In 1978, 13 women set out to climb Annapurna I in the Nepal Himalaya, achieving the first ascent of the world's 10th highest mountain by an American and by a woman. By proving that women had the skill, strength, and courage necessary to make this difficult and dangerous climb, the 1978 Women's Himalayan Expedition's accomplishment had a positive impact around the world, changing perceptions about women's abilities in sports and other arenas. Twenty years later, Arlene Blum has republished her account, offering her story to a new generation. Blum writes in the introduction, Annapurna has become for me a metaphor for difficult and important goals. Striving to achieve such objectives draws on all of our abilities and brings out the best in us. There are still many 'Annapurnas' to be climbed in the world--such as protecting our natural environment; decreasing the gap between rich and poor; providing basic necessities for everyone on this planet; and raising our children to live with love and good values. Impressive black-and-white photos record the women's journey from Katmandu to the summit and back again. This book documents the personal triumphs and tragedies of these women with insights that only a firsthand account can offer. --Kathryn True

From 500 Great Books by Women; review by Erica Bauermeister
Arlene Blum led the first American and first women's expedition to climb Annapurna I in the Himalayas. Annapurna is her story of the climb: from fund-raising (remember the t-shirts that said "A Woman's Place is on Top"?); to organizing thirteen women, more than 150 boxes of gear, thousands of pounds of food and numerous Nepalese guides and porters; to the summit ascent itself and the death of two climbers. Perhaps because it is told from the perspective of the leader of a team, this is as much a book about management and decisions as it is about a mountain. There are poetic passages about the beauty of the ice, the fantasy of cloudwalking, the terrors of avalanches and crevasses - but more time is spent on the delicate balance that must be kept between native male guides and foreign women climbers, as well as among the women themselves. This is a book about working together under extraordinary conditions where the temperature in your tent can drop to ten degrees below zero and a tiny hole in a glove can mean the possible loss of a finger. It is about making decisions while an avalanche rushes by you with a wind that knocks you over. It is about risking death knowing that you have a daughter, a partner at home; for a few it means working for years and years, and then choosing at the last minute not to go to the top. At times confusing (keeping track of all the base camps, sherpas, and climbers is a job in itself), at times preachy, this is, in the end, the compelling story of thirteen very different women - ranging in age from 19 to 50 - each determined to get women to the top of a mountain whose name means "the goddess rich in sustenance." -- For great reviews of books for girls, check out Let's Hear It for the Girls: 375 Great Books for Readers 2-14.

About the Author
Arlene Blum is a biochemist with a doctorate in physical chemistry. In her twenty years of climbing, she has taken part in more than fifteen expeditions, including the first all-woman climb of Mount McKinley and the 1976 American Bicentennial Expedition to Mount Everest. Ms. Blum also led the 1983 Great Himalayan Traverse, a 2,000-mile trek from Bhutan to Ladakh. She lives in Berkeley, California.

ANNOTATION

Expedition leader Arlene Blum tells the story of 13 women who scaled the treacherous slopes of Annapurna I.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

In this twentieth anniversary edition of Annapurna: A Woman's Place, expedition leader Arlene Blum chronicles the dramatic story of leading the American Women's Himalayan Expedition through storms, icefalls, avalanches, conflicts, and reconciliations -- all the way to the summit.

SYNOPSIS

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the American Women's Himalayan Expedition. Read about their incredible journey to the top of Annapurna in this special edition, which details the group's triumphs and trying moments, and the tragic deaths of two of the women.

FROM THE CRITICS

Alan Ryan - Alan Ryan, bn.com

Twenty years ago, it was big news. A team of 13 American women had successfully climbed Annapurna I in Nepal, reaching the peak (at 26,504 feet above sea level) on October 15, 1978. They were the first women ever to do such a thing.

Today, when women are climbing heavenward everywhere, acquiring Olympic medals like they were costume jewelry, and routinely winning Alaska's Iditarod dogsled race, the news from Annapurna seems a little quaint. But it was big news then, and historically, it's still big news today.

Arlene Blum was team leader on that expedition, and her Annapurna slyly subtitled A Woman's Place, chronicles the team's battles with the mountain and with the mountain of prejudice they had to overcome. In addition to ice, snow, rock, wind, and altitude, they had to sell 15,000 T-shirts just to raise the money to get there in the first place. And there was tragedy as well as triumph. Two of the 13 fell to their deaths on the mountain.

For the Sierra Club's 20th anniversary edition of the book, Blum has added a preface and afterword. The latter is particularly moving. Blum brings readers up-to-date on the lives of the climbers and asks them what the experience meant. One of them, quoting a sign in a casino, observes about the mountain, about climbing, and about life itself, "You must be present to win." The legacy of Blum and her team's triumph lives on. You'll see it looming in the background of Pamela Logan's recent Among Warriors : A Woman Martial Artist in Tibet. Logan has a doctorate in aerospace science and a third-degree black belt in Shotokan karate. A few years ago she had a powerful urge to go trekking among the wild places and often wilder peoples of eastern Tibet and to seek out the Khampas, "Tibet's infamous race of warriors." While she moved on and upward and dreamed of forbidden Lhasa, she learned a lot about strange peoples, about Buddhism (though not from the monk who wanted to know how much her boots cost), and about herself. The personal tales of travel in Lucy McCauley's excellent anthology, A Women in the Wild, may be a little tamer, but they are no less vivid. Included are Annie Dillard in Ecuador, Jane Goodall in the Congo, Robyn Davidson in India, and McCauley's own account of climbing a volcano in Guatemala, plus experiences in Iceland and Israel, Kenya and Borneo and Bolivia, and everywhere in between.