Hi everyone! I am so pleased to introduce my next project: Higher Than Any Man!
In 1838, Henriette d'Angeville became the first women to climb Mont Blanc 'unaided'. After a gruelling climb to the summit, made even more difficult by her homemade 10kg wool outfit, she requested to be lifted high into the air, so that she could go 'higher than any man has before'.
In summer 2024, with an all female team, I will be taking on my biggest challenge yet, re-creating Henriette's climb with the same equipment and clothing she had nearly 200 years ago. I will be creating my fabulous outfit in collaboration with Morley College in South London, and we will be using wool from a regenerative farm - I am SO excited for this one!
It's so important to me to keep telling the stories of women like Henriette now, especially at a time when women and girls still often don't feel like they are represented in the outdoors. I believe there is a direct link between the stories of women like Henriette being overlooked and not given the media attention they deserved, to a lack of women in the outdoors today, because we all know that 'you can't be what you can't see'.
I'll share some more information about Henriette d'Angeville and her Mont Blanc adventure soon :)
N.B. Henriette is recorded as the first woman to climb Mont Blanc 'unaided', because Marie Paradis was actually the first women to reach the summit in 1808. Unfortunately, Marie was so sick from the altitude, that she had to be carried up the last section of the mountain by her male guides, hence why Henriette was the first to achieve this feat 'unaided'. Like all mountaineers at the time, Henriette had male guides and porters who joined her on the climb.