The August issue of Backpacker magazine, along with the article about Kurt, includes a six page pictorial focusing on the Sierra Challenge. It was wonderful to see my good friend Bob Burd getting some well-earned recognition. He puts so much effort into organizing the event annually, which can be seen through his
website. However, I was extremely disappointed to see that the spread included not a
single picture of
any woman participant. Bob himself mentioned this in a thread over on Summitpost.
While Backpacker generally does a good job of representing women in their magazine, I think the lack of mention of women participating in a more "extreme" event is a significant omission.
I did write a letter to the editor, which can be seen
here. I am very proud to call myself a Challenge Finisher, one of only ten people to do so in the eleven years of the event. These gentlemen are my dear friends and mountain family. But I think Backpacker did a disservice to women out there by not showing that women do get out there and work as hard as the guys in order to achieve something really special.
Thanks for letting me vent,
L
