JACKSON, Wyo. — It’s been almost exactly a century since Eleanor Davis completed the first documented ascent of the Grand Teton by a woman. This weekend, two friends in their sixties are following in her footsteps.
Lisa Lander and Jane Black, who met as college roommates at Millersville University in Pennsylvania, have been training for 25 weeks ahead of their trip up the Grand.
“These weeks of training have transformed me both physically and mentally,” Black told Buckrail. Their training regimen has included daily cardio, weight training, bicycling, rock climbing and more.
“None of it was easy,” Lander said. “But we didn’t sign up for ‘easy,’ we signed up for what I would consider to be an increased life experience. There’s something we can lose as seniors, and it’s that desire, or curiosity or motivation, to achieve something else, and know that something is ahead of us…I want my 80-year-old self to look back and say, ‘I worked really hard.’”
Ahead of their climb, the pair have been inspiring each other as they prepare for the big day, sending motivational text messages between Lander’s home in the Catskills and Black’s home in Pennsylvania.
“We will summit because we embrace what’s possible, and why not us?” Black sent to Lander.
“We will summit because we are women and because of our age, not despite those things,” Lander sent to Black. “Our age and our femininity are both positive attributes on our quest to summit.”
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Amid all the positivity Black and Lander have been passing back and forth, as well as generating on their social media platforms, they remain conscious of the inherent risks that accompany summiting a mountain of this size. News of a fatality on the Grand earlier this summer gave them pause.
“We are very aware that the mountain holds extreme power and we’re going to respect it,” Lander said. “I visualize taking the route. We’ve also visualized turning around if there’s something that goes wrong.”
Black agreed, “We’ve both agreed that we have too much to live for. I have my two granddaughters. I love my life too much to put it at risk.”
Still, the two friends are optimistic about their project. They will make the climb with a professional guide. They also draw strength from the thought of Davis making the ascent in 1923.
Black and Lander will make the journey to the Lower Saddle on the morning of Saturday, Aug. 19, and hope to reach the summit on Sunday morning, Aug. 20.
Lander’s next goal is to summit Mount Kilimanjaro. Black’s is to ride her bicycle from the Pacific to the Atlantic.
“What we want as seniors and grandmas is to still be valued by the world we live in,” Lander said. “This allows us to still remain in the conversation of life.”
