As we celebrate Earth Day 2025 and its theme, “Our Power, Our Planet,” the story of six pioneers who conquered North America’s highest peak offers entrepreneurs and educators a powerful lesson.
In June 1970, these women started a climb that would make history. Led by Alaskan doctor Grace Hoeman and chemist Arlene Blum, they became the first all-female team to summit one of the world’s highest peaks – Denali in Alaska, standing at 20,310 feet.
Their achievement came at a time when men had walked on the moon, yet women were told they couldn’t handle high mountains. Common beliefs suggested women lacked the physical strength, mental fortitude, and technical skills needed for such extreme challenges.
These pioneers weren’t just climbers. They were doctors, chemists, geologists, pilots, and mechanics already used to navigating male-dominated fields. Their story offers powerful lessons for today’s entrepreneurs facing their uphill battles.
Three Entrepreneurial Traits From Boundary Breakers
1. Resilience in the Face of Rejection
The Denali team faced brutal dismissals before even reaching the mountain. Critics claimed “no way dames could ever make it up that bitch” and that “women climbers either aren’t good climbers or they aren’t real women.”
This mirrors the venture capital gap for female entrepreneurs, where women-founded companies receive just a fraction of available funding. Grace Hoeman, who had already survived World War II in Berlin while earning her medical degree, knew something about resilience. By the time she led the Denali expedition at age 41, she had already faced and overcome greater challenges than dismissive comments.
2. Determination Through Business Setbacks
In the six months before their climb, the Denali team overcame seemingly impossible obstacles. Margaret Young survived falling 900 feet down a mountain. Arlene Blum broke her leg in a ski accident. Dana Isherwood fell into a deep crevasse during a practice climb. Margaret Clark received a multiple sclerosis diagnosis.
Rather than quit, they adapted and pushed forward—a key entrepreneurial skill. Their determination wasn’t just about proving critics wrong—it was about achieving something they knew was possible despite the obstacles.
This resilience helps entrepreneurs overcome business setbacks, from funding rejections to market challenges. The ability to adapt and persist remains essential for both mountaineers and business founders.
3. Unshakable Self-Belief as Founders
What truly set these mountaineers apart was their absolute certainty in their capabilities despite universal doubt—the same mindset successful entrepreneurs need when launching ventures no one else believes in.
Arlene Blum, a Berkeley chemist, had been told she could join expeditions if she would “stay in base camp and cook for the men.” Each woman brought climbing skills, and the self-belief forged through navigating barriers in their professional lives. They became educational pioneers, teaching others what determined individuals could achieve through their actions.
The Ultimate Entrepreneurial Test
When Grace Hoeman collapsed at Denali’s summit from altitude sickness, the rest of the team executed an incredible self-rescue at risk to their own lives. This crisis management mirrors what entrepreneurs face when confronting unexpected business challenges—the ability to pivot quickly, make tough decisions, and save the venture when everything is at stake.
Their achievements received minimal coverage. In 1970, if women succeeded without men’s help, their accomplishment was often dismissed as “too easy” for men to attempt again, much like how groundbreaking business achievements are sometimes downplayed today.
Applying Denali Lessons to Today’s Business Challenges
The entrepreneurial traits displayed by the Denali team offer powerful lessons for navigating modern business landscapes:
Building Resilience in Competitive Markets
Today’s entrepreneurs face intensely competitive markets where rejection is commonplace. Studies show that startup founders have been rejected multiple times before securing funding. The Denali team’s approach teaches us to view rejection not as a final verdict but as a temporary obstacle. Modern entrepreneurs can adopt this mindset by:
- Separating feedback from personal identity: When critics told women they couldn’t climb mountains, the Denali team focused on their capabilities, not the criticism. Similarly, entrepreneurs should extract valuable insights from rejections while discarding the discouragement.
- Creating support ecosystems: The women relied on each other when outside support was nonexistent. Today’s founders can build peer networks and mentorship circles that are encouraging when conventional channels dismiss their ideas.
Translating Crisis Management to Business Pivots
The self-rescue executed by the Denali team under extreme conditions provides a framework for handling business crises:
- Maintaining composure under pressure: When Grace Hoeman collapsed at the summit, the team’s ability to stay calm and assess the situation methodically saved her life. This same measured approach helps entrepreneurs navigate market downturns, product failures, or competitive threats.
- Distributing leadership responsibility: Each woman on the team had distinct skills that became critical during the crisis. Modern business teams similarly benefit from distributed leadership models where authority shifts based on the challenge rather than remaining fixed in a hierarchy.
Breaking Industry Conventions Strategically
The women didn’t reject climbing traditions wholesale; they evaluated each practice based on merit. This selective approach to challenging conventions offers guidance for disruptive businesses:
- Identifying artificial barriers: Just as the women recognized that gender-based climbing restrictions were arbitrary, entrepreneurs can identify which industry “rules” are merely conventions rather than necessities. This discernment allows for targeted innovation that solves real problems.
- Leveraging outsider perspective: The Denali team’s status as outsiders allowed them to question assumptions that insiders had normalized. Many successful startups similarly leverage their outsider perspective to reimagine entire industries and identify opportunities invisible to established players.
These practical applications demonstrate how the principles that guided six women up North America’s highest peak remain relevant for navigating today’s complex business environments.
Lessons Live On
The Denali team’s legacy lives on in the new book “THIRTY BELOW,” which reminds us that the entrepreneurial mountains we climb today were made accessible by those who first proved such summits were possible when conventional wisdom said they weren’t. Like today’s entrepreneurs developing renewable energy solutions, these women demonstrated that even the most daunting summits can be reached with determination and collaborative action.
As pioneers who led by example, they taught future generations about what’s possible when people work together and trust their capabilities. They also inspired countless others to pursue their own summits, whether literal mountains or the heights of business leadership and environmental innovation. What a powerful reminder as we celebrate “Our Earth. Our Power.”.