The Trailblazers These adrenaline mavens have broken records, stereotypes, boundaries, and glass ceilings. Some are onto their next adventures while others have not yet hit their high marks, but they’ve all helped make the outdoors a better place for women, from fledgling professional athletes to weekend warriors. It’s hard to think of any comment more grating than “You’re pretty good . . . for a girl.” In 1972 the United States passed Title IX, the law that made it illegal to exclude females from participation in sports—or any educational pursuit—that receives federal financial assistance. It was landmark legislation that led to significant changes by allowing athletes to develop skills from a young age and participate in organized sports. But there is no Title IX for a young woman who wants to, say, climb El Capitan in Yosemite or ski near-vertical slopes in Alaska. Certainly, women have always participated in outdoor pursuits— many of the earliest Samoan surfers were female, and women were ascending the Matterhorn and Mount Blanc before 1900 (and in cumbersome dresses). But the landscape has changed quite a bit, and women are into everything from motocross to BAS E jumping. Sure, stereotypes persist, but the level of respect and acceptance that women receive today just for wanting to get outside and play the same games the boys are playing is well beyond what we’ve ever enjoyed before. And we owe that to the trailblazers—the women who tested limits, pushed buttons, and nudged naysayers out of their way to achieve their goals. We highlight a few of them here, but there are hundreds of others, some older and some younger, who have done the same. These women are trailblazers because of more than just their athletic prowess. Mountain biker Jacquie Phelan, skateboarder Cara-Beth Burnside, and surfer Layne Beachley are trailblazers because they refused to be treated like second-class competitors and have fought to close the pay disparity between men and women in their respective sports. Some women inspire us by not just what they’ve accomplished physically but also what they’ve achieved as pioneers, as ambassadors, or as torchbearers. Mountain biker Marla Streb started competing at the relatively ancient age of 28 and is now beginning her third career, and freeskier Wendy Fisher blazed a new trail by having the guts to take a break from competing to start a family and become a coach for the next generation of freeskiers. Others are trailblazers because their passion extends well beyond the confines of their athletic endeavors. Take extreme skier and climate-change educator Alison Gannett, or Tina Basich and Shannon Dunn, pioneers in women’s snowboarding who also helped found the 12-year-old awareness and fundraising charity Boarding for Breast Cancer. These women have proven to be badasses in their sports and role models for the next generation, and the trails they’ve blazed have affected the outdoor industry in ways we’ll see for years to come. |
