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The completion of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1885 opened the Rocky Mountains and the Selkirk Mountains up to travelers. Like the men, the women first came to enjoy the grandeur of the peaks and to study the natural wonders; later they developed an interest in exploration and climbing for their own sakes.

Off the Beaten Track is the story of fourteen women explorers, writers, artists, mountaineers and trail guides who were active during the period between the completion of the railway, and the Second World War -- it was a half-century of feverish exploration. These women were a diverse lot, from a Quaker photographer to indefatigable climbers, from a passionate literary critic to confident horsewomen.

Aloo of can learn something of the enigma of the human spirit, particularly when it meets the world of peaks where that most mystifying human endeavour, climbing mountains for the risk and joy of the act, is played out.