark and a belief that, if they could do it, I could too. I was inspired by the human spirit and what it’s capable of, and by the majestic, wild, and natural spaces described that were so different from the urban environment that had been my home in Los Angeles.

Being a “Woman in the Wild” means to step into the most wild places within myself and outside. To go to those places within that reveal my wildest dreams. To find the wildness in me that allows me to go after big challenges and gives me courage. To revitalize the wild belief that I can help create the change I want to see in the world. To experience and test my endless potential—not limits—in some of the world’s most wild places, for there I truly feel most at home. 

Collaborating with platforms such as Outdoor Project to help share a new light on modern-day women adventurers is a joy and a necessity. At Outdoor Project, women make up over half of the audience. Women helped build Outdoor Project into the community that it is today, and it continues to grow. Narratives can only change when we challenge them and then rewrite them.

So as we bring to life the stories of these courageous women, adventurers, athletes, changemakers, entrepreneurs, creatives, scientists, dreamers, and doers, we hope that it will spark something inside of you—to share your voice and story, to go after those big dreams, to know that anything is possible, and that the most courageous thing you can do is be yourself in both the outdoors and personally.

It’s not about being the first or the fastest, it’s about the journey of exploration, building community, and questioning the status-quo. It’s about carving out new narratives for us and future generations to come.

It’s been an honor to be a guest editor this year for Women in the Wild, and I am grateful and inspired by all of the remarkable women that I got to connect with and interview. They are shaping a new narrative daily, and they show us anything is possible with tenacity, creativity, and purpose.

Georgina Miranda

Women in the Wild 2019 spans the months of July and August. Bookmark this page and return early and often as we publish new interviews and articles. Last updated: August 28, 2019, 10:33 a.m.

In-depth interviews with Women in the Wild

• Jennifer Pharr Davis: former holder of the Appalachian Trail's fastest known time, thru-hiker, entrepreneur, mother
  • Bonus: Listen to Jennifer Pharr Davis Read From Pursuit of Endurance
• Shannon Switzer Swanson: marine social ecologist, surfer, photojournalist, storyteller, waterwoman
• Aly Nicklas: self-taught filmmaker and creator
• Anne Galyean: doctor of aquatic nanochemistry, mountain biker, weekend warrior
• Lexi duPont: "Carpe Diem Professional," big mountain freeskier, bush pilot
• Sarah Gerhardt: first woman to surf Mavericks, Ph.D. of chemistry, professor, mother
• Anita Naidu: engineer, diversity consultant, humanitarian, athlete, coach, aspiring astronaut
• Shawnté Salabert: storyteller, journalist and author, thru-hiker
• Kathy Karlo: climber, founder of For the Love of Climbing, event manager of No Man's Land Film Festival
• Marinel de Jesus: trekker, former prosecutor, women's advocate, founder of Peak Explorations and Brown Gal Trekker
• Kris Machnick: climber, advocate for Parkinson's and Alzheimer's research, 8 for 80 project
• Angela Hawse: mountaineer, IFMGA-certified mountain guide, AMGA President of the Board, co-founder of Chicks Climbing and Skiing
• Katie Boué: outdoor advocate, writer, speaker, influencer
• Kit DesLauriers: big mountain skier, first to ski the Seven Summits, 2015 National Geographic Explorer of the Year, mother
• Kareemah Batts: climber, cancer survivor, amputee, founder of Adaptive Climbing Group

Gear for women

• Women in the Wild 2019 and the Gear They Can't Live Without

Female-focused articles written by women, for women

• If Not for Fire, Amanda Monthei
• Perfect Is the Enemy of Good, Jen Gurecki
• The Most Feminist Thing I Did Last Year? Fix My Own Bike, Emma Walker
• Catching My Breath on the Arkansas River, Lindsay DeFrates
• A Woman's Guide to Solo Adventure Travel + Outfitters, Kristen Fuller
• Face to Face With Ocean Giants in Mexico’s Pacific, Liah McPherson
• The Outdoor Woman’s Reading List, Katherine Jondro
• Solo Hiking the Pacific Crest Trail: The Gifts of Going Alone, Tami Ankeny
• How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Trailer Life, Robin Warner
• Making a Career Out of My Love for the Outdoors, Jackie Arnal
• 10 Outdoor Women You Should Follow on Instagram, Kat Dierickx
• SOS: Activating That Scary SOS Button On My Garmin InReach, Kristen Fuller
• What’s in Your Bag: Backpacking For Women, Kat Dierickx
• An Introduction to Basic Bike Maintenance + Fixes, Katherine Jondro
• Choosing to Go: Accepting Risk as a Single Mom, Vanessa Ball

Monica Goes: On Tour Across the U.S.

To celebrate a summer of women in the outdoors, we toured the U.S. with Monica Ortega, the host of the adventure travel series Monica Goes. Follow along with us throughout the months of July and August while Monica circles the country in search of adventure.

• July 2: Superstition Mountain, Arizona
• July 9: Devil's Bridge, Arizona
• July 16: Bryce Canyon National Park
• July 23: St. Mary's Lake, Colorado
• July 30: Fall Creek Falls, Tennessee
• August 6: Delphi Falls, New York
• August 13: Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore, Michigan
• August 20: Billings, Montana
• August 27: Upper Kern River, California

Join Us!

Be a part of carving out a new narrative and celebrate and amplify the voices of women. What does it mean to be a Woman in the Wild to you? When you adventure in the outdoors during July and August, tag your photos with #iamawomaninthewild​​​​​ to be featured in our stories!

If you have an important issue you want to write about, or you think we should know about a lady rockstar, drop an email to Jonathan Stull, Content Editor + Contributor Liaison, with your pitches or connections at [email protected].