Some of The Climbers That Everyone Should Know!
International Women’s Day 2021
To celebrate the achievements and cultural impact of women in climbing here's 8 trailblazing climbers that showed us how it's done right. This list is far from comprehensive so I would encourage you to go seek out more and champion them yourself.
In line with this year’s theme “Choose to Challenge”; we need to move away from the qualifier of “female climber”. Although, the term is mostly used in a benevolent context, it increasingly undermines the achievements of Women in climbing as second string to the achievements of Men. Climbing is unique in the way it could offer more equal treatment of people at all levels of the sport. For the most part, climbing draws on three areas of ability; physical strength, mental resilience and, lastly, technique. These areas will appear in all bouldering and climbing routes to varying degrees but a lack of ability in one area can always be compensated by another.
These climbers never let the views of the day stand in their way and we love them for it.
Illustration by ZedZed
After moving to Snowdonia as an Army Driver in the 1940s Moffat fell in love with the mountains and climbing. Noted as a true, original dirtbag she work odd jobs to fuel her climbing addiction after deserting from the Army to live with conscientious objectors. Amongst her achievements of ticking off solid test piece climbs (often bare-foot) she also added many classic routes which still hold up today.
In 1953 Moffat qualified as the first female British Mountain Guide and for 10 years worked with the RAF Mountain Rescue service.
Although things are different from when Gwen started climbing her attitude to gender roles in the outdoors were, and still are, progressive: solidifying the mountains as a place for everyone and inspiring generations of climbers.
Moffat was also an author, her adventures in climbing and mountaineering are chronicled in her 1961 book Space Below My Feet. You can find her book here.
Anyone that has watched Valley Uprising might have noticed the lack of female presence save the ferocious Hill, goading the male climbers after being the first climber to free The Nose, on El Capitan.
Hill remains outspoken on subject of gender and climbing, arguing that everyone has the potential to climb the same routes, something she has proved time and time again. Her opinions surrounding gender pay gaps in the climbing world, specifically in the prize money available in competitions remains relevant and is viewed as the catalyst for change.
In an era that was even further from the representation we now see in climbing; Walker can claim an outstanding number of first ascents and first female ascents in the Alps. Her most notable summit was the Matterhorn in 1871 spurred by her rivalry with Meta Brevoort. In the same year she summited the Eiger on a diet of sponge cake and Asti Spumante.
Most notably known for climbing Everest alone and without the use of supplemental oxygen in 1995; Hargreaves solidified her place as a world class alpinist and mountaineer. But her story didn't start there...
Although Everest is, to many, the figurative pinnacle of mountaineering; Hargreaves accomplished much harder challenges and peaks solo and as part of a team. One such grueling endeavor was climbing the 6 great North Faces of the Alps in a single season. which is the content of A Hard Day's Summer, her book detailing the climbs.
Her untimely death on K2 in 1995 was and is controversial as Hargreaves was a mother to 2 young children at the time, both of which went on to become mountaineers. Her outspoken views on Women in the mountains and not choosing between career and family still rings eerily honest and true even after 25 years.
Beverly Johnson & Sibylle Hechtel
Laying the groundwork for Lynn Hill nearly a decade earlier, Johnson and Hechtel were the first female team to climb El Cap. Johnson was also a prolific solo climber of the era too soloing Diheadral wall in a 10 day push. After leaving the valley and completing a PhD in Biology, Hetchel had a succesful high altitude mountaineer career, ticking 8000+m summits in the Himalaya. Hetchel still climbs regularly.
Born in Camberwell in 1894, Dorothy Pilley-Richards’ impact reaches beyond just climbing.
Having learnt to climb on the slopes of Tryfan and around Cwm Idwal she quickly moved on to difficult and far-flung routes in the Alps, Scotland and beyond. A unique aspect of Dorothy’s climbing career was her ability to financially support her own trips; having earned a living as a journalist and then for the Patriotic League. For those that might think the Patriotic League sounds ominous in our current political climate, the league was established to campaign for full voting rights for women and was pivotal to the suffrage movement.
In the 1920s Dorothy was a founding member of the Pinnacle Club, the first organisation of its type in the UK with it’s primary focus on the development and education of women in climbing as, at the time, climbing was still seen as a male sport. Other notable members of the club include Emily “Pat” Kelly and Gwen Moffat.
From the generation worth watching now, Shiraishi is the only climber in this list born in this century. At just age 8 Shiraishi ticked of the classic V10Power of Silence and in the following years completed numerous V11s and V12s. When she was 10 years old, Shiraishi climbed Crown of Aragorn, V13 a grade achieved by all but a few and certainly not at such a young age. To date Shiraishi has Climbed the V15,Sleepy Rave and the 9a/9a+ (sport), Ciudad de Dios.
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