Cholita mountain climbers
Bolivia’s Aymara indigenous women have traditionally been known for their wide bowler hats and puffed skirts, not the usual attire for mountain climbing feats, but that is exactly what you will see a unique group of Cholitas wearing on the high Andean peaks along with their crampons.
Two years ago, about a dozen Cholitas, aged 42 to 50, who worked as porters and cooks for mountaineers at base camps on the steep, glacial slopes of Huayna Potosi, an Andean peak outside La Paz in Bolivia, decided to take up mountain climbing.
Combination picture shows Aymara indigenous women (L-R) Domitila Alana, 42, Bertha Vedia, 48, Lidia Huayllas, 48, and Dora Magueno, 50, posing for a photograph at the Huayna Potosi mountain, Bolivia April 6, 2016.
Cholita mountain climbers
Aymara indigenous women Lydia Huayllas, 48, (L) and Dora Magueno, 50, stand near Milluni lake, with the Huayna Potosi mountain in the background, Bolivia April 6, 2016.
For years, Huayllas, 48, worked as a cook at base camps and mountain-climbing refuges on the steep, glacial slopes of Huayna Potosi, a 19,974-foot (6,088-meter) Andean peak outside of La Paz.
“What do you do up there, how does it feel?” Huayllas said she asked her husband, mountain guide Eulalio Gonzales, two years ago. That was when he proposed that she climb the peak to find out for herself.
Cholita mountain climbers
The Cholitas walk toward Huayna Potosi mountain.
Bolivia's cholita climbers
The women climb in their traditional “Cholita” garb, but trade in their bowler hats for helmets, and use modern equipment including ropes, harnesses, crampons and boots.
Cholita mountain climbers
The women practice on a glacier of the Huayna Potosi mountain on the outskirts of La Paz, Bolivia.
Cholita mountain climbers
Milluni cemetery is seen near the Huayna Potos mountain.
Cholita mountain climbers
“The first experience was the Huayna Potosi. I cried with emotion. And I’m strong, I’m going to continue and get to the top of eight mountains,” said Dora Magueno, 50.
Bolivia's cholita climbers
Aymara indigenous women fix their hair before ascending the Illimani mountain, on the outskirts of La Paz, Bolivia, April 16, 2016.
Bolivia's cholita climbers
Climbing gear is seen at the base camp of on Illimani mountain near La Paz.
Illimani mountain
In 2016, the women climbed the imposing Illimani mountain, which has a 5-mile (8 km) long series of four peaks. It is the highest mountain in the Cordillera Real with its peak at 21,122 feet (6,438 meters). It looms above the Bolivian highlands, the country’s largest city La Paz and Lake Titicaca to the west, and the valleys of the Amazon to the east.
Eight of the 11 managed to reach the summit, braving a snowstorm and heavy winds.
Cholita mountain climbers
Aymara indigenous women Bertha Vedia (L), Dora Magueno (C) and Lydia Huayllas sit in a car in El Alto, Bolivia,.
The group’s ultimate dream is to plant a Bolivian flag on the summit of Aconcagua, the highest mountain outside of Asia at 22,841 feet (6,961 meters), located in the Argentine Andes near the border with Chile.
Cholita mountain climbers
One advantage the women have to outsiders who come to the Andes to climb is that highland Bolivians are already well acclimated to the thin air at high altitudes.
Cholita mountain climbers
An Aymara indigenous woman walks on the Huayna Potosi mountain, Bolivia.
These women have now scaled five peaks - Acotango, Parinacota, Pomarapi and Huayna Potosi as well as Illimani, the highest of all - in Bolivia’s Cordillera Real range. All are higher than 19,500 feet (6,000 meters) above sea level. The short-term goal for the group is to climb eight mountains higher than 19,700 feet (6,000 meters).