July 22, 1871. Atop the Matterhorn stands a woman in a flattering flannel dress, gazing far into the future.
Her name is Lucy Walker. She was the first woman who ever saw the tableau of rocky pinnacles, meadows, forests, and streams from that iconic perch.
“The stories of women just weren’t written, so people tend to think they didn’t happen,” said Rebecca A. Brown, author of Women on High: Pioneers of Mountaineering. “There have always been women who have had the courage to step out into the unknown, and that’s what Lucy Walker did. The fortitude, the bravery, the commitment to the goal –women’s power was not invented yesterday.”