Adventure Bulletin July 2022
Adventure Bulletin July 2022
Book of the Month: EXPLORE by Sue Stockdale
Hello everyone!
Hope you’ve had a fantastic month. We’ve had lots of new subscribers recently, so a particular hello to you too. This is our monthly bulletin where we share adventures you can follow along with, articles, films, podcasts and the Book of the Month. On other Wednesdays you’ll get an adventure narrative to read at your leisure.
If you sense a vague alpine undertone to the newsletter, then I can only apologise. I spent 2 weeks in Switzerland during June, doing an ill-advised speed run of the Walker’s Haute Route with a bivvy bag and climbing my first 4000er.
Climbing that mountain (Breithorn, 4164m, near Zermatt) was actually part of a world record. I was one of 80 women from worldwide who climbed the mountain together - the longest all-female rope team ever. It was quite an experience (here’s a quick video for a flavour). Switzerland Tourism also got us all up on a billboard in Time Square - which frankly is not something I ever expected to happen to me (and honestly I only knew where it was thanks to Hey there Delilah).
Anyway, enough of me and the strange things that count as ‘work’ for an adventure travel writer. Here’s what’s been going on this month in the world of adventure…
Adventure News
Eilidh has just finished her cycle from Cairo to Capetown. She did it because “at the start of lockdown in the UK, I decided I needed an adventure to look forward to”. It took her 164 days and she has blogged a great many of them. Read her story here.
Preet Chandi has announced her next polar expedition: a solo and unsupported crossing of Antarctica. Find out more and follow here.
Laura Kennington is cycling to the Alps from London - as a flight-free way to be able to do the Tour du Mont Blanc cycle at the end of it. It’s 618 miles total and a fair few alpine passes. More about the journey here and tracker map here.
Annie from thebotbeyondthebrainz is bikerafting the River Elbe from source to sea (1090km). Her Instagram posts are like a journal, so it’s great to follow along. She happens to be pregnant but isn’t letting it stop her adventuring. Intro post here to start on.
A dedicate women’s outdoor wear shop, Beinn Nibheis, is opening in Fort William, Scotland. BASE magazine did an interview with the founders.
If you didn’t stand on the very very top of a mountain, did you actually climb it? New research is causing a stir in the world of 8000m summit bagging. Angela Benavides explains what’s going on. (I have very mixed feelings about the whole thing, but if accepted it would mean that no woman has yet completed all 14 8000ers.)
This next one may be only of niche interest, but I love uncovering the forgotten stories of women in mountaineering (thanks for humouring me!).
The Alpine Club has released a free digital copy of its members lists from 1857 to 1890. Women weren’t allowed to be members in those years, but if you search for “Mrs” there are plenty of contemporary ladies who joined in. For e.g. I’d never heard of Mrs Cole’s A Lady’s Tour of Monte Rosa which it turns out can be mostly read on Google Books.
If you see an adventure announcement or want to tell us about your own, please hit reply to this email and we’d love to feature you!
Read, Listen, Watch - Our Picks
First of all, did you read Jo Moseley’s deep dive into how to pitch, write and publish an adventure guidebook?
Or Jennifer Price’s solo bikepacking adventure with a difference (and no training)?
Natalie Afonina has released a YouTube video of her Tantalus Traverse, an alpine climbing route in Canada.
Kat Ganly has been on the GR20 in Corsica. Here’s her Instagram and here’s an earlier podcast she did with Sarah of Tough Girl Challenges.
HEILO is the story of Fernanda Maciel and Kaytlyn Gerbin running in Patagonia: watch it.
And while we’re on the North Face, Stephanie Case set out to organise an all-women expedition in Afghanistan with Free to Run. Documentary here.
I love this story: Nicole Niquille was the first Swiss woman to receive a mountain guide diploma. An accident lost her the use of her legs, but recently a whole cohort of female mountain guides took her up a 4000m mountain on a sled. As thanks for what she started in 1986. Picture and long caption from Caroline George and article (in French but you can hit translate to get the gist).
Obviously, we can’t squeeze all the adventures in the world into this tiny email. Follow us on Instagram for more - we share lots in our stories. Equally, if you’d like to feature here or would like a little social boost - or just seen something we might like too - tag us @intrepid_advmag.
Book of the Month
Our book of the month for July is EXPLORE: A Life of Adventure by Sue Stockdale.
In this compelling memoir Sue describes how, from challenging beginnings, she embarked on a lifetime of adventure - exploring some of the world’s most extreme environments including the North Pole, Antarctica and Greenland.
Sue shares important life lessons gained from these adventures and describes how the mindset, discipline and commitment needed for adventurous activities is also useful in professional life. EXPLORE inspires and encourages all of us to explore our own potential, with the belief that nothing is too scary to embark upon when approached with determination, a plan and willingness to be uncomfortable.
About the Author
Sue Stockdale is an executive coach, TEDx speaker and podcaster whose personal achievements in business and adventure have inspired thousands of individuals worldwide to step out of their comfort zone and explore their potential.
In 1996 Sue made history when she became the first British woman to ski to the magnetic North Pole, following this success with expeditions to Chile, Antarctica, Greenland and the geographical North Pole. She is also an accomplished athlete, having represented Scotland in 1989 and 1991 in 3000m and cross-country events.
Amongst her accolades Sue was recognised as a Pioneer to the Nation by HM the Queen and received a Global Coaching Leadership Award at the World Coaching Congress in 2014.
Sue is the co-author of several books and her articles have appeared in many publications including Inc., the Times and the Guardian. She holds an MBA in Entrepreneurship from the University of Stirling and an MSc in Quality Management from Nottingham Trent University.
Find Sue at suestockdale.com or connect on Twitter and LinkedIn.
Read the Book
Here is your 3 chapter sample of the book, jumping straight into the action on the way to the North Pole. If you want to keep reading, you can purchase the full book on Amazon as an e-book or paperback. For a signed copy, send a note via suestockdale.com
Not yet a Team Intrepid member? You can get access via this friendly red button.
It’s only £5 a month and you can sign up, download some 2000 pages of reading material and cancel immediately if you really want! (But obviously we’d hope you stay for the community and opportunities.)
Notice Board
I’m in the process of closing down our old Facebook Group. It’s barely been used in years and closing it means one less thing for me to think about. Because it’s Facebook, you can’t actually hit a delete button, only suspend it. So I’m having to manually go through and delete every member individually, before finally deleting myself to make the group to disappear... Out of 1200 people I’m down to 250 - so we’re getting there! (Facebook locks my account every 80 people or so 🙄) If you’re reading this and have two seconds, I’d appreciate it if you click here and delete yourself if you’re still a member. Thanks very much!
We’re started planning for our packrafting expedition in Norway :) If I missed off anyone who expressed interest originally, please give me a nudge at emily@intrepid-magazine.com and I’ll add you to the group.
Stay intrepid,
Emily