Alessandra Boarelli

Alessandra Boarelli (Turin, 1838 – Verzuolo, 1908) was an Italian mountaineer and, in 1864, became the first woman to summit Monviso in the Alps.

Biography She was born in Turin, Italy, the daughter of Felice Re. After marrying Emilio-Giovanni Boarelli, a man from a noble family, as well as mayor of Cuneo, she moved to nearby Verzuolo where the couple had three daughters, Isabella, Luisa and Clemente-Maria (born 1870).

The family lived close to the French border in western Italy, located in the Italian region of Piedmont. The area is dominated by Monte Viso (commonly shortened by Italians to Monviso), the highest mountain of the Cottian Alps, the southwestern portion of the Alps.

Boarelli first attempted to climb Monviso in 1863, hoping to beat a similar attempt by a team headed by Quintino Sella by a few days, but she had to turn back because of bad weather. The Sella-led team then succeeded in their climb becoming the third team, and the first Italians, to reach the summit. This was two years after the first successful ascent was made by a group of mountaineers led by William Mathews from England.

When Boarelli tried again the following year, she became the first woman to reach the Monviso peak on 16 August 1864. Accompanying her on the expedition were: the fourteen-year-old daughter of a Casteldelfino notary, Cecilia Filia, the parish priest of Casteldelfino, Don Carlo Galliano, and two other climbers. It's on the access road to Monviso from Castello di Pontechianale. In Verzuolo, where Boarelli lived, her accomplishment was remembered with an exhibition titled, "The woman and the mountain 1860-1960." It was placed in the town's Palazzo Drago and displayed mementos and photographs of the climber as well as other female mountaineers.