From Servants to Everest

The inspiring story of the Bolivian Cholita Mountain Climbers Continues to Rack-up Awards and Propel the Protagonists to Greater Heights

BY MILAN SIME MARTINIC

Their black hair parted at the nape of their neck falls into the two traditional long braids delicately adorning their weathered faces. From the distance, you can see the billowing hips from their layered and colorful ‘pollera” skirts, their backs packing a bulky cargo wrapped in a blanket of bright aguayo, a hearty cloth of bright colors meant to ward off evil spirits, their legs heavy with wool leggings. They are not soft, but they are feminine, they wear heavy windproof jackets, fleece jackets, mountaineering boots, and hard hats that they carry an elegant dignity against the rugged peaks serrating through the Andean snow.

They are the Bolivian women subject of the film “Cholitas,” winner of the Diable d’Or in the International Festival du Film Alpin des Diablerets in Switzerland, the Cervino Cine Mountain Film Festival in Italy, and the Bilbao Mendi Film Festival.

These climbing cholitas, as Andean women in indigenous dress are referred to in Bolivia, are Aymara women, and their journey is a decades-long quest for respect, equality, and a purpose, a trajectory that inspires women and girls around the world.