Gender, Politics and Change in Mountaineering: Moving Mountains 3031299442, 9783031299445

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GLOBAL CULTURE AND SPORT SERIES

Gender, Politics and Change in Mountaineering Moving Mountains Edited by Jenny Hall Emma Boocock · Zoë Avner

Global Culture and Sport Series Series Editor

David Andrews Kinesiology University of Maryland Baltimore, MD, USA

Series Editors: Stephen Wagg, Leeds Beckett University, UK, and David Andrews, University of Maryland, USA. The Global Culture and Sport series aims to contribute to and advance the debate about sport and globalization by engaging with various aspects of sport culture as a vehicle for critically excavating the tensions between the global and the local, transformation and tradition and sameness and difference. With studies ranging from snowboarding bodies, the globalization of rugby and the Olympics, to sport and migration, issues of racism and gender, and sport in the Arab world, this series showcases the range of exciting, pioneering research being developed in the field of sport sociology.

Jenny Hall • Emma Boocock • Zoë Avner Editors

Gender, Politics and Change in Mountaineering Moving Mountains

Editors Jenny Hall York St John University York, UK

Emma Boocock Northumbria University Newcastle, UK

Zoë Avner Deakin University Victoria, Australia

ISSN 2662-3404     ISSN 2662-3412 (electronic) Global Culture and Sport Series ISBN 978-3-031-29944-5    ISBN 978-3-031-29945-2 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29945-2 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Cover Illustration: © Louis Hume This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG. The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland

Foreword

In 1999, as I hung upside-down, wedged in a crevasse formed from a bergschrund at the foot of Pinnacle Mountain in the Canadian Rockies, I made a couple of important decisions about my life as a woman and as a female climber. First decision: no one had seen me fall in, and so it was going to be up to me to rescue myself. Second decision: I was never going to go on an all-male climbing trip ever again. I pulled one leg out from under the other, ripping my left knee’s ACL tendon in the process, and got myself right-side up so that I could climb out of the crevasse. Once I got out, I found my husband out on the ice and told him that I was done for the day. I had to walk out. “Is your knee okay,” he said. “No,” I replied. My knee was hurting and already starting to swell up. I couldn’t walk very well on it. I told him that I thought I could get down, and I just wanted to get out of there. “Okay, here’s the keys,” he said, handing them over. “I’ll catch a ride back with John and I’ll see you back at Jan’s.” Then he turned to go on with the climb. And that was it. No one else came to talk to me about how or why I could have fallen. No one, including my husband, offered to go with me as I hobbled back down the Sentinel Pass trail to the parking lot and then, with my knee aching, drove our car back to my friend’s house near Calgary. Pinnacle Mountain had a route that the 1999 edition of Selected Alpine Climbs in the Canadian Rockies guidebook called grade II because

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climbers could have the aid of an old hemp rope that had been put in at the crux of the route. The rope was supposed to make things easy. The passage for the climb says this: “In keeping with tradition, batman up the rope to a small ledge. Alternatively, 5.5 rock climbing attains the same ledge–boo!” (Dougherty, 1999, p. 126). Of course, real climbers would have to act like the Batman and use the rope, but the route turned out to be a 17-hour ordeal for the other four climbers who went on after I fell because the old rope had broken off, leaving only the difficult climb to the ridge over dangerous, crumbly rocks. So what had happened when I fell? I figured that out as I limped downhill, leaning on my trekking pole. I ventured into the crevasse in the first place because I had, as Katherine O’Brien discusses in her chapter for this collection about traditional mountaineering training programs, been “following a man up a mountain.” Chris, the guy I had been following, was more than six feet tall, and he wore climbing clothes from the 1970s. He was a very traditional climber, and he liked a challenge. When we got to the bergschrund, Chris had gone into it to climb along the rock wall exposed by the melting snow. I had climbed after him thinking he was on a safer route than the one on the ice, making my way up a crumbling, near-vertical rock wall with the snow wall of the “shrund” behind me. But because Chris was such a tall man, he could reach holds I couldn’t. At one point as I stretched for one of those holds, I slipped, twisted around, and fell head-first. Luckily the crevasse narrowed as I fell, so I didn’t hit the bottom. That’s how I ended up stuck upside-down. Later, Chris told me that he was just climbing the wall “for fun” and he didn’t know that I was behind him. It hadn’t occurred to him to look back as he went, and so he neither saw nor heard me fall. The handholds he found suited him, but were too big for me. I fell because I was doing something too hard for me to do. There was no communication on my team, so I thought I was supposed to climb that wall. Worst of all, I was literally trying to imitate what a tall male climber was doing and trying to do it his way. That proved to be impossible. And so, I changed how I climbed after that and who I climbed with. A bit later, I changed other things in my life too, including who my life partner would be. My experience at the foot of Pinnacle Mountain had taught me something important about climbing and gender that I would later revisit as I wrote False Summit, my book about high-altitude

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mountaineering and gender politics. The world of mountain climbing, as all the essays in Moving Mountains: Gender, Politics and Change in Mountaineering point out, is shot through with relatively narrow ideas about mountaineering as the preserve of a very specific kind of body, usually the body of a white, western, abled-bodied man with dreams of summiting (or conquering) a peak in a certain style. The logic of proper climbing style is substitutional: it is widely assumed that a climber either can do exactly what that particular type of man can do, or they are not a climber. There is never a discussion about the fairness of the playing field or in this case, the rock wall. I literally had the wrong body for the climb I was doing. What is more, the guidebook required us to “batman” up that hemp rope on Pinnacle Mountain and even mocked any readers who were too afraid to use the rope. I was not a male superhero. None of us were. But the lure of potential heroism and the threat of that “boo!” in the guidebook kept the men in my group going upward, while this style of climbing injured me and sent me back down, on quite a different path. The effect of that injury was to get me thinking about mountaineering, sexism and other forms of injustice, and it eventually sent my life up a different, more interesting route than the one I had been on. That is true too, increasingly so, for scholars committed to thinking about the culture of mountain climbing, including who that culture has served in the past and how to widen our ideas about climbing in the mountains for the future. When I was writing False Summit, there were no other books I could consult about gender and mountaineering where gender, widely conceived, was the primary focus, with the exception of Sherri B. Ortner’s Life and Death on Mount Everest. Other intersectional studies of mountaineering were few and far between. There were good books available about the history and politics of masculinity and climbing, and there were histories of climbing that sometimes added women to them. There were a few, but only a few, feminist studies that addressed some of the problems with the cultures of sexism and racism in mountaineering and rock climbing. And there was a growing discourse in mountaineering journalism about the need for climbing to become more inclusive and more interesting. But as I worked on my book, I often wondered if there would ever be a thorough, progressive and wide-ranging discussion in scholarly circles about the gender, race, sexuality, disability and neocolonialism in climbing. And I dreamed that one day, there would be.

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That day is now here. New scholarship about mountain climbing and its history and culture is beginning to appear, and I already feel that False Summit is becoming part of a new way to think about mountain climbing, its limits and its possibilities. In particular, Moving Mountains, with its dedication to feminist and intersectional approaches to mountaineering, hill climbing and rock climbing, is at the forefront of such thinking. Its contribution to the discussion of intersectionality in mountaineering is much more solid than those crumbly handholds on Pinnacle Mountain in 1999. The chapters here are from many disciplines, including leisure studies, sociology, history and anthropology, and the locations range from Mexico, to Japan, to England’s Lake District. There is work here about masculinity and hegemony that I wish I had known about when I was writing False Summit. The emphasis on transformation in each section allows for studies of the past, accompanied by a critique of sexism and racism in mountaineering, but also the emphasis on transformation allows for a more expansive idea of what mountain climbing is and who in the present and future can be a climber. There has been a tendency in mainstream discourse about climbing to assume that, for climbers who belong to equity-deserving groups, all problems are solved. The contributors of Moving Mountains show in detail how those problems are still with us, but some contributions look to developments in leadership and pedagogy as a way to see how change is possible, whether we are thinking about Junko Tabei’s place in climbing history, Erin Parisi’s project to become the first trans* climber to complete the Seven Summits, or the work to change how mountaineering leadership and education characterise climbing success. Moving Mountains tackles the challenging questions of climbing culture and moves the study of climbing and a need for justice in mountaineering forward in the process. I for one welcome that development and can’t wait to see the work to come from its intervention in mountaineering and gender studies, moving us all from “following a man” to climbing—and thinking—as ourselves. Julie Rak, FRSC, holds the Henry Marshall Tory Chair in the Department of English and Film Studies at the University of Alberta, Canada. Her latest book is False Summit: Gender in Mountaineering Nonfiction (2021). She has written extensively on nonfiction, including the books Boom! Manufacturing Memoir for the Popular Market (2013) and Negotiated Memory: Doukhobor Autobiographical Discourse (2004).

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Her latest edited collection is the Identities volume of the Oxford Encyclopedia of Literary Theory (2022), and with Sonia Boon, Candida Rifkind, and Laurie McNeill the forthcoming textbook The Routledge Introduction to Auto/biography in Canada (2022). [email protected] Edmonton, AB, Canada  2022

Julie Rak

Reference Dougherty, S. (1999). Selected Alpine Climbs in the Canadian Rockies. Rocky Mountain Books.

Acknowledgements

Nan Shepherd wisely expressed that aiming for the highest point is not the only way to climb the mountain (N.  Shepherd, 2011). This sentiment flows throughout the collection of essays within this book and threads together some key messages. It would not have been possible to compile these chapters without the help of the contributing authors. Without your continued dedication to extending our knowledge of women in the mountains, we would not have been able to complete this, so thank you. We extend our thanks also to the reviewers, who provided useful comments to create a high-quality edited collection. Finally, we would like to thank the series editors Stephen Wagg and David Andrews and our series editors, who believed in the scope of this title and have provided support for its completion. Finally, to the readers of this book, we thank you for choosing to engage with these chapters, and hope that it encourages, illuminates and inspires you to move mountains.

Reference Shepherd, N. (2011). The Living Mountain (2nd Ed.). Canongate Books.

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Contents

1 Introduction:  Contextualising Gender and Transformational Spaces in Mountaineering Adventure Sports and Leisure  1 Jenny Hall, Emma Boocock, and Zoë Avner Part I Transforming the Past: Intersecting Mountaineering Histories  13 2 ‘That  is the Lady I saw Ascending Snowdon, Alone’: Pioneering Women Mountaineers of the Nineteenth Century 15 Kerri Andrews 3 Troubling  the Silences of Adventure Legacies: Junko Tabei and the Intersectional Politics of Mountaineering 31 Jenny Hall and Maggie Miller 4 “There  is no manlier sport in the world”. How Hegemonic Masculinity Became Constitutive of Excellence in Mountaineering 51 Delphine Moraldo

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Part II Transforming Experience: Intersectionality in Mountain Spaces and Places  71 5 Reflexive  Duoethnography: A Dialogic Exploration of Disability and Participation in Outdoor Adventure Activities and a Mountain Climber Academic 73 T. A. Loeffler and Kim White 6 “The  whole trip I basically had to hide”: A Goffmanian Analysis of Erin Parisi and Negotiating the Gendered Mountaineering Space 89 Thomas M. Leeder, Kate Russell, Lee C. Beaumont, and Lois Ferguson 7 Exploring  the Gendered and Racialised Experiences of Mexican Mestiza: Women Mountaineers Through the Rhizomatic Body107 Isis Arlene Díaz-Carrión 8 (Re)naming  Routes: A Tale of Transformation in the Outdoor Rock Climbing Community129 Jennifer Wigglesworth Part III Transforming Leadership, Participation and Praxis: Climbing the Mountain of Equity 151 9 Climbing  Mountains Together: Developing Gender Parity Pathways in Mountaineering Leadership and the Role of Men153 Cressida Allwood and Linda Allin 10 A  Critical Postfeminist Lens as a Tool for Praxis169 Emily Ankers

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11 Leave  Tracks: Gender, Discrimination, and Resistance in Mountaineering187 Kate Evans, Dorothy L. Schmalz, and Sasha C. Mader Part IV Transformational Pedagogies: Creating New Spaces to Mountaineer 207 12 Into  the Mountain: Challenging Hegemonic Discourses of Mountaineering and Expanding the Relational Field209 Simone Kenyon and Margaret Kerr 13 Transformational  Learning on the Journey to Mountain Leadership237 Katherine O’Brien 14 An  Autoethnographic Writing of Mountain Skill Courses257 Emma Boocock Index273

Notes on Contributors

Linda Allin  is an associate professor in the Department of Sport, Exercise

and Rehabilitation at Northumbria University where she has worked for over 20 years. She is still active in the outdoors and used to run the department outdoor field programme. Her main research interests lie in gender, inclusivity, leadership and learning in relation to sport, physical activity and the outdoors, and her PhD in 2003 was entitled ‘Challenging careers for women?: Negotiating identities in outdoor education’. Linda has published consistently in relation to women’s experiences in the outdoor industry, with a key aim to bridge the gap between theory and practice and support positive change. Cressida  Allwood is the former Chair of the British Mountaineering Council’s (BMC) Equity Steering Group and currently works as a senior project manager for the Youth Hostal Association (YHA). An intrepid global traveller, Cressida has led overseas expeditions for 20 years, in addition to an 18-month, solo, round-the-world cycling adventure. A former Head of Girls’ PE at a London secondary school, she has been active in developing research in gender and leadership in the outdoor sector, with published professional articles on this topic. Cressida devised the BMC’s ‘Finding Our Way’ podcast series, to encourage greater equality and diversity of outdoor voices. (https://thebmc.co.uk/finding-­our-­way-­ bmc-­new-­diverse-­outdoor-­voices-­podcast) Kerri Andrews  is Reader in Women’s Literature and Textual Editing at Edge Hill University. Her book, Wanderers: A History of Women Walking,

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was published by Reaktion in 2020. She is the editor of the first-ever edition of Nan Shepherd’s correspondence, to be published by Edinburgh University Press in 2023. She has written about women’s walking and mountaineering for a number of publications, including Trail Magazine, The Guardian, and Wordsworth Circle. She is Co-Director, with Rachel Hewitt (Newcastle) and Jo Taylor (Manchester), of the Arts & Humanities Research Council (AHRC)-funded network, Women In The Hills, which is looking to understand and improve women’s experiences of being in upland landscapes. Emily  Ankers  (she/her) is a doctoral researcher at Brunel University London funded by the Grand Union Doctoral Training Partnership. Her PhD research is around women’s experiences of climbing and wellbeing. Prior to her PhD, she completed a Masters by Research, ‘Everyday’ Women’s Experiences of Rock Climbing (1970–2020). As a result of finding that women tended not to engage with climbing media, Emily Co-Founded Beta Magazine, an online climbing and outdoors magazine focused on the female experience but inclusive of all. Emily is also a volunteer member of the British Mountaineering Council’s Equity Steering Group. She is a climber, hill walker and more recently a beginner mountain biker. Zoë Avner  is a lecturer in the School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences at Deakin University, Australia. Her research draws on poststructuralist and feminist methodologies to explore athlete and coach learning, power and coaching, and coaching ethics. Her work seeks to support the development of more ethical coaching practices and more diverse, equitable, and inclusive physical cultures both within traditional mainstream and emerging alternative lifestyle sporting contexts. Zoë is an avid rock climber, mountain biker, and fell runner. Lee  C.  Beaumont  is Associate Professor of Physical Education in the School of Education and Lifelong Learning at the University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK.  His research interests lie in the areas of physical education and sport pedagogy, with a particular emphasis on healthrelated policy and practice within physical education, the promotion of healthy active lifestyles in young people, sports coaching, outdoor education, and lifestyle sports. Emma Boocock  is a senior lecturer in the Department of Sport, Exercise and Rehabilitation at Northumbria University, UK.  Her main research

