Rick Ridgeway
Rick Ridgeway is an outdoor adventurer, writer and advocate for sustainability and conservation initiatives.
For 15 years, Rick was the VP of Environmental Affairs and then VP of Public Engagement at Patagonia, Inc. During his tenure he has worked with teams to develop and launch environmental and sustainability initiatives including Freedom to Roam, the Footprint Chronicles, the Responsible Economy Campaign and Worn Wear. He also was founding chairman of the Sustainable Apparel Coalition, developer of the Higg Index and today the largest apparel, footwear and home textile trade organization in the world.
In addition, Rick is recognized as one of the world’s foremost mountaineers. With three companions, he was the first American to summit K2, and he has done other significant climbs and explorations on all continents. He has written seven books, many magazine stories and produced and directed dozens of television shows. His memoir Life Lived Wild will be released in October 2021. National Geographic honored him with its “Lifetime Achievement in Adventure” award.
Rick serves on six boards of conservation organizations, including the Tompkins Conservation, the Turtle Conservancy, One Earth and the Kiewit Family Foundation.
Rick lives in Ojai, California, and has three children and four grandchildren.
550: Rick Ridgeway: A Life Lived Wild: K2, Everest, and places no human had seen
Prepare to be awed at Rick’s stories of adventure, discovery, nature, and humanity. He has summited K2, Everest, and more. He’s visited places possibly no other human has. And he’s an experienced, brilliant storyteller, so shares his experiences with a vitality that can only come from living it. Hear what it’s like for animals that have never seen humans to approach him.
His interactions with people show up too, including Sir Edmund Hillary, Patagonia founder Yvon Chouinard, and North Face and Esprit founder Dave Tompkins, and more.
He shares what it’s like at altitudes where each step requires summoning all the willpower he can just to take the next step.
For background, before recording, I checked with him if we could talk about his thoughts on his role as a role model promoting activities that impact the environment, like all that flying. I was glad to hear he was open to it. It just worked out that the stories he shared were so engaging that we didn’t get to the topic, or to do the Spodek Method. I hope in a future episode. Still, he shared plenty on his environmental views and work.
He just published his latest book. As captivating as I found this conversation, the book’s stories transcend them. Beyond individual stories, it’s composed with threads running in and out that create a greater message than a collection of stories.