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A forgotten classic of 1920s mountaineering literature; Dorothy Pilley broke new ground for women in a sport dominated by men with her true account of adventure, endurance and daring
Dorothy Pilley was a pioneer of women's climbing a hundred years ago. She founded a club celebrating women's climbing and - starting in Wales, the Lake District and Skye - she went on to climb the major mountain ranges of Europe throughout the 1920s. She was instrumental in helping to take women on a mountain from being seen as a dangerous liability on the rock to serious mountaineers with impressive records on bravery, skill and endurance.
First published in 1935 and reissued in 1965, the book is a daredevil tale of adventure, near-death slips and rapturous achievement in high places, interleaved with moments highlighting the particular challenges of being a woman in a sport seen as the province of men.
"A superb chronicle of vertiginous exploits and derring do . . . a luminous, questing mountain odyssey"
— DAN RICHARDS
"Some climbing books grant you insights into geography, or topology, or human psychology. Some climbing books simply scare you to death. Just now and then, there's one that conveys the sheer fun of it all"
— RONALD TURNBULL
"A true classic. An invitation to be bold, have fun and find the best words for adventure"
— HELEN MORT
"Fizzes with energy, crackles with chutzpah - a groundbreaking account of a pioneering life"
— ROBERT MACFARLANE