In August 1978, thirteen women left San Francisco for the Nepal Himalayas to make history as the first Americans-and the first women-to scale the treacherous slopes of Annapurna I, the world's tenth highest peak. Expedition leader Arlene Blum here tells their dramatic story: the logistical problems, storms, and hazardous ice climbing; the conflicts and reconciliations within the team; the terror of avalanches that threatened to sweep away camps and...