When the new equipment was developed by the summer, they couldn't wait six months for the winter to test it. So we went to Alaska. It had been climbed only twice before, in 1913 and 1932. Five years later he became the first person to complete two ascents of Mt. McKinley. We had a comfortable camp and had been on the mountain for two months and were acclimatized.
Mountain climbing is no longer just a man's sport.
A few years ago a newspaper reporter called me from Anchorage, Alaska. He said, 'A girl has just soloed Mt. McKinley. He asked me what I meant. Well, for me the best part of the trip was sitting around the stove every night having good conversation. It was the companionship that made it worthwhile.