Tough Girl Podcast Suzanne “Sunny” Stroeer - First woman to circumnavigate and summit Aconcagua in a single push - the Full 360!
Jun 23, 2020
47:16
Sunny started leading multi-day backcountry trips in the mid-2000s as a student at Harvard College. She went on to obtain an MBA from Harvard Business School and pursue a career as a management consultant while simultaneously expanding her climbing and mountaineering skill set. At the end of 2015, Sunny decided to leave behind the business world in order to focus full-time on climbing and running mountains. Today, she is a professional mountain athlete with multiple speed records on Aconcagua, the Annapurna Circuit, and in the Colorado Rockies. Sunny is a Wilderness First Responder and an AIARE Level II avalanche professional. Listen to Sunny on the Tough Girl Podcast as she shares more about her life and the amazing adventures she has had around the world. Show notes
- Who is Sunny
- Not being into sports
- Growing up as a couch potato
- Getting into running and not enjoying it
- Building up her running to marathon distance
- Deciding to run a 100km ultra race
- Studying politics as an undergrad
- Loving adventure books
- Female role models
- Being inspired by her mum
- Finally falling in love with running
- Looking for a new adventure!
- 36hrs to run 100km….
- Working in a corporate job for 5 years
- Making the decision to quit her job and go in a new direction
- Making the transition to a full time adventurer
- Dealing with unhappiness and making changes to her life
- VanLife!!!
- Climbing Aconcagua in 2014 solo & unsupported!
- Sexism while climbing mountains
- Deciding to start AWExpeditions to empower women
- Completing the 360 challenge in Aconcagua - 104km run around the mountain and up to the summit and then backdown… 47hrs & became the first woman to do it!
- The mental element of the challenge
- Dealing with uncertainly and the unknown obstacles and challenges
- Training for challenges
- Dealing with failure
- Challenging days in the mountains
- Holding the speed record on the Annapurna Circuit in 2017
- Running in boots
- Funding her lifestyle
- The Summit Scholarship
- Final words of advice - “Stop wishing - start planning”