|
Mary Petherick
Mary Petherick, also Mary Mummery (1859 – 1946) was a mountaineer and writer, who was the first woman to ascend the Teufelsgrat. BiographyPetherick was born in 1859.[1] Her father was J. W. Petherick, who was a solicitor from Exeter.[1] She married Albert F. Mummery in 1883.[2] Both she and her husband were excellent mountaineers, and often climbed together.[3] In 1887, she, Mummery and Alexander Burgener climbed the Jungfrau, Zinalrothorn, Dreieckhorn, and the Taschorn, and on 15 July made the first ascent of the Teufelsgrat (the Devil's Ridge) in the process.[4] They ended up reaching the peak in a thunderstorm.[5] In the course of the ascent, Petherick took on the role of medical advisor - bandaging hands and checking for broken ribs.[6] She also had a deep respect for alpine guides, praising Burgener as 'the great man of the party'.[7] In Mummery's later book, My Climbs in the Alps and the Caucasus, he insisted that Petherick write the chapter on the ascent.[4] In her chapter, she didn't just describe the ascent, but also used the publication as an opportunity to attack the sexism that was rife in mountaineering at the time.[8] She wrote that:
Mary Petherick, My Climbs in the Alps and the Caucasus
She died in 1946.[1] HistoriographyLike many women mountaineers in the nineteenth century, such as Lily Bristow and Margaret Jackson, Petherick's achievements were little recognised at the time.[6] In Petherick's case, despite her husband's support, his achievements overshadowed hers. Indeed, her husband is noted for saying that "All mountains appear doomed to pass through the stages: an inaccessible peak, the hardest climb in the Alps, an easy day for a lady.[9] Petherick's writing continues to be quoted and her mountaineering achievements are increasingly recognised of significance.[10] Her writing is also recognised for its humour.[11] References
Information related to Mary Petherick |
||||||||||||||||
