Books › False Summit: Gender in Mountaineering Nonfiction
False Summit: Gender in Mountaineering Nonfiction 2021
False Summit: Gender in Mountaineering Nonfiction is a 2021 work by Canadian scholar Julie Rak. The book examines how gender identity and politics have influenced mountaineering writing, focusing on expedition stories from the Himalayas and the Karakoram. It centers on three peaks—Annapurna, K2, and Mount Everest—and looks at key texts including Maurice Herzog's Annapurna (1951), Arlene Blum's Annapurna: A Woman's Place (1980), and Jon Krakauer's Into Thin Air (1997). The study argues that discussions about climbing techniques and leadership reflect a "bodily politics" rooted in assumptions about authentic climbers. The title draws on a mountaineering term for a false peak mistaken for the real summit, symbolizing obstacles faced by women, non-white climbers, and others whose contributions have been marginalized in mainstream mountaineering history.
Details
- Publisher
- McGill-Queen's University Press
- ISBN
- 9780228006275
- Pages
- 272
- Format
- Print (hardcover, paperback), e-book