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interests have become tied to her personal hobbies by documenting embodied experiences of women in outdoor adventure contexts. This work has allowed Emma to work with National Governing Bodies and charitable organisations across the UK. More recently Emma has started to use mobile video techniques to support her work in both green and blue spaces. Emma is an active mountain biker, fell runner and open water swimmer. Isis Arlene Díaz-Carrión  is an associate professor at Facultad de Turismo y Mercadotecnia, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California (Mexico). She holds a PhD in Human Geography from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (Spain). Her research focuses on gender and tourism, as well as the impact of the sustainability agenda on tourism. She conducted her fieldwork in Mexico, actually in the US-Mexican borderlands of Baja California (British Council-Newton Fund Grant-­Conacyt Mexico). Her recent work has been published in Gender, Place & Culture, Annals of Leisure Research, Tourism Geographies, Región y Sociedad, El Periplo Sustentable, among others. Kate  Evans  is an associate professor in the Department of Recreation Management and Therapeutic Recreation at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse. Her research focuses primarily on issues of social justice in recreation. More specifically, she has focused on women’s participation in outdoor adventure recreation and their gendered experiences in those spaces. Additionally, her work focuses on violence against women in the leisure realm and the role the leisure field can play in the effort to end violence against women. Lois Ferguson  is a postgraduate researcher in Education in the School of Education and Lifelong Learning at the University of East Anglia, UK. Her research interests centre on gender and sexuality in sports and education contexts. Utilising trans and critical social theory, her doctoral research explores gender diversity in Physical Education (PE), employing a qualitative methodology to gain insight into the experiences of PE teachers alongside trans and gender-diverse young people. Jenny  Hall is a senior lecturer at York St John University, United Kingdom, and a cultural geographer interested in tourism, adventure sports and heritage. Her research explores embodiment, gender and emotional experiences in adventure environments from a feminist social justice perspective. More recently she has been exploring sustainability and spatial

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justice in historic cities. Jen is a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society and Treasurer of the Geographies of Leisure and Tourism Research Group. Jen is a mountaineer, ultra-mountain runner and member of her local mountain rescue team. Simone  Kenyon  is a transdisciplinary artist, Feldenkrais practitioner, mountain leader (in training) and academic based in Scotland. For 20+ years Simone has worked across art forms to explore the complex interrelationships of movement, people and place. She works with notions of expanded choreographies, encompassing walking arts, dance (including Body Weather dance practices), ecologies and cultural geographies to create participatory and performance events. She is currently a PhD researcher at the University of Leeds, exploring the intersections of embodied knowledge, site-relational performance making and mountaineering practices. Project Website: www.intothemountain.co.uk Margaret  Kerr  graduated with an MFA in Art and Humanities from Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design (DJCAD). She is now doing a practice-led PhD at DJCAD, investigating Scottish history from a decolonial perspective and exploring a sense of place through the lens of indigenous and non-Western ontologies and contemporary art practice. Alongside her PhD, she works as a psychotherapist and mountain leader. She runs outdoor retreats which focus on deepening a sense of connection with the rest of nature. Thomas M. Leeder  is Lecturer in Sports Coaching and Pedagogy in the School of Sport, Rehabilitation and Exercise Sciences at the University of Essex, UK. His research interests primarily centre on understanding coach learning and development, coach education and mentoring, and sport coaching pedagogy. His research utilises qualitative methodologies while drawing upon sociological frameworks to explore issues within sporting contexts. T. A. Loeffler  brings over 35 years of expertise leading people through significant life-changing experiences to every facet of their work. TA’s adventures have taken them to 52 different countries and all 7 continents. TA has completed 6 and 4/5 of “The Seven Summits,” the highest peak on all seven continents. In 2020, TA was named to the “Canada’s 90 Greatest Explorers List” by Canadian Geographic. As Professor of Outdoor Education and Recreation at Memorial University, TA has developed a reputation for excellence in experiential education because their students are more likely to be outside chasing icebergs than sitting in a classroom.

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TA has received recognition for innovative experiential teaching. TA was named a 3M National Teaching Fellow in 2008. From Association of Experiential Education (AEE), TA received the Karl Rhonke Creativity Award (2007), the Outstanding Experiential Teacher of the Year (1999), and was selected to deliver the Kurt Hahn/Marina Ewald Address in 2018. Sasha Mader  is a Graduate Teaching Assistant and Research Assistant at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse in the Department of Recreation and Therapeutic Recreation. She is currently working on research focused on violence against women and girls in the outdoors and hopes to continue her education focusing on leisure, recreation, and social justice. Maggie  Miller is a senior lecturer at Swansea University, United Kingdom. Much of her current work focuses on the sociocultural dimensions of sustainability, as she takes up research to understand, enhance, and advocate for social justice and equity in tourism and recreation contexts. A critical qualitative scholar, Maggie’s work is informed by relational ways of knowing and draws on diverse methodologies (e.g., narrative, visual, and sensorial) and community-based research practices. Since joining Swansea’s School of Management in 2018, Maggie has worked collaboratively and creatively with colleagues on a range of projects—one of her most recent projects has led her to Dhorpatan, Nepal, to assess viable livelihood options and tourism enterprise opportunities. Delphine  Moraldo  is a sociologist and member of the Centre Max Weber (Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon, France). She worked on the historical and social construction of excellence in mountaineering in her book L’esprit de l’alpinisme. Une sociologie de l’excellence, XIXe-XXIe siècle (ENS Editions, 2021). On the same subject, she published several articles in English, among them Moraldo, D. (2020). ‘Women and excellence in mountaineering from the 19th century to the Present.’ The International Journal of the History of Sport, 37(9), 727–747, and Moraldo, D. (2022). ‘Using autobiographies for a sociology of mountaineering.’ Primerjalna književnost, 45(1). She also recently translated Norbert Elias into French. Kate O’Brien  studied Outdoor Education in the Community where her research focus was on women developing a career in outdoor leadership. She has since spent over 15 years working on outdoor programmes predominantly in mountainous environments. Pursuing a Masters in Applied Positive Psychology has allowed Kate to combine her love of outdoor adventure with a deeper understanding of the human mind, supporting

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people to reach their potential. More recently Kate has developed, delivered and evaluated Outward Bound’s first Women’s Specific Outdoor Leadership Course, which includes a focus on mountain leadership. Kate  Russell  is Associate Professor in PE and Sport in the School of Education and Lifelong Learning at the University of East Anglia, UK. Her research interests lie in exploring gender and sexualities in sport, health, and other education settings including teacher training. Her work also focuses on mental health and wellbeing in teacher training and higher education. She practices and teaches mindfulness. Dorothy  Schmalz  is an associate professor and Interim Chair of the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism at the University of Utah. Her research focus is on the relationships between recreation and leisure on health and wellbeing, with a particular focus on the social psychology of stigma and prejudice as they affect access to and engagement in naturebased recreation. She and some colleagues recently launched Nature and Human Health-Utah, a research and practice collaborative designed to increase equity and access to nature and outdoor recreation and to better understand the links between nature exposure and human health. Kim  White  is from St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Kim has a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Education from the Memorial University of Newfoundland. Her diverse career spans literacy, adult education, prior learning assessment, career and employment services, poverty reduction and community development as well as accessibility and inclusion. She has worked in both the private and public sectors, but most of her career has been in the community-based sector which she is very passionate about. Kim has lived with a physical disability since age three and uses braces and crutches as well as a manual wheelchair for mobility. Kim worked in the public sector supporting the development of the Provincial Strategy for the Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities—Newfoundland and Labrador, which led to her advocacy work around inclusion and accessibility. It was, however, Kim’s own lived experience with ageing with a disability and recent health changes that kickstarted her focus on inclusion in recreation, sport and physical activities. With support from Dr TA Loeffler, Professor at the School of Human Kinetics and Recreation, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Kim is exploring the world of adaptive physical activities for her own health and well-­being. Her goal in sharing these explorations with others is to support more opportunities

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for persons with disabilities to live full and active lives. Kim has been involved in many facets of inclusion including the accessibility of performance arts and integrated dance as well as providing support to the Deaf community in Newfoundland and Labrador. Kim received the 2018 Newfoundland and Labrador Human Rights Award for her work in the community-based sector and as a disability rights advocate. Jennifer Wigglesworth  is an assistant professor in the Outdoor Recreation and Tourism Management Program at the University of Northern British Columbia. Her research program grows out of her passion for social justice in the outdoors. Jennifer is interested in asking questions about justice, equity, and inclusion across the contexts of outdoor recreation, sport, tourism, and education. Her doctoral project explored rock climbing through feminist perspectives. She studies climbing experiences with respect to different categories of identity and structures of power. She also analyzes the cultural politics of naming practices in outdoor communities.

List of Figures

Fig. 7.1 Fig. 12.1 Fig. 12.2 Fig. 12.3 Fig. 12.4 Fig. 12.5 Fig. 12.6 Fig. 12.7 Fig. 12.8 Fig. 12.9 Fig. 12.10

The rhizomatic Mexican-mestiza women mountaineer body. (Source: Author) 120 Into the Mountain. 2019. (Image Felicity Crawshaw) 221 Into the Mountain. 2019. (Image Felicity Crawshaw) 222 Education pack example. Into the Mountain. 2019. (Design Maeve Redmond) 224 Saffy Setohy (group facilitator) reading extract from Shephers’s prose. Into The Mountain. 2019. (Image Felicity Crawshaw)225 Margaret Kerr and Kathy Grindrod (group facilitator and mountain leader). Into the Mountain. 2019. (Image Felicity Crawshaw)226 Participants during the walk explored ecological details. Into the Mountain. 2019. (Image Felicity Crawshaw) 226 The choir in rehearsals. Into the Mountain. 2019. (Image Felicity Crawshaw) 228 Audience and dancers Keren Smail, Caroline Reagh, Petra Söör, Claricia Parinussa, Jo Hellier. Into The Mountain.2019. (Image Felicity Crawshaw) 229 Claricia Parinussa, Into the Mountain. 2019. (Image Felicity Crawshaw)231 Dancers: Keren Smail, Caroline Reagh, Petra Söör, Claricia Parinussa, Jo Hellier. Into The Mountain. 2019. (Image Felicity Crawshaw) 232

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List of Tables

Table 7.1 Table 7.2

Participant demographics 114 The rhizomatic body: Mexican-mestiza women mountaineering115

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CHAPTER 1

Introduction: Contextualising Gender and Transformational Spaces in Mountaineering Adventure Sports and Leisure Jenny Hall, Emma Boocock, and Zoë Avner

This book is the first edited collection to offer an intersectional account of gender in mountaineering adventure sports and leisure. It provides original theoretical, methodological and empirical insights into mountain spaces as sites of socio-cultural production and transformation. The popular perception of sporting adventure is saturated with notions of European

J. Hall (*) York St John University, York, UK e-mail: [email protected] E. Boocock Northumbria University, Newcastle, UK e-mail: [email protected] Z. Avner Deakin University, Victoria, Australia e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 J. Hall et al. (eds.), Gender, Politics and Change in Mountaineering, Global Culture and Sport Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29945-2_1

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exploration and colonisation that have been prolifically relayed and romanticised through adventure stories. Adventure is part of who we are and has its origins in exploration, science and war (Kirk, 2021). Simply put, adventure is different from everyday life and entails a sensory knowledge formed of risk, exclusivity and elitism (Cater, 2013). Yet, as Cater (2013, p.  9) notes “adventure has an underlying masculinist imperative that is culturally constructed” and thus gendered. Moreover, adventure as an object of knowledge is materialised within adventurous masculinised bodies as semiotic generative nodes that symbolise, and are sedimented in adventure environments (Ahmed, 2013). As such, the familiar trope of mountaineering heroism is embodied in the suffering, bravery, strength, speed and risk-taking that are characteristic of this masculinist pursuit. Adventure sports and leisure are inescapably part of a hegemonic global society that works to justify the subordination of those outside dominant norms (Connell, 2005). Accordingly, we treat gender as a broad spectrum where identity is not tied to nature/culture, mind/body and male/female binaries, while recognising the importance of embodiment (Eger et al., 2021). Indeed, historically assigned gender identity continues to have significant consequences, in the worst case by essentialising bodies as having fixed traits (Eger et al., 2021). For example, bodies can be ‘inscribed’ with gendered meanings in relation to the masculine norm in adventure settings that privileges heroic characteristics such as aggression, competition and unwillingness to admit weakness or dependency (after Connell, 2005). Yet, the codification of mountaineering has changed little since the conjoining of Victorian notions of adventure, modernity and manliness evolved in the 1850s as a leisure and nation-building sport (Logan, 2006). This hypermasculine mountaineering legacy based on male institutions and styles of interaction (white middle-class males from the West) has silenced the achievements of those outside the dominant norm (Frohlick, 2006; Hall & Brown 2022; Ortner, 1999; Rak, 2021). Mountaineering is largely a monoculture that excludes those of ethnicity, dis/ability, gender, sexuality and age leading to significant underrepresentation (Frohlick, 1999/2000; Miller & Mair, 2019). Topographically and geographically, femininity is virtually absent in the classification of mountains as sporting adventure and leisure spaces and places. This is indicative of how far current governance structures must go to mainstream gender and address inequality. Women and those of difference are significantly underrepresented in general participation and leadership roles in mountaineering and face discrimination when they do (Allin & West, 2013; Avner et al., 2021;

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Hall, 2018; Hall & Brown, 2022; O’Brien & Allin, 2022). Such inequalities are compounded by a lack of role models, access to appropriate outdoor clothing, poor media representation and the challenges of securing leadership and governance roles and employment in the outdoor adventure industry (Frohlick, 2006; Gray & Mitten, 2018; Morton, 2018; Rak, 2021; Rickly, 2016; Sharp, 2001). Despite these challenges, those of difference are using mountaineering to resist, rather than submit to, these constraints by employing a broad range of strategies that enables their participation (Evans & Anderson, 2018). In doing so, they challenge traditionally gendered discourses in mountaineering and promote alternative mountaineering practices and ways of being in the mountains (Dilley & Scraton, 2010). Although scholarship on gender and inequality in mainstream traditional sports is well-developed (LaVoi & Baeth, 2018; Norman, 2010, 2018; Norman et al., 2018), only a small number of studies have explored gendered inequalities in mountaineering (Evans & Anderson, 2018; Rak, 2021; Warren et al., 2018; Wigglesworth, 2021). And even fewer consider how women and those of diverse backgrounds have sought to actively reshape and extend the narrow material-discursive boundaries of mountain adventure participation and leadership. Rak (2007, p. 115) attributes the lack of research exploring the experiences of those of difference in mountaineering to an emphasis on masculinity in the gender politics of high-altitude mountaineering [which] “has meant that feminist studies of women climbers and women centred expeditions are still rare”. Echoing Rak (2007), Dilley and Scraton’s study on female lifestyle climbers called for scholars researching “serious leisure to take gender seriously” (2010, p.  137). This volume aims to problematise gender in mountaineering adventure sports and leisure by mapping strategies for transformation and social change. Through focusing on the gendered nature of mountain adventure, we first provide a deep analysis of the impact inequalities have on various (intersecting) minority groups before discussing new ways of understanding and practising mountain adventure informed by the intersectional experiences presented in this volume. We are encouraged by MacDonald and Colleagues’ (2016, p.  86) view that sport and leisure scholarship has the potential, through “intersectional sensibilities”, to consider how “intersectional engagements can generate possibilities for feminist thought in movements towards justice”. By exposing the processes that produce discrimination and oppression we aim to appreciate

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how inequalities are historically situated while recognising the heterogeneity of gendered experiences and identities (Watson, 2018). This international collection features contributions from leading and emerging researchers, many of whom are mountaineers. We apply a broad definition to who a mountaineer is, to include mountaineering, climbing, alpinism and mountain walking. Common to all these activities is the embodied nature of performing and making bodily connections between the human and non-human worlds of snow, rock and ice. The volume is interdisciplinary, representing scholars from theoretical as well as applied perspectives across adventure, tourism, sport science, sports coaching, psychology, geography, sociology and outdoor studies. In addition, it offers theoretical and empirical insights across feminist, intersectional, poststructural, humanistic, affective and material adventure sporting perspectives. Ultimately, we aim to appreciate how gender matters in the twenty-first century, and the need for greater efforts to mainstream difference in representations and governance structures if we are to improve equality in adventure sporting and leisure spaces (after Alarcón & Cole, 2019). The volume is organised into four interconnected sections that provide an in-depth analysis of the historical development, experiences and transforming nature of gendered encounters in mountain adventure.

