Jan Reynolds was born on a Vermont dairy farm, number 6 of 7 children. She became a nationally ranked cross country ski racer in high school, and continued in college, and raced biathlon for the U.S. Team, after setting climbing and skiing records all over the world, especially in the Himalaya. She even took a hot air balloon over Everest! Well, almost, she crashed, but they made an award winning film, and set another world record. She co-authored Everest Grand Circle, wrote and photographed articles for National Geographic, then set off around the world living with indigenous people for her award winning Vanishing Cultures series for children. Recently Jan has had fun putting her adventures together in the new book, High Altitude Woman, which really is about the difference in the way men and women think, speak, and behave. Having been the only woman on all these expeditions she used her anecdotal experiences, to tell the story, and backs it up with social science and data.