The Women With Altitude: Mind Over Mountains documentary is a tale about adversity and struggle, empowerment and courage, and the heights to which we can climb in our lives. Upon learning that her mother had experienced years of physical and emotional abuse, Tonya Redfield asked how she herself could make a difference for other women to break the cycle of violence. In climbing mountains Tonya found the metaphor for women’s emotional and physical struggle to survive and overcome abuse.
In team members she found women who had lived it, her peers who seek the mountains as their source of strength to leave painful events behind. Heading to the Andes to attempt a 20,000-foot peak, the Americans are joined by Bolivians addressing violence against women--indigenous Aymara activists, an anarchist-lesbian street artist, a survivor whose support group has helped 400 women, and a researcher who reveals pioneering statistics on domestic violence in La Paz.

On the slopes of the mountain, a winter storm and illness threaten to undermine their efforts. The attempt is further imperiled by the deaths of two British climbers within days of the team's arrival, and the failure of all other climbers’ attempts. On the verge of abandoning the climb, the team finds strength and support from the determination of the Bolivian activists on their trek: “Even when it seems insurmountable, you still have to try.” Placing mind over mountains, the team members persist and gain the summit two days later, collapsing with effort and cathartic emotion.

A documentary about American and Bolivian women's strength to move beyond domestic violence. Seven women from San Francisco set out to climb a 20,000-foot peak in the Andes, as testimony to women overcoming abuse. Newfound strength and support turn up in the form of local Bolivian activists who join their trek, having climbed uphill battles of their own.