[4] This prompted her to travel to the Hermitage hotel at Mount Cook Village, where she became determined to climb to the snow-capped summit, managing to do so four years later.

Graham agreed to teach Du Faur ropework and add snow and ice climbing to her skill on rocks.

[5] In 1909, Du Faur returned to undertake several climbs of increasing difficulty, the first of which was a significant ascent of Mount Sealy on 19 December 1909.

Thus, a chaperone was enlisted, and Du Faur committed to wearing a skirt to just below the knee over knickerbockers and long puttees while she climbed.

It pleased her that her attire afforded an element of femininity to upset critics and challenge existing stereotypes of physically active women.

[5] In 1910, Du Faur spent three months at the Dupain Institute of Physical Education in Sydney[4] training with Muriel "Minnie" Cadogan (1885–1929),[7][8][9] who became her life partner.

[5] On 3 December 1910, Du Faur became the first woman to climb to the summit of Mount Cook,[10] New Zealand's highest peak at 3,760 metres (12,340 ft).

[4] On the return trip from the summit, Du Faur was photographed in front of a boulder to commemorate the historic climb.

[11] The boulder, now called "Freda's Rock" is located approximately 200 metres into the Hooker Valley Track at Mount Cook National Park.

Perhaps her most notable climb was in January 1913 with Peter Graham and David (Darby) Thomson, when they made the first grand traverse of all three peaks of Mount Cook.

[4] She suffered from depression[citation needed] at the loss of Cadogan, and on 13 September 1935, she fatally poisoned herself by inhaling a quantity of coal gas.