‘I bet you didn’t worry about your bills because all you cared about was whether you were safe’

Women with Altitude are on a mission: to encourage women of all ages to take up the challenge of hiking and climbing

A sense of adventure was what first attracted the 38-year-old Limerick woman to mountain challenges. The health benefits became apparent later – particularly for mental wellbeing. Both hiking and climbing are very conducive to reaching a “flow” state of mind, which is associated with positive effects, including increased happiness, better emotional regulation and greater intrinsic motivation.

There are physical benefits too of course and McDaid says that bouldering has motivated her to do more strength training. Bouldering is free climbing on small rock formations or artificial rock walls, and probably more beginner friendly, she suggests, because it does not involve ropes and harnesses. “It’s a fun way of strength training, rather than just going to the gym.”

Here four other members of the WWA organising committee talk about how they developed their love of mountains and why they want to share it with others.The big appeal of trail running is that “you get through a lot more mountain faster” than walking, says Maike Juergens. She works as a scientist, is raising a three-year-old daughter with her partner Matthew, who she met through trail running, and plays cello in a community orchestra, so time is very precious.

Juergens went to her first Women with Altitude event alone and found herself among “loads of like-minded women”. She loved it. “It’s incredibly welcoming and supportive. Everyone’s at a different level and, in the best way possible, it doesn’t matter.” She thinks it sowed a seed. “There was all the curiosity – I really wanted to go further, to see what was around the next lump of ground but I never did at that stage.”

In deciding what self-led activities they are going to do, “if there’s nobody there with better skills than you, then you are going to have to take some kind of a lead or a share in the lead”, she points out. “It’s a very fine line between getting people to take on a bit of personal responsibility or, go a step further, and be responsible for somebody else.”

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