A ‘GIRLS’ OWN’ adventure will see two women bid to become the first all-female duo to conquer the two highest Alaskan peaks.
Emily Andrew, 27, and Cat Freeman, 25, are now training in the French Alps ahead of their challenge in May 2009.
Records show that no other all-female team has completed the route across Mount Denali – also known as Mount McKinley – and Mount Foraker.
Emily, a former geography teacher from Budmouth Technology College in Weymouth, and Cat, from Weymouth, met on a mountaineering expedition with the Dorset Expeditionary Society in 2000.
The friends share a love of mountaineering and between them have climbed routes in Africa, the French and Swiss Alps, the Dolomites and Pyrenees and Cordillera Blanca in South America.
Emily said: “It will be a real test of our endurance because we’ll be hauling all our stuff on sleds.
“We need to watch for avalanches and big storms and will have to melt snow every day to drink and cook with.”
Cat, a former solicitor turned climbing instructor, will take charge of the technical side of the expedition, which is expected to last five weeks. The climbs will take about eight days to complete.
Emily will be in charge of finding the route – a job that could prove tricky depending on how much snow there is.
Mount Denali, at over 6,000 metres high, is the tallest peak in North America.
And while 1,300 people attempt to climb Mount Denali a year, only 20 attempt to climb Mount Foraker.
The intrepid pair will carry 80-litre rucksacks and will reach Mount Foraker through a seven-mile long exposed snow ridge, known as Sultana Ridge.
Emily said: “Sultana is a Native Indian name meaning ‘the woman’ and as two women, this is particularly relevant to our expedition.
“It’s still rare for girls to be mountaineering without men, especially somewhere as remote as Alaska.
“There’s a lot of girls who are into climbing, but more of them go to indoor climbing walls.
“We’re really looking forward to being out in the wilderness on our own.
“Our friends and family are a bit worried about us, but they know that we’ve been going up mountains for a while now.”
Emily and Cat have set up a blog for people to track their preparation for the climb.
They will also be sending updates from the expedition.
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