She has served on the Colorado Governor’s Commission on Community Service and taught advocacy and legal issues for nonprofits at Regis University. As an AmeriCorps VISTA member in Chicago, Johanna worked on behalf of refugee survivors of torture at the Heartland Alliance. A graduate of Syracuse University’s journalism program, she also has a law degree from DePaul University College of Law where she focused on public service and international human rights law. Johanna Garton is a Denver-based mother, author, running coach and Wisconsin native who has played many professional roles throughout her life. Lisa is a breast cancer survivor and in 2018 founded Alpine Athletics where she coaches aspiring climbers to reach their mountain goals. Lisa has also summitted the highest mountain on all seven continents and just returned from leading an all-women’s expedition in Nepal, which provided education for Nepalese girls and employment for women building their careers in the Himalaya. ABOUT THE AUTHORS Lisa Thompson is the second American woman to summit K2, the second highest and considered the deadliest mountain in the world. In this inspiring memoir, Thompson reaches beyond the mountain to tell a story of resilience, heartbreak, and the eventual realization that we are responsible for defining our own boundaries, finding our own happiness, and facing our fears head on. It is a story of what can happen when we finally stop letting others define our limits and instead trust that we are capable of more.

More than a climbing memoir, FINDING ELEVATION is a deeply personal examination of motivation and the human spirit. After a harrowing battle with cancer, Lisa realized she needed to understand what motivated her to take greater and greater risks in the mountains. ABOUT THE BOOK Spite had provoked Thompson into the male-dominated world of high-altitude mountaineering, but spite could only take her so far. Fellow adventurer and author of EDGE OF THE MAP, Johanna Garton will join Lisa in conversation.

Local author and mountaineer Lisa Thompson launches her memoir FINDING ELEVATION, which chronicles her path from novice climber to the summit of K2.

Awakening East by Johanna Garton