Porter Doris Studholme

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Biografie:
Doris Studholme Porter (1896-1979)
Doris Porter would have thought it quite suitable for her to be remembered among mountaineers only as the wife ofH. E. L. (Ned) Porter, to whom she was married in 1927 and who died in 1973 (AJ 79 283) But that reflected her modesty. Her enthusiasm for mountains lasted throughout her life and she was a skilful climber, even though ill health restricted the period when this could be fully displayed.
She was brought up on her father's extensive sheep station in the Canterbury foothills of the Southern Alps of New Zealand, where helping to muster sheep fired her ambition to climb. In her late teens she was first among the high peaks; a contemporary recalls the admiration of one of her guides for the gracefulness of her climbing and her speed. Her most notable climb was in 1927, her 7th season in the Southern Alps. With Ned Porter, Marcel Kurz and her brother she made the second ascent of Mount Haidinger, and the first one by a woman; Fitzgerald had made the first ascent in 1895. The climb which Porter described as 'quite first-class' (AJ 39265-86) came towards the end of a climbing season by him and Kurz, which for the number and difficulty of major climbs, had no equal in previous mountaineering in New Zealand. However, contrary to the belief of his friends, his return to New Zealand, where he had previously had 2 successful seasons, was not solely to climb. As his very detailed diaries, now in the AC Archives, show he was engaged to be married to Doris but kept at least the majority of his friends in ignorance until he had left England. Porter was then aged 40 and seemingly a confirmed bachelor; his marriage to an outstandingly attractive girl was described by a close friend as more remarkable than any of his mountaineering.
A few weeks after their return to England the Porters set off for Switzerland, where they did 10 classic routes from Zerman and Saas Fee. Years later Claude Elliolt who had been with them for part of the time recalled his admiration for Doris' ability as a climber. Later in the year the Porters were rock climbing in Wales and the Lake District and Doris was elected to LAC. The Porters seemed set fair for many years of successful climbing. But the next summer, after preliminary climbs on the Aiguille de la Tsa and Mont Collon, Doris became unwell. For the next 7 years, during which she had major surgery, she was usually confined to hill walks when she was able to visit mountains at all. But at last, in 1935, Porter could record that Doris had climbed “her first high peak for many years”, in the Tatra.
But she was again ill in New Zealand later in the year and, although she accompanied her husband to the Alps in 1938, a walk up the Rifelhorn, in bad weather, was the limit of her climbing before the War.
With this record of disappointment it would not have been surprising if, after the War, Doris Porter had decided that mountaineering was a thing of the past. The delightful garden they had jointly made at Sulton Courtenay, their considerable involvement in village affairs and their hospitality to many visitors, would have made a preference for leisurely holidays very understandable.
Instead there was an Alpine renaissance. They returned no less than a.dozen times to the Alps and, in contrast to the regretful notes on Doris's health in Porter's Pre-War diaries, he could now write 'Doris is feeling robust while I am feeling tired'; the last statement being somewhat belied by their evident shared enjoyment in many parts of the Alps. In 1953 they fulfilled their ambition to climb a 4000m peak-the Bieshorn-on a rope of 2, to celebrate his 25th alpine season.
As well as being very modest and universally popular Doris Porter had great personal reticence. Thus it was not surprising that a neighbour who knew her only in her last 10 years was quite convinced, from her energy in the garden and in many other affairs, that she must have had excellent health up to her brief final illness. Had that been so Doris Porter would surely have been among the most prominent woman climbers of her time. She left generous bequests to both the Alpine Club and the New Zealand Alpine Club.
Scoll Russell
Quelle: Alpine Journal Volume 86, 1981, Seite 269-270


Geboren am:
1896
Gestorben am:
1979