Cassidy Randall

The first all women's ascent of Denali, 55 years, was an absolutely fantastic story and a wild survival story to boot.

But why had it gone mostly untold, until now? My latest, for REI.

www.rei.com/blog/climb/f...

Our Wilderness Honeymoon Almost Killed Us. Literally. Why it's a good thing to face mortality with your significant other.

When @be-jammin-polley.bsky.social and I, two adventurers, were planning our honeymoon, it made sense that it should be the most epic adventure we’d undertaken to date. No feather beds and cocktails on beaches for us, we thought.

And then we almost died.

cassidyr.substack.com/p/our-wilder...

The Secret To Success Isn't Just Wishing For It Writer and REI podcaster Shelby Stanger lives a dream life. But she's honest about the fact that she worked for it, invested in herself, and was entirely motivated to pursue her passion.

Latest on the column: Writer and REI podcaster Shelby Stanger lives a dream life. But she's honest about the fact that she worked for it, invested in herself, and was entirely motivated to pursue her passion.

cassidyr.substack.com/p/the-secret...

Thank you to @alexhonnold.bsky.social for the most fun interview I've gotten to do yet on THIRTY BELOW. Clearly it was winter when we recorded this...

How to Open to Unexpected Love What my new handful of a pup taught me about expectation, perfectionism, and entering into relationships with other beings.

Latest on my Substack: what our reactive, handful rescue dog taught me about expectation, perfectionism, and how to enter into relationship with other beings. And remembering that none of us mean to mess up (usually). We're all just doing our best.

cassidyr.substack.com/p/how-to-ope...

Thanks to @brendanomeara.bsky.social for the chat on The Creative Nonfiction podcast on my latest @atavist.com story. Talking with other writers about writing is always so validating and vindicating and all the other feels solitary writers often need so badly.

brendanomeara.com/the-cassidy-...

If you like a good podcast, well, you're in luck. It's a double-feature Friday and @cassidyrandall.bsky.social is back to talk about her @atavist.com story "The Longest Journey."

Need something inspirational in your apocalyptic politics feed? My latest for @rollingstone.com.

www.rollingstone.com/politics/pol...

She Completed an Audacious 1,600-Mile Ski Journey. Then Tragedy Struck. Lena Rowat embarked on what many considered an impossible expedition across the Coast Range mountains to quiet her demons. But she only began to silence them once she lost the love of her young life.

Lena Rowat skied 1,600 grueling miles across the Coast Range to quiet her demons. But she didn’t begin to silence them until tragedy struck. Atavist no. 163, by @cassidyrandall.bsky.social, is here. magazine.atavist.com/the-longest-...

Historical Nonfiction for Readers Who Crave Adventure Take a deep dive into the world of historical adventure and survival nonfiction.

Here's a real actual booklist of real actual books about historical adventures in the great outdoors - mine included! 💙📚 I'll add @cassidyrandall.bsky.social's THIRTY BELOW and Jayne Zanglein's THE GIRL EXPLORERS. @bookriot.bsky.social bookriot.com/historical-s...

Thank you for the shout out!

She Completed an Audacious 1,600-Mile Ski Journey. Then Tragedy Struck. Lena Rowat embarked on what many considered an impossible expedition across the Coast Range mountains to quiet her demons. But she only began to silence them once she lost the love of her young life.

My latest for @atavist.com: It the greatest ski mountaineering expedition ever. And it was a journey of obsession, depression, love, loss, survival—and the cost of following a drive to go further and higher than anyone had before.

magazine.atavist.com/the-longest-...

The Pressure of Constant Productivity We live in an era of curated productivity, both work-wise and in nearly every other aspect of life. How do we buck such unsustainable standards?

We live in an era of curated productivity - a time of drinking from a constant fire hose of production.

How do we buck such unsustainable standards? Latest on the Substack.

cassidyr.substack.com/p/the-pressu...

Five Ways Top Summer Vacations Depend On Public Lands Millions of people plan summer vacations to hike, bike, camp, fish, raft and adventure. Which depends on public lands being staffed, funded—and public in the first place.

