Be Bold With Beth Whitman

Today’s conversation is with Sharon Wood. Sharon is very unassuming (as Canadians tend to be) yet she has accomplished something pretty incredible. Sharon was not only the first North American woman to summit Mt. Everest but she did it on the West Ridge route. The first thing that’s notable about that, is that this is a route that has never been successfully summitted since. And that was 34 years ago when Sharon was 29. But what is also notable is that she and her group attempted their summit bid without Sherpas – meaning they were on that mountain carrying all their own gear, fixing all their own ropes without support. When you consider how the mountain is being climbed today, you can imagine how incredibly difficult that must have been. But Sharon’s story starts at age 16 when she left home to find adventure in the mountains. And, really, she’s never looked back. Sharon has a new book out called Rising: Becoming the First North American Woman on Everest. And she’s had these years to reflect on that experien