An Old Ad for Expeditions to the Antarctic Sparks My Interest

By Ema Dantas

Mountaineering has held the allure of men for centuries. But of course, also for women!

For example, Elizabeth Hawkins-Whiteshed (1860 – 27 July 1934), also known as Mrs Aubrey Le Blond, or as Lizzie Le Bond as she was known to her climbing friends, was a British pioneer of mountaineering in a time when it was almost unheard of for a woman to climb mountains.

‘Elizabeth moved to Switzerland, where she climbed mountains in her skirt. In 1907, she took the lead in forming the Ladies’ Alpine Club and became its first president. She wrote seven books on mountain climbing and over her lifetime made twenty first ascents, conquering peaks that no one had climbed before.‘ *

Well, I am not going to be climbing in any of my skirts, however I am looking forward to my first ascents this Summer and Fall. I can only hope to follow in the steps of many brave women that precede me.