About this item
One of the first female extreme athletes reflects on how her feminine strengths led to her success in a male-dominated field • Written by Jan Reynolds, medal winner in World Cup biathlon and former world record-holder for women’s high-altitude skiing • Recounts many of Reynolds’ adventures, including her Mount Everest expeditions • Explains how she didn’t simply emulate the men around her but embraced her feminine strengths of compassion, mediation, cooperation, and observation • Shares insights from her immersion in several indigenous cultures, where she identified gender traits found in all cultures World record-breaking skier and climber Jan Reynolds has sought adventure in the Himalayas, the Southern Alps, the Sahara Desert, the Canadian Arctic, and the Amazon Basin--often as the only woman in her expedition.
About the Author
Jan Reynolds was born on a Vermont dairy farm, number 6 of 7 children. She became a nationally ranked cross country ski racer in high school, and continued in college, and raced biathlon for the U.S. Team, after setting climbing and skiing records all over the world, especially in the Himalaya. She even took a hot air balloon over Everest! Well, almost, she crashed, but they made an award winning film, and set another world record. She co-authored Everest Grand Circle, wrote and photographed articles for National Geographic, then set off around the world living with indigenous people for her award winning Vanishing Cultures series for children. Recently Jan has had fun putting her adventures together in the new book, High Altitude Woman, which really is about the difference in the way men and women think, speak, and behave. Having been the only woman on all these expeditions she used her anecdotal experiences, to tell the story, and backs it up with social science and data.