Part I: Transforming the Past: Intersecting Mountaineering Histories Looking back at how women have pioneered and transformed spaces to be mountaineers helps us to understand how women innovated and developed strategies to navigate this hypermasculine environment. In contrast, it also shows how women have been silenced through masculinist governance structures and a paucity of literary and media representations. Kerri Andrews looks back on the pioneering women in the nineteenth century such as Dorothy Wordsworth, who not only transcended social norms and risked social shaming, but also provided rare literary insights into women’s experiences of mountain places. Popularised by the Victorians, mountain adventure and mountaineering led to Europe being coined “The playground of Europe” by writer and mountaineer Lesley Stephen. Delphine Moraldo shows us how masculinities in mountaineering “come about”, impact, and are reproduced through the pervasive culture of manliness

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founded in Victorian sporting traditions. Through Raewyn Connell’s concept of hegemonic masculinity, Moraldo helps us to appreciate how the pattern of gender relations became embodied and reproduced through Victorian ideologies of sporting excellence. The ideological notion of the mountaineering hero, grounded in formal and informal governance structures, has received relatively little explicit examination of the pursuit’s evolution. Following the recent translation of Junko Tabei’s autobiography Jenny Hall and Maggie Miller critically appraise how Junko navigated the gendered landscape of mountaineering to create transformational spaces for herself and a global community of women mountaineers. In doing so, they offer insights into how women craft risk spaces at the intersection of difference and what this can teach us in terms of taking issues of inclusion in spaces of adventure seriously. The authors raise an important point that not only do women and girls belong in the mountains right now, but they have always been there, paving the way!

Part II: Transforming Experience: Intersectionality in Mountain Spaces and Places The impact of gendered, racialised, classist, ableist and heteronormative discourses are explored to illuminate how participants from intersecting excluded groups negotiate and challenge normative discourses in mountaineering. This body of contemporary research begins to conceptualise and redefine mountain adventure participation and leadership and moves us to think how race, gender, dis/ability and sexuality intersect across multi-dimensional axes while problematising how mountain adventure spaces are constructed, performed and reproduced. Thomas Leeder, Kate Russell, Lee Beaumont and Lois Ferguson critically analyse Erin Parisi’s experiences as she attempts to become the first transgender person to summit the seven highest mountains on each continent through her ground-breaking TranSending7 project. The authors explore how Erin negotiates hypermasculinity through performances of ‘stealth’ to maintain some invisibility in mountain spaces. Yet, in contrast, Erin is realising a voice and raising awareness of transgender athletes in mountain adventure that challenges heteronormative discourses. Similarly, Isis Arlene Díaz-­ Carrión draws on Deleuze’s “rhizomatic body” to explore “otherness” in mountaineering and the gendered and racialised experiences of mestiza-­ women mountaineers in Mexico. Díaz-Carrión argues that the rhizomatic

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body episteme can contribute new insights into mountaineering practices in the Global South, particularly in relation to gender and ethnicity. Moreover, Díaz-Carrión demonstrates the role of solidarity and sorority as a mechanism to open mountaineering to women. Through duoethnography, TA Loeffler and Kim White offer a reflective dialogue of being a woman with disability seeking to participate in outdoor activities, and that of a mountain climber academic helping to facilitate those experiences. Through the juxtaposition of their voices, they explore mountaineering through the lens of equitable and inclusive access to mountains and outdoor spaces and share narratives of the sexism and ableism that they have experienced in their life journeys towards access and summits. Drawing from the heated debate about misogynistic, racist and homophobic names assigned to mountains, cliffs and crags that ripped through the climbing community in Canada and the USA in 2020, Jennifer Wigglesworth illuminates a powerful lesson that came from these debates, which is that names can change, and people and organisations can reclaim, decolonise and transform climbing spaces. Through her analysis informed by feminism, anti-racism and anti-colonialism, she discusses the implications of naming practices within a shifting cultural terrain and settler-­colonial state. In doing so, these chapters highlight how alternative discourses can support different, more ethical, inclusive and sustainable ways of being in the mountains and practising mountain adventure sports and leisure.

Part III: Transforming Leadership, Participation and Praxis: Climbing the Mountain of Equity The contemporary adventure mountain guiding industry is founded on structural and institutional inequalities foregrounded in part I of this volume. Indeed, while women have forged successful careers in outdoor spaces, they remain dramatically underrepresented in leadership roles and in terms of their visibility, academic footprint and appreciation of their continued contribution (Gray, 2016). Through an exploration of the structural inequalities experienced in leadership and praxis, this section contextualises how representation within the mountaineering community is constructed and gendered assumptions challenged. Importantly, strategies for overcoming and creating spaces of transformation are offered. Kate Evans, Dorothy Schmalz and Sasha Mader show how women mountain guides are still perceived as intruders in the masculine space of

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mountaineering and are significantly underrepresented. They explore how inequalities are socially constructed and how women navigate the realities of discrimination. They question the role women play in the production of gender in mountain adventure spaces through performing masculinities. Emily Ankers argues that postfeminism offers a useful critical lens to understand women’s lived experiences and a helpful heuristic towards a sustained and meaningful engagement with women’s multifaceted, messy and, at times, contradictory experiences of gender inequality in these settings. To achieve gender parity in outdoor leadership Cressida Allwood and Linda Allin consider the role of men in actively addressing balanced representation in mountaineering leadership contexts in the United Kingdom. They contextualise common issues and suggest responsive gender parity strategies to narrow the paucity of women leaders. In sum, Allwood and Allin offer critical insights into the complexities of working towards bridging the gender gap for women mountain leaders and achieving effective future pathways that not only address numbers but also approaches to diversity and inclusion.

Part IV: Transformational Pedagogies: Creating New Spaces to Mountaineer The benefits of outdoor adventure sports participation have been well-­ established; these include an augmented sense of competence (Laurendeau, 2006) and belonging (Brown, 2016), a sense of escapism from the “trappings of modernity” (Atkinson, 2010; Wood & Brown, 2011), and an enhanced connection with nature and “eco-conscientization” (Brymer & Gray, 2009; Cottrell & Cottrell, 2020). Simone Kenyon and Margaret Kerr describe their collaborative work on “Into the Mountain”, a site-­ relational performance in the Scottish Cairngorm mountains, the area that inspired author Nan Shepherd’s work “Into the Mountain”. Their work draws on interdisciplinary art practices, haptic and somatic-based facilitation from dance and performance contexts, ecopsychology and outdoor education and calls for a relational field that expands more widely not only to include performers and audience, but also to include the more-than-­ human. Kenyon and Kerr’s chapter addresses how women working with people and mountain environments might contribute to emerging decolonial and less anthropocentric narratives. Following on from early pioneers such as Junko Tabei who innovated women-only spaces to

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mountaineer, this section goes on to consider how gender-specific spaces in teaching and learning mountaineering skills can be transformational for aspirant female mountaineers. Through innovating new forms of engagement authors illuminate what, why and how these spaces produce. In doing so, this scholarship moves us forward towards new pedagogical approaches that de-gender and decolonise teaching and learning in mountaineering. Katherine O’Brien explores the experiences of women taking part in the first Women’s Outdoor Leadership Course within the Outward Bound Trust, United Kingdom. Importantly, it considers women’s narratives and experiences on their journey to Mountain Leadership. Through Mezirow’s (1978) Transformational Learning Theory, O’Brien asks us to appreciate the benefits and challenges single-gender courses produce, and the transformational affects women-specific spaces create. The steady growth in girls and women’s participation in adventure sports over the last decade (Breivik, 2010; Morton, 2018) is a welcome development. However, despite this positive increase in participation, feminist research continues to highlight “a gender problem” and enduring social issues and inequalities in adventure sporting contexts (Allin & West, 2013; Hall & Brown, 2022). Emma Boocock uses an autoethnographic approach to critically analyse her experiences of participating in various adventure sport skills courses in the United Kingdom and offers broader reflections on the affordances and limitations of women-specific spaces as a strategy for change. Boocock highlights some common narratives around physical and emotional labour often experienced by women in masculine spaces. She also raises the impact of intended and unintended sexism of instructors and encourages instructors to be more aware of their unconscious bias and assumptions of individuals. Finally, Boocock concludes that although women-specific spaces do not offer a panacea to offset the gender conversation within mountaineering, it does offer the capacity for new affective intensities, experiences and embodiments to support women’s continuation in the outdoors (Avner et al., 2021).

References Ahmed, S. (2013). The cultural politics of emotion. Routledge. Alarcón, D. M., & Cole, S. (2019). No sustainability for tourism without gender equality. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 27(7), 903–919.

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Allin, L., & West, A. (2013). Feminist theory and outdoor leadership. In E. Pike & S.  Beams (Eds.), Outdoor adventure and social theory (pp.  125–136). Routledge. Atkinson, M. (2010). Entering scapeland: Yoga, fell and post-sport physical cultures. Sport in Society, 13(7–8), 1249–1267. Avner, Z., Boocock, E., Hall, J., & Allin, L. (2021). ‘Lines of flight or tethered wings’?: A Deleuzian analysis of women-specific adventure skills courses in the United Kingdom. Somatechnics, 11(3), 432–450. Breivik, G. (2010). Trends in adventure sports in a post-modern society. Sport in society, 13(2), 260–273. Brown, K. M. (2016). The role of belonging and affective economies in managing outdoor recreation: Mountain biking and the disengagement tipping point. Journal of Outdoor Recreation and Tourism, 15, 35–46. Brymer, E., & Gray, T. (2009). Dancing with nature: Rhythm and harmony in extreme sport participation. Journal of Adventure Education & Outdoor Learning, 9(2), 135–149. Cater, C. (2013). The meaning of adventure. In S. Taylor, P. Varley, & T. Johnston (Eds.), Adventure tourism, meanings, experience and learning (pp.  5–18). Routledge. Connell, R. W. (2005/1995). Masculinities (2nd ed.). Polity Press. Cottrell, J. R., & Cottrell, S. P. (2020). Outdoor skills education: What are the benefits for health, learning and lifestyle? World Leisure Journal, 62(3), 219–241. Dilley, R. E., & Scraton, S. J. (2010). Women, climbing and serious leisure. Leisure Studies, 29(2), 125–141. Eger, C., Munar, A.  M., & Hsu, C. (2021). Gender and tourism sustainability. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 30(7), 1459–1475. Evans, K., & Anderson, D. M. (2018). ‘It’s never turned me back’: Female mountain guides’ constraint negotiation. Annals of Leisure Research, 21(1), 9–31. Frohlick, S. (1999/2000). The hypermasculine landscape of high-altitude mountaineering. Michigan Feminist Studies. https://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/ text/text-­idx?cc=mfsfront;c=mfs;c=mfsfront;idno=ark5583.0014.004;g=mfsg; rgn=main;view=text;xc=1 Frohlick, S. (2006). Wanting children and wanting K2: The incommensurability of motherhood and mountaineering in Britain and North America in the late twentieth century. Gender, Place and Culture, 13(5), 477–490. Gray, T. (2016). The “F” word: Feminism in outdoor education. Journal of Outdoor and Environmental Education, 19(2), 25–41. Gray, T., & Mitten, D. (Eds.). (2018). The Palgrave international handbook of women and outdoor learning. Palgrave Macmillan. Hall, J, (2018). Women mountaineers: A study of affect, sensoria and emotion. Thesis, York St John University.

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Hall, J., & Brown, M. K. (2022). Creating feelings of inclusion in adventure tourism: Lessons from the gendered, sensory and affective politics of professional mountaineering. Annals of Tourism Research, 97, 103505. https://doi. org/10.1016/j.annals.2022.103505 Kirk, B. (2021). Adventure Revolution: The life-changing power of choosing challenge. Little, Brown Book Group Limited.. Laurendeau, J. (2006). “He didn’t go in doing a skydive”: Sustaining the illusion of control in an edgework activity. Sociological Perspectives, 49(4), 583–605. LaVoi, N. M., & Baeth, A. M. W. (2018). Exploring the gender divide in current day sport coaching. Routledge. Logan, J. (2006). Crampons and cook pots: The democratization and feminizations of adventure on Aconcagua. In L.  A. Vivanco & R.  J. Gordon (Eds.), Tarzan was an Eco-Tourist (pp. 161–178). Berghahn Books. McDonald, M. G., Adams, M. L., Davidson, J., Helstein, M., Jamieson, K., Kim, K. Y., et al. (2016). Feminist cultural studies: Uncertainties and possibilities. Sociology of Sport Journal, 33(1), 75–91. Mezirow, J. (1978). Perspective transformation. Adult education, 28(2), 100–110. Miller, M., & Mair, H. (2019). Between space and place in mountaineering: Navigating risk, death, and power. Tourism Geographies, 22(4), 1–16. Morton, S. (2018). Using qualitative methodology to better understand why females experience barriers to regular participation in adventure sport in Scotland. Sport in Society, 21(2), 185–200. Norman, L. (2010). Bearing the burden of doubt: Female coaches’ experiences of gender relations. Research Quarterly for Exercise and Sport, 81(4), 506–517. Norman, L. (2018). “It’s sport, why does it matter?” Professional coaches’ perceptions of equity training. Sports Coaching Review, 7(2), 190–211. Norman, L., Rankin-Wright, A. J., & Allison, W. (2018). “It’s a concrete ceiling: It’s not even glass”: Understanding tenets of organisational culture that supports the progression of women as coaches and coach developers. Journal of Sport and Social Issues, 42(5), 393–414. O’Brien, K., & Allin, L. (2022). Transformational learning through a women’s outdoor leadership course. Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning, 22(2), 191–202. Ortner, B.  S. (1999). Life and death on Mount Everest: Sherpas and Himalayan mountaineering. Princeton University Press. Rak, J. (2007). Social climbing on Annapurna: Gender in high-altitude mountaineering narrative. ESC [Internet], 33 (1–2), 109–146. Retrieved September 3, 2018, from https://journals.library.ualberta.ca/esc/index.php/ESC/article/view/9056 Rak, J. (2021). False summit: Gender in mountaineering non-fiction. McGill-­ Queens University Press.

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Rickly, J.  M. (2016). Lifestyle mobilities: A politics of lifestyle rock climbing. Mobilities, 11(2), 243–263. Sharp, B. (2001). Take me to your (male) leader. Gender and Education, 13(1), 75–86. Warren, K., Risinger, S., & Loeffler, T.  A. (2018). Challenges faced by women outdoor leaders. In T. Gray & D. Mitten (Eds.), The Palgrave international handbook of women and outdoor learning (pp. 247–258). Palgrave Macmillan. Watson, B. (2018). Thinking intersectionally and why difference (still) matters in feminist leisure and sport research. In L. Mansfield, J. Caudwell, B. Wheaton, & B. Watson (Eds.), The Palgrave handbook of feminism and sport, leisure and physical education (pp. 313–334). Palgrave Macmillan UK. Wigglesworth, J. (2021). The cultural politics of naming outdoor rock climbing routes. Annals of Leisure Research, 25, 1–24. Wood, M., & Brown, S. (2011). Lines of flight: Everyday resistance along England’s backbone. Organization, 18(4), 517–539.

