Each week as part of SunLit — The Sun’s literature section — we feature staff recommendations from book stores across Colorado. This week, the staff from Out West Books in Grand Junction recommends three books with the dual themes of women and mountains.
Thirty Below: The Harrowing and Heroic Story of the First All-Women’s Ascent of Denali
By Cassidy Randall
Abrams
$28
March 2025
Purchase
From the publisher: Grace Hoeman dreamed of standing on top of Denali. The tallest peak in North America, the fierce polar mountain loomed large in many climbers’ imaginations, and Grace, a doctor in Alaska, had come close to the top, only to be turned back by altitude sickness and a storm that took the lives of seven fellow climbers in one remorseless blow.
Other expeditions denied her a place because of her gender, and when a letter arrived from a climber in California named Arlene Blum, who’d also been barred from expeditions — unless she stayed in base camp and cooked for the men, Grace got a defiant idea: she would organize and lead the first-ever all-female ascent of the frozen Alaskan peak.
From Marya Johnston, owner: Sometimes I feel that in the 1970s, attitudes towards women’s equality and rights were on a more forward trajectory than they are today. After I read this book, I thought maybe I was misremembering that time. Incredibly, by 1970, no woman had summited any of the highest peaks in the world. It was generally considered that it couldn’t be done, that women were too weak; unable to withstand the rigors of altitude and of carrying a large amount of weight on their back (even though men don’t carry their own packs on Everest).
Well, it turns out that physicality was never a problem for the groundbreaking women of the “Denali Damsels.” This well researched book will leave you wanting to know more about women mountaineers, mountaineering, the dynamics of a group expedition, and how far women have come in the outdoor world.
The Mountain: Journeys in High Places
By Robin Patten
University of Utah Press
$24.95
September 2025
Purchase
From the publisher: Since antiquity, mountains have captured the human imagination. “The Mountain” takes readers into higher realms, exploring the complex kinship between mountains and human thought, traditions, and ways of being. Told through the author’s own journeys, the narrative ranges across cultures and iconic naturalists to consider how varied ideas and experiences related to mountains — from sacred to scientific, romantic to retreat, to simply home — are all facets of the same intricate topography.
No matter where one starts on the spectrum of understanding, an intimate encounter with a mountain leads to a broader perspective. High places create a simultaneous humbleness at our human insignificance and a sense of belonging within the greater world. That quality of belonging, and the associated commitment of caring for the planet and all that it holds, has never been more important than it is today.
From Marya Johnston, owner: I grew up in the mountains and have always taken for granted that I could tell directions by their location, could always go there to be cool in the summer, to play in the winter, and for a sense of solace at any time. Until I couldn’t. Living in mountainless places overseas showed me how much the mountains have shaped my life and are in my psyche, and I’m sure many of us in the Mountain West are in the same boat.
Robin Patten captures this idea perfectly in her expertly written book on mountains all over the world. She puts into words what many of us feel; that mountains can mean a sense of home and of stillness and belonging. Do you get that feeling when you are amongst your favorite mountains or during an alpenglow that your chest has just opened up and your heart slows down?
Tough Luck
By Sandra Dallas
St. Martin’s Griffin
$19
April 2025
Purchase
From the publisher: After their mother dies, Haidie Richards and her younger brother, Boots, are put to work in an orphanage. Their father left years earlier to find a gold mine in Colorado Territory, and since then he’s sent only three letters. Still, Haidie is certain that he is alive, has struck gold, and will soon send for them.
Boots and Haidie, disguised as a boy, embark on a dangerous journey deep into Western territory. Along the way, Haidie learns fast not only how to handle mules, oxen, and greedy men, but also that you are better off in a community. Hers includes a card shark, independent “spinster” sisters, and a very fierce dog. Once she arrives in Colorado, Haidie will need all her new friends for a get-even plot worthy of “The Sting.”
From Didi Herald, bookseller: Evoking how I felt when I read Dallas’s “Chili Queen,” this picaresque western features 14 year old Haidie, a plucky girl, firm in the belief that if she doesn’t like her circumstances it is up to her to change them. She will do whatever it takes to find her father in the Colorado mountains. Escaping one disaster after another, Haidie and Boots join a wagon train going west. Hitting all the right notes, Dallas depicts strong, resourceful, resilient females who can do what needs doing with humor and enjoyably convoluted escapades. The folks they meet on their way to Denver and through the mountains to Georgetown include an interesting assortment, from a freighter to “old maids” to gamblers and a horse thief, keeping the story lively with unexpected twists.
As part of The Colorado Sun’s literature section — SunLit — we’re featuring staff picks from book stores across the state. Read more.