Located in north central Nepal, Annapurna is the World's 10th highest mountain. Standing at a height of 8,091 meters / 26,545 feet, it is one of only 14 peaks in the world to reach an elevation of over 8,000 meters (26,246ft). First of the 8,000 meter peaks to be climbed, Annapurna is by no means easy, and is today considered to be the most complex and demanding of the world's high mountains.

"Only three Americans have stood    on the summit of Annapurna."

The slopes of Annapurna have allowed less than 150 mountaineers to its summit (compared to over 2000 successful summits of Mt. Everest). In 1950, a French team became the first expedition to realize success on the slopes of Annapurna. Maurice Herzog and Louis Lachenal became the first to stand on top. Many of today's world class mountaineers began climbing after reading Herzog's book of the 1950 expedition.

The 1978 all woman's expedition led by Arlene Blum, which has inspired Dare to Dream 2008, placed the first two women on top of Annapurna; Vera Komarkova and Irene Miller. Since 1978, only four additional women have reached the summit. Today, the mountain has routes on all sides; north, south east and west. Dare to Dream 2008 plans to climb on the same side as both the 1950 Herzog team and the 1978 Blum Team - the North side of the mountain. Tentatively, we will be attempting the Dutch Rib route.