Jorge Visser

Tommy Caldwell tackling Montgroni. A 5.13e wall near Gerona, Spain, February 1999

2. Tommy Caldwell
ROCK CLIMBER
Age: 22 Specs: 5-foot-9, 150 pounds
Home: Estes Park, Colorado

THE CASE: In terms of pure climbing skill, the Tommy-Caldwell-versus-Chris-Sharma debate could drag on for days. This time around, we'll take Caldwell, mainly because he's put up brilliantly tough routes—sport climbs, free ascents, you name it—while Sharma's been away perfecting his bouldering technique. And, frankly, Caldwell's had a hell of a year. In the span of 12 months he has established a route in Colorado's Fortress of Solitude called Kryptonite, which, if confirmed at 5.14d, is now the hardest sport climb on the continent; found himself a girlfriend in world-class climber Beth Rodden; with her, put up the first free ascent of the El Cap aid route Lurking Fear; and, along with Rodden and climbers Jason Smith and John Dickey, escaped from gun-wielding rebels while on a trip in the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan. The tale of their escape (reported in Outside's November issue) will undoubtedly become part of American climbing mythology. And, we would posit, so will Caldwell's accomplishments.

SECOND OPINION: "In his heart of hearts," says climbing partner Nick Sagar, "Tommy wishes he could climb as hard as he can every day and never take a rest."

MOST HARROWING MOMENT: Aside from Kyrgyzstan?

WHAT'S NEXT: Free-climbing Yosemite's Muir Wall. —Bruce Barcott

3. Jeremy Jones
BIG-MOUNTAIN SNOWBOARDER
Age: 25 Specs: 5-foot-7, 145 pounds
Home: Truckee, California

THE CASE: Jones rips the seemingly convex pitches of Alaska's intimidating Chugach Mountains, pointing his board straight down the fall line of slopes where you drop 20 feet with each turn. He rails open faces at 60 mph and then shoots off 50-foot cliffs. Apparently fearless, Jones first earned his reputation as snowboarding's primo big-mountain freerider from stunts in the 1997 snowboard flickTB6, but he's equally famous for riding the Chugach's fluted spines—steep, wind-carved ribs of snow that protrude from the guts of the mountain. On such terrain, you don't outrun your slough, you ride in it, cascading down waterfalls of snow. In the premiere this fall of the ski film Further, Jones's gonzo descent cemented his status as a snowboarder of Homeric proportions. In the words of innumerable viewers, Jones isn't just the best, "He's sick."

SECOND OPINION: "Jones attacks terrain," says veteran snowboarder and writer Jeff Galbraith. "He does lines you don't see anyone else do, without straining."

MOST HARROWING MOMENT: Walking from helicopter landing zones along knife-edge ridgelines, where his soft-soled boots offer little grip and the board he's holding easily catches homicidal wind gusts.

WHAT'S NEXT: A helicopter tour deeper into Alaska's imposing ranges with his two filmmaker brothers, of Teton Gravity Research, who'll capture Jeremy's first descents using long lenses from distant (read: safe) vantages.—Rob Story

Tom Servais

Beachley in Samoa, South Pacific, May 1998

4. Layne Beachley
SURFER
Age: 28 Specs: 5-foot-5, 121 pounds
Home: Dee Why Beach, Australia

THE CASE: Already considered the planet's premier female big-wave rider, this powerful, exuberant Australian is also the first woman to get into the high-testosterone sport of tow-in surfing. But her performance in contest surfing is another story. For years Beachley battled chronic fatigue syndrome, depression, and Lisa Andersen—the fluid Floridian surfer who piled up four straight world titles. In 1998, thanks in part to the support of mentor-boyfriend Ken Bradshaw, a 48-year-old big-wave legend from Sunset Beach on the North Shore of Oahu, Beachley located the "competitive beast" within, and has won two world titles since. With one contest remaining on this year's circuit, she's all but assured of a third.

SECOND OPINION: "She rides waves that most guys would want to be nowhere near," says Bill Sharp, publisher of California's SurfNews. "Things that are 18 to 20 feet on the Hawaiian scale, which means a 35- to 40-foot face.

"MOST HARROWING MOMENT: Last winter, filming for the Australian edition of 60 Minutes, Beachley got Bradshaw to tow her into Backyards, a giant, unruly break offshore of Sunset Beach. "I was way too deep when I let go of the rope," she says. "An entire section of the wave closed out—18 feet of white water—and before Ken could get to me, three more waves broke on top of me. I was just sitting there underwater, singing to myself." The refrain? "Rag doll, rag doll."

WHAT'S NEXT: Getting towed into Jaws, the steep, hollow monster wave off Maui pioneered by Laird Hamilton and Buzzy Kerbox.—Rob Buchanan