Blum also relates the story of her scientific career, which, like her mountaineering, challenged gender stereotypes and was filled with singular accomplishments, including the banning of two cancer-causing chemicals and the initiation of an important area of biophysical research. Along the way, she takes us to some of the most extreme and exquisite places on the planet, sharing the exhilaration, toil, and danger of climbing high.

Using these as starting points, she traces her evolution as a climber, from a hilariously incompetent beginner to an aspiring mountaineer to a successful, confident, and world-renowned expedition leader. Chronicling a life of extraordinary personal and professional achievement, Blum's intimate and inspiring memoir explores how her childhood fueled her need to climb-and how, in turn, her climbing liberated her from her childhood.Įach chapter in Breaking Trail begins with a poignant vignette from Blum's early life. Breaking Trail is the story of Blum's journey from her overprotected youth in Chicago to the tops of some of the highest peaks on Earth. In her long, adventurous career, she has played a leading role in more than twenty expeditions and forged a place for women in the perilous arena of high-altitude mountaineering.

McKinley and Annapurna, and was the first American woman to attempt Mt. Defying the climbing establishment of the 1970s, she led the first teams of women on successful ascents of Mt. Arlene Blum is a legendary trailblazer by any measure.

Breaking trail a climbing life