The Cholita Climbers of Bolivia are a group of Aymara women who summit different mountains all throughout Latin America while wearing their traditional clothing. The group was formed in 2015, and the women are all part of a tight knit community who work and live in the mountains. Their most recent expedition has become their most notable, as on January 23, 2019 they became the first Aymara women to summit Aconcagua. The Climbing Cholitas of Bolivia Warmis is a group dedicated to campaigning for the rights of Indigenous women and advocating Bolivia’s high femicide rate through mountaineering. Shining the spotlight on gender-based violence through an extreme sport like alpinism, carried out by indigenous women who have overcome countless challenges and discrimination, is an example of their determination and commitment for the region and the world. Rufina Llusco, one of the many in the hiking group? recalls with sadness that the inspiration behind their ascent is the suffering of families who have lost their loved ones to femicide. “I made that ascent with a purpose – to put an end to gender-based violence. The victims’ families have been seeking justice for so many years, and their pain moved me. That is why we fulfilled the goal of sending a message from the top of Huayna Potosí, with the flag of the UNiTE campaign,” she says. Cecilia Llusco, 36, is the daughter of a mountain guide and dreamt since she was young of climbing the snow-capped Huayna Potosi that rises over 6,000 meters above sea level. However, for many years she limited herself to cooking for other mountaineers and packing their backpacks, as so did the other women who are now part of the hiking group. That was until she and several other rural women, including some of her sisters, decided to change their destiny. "Why can't we climb mountains?" she said they asked themselves, while drawing dismissive reactions from some men. "What are these women doing here, on the mountain?" Llusco recalls them saying. So they started hiking! And they did not compromise on their style or traditional clothing to do so. "We wanted to show that women are strong and brave, that we can do it with our clothing," said Llusco. “That became an incentive to break all kinds of stereotypes and show everyone that women are powerful.” #cholitaclimbers #aymara #indigenouswomen #aymarabolivia #mujeresindigenas #hikingadventures #womenhiking #mountainclimbing #mountainclimbers #mountainclimb #potosi_bolivia🇧🇴 #badasswomen #badasswomeninhistory