Cholita Climbers

The Cholita Climbers of Bolivia, or Las Cholitas Escaladoras Bolivianas, are a group of Indigenous, Aymara, women mountaineers who climb peaks in Latin America. They do not wear modern mountaineering clothing, preferring instead their traditional costumes including polleras, brightly colored, full, pleated skirts with many under skirts. They do wear helmets and boots and use crampons, ice picks and ropes but carry their equipment on their backs in traditional shawls. The group was founded in 2015 by local women including Cecilia Llusco Alaña. The women are part of a tight knit community who work and live in the mountains. Their most notable expedition was on January 23, 2019 when they became the first Aymara women to summit Aconcagua, the highest mountain in the Americas.