Travel News: The First Women's Rock Guide Course, Share Winter Foundation Gets 32,000 Kids Out on the Slopes, and a New Adventure Travel Marketplace Launches
From grants to help women get into the guiding industry to an organization that's introducing the younger generation to the joys of snowy sports to a new way to book adventure travel, today's travel news is designed to get you up and moving.
Fixing the Climbing Industry's Gender Imbalance
Women participate in outdoor activities nearly as frequently as men, but they often lack representation at the top levels—and a new program from The North Face and the American Mountain Guides Association (AMGA) wants to do something about it. According to a 2018 study by the Outdoor Industry Association, 49 percent of the U.S. population ages six and up took part in outdoor activities at least once in 2017, and 46 percent of those participants were women. But when it comes to the ever-popular sport of rock climbing (see: the profusion of rock-climbing gyms in urban settings and suburban enclaves alike), AMGA reports that only eight percent of its certified guides are women. That’s no small discrepancy. In an effort to recalibrate and put more women into leadership roles, the organization has teamed up with the North Face to launch the first Women’s Rock Guide Course, a grant-driven professional training program that will provide 12 women with partial scholarships for AMGA's intro-level course. “Trained female guides are in short supply and high demand, and we see this opportunity as a catalyst to get more women involved in our programs,” says AMGA president Angela Hawse. “Everyone benefits with more women onboard: Men benefit from subtle opportunities to learn how to better serve women guests, and studies show that teams make better decisions and are more successful when women represent at least a third of the team.” Applications are due March 17 and the course, which will be designed and taught by women, begins in September. (amga.com)
Getting Kids to Play Outside
The children are the future, as they say, and the Share Winter Foundation is doing its best to ensure that that future is bright by sending the next class of winter sports stars out onto the slopes. With programs tailored to underserved and underrepresented communities, the grant-making organization aims to overcome barriers to participation in 21 states and 60 ski areas nationwide—and create a lifelong love of skiing and snowboarding in the process. This season, Share Winter will fund winter activities for more than 32,000 youth, a 6.7 percent bump from last year, with a goal of sponsoring 100,000 kids annually by 2028. To find programs in your area and to donate to the cause, visit sharewinterfoundation.org.
A New Way to Book Adventure Travel
With half a million registered users, 800,000 social-media followers, and an overall reach of more than 12 million people, the Outbound Collective has built a significant community since its launch in 2013, and now the digital adventure-travel platform is expanding into hospitality. Already a resource for finding and planning outdoor experiences through expert trip reports and user-shared content, the Outbound recently introduced a new adventure-travel marketplace to provide its readers with lodging options and tours. Among others, users can now book yoga retreats with Yogascapes, photo trips with Moment, or heli-skiing with CMH, go glamping with Under Canvas, or reserve accommodations at any of Aramark’s national- and state-park properties. (theoutbound.com)