Katharine Richardson

Sarah Katharine "Katy" Richardson (24 April 1854 – 20 August 1927), also referred to as Kathleen Richardson, was a British mountain climber. She made numerous first ascents in the Alps and climbed frequently with her close friend Mary Paillon.

Biography

Early life Richardson was born at Edlington, Yorkshire, to Rev. George Richardson and Isabel Nussey. She is the second of five daughters. She was first exposed to mountaineering when she visited the Alps at the age of sixteen.

Career Richardson began climbing in 1871. She became well-known at 1879, when she became the first person to traverse Piz Palü in the Bernina Range. In 1882, in a span of eight days she climbed the Zinalrothorn, the Weisshorn, the Matterhorn and Monte Rosa. she set numerous records for speed and endurance, which Ronald Clark notes "discomfited many male climbers". One of her guides commented, "She does not sleep, she doesn't eat and she walks like the devil." She was also known for wearing a skirt on all of her expeditions, even when her partner Paillon wore breeches.

Retirement and death Richardson and Paillon retired from serious climbing after 1897 as Paillon's eyesight began to fail and Richardson refused to climb without her. By the end of her career, Richardson had completed 176 ascents over eleven climbing seasons, 116 of which were considered major climbs. Six of these were first ascents, and an additional fourteen were the first ascents made by a woman. She was a member of the Club alpin français and the Ladies' Alpine Club (LAC). She declined the presidency of the LAC twice, in 1912 and 1919, dedicating her time to watercolour painting instead.

Richardson died in 1927, aged 73 and unmarried, at the Paillon home in Oullins, Rhône. In an obituary, Paillon described Richardson as having been "almost a sister to me".