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Story: Mountaineering

Women in the mountains

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Women in the mountains

New Zealand has a long tradition of women mountaineers. One woman who climbed in the 1920s was Katie Gardiner, shown here with a guide, Vic Williams, approaching the summit of Mt Silberhorn in 1929.

Using this item

Canterbury Museum, W. A. Kennedy Collection

Reference: 1975.203.45

by H. E. L. Porter

Permission of Canterbury Museum, Rolleston Avenue, Christchurch, New Zealand must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

John Wilson, Mountaineering – New equipment and new people, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/10512/women-in-the-mountains (accessed 11 June 2026).

Story by John Wilson, published 2 March 2009, updated 1 February 2017.