Thirty Below by Cassidy Randall #
Thirty Below: The Harrowing and Heroic Story of the First All-Women’s Ascent of Denali by Cassidy Randall (audio). In some ways, the subtitle tells it all: this book recounts teh first all-women’s ascent of Denali, which was also the first such ascent of any of the highest peaks in the world. As Randall puts it early in the book: we had put a man on the moon before a woman on a high peak. I first heard about this book during a tour through the climbing podcast worldFor instance, this episode of the American Alpine Club’s podcast. and was excited to see that my local library already had it available as an audiobook. The book goes into great detail about the obstacles facing women in climbing and mountaineering at the time—shocking to hear in the concrete even if known in the abstract—and tells a riveting story of the climb itself, pieced together from everyone’s journals and the few written accountsSome memoir chapters, an American Alpine Journal article, and some local newspaper articles, but no national media coverage. previously available. Anyone who loves reading alpine memoirs will enjoy the book for that dimension. But what really sets this book apart is how well Randall builds the characters involved. We learn about the leader Grace’s two failed attempts to climb Denali which, on top of the sexism she experienced, created a drive and stubbornness to get to the top that bordered on (probabl crossed over) reckless or dangerous. Other characters are equally or more complex, and the resulting dynamics—taking place in the thin air above 18,000 feet—add richness to the story that makes it hard to put down.One meta-comment: podcasts are great, but this book is a great example of the limits of that medium. The clif-notes version that I heard on a podcast was interesting enough, but contained almost none of the rich texture and character development that made this book what it is. It’s good to have a concrete reminder in the value of long-form writing and paying attention thereto. Grade: A