 t was something at last to stand upon the storm rent crown of this lonely sentinel . . . on one of the mightiest of the vertebrae of the backbone of the North American continent, and to see the waters start for both oceans." (Isabella Bird)
At 14,255 feet, Longs Peak dominates Boulder County from its remotest corner. Women have long responded to the unspoken challenge of its imposing presence. Isabella Bird was the first white woman to reach the summit; she did so in 1873. Elmira Buhl was the first woman to complete a technical climb of the mountain's East Face in 1922. Her friend, Agnes Vaille, lost her life to the mountain
in 1925 when she froze to death on a perilous mid-winter climb of the East Face. Buhl and Vaille are powerful reminders
of the daring and tenacity of early women climbers, who were often dismissed as being "not real women" or "not real
climbers." They faced not only the elements of nature, but their society's ignorance as well.
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