Betsy Blunden: First Woman Mountain Guide in the World

Betsy Blunden was the first professional woman mountain guide in the world when she was employed at the Hermitage in late 1928, aged 18. She guided there for three seasons and went on to make other significant climbs, including the first 3,000m peak in New Zealand climbed by an all-women party, which she led. But Betsy’s life was about more than climbing. She was a pioneering farmer, a deer-shooter, a skier of considerable prowess, a builder and painter, a golfer, a skilful horsewoman, a gardener and, as Betsy Anderson, a high country farmer.