Rick Ridgeway (born August 12, 1949) is a mountaineer and adventurer, who during his career has also been an environmentalist, writer, filmmaker and businessman.[1] Ridgeway has climbed new routes and explored little-known regions on six continents. He was part of the 1978 team that were the first Americans to summit K2,[2] the world’s second-highest mountain. Since 2005 he has overseen environmental affairs at the outdoor clothing company Patagonia. He has authored six books and dozens of magazine articles, and produced or directed many documentary films.