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Thirty Below
The Harrowing and Heroic Story of the First All-Women's Ascent of Denali
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Excerpted in Vanity Fair, Rolling Stone, and Men's Journal, and named one of the most noteworthy books of the month by the Washington Post
Cassidy Randall draws on extensive archival research and original interviews to tell an engrossing, edge-of-the-seat adventure story about a forgotten group of climbers who had the audacity to believe that women could walk alone in extraordinary and treacherous heights.
Grace Hoeman dreamed of standing on top of Denali. The tallest peak in North America, the fierce polar mountain loomed large in many climbers' imaginations, and Grace, a doctor in Alaska, had come close to the top, only to be turned back by altitude sickness and a storm that took the lives of seven fellow climbers in one remorseless blow.
Other expeditions denied her a place because of her gender, and when a letter arrived from a climber in California named Arlene Blum, who'd also been barred from expeditions—unless she stayed in base camp and cooked for the men, Grace got a defiant idea: she would organize and lead the first-ever all-female ascent of the frozen Alaskan peak.
Everyone told the "Denali Damsels," as the team called themselves, that it couldn't be done: Women were incapable of climbing mountains on their own. Men had walked on the moon; women still had not stood on the highest points on Earth. But these six women were unwilling to be limited by sexists and misogynists. They pushed past barriers in society at large, the climbing world, and their own bodies.
And then, when disaster struck at the worst time on their expedition, they could either keep their wits and prove their mettle, or die and confirm the worst opinions of men.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
March 4, 2025 -
Formats
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OverDrive Read
- ISBN: 9798887071855
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EPUB ebook
- ISBN: 9798887071855
- File size: 9603 KB
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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Starred review from January 15, 2025
The story of how the "Denali Damsels" found mountaineering, each other, and the summit of the "Great One." In 1970, Grace Hoeman and Arlene Blum led six women on the first all-women's summit of Denali. Randall's record of this climb is a study in showing rather than telling, spanning the grueling, weekslong trek and the question of how the "audacious, boundary-breaking climb" became largely forgotten. Despite its quiet place in history, the group's journey to the highest peak in North America defied the expectations of what women could withstand, physically and psychologically, in a climbing environment so hostile that it, more often than not, turns climbers back, and sometimes claims their lives. With clear appreciation for and understanding of the technical skill their achievement required, the author laces together the group members' individual backgrounds, relationships, motivations, and brushes with catastrophe that threatened the mission before it even began. Instead of dedicating long passages to redeeming the oft-discounted strength and endurance of women or musing about the appeal of such a goal, the author mines archives, private journals, and her own interviews to construct a story full of almost achingly vivid details and mounting friction between complicated, heroic women undertaking great risk in a notoriously exacting environment. Randall's account is a bit lopsided, leaning heavily on the perspectives of only half the group, but even so, it illustrates how personal idiosyncrasies, shaky group dynamics, savage winter weather, and the high stakes of success weighed on the group's decisions and tolerance for risk along the way. The prejudices, intimidation, and exclusion of the male-dominated sphere of mountaineering affected, angered, and motivated each of the Denali Damsels differently, but readers will be left in awe of the women's enthrallment to the sport, their determination, and the bittersweet spirit of their life-changing experience. An entrancing tale of a harrowing adventure.COPYRIGHT(2025) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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Starred review from February 1, 2025
Just like men, women have been drawn to uncharted exploration and climbing the highest mountain peaks, but many women were denied an opportunity because they supposedly "lacked strength and emotional stability," or heaven forbid could get their period during an expedition. In the summer of 1970, an international team of experienced climbers--Arlene Blum, Margaret Clark, Grace Hoeman, Dana Isherwood, Faye Kerr, and Margaret Young--were brought together by fate, history, and a common aspiration: to prove that an all-female team could successfully summit North America's highest mountain peak, Denali (formerly Mount McKinley). Award-winning author Randall does a fine job mining research and conducting interviews to bring this little-known expedition to light, and Arlene Blum's Breaking Trail: A Climbing Life is referenced throughout. Part four of the book, "Killing Heights," covers their arduous expedition, complimented by black and white photos. Mountain climbing may be a fringe sport, but these "Denali Damsels" broke barriers and proved that "real" women could be career-driven as well as vulnerable, ambitious climbers. Randall pays homage to six female trailblazers who deserve recognition for their historic achievements. Highly recommend.COPYRIGHT(2025) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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