Women at Altitude

Episode 4 of Mountain Voices focuses on the subject of women at altitude. Inspiration came from the work of the UIAA Medical Commission who have played a leading role in the publication of a number of papers dedicated to women and mountaineering. Topics covered across the papers include altitude sickness, frostbite, nutrition and papers on female-specific issues like menopause. Mountain Voices tackles the following questions: Are women more or less prone to cold and altitude related illnesses than men? Do women need to follow different advice? and do women make safer mountaineers?

Contributions come from two of the authors of the UIAA Medical Commission papers, namely Dr Jacqueline Pichler Hefti, a Senior Physician at the University of Bern, Clinic for Pulmonary Medicine and Dr Alison Rosier, an Organisational Psychologist & Strategic Change Consultant. IFMGA guide Emilie Drinkwater, the ninth woman to qualify as a full mountain guide in the United States, and a leader of several expeditions all over the world, offers the perspective of climbing with both all female and all male groups.

Further details on the UIAA Medical Commission papers can be found here.

The recently released women in mountaineering papers, the result of a number of years of dedicated research and work, have been published in the High Altitude Medicine & Biology journal. They are available to view, free of charge, until November 2024.

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Mountain Voices is a podcast series from the International Climbing and Mountaineering Federation (UIAA)

Presented and produced by Tarquin Cooper

Co-produced by Peter Bourne

Edited by Tom Tushaw

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.