PART I

Transforming the Past: Intersecting Mountaineering Histories

CHAPTER 2

‘That is the Lady I saw Ascending Snowdon, Alone’: Pioneering Women Mountaineers of the Nineteenth Century Kerri Andrews

Before 1802, mountaineering did not exist. By this I don’t mean there was no such activity, but that there was no such concept. Until Samuel Taylor Coleridge invented it in a letter to his brother-in-law Robert Southey, there was no word to capture the idea of going up a mountain for fun. This should not surprise us because, after all, until quite late into the eighteenth century no one in their right mind did that. As Robert Macfarlane notes in his popular history of mountain-love, mountains, until the mid to late eighteenth century, were considered “aesthetically repellent” (Macfarlane, 2008, p.  15). In one of the most influential books of the eighteenth century, Samuel Johnson had written of his travels in Scotland’s Highlands, that “an eye accustomed to flowery pastures and waving harvests is astonished and repelled by this wide extent of hopeless sterility”

K. Andrews (*) Edge Hill University, Ormskirk, UK e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 J. Hall et al. (eds.), Gender, Politics and Change in Mountaineering, Global Culture and Sport Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29945-2_2

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(Johnson, 1775, p. 84). Nor was Johnson alone in his opinions of mountains as ugly, bare, bleak, unpleasant places—many shared these views. Moreover, mountains were dangerous. The last place that the paths and drove roads, coffin routes and commercial tracks criss-crossing upland landscapes went were to the summits. Instead, routes sought out low passes, efficient lines and the safest ways from place to place. People died in the mountains. One of the most famous cases of this period was that of Sarah and George Green of Grasmere who became lost travelling back from Langdale in 1808. Their bodies were found a week later, their children having been left to fend for themselves in the meantime (Wordsworth, 2002). Dorothy Wordsworth, William Wordsworth’s sister and a keen frequenter of the Lakeland hills, wrote about their story to raise money for the destitute orphans (see Wordsworth, 2002). Mountains, then, were to be avoided on practical as well as aesthetic grounds. It is an irony of the history of mountaineering that the circumstances that gave rise to the coining of the term itself should demonstrate quite so clearly why mountains were viewed with such hostility. In August 1802 Samuel Taylor Coleridge undertook a solo “Circumcursion” of the Lake District over a period of nine days (Coleridge, 1802, p. 848). During that time he ascended Scafell, the second highest mountain in England, alone. As Alan Vardy has noted, “Other than local shepherds, Coleridge was one of the first people to stand on the summit of Scafell, and almost certainly the first ‘tourist’” (Vardy, 2012). It was a pioneering ascent, and Coleridge’s subsequent translation of his experiences into poetry helped transform the moment into mountaineering myth. But while the ascent was sublime, the descent was ridiculous. With no apparent plan—and certainly no accurate map to help him—Coleridge attempted to walk from Scafell towards Scafell Pike, unaware of the great rifts between the two mountains. Heedlessly attempting to drop down the steep sides of one chasm, Coleridge found himself on Broad Stand, now familiar to Lakeland hillgoers as a place best avoided: Wasdale Mountain Rescue’s current advice is that the area is “extremely dangerous”: it has seen “a number of fatalities” (Wasdale Mountain Rescue, 2021). Coleridge in 1802 was very fortunate not to have become an early casualty. Instead, he got lucky, and found a way down that avoided broken limbs and death. Elated at his improbable survival Coleridge wrote to fellow poet Robert Southey—who lived next door to Coleridge’s young family—that he had “Spent the

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greater part of the next Day mountaineering” (Coleridge, 1802, p. 846). This was, as Simon Bainbridge notes, “the first recorded use of the word” (Bainbridge, 2020, p. 3). It was an ignominious beginning. Rather less drama—and a great deal less danger—attended Dorothy Wordsworth’s similarly pioneering, but much less celebrated, mountain climbing in 1818. On 7 October Wordsworth undertook an ascent of the peak Coleridge had been attempting to reach in 1802, Scafell Pike. Wordsworth and her party reached the top of the mountain almost by accident, but despite this Wordsworth’s account of her experiences was, as Joanna Taylor and Christopher Donaldson (2021) observe, “one of the earliest known records of a recreational ascent of England’s highest mountain” (p.  126). Dorothy Wordsworth’s account, which she included in letters to her friends sent shortly after her climb, was the first known to have been written by a woman. Wordsworth, though, did not publish the account herself. Instead, it was taken by her brother William and included in his Guide to the District of the Lakes in 1822 where, stripped of its original author’s name, its full significance to mountaineering history was lost. In appropriating his sister’s experiences William Wordsworth likely did not intend to erase her achievements from the nascent history of mountaineering, but this is effectively what he did. William Wordsworth’s decision to ‘borrow’ his sister’s account seems, in retrospect, loaded with portent, because the history of mountaineering since its beginnings in 1802 has tended to erase, or at best ignore, women’s contributions. Accompanying Dorothy Wordsworth that day in 1818 was Mary Barker, herself a capable walker and climber, but whose name is barely remembered in the history of mountaineering. Around the time that Dorothy Wordsworth was climbing not only Scafell but Helvellyn and other Lakeland peaks, Ellen Weeton, a governess who had worked for a time in the Lake District, was undertaking a solo climb of Snowdon. And in the mid-nineteenth century, the social reformer and writer Harriet Martineau began climbing throughout the Lake District to ‘learn’ the ways of its mountains. In what follows, I will outline the contributions made to the history of mountaineering by Wordsworth, Weeton and Martineau in the sport’s infancy. It is the contention of this chapter that to bring about transformational change in the perceived ‘manliness’ of contemporary mountaineering, we need first to know that women have been present in the mountains from the sport’s beginning.

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Dorothy Wordsworth Climbing Scafell Pike in 1818 was a significant achievement in mountaineering history, but it was by no means the first or only in Dorothy Wordsworth’s mountain-going life. As Simon Bainbridge has noted, Wordsworth’s walking was varied; she was often contented to haunt the lakes and valley bottoms, but she also relished climbing local hills, and came also to enjoy tackling the mountains that loomed above her home in Grasmere (Bainbridge, 2020, pp. 231–2). In 1799 she climbed Helvellyn for the first time, describing the experience in her journal afterwards: Sunday 25th. Rode to Legberthwaite with Tom—expecting Mary—sweet day—went upon Helvellyn, glorious glorious sights—The sea at Cartmel— The Scotch mountains beyond the sea to the right—Whiteside large & round & very soft & green beneath us. Mists above & below & close to us, with the Sun amongst them—they shot down to the coves. Left John Stanley’s at 10 minutes past 12 returned thither ¼ past 4—drank tea heartily—before we went on Helvellyn we got bread & cheese—paid 4/—for the whole—reached home at 9 o’clock a soft grey evening—the light of the moon but she did not shine on us. (Wordsworth, 2002, p. 36)

Wordsworth’s sense of exhilaration at the top of the mountain is palpable, with the repeated ‘glorious’ suggestive of an experience large enough to overwhelm ordered thought. The words whirl us round the whole panorama, barely stopping for breath, and the dashes capture something of the rapidly shifting weather that so often strikes on Lakeland’s summits. Characteristic too of Dorothy Wordsworth’s walking and mountaineering is the documentation of the practicalities. Though here she omits the distance travelled (she usually kept a note of the ground covered on exceptional walks) she records the start and finish time, and the provisions taken. Her account serves, then, not only as the record of an important moment in the early history of mountaineering but also of how early mountaineering tended to be done. When Dorothy Wordsworth wrote to friends about her climb of Scafell Pike in 1818, she was similarly attentive to the detail of how the climb was performed, noting everything from how they travelled to the mountain to how they kept themselves nourished: I must tell you of a feat that she and I performed on Wednesday the 7th of this month […] We left our cart at Seathwaite and proceeded, with a man to

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carry our provisions, and a kind neighbour of Miss Barker’s, a statesman shepherd of the vale, as our companion and guide. We found ourselves at the top of Ash Course without a weary limb, having had the fresh air of autumn to help us up by its invigorating power, and the sweet warmth of the unclouded sun to tempt us to sit and rest by the way […] We had attained the object of our journey; but our ambition mounted higher. We saw the summit of Scaw Fell, as it seemed, very near to us; we were indeed, three parts up that mountain, and thither we determined to go. We found the distance greater than it had appeared to us, but our courage did not fail; however, when we came nearer we perceived that in order to attain that summit we must make a great dip, and that the ascent afterwards would be exceedingly steep and difficult, so that we might have been benighted if we had attempted it; therefore, unwillingly, we gave it up, and resolved, instead, to ascend another point of the same mountain, called the Pikes, and which, I have since found, the measurers of the mountains estimate as higher than the larger summit which bears the name of Scaw Fell, and where the Stone Man is built which we, at the time, considered as the point of highest honour.

Simon Bainbridge has drawn attention to what he terms Dorothy Wordsworth’s use of “chivalric language” to describe the ascent of Scafell Pike, pointing out how she frames her achievement as possible because of “the desire and qualities shared by herself and [Mary] Barker”, indicated by the repeated use of “our” (Bainbridge, 2020, p. 237). For Bainbridge, this kind of heroic description is “normally associated with a masculine tradition of climbing”, but I think it is important to recognise here the evidence that women, at the very beginning of mountaineering as a sport, were also using the language of bravery, accomplishment and daring. Of particular interest in Dorothy Wordsworth’s account, though, is how she blends what we would now consider to be masculine tropes of heroic mountaineering literature (but which her own writing suggests is actually just mountaineering), with much more intimate, homely detail. She notes, for instance, how “at the summit of the Pike there was not a breath of air to stir even the papers which we spread out containing our food. There we ate our dinner in summer warmth; and the stillness seemed to be not of this world” (Wordsworth, 1818, pp. 499–501). It is an idyllic, comfortable scene, with the participants of the climb enjoying an other-­ worldly pause while they eat and take their rest. It is a brief moment because shortly afterwards the party’s guide spots an approaching storm, and urges the women to continue. As the storm breaks, they find shelter, but even the weather is powerless to dim the sense of comfort and

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belonging on this, the highest ground in the country. The squall passes “almost as rapidly as it had come”, leaving the group “free to observe the goings-­on of storm and sunshine in other quarters” (Wordsworth, 1818, p.  501). Watching the weather as it continues northwards, Dorothy is prompted by her elevated position not to consider her own bravery or endurance, but the circumstances of her friends who have chosen another mountain for their day’s pleasure: Skiddaw also had its own rainbows, but we were glad to see them and the clouds disappear from that mountain, as we knew that Mr. and Mrs. Wilberforce and the family (if they kept the intention which they had formed when they parted from us the night before) must certainly be upon Skiddaw at that very time—and so it was. They were there. (Wordsworth, 1818, p. 501)

It is a moment of connection and companionship, with friendship extending over several miles of Lakeland terrain to form a sympathetic bond between mountaineering parties. It is also a lovely description of the squall’s aftermath, with rainbows sparkling on the mountainside, bringing dazzling colour to the fells. While Bainbridge is surely right to note Dorothy Wordsworth’s use of the chivalric, hers is no tale of mere conquest. Instead, mountaineering for Dorothy is a complex blend of personal and joint accomplishment, physical effort, deep-seated friendship and attentiveness to loveliness on multiple scales.

Ellen Weeton In June 1825 Ellen Weeton, a governess from West Lancashire, climbed Mount Snowdon alone. She was already an accomplished and capable walker who, as a young woman, had harboured ambitions to walk the length of Wales solo. The demands of caring for others’ children, and her fear that overnighting at strangers’ homes would not be considered ‘proper’ for a woman, prevented her from achieving this early goal. Later in life, though, Weeton found ways to walk and retain respectability. Now able to pay for proper accommodation, thereby removing the dangers of being seen as an itinerant woman, Weeton toured comfortably around Wales until arriving at Llanberis, determined on reaching Snowdon’s summit.

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By this point, 20 years after the term was coined, mountaineering had gained sufficiently in popularity that a cottage industry of local guides had formed near favoured peaks and routes, along with increasing levels of local infrastructure to support the new tourists. When Weeton climbed the mountain in 1825 she was by no means the first to reach the top, but the way she chose to ascend is worthy of some attention. Writing in the journal she kept throughout much of her adult life—but which was only published several decades after her death—she noted: I saw a gentleman descending with his guide, at a short distance. They espied me. I had already left the regular path a little, merely to quench my thirst; and now deviated a little more, purposely that they might not distinguish my dress or features, lest, seeing me at any other time, they should know where they had seen me; and I should dread the being pointed at in the road or the street as—‘That is the lady I saw ascending Snowdon, alone!’ The guide, seeing I was out of the path (only because he was in it, if he had but known), called out to me, but I was quite deaf. He continued shouting, and I was forced to hear; he was telling me to keep in the copper path, &c. I knew the way perfectly well, for my Map and my Guide had been well studied at home. I could find from what the gentleman said, that he imagined I had called for the guide at his dwelling, and finding him engaged upon the mountain, had gone so far to meet him; for he intreated the man to leave him […] I never turned my face towards them, but walked as fast as I could […] the Guide again giving me some directions—with the best intentions, I am sure. (Weeton, 1969, p. 388)

It is an extraordinary account of a most peculiar encounter. Weeton’s choice of language—that she was forced to hear the guide’s speech—reorients the much-worn trope that women were too fearful of sexual assault to venture outdoors. Here it is Weeton’s independence that is violated, and not by a male body but by the penetration of unsolicited advice—an early example of ‘mansplaining’. Self-sufficient, confident and assured, Weeton’s prowess as a mountaineer was quite sufficient to see her easily to the mountain top, though it was not enough to fully resist the authority presumptuously inhabited by the guide and his client. In a parting shot (aimed, admittedly, only within her own mind and private journal), Weeton imagined the guide descending the hillside “vexed […] that it should be seen that anybody could ascend without him,—and a woman, too!” (Weeton, 1969, p. 388). Climbing a mountain alone in these early

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years of mountaineering was, Weeton’s account would suggest, unusual for anybody to do. Her ascent that day, therefore, merits closer examination. It seems from Weeton’s account that, in addition to ascending without a guide, she took neither water nor map nor guide. Instead, she apparently relied on happenstance and a good memory to see her to the top (and back again). The thought is chilling to the modern mountaineer, schooled in the importance of map and GPS, compass and route finding, as well as the need for sufficient water and food. From comparing other women’s early accounts of mountaineering, though, it seems this was not atypical. Sarah Stoddart Hazlitt, walking in Scotland a couple of years previously, undertook walks and climbs of many miles in length with little more than a slice of bread and an apple in her pocket, with water obtained—or not— from streams happened on by chance. Such choices, though, enhanced these women’s sense of freedom and independence as they climbed—there was no one to tell them where to go or, perhaps more importantly, what to do. Away at last from the importunities of the two unwelcome men, Weeton followed her own plan, which was to “ascend” Snowdon “on the Bettws side, to cross over the summit if practicable, and descend at Llanberris” (Weeton, 1969, p. 389). Such a route added considerably to the difficulty, as Weeton was aware, but she “wished to have an entire range and view down every side” (Weeton, 1969, p. 389). It was an ambitious plan, one that emphasised the mountain’s expansiveness, and which perhaps offered Weeton the greatest opportunity to feel truly free. Indeed, as she climbed she discovered a glorious sense of isolation, writing that “Here I stood, perched on a ridge like a crow on the point of a pinnacle; not a human creature could I see anywhere; for aught I knew, I had the whole mountain to myself” (Weeton, 1969, p.  389). This is not an example of the mountain as a terrifying space, far removed from human concerns and safety and a place to be avoided at all costs—as it might have been thought of in the early eighteenth century. Instead, for Weeton the isolation afforded by the mountain is precious, to be treasured and savoured. Away from human concerns, she is free to be who and what she pleases—and in this moment she pleases to be a crow. Consequently, Weeton can fully inhabit the mountain, to become part of its ecology: to belong. This precious feeling does not, unfortunately, endure. Atop one of Snowdon’s many ridges, the exposure causes something approaching vertigo, which rises to a panic that threatens to overwhelm her:

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Not far before me, the path wound along a most awful precipice. Now I was startled! For the first time. This was wholly unexpected […] I hesitated some time; there was no crossing lower down. I must either return home as I had come, or climb the only way there was […] I had taken the precaution, on coming to Carnarvon, to write my address on a card, both to my lodgings there and my dwelling at Prescot, and wore it in my pocket, so that if any accident should befall me, whoever found me would discover where to apply […] Strange feelings and ideas mingle! The next moment I raised a thought aloft to Him who is the Highest. (Weeton, 1969, pp. 390–1)

Faced with an appalling drop on either side of the ridge, a “road” which goes unmentioned in either of the guides Weeton had read before her ascent (Weeton, 1969, p. 390), her mind wanders to consider what might become of her body should she fall. That she had contemplated the possibility of dying on the mountain before she undertook the climb indicates an impressive matter-of-factness about the realities of mountaineering, but such thoughts were of little practical help in the moment of crisis. Combining bravery with foolhardiness, Weeton pressed forward onto the ridge, though details fall victim to adrenaline: Whilst crossing the ridge, perhaps 100 yds., perhaps 200, or even more, for I was too terrified to ascertain—the precipice on my right and left both, was too much for my head to bear; on my right, if I slipped ever so little, nothing could save me, and Oh! it looked like an eternity of falling; it seemed to my giddy head, half a mile down. (Weeton, 1969, p. 391)

Apparently on the cusp of becoming crag-fast, as Samuel Taylor Coleridge had on Broad Stand, Weeton adopted a novel solution. It was one most unlikely to have been available to Coleridge, and an example of women’s clothing proving helpful to a mountaineer: to draw her “bonnet close over my right cheek, to hoodwink me on that side” (Weeton, 1969, p. 391). Prevented from seeing that which terrified her, Weeton was able to proceed across the ridge and eventually off the mountain. The experience did not result in the appearance of a historic neologism, as it had for Coleridge, but it gave Weeton an enormous sense of personal accomplishment and achievement which she would carry with her for the rest of her life. For all the dangers and difficulties Weeton experienced ascending Snowdon, she still managed to take enormous pleasure from her day of mountaineering. With 12 miles back to her accommodation still to walk in

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the early evening, she “could not help playing truant” from her intended route (Weeton, 1969, p. 392), choosing instead to follow her nose into Snowdon’s many nooks and crannies. This behaviour was typical to Weeton, who loved to explore every aspect of the peaks she climbed, and it had the effect of bringing Weeton back to herself. So comfortable did Weeton feel on the mountain during her descent that she “was very little fatigued” and even “forgot to be frightened, I was so much pleased with the various views, and with the vale and lakes of Llanberis” (Weeton, 1969, pp.  392–3). Looking back up at Snowdon’s heights, Weeton declared herself the “soaring Queen of the Mountains”, arrived at last “amongst my own species again, and on a level with my fellow creatures” (Weeton, 1969, p. 393).

