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As International Women\u2019s Day approaches, I\u2019ve been reflecting on the distinctive experience of being a woman who lives for the mountains. I often think about the challenges women face in the outdoor community, the unique strengths we bring to our objectives, and what it means to be a woman in a big-mountain environment. I dove into these topics with six incredible mountain women: Darcy Chenoweth<\/a>, Micheli Oliver<\/a>, Chelsea Bomba<\/a>, Nikki Smith<\/a>, Juju Milay<\/a>, and Melis Coady<\/a>. Some have been my mentors and partners in the mountains and others have inspired me from afar through social media, writing, and photography. Each brings a unique outlook and experience to the table, yet a set of common threads were woven throughout the answers they shared. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n To be clear, none of us want our accomplishments to be qualified by our identities (\u201cshe rips for a girl!\u201d, \u201cshe\u2019s as strong as her brothers\u201d, \u201cshe\u2019s a trans climber\u201d<\/em>), yet we can\u2019t ignore the differences among humans within our society. As we talked, Nikki reminded me that \u201caspects of our identity–race, gender, sexuality, age, and more–play off one another and can create obstacles that others might not face. If we don\u2019t address this, we can\u2019t fully understand someone\u2019s experience.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Each woman I interviewed tells one story, a small piece of thread that contributes to \u201cthe tapestry of Woman,\u201d as Darcy called it. As I read their words over and over, I found a beautiful interweaving of threads, which I hope will illustrate the beauty and the challenge that it is to be a woman in the mountains.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n So what does it mean to be a woman in the mountains? To begin: freedom. In a love affair between a woman and a mountain, the mountain expects nothing of her but to be human. Mountains are, by nature, challenging and harsh. They command respect, but they also invite us in–among them, we can be ourselves and shed societal expectations.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n \u201cI don\u2019t have to worry about how I move within the female body or how society gauges my female body–out in the mountains there is no judgement. My femininity, and how I express it, is not relevant to nature: I am just a being. I find it very liberating.. I\u2019m not thinking about my womanness, I\u2019m just present in the moment and the spectacular view. I can be in solitude\u2014what makes me a woman is left behind.\u201d Juju Milay Founder, Colour the Trails<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.voile.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Women_in_the_mountains.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nThe beauty of women in the mountains:<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n