Before sunrise on Aug. 24, climbers in the Teton Range tightened their harnesses and switched on headlamps. Hours later, at the top of the Grand Teton, a lone man looked around in astonishment — every other climber on the summit that morning was a woman.

By pure coincidence, two all-women teams — one from Exum Mountain Guides and one from The Mountain Guides — had met on the same day at 13,775 feet, rewriting and reimagining what the mountaintop usually looks like. The man’s reaction, though positive, illustrated the unusual nature of this scenario. A group of men on the Grand Teton? Happens every summer day. A large group of only women climbers and guides? Hardly ever.

A new climb for women

It was partly because of this discrepancy that Exum Mountain Guides initiated its first Grand Teton Women’s Climb in 2023. Women have climbed as clients from the beginning, but the companies didn’t hire their first full-time female guides until the 1980s.

From 1991 to 2003, Mattie Sheafor ran her Women That Rock program through Exum. It taught women the skills needed to climb independently. The late Aimee Barnes of The Mountain Guides created the Women’s Network as a resource for women climbers that continues today.

But it wasn’t until 2023 — the 100th anniversary of Eleanor Davis becoming the first known woman to summit the peak — that a women’s climb of the Grand Teton became a reality.

Finding strength in the group

Now in its third year, the participants on Exum’s Women’s Climb have ranged in age from 23 to 65. They are students, psychologists, filmmakers, scientists and influencers.

Three women — Summeri Bass, 23; Sarah Finlay, 26; and Katia Ryan, 24 — had received scholarships funded by the Teton Climbers Coalition and other partners, giving them the opportunity to challenge themselves in the mountains in a way that, otherwise, would have been financially out of reach.

Except for two childhood friends who were celebrating their 65th birthdays and 54 years of friendship, none of the women knew each other. But all were surprised by how quickly they bonded.

Sarah Hinkson, 35, thought it would just be about the climb, but, “It became so much more about the shared moments of lifting one another up. We were encouraging each other through moments of anxiety and fear.”

Finlay added that “the trust and encouragement felt natural, and it carried me through the toughest sections.”

Training, trust and the summit

The Exum team spent two days training on rope systems, rappelling and climbing techniques. “When you’re with women, you can totally be brave enough to fail—there’s not the pressure of messing up because you’re a woman or because you’re not strong enough,” Ryan said. “You’re messing up because you’re trying something new and you’re experimenting,” with the full support of the group.

On the third day, they hiked up to Exum’s high camp on the Lower Saddle — at approximately 11,600 feet — where a “Celebrate” sign was swinging inside the hut. Guide Aili Farquhar led a small group in yoga poses as the sun sank on the Idaho side of the peak and the sky morphed into streaks of orange, pink and red.

After a few hours of fitful sleep and with anticipation rising, they left the hut at 4 a.m. in groups of two climbers, headlights bobbing, each with one of Exum’s women guides. By mid-morning eight of the 10 climbers had summited the Grand Teton via the Owen- Spalding route, and the remaining two had reached the Enclosure, a secondary summit of the Grand.

“It’s so easy to get caught up in how far you still have to go, or to let your thoughts spiral around the what-ifs,” Hinkson said. When she shifted into a mindset of noticing the feel of the rock under her fingers, sometimes jagged and at other times smooth, and the colors shifting in the sky as the sun came up, “The climb stopped feeling overwhelming and started feeling grounding, almost meditative,” she said.

The Poppy Team parallel

As luck would have it, another group of women was preparing to climb the Grand at the same time. The idea had taken root at Poppy, a women’s coworking space in Jackson, when several members realized that they all wanted to attempt the Grand but had never taken the time to do it.

They decided to stop making excuses and called up The Mountain Guides to book a trip. Heather Smith, 42, and founder of Poppy, felt a sense of power from reserving that time, especially since she and other women often set aside their own personal goals in favor of more urgent or practical commitments.

Ranging in age from 29 to 65, the group included professionals from a variety of fields — marketing directors to legal analysts to entrepreneurs.

The first day of their trip was spent hiking to The Mountain Guides’ high camp at 11,200 feet where they would spend three nights. Day two was the first time climbing for almost all of them, and those initial experiences with exposure brought up trepidation and excitement. The gravity of what they were attempting hit home, but Smith found reassurance in the trust she had in the guides and the systems they were learning.

At the top together

All eight of the Poppy team reached the summit of the Grand Teton via the Pownall- Gilkey route. As Smith rounded the last bend, tears welled in her eyes from the physical effort itself, and the high-fives and cheers from friends in the group ahead of her. She still gets chills thinking about how every time someone reached the top, it would be another woman, whether it was from the Poppy group or the Exum team.

Two days earlier, Connie Kemmerer and Kay Wilson, both 81, had just become the oldest known people to climb the Grand — regardless of gender — and Jane Maus, 30, had set a new fastest time record for women. Maus had run past the Poppy group as they hiked to high camp, and they stepped aside to cheer her on. Smith said it “felt very full circle – women supporting women, and how much power and strength is on this mountain just now.”

Passing it on

Several women shared how their climb impacted their daughters. Smith’s 10-year-old daughter was “super stoked” that her mom had climbed the Grand and assumed her mom will do it again next year. Smith herself said the climb ignited an interest in the sport that hadn’t been there previously. Maria Ellis, 65, is flattered that her grown daughters now consider her “badass.”

The women said their biggest takeaways revolved around the support of their team members, the guides, and their communities, and how the experience changed their own perceptions.

“The climb showed me that we never achieve alone; each step is built on those who came before us,” Finlay said. “Every step I took [to reach the summit] was part of a much larger legacy of resilience and breaking barriers.”

Ryan noted, “I still often fail to identify myself as a hiker or athlete. Climbing the Grand really created a new baseline for me of what I think is possible.”

The power of all-women spaces

The climbs highlight both the gains and how far the guiding community still has to go. The Exum Women’s Climb is the only opportunity during the summer season for all the female guides to guide together.

Exum had to add a male guide to their 2023 trip, and the Poppy group had a male guide this year. But the male guides proved to be just as caring and supportive as their female colleagues. Perhaps it’s more about intention when it comes to empowering all people, regardless of gender, to experience the outdoors.

Nevertheless, as guide Rebecca Yaguda said, “When women climb with women, the most supportive, encouraging environment is naturally fostered, and this inspires women to try hard things that they never thought were possible.”

Hinkson summed up the experience: “It’s challenging, yes, but it’s also joyful, empowering, and deeply rewarding. If you’re even a little curious, I’d say go for it! You will learn just how strong and resilient you really are.”

Writer Kimberly Geil, Ph.D., manages the office of Exum Mountain Guides and is the founder of the Exum History Project. She is the third generation of her family to work at Exum and completed her seventh summit of the Grand Teton this summer.