Harriet Martineau By the mid-nineteenth century, tourism to mountainous parts of the British Isles was firmly established, and very popular. High ground was no longer viewed as terrifying, but as spectacular, and people from all walks of life around the country were increasingly drawn to view sublime landscapes, particularly those of the Lake District and Pennines which lay handily close to new industrial cities like Manchester, Sheffield and Liverpool. An expanding network of trains helped bring people from urban centres to the mountains, further increasing the popularity of these places, and making them cheaper. With attitudes towards Britain’s mountains transforming rapidly, there was an increasing demand for guides, maps and other paraphernalia to enable visitors to see the uplands for themselves. Harriet Martineau, a prominent author of various genres— though not previously guidebooks—wrote one of the most popular of the new guides. Appearing in 1855, Martineau’s A Complete Guide to the English Lakes would prove an enormous success, becoming one of the bestselling books in an increasingly crowded market. What makes Martineau’s Guide even more significant than its popularity, though, is that it was based on the author’s own experiences as a Lakeland mountaineer. Harriet Martineau moved to the Lake District in 1845. In the 20 years before this, she had achieved fame as a sociologist, securing the friendship of several prominent American writers in the process, and gained experience in long-distance walking around Scotland and the West Midlands. In the late 1830s, she had also been bedbound for five years by a mysterious

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illness, and it was on the abrupt, and apparently total, easing of this condition that Martineau decided to move to the Lake District from Newcastle. It was a life-changing decision for many reasons, but not least because of how it led to Martineau’s reinvention as a determined mountaineer. Shortly after arriving in the village of Ambleside, where she set about building a home for herself at The Knoll, she wrote to the American essayist and philosopher Ralph Waldo Emerson—with whom she had become friends while touring the United States ten years previously. She was breathlessly excited about the possibilities her new life in the Lakes would afford her: For the first time in my life I am free to live as I please; & I please to live here. My life is now (in this season) one of wild roving, after my years of helpless sickness. I ride like a Borderer,—walk like a pedlar,—climb like a Mountaineer,—sometimes on excursions with kind & merry neighbours,— sometimes all alone for the day on the mountain. (Martineau, 1845, p. 19)

It is a wild and wonderful life that Martineau describes to Emerson, one lived at the very edge of the bounds of civilised society. Wandering the land like a Border reiver, Martineau seems to exist between states, crossing and recrossing the borders between countries, legality and danger. Borderers, pedlars and mountaineers all share, though, great physical endurance and strength, and Martineau’s letter bristles with energy. And while Martineau’s ‘roving’ is at times highly sociable—like Dorothy Wordsworth’s companionable climb of Scafell Pike in 1818—it is also deeply personal, having rather more in common with Ellen Weeton’s determined individualism. Martineau loved the low ground around her home, and rambled for miles between the nearby villages along old routes and rivers, but the summits held a particular significance for her. In later life, after her physical health had once again begun to decline—this time permanently— Martineau wrote in her Autobiography (1877, p. 513) how she approached her walking and climbing in Lakeland: Now, on my recovery, I set myself to learn the Lake District, which was still a terra incognita, veiled in bright mists before my mind’s eye: and by the close of a year from the purchase of my field, I knew every lake (I think) but two, and almost every mountain pass […] Of these joyous labours, none has been sweeter than that of my first recovered health, when Lakeland became

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gradually disclosed before my exploration, till it lay before me, map-like, as if seen from a mountain top

Martineau’s language is of the explorer, of the discoverer of remote lands. It is also the language of the cartographer, keen to chart and measure and quantify, scientifically and systematically. Yet it is also that of the humble student, eager to ‘learn the Lake District’—not its geography, or its history—but as a subject worthy of intense study and effort. And with its closing image, of Martineau stands upon a peak looking down on a land mapped with her body and imagined into totality in her mind. Hers is the view of the experienced climber positioned, perhaps, near the centre of the Lake District near Scafell Pike, around which the rest of the high country appears to revolve. There are similarities with Dorothy Wordsworth’s wheeling, dizzying description, though Martineau’s eye is more focused, and perhaps more commanding. Martineau’s is the more typical ‘summit view’, though unlike other examples of mountain literature, it is not conquest that is achieved here, but revelation. The knowledge that enabled Martineau to experience a sense of revelation atop Lakeland’s mountains was hard-won and detailed at some length in her 1855 Guide. Martineau’s book serves as a guide to the whole of the Lake District, from the lake edges via the best roads to the choicest inns, and eventually to the mountain tops themselves. It is in her descriptions of the highest ground, though, that Martineau reveals her full command of Lakeland. Skiddaw is offered early as a mountain worth climbing, though Martineau cautions about the need to take a guide in language suggestive of long experience: Travellers who know what mountain climbing is, among loose stones, shaking bog, and slippery rushes or grass, with the alternative of a hot sun or a strong wind, and perpetual liability to mist, will not dispute the benefit of having a guide: and novices ought to defer their judgement. If we have seemed to dwell long on this point, it is because warning is grievously wanted. It will probably not be taken by those who need it most; but it ought to be offered. (Martineau, 1855, pp. 91–2)

It is hardly a romantic—as in charming, or Romantic—of the late eighteenth-­century—image of mountaineering, though many will recognise in Martineau’s writing their own experiences of adventures on higher ground. This is a pragmatic view of the mountains, with Martineau

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tailoring her writing to suit the city-dwelling novices most likely to have purchased her book. Martineau was skilled both at mountain climbing and at mountain writing. Similar caution and pragmatism are on display in Martineau’s thorough account of the numerous possible climbs up Helvellyn, what she suspects is the most climbed mountain “in the district” (Martineau, 1855, p. 165). Here, Martineau gives an exhaustive list of the options available to the touring climber, suggestive of the frequency with which Martineau herself ascended this popular summit. There are, she writes, “three modes of ascent from the Grasmere side”, though from Grisedale it “is possible to go on ponies to within half an hour’s walk of the summit”. From Grasmere the more discerning (and hard-working) climber may choose to travel via Grisedale Tarn, Wythburn or Legburthwaite, though the ascent from Wythburn, Martineau writes, while being the shortest, “is much the steepest”. The views from Helvellyn’s summit are more than worth the effort, though, and Martineau (1855) lists them exhaustively. Her eye lingers particularly on the high ground as it moves from “the Scotch mountains” southwards to the Langdale Pikes, which eventually “lead the eye round to the superior summits” standing ‘at the head of Wasdale and Buttermere’ (p. 166). It is a grand view, with Martineau’s detailed prose indicative of a long acquaintance with that higher ground, and a deep love. Martineau’s passion for the mountains is perhaps most clearly demonstrated, though, when she undertakes in her Guide to identify the perfect walk for the time-pressed Lakeland tourist to best experience all that mountaineering has to offer. Having offered detailed descriptions of hikes up Skiddaw, Blencathra, the Langdale Pikes (complete with options for descending into Easedale or Borrowdale), ‘Scawfell’, the Kentmere round, as well as Helvellyn, Martineau turns to Fairfield, situated high above Grasmere. In a chapter dedicated to considering “A Day on the Mountains”, she informs the reader that before he leaves the old county of Westmoreland “He must spend a day on the Mountains: and if alone, so much the better”, because “If he knows what it is to spend a day so far above the every-day world, he is aware that it is good to be alone” (Martineau, 1855, p. 57). He must also go equipped with a “stout stick”, a “knapsack” for provisions (an item that Harriet herself carried on every walk), a “map” to “explain to him what he sees” and a “pocket compass in case of sudden fog” (Martineau, 1855, p. 57). And, of course, a copy of her guide, which is itself “a necessary addition to the literary walker’s kit bag” because it will “guide and shape the traveller’s experience of the

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natural setting” (Easley, 2006, p.  302). After rejecting several possible walks, including the ascent of Coniston Old Man (too long a walk in “for the day’s treat”), and Loughrigg (“not commanding enough”) (Martineau, 1855, p. 58), the Fairfield horseshoe is selected as the perfect walk for the mountain-loving tourist. Having offered a description of the climb, Harriet outlined what the reader-walker might expect to see higher up. The finest point of the whole excursion is about the middle of the cul-de-­ sac, where, on the northern sides, there are tremendous precipices, overlooking Deepdale, and other sweet recesses far below. Here, within hearing of the torrents which tumble from those precipices, the rover should rest. He will see nothing so fine as the contrast of this northern view with the long green slope on the other side, down to the source of Rydal Beck, and then down and down to Rydal Woods and Mount. He is now 2,950 feet above the sea level; and he has surely earned his meal […] The further he goes, the more amazed he is at the extent of the walk, which looked such a trifle from below. (Martineau, 1855, pp. 63–4)

It is a matter of opinion whether the Fairfield horseshoe ever appears a ‘trifle’—it is a long day from Grasmere, with steep climbs out of the valley bottom, but Harriet certainly spoke from her own experience when delineating the great beauties of the climb, and the triumph of ascending to such a height. Her account of the descent from the ridge, though, is sad and regretful—it seems a pulling back or retreat from a special place, or perhaps a special state of being. At Nab Scar, at the end of the horseshoe, the tourist must take his last complete survey; for from hence he must plunge down the steep slope, and bid farewell to all that lies behind the ridge. The day has gone like an hour. The sunshine is leaving the surface of the nearer lakes, and the purple bloom of the evening is on the furthest mountains; and the gushes of yellow light between the western passes show that sunset is near. He must hasten down […] is driven home, and is amazed […] to find how stiff and tired he is. He would not, however, but have spent such a day for ten times the fatigue. (Martineau, 1855, pp. 64–5)

The use of the present tense creates a powerful sense of immediacy in this passage, and underlines the urgency of the descent from the hills with the last of the light. The lyrical description of the mountains at the day’s close does more than this, though, by inviting the reader to experience the

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region’s ‘geography’ through what Alexis Easley (2006, p.  302) has described as “the lens provided by a famous writer, whose interpretation of the landscape is more authentic” because it is rooted in repeated mountaineering and longer acquaintance. In consequence, the Lakeland tourist can access an interpretation that is “more real” than their own, “unmediated experiences and impressions of place” (Easley, 2006, p. 302). Harriet Martineau, as an experienced mountaineer, not only found personal pleasure in climbing, but helped shape the mountain experiences of countless others who sought to literally follow in her footsteps up some of Lakeland’s most iconic peaks.

Conclusion If mountaineering is now experienced as an often gender-segregated sport, it is not because it started out that way. As this chapter has demonstrated, women were present as pioneers of ascents from mountaineering’s very earliest days. Throughout the nineteenth century, as mountaineering became firmly established as a sport across Europe and beyond, women were eager participants, and their presence on mountain summits is attested to by written accounts, photographs and documentary records. From Dorothy Wordsworth’s first climb up Scafell Pike in 1818 to Harriet Martineau’s leading of others up Lakeland’s mountains via her popular Guide, women have sought the thrill of outdoor adventuring for the whole of the two centuries since mountaineering as a concept came into being. Any reassessment of mountaineering and gender, therefore, needs to account for the disparity between the historical evidence of women’s presence as mountaineers, and our perceptions of mountaineering—and mountaineering literature—as male-dominated spaces. If women’s stories have not been told, it is not because they do not exist, but because we have not searched sufficiently hard for them—or not cared to listen to them. By returning those stories to the historical record of mountaineering we will be better placed to understand the contemporary gender dynamics of the sport. Most importantly, we will perhaps then be able to show girls and women that not only do they belong in the mountains right now, but that they have always been there, paving the way.

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References Bainbridge, S. (2020). Mountaineering and British romanticism: The literary cultures of climbing 1770–1836. Oxford University Press. Coleridge, S. T. (1802). Collected Letters of Samuel Taylor Coleridge (E. L. Griggs, Ed., vol. 6), 1956–71. Clarendon Press. Easley, A. (2006). The woman of letters at home: Harriet Martineau and the Lake District. Victorian Literature and Culture, 34(1), 291–310. Johnson, S. (1775). A Journey to the Western Islands of Scotland. Thomas Cadell. Macfarlane, R. (2008). Mountains of the mind: A history of a fascination. Granta. Martineau, H. (1845). Collected letters of Harriet Martineau (D. A. Logan, Ed., vol. 5). Pickering and Chatto. 2007. Martineau, H. (1855). A complete guide to the English Lakes. John Garnet and Whittaker and Co.. Martineau, H. (1877). Autobiography (Vol. 3). Smith, Elder, & Co.. Taylor, J. E., & Donaldson, C. (2021). Footprints in spatial narratives: Wearable technology, active reading, and a new digital literary mapping of Dorothy Wordsworth’s Scafell Pike Excursion. In D.  Punday (Ed.), Digital narrative spaces: An interdisciplinary examination (p. xx). Routledge. Vardy, A. (2012). Coleridge on Broad Stand’, Romanticism and Victorianism on the Net 61. Retrieved January 26, 2021, from https://www.erudit.org/en/ journals/ravon/1900-­v1-­n1-­ravon0834/1018600ar/ Wasdale Mountain Rescue. (2021). Retrieved January 26, 2021, from https:// www.wmrt.org.uk/advice/accident-­black-­spots/scafell-­broad-­stand/ Weeton, E. (1969). Miss Weeton’s Journal of a Governess, 1811–25 (E. Hall, Ed., vol. 2). Augustus M. Kelly. Wordsworth, D. (1818). The Letters of Dorothy and William Wordsworth, Vol. 3: The Middle Years: Part II: 1812–1820 (Ernest de Selincourt, Ed). Oxford University Press. 1969. Wordsworth, D. (2002). The Grasmere and Alfoxden Journals (P. Woof, Ed.). Oxford University Press.

CHAPTER 3

Troubling the Silences of Adventure Legacies: Junko Tabei and the Intersectional Politics of Mountaineering Jenny Hall and Maggie Miller

Introduction: ‘Go climb the Himalayas, by all means, by women alone’ Junko Tabei should be a household name. Her outstanding achievements make her one of the twentieth century’s leading mountaineers, being the first woman to summit Mount Everest (8848 m) in 1975 as part of the Japanese Women’s Everest Expedition (JWEE). This was the second all-­ women’s expedition to ascend a peak over 8000  m in the Himalayas (Claude Kogan’s 1959 expedition to climb Cho Oyu (8188 m) being the first). Inspired at 9 years old following a school trip to climb Mount

J. Hall (*) York St John University, York, UK e-mail: [email protected] M. Miller Swansea University, Swansea, UK e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 J. Hall et al. (eds.), Gender, Politics and Change in Mountaineering, Global Culture and Sport Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29945-2_3

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Nasu-­Dake, mountaineering became central to Junko’s life: during her college years she dedicated every weekend to climbing expressing, “I could hardly explain how much I needed to climb and to be among the peak. The rocky landscape had become part of me” (Tabei, 2017, p. 44). After graduating in 1962 Junko established her reputation as a mountaineer by climbing all the highest peaks, many being first ascents, in the Japanese Alps. Junko was a pioneer in every sense, she defied the ingrained mid-­ twentieth-­century sexism that fixed women in familial and domestic roles (Oakley, 1972). This was particularly challenging in her home country of Japan where social expectations cast women as housewives (Momsen & Nakata, 2010). Undeterred by such challenges, she achieved a successful career as a professional mountaineer by creating women-only spaces and establishing the first all-women’s climbing club (Joshi-Tohan) in Japan to facilitate the Japanese Women’s Everest Expedition (JWEE). In 1992, she became the first woman to climb the highest peaks on all seven continents, and climbed the highest mountains in seventy-six countries, her last ascent being Mount Fuji in 2016. Over her lifetime she took part in 44 all-­ women mountaineering expeditions. Not only a professional mountaineer, but Junko was an accomplished musician, author, environmentalist and guide. Importantly, she was a pioneer in challenging racial, class, age and gender norms concerning the societal expectations of women, and advanced women-only high-altitude expeditions to the Himalayas. Yet, despite dedicating her life to mountaineering, mountain conservation and leading political activism for gender equality, her achievements are marginalised. This chapter explores this lack of recognition, and how Junko’s story crafts a different mountaineering discourse. Specifically, we extend an intersectional analysis of her story, critically appraising Junko’s experiences of inequality and how she navigated them to create space for herself and other women mountaineers. Prior to this we first provide an overview of intersectionality, the gendered nature of mountaineering and how women navigate participation in high-altitude mountaineering. Secondly, the challenges associated with race and gender in the context of Japanese mountaineering in the mid-twentieth century are discussed. Finally, drawing on Junko’s autobiography Honouring High Places, our intersectional analysis of gender and race elucidates how she navigated difference through the processes of inclusion/exclusion to achieve transformational spaces in mountaineering.

