Where They Went: The French Alps

THE INSPIRATION: "When Rebecca and I were working on the book, we talked about reenacting some of these climbs and maybe working in the period clothing," Krusi said. After Gannett, a Colorado ski mountaineering guide, wrote an article about her desire to retrace earlier women's climbs, Brown and Krusi contacted her about putting together an expedition. Gannett, a sponsored athlete, served as leader for what they called "Women on High: Return to Mount Blanc."

GETTING READY: "I'm new to mountaineering, though I had done a lot of winter hiking," said Krusi. "Rebecca would never let me back out just because it was cold. We hiked together a lot over the winter." Said Brown, "I do a lot of outdoor stuff in the winter: snowshoeing and winter hiking and cross-country skiing. . . . But you can't really train for altitude." The 15,781-foot Mont Blanc is Western Europe's highest peak.

GETTING ACCLIMATED: "This was not expedition mountaineering where you set up base camp," Brown said. "Our hut was very comfortable." Said Krusi, "We were there for a solid week before climbing. . . . You can take tram cars up to 8,000, 10,000 feet and take them back down, or stay at the hut at nearly 12,000 feet. The breathing is a little harder; we were lucky we didn't get nausea and headaches."

GETTING DRESSED: "We were all portraying a particular woman who had done something on Mont Blanc," Brown said. "One costume I had was Annie Smith Peck, the first woman to wear knickers in 1895." Peck wore a skirt over her knickers, but took the skirt off when climbing. "I also wore my uninsulated heavy hiking boots and long wool socks," Brown said. Added Krusi, "We all wore the costumes during photo shoots. We wanted to show the difference between the two periods. We did do some climbing in them, but summited in modern-day clothing."