Photo: Dan Ransom
Rich Rudow is a Grand Canyon adventurer who fell into the abyss at age 25 on a rafting trip his wife gave him as a gift. Thirty-five years later, he has yet to escape the magnetic pull of exploration in the vast remote areas of the National Park. While Rich has hiked most of the Canyon’s trails, the majority of his footprints have been delicately placed in the raw and remote trailless areas of the Park. Rich has explored 200 slot canyons inside the Grand Canyon, including leading over 100 technical first descents. He’s done 16 river trips, most of which have been in the winter when he’s rowed, packrafted (and yes … swam) on month-long journeys. In 2015, at the age of 50, he became one of the few people to traverse the length of the Grand Canyon, staying beneath the rim deep inside the three-dimensional maze for 57-days before successfully emerging near Lake Mead.
Nine years ago, Rich picked up a professional camera determined to vividly showcase the remote beauty of the Grand Canyon in order to inspire more Americans to protect the place. After more than 1,300 days exploring below the rim, he has become one of the foremost experts on the Grand Canyon backcountry. His photographs bring a singularly unique eye to one of the Seven Wonders of World – and ironically, perhaps the most photographed place on the planet.
Rich has been in three films about the Grand Canyon including Peter McBride’s Emmy nominated feature “Into the Canyon.” He was featured in Kevin Fedarko’s New York Times best seller, A Walk In The Park. He’s been written about in National Geographic, Outside, Backpacker and other publications. He has appeared on ABC’s Nightline. In 2012, Rich was named an Outside Magazine Adventurer of the year. He has spoken about the canyon at film festivals and events dozens of times. Rich appears on the cover and wrote the foreward to Todd Martin's Grand Canyoneering guidebook, the winner of the 2012 National Outdoor Book award. He sits on the Board of Directors of the Grand Canyon Conservancy, the Coalition of American Canyoneers and the Executive Council of the American Packrafting Association. Rich spends around 70 days a year beneath the rim of the Grand Canyon exploring and volunteering for the National Park Service on resource preservation efforts.
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More About Rich in these places:
Films, TV, Podcasts:
Articles:
Arizona Republic: Tackling Grand Canyon Toughest Challenge
Outside: Adventurers of the Year
Backpacker Magazine: Over The Edge
Outside: Helicopter Alley
National Geographic: Grand Canyon Threats
Hyperlite Mountain Gear: The Grandest Walk
Books:
A Walk In The Park, Kevin Fedarko
The Grand Canyon: Between Rim and River, Pete McBride
Grand Canyoneering, Todd Martin