Miriam O'Brien Underhill (July 22, 1898 – January 7, 1976) was an American

mountaineer Mountaineering or alpinism, is a set of outdoor activities that involves ascending tall mountains. Mountaineering-related activities include traditional outdoor climbing, skiing, and traversing via ferratas. Indoor climbing, sport climbing, an ...

environmentalist An environmentalist is a person who is concerned with and/or advocates for the protection of the environment. An environmentalist can be considered a supporter of the goals of the environmental movement, "a political and ethical movement that se ...

and

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

, best known for the concept of "manless climbing" – organizing all-women's ascents of challenging climbs, mostly in the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

Early life

Miriam Eliot O'Brien was born in

Forest Glen, Maryland Forest Glen is a census-designated place (CDP) in Montgomery County, Maryland, United States. Its population was 6,897 as of the 2020 census. Geography Forest Glen is recognized by the United States Census Bureau as a census-designated place, ...

on July 22, 1898. Her father was a newspaper editor and government official, and her mother was a physician. With her parents, she first visited the Alps in 1914, and completed an introductory climb near Chamonix. She earned a bachelor's degree in mathematics and physics from

Bryn Mawr College Bryn Mawr College ( ; Welsh: ) is a women's liberal arts college in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Founded as a Quaker institution in 1885, Bryn Mawr is one of the Seven Sister colleges, a group of elite, historically women's colleges in the United St ...

in 1920, and a master's degree in psychology from the same university in 1921. She visited the Alps during several summers after

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, and dabbled with mountaineering. She studied physics at

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

from 1923 to 1925. She was an active member of the Appalachian Mountain Club her entire adult life.

Mountaineering

Miriam O'Brien began serious rock climbing in the Alps in May 1926, completing a

first ascent In mountaineering, a first ascent (abbreviated to FA in guide books) is the first successful, documented attainment of the top of a mountain or the first to follow a particular climbing route. First mountain ascents are notable because they en ...

on Torre Grande in the

Dolomites The Dolomites ( it, Dolomiti ; Ladin: ''Dolomites''; german: Dolomiten ; vec, Dołomiti : fur, Dolomitis), also known as the Dolomite Mountains, Dolomite Alps or Dolomitic Alps, are a mountain range located in northeastern Italy. They form par ...

by a route now known as the "Via Miriam" in her honor. She also completed the first ascent of the Aiguille de Roc on August 6, 1927 with Alfred Couttet also known as Couttet Champion and Georges Cachat in the massif of Mont Blanc. On August 4, 1928 O'Brien, accompanied by Robert L. M. Underhill and guides Armand Charlet and G. Cachat, completed the

of the traverse from the Aiguilles du Diable to Mont Blanc du Tacul in the

. This route involves "climbing five outstanding summits over 4000 meters in superb surroundings." In 1929, she completed a climb of the Aiguille du Grépon with French climber Alice Damesme. This achievement by two women led mountaineer Étienne Bruhl to complain "The Grépon has disappeared. Now that it has been done by two women alone, no self-respecting man can undertake it. A pity, too, because it used to be a very good climb". On September 3, 1930, she climbed the most difficult route on the Finsteraarhorn, the north-east face, with guides A. and F. Rubi. This peak is the highest in the Bernese Alps. Her climb was the third ascent, and the route had only been climbed twice in the preceding 24 years. In 1931, she climbed the Mönch and the Jungfrau in the Bernese Alps with Micheline Morin. In 1932, she completed the first all-women's ascent of the Matterhorn with Alice Damesme. She married mountaineer and

Harvard Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

professor Robert L. M. Underhill in 1932. They had two sons, born in 1936 and 1939. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, she climbed with her husband in the

Wind River Range The Wind River Range (or "Winds" for short) is a mountain range of the Rocky Mountains in western Wyoming in the United States. The range runs roughly NW–SE for approximately . The Continental Divide follows the crest of the range and inclu ...

of Wyoming, the Mission,

Swan Swans are birds of the family (biology), family Anatidae within the genus ''Cygnus''. The swans' closest relatives include the goose, geese and ducks. Swans are grouped with the closely related geese in the subfamily Anserinae where they form t ...

and Beartooth ranges of Montana, and the Sawtooth range of Idaho. She climbed the Matterhorn for her third and final time in 1952. She, along with her husband, were charter members of the Four Thousand Footer Club, a section of the Appalachian Mountain Club. The only membership requirement was climbing all 48 four thousand foot peaks of the White Mountains of New Hampshire. They were the first to climb all of those peaks during the winter, completing the quest with their ascent of Mount Jefferson on December 31, 1960. At that time the list consisted of just 46 peaks.

Writer and editor

She wrote an essay titled ''Manless Alpine Climbing: The First Woman to Scale the Grépon, the Matterhorn and Other Famous Peaks Without Masculine Support'', which was published by the

National Geographic Society The National Geographic Society (NGS), headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, is one of the largest non-profit scientific and educational organizations in the world. Founded in 1888, its interests include geography, archaeology, and ...

in 1934. This essay, or excerpts from it, has been republished in several compendia of mountaineering literature. In this essay, she explained her mountaineering philosophy this way: "Very early, I realized that the person who invariably climbs behind a good leader...may never really learn mountaineering at all and in any case enjoys only part of the varied delights and rewards of climbing." She went on to say, "I did realize that if women were really to lead, that is, to take the entire responsibility for the climb, there couldn't be any man at all in the party." Her autobiography, ''Give Me the Hills'', was published in London by

Methuen Publishing Methuen Publishing Ltd is an English publishing house. It was founded in 1889 by Sir Algernon Methuen (1856–1924) and began publishing in London in 1892. Initially Methuen mainly published non-fiction academic works, eventually diversifying to ...

in 1956. It was republished in the United States in 1971. She edited ''Appalachia'', the journal of the Appalachian Mountain Club, from 1956 - 1961, and also in 1968.

Legacy

The Robert and Miriam Underhill Award is given annually by the

American Alpine Club The American Alpine Club (AAC) is a non-profit member organization with more than 24,000 members. Its vision is to create "a united community of competent climbers and healthy climbing landscapes." The Club is housed in the American Mountaineerin ...

"to a person who, in the opinion of the selection committee, has demonstrated the highest level of skill in the mountaineering arts and who, through the application of this skill, courage, and perseverance, has achieved outstanding success in the various fields of mountaineering endeavor." Miriam Peak in the Wind River Range of Wyoming is named after her.
SummitPost.org: Miriam Peak - retrieved September 1, 2009

Early life

Mountaineering

Writer and editor

Legacy

References

Further reading