Flow

Praise for Flow:

“In a world where outdoor adventure narratives have long been dominated by white male voices, Flowdelivers a long-overdue disruption. Curated by Denisa Krásná and Alena Rainsberry—two women with a deep-rooted love for adventuring—Flow is a powerful collection that carves out space for women, especially those from underrepresented backgrounds, to tell their stories on their own terms.” —Dania Rashid, Explore Magazine

“If the gorgeous, anxiety-inducing photography isn’t inspiring enough, reading about the struggle for women of different ages, skill levels, backgrounds and cultures to be taken seriously in male-dominated sports is rousing for even the most reticent recreationist.” —The Tyee

“The storytellers in Flow are part of a larger movement sweeping the world, as women and nonbinary writers of all backgrounds create counternarratives of adventure, rendering more visible the varied landscapes of journeys undertaken beyond social barriers, and retracing the diverse and imaginative pathways drawn throughout wild places – while they navigate currents of swift rivers, climb walls of steep mountains, and traverse lines that stretch high and far across the wild air.” —Katie Ives, author of Imaginary Peaks: The Riesenstein Hoax and Other Mountain Dreams

“While most adventure and outdoor sports narratives are hero stories featuring achievements, “conquests,” and world’s firsts, it is refreshing to flip the script and focus on the human stories. Flow’s writers share singular personal experiences that are not without vulnerability, doubt, and inner struggle. Hopefully, these stories are a small step toward more inclusivity in these sports.” —Nouria Newman, French whitewater kayaker

“Flow proves women belong in high mountains and extreme landscapes. They bring resilience, sharp judgment, calmness, and an unstoppable spirit to every climb, river, and peak.” — Honza “Tráva” Trávníček, Czech alpinist

“These are stories of courage and self-awareness that shine in defiance of the patriarchal forces trying to hold adventurous women back. They give even greater depth and meaning to skillful movement through rivers, rock, and sky.” —Sonja Swift, author of Echo Loba, Loba Echo

“Flow is a collage of the female spirit in high-risk sport that unites a universal sisterhood with the power of self in wondrous natural landscapes. It highlights global similarities of how women discover, explore, and expand their adventurous side to master their chosen pursuit. While each story is that of an individual author, the entire collection speaks a similar language of diversity and its related challenges. The introductions for each section – Rivers, Rock, and Sky – are excellent and provide thorough backgrounds to paddling, climbing, and highlining that invite the reader to understand the technical language and context of the personal accounts that follow.” —Helen Rolfe, co-author of Honouring High Places: The Mountain Life of Junko Tabei

Denisa Krásná is a Czech highliner and climber with ambitions as lofty as her lines in the sky. After making remarkable progress in her first year of slacklining, she has taken her webbing literally to new heights by rigging lines up in the air in places like Yosemite, the Dolomites, the Stawamus Chief, Czechia’s sandstone towers, the Bavarian Alps, and Tenerife. She aims to walk long, high lines in beautiful airscapes all over the world, combining her passion for highlining and alpinism, and simply appreciating the beauty of mountains. When she’s not on the line, Denisa is a dedicated scholar in the fields of Indigenous studies, critical animal and vegan studies, environmental humanities, and ecofeminism. She comes from Přerov, Czechia.

Alena Rainsberry is a queer American kayaker who wants to explore rivers all around the world. After being introduced to whitewater kayaking in 2021, she quickly fell in love with the joys and challenges of whitewater and has been dedicated to improving her river-running skills ever since. Before long, she found herself navigating rapids from the Ecuadorian jungle to the Indian Himalayas. She thrives in immersing herself in diverse cultural environments and has a knack for making friends and community wherever she travels. She is a passionate advocate for increasing representation, getting women into the outdoors, and encouraging people to experience new things. She is from the Pacific Northwest, where she currently lives and kayaks.