Cholitas climbers' reach the pinnacle of vindication
Lidia Huayllas Estrada and her companions have always been on the heights; however, they were forced to stay on the edge, accompany climbers and mountaineers to a point, make food and be available for their requests.. But Huayllas Estrada wanted to replace the cooker with the summit.
In December 2015, 10 Bolivian women decided to take a stand for themselves They are not afraid of being criticised because they are indigenous or because they are women. Without paying attention to the "it's impossible" or "that's a sport for men", they climbed the 6,088-metre peak Huayna Potosí. altitude, located 25 km from La Paz, the capital of Bolivia.
From that achievement began a story that still remains, these "cholitas escaladoras" are a group of women who have decided to climb the highest mountains in Latin America, even, in interviews, they have named the Mount Everest as a future destination.
"You have to give it your all. And it's when you reach the limit that you start to discover new things. I didn't even know what I was capable of. You don't have to set limits," said Liita, one of the youngest cholitas.
The name of the group comes from "chola", a term used to refer to indigenous and mestizo womenthose who are only made for "washing and cooking". This term, sometimes used in a denigrating way, is also closely related to cultural movements in the region, for example, one of the typical characteristics of the cholitas is the use of a typical costume composed, among the basic pieces, by their skirt (pollera), blanket, hat, pin and big earrings. All very handmade.
The cholitas who travel the world
When they reached Huayna Potosí there was no doubt in these women's minds: they were capable of climbing that and all the mountains in the world. After 2015, the Cholitas' group expanded to other mountainous areas.
Their work has been covered by multiple world-renowned media outlets, their message is increasingly reaching people like them who are denigrated or for others who just need a testimony to understand that even the seemingly impossible can be achieved.
This is exactly the subject of the TEDx of SantaCruzdelaSierraWomen titled Want is Power. For one of them the dream was to touch the sky and be at the top, a dream that can be fulfilled in mountaineering, to reach the top of a mountain and see the sky up close.
In the last few years they have managed to climb different mountains, but their most outstanding achievement occurred in the mountain Aconcagua, the highest in Latin Americalocated in the department of Las Heras, in the province of Mendoza, in the west of Argentina.
The Cholitas the documentary
The trip made in 2019 by the cholita to the south of the American continent was filmed and titled Cholitas. Its directors, Pablo Iraburu and Jaime Murciego Tagarro, travelled with the five cholitas, aged between 24 and 50, along this 6,962-metre-high path. The general production was by Arena Comunicación Audiovisual.
Lidia, once again, was one of those who undertook the journey. She was joined by Cecilia, Elena, Liita and Dora.
The synopsis of the documentary is as follows: "Five indigenous Bolivian women are leading a unique expedition. As a symbol of liberation and empowerment, they set out to climb the highest mountain in America.. Their image is surprising: they climb wearing their traditional skirts. They are more than just climbers, they are brave women who find in the mountains a space to feel free, happy and alive. Their adventure will show the world an inspiring way of being a woman, of living tradition and of relating to mother nature".
And so it is, in the 80 minutes that the documentary lasts, you can see the different processes that these women had to go through to reach this new summit. Between the different stages, not everything is joy and optimism, the road also has sadness and fears; the fear of not knowing what it is worth to reach the end.
Arena Comunicación and Pablo Iraburu have spent the last few years documenting situations in the Americas, visiting Guatemala, Argentina, Nicaragua, Ecuador, Peru, Brazil and the United States.
Currently Cholitas is available on Movistar+
First mountaineers, then wives
Before December 2015, when they first climbed the mountain to the top, these women were just the wives of the guides in the area. And of course that union remains, only now they have realised that their title can go beyond that of wife or indigenous. Of the five women in the documentary, four were wives while the only unmarried woman was the daughter, also of a guide.
In 2017, after climbing Huayna Potosí but before Aconcagua, the Cholitas climbed the 6,462-metre-high Illimani. This is the most emblematic mountain of the Bolivian capital and was overcome in three days.
In addition to the experience of mountaineering itself, this group has also dedicated itself to the task of guiding tourists in the mountains near La Paz and El Alto, both cities in Bolivia. They currently belong to the Association of Guides (AAPTAM), and Lidia Huayllas is the coordinator and representative of the group.
Through their social networks the Cholitas have recently published information about their work, so if you go climbing in Bolivia - when the global context allows it - it wouldn't be a bad idea to contact them.
What remains at the end of this material or any other document that shows the history of the Cholitas is the vindication, the breaking of stereotypes. As Lidia Huayllas Estrada says: "We have been discriminated against for being Aymara and for being women. Here, women are always cooking or washing. But women can also climb. In the mountains I don't have any thoughts, just to be in freedom.
Cholitas escaladoras / Cover photo: Documentary "Cholitas" by Arena Comunicación Audiovisual
