Woman on the Rocks: The Mountaineering Letters of Ruth Dyar Mendenhall

Unknown to most American’s, Ruth Dyar Mendenhall (1912 – 1989) was one of America's first and most important women mountain climbers. She began her climbing career at the height of the Great Depression, at a time when the opportunities for women to climb were essentially non-existent. These priceless letters document her fifty-year mountaineering career. Ruth and husband, John Mendenhall, made over 21 first ascents in North America including some of the most classic in the Sierra Nevada: Mount Whitney, Third Needle (1939), Mount Sill, Swiss Arete (1938), Temple Crag, North Peak (1940), Mount Whitney, Southeast Buttress (1941), Lower Cathedral Spire, Yosemite (1948), Mount Williamson, North Face (1957) and Mt. Mendenhall. With an introduction by Royal Robbins.