Las Cholitas Escaladoras of Bolivia: an Adventure With Crampons and Skirts

Las Cholitas Escaladoras of Bolivia: Adventure With Crampons and Skirts

Autor : Émilie Michaud
Reading time : 5 minutes

They are guides, entrepreneurs and managers, and they have made their mark in a predominantly male sector. Discover our series on women in tourism. Through their journeys and challenges, these inspiring women inspire us to adventure!

Twenty kilometers from La Paz, in Bolivia, rises Huayna Potosi, a majestic 6088 m-high mountain in the heart of the Cordillera Real. Get up close and you’ll see flashes of color on its flanks. Come closer still! Come and meet the Cholitas escaladoras, the Aymara women guides of the Andes.

Meet Ana Lia Gonzales Magueño, or “Liita” to her friends. Liita hails from the rural Cañaviri community of Zongo in La Paz. Elementary school teacher by day, certified hiking and mountain guide the rest of the time. Her father, Agustin Gonzales, is a UIAGM-certified guide and owner of the Las Rockas refuge, located at 5200 m altitude in the high mountains (campo alto), while her mother, Dora Magueño, is a pioneering cook and expedition leader. With two parents in the business, Liita quickly felt the call of adventure. Much to the chagrin of her father, who refused to let her accompany him at first, when she was around ten years old: the equipment wasn’t designed for her small frame and the environment was still dominated by men. However, he agreed to take her on the highest ski run in the world on the Chacaltaya at over 5300 m altitude (a run that has since disappeared, due to the melting of the glacier). Liita found a passion and a will to change the status quo! She’s decided to work in the mountains and become a guide, just like her dad!

Like any woman who sets foot in a field usually reserved for men, Liita has had her share of pitfalls: jealousy from male guides, misunderstanding, and sometimes even insults. Fortunately, her parents believed in her. Her professionalism (Liita has trekking certification and high mountain guide pre-training) and mountaineering talent – she has climbed several 6000 m mountains to her credit, including the legendary Aconcagua, and has even reached the summit of Huayna Potosi more than fifty times – have enabled her to make a name for herself, and she is now a sought-after guide for both male and female tourists. Other guides now ask her for advice on equipment, routes and weather forecasts. The men may have the physical advantage for the job, but the Cholitas are the true guardians of the mountain, with more theoretical knowledge; Liita also considers that she manages her clients in an exemplary way and is more aware of the environmental aspect (notably everything to do with waste management or the installation of toilets in the refuge based on bio digesters, which is more respectful of the mountain environment). The state of Bolivia’s glaciers is worrying, so we need to act now.

Liita vividly remembers her first ascent of Huayna Potosi. It was in 2015. A woman from the community had climbed to the top of the mountain wearing her traditional petticoat, the pollera. A cameraman wanted to immortalize the moment and asked other Aymara women if they wanted to climb. Liita heard about the project and jumped at the chance. She and her mother joined the group of eleven Cholitas. It was a unique opportunity! Her mother set off with a motorcycle helmet because there were no others. As for Liita, she wore 3 pairs of socks because it was too cold and her boots were too big… Their mantra: “We’ll do it as best we can”. Even if their equipment was far from optimal, they certainly didn’t lack enthusiasm or determination. On her birthday, December 16, 2015, Liita was at the summit of Huayna Potosi. One of the happiest moments of her life, and the start of a long series of climbs. And so the first group of Cholitas escaladoras was formed. Together with Dora, her mother, they decided to climb another mountain, then another, and so on. The group of eleven pioneers split up, but five of them climbed Aconcagua, the “colossus of America” at 6,962 metres above sea level. The climb was the subject of a film and launched her career as a guide. Liita feels that she has achieved part of her aspirations, but she is more dreamy than ever: she wants to climb the highest mountains on the continents and reach a summit of 8,000 metres.

A word about the pollera (skirt) and the bombin (hat). These garments, which were class markers imposed by the Spanish conquistadors (who wanted to identify the Cholitas, but also exclude them from society), have become symbols of Aymara culture. In 2006, the election of a president of Aymara origin changed all that, allowing the Cholitas’ identity to be reasserted. In 2010, their rights were enshrined in the Bolivian Constitution, a token of national recognition.

That said, even in the wilderness, the sinews of war are funding: to train other women, you need a school, you need to buy equipment – all extremely expensive. The Cholitas escalodoras have obtained support from certain international organizations, but not from national ones. Let’s debunk a myth right away: yes, the Cholitas do venture into the mountains with their pollera, but they also wear clothes adapted to high mountain conditions (in addition to mountaineering equipment such as crampons, helmets and ice axes). In dangerous situations, such as a steep passage, the pollera can become a vulnerability, so Liita removes it and dons so-called “standard” gear. That said, the Huayna Potosi can be climbed with the pollera! She and her group of Cholitas are currently talking to a clothing brand about sponsoring their trip to Mont Blanc in 2025.

The mountains have taught her a great deal: humility, the strength that the earth can give to make dreams come true, to transcend borders, to make the hidden Aymara women more visible. Now it’s her turn to pass on her knowledge and inspire other Bolivian women to take the plunge by giving lectures and presentations. On a personal note, after the climbs, the travels and the visibility all this has brought her, it was time to formalize the adventures of the Cholitas by creating a non-profit organization. This has now been done with Cholitas escaladoras y trekking maya*, whose aim is to inspire women in Bolivia and around the world to take up mountain sports and convey messages of fighting for dreams, promoting gender equality, empowerment, caring for mountains, fighting violence, hiking and climbing mountains in Bolivia and around the world. What a program!

Liita has no shortage of projects, and is about to open a travel agency to organize treks and expeditions, because as Cholitas mountaineers and hikers, she and her colleagues want to take messages of power to the summits. Thanks to Liita, polleras can be spotted on steep mountain slopes. In recent years, they have also been seen in wrestling rings and on skateboards. With their determination to emancipate themselves while keeping their rich culture alive, the Cholitas are gradually taking over sports long considered masculine. They are symbols of female fight for independance in Bolivia.

“You have to continue to be daring, and show mental and physical endurance! The mountains teach you to be humble, because danger is always there, waiting for you. You have to work as a team, between men and women. Don’t give up. Never let opportunities pass you by; your life is the result of many opportunities that you seize.” Liita

Until Liita’s agency is created, don’t hesitate to write to us about organizing your next trip to the mountains of Bolivia, to dare an experience that will undoubtedly be memorable, and to support a daring and meaningful women’s initiative!

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*In the name of the agency “Cholitas escaladoras y trekking maya”, the word “maya” in Aymara means “first”, reflecting the pioneering nature of the Cholitas.

**Header photo credit: Tod Antony

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