Accustomed to staying at base camps as camp cooks while the guides (many of whom were their partners) and tourists scaled Latin America's most emblematic mountains, one day the "cholitas" decided that the time had come for them to reach the summit as well. And that was how they scaled up from cooks and carriers to become the "cholita" climbers, Aymara women wearing their traditional clothing who have even conquered the roof of South America, the Aconcagua.

Prior to the "cholita" revolution, these Bolivian women were cooks at mountain base camps or carriers for mountain guides and expeditions around the Andes mountains. In 2015, however, a group of them (aged between 24 and 50) started out on a route which became a true story of betterment and the struggle for equality. Proud of their roots and wearing the traditional skirt ("chola"), they set off for the snow-capped Huayna Potosí (6,088 m), the first of many other peaks they have added to their climbing portfolio.
Although it is true that the "cholita" climbers' beginnings were not easy, because they faced the prejudice of many other climbers, they showed - with the backing of their partners - tenacity and vocation, and their feats now include the summits of the Acotango, the Parinacota, the Pomarapi and the Illimani, all of which stand at over 6,000 metres. The icing on the cake came in 2019 when they scaled Latin America's highest mountain, Aconcagua in Argentina, 6,961 metres. 

With their climbing history, the "cholitas" not only set out to make a stand for indigenous pride and the fight for equality, but they are also creating awareness of the need for action to arrest climate change, the devastating effects of which they see at first hand every time they climb. They have also won recognition from the UN's World Food Programme as high-level associates promoting better nutrition and the empowerment of women in Bolivia.

For all their work, and the legacy of high-mountain cuisine in the Andes, the third FéminAs congress will be giving the Guardians of Tradition Award to Bolivia's "Cholita" Climbers. Previous congresses awarded prizes to other Latin American women's associations worthy of the distinction - Arequipa's "Sociedad Picantera" (Peru) in 2022, and the "Cocineras Tradicionales de Oaxaca" Association (Mexico), in 2021.