I wouldn’t consider an “excursion” at 2,615 meters as “milking cows” either.
The article says the husband was a shoemaker and the wife a teacher. The “milking cows” bit sounds like made-up fake news because writers and editors just assume what stereotypes and add fake news to their stories.
“Udry-Dumoulin continued: ‘It was the first time my mother went with him on such an excursion. She was always pregnant and couldn’t climb in the difficult conditions of the glacier.”
In that era, I could see villagers having a few cows for personal use. Particularly with a house full of kids.