Fearless Women in the Outdoors

Fearless Women in the Outdoors: 25 Stories of Risk and Resilience in the Wild spotlights twenty-five fearless women redefining what's possible outdoors: ultrarunners who race a hundred miles through the night, swimmers who cross open ocean without wetsuits, climbers who push the outer edge of human ability, and survivalists who live alone in the Arctic. One of them has crossed the Grand Canyon blind and unguided. They come from Brooklyn and Buenos Aires, the Blackfeet Nation, and the French forest canopy. Some have come back from injuries that should have ended everything. Their stories are about risk, and about the resilience that rises up to meet it. Again and again, their fear becomes a guide they've learned to trust. Vivid photographs and raw storytelling capture the adrenaline, the struggle, and the triumph of women who go farther, climb higher, and dive deeper. Consider it a call to adventure and a dare to find your own.

Jessica Carew Kraft is the author of Why We Need to Be Wild: One Woman's Quest for Ancient Human Answers to 21st-Century Questions (Sourcebooks, 2023). She chronicles her journey from burning out in Silicon Valley tech to embracing the ancestral skills community that allowed her to finally thrive in nature. An independent journalist trained in anthropology, she holds degrees from the University of London, Yale University, and Swarthmore College. Her reporting on health, culture, tech, and education has been published in The New York Times, The Atlantic, Forbes, San Francisco Chronicle, Politico, NBC News, KQED, and many other outlets. A long-distance trail runner and naturalist, Kraft also regularly leads wilderness foraging excursions. Formerly residing in the Bay Area, she now lives with her partner, two daughters, and like-minded neighbors of various species in the forest of the Sierra Foothills. Jeff Freeman is a photographer based in Lake Tahoe, with over 20 years of experience capturing architecture, craftsmanship, and life across the American West. An avid outdoorsman himself, he brings a lifelong appreciation for wild places to his work behind the camera.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​