Junko Tabai established the Joshi-Rohan Club (Women’s Mountaineering Club) for women only, the first of its kind in Japan. On May 16th, 1975, she became the first women to summit Mt. Everest, and in 1992 became the first woman to complete the 7 summits– climbing the tallest mountain on each continent. Her achievements continue to inspire women today! 

Lynn Hill grew up climbing in Joshua Tree. In 1979, she was the first person to free climb Ophis Broke in Colorado, which was the hardest route ever climbed by a woman at the time. In 1984 she performed an on-sight first ascent of Yellow Vrack and Vandals at The Gunks. Today, she is best known for being the first person to free ascend The Nose of El Capitán. Hill advocated for gender equality in climbing and brought many women into the sport. She remains a powerful role model in the climbing scene today! 

Lucy Smith, founder of the Ladies’ Scottish Climbing Club is pictured with in 1908 Pauline Ranken ascending Salisbury Crags in akle-length skirts, hats, blouses, and heels. Lucy Smith founded the club along with Jane Inglis Clarke and her daughter Mabel because they were barred from joining the men-only Scottish Mountaineering Club.  Their badass-ery will be remembered forever! 

British climber Hazel Findlay was the first female British climber to climb 5.14b, and performed the third ascent of the traditional route Magic Line, a 5.14c climb. She has performed eight first female ascents of trad routes, free-climbed El Capitán four times on four different routes, and free-climbed the Salathé Wall. She continues to prove that women deserve their place in the climbing community! 

American rock climber Margo Hayes has set the highest climb sent by a woman; La Rambla, a 5.15a climb in Spain. She ascended two more 5.15a climbs in the next three years: Realization/Biographie in France and Papichulo in Spain. Hayes was one of four women to earn a spot on the 2019 U.S. Overall National Team, and continues to send hard! 

Mary Seacole was a herbalist, awarded the Jamaican Order of Merit. In 2004, she was voted the Greatest Black Briton. She was a medic in the Crimean War, but never called herself a nurse. She reserved the term for Florence Nightingale and her nurses. She wrote the first autobiography by a black woman in Britain and is remembered today as a pioneer in outdoor medicine.

Emma Rowena (Caldwell) Gatewood was a mother of eleven children and survivor of domestic violence; she found solitude in the woods. She became the first solo female thru-hiker of the Appalachian Trail at the age of 67. She also became the first person, male or female, to hike the Appalachian Trail three times. She also hiked 2,000 miles of the Oregon Trail in 1959. The media coverage of her achievements generated interest in maintaining the Appalachian Trail and hiking trails. After her death, she was inducted into the Appalachian Trail Hall of Fame in 2012.  Her legacy will stand for generations to come!