A Women's Place Is On Top

Cam, Ellie, Linds

Ok, you caught me. I stole the title for this post from a book written by Arlene Blum that tells the story of an all-female trip to the summit of Annapurna in 1978. Bad a** chicitas. I know, I was there. Well, ok, I wasn't exactly there there—I was a year old in ‘78—but I did spend five weeks at the Annapurna North Basecamp in ‘05 reporting on the first American, Ed Viesturs, to summit all 8,000 meter peaks without supplemental oxygen.

Impressive, yes, but what I really reveled in while shivering in my tent by myself at night with gloved hands and a scarf covering every facial feature while reading "A Women's Place Is On Top," was the fact that 13 daring women made it to the summit of a stellar, huge, 26,540-foot Himalayan peak in 1978. Wow. This mountain is a ginormous, towering block of ice, crevasses, hanging seracs ready to crash down and ruin your day, your friends, your hot mountain hairdo, and yet these women saw it as an opportunity for achieving a distinguishing sense of accomplishment. And, to boot, they wanted to get to the top for no other reason but because, hell, they could. We all can.

What's my point...my point is that ever since I was little, I've had this "thing" about getting to the top of mountains. I'm fascinated, maybe even obsessed. Maybe its because, again, we (and I) can. Or, maybe it was passed down from my grandparents who climbed and skied Rainer in the 30s, climbed the Matterhorn in the 40s, and skied Sun Valley’s backcountry in the 50s. I do know that my summit obsession is reason for why I can’t spend more than a few days in ole NYC before I flip out. You just can't get up, out, and on top to take a deep breath. “God, Buddha, whoever, help me,” is all I can think when I’m in that concrete jungle.

Frankly, I'm not really sure what my allure is to the tops of things, but I was reminded of my fascination with summits last weekend when a couple girlfriends of mine, Cameron and Ellie, and I skied a peak outside of Jackson, Wyoming called Taylor Peak. Mind you, Taylor ain't no Annapurna, but the arduous sweaty steps, hundreds (literally) of switchbacks we skinned up through flagged pines and around rock outcroppings, and encouragement for each other, made it feel like our weekend's own version of its Nepalese counterpart.

Ellie, an old ski-racing cohort who used to flat out squash me in slaloms, and I went to UVM together, learned to tele together, drank tall-boy Bud's on bike cruisers together, and have been ski buddies ever since. Cam and I are year-old friends who can't seem to go on enough adventures together, skiing, riding, or otherwise. She's a hot blond Chinese Medicine Doc ready and able to cure anyone with anything, anywhere, and who I’ve given the austere medical mantra of: "have needles, will poke." She loves it, promise.

What I remember thinking on top of Taylor last weekend with Cam and Ellie, however, was neither overly philosophical, nor intellectually sophisticated. It was simply, “how cool that we can do this together!” How cool is it to have this real, tangible sense of accomplishment and all we had to do was breathe hard for a while to get it—to get to the top. Somehow, getting to the top of something makes it all worth it, ya know? Like for some reason you remember that the little stuff is still not worth sweating for; that your D+ in math during your sophomore year in college really doesn’t affect what or who you are today.

What I think, is that every time I get to the top of something, simply put, I’m happier. And that playing outside pays dividends far greater than having toned arms (ladies) or super buff quads (that’s a shout out to you, boys).

And, ok, yes, you busted me again—the skiing down the 2,000-foot face of Taylor wasn’t too shabby either.

Ellie rippin' tele turns down Taylor

Tessa's Ascension Race

Hey- We are gearing up for the 4th anual Ascension race. This year the race will raise money for breast cancer patients and research. Its a great event complete with awesome shirts, great prizes, dinner and good times! The race starts with an uphill skinning event or snowshoes if you board and then a downhill gated race back to the finish! Check out the photos of past events and get more info including registration forms at sfpatrol.org. Happy Skiing! Lehigh