|
         
It’s
Easy To Help...
CALL 720.565.3898
The
Women’s Wilderness Institute
2885 E. Aurora, Suite 23
Boulder, CO 80303
303.938.9191 ltyson@womenswilderness.org
www.WomensWilderness.org
|
The
next time a good friend tells you to take a hike, or maybe a flying
leap, stop and ask if she means one organized by The Women’s
Wilderness Institute.
If so, her advice – and maybe your relationship with her,
yourself or even nature itself – may take on a whole new meaning.
Because if your friend has been here before, she may have discovered
the rush that comes from cresting a mountain to see "lakes
and wildflowers and stuff." Her reward? "(I) felt alive
every day."
And
envisioned new vistas in life.
She may have stepped backward off a 40-foot cliff, more or
less on the advice of others, thinking she was "very
not ready to do it."
Her reward?
"… I walked back up to the top and did it again."
And carried newfound confidence up the trail. |
Click on image for larger picture |
Your
friend may even have trudged, freezing, through knee-deep snow in
June, all the way thinking, "I really want to go home."
Her reward? "We set up tents, boiled some snow and made ramen
noodles." And shared the warmth with friends.
The leaders of The Women’s Wilderness Institute
are passionate about relationships, accomplishments and the outdoors,
so they organize backwoods adventures, like backpacking, camping
and extended wilderness expeditions, for about 130 girls each year.
The girls, ages 12 to 17, come to understand that they are physically
and emotionally capable of achieving great things, both on their
own and with the help of others. They learn that courage, self-expression
and competence are things strong young women find inside themselves,
not along mountain trails.
In the words of one participant, it’s not about "what
you look like, what you’re wearing" or whether you’re
the "most popular." It’s about being real. It’s
about girls becoming women. And relationships. And confidence.
"It was like, ‘Wow! I did that,’" said Abby,
an east county teen, who participated in her first wilderness expedition
after some encouragement from mom. Of course, mom hadn’t prepared
her for a late-June blizzard, so her program leaders did. They encouraged
her to keep going.
To reach a summit. To pitch a tent. To boil some snow. To share
a meal.
They encouraged her to challenge herself to do more than she ever
thought she could, to find strength within herself and strength
within her group of companions.
Her reward? Knowing "I don’t need anyone else to make
me happy."
And that will warm the soul in any weather.
|
