Bolivia's Indigenous Cholita Climbers Take on Andes Mountains
Two years ago, about a dozen Aymara Indigenous women in Bolivia between the ages of 42 and 50, who worked as cooks and helpers for mountaineers at base camps and refuges on the steep, glacial mountainside of Huayna Potosi, an Andean peak outside La Paz, put on crampons under their wide traditional skirts and started to tackle the tricky slopes on their own.
Pictures
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.Reuters
The women are called Bolivia's "Cholita" climbers.Reuters
The climbing crew's dream feat is to climb up and plant a Bolivian flag on the Aconcagua peak, the highest outside of Asia, at a towering 22,841 feet (6,961 meters) in the Argentine Andes.Reuters
The women recently climbed the five-mile (eight km) long Illimani series of four peaks.Reuters
Aymara Indigenous women practice descending on a glacier at the Huayna Potosi mountain.Reuters
The women have already scaled five major peaks and plan to keep on climbing.Reuters
The hike was a long and exhausting one, but these women could undoubtedly teach professional climbers a thing or two.Reuters
The base camp of the Aymara indigenous women mountaineers is seen from the Illimani mountain, on the outskirts of La Paz.Reuters
Aymara indigenous women descend after practicing on a glacier at the Huayna Potosi.Reuters
Women rest while on a trek at the Huayna Potosi mountain.Reuters
A look at the scenery.Reuters
Aymara Indigenous women Lidia Huayllas, 48, (L) and Dora Magueno, 50, stand near Milluni lake, with the Huayna Potosi mountain in the background.Reuters
Milluni cemetery is seen near the Huayna Potos mountain, Bolivia.Reuters
A girl stands in the Huayna Potosi mountain refuge.Reuters
Aymara indigenous women Bertha Vedia (L), Dora Magueno (C) and Lidia Huayllas sit in a car in El Alto, Bolivia.Reuters
The women fix their hair before ascending the Illimani mountain, on the outskirts of La Paz.Reuters
Climbing gear is seen at the base camp of Aymara indigenous women mountaineers at the Illimani mountain.Reuters