Cholita Climbers

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The Cholita Climbers of Bolivia, or LasCholitas Escaladoras Bolivianas, are a group of Indigenous, Aymara, women mountaineers who climb peaks in Latin America. They do not wear modern mountaineering clothing, preferring instead their traditional costumes including polleras, brightly colored, full, pleated skirts with many under skirts. They do wear helmets and boots and use crampons, ice picks and ropes but carry their equipment on their backs in traditional shawls. The group was founded in 2015 by local women including Cecilia Llusco Alaña. The women are part of a tight knit community who work and live in the mountains. Their most notable expedition was on January 23, 2019 when they became the first Aymara women to summit Aconcagua, the highest mountain in the Americas.

Contents

History

The Cholita climbers live in the cities of La Paz and El Alto, and so are accustomed to high altitude conditions. The women range from 24 to 50 years old. Many of them have family or work connections to mountaineering. [1] For example, Cecilia Llusco Alaña started helping her father, a trekking guide, at the age of eight. [2] Others in the group have partners who are climbers or have themselves worked as porters or high mountain cooks on climbing expeditions. [3] In 2015, eleven Cholitas Escaladoras, led by mountain cook Lidia Huayllas Estrada, made it to the summit of Huayna Potosí, a 6,088 meter high peak in Bolivia, in a single attempt. [4] They then decided to climb mountains all over Latin America, despite the fact that it was judged by many to be inappropriate or impossible for women in their community to be mountaineers. [5]

The word Cholita has been used pejoratively to refer to Aymara women. [6] They have also been ridiculed for wearing their traditional costumes and have been discriminated against in public spaces and in employment opportunities. To challenge these negative connotations, this group of mountaineers climb in their traditional attire. [7] [3] Other Cholitas, such as the fighting cholitas, and the skating cholitas, [1] have excelled in other extreme sports and Aymara women in traditional dress are moving into other fields at high levels. [8] [9]

After Huayna Potosi, the group climbed Acotango, a mountain between Bolivia and Chile, Parinacota, Pomarapi, Illimani and Bolivia's highest mountain, Sajama de Oruro, all peaks higher than 6000 meters above sea level. [10] [11] Individuals in the group now accompany tourists on their climbs as regular guides. They have also now taken professional climbing and safety courses to become professional guides. [12] [13]

On January 23, 2019 they made history by reaching their highest summit so far, on their first international climb, in Argentina. They climbed Aconcagua (6,968 meters) in Mendoza, Argentina, the highest summit in the western hemisphere. The climb was sponsored by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of Bolivia and the expedition is now detailed in a documentary film called 'Cholitas' that premiered in Spain. [14] [15] [16] In 2019, they started to run climbing courses for people who are just starting to climb. The Cholita Climbers would like to climb Mount Everest at some point and are training, raising money and looking for backers towards this goal. [1]

Notable People

The following members of the 16 strong group made the 2019 summit of Aconcagua in Argentina [17]

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Jach'a Waylla Punta is a 4,743-metre-high (15,561 ft) mountain in the Andes of Bolivia. It is located in the La Paz Department, Larecaja Province, Sorata Municipality. Jach'a Waylla Punta lies in the northern extensions of the Cordillera Real southeast of the mountain Wila Wilani and south of Wankar Quta Qullu. It is situated at the rivers Q'asiri Jawira and Ch'uch'u Jawira.

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Cecilia Llusco Alaña, an Indigenous Bolivian mountaineer, founder of the Cholitas Escaladoras Bolivianas or Cholita Climbers of Bolivia, has scaled mountains in South America, including Huayna Potosi, a 6,088 meter high peak in Bolivia. She works as one of only about ten Indigenous Aymara women mountaineering guides. Instead of wearing modern technical or thermal mountaineering clothing, she climbs in her Indigenous costume. This includes the pollera, a brightly colored, gathered skirt with many underskirts. She carries her equipment in k'eperinas, or Aguayo, traditionally woven shawls or blankets, carried on her back. Since climbing Huayna Potosi she and the group have gone on to scale higher mountains such as Aconcagua, a 6,961meter peak in Argentina and the highest mountain in the Americas.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Insider News (2024-03-22). Why These Women Are Training To Climb Everest In Full Skirts | Insider News . Retrieved 2024-12-26– via YouTube.
  2. ↑ Johnson, Sarah (20 December 2024). "Trailblazers The inspiring people we met round the world this year". The Guardian Weekly . pp. 28–29.
  3. 1 2 Great Big Story (2017-04-24). The Cholita Climbers of Bolivia Scale Mountains in Skirts . Retrieved 2024-12-26– via YouTube.
  4. ↑ AFP News Agency (2022-09-08). The climbing 'cholitas' of Bolivia break barriers as they scale mountains in skirts | AFP . Retrieved 2024-12-26– via YouTube.
  5. ↑ "Cholitas escaladoras, Los Andes, Bolivia | VeinteMundos Magazines". 2019-02-22. Archived from the original on 2019-02-22. Retrieved 2020-03-19.
  6. ↑ "The Story of the Cholita Climbers' Aconcagua Summit". 2019-01-28. Retrieved 2024-12-26.
  7. ↑ "Las cholitas escaladoras de Bolivia: Las mujeres que son un ejemplo de fortaleza y convicción". Vogue Mexico (in Mexican Spanish). 21 October 2019. Retrieved 2020-03-19.
  8. ↑ "The rise of the 'cholitas'". BBC News. 2014-02-20. Retrieved 2024-12-26.
  9. ↑ contra (2022-11-11). "Take It To The Top". Glorious Sport. Retrieved 2024-12-26.
  10. ↑ "HERSTORY: The Climbing Cholitas: Skirts to the Top for Women's Empowerment". www.ukclimbing.com. 2023-05-02. Retrieved 2024-12-26.
  11. ↑ Reuters (2016-04-21). "Bolivia's cholita climbers scale highest mountain yet: 'I cried with emotion'". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2024-12-26.{{cite news}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  12. ↑ Johnson, Sarah (2024-09-30). "'I've never worn trousers up a mountain and I never will': a Bolivian cholita climber on sexism and her next summit". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2024-12-26.
  13. ↑ "Cholitas Escaladoras". sites.ungeneva.org. Retrieved 2024-12-26.
  14. ↑ "Las Cholitas de Bolivia se unieron para conquistar el Aconcagua". National Geographic en Español (in Mexican Spanish). 2019-01-18. Retrieved 2020-03-19.
  15. ↑ Murciego, Jaime; Iraburu, Pablo (2020-12-30), Cholitas (Documentary), Ana Lía Gonzales, Lidia Huayllas, Cecilia Llusco, Arena Comunicación, Mimbre Films, NHK, retrieved 2024-12-26
  16. ↑ Fernandez-Pontes, Ines (2023-03-22). "Cholitas: Aymara women conquer the Aconcagua". Latin America Bureau. Retrieved 2024-12-26.
  17. ↑ "Indigenous Bolivian Women Summit Aconcagua". Rock and Ice. Retrieved 2020-03-19.
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