Alva Review-Courier -

DENVER (AP) — The leg-busting path shot straight up, encountering small aspens before veering hard right at the base of a sheer rock. The conversations of teenage girls broke through the foliage, covering the soft rumble of cars passing below on Interstate 70 just near Frisco.

Nine girls — and five female instructors — were gathered around four ropes. It was Monday, July 23, one of the first days of Girls on Rock, a free 12-day education program designed to encourage women and people of color to get into field sciences and teach them wilderness skills. It's part of Inspiring Girls Expeditions,...