2022 Banff Mountain Book Competition Climbing Literature Winner
2022 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Awards Finalist in Women's
Studies
"Long overdue anthology highlights women in Yosemite climbing
history." - Climbing Magazine
- Contributors include Lynn Hill, Steph Davis, Liz Robbins, Beth Rodden,
Kate Rutherford, Katie Brown and more
- Introduction by Mari Gingery
- Author is deeply connected with the Valley community through her work
with Yosemite Search and Rescue (YOSAR)
Though long overlooked, women have always been at the center of
Yosemite--climbing, crafting equipment, and establishing new routes. In
Valley of Giants, editor and climber Lauren DeLaunay Miller pulls
together journal excerpts, original essays, interviews, archival
materials, and memorable firsts that span the past century of climbing
in the Valley.
This first-ever collection of both famed and untold stories from women
at the heart of Yosemite climbing gathers almost 40 contributors, from
Bea Vogel who forged her own pitons to Molly Higgins who participated in
the first all-female ascent of the Nose on El Capitan to Liz Robbins
who established routes in Yosemite Valley during the Golden Age.
Astonishing Stonemasters like Lynn Hill, as well as many other notable
climbers, including Steph Davis, Kate Rutherford, Beth Rodden, Chelsea
Griffie, Libby Sauter, and more share their recollections of the
exhilaration they felt up on the wall and the determination it took to
get there. As Mari Gingery, one of the first women to climb the Shield
on El Cap, writes in the foreword, "the stories feature a medley of
intrepid female characters" who "offer fresh perspectives."
Organized into five distinct eras in Yosemite climbing history, this
groundbreaking anthology captures a range of stories from heartbreaking
losses to soaring joys, trip reports of significant ascents to moments
that convey the larger essence of the Valley--and what it means to call
this iconic place "home."
