She made her way up the mountains

[Don José]

What is the difference between made her way up and went. Do the the first implies that she had to make an effort?

Is this OK?:

After studying hard, she made up her way into/in/to/? a brillant career.

[Rusty]

Originally Posted by Don José

What is the difference between made her way up and went. Does the the first imply that she had to make an effort?

Yes, "make one's way" denotes some effort in the context given, but more than anything else, it is the accomplishment that we focus on (knowing that it took some effort). The preposition 'up' is not tied to the expression.

"You can make your way through any kind of trial," gives the idea that you can succeed. That there is some effort is a given.

"After studying hard, she made her way to top in class," can also be said, "After studying hard, she climbed to the top in her class." The alternate use of 'climbed' denotes the effort put into the studying.

Your sentence would sound better if it were changed to:
After studying hard, she made her way to the top of a brilliant career.
-or, more simply:
After studying hard, she had a brilliant career.

However, "to make one's way" doesn't always imply effort. It can be interchangeable with 'to go forward' or 'to advance'. For example:
I made my way on foot. = I went on foot. = I walked there.
She made her way to the pond. = She went to the pond.

[Perikles]

It's hard to see how mountains can be plural here.

[poli]

Originally Posted by Perikles

It's hard to see how mountains can be plural here.

When I hear the mountains, I think mountain range or mountainous region.

[Don José]

Thanks.

In my Spanish I could say montaña or montañas. But now I'm aware of the English use.

[Perikles]

Originally Posted by poli

When I hear the mountains, I think mountain range or mountainous region.

Yes, so do I. But as Rusty says, the focus is the immediate difficulty of progress, as in She made her way through the snow to get to work. So she can make her way up a mountain, which might be a hard climb. But with up mountains, that would involve several separate climbs up several mountains, and it doesn't sound right (to me). She could make her way over the mountains, which would be one mountainous trek.

Perhaps I'm labouring the point.

[Don José]

Thinking about it, you're rigth. In fact what I was tihinking was your 'make her way over the mountains'.