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Discover: Doug Peacock
Author, Grizzly Conservationist, and model for George听Hayduke听in Edward Abbey鈥檚 The Monkey Wrench Gang
In 1973, after my second tour in Vietnam, I was hiking in Yellowstone during an autumn storm with my friend Ed Gage. We crested a hill and looked into a valley filled with steam and some 300 elk. They were churning in confusion, avoiding something. Then we saw it: a grizzly on a bull carcass. Over the past five years, nearly 200 grizzlies had died in the Yellowstone ecosystem, and the population was in danger of collapsing. Watching the bear, I realized I鈥檇 do anything to protect it. Soon after, Gage gave me a Bolex camera and told me to make films鈥攕o I did. I never considered it coincidental that I got mixed up with the grizzly during my little quest into the wilderness to lick my battle wounds. Protecting them was the war that saved my life.鈥As told to听Jakob听Schiller
Gamble:听Mark Allen
Six-time ironman triathlon听world champion
Good races, bad races, good training, bad training鈥攊f you ask yourself, 鈥淲hat听can I learn from this? How can I bring something more to it next time?鈥 then听it can help you evolve as a person. I think that鈥檚 one of the big reasons I started听to win the World Championship in 1989: I听wasn鈥檛 going there to win. My goal听was to try to bring more to it each time. That鈥檚 a very different focus.听鈥擜s told to Reid Singer
Build: Kris Tompkins
Former Patagonia CEO听and founder of听Conservacion听Patagonica (Shown above)
As my late husband, Doug, always used to say, it was one of those one-in-a-million marriages that was life changing for both of us. To have that extraordinary love听between us and be working in these wild and isolated circumstances, it was definitely unusual. We were always based wherever the projects were, so it was quite nomadic. Doug was a bush pilot, and we flew almost every day. That鈥檚 how we got around. When I was little, I wanted an extreme life鈥攖o be living on the听Champs-脡lys茅es听in Paris or under a bridge. And in many ways, that absolutely came true.听I like intensity. It鈥檚 not for everybody.听鈥擜s told to Luke听Whelan
Go Long: Shaun White
Two-time Olympic gold medalist
I had all these big plans for after the Sochi Olympics, but then I didn鈥檛 win and it all went out the window鈥攁nd it was awesome. My whole world had been built on winning, and I lost. It was very humbling, but it allowed me to finally have a life. At first I was playing with this band, but we had some differences and that stopped.听It was about a year after Sochi that I wasn鈥檛 playing music, I wasn鈥檛 snowboarding or skating, and I went, Well, shit, what if I just stayed at the beach and lived? I own a house in Malibu, and I had friends over to surf and barbecue and hang out. It听was amazing to realize that there was life after competing. Now, going into the next Olympics knowing that, win or lose, I still have my life and everything I鈥檝e already accomplished, I feel like I鈥檓 just that much more dangerous. No matter what, I鈥檓 going to keep going.听鈥擜s told to Christopher D. Thompson
Believe: Lynn Hill
First to free-climb the nose route on El Capitan in Yosemite Valley听
Climbing found me. I never chose to start climbing or to become a professional鈥攊t just happened. And after it did, I didn鈥檛 say no to a lot of the opportunities that came my way. I was forging new ground, so there was no precedent. That gave me a lot of freedom. I could climb whatever I wanted, and I was having the time of my life.听鈥擜s told to Jay Bouchard听
Reboot: Lindsey听Vonn
Olympic gold-medal skier
In my very first race, when I was about seven, I went around one of the gates听the wrong way. No one saw it, but I knew I had to go to the referees and tell them to disqualify me. I听wasn鈥檛 very good in the beginning鈥攎y coach would call me a turtle. That changed when I met听Picabo听Street. I was nine, and she was a huge role model for me. I realized I wanted to be in the Olympics. Then, when I was 16 years old, I had a season where I听didn鈥檛 finish 50 out of 55 races. I almost quit. Instead听I decided to recommit everything to skiing. I hired a trainer and made the U.S. Ski Team and then the Olympic team. That鈥檚 when I got over the doubt. After that听I never again thought about not racing.听鈥擜s told to听Axie听Navas
Share: Yvon Chouinard
Patagonia founder听
You know what? I keep telling people you don鈥檛 need our expensive jackets. I don鈥檛 have one. All my shit is old as can be. I mean this shirt is, uh… I don鈥檛 know how old this one is. Same with my pants. Christ. I don鈥檛 hardly own any new Patagonia stuff.听鈥擜s told to Abe Streep
Endure: Conrad Anker
Alpinist
Losing people is part of high-altitude climbing, and it鈥檚 really tough. If you were听close to the person who died and there with them when it happened, the guilt is very hard to overcome. It鈥檚 just, Why did I make it through when they didn鈥檛? For me, though, there was never a question about getting right back to climbing. I was just too driven. It grabbed me. But last year, we went back to Tibet and re-attended to听the bodies of Dave Bridges and Alex Lowe on Shishapangma. The guilt came back in the weeks beforehand, then afterward there was PTSD from putting to rest friends who had been missing for 17 years and who I was the last person to see alive. It unsettled my life again for a period. It鈥檚 heavy stuff. It鈥檚 not something you鈥檇 want to do.听鈥擜s told to Nicholas Hunt
Let Go: Laird Hamilton
Waterman
Going forward, I only see evolving鈥攍earning more and becoming more efficient听and focused. As you get older, you can take your destiny into your hands and define for yourself what success means. I love the concept of doing what I haven鈥檛 done instead of doing something again just to prove that I can still do it. I was in Peru this summer and surfed the longest waves I鈥檝e ever ridden鈥攋ust under six and half minutes for almost two and a half miles. My mentor is 84 years old, and we鈥檙e about to take a heli-snowboarding trip to Chile. The people I admire stay full speed ahead into the unknown and are relentless in their pursuit of life. You just don鈥檛 stop.鈥擜s told to Michael Roberts听