© Scotty Rogers

One of the most well-known slacklining pros on the scene, 33-year-old Heather Larsen has been walking lines for the last eight years, often against the epic backdrop of a canyon in Colorado. Not that she simply walks them – Heather takes the difficulty up a further notch by performing demanding gymnastic-style poses and balances, hundreds of feet up.

In this Q&A, I quiz Heather, who is based in Utah, on her skills, fears, and love of both slacklining and highlining. After reading, check out her glorious Instagram feed (details at the end of the interview) for stunning highline skills and scenery.

When Bonnie Tu couldn’t find women’s cycling kit or bikes to suit her needs ahead of the Tour of Taiwan more than a decade ago, the-then CFO of Giant was inspired to launch Liv Cycling, the first cycling brand dedicated to female cyclists.

A change-maker in cycling, I put some questions to Bonnie (who, incidentally, employs an entirely female team at Liv, from design right through to marketing) about her career and passion for cycling. We also cover her love of challenging herself, which includes doing her first triathlon at the age of 68!

Former professional ocean racer Lia Ditton has 17 years of sailing experience and 150,000 nautical miles under her belt, but in 2000, on four days’ notice and with no specific training, she completed a different type of ocean crossing: rowing across the Atlantic. Fast-forward to today and Lia is gearing up for her attempt next year to become the first person to successfully row 5,500 nautical miles across the Pacific Ocean, land to land, without being towed.

As part of her training last year, the 38-year-old rowed 350 miles in 12.5 days off the California coast, during which time she encountered the most harrowing conditions of her 17 years at sea. Her experience is the subject of a film, Perseverance, by Find it Film, which is being screened at this month’s Four Seasons Film Festival in London. I grabbed a Skype chat with Lia to talk about all this and more.

‘Perseverance – California Coast Row’ is being screened at London’s Four Seasons Film Festival as part of a triple bill on Wednesday 20 March. Lia will be attending the event and holding a post-screening Q&A. Tickets here.

It’s almost that time again, when Sheffield opens its cinema doors to adventure lovers and outdoor enthusiasts for the annual Sheffield Adventure Film Festival, the headline event of the Outdoor City Weekender.

Here’s a quick glimpse at what’s in store during the festival, which runs from 22-24 March.

© Hillary Biscay

She’s an American pro triathlete and ultra-runner – and as of July last year, the FKT record holder for the Vermont Long Trail – yes, Alyssa Godesky is in the house! Last year, Alyssa successfully completed her fastest known time (FKT) attempt, negotiating the gnarly 273-mile stretch and 67,500ft of elevation in a record-breaking 5 days, 2 hours and 37 minutes, only sleeping 17-18 hours in the process.

During her career, Alyssa has chalked up an incredible 45+ ultra-marathon finishes and more than 30 iron-distance triathlons. When she’s not competing, Alyssa is a triathlon coach and also co-hosts the super-cool IronWomen podcast, which is dedicated to female triathletes, so I’m thrilled to have her on the blog.

N.B I recently interviewed Alyssa solely about her FKT attempt for Red Bull. The feature includes lots of juicy details which we don’t cover here – head to the link at the end of this interview to have a read.

© Channel 4

In January, 40-year-old Vicki Anstey hit our TV screens as one of Channel 4’s SAS: Who Dares Wins recruits. We saw the Barreworks founder undertake a version of the SAS’s gruelling selection process: eleven days of physical and mental stress, that included enduring physical beastings, ice hole submersions, facing her fear of water and heights and, finally, the mental and physical pressures of interrogation and stress positions.

The selection process took place in the freezing Chilean Andes, where temperatures regularly dropped below zero. Now back in sunny London, Vicki took time out of her schedule to share her SAS experience with me.

Today’s interviewee, Tricia O’Hara, is an American stair runner or ‘vertical runner’ who is ranked first in her age group and sixth in the US. Vertical running (also known as tower running or stair running) is a fast-growing sport that involves racing up the stairwells of the world’s most iconic skyscrapers. It even has its own World Series – the Vertical World Circuit – established a decade ago, which awards world ranking status and world champion titles.

When Tricia’s not racing up 100 flights of stairs, she’s running marathons and Ironman triathlons while splitting her time between America and France where she works as a personal trainer. I put some quick-fire questions to the 52-year-old (yes, she really is 52!) below.

How do you prepare for a desert ultra? With the Marathon des Sables fast approaching next month, I quiz Marina Ranger, runner of multiple desert ultra marathons (including the Marathon des Sables, the Wadi Rum Desert Ultra and the Kalahari Desert ultra), on her own training and planning strategies.

From heat training to the importance of gaiters and fuelling, we cover it all here.

© Zoya Lynch

Australian freeride and big mountain skier Nat Segal spent six years competing (and bagging podiums) on the Freeride World Tour and Freeskiing World Tour circuit. A lover of backcountry skiing, Nat’s expeditions have led her through Greenland, Iceland, NZ, Canada and France, and when she’s not carving out her mountain skills, she’s passionate about producing female-driven content.

Together with her X-Games slopestyle skier sister, Anna Segal, and adventure film-maker Bjarne Salén, Nat recently produced Finding the Line, a documentary that explores fear and the sisters’ different experiences and approaches to it. Casual observers could assume both Anna and Nat to be ‘fearless’ based on their choice of career, so it’s an intriguing theme which we explore a bit further in our interview.

The UK premiere of Finding the Line debuts at the Four Seasons Film Festival in London on Friday 22 March.

Earlier in the week I brought you part one of my interview with the brilliant obstacle course racer and ultrarunner, Rea Kolbl (if you missed it, you can read it here), in which Rea chatted about her running, love of hills and her long-term plans to one day run the Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc (UTMB).

In part two, Rea talks about last year’s World’s Toughest Mudder experience, how she fuels her endurance events and, amongst other things, her favourite items of kit (hello, dryrobe). Thanks, Rea!