This thesis has built on the philosophical foundations of Derridean deconstruction to provide a contemporary approach for researching autoimmunitary affective forces of gender in mountaineering. For the first time, this research has traced patterns of behaviour, from the earliest instances through to the present day, so as to explore the emotional and sensorial experiences of female mountaineers in the UK. Using experimental go-along and mobile video ethnographic techniques empirical data was co-produced in situ during eight day-long mountaineering expeditions. The empirical findings produced an expanded notion of 'mountaincraft', incorporating gender specific pedagogies of learning, adaptation and teaching, as well as an understanding, in particular, how silence is used to develop a wider sensorial attunement to risk, and also tactics for managing fear. Exposure to risk through mountaineering was found to be a chief motivation and manner by which women achieved a sense of wellbeing. These findings have demonstrated how gender matters in the male space of mountaineering, impacting on women in very particular ways. However, it has also problematized this hypermasculine space, demonstrating how women, as outsiders, mountaineer differently, offering the potential for growth and development in the world of professional mountaineering.