Oct. 27, 2025

Dr. Julie Rak - professor and author exploring gender in mountaineering

Dr. Julie Rak - professor and author exploring gender in mountaineering

Dr. Julie Rak is a professor in the Department of English and Film Studies at the University of Alberta, Canada. Her 2021 book False Summit: Gender in Mountaineering Nonfiction (McGill-Queens University Press) is the first book-length study of gender, feminism and mountaineering narratives ever made- and she hopes that it won't be the last.

She has also published on Rockies mountain guide and writer Tex Vernon-Wood, on gender and mountaineering film festivals, about the body of George Mallory and about Sherpa, the autobiography of Ang Tharkay.

Julie was a novice to intermediate general mountaineer and ice-climber in the Canadian Rockies (she is now retired), and enjoys snow-shoeing, hiking, road cycling and kayaking in the mountains, and other places too. 

Watch Julie's TEDx Talk - Rope & Tshirts: Mountaineering Objects & Gender



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