This Is How We Got Started...
Hi! My name is Trish, I'm the founder of and event organizer for Women in the Wild.
I've been an athlete my whole life, starting out as a gymnast around ages 5-14 and a competitive cheerleader ages 10-16. After that I took up a passion for body building, martial arts and hiking (shocker, I know). Now I work full time in the forestry industry as a tree climber and a faller-in-training. Naturally, hiking lead to backpacking and climbing trees led to climbing rocks. Between high-risk sports and a high-risk job, safety has been an underlying fundamental throughout my life. Counterintuitive as it may seem to some, the risks I take are calculated and based on my own body, experience, knowledge of the subject and a willingness to say "not today." I came to the realization that not everyone has the risk tolerance or physical base that I do, which is one of the reasons I started WitW.
It's hard to believe now, but just a couple years back I didn't have any female friends who were willing to go hiking. My girlfriends felt overwhelmed and underprepared, so I was always going alone. After a couple years of this I decided to create the community I craved, one where I could facilitate growth in a comfortable group setting and we could all help build on each other's knowledge and skills. Of course, this is done while prioritizing safety so that more women feel capable and prepared to get a little (or a lot) more adventurous.
WitW started out as me and one or two others going on local hikes or going snowboarding for the day. Now we have regular bouldering and/or rock climbing events, a few hike/snowshoe events per month, weekend getaways to not-so-local ski resorts, monthly sauna and cold immersion sessions in the fall and winter, courses such as Avalanche Skills Training and Intro to Rock Climbing, international community travel, and the list goes on!
Future courses I'd like to host include Wilderness First Aid, and Intro to Mountaineering courses. These typically take place in Squamish.
As far as membership goes, I encourage all ages and skill levels to join. We have everything from literal walks in parks to backpacking trips and beyond. Members are encouraged to join and connect in our group chats within our WhatsApp community, host events wherever they are and find other members nearby to meet up with.
Based in the lower mainland of British Columbia, the majority of our events take place in the Pacific North West - but as our community grows they are beginning to spread out further! I host multiple events per month, most of which are free. The only costs associated with paid events are your own participation costs for courses, lift tickets, bouldering gym drop-in fees, flights, etc.
There is no membership fee. As the number of members in our community grows, so does the type of events we have. While I don't own any water activity gear myself (yet), I know there's a LOT of paddleboarders and water-lovers in our group and they connect to get on the water together. As our indoor bouldering sessions keep going, my sights are set on future rock climbing trips as well. The point is, we're growing. Come grow with us :)