EDITOR’S MESSAGE

FEET

FIRST

Historically, the term “badass” originates from African American slang in the mid/late 1800s where “bad” was used to mean “good, in a very tough or ruthless way.” Adding the word “ass” to an adjective to give it a bit more zest—smartass, dumbass, crazy-ass—became widely popular in the 1920s. By the mid-50s, the Black community had coined “badass” as someone who refused to submit to the oppressive culture of the time. During the rise of funk music and Blaxploitation films in the 70s, “badass” was synonymous with the idea of confidence, toughness, and disaffectedness.

And it went downhill from there. These days, the term, and idea, of “badass” has been largely co-opted by the mainstream media and marketing departments (aka: people who rarely, if ever, actually do anything badass). Is the new Rolls-Royce EV super coupe actually “maximally badass,” or is it just expensive?

Even worse, there’s a recent trend of using the word “badass” to describe women doing something that, were a man doing it, would not be considered extraordinary: the female “badass” leading a corporate team or a company is a common example—she may be a badass, but it’s for more than simply being a leader. Likewise, is Taylor Swift really a “badass” for writing her own music, or is she just a very talented songwriter? Mainstream society needs to think more before it speaks (but what else is new?).

Out here in the mountains however, badassery is alive and well. Because to go out and willingly and repeatedly do stuff that can break, maim, or kill you is totally badass. So is suffering weeks of frozen discomfort for a few shining moments of freedom and fun. Refusing to play by the rules has always been badass (especially the rules of gravity), and taking the hits or forging the paths so someone else doesn’t have to is the sort of badass we need more of. Kindness is as badass as it gets.

The truth is, every issue of Mountain Life is a bit of a badass issue, because these mountains attract and nurture badass people. And they always have—astute readers will notice there are a lot of names and images in here of badasses we’ve lost along the way—legends and trailblazers who lived life on their own terms and continue to inspire us to do the same.

The biggest badasses fly under the radar, and badassery is certainly subjective—though when someone starts telling you they are, they probably aren’t. (If we tell you though, that’s totally fine.) And while it’s easy to get badass while shirking responsibility, the badasses we like are kinda the opposite—it’s badass to leave the campsite better than you found it and the biggest badass of all is the one who does something for someone else and expects nothing in return.

Here’s to a badass winter, giv’r. –Feet Banks