A new book highlights the remarkable achievements of female mountaineers who defied societal expectations and physical challenges to reach the world’s most formidable peaks. Journalist and climber Rosemary J Brown’s *Moving Mountains: Intrepid Women Climbers and the Peaks Named in Their Honour*, set for release on August 13, explores the lives of nine pioneering women whose historic ascents have often been overshadowed or overlooked.
Among the featured figures is Samina Baig, who, at age 22, became the first Pakistani woman to summit Mount Everest, accomplishing the feat just 49 days after skeptics doubted her ability. Baig’s story exemplifies the resilience shared by all the women profiled, according to Brown. The book traces the legacy of female mountaineers from the early 19th century to modern times, beginning with Sacagawea, the teenage Native American guide who played a crucial role in the Lewis and Clark Expedition by navigating treacherous terrain and fostering peaceful relations with indigenous tribes.
The narrative continues into the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when women such as Meta Brevoort, Mary Isabella Charlet-Straton, Annie Smith Peck, and Lizzie Le Blond made significant breakthroughs in the male-dominated world of mountaineering. Brevoort, who began climbing at age 39, was the first American woman to reach the summit of Mont Blanc in 1865. Charlet-Straton was the first person to complete a winter ascent of Mont Blanc in 1876, surviving severe frostbite and insisting on proper credit after early reports credited her guides instead.
Annie Smith Peck challenged gender norms by wearing pants while climbing and pursued multiple high-altitude ascents, including Peru’s Mount Huascaran and a Peruvian volcano where she planted a Votes for Women banner at the summit. Meanwhile, Lizzie Le Blond completed the first all-female, guideless traverse of Piz Palu in 1900 and co-founded the Ladies’ Alpine Club, despite contemporary authorities downplaying her accomplishments.
Other notable climbers include Gertrude Emily “Truda” Benham, who embarked on a 34-year global climbing and trekking journey after caring for her aging parents. She is noted for outpacing her guides on Mount Kilimanjaro, reaching the Mawenzi crater edge alone when others abandoned the climb. Gertrude Bell, more widely recognized for her diplomatic work in the Middle East after World War I, also maintained a five-season mountaineering career highlighted by a harrowing 53-hour blizzard survival on Switzerland’s Finsteraarhorn in 1902.
The book concludes with trailblazer Junko Tabei of Japan, who broke cultural barriers by founding an all-female climbing team and becoming the first woman to summit Everest in 1975 despite an avalanche that knocked her unconscious. She later became the first woman to complete the Seven Summits.
Brown emphasizes that all these women share qualities of courage, determination, and a willingness to challenge societal conventions. Their stories not only illuminate forgotten chapters in mountaineering history but continue to inspire a new generation of climbers today.