100% Women with world record

Made it! Pride, joy and relief could be seen all over the faces of the 80 or so women as they conquered the last few metres to the summit of the 4,164-metre-high Breithorn near Zermatt in the canton of Valais. They thus created a new world record with the longest women’s rope team in the world on 17 June 2022.

Participants from 25 countries smiled into the camera for the obligatory summit photo, among them female journalists, influencers and mountain guides from the short-haul and long-haul markets that are important for Swiss tourism.

Suggested reading

Success for the 100% Women (Peak Challenge) campaign in 2021: all-female teams had scaled all 48 of Switzerland’s 4,000m peaks by October 2021.

Women from all over the world could apply for ten of the 80 spots. This met with an enormous response. Switzerland Tourism ST was able to choose from more than 850 applications and made sure that the composition was as diverse as possible in terms of origin, profession and age. Women from Iran, South Africa, Kazakhstan and Ecuador, among others, were selected, plus two women from Switzerland.

Swiss historian and expert on women in mountain sports Marie-France Hendrikx was one of the 80 or so participants on the Breithorn to witness this historic event: “To my knowledge, never before in the history of mountain sports have so many women teamed up to climb a peak together. It is all the more pleasing that this record could be set in Switzerland. The history of mountaineering and mountain sports has been enriched by a chapter that was shaped by women.”

Great international attention in the (social) media
The world record was part of the 100% Women initiative, which ST launched in 2021 with the Peak Challenge and successfully continued in 2022. “Over the past two years, the initiative has allowed us not only to connect women and make them more visible in mountain sports and outdoor sports in general, but also to show Switzerland as a mountain destination in summer in the best light for women both at home and abroad,” said Letizia Elia, member of the ST Executive Board.  

Not only did the world record make headlines in Switzerland, such as with Le Nouvelliste, Le Temps online, Tamedia or Persönlich, but it also received worldwide attention (e.g. Condé Nast Traveller, Expat Living). This was ensured by the celebrity line-up – including Cindy Sirinya Bishop, the UN Women Goodwill’s Thai Ambassador for Asia and the Pacific, Swedish-Norwegian actress and UNICEF Ambassador Eva Röse, Miss France 2019 Vaimalama Chaves, and keen marathon runner and Indian TV journalist Shibani Gharat.

Media interest was particularly high in the Korean market, which was largely due to the participation of the action actress and current ST “Swiss Friend” Lee Si-Young: more than 70 of the 147.6 million media contacts in total worldwide could be attributed to the new ST Ambassador.

On social media, ST was able to leverage the wide reach of its own channels and those of the participants. In total, the women reached over 24 million people worldwide through their social media channels. There were also many positive comments from the community on the posts published mainly on Instagram, as examples from North America, Austria, the Nordics, Korea, India and SEA show.

To accompany this, ST has collected and prepared various offers and stories tailored to women on a webpage created especially for 100% Women: MySwitzerland.com/women

Strong regional and economic partners
The 100% Women initiative was launched in 2021 by ST in conjunction with the Swiss Mountain Guide Association, the outdoor brand Mammut and the Swiss Alpine Club. Destination partner Saas-Fee, the Walliserhof Grand-Hotel & Spa and myclimate were added in 2022. Since the Swisstainable movement launched in 2021, ST has always conducted its campaigns with sustainability in mind. Among other things, the flight emissions caused by the climbers’ travel to Switzerland were offset by myclimate. And the Walliserhof Grand-Hotel & Spa is a participant in the Swisstainable programme. 

Thanks to the support of Saastal Tourismus AG, the women’s rope team was able to optimally prepare for the ascent – for example with glacier training on the Längfluh. Swiss outdoor brand Mammut provided appropriate equipment and clothing.

100% Women to be continued by bike in 2023
The conditions for getting more women involved in mountain sports and in outdoor sports in general are constantly improving. The number of well-educated, independent women with a need for sporting adventures out in the great outdoors is growing, and Switzerland as a destination offers everything that’s needed here. ST is therefore also focusing on “Women-friendly travel” in 2023 with the 100% Women initiative focusing on cycling.   

Facts and figures

*Including recovery funds 
 **Only views of pages with specific summer campaign content are counted.