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Intersectionality in Tourism and Adventure Mountaineering Mountaineering offers a rich ground for thinking through the impact gender has on adventure spaces through the ways it is reproduced, resisted and reimagined by those outside the dominant norm. Mountaineering as a homosocial, masculinist and colonial pursuit is well documented as an adventure space highly resistant to change (Hall, 2018; Hall & Brown, 2022; Hunt, 2019; Miller & Mair, 2020; Ortner, 1999; Rak, 2021; Wigglesworth, 2021). Rak (2021) shows how “gender issues have worked to shape climbing for all climbers of any gender, in profound ways, particularly the writing of classic ascents”(p. 22), for which there are rich and long literary and film traditions. Mountaineering histories are subject to “selective gendering” and there is a “dearth of minority histories” that perpetuates colonialism (Hunt, 2019, p.  4). Further, Ortner (1999) argued that masculinity and manhood are foundational to mountaineering and when women participate, they are deviant for breaking from dominant notions of femininity tied to domesticity and motherhood discourses (see also Frohlick, 2006; Moraldo, 2013). Thus, gender issues are central to mountaineering identities, and masculinity is a discourse that is taken up by bodies differently at different times (Rak, 2021). For example, Taylor (2006, p. 211) posited that twentieth-century women climbers, in Yosemite, USA, tended to internalise and reinforce “the sport’s classist and imperialistic impulses” as a tactic of survival in this social battleground (Beedie, 2003). Understanding how social categories intersect across multidimensional axes of social distinction (gender, age, class, sexuality, race and disability) offers a way to understand the cumulative effect of multiple forms of discrimination, as well as how these categories overlap and produce independent systems of inequality (Crenshaw, 1989). Yet a small number of scholars have considered how race and gender as identity markers intersect in mountaineering. The intersection between the two has received significant attention within Black feminist scholarship and activism, notably through the work of Kimblerlé Crenshaw (1989). Crenshaw evolved the concept of ‘intersectionality’ through her work on the inequalities African American women experience in both legal and public spheres observing how race, class and gendered subordination are inseparable (Crenshaw, 1989). In tourism scholarship, Chambers (2022, p.  1590) observes a growing recognition that “an intersectional approach to gender provides

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a more nuanced and richer means of understanding the issues affecting women in tourism” (see also Cole, 2017; Figueroa-Domecq et al., 2015; Khoo-Lattimore & Mura, 2016; Mooney, 2018). However, as Mooney (2018, p. 175) notes, “intersectionality in tourism scholarship is limited and there is a critical need to address its ‘Western-centric focus’ and adopt more critical perspectives when exploring difference”. Though there is a growing body of research that considers narratives of those of difference in mountaineering, it too remains largely focused on Western voices (Hunt, 2019; Wilson, 2012). Though Hunt (2019, p. 6) argues, mountaineering “is not the possession of a singular white history”, scholarship that considers diversity and research that explores how social categories intersect in these spaces are largely absent (Rak, 2021). Exceptions include Frohlick’s (2004) exploration of the uneven representational global processes that cast Indigenous Nepali women mountaineers as feminised and racialised mountaineering subjects, and Díaz Carrión’s (2022) examination of the concept of sisterhood and how Mexican-mestiza women mountaineers negotiate gender, race and sexual subordination in Mexican mountaineering. However, the ways gender and race intersect in adventure settings experienced by Asian mountaineers have yet to receive scholarly attention. To meet this gap, like Watson (2018), we take an intersectional approach as a mode of feminist thinking to contextualise the inequalities and differences Junko Tabei experienced as a mountaineer. We recognise that inequality and difference are inextricably linked, situated and contextual across, race, class, gender and sexuality and accept the complexities of heterogeneous gendered experiences (Watson, 2018). Through Junko’s words our approach analyses difference and inequality intersectionally to think about how she constructed new ways to mountaineer for herself and a generation of Japanese women (after Watson, 2018). Furthermore, we aim to understand how social relations are interconnected in ways that continually inform gender structurally as well as how Junko resisted and/or reformulated spaces to mountaineer. We do so, to appreciate how race impacts experiences of gender and vice versa through different power relations (Watson & Scraton, 2013, p. 37). As such, we aim to problematise “dominant positions of knowledge production centred on a middle-class, Western, masculine self” (Haraway, 1988; Watson, 2018, p. 317), by analysing how she navigated race and gender on a global platform. Finally, we also recognise our positionality as white-Western-women scholars. We acknowledge that within this critique we are documenting

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Asian women’s lives and appreciate the challenge of who gets to speak for whom (Ahmed, 2006). Our intention is to tread a careful line to consider the transforming potential of exploring spatial and embodied experiences in adventure, to nuance the interconnections between the power relations and social processes working across gender, race and class in twentieth-­ century Japanese mountaineering.

Intersectionality and Mountaineering in Twentieth-Century Japan In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries European notions of mountains as sites of leisure were highly influential in Japan. Eighteenth-­ century Western perceptions of the natural landscape that evolved during the Enlightenment “became an essential part of the modern Japanese mind” during the Meiji era (1868–1912) (Fujioka, 2002, p.  284). As founder of the Japanese Alpine Club, writer, mountaineer and banker Kojima Usui (1873–1948) adopted the new scientific-aesthetic of the industrialising West and pioneered the highly influential modern genre of sangaku kikobun (alpine essay or literature) that fuelled the popularity of mountaineering as a leisure pursuit throughout the twentieth century (Wigen, 2005). Yet, very little of the literary heritage chronicling achievements of Japanese alpinists, mountaineers and mountaineering expeditions have been translated into English or European languages. This is true of countries with notable mountaineering heritages across Asia, including China, Korea, India, Pakistan and Nepal. Indeed, these linguistic barriers exacerbate cultural misinterpretations that perpetuate racist Orientalist stereotyping and cast “them as ‘other’ to the history of climbing” (Rak, 2021, p. 22). Furthermore, both male and female Asian climbers are often feminised and infantilised by Western writers “who do not understand the thoughts, feelings, and motivations of these climbers” (Rak, 2021, p. 23). Regardless of gender they are often othered, and perceived as reliant on the help of guides or ropes/technical aids, too collaborative, old-fashioned and lacking knowledge or experience. Rak (2021) shows how John Krakauer’s account of the 1996 disaster on Everest, arguably the most successful mountaineering book ever written, portrays those other than the dominant norm as incompetent, weak, ruthless or inexperienced. For example, Krakauer insinuates that Taiwanese climber Gau Ming Ho is “overly

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ambitious and callous about the worth of human life”, claims that damaged Gau’s reputation. Worst still Krakauer represents mountaineer Yasuko Namba, one of the most acclaimed climbers in Japan at the time, as “the meek, deferential stereotype of a middle-aged Japanese woman” (Krakauer, In Rak, 2021, p. 23). Rak (2021, p. 24) suggests that such representations “circulate as they do because there has been little opportunity to think about the discourse of masculinity and European, Western whiteness that keeps them so current”. Indeed, depictions of non-Western and women mountaineers are often unfair, passive and perpetuate stereotypes and representations that silence difference, even in recent climbing accounts and mountaineering media. For example, when the extraordinary image of over 220 people queuing to summit Mount Everest on 22 May 2019 was shared, (Arnette, 2019) only 29 (13%) of the 220 mountaineers were women. Interestingly, 23 (79%) of the women ascending Everest on that day were from Asian countries (R. Salisbury, Himalayan Mountain Trust, personal email, 14 April 2021). Yet, we know little of their stories. Despite a booming adventure tourism industry and the rapid commodification of high-altitude mountain places (Cater, 2013), it is alarming that in the twenty-first century, so few women are represented and even less so Asian mountaineers of any gender. It is not then surprising that it took 42 years before an accurate English translation of Junko’s story was published in 2017. As such, this chapter follows Chambers (2022, p. 1586), who advocates that “an intersectional approach to gender is vital as it rejects reductionist views of women’s experiences in tourism and the attendant power relationships that such an approach (re)produces” to appreciate the achievements of adventurous women of difference.

Intersectional Experiences in Japanese Women’s Mountaineering: “Let’s go on an overseas expedition by ourselves” Performing Masculinities Through Male Allyship Undoubtedly, the rise of a Japanese women’s-only culture in mountaineering proved enormously fruitful for Junko Tabei; however, male allyship and performing masculinities also played a key role in her development as a mountaineer. In 1956, a male Japanese team claimed the first ascent of

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the Himalayan peak Manaslu (8163 m), which heralded a sense of nationalism and belief in Japan’s economic revival. During this time, women experienced significant social constraints, whereby national imperialism, colonialism and hypermasculine cultures were prevalent, limiting women’s participation in mountaineering (Hansen, 2013; Rak, 2021). Japanese culture, however, despite traditional familial structures where women were expected to demonstrate modesty and a sense of duty, supported gender equality within education. From the early twentieth century, Japanese women and girls were afforded equal access to education and in 1905, at the same time the Japanese Alpine club was founded, there were over a hundred girls’ schools in Japan (Seiwa & Funahashi, 1982). Mountaineering was a feature of school life and was to prove pivotal for Junko when Watanabe-sensei (male primary school teacher) took her class to the mountains to climb Mount Nasu. This was life-changing for her, “my initial sense was that it was not competitive, unlike other sports … No matter how slow a person walked, they could reach the summit … I also understood that in mountain climbing, no matter how hard the struggle … one had to complete the task themselves” (Tabei, 2017, p.  40). Watanabe-sensei was so influential that Junko attributed becoming an “accomplished climber due to having met my Grade 4 teacher” (Tabei, 2017, p. 40). As a young girl, gender was seemingly not a barrier to climbing mountains but rather a route to well-being, leisure and religious spirituality through connecting deeply with nature and ancient traditions of Shinto Mountain pilgrimage (Seiwa & Funahashi, 1982). Herein, Japanese girls and women crossed intersectional boundaries to access education, were culturally empowered to enjoy mountain environments and experienced fluidity across gender by engaging in masculinities such as enduring physical hardship and self-sufficiency. We argue, this acted as a catalyst for girls and women to evolve their own mountaineering spaces. Whilst at college, Junko sent letters to her father about her adventures in the mountains. Understanding the importance of mountains in her life, he would respond “Hiking is good for your health…take care of your health” (Tabei, 2017, p. 44). Her father’s approval was crucial to her early development as a mountaineer and provided “a lifetime of great guidance” after his death (Tabei, 2017, p. 45). However, Junko’s mother disapproved and constantly pressured her to marry. This resulted in Junko hiding her activities, reflecting that “little did they know, the very activities my family wished for me to ignore had become everything to me” (Tabei, 2017, p.  53). Although conflicted between mountains and duty, she

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reflected, “I tried to picture myself as a traditional Japanese wife who followed her husband. The idea never sat well with me”. When she finally announced she would marry accomplished climber Masanobu Tabei, her mother objected declaring Masanobu “an insignificant man without a university degree” (Tabei, 2017, p. 58). It was Masanobu’s shared love of mountaineering that was critical to Junko building a successful mountaineering career. When Junko had doubts about her abilities while organising her expedition to Everest, Masanobu not only supported Junko but undertook the main caring role for the family, I caught myself a few times wondering how much simpler it would be for a single woman with no children to organize herself for a trip of this magnitude. Then Masanobu stepped in: “Don’t worry about us. Trust me to provide a good life here in Japan. Focus only on yourself and your team; complete your mission from your heart without regret.” His words allowed me to move forward. (Tabei, 2017, p. 140)

Masanobu’s selflessness, collaboration and sense of equality in familial responsibilities enabled Junko to pursue a professional mountaineering career. She reflected, “his support was the true base to my continued success in the mountains” (Tabei, 2017, p. 77). Furthermore, through resisting her mother’s demands to choose a ‘suitable’ husband, Junko transcended both class and gender boundaries to build the relationships needed to become a professional mountaineer. In her early career, Junko practised masculinities and femininities fluidly, while male allyship continued to prove crucial for managing the inequalities she experienced. Though mountaineering clubs were open to women members, Junko was in a minority. She would often climb and share a tent with male climbing partners to realise her own goals, but was subject to significant emotional labour due to rumours of impropriety concerning her relationships with men. In contrast, Junko’s male climbing partners were not affected by such gossip, but it was a price she “could endure if it meant continuing to climb” (Tabei, 2017, p. 48). One male climbing partner Koichi Yoko-o became her mentor, His repeated words of simple advice made me a better climber … he took me everywhere, even though a woman climber was a rare sight in Tanigawa. I ignored the rumours that began to spread about us. After three years of climbing together, I was capable of mastering quite difficult routes. (Tabei, 2017, p. 48)

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Junko absorbed everything climbing-related from Yoko-o, which instilled a sense of self-sufficiency and legitimacy. Despite her small stature, making it difficult for her to follow Yoko-o on approaches to climbs, his mantra “I don’t climb with anyone weak” had an affirming effect on Junko. It made her believe, “I could climb anywhere with him … We were connected by a deep trust, not romance, in a dangerous environment where a mistake could cost a life, pleased me” (Tabei, 2017, p. 51). Acutely feeling her difference, Junko adopted masculine mountaineering tactics, by performing masculinities, such as bravery, strength and technical ability to prove herself in the mountaineering club scene. However, the inequality and power imbalance perpetuated by romantic perceptions and gossip became untenable. This led Yoko-o to encourage Junko to end their partnership: “Go to 8000 meters. You’re ready to lead with female partners. Try that from now on”. Her, gender was a catalyst to seek and build women-only climbing spaces (Tabei, 2017, p. 48). Performing masculinities and male allyship were instrumental in Junko’s development as a mountaineer. The space, collaboration and sharing of knowledge that male interactions afforded Junko were critical to her success in climbing the highest peaks in the world. Though these encounters led to her involvement in women-only spaces, they also encouraged a fluidity between masculinities and femininities, which helped Junko navigate class, age, gender and racial prejudice on the mountainside. Pioneering New Spaces The relentlessness of the winter mountain environment surprised me … It was exhilarating to know what cold and scared really felt like. (Tabei, 2017, p. 45)

Junko, like other female contemporaries, were proving they were capable and possessed endurance, technical ability and determination to summit high-altitude peaks. Japanese women mountaineers eventually held significant positions in the mountaineering community, making many first ascents, and transcending cultural and gender boundaries. Many of her early achievements in the Japanese mountains were in partnership with accomplished climber Rumie Sasou, and although “routes took longer to climb with a female partner”, Junko “felt more rewarded by the accomplishment. … Being physically more equal to one another seemed fairer to me” (Tabei, 2017, p. 53). From the late 1950s onwards a strong tradition

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of women’s-only Alpine ascents evolved, with Japanese women’s climbing teams having several key successes in the Peruvian Andes, India, Pakistan and Europe. Yoshiko Wakayama and Michiko Imai became the first all-­ women’s team to ascend the North Face of the Matterhorn, Switzerland, in 1967, and the scene was set for Japan’s female mountaineering elite to tackle the greater ranges in Nepal. Yoshiko Wakayama, Junko Tabei and two other seasoned overseas mountaineers Eiko Miyazaki and Michiko Sekita initiated the Japanese Women’s Annapurna Expedition (JWAE) in the Himalayas to climb Annapurna III (7555 m). In 1969, to help identify suitably experienced women to participate in the JWAE expedition, Junko helped to establish Japan’s first Ladies Climbing Club (Joshi-Tohan), which was founded on the slogan Let’s go on an overseas expedition by ourselves. For the first time, women had a formal space to profile their achievements and ambitions and build a support network. The club was a catalyst that saw Junko and Hiroko Hirokawa become the first climbers and women from Japan to ascend the Annapurna III by a new route. Culturally, such an egalitarian and collaborative approach was to be crucial to the success of a whole generation of Japanese women climbers. In an interview Junko explains a key reason for seeking women-­ only climbing spaces, I have also felt differences between all woman climbing expeditions and mixed expeditions. I find that men have more pride, and want to always go up first and faster, even one step faster. I never feel a sense of racing, but often because I usually go quite fast, I pass many men and they look at me in a funny way! Men have a high sense of pride! (In McDonald, Tabei, 2020)

