May 2025 Book Explores Women’s Narratives in Adventure Sports: “FLOW: WOMEN’S COUNTERNARRATIVES FROM RIVERS, ROCK, and SKY (Rocky Mountain Books)

May 1, 2025

New book

May 1, 2025 /ENDURANCE SPORTSWIRE/ –  Rocky Mountain Books will publish Flow: Women’s Counternarratives from River, Rock, and Sky arrives in bookstores on May 20, 2025.

Through beautiful photography and beautifully-rendered personal essays, the new anthology FLOW takes readers on an inspiring journey through the world of women in adventure sports– challenging stereotypes and celebrating the strength, resilience, and unity of women across the globe. This unique collection highlights the powerful, diverse voices of women who are redefining what’s possible in outdoor sports like whitewater kayaking, climbing, mountaineering, and highlining.

With photography and stories from around the world, Flow captures the personal narratives of women from a wide range of countries, including Ecuador, India, México, Poland, the Czech Republic, Germany, the United States, and Canada. These women share their unique experiences, whether as newcomers or seasoned professionals, offering insights into their journeys and the challenges they face.

Edited by Czech highliner and climber Denisa Krásná and American kayaker Alena Rainsberry, Flow examines the intersections of gender, race, class, and sexual identity within the context of extreme sports, offering a fresh perspective on the barriers these women have overcome. More than just a collection of stories, this book is a celebration of the diverse paths these women have taken, and the common drive that unites them in their pursuit of adventure.

Flow is not just about extreme sports; it’s about the women who are shaping them. It’s about empowerment, breaking down barriers, and embracing a more inclusive vision of outdoor adventure.

Media copies of FLOW are available for outlets considering coverage, and Denisa Krásná and Alena Rainsberry are available for an interview.

Please reach out to James Faccinto of Full Complement Communications at James@Full-Complement.com for more information.

“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

About the Authors:

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.

ABOUT ROCKY MOUNTAIN BOOKS: Rocky Mountain Books is an independent publisher based in Victoria, Canada, publishing a dynamic, growing list of provocative, engaging and award-winning books on mountain history, adventure travel, outdoor lifestyle, environmental consciousness, Indigenous culture, and contemporary photography—as well as a growing selection of bestselling books for children. For more information, visit RMBOOKS.COM.

FLOW: Women’s Counternarratives from River, Rock, and Sky
May 20, 2025 • ISBN: 9781771607063 • 400 Pages • $40.00