‘Joys of Exploration’: Gender-Constructions in the 1959 Cho Oyu Women’s Expedition

Abstract

In 1959, French mountaineer Claude Kogan created a stir when she planned to summit the 8,201-metre-high Cho Oyu with an exclusively female team. The Expédition féminine au Cho Oyu stands as a key case for demonstrating reactions to the entrance of female mountaineers in the high-altitude field in the late 1950s. Media reports and personal documents of the female climbers are examined to assess gender constructions in Himalayan mountaineering. The expedition is reconstructed through this lens, and its public narration analyzed. Contemporary media reports show the gendered presentation of the expedition stamped by stereotypes, prejudices, and denigration of women’s capabilities. Enormous public attention to the endeavour applied high pressure on the team members, who struggled with the ambivalent views of female mountaineering, especially after its tragic end. The expedition had a significant long-term impact on the history of Himalayan mountaineering by women and by women’s teams.