The Japanese Women’s Annapurna Expedition (JWAE) was founded on “fellow cooperation and open communication… and decisions were to be made on a team basis, not for personal gain” (Tabei, 2017, p.  75). Subsequently, collaboration proved fundamental to the success of the Japanese Women’s Everest Expedition (JWEE), which consisted of a diverse team of fifteen women, who worked together for four years to realise the first female ascent of Everest. Junko reflected, Standing on the summit of Everest lasted a moment in time, a moment that resulted from the joint effort of all the women on our team…It was our combined determination that made the summit moment a significant one. There lies the most precious thing about our trip; teamwork and commitment to the goal. (Tabei, 2017, p. 206)

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Collaborative action was not only pivotal to performing mountaineering but also extended beyond the mountain to realise a new space for literary representation. Despite her many achievements, Junko experienced prejudice and misrepresentation in literary and media interviews that often focused on her physical appearance rather than her mountaineering achievements. For example, in Western literary publications, she was referred to as a “bespectacled ex-schoolteacher from Tokyo” and experienced sexist claims that she was unable to ascend Everest without male help; “Ang Tshering led the whole way and she followed as best she could …The route was too steep and too long for a woman” (Unsworth, 1991, p. 462). Rak (2021) argues that such representations feminise Junko’s achievements as a mere curiosity and casts her as an amateur figure. Epitomised in “Messner’s sexist and racist assessment of Tabei, which is that, more important than her strength or experience as a climber, Tabei has “Oriental” and above all, is a good wife and mother” (Rak, 2021, p. 66, in Blum, p. 7). A representation that arose from his interview with her after summiting Everest “He asked me very directly if I climbed as a woman or a human being. I was quite surprised that he asked me this, as I always climb as a human being” (In McDonald, Tabei, 2020), a question repeatedly asked by all the media was how it felt as a woman, which baffled her. Junko did not understand the inability to see beyond her gender and inquire more deeply about the experiences of mountaineering “There is more to us; we all come from somewhere” (Tabei, 2017, p. 35). Moreover, a focus on her appearance reinforced that small Japanese women do not fit the ideological norm of a ‘heroic mountaineer’ (she was 4’9” tall). Junko lamented, When people meet me for the first time, they are surprised by my size. They expect me to be bigger than I am, more strapping, robust, like a wrestler … I was always puzzled by this, by people’s obsession with the physical appearance of a mountaineer. (Tabei, 2017, p. 35)

To counter these narratives, Junko created a new literary space by publishing articles and books about expedition life. She shared “what people said and how they felt” offering candid accounts of the emotions, tensions and rivalries experienced personally and collectively within the expedition team (Tabei, 2017, pp. 120–121). This challenged Japanese mountaineering publishing traditions by not glossing over the harsh realities of camp life. Junko was critical of the flowery and vain writing style of Japanese

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expedition reports that did not accurately record the “unkinder side of human behaviour” and had led to “cultural doubt” forming about individual male mountaineers who had been forced to leave Japanese high-­ altitude expeditions (Tabei, 2017, pp.  120–121). Such honesty was expressed in the published account, Annapurna: Women’s Battle, which was criticised for sharing “the feelings of the team members when things failed to go in the direction they had envisioned…we put our honest experiences on paper” (Tabei, 2017, p. 120). The book was politically charged expressing how the team navigated masculinities and femininities by expressing the raw emotions and feelings experienced (Tabei, 2017, p. 69). However, the book has yet to receive attention in the West and has not been translated into any European languages, its emotional frankness precluding it from being recognised as a mountaineering adventure classic. Junko’s contextualisation of how and why women climb 8000 m peaks was a political act to break gendered and racial stereotypes. Importantly, Rak (2021, p. 188) notes “that Tabei’s decision to recount the life story and motivations of other female climbers in…her memoir is an act of intersectional climbing feminism and it performs important political work”. For example, Junko represents Tibetan mountaineer Pan Duo, the second woman to summit Everest, making the first ascent from the Tibetan side in 1975. Junko challenges the misrepresentation of Pan Duo in Western literature, which fails to use Pan Duo’s correct name that Rak (2021, p. 188) argues provides a “counter narrative to the story of mountaineering as the story of male achievement and heroism”. Junko actively crossed racial and gender boundaries to represent the stories of other women mountaineers. The JWAE Annapurna III expedition not only pioneered a new route on the mountain, becoming the first Japanese team and the first women to do so; they innovated a new way to conduct women-only high-altitude expeditions and write/publish about their experiences. The team knew that “both accomplishments stirred the pot from the start” making a global statement that not only women, but Asian women had the expertise, skills and tenacity to “Go climb the Himalayas, by all means, by women alone” (Tabei, 2017, p. 69). JWAE had crossed racial and gendered intersections on a global scale, forging new spaces of inclusion for those of difference. After the success of JWAE, Joshi-Tohan started to plan the next expedition to summit Mount Everest.

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Crossing Boundaries of Leadership, Gender and Motherhood: Japanese Women’s Everest Expedition (JWEE) Fifteen women were recruited for the Japanese Women’s Everest Expedition (JWEE) to make the first all-women’s expedition to ascend Mount Everest, under the leadership of Eiko Hisan. Junko was appointed assistant leader. Although the women wanted to maintain financial independence, the major newspaper The Yomiuri Shimbun in conjunction with its branch of the Nippon Television Network Corporation agreed to be JWEE sponsors. This unlocked sponsorship from numerous sources including government departments giving an air of legitimacy to the expedition that proved crucial in bringing JWEEs achievements to a global audience. Whilst the socially ingrained ethos of collaboration was foundational to Japanese mountaineering expeditions, requiring Junko to remind herself to “cooperate with everyone and avoid any drama” (Tabei, 2017, p. 76) even when personalities clashed, she was compelled to innovate a new style of leadership. Junko’s approach to leadership was to challenge entrenched Japanese tropes, such as remaining stoically silent when suffering from altitude sickness or injury, not admitting ignorance, or not wanting to seem to be different. She had to break free of being “seen as a good person, one who pleased both leader and team members … A social teaching that was deeply rooted in me when I was young girl” (Tabei, 2017, pp. 121–122). Junko found such normative values, made it difficult to stand by tough choices that were required on the mountain. It was unusual enough to be a female climber in that era of yesteryear, let alone to make a stand in front of your friends that would possibly upset them. (Tabei, 2017, pp. 121–122)

The crucial lesson Junko learned from Annapurna III was that “the old ways had failed me. Behaving as a social butterfly does not work in mountaineering … there is no time for mixed messages … a person must be able to voice her opinion without worrying about criticism”; this changed her life and “once more mountains were my teacher” (Tabei, 2017, p. 122). Junko drew on lessons learned from Annapurna III and transcended social norms to make hard decisions and dismiss team members if they challenged her leadership. But this was not without consequence, “I remained strong-willed about Everest, but tears of doubt fell down my cheeks at

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night”. She would turn to her daughter and say “Mom will fight! Get going, Junko!” (Tabei, 2017, p.  135). Junko transcended social norms and cultural traditions, adopting masculine as well as culturally different (Westernised) ways to lead women-only high-altitude mountaineering expeditions. Tough leadership, and in some instances an autocratic approach, was required to navigate the extreme prejudice Junko experienced, notably one aspect of this concerned becoming a working mother. Interestingly, at a time when women in Japan were largely expected to remain at home, most of the JWEE women were working and two including Junko had children. The expedition faced considerable resistance “most of the men in the alpine community were against our plan, saying that it would be impossible to go to Everest on a women’s-only expedition” (In Frenette, Tabei, 2017). At the time, Japan was in an economic recession and sponsorship was not forthcoming. The women received many rebuttals from major corporations insinuating, “Raise your children and keep your family tight rather than do something like this” (Tabei, 2017, p. 136). Being a married woman with a small infant and appointed assistant expedition leader for the JWEE, Junko faced additional social challenges of managing the demands of motherhood and mountaineering. Like many mother mountaineers she expressed, “Although I would never forfeit Everest, I felt pulled in the two directions of mountains and motherhood” (Tabei, 2017, p. 132). Junko was caught at the intersection of diametrically opposed discourses of being absent from home in the selfish pursuit of risk, in contrast to normative notions of domesticity of being tied to children and homelife (Frohlick, 2006). This was met with unsympathetic attitudes expressed by other team members when the demands of expedition planning clashed with childcare; one commented, “In  other climbing parties, progression of a trip was dependent on the assistant leader’s positive attitude. Perhaps we need an assistant leader who doesn’t have children” (Tabei, 2017, p. 134). This produced significant emotional labour, resulting in performing an astounding work rate to secure her legitimacy as an assistant leader: “I knew more effort was required for a married woman with a family to pursue an expedition of this grandeur. I worked relentlessly to establish a solid home life for my daughter while remaining 100 per cent committed to the team” (Tabei, 2017, pp.  134–135). Masanobu’s support was critical, insisting “‘everybody should commit equally, regardless of their situation” (Tabei, 2017, p. 131). Junko’s tenacity underpinned by familial support enabled her to cross gendered cultural boundaries creating fluidity between masculinities

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and femininities, and forging a new discourse and space for women to be mountaineers. However, her racial identity in tandem with gender was also a barrier she had to navigate. Crossing Boundaries of Gender and Race: Creating Spaces of Cultural Exchange On both Annapurna III and Everest, collaboration with the Indigenous communities was critical to the expedition’s success, taking a pragmatic approach Junko reflected that “a women’s only ascent, without Sherpa assistance, was never discussed”, astutely assessing that without the support they were unlikely to achieve their goal (Tabei, 2017, p. 157). On the approach to Annapurna III, Junko was nervous that their access to base camp would be impeded by rumours of negative gendered views held by Indigenous Peoples inhabiting the last village, Chomrong. Although rumoured to be “no country for women”, and a women-forbidden village, Chomrong turned out to be supportive of JWAE declaring “We’re for the women’s party” and organised a big party to welcome them. In contrast, Chomrong had refused support for Chris Bonnington’s British expedition that season. Perhaps news had travelled to Chomrong about the racial discrimination Tibetan porters had experienced with talk of “the British team Manager not wanting Tibetan porters” (Tabei, 2017, p. 90) yet, she notes, “we found them to be the hardest working of all the porters…one-hundred-and-forty porters were gathered… all walks of life were amidst this colourful tribe” (Tabei, 2017, p.  90). Junko reflected that “History had occurred, A new wind had blown through this remote place in the Nepali Himalaya, changing a land that once forbade women to one that welcomed them. We left there in peace” (Tabei, 2017, pp. 93–95). JWAE transcended both gender and racial boundaries by creating a positive exchange at the intersection of racial and cultural differences. During the Everest expedition, Junko observed, “a porter’s job was not only pursued to earn money but also for the rare chance to interact with other cultures, and our women-only Everest expedition added even more diversity to the cause” (Tabei, 2017, p.  147). The representation of Indigenous Peoples is rarely found in European mountaineering texts from this period and when reference is made to both climbers and porters from Asian countries such as Japan or Nepal are often misrepresented (Rak, 2021). Although it is impossible to appreciate the oppressions or

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experiences of the Indigenous Nepali labourers and climbers who participated in the Japanese expeditions during this period, Junko’s literary representations of Indigenous Peoples are rare glimpses of the cultural exchange experienced between the expedition and Nepali expedition workers. The JWEE’s interest in cultural exchange was embodied through deeper connections to language and religion, Junko notes, “There was no sweeter sound than the porters announcing the mountain to us in Nepali: ‘Memsahib, Sagarmatha’” (Tabei, 2017, p. 148). The women actively participated in learning religious teachings. To ask for a safe passage before beginning an ascent, Sherpa trained as lamas or teachers “were able to lead us in the proper chants for the occasion. The ritual was quite beautiful” (Tabei, 2017, p.  154). When encountering danger, the women found themselves chanting “Om mani padme hum along with the Sherpas as we crossed the monstrous chasms” (Tabei, 2017, p. 158). The women strived to build lasting and respectful relationships with their Sherpa counterparts. During their Everest summit bid, Junko described her relationship with Sidar Ang Tsering Sherpa (lead mountain guide), “I would never do anything to upset him, for the faith of the Sherpas is one to uphold … Not only were we climbing partners, we were friends” (Tabei, 2017, pp. 185–186). Junko transcended racial boundaries to create meaningful exchange between cultures and recognised the impact this could have on building future relationships between local people, the environment and international mountaineering tourism. This was reflected not only in her writing but also in her mountain conservation work. Crossing international boundaries Junko became a global advocate for gender equality. Pioneering International Gender Equality At 12.30 p.m. on 16 May 1975 Junko Tabei stood on the summit “Here is the summit. I don’t have to climb anymore”, she declared (Tabei, 2017, p. 193). The news travelled fast in Nepal producing national celebrations and congratulations from Nepal’s King Birendra, prime minister and other government officials. Ang Tsering, Junko and team leader Hisano were awarded the Order of the Gorkha Dakshina Bahu—one of the highest honours in Nepal. Similarly, in India, the team were met by hundreds of reporters and congratulated by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. The United Nations designated 1975 as International Women’s Year “Whether I wanted it to be or not, our climb became a symbol of women’s social

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progress” (Tabei, 2017, p. 209). In a gesture of gratitude and reverence to Ang Tsering’s contribution to the successful expedition, he was invited to Japan to meet both the Japanese Emperor and Empress as well as many officials and attended many celebratory functions and television interviews. The spotlight on their achievement did not lessen for a considerable period following their return to Japan “it irreversibly changed my life” (Tabei, 2017, p.  208). Unfortunately, but not surprisingly, the celebrations were limited to Asia, with only a minor excerpt published in The New York Times that a Japanese woman had climbed Everest. Tabei had crossed gender and racialised boundaries in Asia, but had little impact in the Global North. Despite her achievements, Junko did not measure up to the powerful trope of the white male mountaineering hero and continues to be marginalised. Building on her celebrity, Junko continued to fight for gender equality and crossed racial and gender boundaries by championing the achievements of her peers globally. On Everest adaptability, leadership and teamwork were central strengths, enabling every team member to reach camp 3 (6900 m), a fact that filled Junko with pride, This alone emphasized the unique strength and adaptability of our team, which to us was an accomplishment in itself. We were never considered a group of elite mountaineers in the Japanese climbing community. We were a team of women who shared the dream of climbing Mount Everest; a team that readied itself for such an opportunity despite the obstacles met along the way. (Tabei, 2017, p. 172)

Collaborative action was a quality Junko embraced throughout her life that she used to provide experience and prepare as many women as possible for ascending high-altitude peaks in the greater ranges. In 1995 she and her friend Setsuko Kitamura organised the Mount Everest Women’s conference “I thought about meeting all the women who had climbed Everest to date. I realised there were cultural and societal differences in our individual pursuits of the mountain, and I was interested to learn more about the female perspective” (Tabei, 2017, p. 211). This drive to achieve greater equality for women through pioneering intellectual as well as physical spaces enabled a whole generation of Japanese women to access newfound spaces of risk and adventure. As the first woman and 38th person to climb Everest, Junko Tabei stands at the intersection of class, race and gender of women who transgressed, transformed and pioneered social change for women mountaineers in Japan and beyond.

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Conclusion This chapter critically appraised Junko Tabei’s memoir Honouring High Places, elucidating how she navigated the gendered landscape of mountaineering creating transformational spaces for herself and a global community of women mountaineers. It contributes new understandings of the complex historical intersections arising through race, gender, class and sexualities in mountaineering adventure. Pivotal to Junko’s success were her early experiences of mountaineering facilitated through her male allies, who enabled her culturally and socially to access mountain environments, while she developed, experienced and enjoyed interchanging between masculinities and femininities. The force of collaborative action through teamwork and the sharing of emotional experience through leading and innovating women-only spaces opened opportunities to literally climb to the top of the world. Junko was a political pioneer for gender equality and through sharing the often-brutal realities of expedition life to a global audience she created a new form of literary representation that challenges “narratives of sexism and racism that circulate about Everest” (Rak, 2021, p.  189). The Japanese all-women’s expeditions transformed social, cultural and racial boundaries on a global scale through pioneering women-­ only spaces to be mountaineers. We offered insight into how women navigate the social mountain posed in high-altitude spaces at the intersection of difference and what this can teach us in taking seriously issues of inclusion in spaces of adventure. We call on scholars to research difference in tourism adventure spaces to address the urgent need to decolonise (Chambers & Buzinde, 2015) and refute the possession of this single, white male history and to secure a better future.

