In June 1970, six women embarked on a groundbreaking journey on the snow-covered slopes of Denali, North America’s highest peak. Led by Grace Hoeman from Alaska and Arlene Blum from California, they formed the first all-female team to attempt summiting a major world mountain.
While the U.S. had already landed men on the moon, women had yet to reach the highest points on Earth. Prevailing beliefs held that women lacked the physical capabilities to endure high altitudes, harsh weather conditions, and heavy loads without male assistance. These six climbers, like many pioneers, carried the responsibility of demonstrating the potential of women in mountaineering.
They succeeded in proving their capabilities. However, complete integration of women into mountain culture remained a long-term goal. Often, the focus is only on achieving the objective, with little attention given to the challenges encountered afterward. Similar to the pursuit of women’s equality in other fields, such as voting rights and equal pay, significant effort is required to translate achievements into lasting cultural change.
We are currently in an era where many Americans believe that progress in women’s equality has either stalled (following the election of a President accused of sexual abuse and using sexist rhetoric over a qualified female candidate) or regressed (with the recent removal of national reproductive rights that women had for nearly 50 years). However, examining historical milestones in American culture, particularly in politics, business, and sports, offers encouragement that these ongoing struggles will eventually lead to success.
Kamala Harris, the first woman of color to be nominated for President by a major party, stated, “I often say that when we fight, we win. But here’s the thing: sometimes the fight takes a while. That doesn’t mean we won’t win.” Harris referenced Shirley Chisholm, who was the first Black woman to campaign for a Presidential nomination in 1972. Fifty years later, Harris, also a Black woman, secured the Democratic nomination and garnered enough popular votes to make the Presidential election the second-closest since 1968.
However, this accomplishment, similar to the historic Denali climb, has largely gone unnoticed. Stories of failure often receive more attention as evidence supporting existing narratives, regardless of their accuracy. Therefore, it’s crucial to celebrate and document victories along this path. To achieve cultural integration, stories of women’s participation, struggles, and accomplishments must become part of the mainstream narrative.
Consider the fact that there were no female Fortune 500 CEOs until 1972, when Katherine Graham became CEO of The Washington Post. Despite studies indicating that a greater gender balance among senior executives and boards of directors leads to improved stock performance, higher return on equity, and other economic benefits, women still hold only of these positions. Systemic obstacles, such as corporate environments that prioritize long hours and hinder personal and family responsibilities, and a tendency to hire men by default, continue to impede women’s progress toward equality. Nonetheless, that 10% is more than double the number from , a jump that should be saluted in service to spurring the next great steps. Advocates for female leaders in business emphasize the need to develop strategies for retaining women leaders, creating more flexible work environments, and acknowledging the role of fathers as caregivers.
In fields like sports, we are closer to gender equality than ever before. Fifty-two years after the passage of Title IX, which promoted gender equity in education and inadvertently extended to school athletics, the NCAA Women’s Basketball National Championship was widely considered at any level in 2024. And not just that year, but in the last five years. Also in 2024, women athletes held as many spots as male athletes in , marking a first in Olympic history. While no woman of The World’s Highest Paid Athletes—a glaring disparity that must be addressed—all four major tennis tournaments, the World Surf League, Hockey Pro League, World Cup Skiing, and several other professional sports for women.
A month after the Denali expedition, in August 1970, 50,000 women marched down Fifth Avenue in New York City during the Women’s Strike for Equality, bringing second-wave feminism to the forefront. As TIME in the days leading up to the demonstration, “the new feminist movement emerged out of a moment in which virtually all of the nation’s systems—industry, unions, the professions, the military, the universities, even the organizations of the New Left—[were] quintessentially masculine establishments. The notion of women’s liberation was extremely controversial, and the movement was in its infancy.”
If the Denali climb had occurred a year later, during the height of the new feminist movement, it might have received the recognition it deserved. Instead, the achievement faded into obscurity. However, Hoeman, Blum, and their team paved the way for other women in mountaineering. Fifty-five years later, one of the two climbers co-holding the 2024 record on Everest for the is a woman: Nepali Purnima Shrestha.
Despite the slow and challenging path to integration, historical perspective demonstrates that it will happen—potentially even faster if we acknowledge and celebrate the progress made and the pioneers who made it possible to reach extraordinary heights.