"Once these lands are gone, they're gone forever." That means no more hiking, biking, camping, horseback riding, flyfishing, rafting, or wildlife watching. Latest on my Forbes column.

www.forbes.com/sites/cassid...

What It's Really Like to Face Off With a Grizzly -- and Live to Tell the Tale Jon Bentzel and Micah Nelson were hiking in Glacier National Park when a grizzly bear attacked Bentzel while protecting her cubs

Jon Bentzel and Micah Nelson were hiking in Glacier National Park when a grizzly bear attacked Bentzel while protecting her cubs.

www.rollingstone.com/culture/cult...

So good!

Some are willing to muzzle science to seek profit By Benjamin Alva Polley EBS COLUMNIST The current administration is attacking institutions of knowledge, such …

Newark’s Mayor Arrested at Protest Outside ICE Detention Center

In case you just walked in: the mayor of Newark was arrested during a protest at an ICE detention center in his capacity as mayor while requesting access to the facility, which, the city says, failed to obtain required permits or certificate of occupancy.

Gift link:

www.nytimes.com/2025/05/09/n...

I could not be more honored that Thirty Below has been selected as the Town Read at Mountainfilm this year! If you’re in Telluride, come join me at Wilkinson Public Library for some storytelling. So, so excited for this event.

No precedent, no permission: The first all-women team to challenge Denali – The Pulp In a raw and intimate excerpt from “Thirty Below,” Missoula author Cassidy Randall chronicles the tension and triumph of a historic all-women ascent.

Coming for you Friday night, Whitefish! Thanks to @thepulp.org for publishing an excerpt of THIRTY BELOW ahead of the Whitefish reading. Montana love is the best kind of love.

thepulp.org/thirty-below...

House Republicans approve amendment authorizing the sale of federal lands After initially excluding it from a budget bill, House Republicans approved a controversial late hour amendment Tuesday that authorizes the sale of federal land in two western states for affordable ho...

Call your Representatives now. Once our public lands are gone, they’re gone for good.

www.npr.org/2025/05/07/g...

I always forget how beautiful B.C. is. Maybe on purpose, so I’m not sad I don’t live here anymore.

The road north. Spring in the Rockies, she’s hard to beat.

How to brighten up a gray day: Exhibit A.

Thanks so much! Glad you enjoyed it.

I Need a Hero(ine) On writing and releasing one of the few mainstream adventure books featuring women.

In a time of increasingly permissible misogyny and oppression, when people across the country feel that progress in women’s equality has backslid (I do, anyway), we need examples of real & complex heroines.

cassidyr.substack.com/p/i-need-a-h...

What an All-Female Team to Summit Denali Can Teach Us About Historic Firsts A look at historic firsts in American culture offers hope: These long roads will arrive at the destination, writes Cassidy Randall.

Want some good news? (Yeah, you do.) It might feel like progress in women’s equality has been stymied lately, but a look back a historic firsts and progress since shows this long road WILL reach the destination. My latest for TIME.

time.com/7267898/all-...

After a Freak Accident, This Snowboarder Was Miles From Help. What He Did Next Might Surprise You Dozens of skiers and snowboarders die in tragic circumstances every year—but not like this.

Whoa. This is a wild, adrenaline-pumping true story. Please don't ever let me be impaled in the backcountry.

www.mensjournal.com/travel/deadl...

@be-jammin-polley.bsky.social

Opinion | Denali Will Always Be Denali At least a dozen other mountains and ridges in the U.S. already carry the name McKinley.

Regardless of Mr. Trump’s efforts to force upon it the name of a president who had never even visited Alaska, the mountain has always been, and will always be, Denali.

My latest for @nytimes.com.

www.nytimes.com/2025/03/14/o...

The First All-Women Team Summited Denali 55 Years Ago. The World Forgot Their Story—Until Now. The new book "Thirty Below" tells the tale

"We need stories of female mettle, bravery, curiosity, and impact—on how we see the world, what we know of it, and what we are capable of in it." Now more than ever, as this administration stifles historic feats of women & minorities. @climbingmagazine.bsky.social

www.climbing.com/news/first-a...