Gwen Mary Moffat is a British mountaineer and writer.
Climbing career
Moffat was an Army driver in the Auxiliary Territorial Service stationed in North Wales after the end of the Second World War when she met a climber who introduced her to climbing and a bohemian lifestyle. During the 1940s and 1950s she lived rough, climbing in Snowdonia, the Lakes, Scotland and the Alps, supporting herself among other jobs by working as a model for artists, in domestic service, forestry, farming and driving a travelling shop. In 1953 she became the first female British certificated mountain guide, and for ten years was closely associated with the RAF Mountain Rescue Service, making a living from climbing. Moffatt was known for often climbing barefoot claiming it was better because there was more contact with the rock and no constriction of the toes. Moffat is an Honorary Member of the women-only Pinnacle Club and the British Mountaineering Association.
Media
Moffat featured in the BBC film Eye to Eye, broadcast in 1958. Joe Brown did the hard amateur climbing and Moffat, the professional, took her husband up a route on Idwal Slabs. In 2015 Jen Randall and Claire Carter made a film, Operation Moffat, based on Moffat's autobiographical book Space below my Feet. The film was premiered on the Banff Mountain Film Festival UK tour and has won 7 international film awards. Moffat is included in Herrington's photographic work The Climbers featuring 60 climbers considered legends of the 20th century. In 2017 Moffat contributed to a documentary Give Me Space Below My Feet for BBC Radio 3.
Writing career
Moffat began her writing career in the 1950s, working for BBC radio, and published her autobiography in 1961. In the 1970s, she started writing crime fiction, in particular the Miss Pink series featuring Melinda Pink, a middle aged magistrate and climber. Following a commission by Victor Gollancz Ltd to follow the California Trail and produce a book, she subsequently wrote 11 mysteries set in the American West. She wrote her last novel, Gone Feral, when she was in her 80s. Moffat currently reviews for the crime magazine Shots.
Personal life
Moffat married Gordon Moffat with whom she had a daughter, Sheena, born in 1949. In 1955, Moffat married Flight Sergeant John Lees; they divorced in 1970.
