"Women on the ascent" refers as much to an ascent in life as to an ascent up a mountain. Motifs, motivations, and evolution are the focal points, here more than achievements in mountaineering. Out of a mosaic of life stories featuring women mountain climbers, scientists, writers, innkeepers, and porters, a tale of female mountaineering history emerges in which women who live their lives in the mountains are given the same degree of attention as those doing the actual climbing. 

This book shows that women have clambered up mountains, reached summits, and blazed new trails just as men have. For women, though, a step up was, first and foremost, a step out: a tentative and increasingly intentional step out of rigid, imposed roles. 

This book tells the story of that ascent. It is a quest: a search for the footprints of the women who made mountaineering history and a history of the footprints that women left behind not only in mountain climbing.

The Author:
Ingrid Runggaldier, born 1963 in Bolzano, grew up in Ortisei, in Italy's Val Gardena. She studied German and English language and literature. Runggaldier is a translator, journalist and filmmaker: she made the documentary film "Frauen im Aufstieg" (2002), is the editor of gana, a Ladin women's magazine, serves as a cultural officer for the South Tyrolean Alpine Club, and is a member of the organisational committee of the Trento Film Festival.

International rights available:
Please contact thomas.kager@raetia.com