September 1838. Chamonix. Like all day, stands out in the open sky the huge Mont Blanc, the massif of the Alps, "Top of Europe" with its 4.810 meters of altitude. The village is in a tizzy, something's up again and bizarre: a French woman, a Countess, want to reach the Summit of Mount, and he wants to do it alone, Thanks to their strength and stubbornness only.
In 1811 already another French woman, Marie Paradis, He attempted the ascent of the Massif, arriving at the Summit. Failed to accomplish the feat only thanks to their strengths, but he had to, halfway, beseech the help of guides who brought the woman to shoulders, seeds passed out, to the top.
Henriette of Angeville, our protagonist, He was a passionate of mountains. Born in Burgundy in 1794, He moved with his family in the Rhône, in Southern France – Eastern. There the contessina fell soon of nature and of the Alps; from an early age Henriette took it into his head that one day would attempt the climb, and that would be the first woman to reach the Summit without the help of a man.
So the 02 September 1838, at 6 in the morning, the woman and the guides began in March. The path was up to 4.300 meters of altitude, When the cold was almost unbearable, as well as fatigue. Henriette threatened several times to fall on deaf ears, but he always refused to take her shoulders, stubborn and obstinate in his purpose. The party reached the Summit the next day at 13,25. The Countess, at the peak of satisfaction and happiness wrote in the snow: "Willpower", as if to say that nothing is impossible if coexist determination and efforts to achieve their goals.
Nicknamed "the girlfriend of Mont Blanc", Henriette and her story are quickly fallen into oblivion, Although the effort completed by the woman can be regarded as a real company. Mountain climbing as we understand it today, extension of Alpine tourism in addition to joy of discovery, did not exist in those years, and mostly the activity at high altitude was practiced by men for scientific purposes, as the measurement of pressure and temperature. Henriette was not only the first woman to reach their own feet the highest peak in Europe, But even ahead of the times and the passions that would then distinguished many women centuries.
Maria