Climbing Days
Dorothy Pilley
Available as Paperback
4 July 2024
A forgotten classic of 1920s mountaineering literature; Dorothy Pilley broke new ground for women in a sport dominated by men with her true account of adventure, endurance and daring
When Dorothy Pilley first began climbing in the 1910s, female mountaineers were seen as a dangerous liability, their achievements ignored, unrecorded or disbelieved. Undeterred, Dorothy proved herself on the vertiginous slopes of Wales, Scotland and the Lake District before tackling rock faces in the Alps, the Pyrenees, the Rockies, Mount Fuji and the Himalayas. Her tireless championing of fellow women climbers and her own trailblazing example helped establish female alpinists as serious mountaineers with impressive records on bravery, skill and endurance.
First published in 1935, Climbing Days tells a daredevil tale of adventure, near-death slips and rapturous achievement in high places, interleaved with moments highlighting the particular challenges of being a woman in a sport seen as the province of men.
“A true classic. An invitation to be bold, have fun and find the best words for adventure”
Helen Mort
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“Fizzes with energy, crackles with chutzpah - a groundbreaking account of a pioneering life”
Robert Macfarlane
“A superb chronicle of vertiginous exploits and derring do … a luminous, questing mountain odyssey”
Dan Richards
“Some climbing books grant you insights into geography, or topology, or human psychology. Some climbing books simply scare you to death. Just now and then, there’s one that conveys the sheer fun of it all”
Ronald Turnbull
“Dorothy Pilley defied both gravity and societal norms—simultaneously a lady of her time and a maverick ahead of it. She embodied her feminist agenda through her daring ascents and pioneering initiatives. Climbing Days is a long-overlooked classic of mountain literature and an inspiration for generations to come”
Natalie Berry
Dorothy Pilley
Dorothy Pilley (1894–1986) was a trailblazing writer and mountaineer who led the way for women’s climbing and co-founded the Pinnacle Club for women in 1921. She climbed ridges and sheer faces around the world, creating a legacy that is admired to this day. In 1928, together with her husband I.A. Richards and Swiss Guides Joseph and Antoine Georges, she pioneered a route up the north- north-west ridge of the Dent Blanche in Switzerland. Climbing Days, a celebrated memoir of her early life and climbs, was published in 1935.
