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If this book isn't considered a classic, it should be. It's the story author Arlene Blum (the team's often harried and frustrated leader) tells, of how these pioneers in what was then very much the "man's world" of climbing worked together and achieved their goal.Blum's writing is frank, humorous, and sometimes deeply moving.
At that time this dangerous Himalayan peak, tenth highest in the world, had not been climbed by an American or by a woman. A lifetime ago, when I was a young woman just entering the work force, an all-woman climbing party raised $80,000 (a tremendous sum then) to fund their expedition to Annapurna.
They aren't what make this book fascinating, though. After more than 40 grueling days of laying seige to the mountain, two team members and two Sherpas reached its summit.
Those are the facts. In this 20th anniversary reissue of a book originally published shortly after the expedition, she adds an intriguing new dimension by updating readers on the climbers' lives since 1978.
So much has changed, and women like these made it happen.
This book describes an important event in mountaineering history - the first women's expedition to Annapurna. It is a gripping story and a must read for anyone interested in mountaineering. This is an especially important book because there are such few books about women's accomplishments in mountaineering - a very neglected topic.
I don't know how you can't feel the call of the mountains after reading this book. I wanted to jump on the next plane to India. An excellent documentary style book on women's relationships with each other and men, the image women hold of themselves and how others perceive us, and a moving story illustrating that women can do anything. Excellent.
This new release of a 20yo book is a winner. I still have my tattered T-shirt proclaiming women should be 'on top,' that I bought in Berkeley way back then, in support of Blum.s fundraising for her 1978 all-woman assault on Annapurna. By proving to the skeptical small mountain-climbing community of men, as well as to the world at large, that women COULD be leaders of expeditions into the high Himilayas, Blum opened the door to a new vision of women's abilities in sports as well as all other areas of life.
Arlene Blum's book is the best mountain-climbing book I've ever read, by far, and as the daughter of a climber, I've read quite a few. This book excels because of its author. Her sensitivity, perceptiveness, and concern for others is evident throughout. She's also a good writer with a good story.
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