Renegade Female Adventurers: Annie Smith Peck

May 20th, 2016 • BY

Annie Smith Peck

Era: 1850-1935

Origin: Born in Providence, Rhode Island

Claim to Fame: Annie raised the adventure bar with copious mountaineering records. In 1895, she became one of the earliest documented women to climb the Matterhorn. 

Her ascent of Mexico’s Citlaltépetl (Pico de Orizaba) volcano in 1897 set the highest attained altitude record for women. Without slowing down, in 1908 Annie accomplished the first ascent of what was then considered to be the highest climb in the Americas—Peru’s 22,205-foot Mount Huascaran—at age 58.

Fun Fact: Annie’s Matterhorn fame was actually spurred by her attire. Adorned in pants she refused to wear a long skirt, which was expected of women at the time and punishable by law. (Yes, women were arrested for wearing so-claimed men’s clothing.)

 

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Morgan Tilton

About

Raised in the stunning San Juan Mountains of Southwest Colorado, Morgan Tilton is a Bronze medalist and two-time Finalist of the 2015 North American Travel Journalists Association Awards for her travel writing. She covers adventure, travel, business, and outdoor community news, which has been featured in Backpacker, 5280 (Denver's city magazine), EnCompass, TransWorld Snowboarding, and CoBiz among others. She's also a trail runner,— More about this author →