Sistuhs, Gal Pals, and the Whole Gender Thing

The mountains are an equal opportunity environment. They don’t care if you’re chocolate or vanilla, travel on foot or with wheels, have an innie or an outie.

Sometimes, though, the mountaineering community needs a little nudge of a reminder. Not so long ago women were refused a place on expeditions and even denied endorsements simply because they were women. Then there were those who thought a woman’s place was in the sleeping bag of every male expeditioner…

There were and are heroic women out there who blazed through all the challenges and defined a prominent place and equal opportunity for the gentler sex. Wanda Rutkiewicz, Ines Papert, Anna Dickinson, Junko Tabei, Arlene Blum…the list is growing every day.

Given the American Mountaineering Museum is also an equal opportunity environment, we’ve declared May Women’s Month at the Museum and Base Camp Store. So, sistuhs, grab a gal-pal and head to 710 10th St to enjoy two-fer prices on Museum admission and events. The entire month of May is a chance to celebrate the accomplishments of female mountaineers, past, present, and future.

One of this blogger’s personal heroines is Arlene Blum. In 1978 Arlene gathered the first all-woman’s expedition not only to successfully summit Annapurna, but also the first American expedition to do so. To cover expedition costs, her designer came up with the t-shirt that rocked the establishment. A Woman’s Place is on Top sold 15,000 tops and raised $80,000. Arlene, being the gracious woman she is, has allowed Base Camp store the unique opportunity to sell her t-shirt. In turn, we are donating a portion of the proceeds back to Arlene’s Green Science Policy Institute in Berkeley, CA. When you’re done in the Museum, help Arlene continue her research to protect our kids and our health.

And while we’re on the subject of accomplishments, Mother’s Day is just around the bend. Moms of the World, the Museum admission is free to you on May 9th. We celebrate your summits of a different kind and certainly no less significant.

Finally, we want to thank Outdoor Divas for their support and encouragement of our thematic month. They’re about the finest bunch of gals to promote women’s outdoor activities: Teal Tini May 4th in support of ovarian cancer awareness, B-Fit Vitality workout May 12th, Women’s Road Ride clinic May 26th, Women’s Rock-out events…it’s all there.

Boys, you’re still welcome at the Museum and events throughout May. But please, no cussin’ or spittin’. Remember, you’ll be outnumbered.