For Spanish aid climber Silvia Vidal, who has made two big-wall ascents in the Karakoram, "there are just climbers; friends for going together climbing, no matter if they are male or female. And because there are more men who climb big walls, then I always go with men."

In 1998 Vidal teamed up with Pep Masip, also of Spain, to climb the Southeast Pillar of Brakk Zang, via their new route Ganyips (VI 5.11 A3). Brakk Zang was climbed that same year by two British women, Libby Peters and Louise Thomas, who did a 19-pitch new route up the central pillar of the South Face via Ramchikor (VI 5.11 A2). Then in 1999, Vidal and Masip teamed up with fellow Spaniard Miguel Puigdomenech to climb the 5400-foot face of 18,000-foot Amin Brakk via the new route Sol Solet (VII 5.11 A5). They spent 32 days climbing 22 70-meter pitches, with Vidal leading the route's two A5 cruxes. The trio was subsequently nominated for the prestigious French climbing award - the Piolet D'or - for their ascent.

"In aid climbing on big walls things are different because there is not a question about strength," says Vidal. "It's something about endurance, the capacity to suffer, imagination, experience ... And all this can be the same for men and women."

The 1990s also marked an increase in the willingness of women to write about their accomplishments and seek greater sponsorship. Rutkiewicz began this trend in the 1970s, documenting her expeditions in print and film, but it's only been in the past 15 years that women have made a broader impact in the media.

According to Geraldine Westrupp, a veteran Himalayan mountaineer from the United Kingdom who did her Master's thesis on the psychology of women climbers, one of the greatest risks to female mountaineering is the fact that, in the past, women haven't written much about their adventures. "Historically, in all walks of life, women have not written as much about their experiences as men. So their achievements have gone unrecorded, and they quite literally don't exist anymore."

"I tried for years to put more stuff about women in [the magazine]," says Gill Kent, former editor of British magazine On the Edge. "It's the men who are more committed to pushing themselves forward." However, over the past decade, several women including Calhoun, Hargreaves, Mauduit, Watkins, and American Steph Davis have been able to build careers as a result of their climbing achievements, finding sponsorship from major outdoor companies. Davis began her Karakoram career in 1998 when she climbed Inshallah (VI 5.12 A1) on the southeast face of Shipton Spire with Kennan Harvey and the late Seth Shaw. The ascent is one of the few big-wall expeditions to have pushed the limits of free climbing in a hostile, high- altitude environment like the Karakoram. Davis' second expedition to the Karakoram was in 2000, when she gained access to the previously closed military zone of the Kondus Valley, which borders the Siachen Glacier. While there she made the first ascent of 3500-foot tall Tahir Tower, a previously unknown Nameless-Tower-sized spire, via the route All Quiet on the Eastern Front (VI 5.11 A3) with Jimmy Chin, Brady Robinson, and Dave Anderson.

Even though the achievements of Davis and Bullock Workman lie a century apart, and despite the differences in the climbs they've pursued, their impetus for exploration is much the same. "Ever since I saw photos of the Trango Towers, I dreamed of going to the Karakoram," says Davis. "When I saw photos of Shipton Spire, I knew I had to go. My desire to go to the Karakoram also comes from enjoying the hurdles of the travel and exposure to foreign cultures as much as from the climbing."

I was inspired to organize my own trip to Shipton Spire after reading about Davis and watching her slideshows. Darkis, Buil, and I spent six days on the spire, coming within 200 feet of the summit. After the climb I traveled around the United States doing slideshows. At every event women would approach me to ask why I had organized an all-woman expedition.

"What could be better than going on an adventure to climb splitter cracks on big granite walls with my good girlfriends?" I always responded, seeking to inspire other women to succeed on expeditions with or without male support.

"I think that over the years, women have finally recognized that rock and ice climbing do not require brute strength," says Calhoun. "It is only a matter of time before more women realize that they have what it takes to be alpine climbers, too."

Contributing editor Lizzy Scully lives in the foothills of Colorado's Front Range and made the first free ascent of South Howser Tower (V 5.12-) in the Bugaboos last September. This is her first feature for Climbing.