Women’s roles in shaping mountain culture highlighted at two international events

University of Alberta and University of Fribourg historians (L-R) Claude Hausser, PearlAnn Reichwein, Lucia Leoni, Charlotte Mitchell, and Maurizio Raselli present at the Whyte Museum during the Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival, Oct. 28, 2024. Photographer for both images: Lyndsay Conrad.

The mountains of the Rockies and the Alps have long drawn adventurers and visionaries. Yet, while historical contributions of men are often celebrated, the influence of women on mountain culture in Canada and Switzerland hasn’t received the same recognition.

Women have played important roles in both countries in everything from skiing and mountain sports to tourism and cultural preservation, breaking barriers and enriching mountain life.

University of Alberta researchers study both the history and the connection between women in mountain culture in Switzerland and Canada. Members of the Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation recently spoke at two events celebrating mountain culture. 

The first, held in Golden, B.C., commemorated the 125th anniversary of the arrival of Swiss mountain guides in Canada, which began the immigration connection in mountain culture between Canada and Switzerland. The second, held in Banff, Alberta, was the annual Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival. Both events provided a stage with panels for researchers to reflect on the women in their studies.

One example is Catharine Whyte, an American-born skier and community leader who settled in Banff where she played a key role in the rise of skiing. Her adventures in the Swiss Alps and Canadian Rockies exposed her to skiing techniques and mountain culture, and her love for the sport helped elevate its status in Canada. Whyte and her husband supported and ran local ski lodges in the area, which helped create a hub for skiing enthusiasts.

She and her husband also co-founded the Whyte Museum of the Canadian Rockies, which houses an extensive collection of regional art, artifacts, and archives.

Panel member PearlAnn Reichwein, a historian and professor in the Faculty of Kinesiology, Sport, and Recreation spoke to the crowd about Whyte’s contributions.

“Talking about Whyte and her transnational ski adventures while standing in the museum that she co-created in Banff with local residents and diverse mountain communities resonated with me. We go to mountain towns to read in the archives but also to meet people who lived these stories and remember,” says Reichwein.

In Switzerland, women had similarly important roles, especially in winter sports and culture. Panel member Lucia Leoni is a PhD student at the University of Fribourg in Switzerland and a visiting scholar at the U of A. Her research highlights the growing representation of women in mountain films through events like the Banff Mountain Film Festival and the Festival du films des Diablerets, which she spoke on.

“What I most found exciting is the interest the public showed towards my research on the growing representation of women in mountain films. As a scholar, it’s not every day that you can interact with the people who ‘made’ the history you are studying. Talking with the surviving Swiss guides in Golden was a once in a lifetime opportunity,” says Leoni.

PhD student Charlotte Mitchell, who studies women’s sport history in Canada under the supervision of Reichwein, also spoke at the two events. Mitchell’s research explores the history of women in ski jumping and mountain sports. She was previously a Canadian ski jump athlete who competed internationally and campaigned for the inclusion of women’s ski jumping in the Olympic Winter Games.

Her athletic and activist background helps inform her research.

“Speaking with audience members about their family connections to ski jumping was a highlight for me,” Mitchell shares. “I’m studying Canadian women’s ski jumping and the Olympic Games, which are headquartered in Lausanne, for my doctoral dissertation.” 

Women’s ski jumping was included in the Olympics in 2014, 90 years after the start of men's Olympic ski jumping.

Cross-cultural exchanges have helped us develop a better understanding of how women have shaped the identity and evolution of mountain cultures across continents. These women’s stories also illustrate how the narratives of the Alps and the Rockies are deeply intertwined. 

“Our students learned from listening to each other and to the mountain communities where we engaged in these events,” reflects Reichwein. “It was a pleasure to share our scholarship in the mountain places that we study while following the footsteps of earlier generations who lived here.” 

As the panel’s research shows, women’s contributions have left an unmistakable mark on the mountain cultures of both Switzerland and Canada. Their stories — rooted in activism, culture and the expansion of mountain sports — continue to be explored and documented.