For some people the Instagram is about cats, tasty dishes and selfies with the backdrop of sea. But in some accounts you can see a very different life.
By Angelina Green
Dizzying heights, tumultuous waterfalls, steep walls and thin ice… We’ve compiled a list of 15 different active women — from extreme models to mountaineering experts. They will surely add adrenaline to your Instagram feed!
Alrosa Group Independent Director Maria Gordon, who runs the @gritandrock blog, holds two Guinness Book of Records — she has climbed to the highest peaks on seven continents and skied to both poles in the shortest time possible (7 months 19 days). But that’s not why we love her. Masha established and for several years already has been giving Grit&Rock First Ascent Award: supports expeditions, unites people (in winter 2018 the community managed to collect 56 thousand Euros for the organization of rescue operation at Nanga Parbat in a few days), within the framework of her foundation Grit&Rock helps British teenage girls to accept themselves with the help of outdoors, participates in discussions about women’s mountaineering around the world. In general, Masha is the embodiment of what we call Girl Power. About her expeditions, as well as about her business, motherhood and how she turned from a non-sportsman in the past into a record holder, Masha writes in her social media.
For those who speak English, @sianannalewis can be a source of both useful lifehaks and incredible inspiration. The multi-award winning Travel Blog is hosted by our colleague, a travel writer. With bright pictures from all around the world, Shihan publishes motivating stories about her adventures, reviews of equipment, tips for surviving in the wild and simply funny stories. The blogger herself says her blog will be interesting to anyone who feels they need a breath of clean air, and this description describes all her posts as accurately as possible.
Alpine guide and instructor in alpine skiing and snowboarding @annakhankevich has been actively engaged in sports since childhood. At first, she went skiing in a sports section, then took interest in freeriding, mountaineering, climbing and ice climbing. Among those who still follow Anna’s career today, there are many who do not know that she went snowboarding for quite a long time, although she preferred alpine skiing as a result. It will be especially interesting to watch Anna’s blog for active moms: since recently, reportage installations sketches from competitions and expeditions, the sportswoman, raising her daughter, complements publications about traveling with young children, inspiring other women not to sit at home with her children, but to go outside!
The biography of this woman is at least diverse. Justin has time to travel under extreme conditions, do sports, study history and be a physiotherapist with the UK National Health Service. But she hasn’t always lived such a busy life: it wasn’t until 2015 that Justin decided to embark on her first adventure and ride her bicycle to 15 countries along the Iron Curtain that separated the former Soviet Union and Western Europe. Inspired by her desire to learn more about the history of these places, Justin began traveling. And she hasn’t stopped until now: now snow-capped mountain peaks in her @justine_gosling account are commonplace!
There are adventurous and active women in Russia, who are able to combine medical practice with outdoors. The @irenezelenkova account is proof of that. Irina specializes in sports medicine and is responsible for sports science at the Innovation Centre of the Russian Olympic Committee. The other side of her life is mountaineering expeditions, photos of which appear in Irina’s feed along with travel notes that can be useful for many climbers.
The substantial and to a certain extent philosophical blog @katia_korovina shows a view of life from the mountain peaks. Katya touches on topical and even, we can say, acute topics for mountaineers: she writes how not to panic, hanging in a crack, why go to the mountains at all and where to get socks suitable for climbing! In general, here you can find both long-awaited answers and new questions to think about.
Strictly speaking, on @angela_nikolau there are not only mountains: there are high-rise houses, bridges and even cranes. Russian extreme model Angelina Nikolau has become famous all over the world for her breathtaking video clips, where she and her madness partner, together with her cameraman, perform incredibly dangerous stunts, climbing to dizzying heights for the sake of successful shots. Not everyone shares this reckless desire to take a good shot, but one thing is certain: it’s very impressive!
Katya, who runs a blog @xodim_brodim, does Scandinavian walking. Often — against the backdrop of mountain landscapes, of which there are many in her account. In addition to them, here you can find useful tips: what to motivate yourself to regular training, where to go for picturesque views and how to still decide on your first climb. A lot of useful information in a handy and accessible form — sign up and learn!
“The mountains are my life,” says @stefanishina_oksana in her account description, the next person at our list. Oksana is a master of sports in skyrunning, she is a member of the Russian national team in this sport. In her Instagram blog, she talks about the challenges she faces at height, publishes reviews on various outfits and, of course, shares exciting mountain scenery.
In her ironic travelogue blog @backpacking_russia, Jana reveals the inside of a journey organized with bare enthusiasm. How to build a route if your budget is limited to a few thousand rubles, how to make a nutritious economy class hiking menu without harming your body, and where to look for adventure if you do not want to travel far from home – to all these and many other questions blogger answers in the most detail and with humor. Want to start traveling, but do not know where to start, and are afraid to spend? Then sign up for Yana for sure!
There are an impressive number of victories on @natalianeshcheret account: in 2015 she won the title of “The Strongest Skyrunner of Russia in 2015”, in 2016 she became a medalist of the Russian Championship in Skyrunning, in 2016 she took 4th place at the World Skyrunning Championship in the discipline of ultra-marathon. Natalia is a master of sports in orienteering and a master of sports in mountaineering in the discipline of skyranning, as well as the owner of an incredibly inspiring installation account. Bright photos of the smiling athlete, motivating signatures and useful tips for reaching new heights give Natalia a well-deserved place in our list.
As a freeride guide, Oksana writes not only about the choice of equipment, the wisdom of back country and the rules of safe riding. Much more posts are devoted to philosophical questions: what is happiness and how it is connected with mountains, than the unique feeling of freedom during the expedition and why do people climb to heights in general? Food for thought with concrete examples from life – already in the installation @oksana_chekulaeva.
No exaggeration, the most famous Russian freerider. Anna more than once became the winner of the international and Russian competitions, including she is the winner and the prize-winner of stages of the Freeride World Tour, and also the vice-champion of the world of 2019. In her installation @lavi_ann the athlete shares the secrets of her expertise: she talks about training, nutrition, injury and recovery, competitions, doubts and fears, and, of course, her motivation to reach new heights.
Maria Tolokonina, International Master of Sports in ice climbing, Master of Sports in climbing, repeated world champion and winner of the World Cups, as well as coach in climbing and ice climbing. Despite the strict Machin look and serious list of regalia, in the installation @maria_tolokonina everything is democratic and homely. Masha shares the details of her life: reports on the course of the competition, motivating quotes, publications on training and shots from the family archive.
The list of climbing achievements is huge: Stephanie Davis is the first woman to climb all the peaks of the Fitz Roy Massif in Patagonia, the first woman to climb the Salathe Wall route on El Capitan (Yosemite, USA). In addition to climbing, Steph Davis is known as a Wingsiuter and base-jumper. In her installation @highsteph, which is monitored by over 90,000 subscribers, she shares her new achievements, publishes videos with breathtaking scenery and, of course, talks about the progress of her training.
From the editorial office: We understand that this list is not complete. And even if the first one we publish is to introduce you to strong and inspiring women, it is not the last one.
We think each of you will find the 16th woman on that list just by looking in the mirror! We wish you all good luck and a happy journey!
This story has two storytellers. We are grateful to Katya and her partner Victor Zakharin for letting us tell the story of the hardest period of their lives.
