Tents in the Clouds: The First Women's Himalayan Expedition

Written over 40 years ago, Tents in the Clouds documents this unprecedented adventure. Part travel journal and part historical account, it's a lively story of the expedition's achievements. Theirs was the first ascent of an unknown peak over 22,000 feet; and as they crossed daunting passes and pristine valleys, they investigated the flora and fauna and corrected maps of one of the least accessible areas of the world.

Available in America for the first time, this illustrated record comes at the peak of public interest in the sport of mountain climbing.

This expedition, a somewhat grandiose term for a group of three women and their Sherpas, endeavored to explore the remote and then uncharted area of Nepal called the Jugal Himal. Their journey and trek through Nepal makes for a travelogue of delightful descriptions and anecdotes.

Unlike many modern day expeditions, these three women exhibited nothing but synchronized teamwork throughout their journey. This was not an ego trip for them. They were motivated by a genuine curiosity of the world in which they lived and an appreciation of the different people and cultures with which they came in contact.

True adventurers, they climbed unexplored ranges and reached the summit of a 22,000 plus peak without supplementary oxygen. They did all this without any casualties. It was very important for this particular expedition to be successful, because there were many nay sayers at the time who would have been only too willing to jump up and shout that women were not fit for such a venture. Thankfully, they were able to prove them wrong. Wonen can climb and lead an expedition!


Terrific reading for mountaineers and true adventure buffs.   April 6, 2000
 3 out of 3 found this review helpful

In the spring of 1955, the Jugal Himal region of the Himalayan mountain range was an unexplored mystery when three women embarked on the first all-female expedition to the Himalaya. All three participants were obscure mountaineers unknown to the general public when they made their first ascent of a 22,000-foot peak. Tents In The Clouds: The First Women's Himalayan Expedition is a thrilling account of their adventure which is as stirring today as it was when first published in 1956. This new and revised edition includes nearly thirty stunning photographs, as well as a new foreword by renowned mountaineer Arlene Blum. Tents In The Clouds is secure in the annals of women's studies as both a classic of climbing literature and a testament to gender equality issues.


An Echo from Another World   January 21, 2000
 6 out of 6 found this review helpful

Imagine...It's the 1950s. Only two years since Sir Hillary's first ascent of Mount Everest. There is no Polartec. No GoreTex. No Polypro longjohns. No plastic bags! And you can't afford oxygen, or an altimeter that reads over 8,000 feet. And yet, you and your two best buddies decide to go treking in the Himalayas, leaving husband and boyfriends behind. Explore unknown, unnamed mountains, ascend over 22,000 feet, and return to tell the tale! That is exactly what three women did in 1955, in the first women's Himalayan expedition. Two of them wrote "Tents in the Clouds" when they got back, and what a unique, gripping, funny, amazing adventure they tell. Long out of print, the book has now been reissued, with photos, by Seal Press. When a copy fell into my hands, I stayed up all night reading it, then dreamed moutain dreams. It is an inspiration! Easy to read, sprinkled with humor, and capturing all the challenge of snow, wind, ice, bitter cold and thin air without being either whiny or macho, I hope it will reach an audience from here to Tibet and as huge as Everest. Take a step back from the world we live in and imagine...