FROM THE ARCHIVES We’ve taken a step further back in history with a piece from 1910. And oh my word! How things change and how they stay the same. I’ve never heard a modern mountaineer extol the power of the hills to maintain one’s youth and beauty, though I have heard many a “lady climber” lament the difficulties of finding appropriate clothing (pockets please!). We also find reference to the gender pay gap, and some thoughts on the emotionally calming qualities of mountains. The author, Constance A. Barnicoat (1872-1922), was a mountaineer and journalist from New Zealand. In 1907, she became a member of what may have been the first mountaineering club for women. Club founder, Aubrey Le Bond, was frustrated by the “sheer conservatism” of men who refused to allow women to join the existing alpine club—so she established her own. The following piece was published in the Midland Counties Tribute, December 13, 1910. It is reproduced here thanks to the British Newspaper Archive. The column alongside it is from Los Angeles Herald, 1 September, 1907.
Mountaineering for the Preservation of Youth and Beauty A woman alpinist makes a good wife and a good chum. She’s never gossipy, hysterical or mean.
By Constance A. Barnicoat, Member of the French Alpine Club.
68 WINTER 2023
