Arlene Blum’s dramatic new memoir recounts her legendary mountain adventures and explores how her childhood fueled her need to climb and how, in turn, her climbing liberated her from her childhood.

For twelve photo-adventure albums, a series of dramatic color slide shows to accompany Breaking Trail, click here 

For praise for Breaking Trail, click here.

For reviews, click here

For Chris Bonington's foreward, click here

For the author's introduction, click here

“Arlene Blum’s gripping and intensely personal narrative of her life is a profoundly encouraging story for all of us who battle to climb our own inner mountains.”
-Royal Robbins, pioneering climber, businessman, and writer

"I stand in awe, respect, and gratitude for Arlene Blum's story.”
-Sharon Wood, first North American woman to reach the summit of Mount Everest

“Breaking Trail  reinvents the climbing memoir.”
-Maurice Isserman, Mountaineering Historian, Professor of History, Hamilton College.

“More than a great read about climbing, it’s a terrific allegory for the struggle that so many brilliant women have faced on their paths to the summit.”        
-Jeff Greenwald, author of The Size of the World and Shopping for Buddhas

“Required reading for anyone who aspires to lead others to greatness."
-Jim Kouzes, Co-author of the best-selling book, The Leadership Challenge

"I was constantly astonished by Blum’s achievements... making an end run around sexism by organizing her successful all-women ascents.  I simply inhaled this book."                
-Sherry Ortner, anthropologist and author of Life and Death on Mt. Everest