First All-Women Team Climbs Canada’s Third Highest Peak
Pascale Marceau and Eva Capozzola summited Mount Lucania on April 26
On April 26, 2021, Canadians Pascale Marceau and Eva Capozzola became the first all-women team to reach the summit of Mount Lucania (5,226 m), Canada’s third-highest peak.
Nestled deep in the Yukon’s Kluane National Park and Reserve, this seldom-visited peak has only been climbed by less than a handful of women, and never by an all-woman team. It’s notoriously windy and cold. Lucania lies 65 kilometres north of Mount Logan, Canada’s tallest mountain. Due to its remoteness and harsh weather, this lesser-known peak is rarely climbed.
Congratulations to Fellow Pascale Marceau and Eva Capozzola on being the first first all-women team to summit Canada's 3rd highest peak as they reached the summit of Mt. Lucania today!
?1: Mt. Frances winter ascent 2021 by Lonnie Dupre
? 2: Michael Schmidt, FRCGS Photography pic.twitter.com/q2Ypv3Xtrh— Royal Canadian Geographical Society (@RCGS_SGRC) April 27, 2021
“I think it gives us both the space to step up a little more to the front,” Capozzola said about being part of an all-women team. “We’re confident in our skills, we’re confident in our capabilities, and we show up fully even when we are in mixed teams, but there is something that does feel different about this.”
Marceau and Capozzola’s hope is to motivate others to follow their dreams and foster appreciation for Canada’s wild places. Also close to their hearts is to inspire and boost women’s contributions and involvement in mountaineering overall. Marceau has over 15 years of mountain adventuring under her belt, and has recently been focusing on remote, cold weather, exploratory firsts. Capozzola spends her time capturing images that inspire inquiry into our own humanity with deep curiosity, critical thinking, and heart. She brings a photojournalistic soul to her work documenting climbing, outdoor adventures, and expeditions.
Lucania was named by the Duke of Abruzzi, as he stood on the summit of Mount Saint Elias on July 31, 1897, having just completed the first ascent. Seeing Lucania in the far distance, beyond Mount Logan, he immediately named it “after the ship on which the expedition had sailed from Liverpool to New York,” the RMS Lucania. The first ascent of Lucania was made in 1937 by Bradford Washburn and Robert Hicks Bates. The second ascent wasn’t until 1967 by Jerry Halpern, Mike Humphreys, Gary Lukis, and Gerry Roach.
Follow along on Instagram below, as the two climbers make their way back down to base camp, and read previous updates on their climb here.
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