For Rebecca Rusch, the danger of losing her fingers and toes to Iceland’s hostile landscape compelled her to take on one of her most challenging expeditions to-date — a 327-mile biking trail and 25,600 vertical-foot climb across Iceland’s snowfields and glaciers.
Despite passing active volcanoes and treading near arctic tundras, Rusch says the prospect of braving below freezing temperatures was what captivated her. “I was really scared of the environment,” she tells CNN Sport. “The cold was really the last frontier for me.” From becoming the first person to ride the entire length of the Ho Chi Minh Trail in 2015 to achieving the status of seven-time world champion in multiple sports, the 52-year-old ultra-endurance athlete has crossed many an uncharted territory.