Since the mid-19th century, the Alps have been a place of exploration and work, but for women, the mountains represent most importantly a conquest of freedom. Female mountaineering began as an act of self-determination, a challenge to established social roles and stereotypes.

In the 1980s, Serena Fait and Renata Rossi, two young women from Lombardy, broke a taboo by enrolling in mountain guide courses, which until then had been reserved for men. Even today, women represent less than 2% of mountain guides – about 30 out of 1,500 – but their presence is indicative of a change underway. 

Female participation in skiing is also gradually gaining ground. In Valtellina, where skiing was practiced almost exclusively by men, the first women’s race took place in Bormio in 1936. Sisters Cecca and Costanza Sertorelli, raised in a family of skiers, quickly distinguished themselves in competitions – Costanza in the slalom, Cecca in the downhill – even participating in the national youth championships. Among the first female skiers from Valtellina was Laura Robustelli, known as La Golp (the Fox). Talented and unconventional, she competed successfully from a young age, and in 1941 she took third place in the Italian downhill championships. Her career, which continued well into the post-war period, remains a symbol of a pioneering era when women began to conquer the snow and the sporting scene.