‘A Woman Will Never Become a Genuine Climber’: An Outline of the History of Polish Female’s Alpinism

Abstract

Mountaineering has been traditionally and even in the contemporary world been considered a ‘male’ discipline. Female Polish mountaineers historically faced this stereotype. The paths the Polish women traveled from the discovery of the ‘Polish Alps’ – the Tatra Mountains – to the exploration of the highest mountains in the twentieth century and twenty-first century, were complicated. They had to struggle not only with adversities resulting from the social and political situations Poland, but also cultural challenges. This is strongly articulated in their attitudes towards the mountains, their fight for acceptance their independence in climbing, as well as their perspectives as well as their male peer's perspectives on women’s places in mountaineering. Despite the way being paved by Polish female climbers for the complete independence of women in the mountains, in the twenty-first century a veiled problem in remains in accepting their presence in competitive mountain climbing in Poland.