Barb Chin, Pemberton Icecap, 1981

“Few American women ever get a chance to climb that high, to lead, or even to participate in a major expedition. No American woman [had] ever climbed to 8000 meters, and only seven women from any country [had] ever climbed that high. We [hoped] this climb [would] give a number of women sufficient experience so that they can be invited on mixed expeditions, or organize their own.” ~Arlene Blum

I can’t speculate on obstacles to women’s freedom in 2020. I suspect there’s a way to go before real equality of opportunity is achieved.

However, in my life, I have had the good fortune to meet extraordinary women who found no challenge too great — no more so than in the mountaineering community, a “man’s world” if there ever was one. From pioneers like Lucy Walker, the first woman to climb the Matterhorn on July 21, 1871, to British Columbia’s Phyliss Munday, whom I had the honour of meeting in 1981 when she was a vigorous 87-year-old, to my own peers and mountaineering companions: Barb Turner, Jane Weller, Carrie Frechette, Sue Farlinger, Tammi Knight, Barb Chin (above), I’ve often been awed by the strength — physical and mental —  tenacity and sagacity of “the fairer sex.”

As if any of this need be confirmed by me.

On International Women’s Day (yesterday), I think it can be safely said, that in the arena of sport and adventure, women excel in every area. As levels of technical difficulty have risen, women have stayed on top of the game.

The shirt drying on the line behind Barb is a fundraiser from the 1978 American Women’s Himalayan Expedition. The expedition, led by Arlene Blum, consisted of thirteen women, and six sherpas. It placed the first two women, and first Americans, on the summit of Annapurna.

The shirt’s “subheading” suggests: “A woman’s place is on top.“