Louise Boulaz

Born on February 6, 1908, Louise “Loulou” Boulaz reached her prime in the golden age of Swiss mountaineering, a time and place of abundant opportunity for any man bold enough to make his mark.

Boulaz, of course, was not a man.

As a woman, she was refused entry to the Swiss Alpine Club, and after her first attempt at the great North Face of the Eiger in 1937 — with Pierre Bonnant, before any climber of either sex had managed the face — a prominent journalist opined that to try again would be an “insult” to the mountain. She went back three more times.

Boulaz excelled at skiing from a young age, placing fourth in the slalom at the FIS World Ski Championships in Chamonix in 1937 — a remarkable result, considering she held down a full-time job and had by that time been notching impressive mountaineering ascents for nearly half a decade. She continued with the Swiss national ski team until 1941, when the Second World War put an