Meet Elise Wortley: the Woman with Altitude

Read the full interview in issue 7 of our Explorer magazine.

For over seven years, founder of Woman with Altitude Elise Wortley has been following in the footsteps of history’s forgotten female explorers, bringing their stories back to life and inspiring a new generation. 

She treks the same path and even recreates their clothing to help her truly understand life travelling as a woman more than 100 years ago. No modern-day tech. No specialist kit. No home comforts. She has hiked thorough Iran in a vintage Burberry mac and trekked through the Himalayas with a wooden backpack. 

Her latest expedition? Climbing Mont Blanc in a bonnet and bloomers. In recognition of International Women's Day on 8th March 2025, we caught up with Elise, fresh from her adventure in the Alps:

Your travel goals are not for the faint-hearted. How did all this start? 

When I was 16, I read a book about a female adventurer called Alexandra David-Néel, who, in 1942, made a 14-year trek, against the odds, through Asia to the forbidden city of Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. Her story never left me.

By the age of 20, I’d moved to London and was experiencing panic attacks and anxiety which meant getting out for a walk in the park was my biggest challenge. That time taught me that setting a goal for yourself looks different for everyone. You don’t have to trek across the world or climb the highest mountain to feel a sense of achievement.
 

I still had Alexandra’s story in the back of my mind years later. When I was feeling stronger, I had this mad idea to recreate a part of her journey in Asia, as closely as she would have done it. So, I did. It was my first expedition, and a life-changing one.

“I vow to show what the will of a woman can do!” Alexandra David-Nee

My all-female team had been near impossible to pull together, with only one female guide to be found in the area. History was repeating itself and I returned home inspired to bring back to life more stories of female explorers in history and celebrate the incredible women in this field who continue to be underrepresented.

Even today, only 2% of European mountain guides are women.

Whose footsteps have you followed so far? 

After travelling to Asia on behalf of Alexandra, my next adventure was to the Cairngorm Mountains in Scotland, to follow in the footsteps of hill climber Nan Shepherd, one of the UK’s best known nature writers in the 1940s. 

My third trek was to Iran and the Valley of the Assassins in honour of Freya Stark, the British explorer who was one of the first non-Arabs to travel throughout the southern Arabian Desert. I returned to Scotland to climb Ben Nevis in the style of mountaineer Jane Inglis-Clarke, who in 1906 was refused entry into a climbing club, so started up her own – and it’s still going strong today! 

And I’m just back from the French Alps, my fifth expedition, to honour Henriette d’Angeville, who conquered Mont Blanc in 1838.

What was it about Henriette d’Angeville that inspired you? 

Henriette was the first woman to climb Mont Blanc unaided in September 1838 (her male guides carried her supplies; they didn’t carry her). Reading her biography, it was clear she had a massive personality and was so funny. 

She was 44, had a huge love of the mountains, an unwavering determination, and she proved her doubters wrong. She made a statement that women could demonstrate courage and strength in extreme circumstances. 

Her clothes played an important role in terms of practicality and functionality. In her climbing journal she detailed exactly what she wore to climb, which helped me recreate an accurate outfit. Read our solo female travel guide here.

The main driver behind my trips has always been to make sure these extraordinary women are fairly represented, but the research into the way they dressed has become a real passion for me too. 

Was Mont Blanc the experience you had planned for? 

I’d never climbed a mountain like Mont Blanc before with no other reason than to reach the summit. I’d joined a gym (I’d experienced my first panic attack in a gym some years back so the fact I’d given it another go and began to enjoy the training is another reason I do these brilliant projects – they push me out of my comfort zone and show me I can do new stuff!) but I was still daunted by my lack of experience. 

My outfit research really paid off, and I had the help of some amazing people. My bonnet was a work of art – made by a proper milliner who’d been responsible for the hats in the new Wicked movie! My all-female team of three (mountain guide Karen, filmmaker Grace, and myself) had bonded well from the start, and planned to take it steady – over four to five days. 

We were the only women in the huts we stayed in on our route. Karen was the only female guide at a kick-off meeting around a table of male guides, but by the end of the meeting, she was holding court, and had them eating out of her hand, listening to her every word, with her knowledge and her experience – brilliant! 

I felt close to Henriette in many ways. At the time of her climb, a woman wearing trousers was unconventional, and she would have had quite a reception from the crowds at Chamonix. I had an equally bemused reception from the people I met on the way, dressed in my wool layers, bloomers and bonnet! 

“To aim for the highest point is not the only way to climb a mountain.” Nan Shepherd

The bonnet, as beautiful as it was, did make life difficult. It was hot to wear, the huge cap made looking down hard, and the wind would catch the brim and pull me back. My feet were on fire, and post-trek they were in bits – they always are, but with so much walking I’d have been in pain wearing specialist walking boots too. And my body? It always feels good! Putting it through its paces is a great feeling.

It was the weather we weren’t so prepared for. We specifically set out to climb at the same time of year that Henriette climbed, but climate change has clearly had an impact on conditions. It was hotter than we expected – and the glacier was melting. It meant the climb was rockier, and I wasn’t dressed for this! 

Back in 1838, Henriette’s shoes would have given better grip on the snow, and it would have made for an easier climb. The day before we set out there had been a fatality, and two days after there were four more. 

The mountains weren’t making it easy. Parts of our route proved inaccessible. And then a storm ended our chances just as we tackled the last rocky section of ascent, after four hours of climbing on slippery granite. We reached the summit in a cloud of mist, unable to see our surroundings, but it was ok. 

Maybe none of this was about getting to the top to admire the views. My highs? For many hours it is simply about putting one foot in front of another, but as the one who is always in front, I saw some great sunrises over Chamonix. I felt grateful to be part of nature before it changes. 

The more I immerse myself in nature, without the distraction of screens, phones, people, the more I’m addicted to it. It’s tough and crazy but it gives your brain a break, you switch off, you do the hard stuff and it’s the best feeling because you can. There's more to the Alps than skiing - read here for more.
 

What advice would you give your 16-year-old self?

Ignore the demons saying, ‘you can’t!’. Keep thinking of things you want to do. You can start small, and push yourself in gentle ways, but just believe that you can do it. Because there will be a way you can. 

And let these women explorers have their well-earned space in history. They existed then and they exist today. I think we can all be explorers in our own way. Who’s next? I have a list of more than 150 women, so I’ve only just begun! 

Firstly, we will go back to climb Mont Blanc in June, and this time will take the authentic route that Henriette took, without the weather risks. 

Then I have my sights set on Annie Londonderry, the first woman to cycle round the world in 1874. And ‘Pirate Queen’ Grace O’Malley who sailed a boat from the West Coast of Ireland to Greenwich to meet Queen Elizabeth in 1593. That’s just for starters…