Posted
October 19, 2016
In
1895 American mountaineer Annie Smith Peck was 44 years old. She had
scaled a number of mountains in Europe and the U.S., including one of
the most beautiful mountains in my own state, Mount Shasta. She now
strove to climb one of the highest peaks in Europe, the world-famous
Matterhorn.
At
least two women (Lucy Walker and Meta Brevoort) had climbed the
Matterhorn in 1871, but it was a tough feat to do – and when Peck
succeeded in reaching the summit, she might have expected a bit of
congratulations from the press.
Apparently
it was way more important to discuss WHAT SHE WORE!
Lucy
Walker, the first woman to make it to the top of the Matterhorn, had
done so wearing a white dress. The fact that Peck wore a long tunic,
climbing boots, and a pair of pants caused a ton of attention, even
debate.
At
the time, women were being arrested for wearing trousers (pants) in
public. Still – mountain climbing has to be really hard in a dress!
You'd think people would acknowledge that. But I guess only some
people were able to cope with such a novelty.
Peck went on to climb many more mountains. She was the first person to climb Nevado Huascaran in Peru and also to climb one of the five peaks of Coropuna, also in Peru - the latter when she was 65 years old! She climbed her last mountain, Mount Madison in New Hampshire, when she was 82 years old.
Peck
wasn't just a mountaineer. She worked hard to get a university
education despite the fact that some universities wouldn't allow
female students. (She ended up earning bachelor's and master's
degrees, and she graduated with honors.) She majored in Greek and
Classical Languages and was fluent in French, Spanish, and Portuguese
as well as (of course) her native English. She taught at several different levels including being a
professor at two different universities. She gave up teaching when
she was able to make enough money on the lecture circuit and through
her writing – mostly speaking and writing about archeology,
mountaineering, and traveling.
She
was an activist for women's rights, especially the right to vote. She
placed a “Women's Vote” banner at the top of Coropuna in Peru.
Enjoy
some of the wisdom from Annie Smith Peck:
“Men,
we all know, climb in knickerbockers. Women, on the contrary, will
declare that a skirt is no hindrance to their locomotion. This is
obviously absurd… For a woman in difficult mountaineering to waste
her strength and endanger her life with a skirt is foolish in the
extreme.”
– Peck, Outing Magazine, “Practical Mountain Climbing,” 1901
– Peck, Outing Magazine, “Practical Mountain Climbing,” 1901
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