A WOMAN IN A MAN'S JOB?

BETTINA SULLIGER-PERREN, 40, IS ONE OF ONLY A HANDFUL OF FEMALE SWISS MOUNTAIN GUIDES. WE TALKED ABOUT MALE ENVY, GUARDIAN ANGELS, AND THE JOY OF GETTING TO THE TOP.

There are 1,500 mountain guides in Switzerland, only 20 of whom are women. Why is that?
It’s a hard life, the tours are exhausting. Since I finished my training 15 years ago, not one other woman in Zermatt has chosen this career — and this is a mecca for mountain climbers.

What makes you the exception?
I’m persistent. When I was learning the job, I did twice as much training as my male colleagues. Weighing only 50 kilos, I tried every trick imaginable to reduce the load I was carrying: I replaced the metal push handles on the zips of my jacket and rucksack with nylon cords, to name just one example.

Could you imagine living somewhere flat?
No, anyone who has spent his or her life so close to the mountains would miss them too much.

What do you have against wide open spaces?
I need something to the left and something to the right in my field of vision, then my eyes have some orientation.

Are tourists surprised when they find out that a woman is going to guide them through the mountains?
When they see me, the first question people ask is if I’d be able to hold them if they fell.

Are reactions like that annoying?
Initially, I was a bit concerned. Nowadays I take no pleasure in explaining myself. I tell my colleagues in the office to make it clear in advance to the guests that it will be a woman guiding them.

Can you recall your most difficult guest?
There was one guy who wanted to go ski touring, but he couldn’t ski. He couldn’t man - age the turns — so he just roared along parallel with the slope and then did a kind of kick-turn. I died a thousand deaths thinking he was going to lose control. After all, we weren’t on the slopes, we were on the glacier where there are dangerous crevasses and you have to be able to control your skis.

How did you become a climber?
Of the 76 mountains in Europe over 4,000 meters, we have 38 on our doorstep here in Zermatt, and I always thought, I want to be up there. The mountains pulled me in, it was like a challenge.

What does it feel like when you reach the summit?
We humans are not exactly the most agile creatures, and climbers are always pushing their limits — and elated to make it all the way. At the summit you have the world at your feet. All your cares are left far below. Really, that’s how it is.

Do you defeat a mountain, do you conquer it?
Those aren’t the right words, nature and the mountains are always stronger. We guides have a different philosophy, we respect the mountain. Before every climb we sense whether the mountain is well disposed toward us, we check the weather conditions. It’s like being in touch with the mountain, it’s not a staircase to climb up and down.

Did you have any role models for your career?
Ulrich Inderbinen made a big impression on me. He worked as a guide in Zermatt for 80 years, he even climbed the Matterhorn at the age of 89. I personally experienced the sense of responsibility he felt toward his guests; it was as if he could feel what they could do and which route would be too much for them. They were always satisfied with him. He lived for the mountains, there was a silent understanding between them. That impressed me deeply.

Did he support you?
Yes, even though other men found it hard to deal with me entering their domain. Ulrich died six years ago, aged 103. When I am up in the mountains, in the peace and quiet, I can feel him close to me. In the same way that I believe that all the old guides who have passed away still watch over us on a tour.

You believe in guardian angels?
No, I imagine the old guides as coaches up in heaven, pointing us in the right direction and helping us make the right decisions when the going gets tough.

The graveyard in Zermatt is full of climbers who missed their footing. Isn’t your profession a little too risky?
I don’t think climbers die because they take risks. What will be, will be. Anyone who spends a lot of time in the mountains is risking death just by being there so often. Personally, I don’t believe I would live longer if I had chosen another career. God has his plans for us.

For all our lives?
No, only our deaths. I would rather end my time in the mountains than lying in a sickbed.

What do you tell your children when you head off into the mountains?
I have a very positive attitude: climbing provides me with fulfillment. Of course I take the risk into account and I try to minimize it by being cautious. That is exactly what I tell my children.

And what does your mother say?
She is not keen on the climbing, she is afraid for me. But it is different for her. She comes from Magdeburg on the lowland plains of northern Germany. She has her view — and I have mine.

Interview: Jan Rübel, Photos: Heinz Heiss
Bilfinger Berger Magazine 1/2010