A few weeks ago, I was surfing the internet, trying to find something my partner and I can watch over a weekend. I so wanted to watch HBO, BBC One’s Gentleman Jack, as I already had watched a few episodes of the first season, so I recommended it to her, but my partner rejected the idea and we ended up watching Modern Family (AGAIN!)
I appreciate, admire, and get inspired by strong, witty, quirky women who stand/stood their ground.
So, I end up looking for such anecdotes or stories, fictional or non-fictional.
This week, when I was scratching my head over something interesting to write about for the blog, I decided to touch upon the topic I am personally fond of. Mountaineering.
However,
While I was reading about the inspiring LGBTQ+ mountaineers from across the world, a woman inside me woke up and I felt compelled to write about the lesbian mountaineers in the world.
And the subsequent internet results blew me away!
The first result brought up the name of the Yorkshire mountaineer and “the first modern Lesbian” Anne Lister.
For those who do not know, the famous show Gentleman Jack is based on the diaries written by her.
The second name that came to my notice was Silvia Vasquez-Lavado.
The reason I am mentioning Anne’s story here is that there are very few women who get to become a part of history, who get the recognition they deserve, and who are respected for who they are/were. Anne was one of them. You got to watch Gentleman Jack for this.
Anne’s diaries have been called ‘the Dead Sea Scrolls of lesbian history’ and she lived what could be considered as close to a modern lesbian lifestyle as possible at a time when scholars and doctors didn’t even think such a thing was possible. The diaries show that she was a shrewd businesswoman, a strict landowner, a skilled mountaineer, and a world traveler.
In 1838, while restoration work paid for by Ann’s money was being carried out at Shibden Hall Anne and her partner headed to France via Brussels, before returning to the Pyrenees.
Anne had now set her sights on becoming the first person to officially climb Vignemale, the highest mountain in the range.
She tied up her petticoats and made the ascent wearing nail-studded leather boots.
She was furious when a Russian prince later claimed to have beaten her to the summit and had the ascent named after him – although a mountain pass is known as Collado de Lady Lister.
Anne was a fierce and strong woman who lived life on her own terms and fought back every time and so does Silvia Vasquez-Lavado.
A Proud Mountaineer Who Has Seen It All
It may be out of bias because I am a lesbian or may be out of the “first shown first get noticed” criteria (thanks to my search engine), but I feel empathetic and connected towards Silvia’s struggle and success.
I am also presently reading her book named “In the Shadow of the Mountain.” (I might share the review if I like the book)
Born in 1974, she is a Peruvian-American explorer, mountaineer, social entrepreneur, and technologist. In June 2018, she became the first openly lesbian woman to complete the Seven Summits, the tallest mountain on each continent from both the Messner and Bass lists.
She is the first Peruvian woman to summit Mount Everest.
Silvia was raised in Lima, Peru, during the Peruvian terrorist movement, the Shining Path or Spanish Sendero Luminoso. It was a Peruvian revolutionary organization that endorsed Maoism and employed guerrilla tactics and violent terrorism. The Shining Path was founded in 1970 in a multiple split in the Communist Party of Peru. After approximately 10 years of recruitment, structuring, and self-examination, the Shining Path launched its war against Peruvian society in July 1980. Its goal is to destroy Peru’s governmental and social institutions and replace them with a radical Marxist-Maoist regime.
While her childhood was scarred due to the socio-political upheaval in the country, Vasquez-Lavado also had to face childhood sexual abuse. During her stay in Peru, she struggled with depression during her 20s as a result of the trauma from her abuse.
After sharing her struggles with childhood abuse, Vasquez-Lavado’s mother encouraged her to leave Peru and she came to the US on an IIE/Fulbright scholarship and attended Millersville University.
Vasquez-Lavado decided to go to the base of Mount Everest in October 2005. After a four-day trek, she arrived at the base of Everest and climbed Kala Pattar, and a decade later, she summited Everest in May 2016. She has not looked back since 2005.
Her mountaineering Summits Include –
Kilimanjaro (Tanzania) in September 2006
Mount Elbrus (Russia) in August 2007
Aconcagua (Argentina) in January 2014
Mount Kosciuszko (Australia) in March 2015
Carstensz Pyramid (Indonesia) in March 2015
Vinson Massif (Antarctica) in December 2015
Mount Everest (Nepal) in May 2016
And
Denali / McKinley (Alaska) in June 2018
What is more?
When I bought the book, the front cover page flashed a name we all love – “Elizabeth Gilbert” of Eat, Pray, Love.
She calls the book “Brave and Inspiring”.
In the Shadow of the Mountain is Silvia’s first memoir, which she released on February 1, 2022, in the United States, and internationally on February 3, 2022.
In a review for The New York Times, Qian Julie Wang wrote: “Patriarchal societies champion summit journeys as tales of conquest. But Vasquez-Lavado understands that ‘we do not conquer Everest, just like we do not conquer trauma. Instead, we must yield ourselves to the chasms and unexpected avalanches.’
In March 2023, has won the prestigious 2023 Edward Stanford Travel Book of the year.
According to the November 2020 The Hollywood Reporter news, Selena Gomez is set to be cast as Vasquez-Lavado in the film adaption of In the Shadow of the Mountain.
The pop singer and actress will play the pioneering Peruvian American mountaineer Silvia Vasquez-Lavado in an upcoming biopic written and directed by Elgin James (“Lowriders”) and produced by Oscar winner Donna Gigliotti (“Hidden Figures”). The movie is based on Vasquez-Lavado’s upcoming memoir, “In the Shadow of the Mountain,” to be published in 2022.
The project, which both Gomez and Vasquez-Lavado shared on social media, is already being floated as Oscar material.
Silvia’s life and work are interesting on many levels.
Silvia presently lives in San Francisco.
If you have read her book, or if you are a Queer mountaineer or you know any other queer mountaineer, let us know, join us.
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