We aim to have our first expedition as the Mountain Women of the World network in the Mount Aconcagua (6962m) in Mendoza, Argentina, one of the Seven Summits and the highest mountain in America. We are mountain women from Chile, Argentina, Italia, Kenya, Tanzania, Nepal, and Bolivia. The expedition will consist, first, of a trek to Plaza de Mulas and, second, of the opportunity for a smaller group to continue to the Aconcagua summit through the normal route.
Our goal is to build a Mountain Women's Collective that showcases how mountaineering can strengthen economic justice for mountain women. Moreover, we want to foreground the collective knowledge and experiences that mountain women create and use to protect mountains, nature, and society. It is our dream to bring together women mountain workers on Aconcagua, as a means of cultural exchange, empowerment and a platform for visibility of 1) cultural diversity, 2) the challenges of being women in their places of origin, and 3) the environmental impact on our mountains. It will be a platform for learning exchanges.
We believe that mountaineering is a collaborative experience that builds collective power and solidarity. Through this expedition, we want to encourage more women to become involved with mountains, promoting mountaineering as a tool for collective care, to build humility, resilience, connection, empathy, and reciprocity.
This expedition will allow us to gather mountain women, such as women guides, porters, mountain workers, and hikers from different backgrounds and countries, including women who are working in heavily patriarchal environments where men generally carry out these activities. We want to emphasize the importance of working together, of supporting and collaborating among different formal and non-formal collectives. Together, we are undoubtedly stronger. We are an instrument to create real changes in the mountain communities where we work.
Climate justice and gender justice are deeply interconnected and we can't have one without the other. Mountain women from all over the world are collectively leading this awareness by raising campaigns with the expedition. Not only are our water sources, including our glaciers, aquifers, rivers, streams, and high-mountain wetlands (vegas or bofedales) being impacted negatively, but also the entire ecosystem that makes up mountainous regions, such as flora, fauna, and human livelihoods and culture.
Mountains do not exist in isolation, but rather within social and environmental networks of human and non human relations, including history.
Together, we propose making the entirety of these impacts visible, creating awareness and working to generate change from an international platform. Given the global scale of climate change, what occurs in a place like Aconcagua is certainly similar to what is occurring in other mountainous area across the world. We intend to shed light on these local impacts by connecting our international experiences through an expedition to Aconcagua, creating a platform to speak about similarities and differences regarding issues arising from climate change. Moreover, this international platform will visibilize the current climate change impacts in Aconcagua.
The investment to cover one of our members’ cost on this expedition is USD 4270 (*)
For further information, please contact Pato Breuer at pato@mujeresalacumbre.com
