• Skip to content
  • Skip to footer
Men's Journal
  • Gear
    • Gear Box
    • Autos
    • Tech
    • Home & Lifestyle
    • Fitness
    • Outdoor
    • Reviews
  • Health & Fitness
    • Wellness
    • Workouts
    • Celebrity workouts
    • Ab workouts
    • Leg workouts
    • Total-body workouts
    • arms workouts
    • Chest workouts
    • Weight Loss
  • Adventure
    • Features
    • Trips
    • Guides
    • Lands Uncompromised
    • Outdoors
  • Food & Drink
    • Whiskey
    • Beer
    • Recipes
    • Cocktails & Spirits
    • Healthy Food
  • Style
    • Grooming
    • fashion
    • Watches
    • shoes
  • Travel
    • travel guides
    • 4-Day Weekends
    • National Parks
    • travel tips
  • More
    • Subscribe
    • Give a Gift
    • Subscriber Service
    • Shop Special Issues
    • Newsletter
    • Accessibility Statement
Inside the Minds of the World’s Greatest Solo Adventurers
  • This link opens in a new window
  • This link opens in a new window
  • This link opens in a new window
  • This link opens in a new window
  • Open Comments
Mike Libecki climbing
Keith Ladzinski

Adventure

Inside the Minds of the World’s Greatest Solo Adventurers

by Wesley Grover
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

It’s difficult to comprehend navigating a blistering Antarctic snowstorm without another living soul in sight. Or to journey into the unknown and make the first ascent of a rugged mountain in the Himalayas entirely alone. For many of us, a solo adventure of this nature is the sort of fear-inducing, sphincter-clenching, avoid-at-all-costs type situation.

The World’s Most Adventurous Women 2019

The World’s Most Adventurous Women 2019

Read article

Yet, there’s a rare breed of explorers who are drawn to—and take pleasure in—these high stakes. While the physical challenge of their exploits, like rope-soloing a 1,000-foot rock wall in Afghanistan, is certainly daunting, it’s perhaps the mental challenge of doing it alone that’s even more formidable. After all, few of us really know how we’d react in a situation where the slightest err in judgement has life-altering, if not life-ending, repercussions.

To better understand what it is that appeals to the world’s greatest solo adventurers, we caught up with a few of the most accomplished athletes. These are the psychological challenges they face on the reg, and how they’ve learned to overcome them.

Mike Libecki climbing an iceberg
Keith Ladzinski

1. Mike Libecki

Mike Libecki is a rock climber-turned-explorer with established solo first ascents on all seven continents. Over the past 30 years, he’s gone on 87 expeditions, nearly half of which have been alone, to such places as Afghanistan, Papua New Guinea, Baffin Island, Yemen, and Guyana.

Read his feature, here:

Colin O'Brady
Courtesy Image

2. Colin O’Brady

Colin O’Brady is a professional endurance athlete and adventurer who holds the speed record for the Explorer’s Grand Slam, reaching the North Pole, South Pole, and highest peak on each continent, in 139 days. In 2018, he completed a 932-mile solo and unsupported journey across Antarctica in 54 days.

Read his feature, here.

Felicity Aston
Courtesy Image

3. Felicity Aston

Felicity Aston is a British polar explorer, expedition leader, and former Antarctic scientist. In 2012, she became the first woman to ski alone across Antarctica as she journeyed 1,084 miles over 59 days, earning a place in the Guinness Book of World Records.

Read her feature, here.

David Lama
Courtesy of Red Bull Content Pool

4. David Lama

David Lama is an Austrian rock climber and alpinist. In 2015, he and his partner, Conrad Anker, made an unsuccessful attempt to claim the first ascent of Lunag Ri, a 22,660-foot mountain in the Himalayas. On a second bid the following year, Anker suffered a heart attack. After descending, he was airlifted to Kathmandu and survived. In 2018, Lama returned to Lunag Ri, alone.

Read his feature, here.

Captain Liz Clark
Jianca Lazarus

5. Captain Liz Clark

Captain Liz Clark is a surfer, sailor, and environmentalist. In 2006, she set sail from California, sailing south to Central America and into the Pacific aboard her 40-foot sailboat, Swell. Since then, she has surpassed over 20,000 nautical miles, more than half of which she completed solo.

Read her feature, here.

For access to exclusive gear videos, celebrity interviews, and more, subscribe on YouTube!

Topics: alpine explorer mountain climbing outdoor adventure

Want more?

Sign up for our newsletter to get the latest adventures, workouts, destinations, and more.

We may use your e-mail address to send you the newsletter and offers that may interest you, on behalf of Men's Journal and its partners. For more information please read our Privacy Policy

How we use your email address

You have successfully signed up.

More from Adventure
  • Nelson Gooseman skiing at Mount Baker This Is What Skiing 8 Feet of Snow in Two Weeks Looks Like
  • Glacier National Park Waterfalls, Wagons, and Wild Ales: The Four-Day Weekend in Western Montana
  • hiking trekin thru hiking The 6 Best Winter Thru-Hiking Trails in the U.S.
  • . Epic Clip of "Speedflying" Through a Narrow Canyon in Switzerland
  • Jason Magness Team Bend Racing from the United States during the 2019 Eco-Challenge adventure race in Fiji Adversity Lessons Learned the Hard Way in the ‘World’s Toughest Race’
  • Person in colorful ski kit backcountry skiing in Washington with Mt. Baker in the background The Absolute Beginner's Guide to Backcountry Skiing
  • John John Florence John John Florence on His Long-Awaited Pipeline Win, His New Brand and a New Year As Surfing’s No. 1 Seed
  • Lone woman in blue jacket running through a forest on snowshoes The Beginner's Guide to Snowshoe Running
  • TNF Black Ice film Preview the New Film That Shows Climbing Can Be Colorblind

Men’s Journal has affiliate partnerships so we may receive compensation for some links to products and services.

  • Privacy Policy
  • Accessibility Statement
  • Your Ad Choices
  • Data Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Customer Service
  • Media Kit
  • Sitemap
  • Our Team
Manage Cookies

A360 Media Active Lifestyle Group

© A360 Media LLC 2021

Powered by WordPress.com VIP

TAG Trustworthy Accountability Group TAG Trustworthy Accountability Group