The Uphill Climb: How Project16x is Catapulting Women in the Outdoor IndustrY

See how this small but mighty summit is paving way for huge opportunity...

We’ve decided to climb up the San Juan Range’s Sheep Mountain. After all, the summit is seemingly a stone’s throw away from our hut. There is no clear path so everyone - artists, writers, brand reps, climbers, bikers, runners, entrepreneurs, east and west coasters alike - scatters across the base of the mountain to start making their own. Quickly, I realize this hike would be a little different than the ones conquered before…

Episode 17: Backcountry Bonding | She Explores

Real connections are made in the outdoors. There is a contagious energy to be found in women bonding through time spent outside. In this episode, we talk to two women who are building businesses around that energy.

Sasha Cox is the founder of Trail Mavens. She and a team of guides take women on backpacking and camping trips in the Bay Area of California. The trips are meant to teach, inspire, and empower; other side effects include new outdoor skills and friendships.

When Women Lead

Exactly a week ago now, I found myself snowed in for first snowfall of the year in the High Camp Hut outside of Telluride, Colorado. Seventeen women, all from our different forests, mountains, homes (some vans), and walks of life met for the Wild Women's Project. We explored, hiked, built fires, laughed, dreamt, encouraged each other and opened up to each other (and ourselves). Though we brought our differences, we all shared something similar - our hearts were all found and formed by the outdoors.

Where the Wild Women Are: How a cross-country upheaval started a movement | 360Durango

It was an impeccable summer morning. Sixteen women, leaders within the outdoor industry in their own rites, made their way up Highway 550 to Ophir Pass Road. They had been hand-selected, based upon their various involvements in the outdoors, to be a part of something bigger than them. Bigger, in fact, than their host had even conceived.

Wild Women's Project: Uniting Women To Connect And Lead Our Community | This is Range

I am passionate about connecting people, thrilled to hear people’s stories, and inspired to bring the best out of myself, my environment, my community and all those I meet. After five years in a traditional agency routine, six months on the road through Alaska and the West, and three years as a co-founder at BoldBrew, a public relations and marketing shop, this is my mantra: this is why I do what I do, live where I live, and am who I am. And so, last summer, BoldBrew launched the Wild Women’s Project, a space for women to gather, converse and ignite action on the outlook of creativity, conservation, connection and commerce in the outdoor community.

How a Weekend Retreat in Colorado's Durango Mountains Has Spurred Real Change in The Outdoor Industry. | Adventure Sports Network

“[The trip] provided such a valuable perspective on the fact that I’m not the only one who stays up at night thinking about outdoor issues like diversity and education,” says Boué, who joined other outdoor-industry professionals like pro skier Caroline Gleich, Wylder co-founders Jainee Dial and Lindsey Elliott, freelance writer Heather Balogh Rochfort and conservationist Maddie Carey on the “no cell service here”-style escape in Colorado.

Wild Women's Project | Ursa Major

Our friends at BoldBrew launched a new initiative this year called the Wild Women's Project. The goal of the project was to create an innovative leadership and empowerment camp for women in the outdoors industry, including editors, athletes, photographers, and influencers. The weekend included hikes, yoga, workshops, and campfires. But in the end, BoldBrew just wanted to create a memorable experience for these incredible women and see what would happen, what would be shared, and what would come out of it.

the summit field guide