14 Sep 2023

NZ Sporting History: The first woman to scale Mt Cook/Aoraki

From Afternoons, 2:30 pm on 14 September 2023

Sometimes for New Zealand Sporting History we look at fairly recent events that have made history.

But today we're taking you all the way back to 1910.

When Australian mountaineer Freda Du Faur (Four) became the first known woman to climb our tallest maunga, Aoraki Mt Cook.

Freda achieved many other records and firsts through her mountaineering career.

Victoria University of Wellington Professor of History, Charlotte Macdonald joins Jesse to talk about the life and achievements of Freda Du Faur.

Emmeline Freda Du Faur with mountaineering guides Alec Graham (left) and Peter Graham. Photograph probably taken in 1910.
Du Faur was the first woman to climb Mount Cook. Her trip was made with Peter and Alexander Graham on 3 December 1910.

Photo: Emmeline Freda Du Faur with Alec and Peter Graham. Making New Zealand :Negatives and prints from the Making New Zealand Centennial collection. Ref: MNZ-1296-1/2-F. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/22733550