This is a really sweet book. I am not a mountain climber, but Wood's prose did transport me--viscerally and emotionally--on her climb up the West Route of Mt Everest. More impressive, however, was her emotional honesty about herself. The book is written decades after her climb. I saw her at a readin ...more
This book transported me to Mount Everest and the world of mountaineering. More importantly, it was relatable and yielded so much insight for me, as a woman who aspires for great things in fields dominated by powerful men. I learned so much from this book about grace, humility, patience, and speakin ...more
Continuing with my current mild obsession with reading mountain/Everest memoirs, I'm struck by how different each story and climb are. This one is well-told and focused solely on their climb, not the history or other climbers, which makes for a faster read. Also: no Sherpas! Much harder route. Virtu ...more
Sharon Wood was the first North American woman to scale Everest. This is a level headed account of her training and that expedition as well as her coping with her life afterward, which is a journey in its own right. The craziest story in this (spoiler alert I guess): Sharon's crappy ex-boyfriend sur ...more