For Arlene Blum, the phrase "breaking trail" is not just a mountaineering term, but rather a comprehensive description of her life's accomplishments. Blum, who lectured in the Science Center's Kennedy Auditorium on Monday evening, is an accomplished scientist, author, and climber who has dared to "break trail" her entire life by attacking, without fear, one seemingly-impossible task after another.
To an experienced climber, one who "breaks trail" is one who travels at the front of the pack, plowing the way through the most difficult terrain to make the route easier for those who follow. In her most recent book, Breaking Trail: A Climbing Life, Blum details her many adventures both in public policy and in her ascents of some of the world's tallest mountains.
Blum attributes her tenacity to her childhood. Growing up in a small house on the South Side of Chicago, Blum was often forced to fend for herself. She was raised by her parents and her grandmother, all of whom were chain smokers and none of whom got along. Blum's only escape from the constant arguing was the harsh Chicago weather, which helped her calm down. "The worse the weather," she said, "the better I felt."
Blum attended Reed College in Portland, Oregon, and went on to receive her Ph.D. in biophysical chemistry from the University of California at Berkeley. She began recreational climbing in her college years, but she recalls one particular incident in which her tendency to break trail emerged.
While attending Berkeley, Blum heard about a trip to climb Mt. McKinley, the highest peak in North America. After attempting to sign up, Blum learned that women could go on the trip for a reduced price, but they would only be allowed to hike as far as base camp, where they would then help with the cooking and cleaning duties. Outraged by the injustice, Blum advertised and eventually assembled a team of women who were willing to climb Mt. McKinley with her.
Blum's group summited Mt. McKinley on July 6, 1970, the first women's group to accomplish the feat. But the group was thrust into a dire situation when the trip leader fell unconscious less than 1000 feet into the descent. Blum seized control and led the group, along with the unconscious leader, to safety. Blum remembers feeling empowered after the trip was over. The challenge, and her conquering of it, gave her the confidence she felt like she had been lacking since childhood.
Enamored by the feeling she got after successfully climbing McKinley, Blum embarked on countless other fantastic trips in the following decade. In a 5-month trip around the world with two men whom she barely knew, Blum climbed Ras Dashen in Ethiopia, Damavand in Iran, Mt. Kilimanjaro, as well as several other challenging climbs, including four first ascents in the Himalayas.
Blum's list of notable travels is endless. Later on in her career, she led the first all-woman's ascent of Annapurna, about which she wrote her first book. She was invited on the second American ascent of Mt. Everest but, unfortunately, was not able to make it to the summit. Also, with the political assistance of Indira Gandhi, she was able to hike more than 2000 miles through the Himalayas.
During her time in the United States, Blum has dedicated her resources to fighting environmental toxins resulting from flame-retardants that are mandated in all furniture manufactured in California. PentaBDE (pentabromodiphenyl ether) is a flame retardant that causes adverse neurological effects and birth defects in humans and has been found in much greater concentration in the dust in California homes due to the standards for flame-resistant furniture. PentaBDE is sold to furniture-makers from chemical companies and has been slowly bleeding into the environment for decades.
Blum helped lead efforts to defeat legislation in California that would require plastics on computers and in toys to become flame retardant. Chemical companies, she argued, only lobbied for the legislation because there was a lot of money at stake. The real way to prevent fire deaths, she said, is to control the source of the fire, such as smoldering cigarettes, the leading cause of house fires in the U.S.
Today, Blum is involved with the Green Science Policy Institute (GSPI), which focuses on helping industries "go green" and influencing public policy with scientific evidence. Although GSPI is making progress, they still need immense amounts of help on the political side before real change can be felt.
Blum sees her policy work as a result of her appreciation for the mountains. There is a relationship between her physical adventures and her struggles with chemical pollution in the United States. Blum envisions herself and other political activists as "walking across the clouds, reaching a summit for a better world."
-- by Patrick Dunn '12
To an experienced climber, one who "breaks trail" is one who travels at the front of the pack, plowing the way through the most difficult terrain to make the route easier for those who follow. In her most recent book, Breaking Trail: A Climbing Life, Blum details her many adventures both in public policy and in her ascents of some of the world's tallest mountains.
Blum attributes her tenacity to her childhood. Growing up in a small house on the South Side of Chicago, Blum was often forced to fend for herself. She was raised by her parents and her grandmother, all of whom were chain smokers and none of whom got along. Blum's only escape from the constant arguing was the harsh Chicago weather, which helped her calm down. "The worse the weather," she said, "the better I felt."
Blum attended Reed College in Portland, Oregon, and went on to receive her Ph.D. in biophysical chemistry from the University of California at Berkeley. She began recreational climbing in her college years, but she recalls one particular incident in which her tendency to break trail emerged.
While attending Berkeley, Blum heard about a trip to climb Mt. McKinley, the highest peak in North America. After attempting to sign up, Blum learned that women could go on the trip for a reduced price, but they would only be allowed to hike as far as base camp, where they would then help with the cooking and cleaning duties. Outraged by the injustice, Blum advertised and eventually assembled a team of women who were willing to climb Mt. McKinley with her.
Blum's group summited Mt. McKinley on July 6, 1970, the first women's group to accomplish the feat. But the group was thrust into a dire situation when the trip leader fell unconscious less than 1000 feet into the descent. Blum seized control and led the group, along with the unconscious leader, to safety. Blum remembers feeling empowered after the trip was over. The challenge, and her conquering of it, gave her the confidence she felt like she had been lacking since childhood.
Enamored by the feeling she got after successfully climbing McKinley, Blum embarked on countless other fantastic trips in the following decade. In a 5-month trip around the world with two men whom she barely knew, Blum climbed Ras Dashen in Ethiopia, Damavand in Iran, Mt. Kilimanjaro, as well as several other challenging climbs, including four first ascents in the Himalayas.
Blum's list of notable travels is endless. Later on in her career, she led the first all-woman's ascent of Annapurna, about which she wrote her first book. She was invited on the second American ascent of Mt. Everest but, unfortunately, was not able to make it to the summit. Also, with the political assistance of Indira Gandhi, she was able to hike more than 2000 miles through the Himalayas.
During her time in the United States, Blum has dedicated her resources to fighting environmental toxins resulting from flame-retardants that are mandated in all furniture manufactured in California. PentaBDE (pentabromodiphenyl ether) is a flame retardant that causes adverse neurological effects and birth defects in humans and has been found in much greater concentration in the dust in California homes due to the standards for flame-resistant furniture. PentaBDE is sold to furniture-makers from chemical companies and has been slowly bleeding into the environment for decades.
Blum helped lead efforts to defeat legislation in California that would require plastics on computers and in toys to become flame retardant. Chemical companies, she argued, only lobbied for the legislation because there was a lot of money at stake. The real way to prevent fire deaths, she said, is to control the source of the fire, such as smoldering cigarettes, the leading cause of house fires in the U.S.
Today, Blum is involved with the Green Science Policy Institute (GSPI), which focuses on helping industries "go green" and influencing public policy with scientific evidence. Although GSPI is making progress, they still need immense amounts of help on the political side before real change can be felt.
Blum sees her policy work as a result of her appreciation for the mountains. There is a relationship between her physical adventures and her struggles with chemical pollution in the United States. Blum envisions herself and other political activists as "walking across the clouds, reaching a summit for a better world."
-- by Patrick Dunn '12
