Adventurers of the Year in Their Own Words (Vote for the People’s Choice!)

ByMary Anne Potts
November 04, 2012
5 min read


Last Friday we announced the ten inspising 2013 Adventurers of the Year. Each has shown a long-term commitment to striving, suffering, and rejoicing in adventure—in diverse ways. They prove that great adventures do still exist. Now you must decide which one will become the new People’s Choice Adventurer of the Year for 2013 by voting every day for your choice. Or vote every day for a different person—we admit it is impossible to pick a favorite. The voting runs until January 16, 2013. In February, we will announce the winner. Vote now! Click here to see the amazing photo gallery, read interviews, and see previous honorees.

To get to know the Adventurers of the Year a little better, we decided to let them speak themselves. Here are choice quotes from their interviews, presented in alphabetical order.

2013 Adventurers of the Year In Their Own Words 

I had a bad feeling. What if the door didn’t open? ~ Felix Baumgartner on the moment before he free fell from the stratosphere

We all struggle with our own disabilities, our own challenges, whether they be physical, emotional, or spiritual. This was a deeply personal quest. ~ Josh Dueck on landing the first sit-ski back flip

If people forget everything else about me as a kayaker, in 50 years they will remember that Steve Fisher did the Inga. ~ Steve Fisher on leading a team of kayakers on the first descent of the world’s largest rapids

I think there is something very different about embracing a sport that you know wholeheartedly is going to make you bloody. You know you are going to crash when you mountain bike. There is no way to get better if you don’t crash. ~ Shannon Galpin Shannon Galpin on doing humanitarian work (on a bicycle) in Afghanistan

I love ski alpinism and ski touring and cross-country skiing. I love climbing and mountaineering. For me, it’s really important to get some mountain time. ~ Lizzy Hawker on why she loves ultrarunning

I had a couple of years where all I wanted to do was a camping trip in Alaska. ~ Jeremy Jones on why he pioneered the splitboarding movement to climb all the mountains you ride

Cerro Torre will always be a special mountain to me. It changed me from a sport climber into an alpinist. ~ David Lama on completing the first free ascent of the Compressor Route on Patagonia’s Cerro Torre

I rationalized my credit cards as student loans. For years I put trips on credit cards and came home to a $20,000 credit card bill. Then I would work my butt off all season long, pay it off, and do it all over again. ~ Mike Libecki on how he started funding his career of  45 expeditions—and counting— to the world’s most remote places

I don’t like politics. I don’t want to do it, but there aren’t many places like this in the world. ~ Ramon Navarro on why he takes time out from big-wave surfing to help establish a national park at his home break, Punta de Lobos, in Chile

You have to ask yourself, How do you draw the line between obsession and passion? You have to ask yourself, What am I willing to sacrifice? With Meru, I think I was obsessed. I pretty much sacrificed my relationship. I could have sacrificed my life. You have to have that conversation with yourself. ~ Renan Ozturk on why back stories from the vertical realm

We’d like to thank our Adventurers of the Year Advisory Board with their help on the selections; Fitz Cahall for his tireless work writing and crafting the interviews; and Anson Fogel for the fantastic edit on the highlights video above. 

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