Magazine summer 2022

A SUMMIT FIRMLY IN WOMEN’S HANDS
In June, Saas-Fee transforms into a hotspot for
women’s mountain sports: 60 women from all over
the world climb the Allalinhorn together. Among
them is mountain guide Elsie Trichot Lemordant.
Text: Patrick Gasser
Images: Elsie Trichot Lemordant / Amarcster Media
Making women visible in mountain and outdoor sports. That is
the goal of the initiative ‘100% Women’. Switzerland Tourism
launched the project last year on International Women’s Day.
Despite the pandemic, 700 female climbers from 20 countries
mastered all 48 Swiss four-thousand-metre peaks. The women
summiteers thus became role models for women all over
the world.
Now the project is entering its second round. And the
Saas Valley is playing a central role in this. And it’s no wonder:
18 of 48 four-thousand-metre peaks in the Swiss Alps
are located here, or can at least be seen from here. The venue
for this special kind of Peak Challenge is the Allalinhorn.
The 4,027 metre-high local mountain of Saas-Fee becomes
the pièce de résistance for a world record attempt: around 60
women are expected to climb the peak together between 15
and 17 June. Quite the symbolic undertaking: there has probably
never before been such a long women’s rope team.
A pleasing development
This is also confirmed by the two partner organisations – the
Swiss Mountain Guides Association and the Swiss Alpine
Club SAC – which are behind the project together with
Switzerland Tourism, Saas-Fee/Saastal Tourism and the
outdoor brand Mammut. ‘To the best of my knowledge,
never before in the history of mountain sports have so many
women joined forces to climb a peak together. And so it is all
the more gratifying that this record is being set in Switzerland’,
says historian Marie-France Hendrikx.
Burnaby and Niquille
Women are also taking the lead on the summit tour. The number
of female guides is growing. Nevertheless, in 2021, out
of 1,556 Swiss mountain guides, just 42 were women. Nicole
Niquille was the first woman to successfully complete the
physically and mentally demanding training in 1986. The history
of alpinism is predominantly shaped by men – and yet it
is more feminine than many think: be it in skirts or harem trousers
and being smirked at by their male competitors, some
women achieved top alpine performances as early as the 19th
century. For example, Elizabeth Burnaby Main Le Blond from
Great Britain (1861–1934). As a 20-year-old, she ventured on
an expedition for the first time. She made 26 first ascents, including
the east peak of the Bishorn. In 1907, she became the
first president of the British Ladies’ Alpine Club.
From the business world to the mountains
One of the female mountain guides who has a firm grip on the
rope for the ‘100% Women’ project on the Allalinhorn is Elsie
Trichot Lemordant. ‘I am happy to show women in my work
that alpinism is just as much fun for us as it is for men’, says
the mother of a two-year-old son. She grew up in Grenoble,
France, and stood on the summit of Mont Blanc at the age of
13. As her inner fire burned, Elsie’s dream job become crystal
clear: she wanted to become a mountain guide since her teenage
years. ‘Discover the world’, as she says herself. The journey
to get there was by no means straightforward: she studied
international management in Paris and started a career in the
business world, which took her to various countries.
Today she lives in Sion, Switzerland. ‘The call of the
mountains grew stronger’, says Elsie. In 2015, she dedicated
herself entirely to training to become a mountain guide.
In 2018, she passed the demanding certification exam set by
the International Federation of Mountain Guides Associations
(IFMGA). ‘Make your life a dream, and the dream a reality’, is a
quote from Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, the creator of ‘The Little
Prince’. Elsie did just that.
Stories like Elsie Trichot’s are meant to inspire and
encourage women all over the world to do new things.
With the Women’s Peak Challenge, those responsible want
to give alpinism a much more feminine touch. ‘90 per cent
of alpinists are still men’, says Elsie. ‘But women’s rope
teams often have a healthy group dynamic. You quickly
sense a willingness to help each other and the group
members inspire each other. ’ In the future – so hope
Elsie and those responsible for “100% Women” – even more
women should follow the call of the mountains.’
More information on
100% Women Peak Challenge
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