References Ahmed, S. (2006). The non-performativity of anti-racism [1]. Borderlands, 5(3) https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A169508887/AONE?u=urjy&sid=ebsco& xid=21f54e9a Arnette, A. (2019). Everest 2019: Season summary the year Everest broke. Arnette.com. https://www.alanarnette.com/blog/2019/06/07/verest2019-season-­summary-­the-­year-­everest-­broke Beedie, P. (2003). Mountain guiding and adventure tourism: Reflections on the choreography of the experience. Leisure Studies, 22(2), 147–167.

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Cater, C. (2013). The meaning of adventure. In S. Taylor, P. Varle, & T. Johnston (Eds.), Adventure tourism, meanings, experience and learning (pp.  5–18). Routledge. Chambers, D. (2022). Are we all in this together? Gender intersectionality and sustainable tourism. Journal of Sustainable Tourism, 30(7), 1586–1602. Chambers, D., & Buzinde, C. (2015). Tourism and decolonisation: Locating research and self. Annals of Tourism Research, 51, 1–16. Cole, S. (2017). Empowered or burdened? Tourism, gender, intersectionality, and emotion. Critical Tourism Studies Proceedings, 2017(1), 114. Crenshaw, K.  W. (1989). Demarginalizing the intersections of race and sex: A black feminist critique of antidiscrimination doctrine, feminist theory and antiracial politics. University of Chicago Legal Forum, 1989, 139–167. Díaz-Carrión, I.  A. (2022). Sisterhood to promote the rhizomatic bodies of Mexican-mestiza women mountaineers. Gender, Place & Culture, 2, 1–22. Figueroa-Domecq, C., Pritchard, A., Segovia-Pérez, M., Morgan, N., & Villacé-­ Molinero, T. (2015). Tourism gender research: A critical accounting. Annals of Tourism Research, 52, 87–103. Frenette, B. (2017, October 20). A final interview with Junko Tabei. Outside Online. https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-­adventure/climbing/ junko-­tabei-­anniversary Frohlick, S. (2004). Who is Lhakpa Sherpa? Circulating subjectivities within the global/local terrain of Himalayan mountaineering. Social & Cultural Geography, 5(2), 195–212. Frohlick, S. (2006). Wanting children and wanting K2: The incommensurability of motherhood and mountaineering in Britain and North America in the late twentieth century. Gender, Place and Culture, 13(5), 477–490. Fujioka, N. (2002). Vision or Creation? Kojima Usui and the literary landscape of the Japanese Alps. Comparative Literature Studies, 39(4), 282–292. Hall, J. (2018). Women mountaineers and affect: Fear, play and the unknown. In H. Saul & E. Waterton (Eds.), Affective geographies of transformation, exploration and adventure (pp. 147–164). Routledge. Hall, J., & Brown, M. K. (2022). Creating feelings of inclusion in adventure tourism: Lessons from the gendered, sensory and affective politics of professional mountaineering. Annals of Tourism Research, 97, 103505. https://doi. org/10.1016/j.annals.2022.103505 Hansen, P. (2013). The summits of modern man: Mountaineering after the enlightenment. Harvard University Press. Haraway, D. (1988). Situated knowledges: The science question in feminism and the privilege of partial perspective. Feminist Studies, 14(3), 575–599. Hunt, R. (2019). Historical geography, climbing and mountaineering: route setting for an inclusive future. Geography Compass, 13(4), e12423.

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Khoo-Lattimore, C., & Mura, P. (Eds.). (2016). Asian genders in tourism. Channel View Publications. McDonald, R. (2020, June 4). Junko Tabei Interview (English transcript). Fenberger House. https://www.fenbergerhouse.com/reports/junko-­tabeiinterview-­english-­transcript Miller, M. C., & Mair, H. (2020). Between space and place in mountaineering: Navigating risk, death, and power. Tourism Geographies, 22(2), 354–369. Momsen, J., & Nakata, M. (2010). Gender and tourism: Gender, age and mountain tourism in Japan. In J.  Mosedale (Ed.), Political economy of tourism (pp. 151–162). Routledge. Mooney, S. (2018). Illuminating intersectionality for tourism researchers. Annals of Tourism Research, 72(C), 175–176. Moraldo, D. (2013). Gender relations in French and British mountaineering. The lens of autobiographies of female mountaineers, from d’Angeville (1794–1871) to Destivelle (1960–). Journal of Alpine Research| Revue de géographie alpine, 101–111. https://doi.org/10.4000/rga.2027 Oakley, A. (1972). Sex, gender and society. Ashgate Publishing Ltd.. Ortner, B.  S. (1999). Life and death on Mount Everest: Sherpas and Himalayan mountaineering. Princeton University Press. Rak, J. (2021). False summit: Gender in mountaineering nonfiction. McGill-­ Queen’s University Press. Seiwa, H., & Funahashi, A. (1982). History of Japanese mountaineering and women in the light of their relations to religion. Research reports of The Kochi University, Social Science, 30, 112. Tabei, J. (2017). Honouring high places. Rocky Mountain Books Ltd.. Taylor, J. (2006). Mapping adventure: a historical geography of Yosemite Valley climbing landscapes. Journal of Historical Geography, 32(1), 190–219. Unsworth, W. (1991). Everest: The ultimate book of the mountain (2nd ed.). GraftonBooks. Watson, B. (2018). Thinking intersectionally and why difference (still) matters in feminist leisure and sport research. In L. Mansfield, J. Caudwell, B. Wheaton, & B. Watson (Eds.), The Palgrave handbook of feminism and sport, leisure and physical education (pp. 313–334). Palgrave Macmillan UK. Watson, B., & Scraton, S. (2013). Leisure studies and intersectionality. Leisure Studies, 32(1), 35–47. Wigen, K. (2005). Discovering the Japanese Alps: Meiji mountaineering and the quest for geographical enlightenment. The Journal of Japanese Studies, 31(1), 1–26. http://www.jstor.org/stable/25064533 Wigglesworth, J. (2021). The cultural politics of naming outdoor rock climbing routes. Annals of Leisure Research, 25, 1–24. Wilson, G. (2012). Climbers’ narratives of mountain spaces above 8000 meters: A social constructivist perspective. Area, 44, 29–36.

CHAPTER 4

“There is no manlier sport in the world”. How Hegemonic Masculinity Became Constitutive of Excellence in Mountaineering Delphine Moraldo

Introduction Mountaineering is historically a socially elitist practice. It was invented and codified by men of the British rising middle and upper class in the mid-­ nineteenth century. In 1857, they created the first mountaineering club: the Alpine Club, which was forbidden to women until 1974 (Hansen, 2013; Moraldo, 2021). Thus, in addition to being socially elitist, mountaineering was originally an eminently masculine practice—created by men and for men, it was constructed by the institutional and symbolic exclusion of women. To this day, mountaineering remains a very masculine sport in which women are under-represented.

D. Moraldo (*) Centre Max Weber, ENS de Lyon, équipe Dispositions, pouvoirs, cultures, socialisation, Saint-Etienne Cedex, France e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 J. Hall et al. (eds.), Gender, Politics and Change in Mountaineering, Global Culture and Sport Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29945-2_4

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This article investigates masculinity in mountaineering insofar as it is constitutive of the model of excellence prevailing in this activity, which I have studied from the British and French cases (Moraldo, 2021). In this work, I have shown how a “spirit of mountaineering”—that is, a singular conception of what “excellence” in mountaineering is, invented and implemented by “great” or “elite” mountaineers—was created in Victorian England. I then traced the perpetuation of this model over time (up to the present day), and its geographical diffusion (from England to France). Excellence in mountaineering, in this perspective, is based on a triple distinction: that is sporting, social, and gendered. Indeed, the great climbers who continue to forge the spirit of mountaineering are the authors of the ascents recognised as the most difficult (sporting distinction), but they are also men (gendered distinction) from the social elite (social distinction). As such, they codify mountaineering in a very specific way and make certain characteristics specific to their group exemplary, distinctive, and attractive attributes in mountaineering. I will focus on these attributes relating to gender. I will use the concept of “hegemonic masculinity”, theorised by Raewyn Connell (Connell, 1987, 1995; Connell & Messerschmidt, 2005), to think about the conception of masculinity specific to mountaineering and the gender relations that result from it. Raewyn Connell defines masculinity as “simultaneously a place in gender relations, the practices through which men and women engage that place in gender, and the effects of these practices in bodily experience, personality and culture” (Connell, 1995, p. 71). Hegemonic masculinity is the specific form of masculinity “which occupies the hegemonic position in a given pattern of gender relations, a position that is always contestable” (Connell, 1995, p.  76); it is “the configuration of gender practice which embodies the currently accepted answer to the problem of the legitimacy of patriarchy which guarantees (or is taken to guarantee) the dominant position of men and the subordination of women” (Connell, 1995, p. 77). The concept of hegemonic masculinity highlights the fact that there is not one, inherently or naturally dominant, form of masculinity, but many, some more dominant than others. This opens the way to a more complex way of thinking about gender relations, which makes it possible to take into account the existence of a hierarchy of masculinities and therefore of men. The concept of hegemonic masculinity is therefore fruitful when applied to mountaineering because it allows us to think about male domination at the heart of the spirit of

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mountaineering and to understand why certain men, although they are men, are nevertheless excluded from it. This concept will be useful in answering three questions: (1) How did a hegemonic form of masculinity come to characterise excellence in mountaineering in its own right, to form the equation “excellence = masculine”? (2) What are the tangible consequences of hegemonic masculinity on gender relations in mountaineering? In other words, what does hegemonic masculinity “do” to mountaineering, or how does it “do gender” in mountaineering? To answer these first two questions within the scope of this chapter, I will focus on the period in which the spirit of mountaineering was constructed, namely the nineteenth century, and on the country that forged its foundations, the United Kingdom. (3) After this foundational period, the history of mountaineering shows episodes where hegemonic masculinity asserts itself in a more or less heightened way. I ask what are the contexts conducive to a strong expression of hegemonic masculinity in mountaineering. How, as a sociologist or historian, can we perceive and understand hegemonic masculinity in mountaineering? My material consists of narratives published by elite mountaineers who, it should be remembered, are those who forge the “spirit of mountaineering” (Moraldo, 2022). Because, unlike the majority of sports, mountaineering can’t be practised under the gaze of referees, and the broader audience only has access to the ascents through the accounts of the ascents. Mountaineers must therefore recount their exploits for these to exist and to obtain the recognition of their peers, which gives rise to an intense literary production. The sociologist or historian of mountaineering thus finds himself in the presence of very dense literary material, composed of various narratives (articles published in mountaineering magazines, expedition accounts, autobiographies). Such materials, far from being an obstacle to sociological knowledge, are near to ideal for the analysis of excellence in mountaineering and the form of masculinity that characterises it, as they are exemplary of the discourses of elite mountaineers and of their superiority (Moraldo, 2022). These

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narratives can be understood from a double perspective: descriptive and prescriptive. On the one hand, they recount episodes that, although not intentionally, highlight power relationships, and situations of domination, which testify to the existence of hegemonic masculinity in mountaineering and of a “cultural dynamic by which a group claims and sustains a leading position in social life” (Connell, 1995, p. 77). On the other hand, they constitute ideals, in the sense that the elite mountaineers who write them are exemplars similar to those described by Raewyn Connell and James Messerschmidt (Connell & Messerschmidt, 2005, p. 846). As such they embody a “culturally idealized form of masculine character (in a given historical setting)” (Connell, 1990, p. 83).

Excellent = Masculine: Hegemonic Masculinity as Constitutive of Excellence My work on the “spirit of mountaineering”, by which I mean the basic principles, values, representations, and rules that form the core of what is considered to be “excellence” in mountaineering, has highlighted the fact that among the constitutive traits of excellence stands masculinity, even virility. This is not surprising in a practice that, as has been said, is made for men and by men, in a deliberate and explicit move to exclude women (Moraldo, 2020; Rak, 2021; Ortner, 1999). Where does the equation “excellence = masculinity” in mountaineering come from? What evidence is there that hegemonic masculinity exists at the very foundation of the spirit of mountaineering? To understand why hegemonic masculinity is constitutive of excellence in mountaineering, we must go back to its origins and to those who codified it. Indeed, mountaineering, like sport, was originally conceived as an eminently masculine practice and moreover, an expression of the manliness of the British middle and upper classes. Indeed, mountaineering appeared in the wake of modern sport (Moraldo, 2021). Those very members of the bourgeoisie who invented sport took to mountaineering shortly after, thus extending to this new undertaking their sporting principles and values. The 1850s saw the birth of a sporting doctrine forged by school headmasters and applied in public schools and major British universities: athleticism (Mangan, 2000; McIntosh, 1960). Through the practice of “dignified” sports such as rugby-football (Dunning & Sheard, 1979),

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rowing, or cricket, according to the principles of fair-play, the future elite inculcated moral values: courage, self-sacrifice, esprit de corps, discipline, honesty, and so on. These values were all qualities that were supposed to characterise the manliness of the Victorian ruling classes and, at the same time, forge the character of future leaders and soldiers of the British Empire. Through the public schools, the athlete thus became one of the key figures of manliness (Mangan, 1987, p. 4; McLeod, 2004, p. 138). It should be noted that this “manliness”, “the most clearly articulated indicator of men’s gender in the nineteenth century” according to John Tosh (Tosh, 2005, p. 2), is a term that is at once normative, prescriptive, and socially marked. Josh Tosh shows that this term “implied that there was a single standard of manhood, which was expressed in certain physical attributes and moral dispositions” (Tosh, 2005, p. 2). These attributes were those that men were proud to possess, and which earned them prestige and respectability. Moreover, manliness thus conceived was originally forged by members of the middle and upper class. It was in the public schools, reserved for these elites, that manliness was taught, in particular through sport, based on the same set of values and qualities that constituted the “character” of the gentleman. John Tosh, in his analysis of the redefinition of English masculinity in the nineteenth century, shows that Victorian manliness, as inculcated in public schools, “had to be earned, by mastering the circumstances of life and thus securing the respect of one’s peers” (Tosh, 2005, p. 86). To be manly—or “gentlemanly” as the two terms came to be equated, manliness being, by definition, that of the upper and middle classes—was to possess not only moral qualities (willpower, self-sacrifice, frankness, honesty, simplicity, courage) but also physical qualities (stamina, resistance, strength). These qualities can be found in the obituaries of the Alpine Club members of the time, published in the Alpine Journal, the club’s magazine. There is, for example, a celebration of the manliness of the Reverend L.S. Calvert (1850–1909), headmaster of a grammar school, chaplain in an infantry battalion for twenty-two years and an accomplished sportsman. It was his manliness, understood as virility of body and character above all, that earned him the respect of his men and pupils: “In his regiment he was deeply respected, and endeared himself to his comrades and the men, and exerted an influence, unique in its character, over them; for he was, above all, a ‘man’ in the widest sense and understood them thoroughly” (Anon. 1909, p. 666).

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The references to individual struggle for success, the strength of will, honesty, discipline, and so on were in fact directly addressed to the experience of the new social fractions born of the industrial revolution, entrepreneurs and professionals, won over to the principles of social Darwinism (Mangan, 1987, p. 140), a doctrine loosely based on Darwin’s theory of evolution as the survival of the fittest repackaged to justify such ideologies as imperialism, eugenics, or capitalism. Such doctrines specifically addressed men of the British Empire—civil servants, soldiers, planters, explorers, and so on—hence the rhetorical background of the Empire, based on “duty”, “struggle”, “will”, and “character”, converged with that of manliness (Field, 1982). Unsurprisingly, imperialist ideology was pervasive in athleticism: public schools inculcated a pronounced patriotism and admiration for Britain’s imperial power (Mangan, 1998). Already in the 1850s, they were a preparation for imperial service. This role was increasingly asserted after the Crimean War (1854–1856), and came to the fore between 1880 and the beginning of the twentieth century, in the era of neo-imperialism (Ellis, 2001). These values of athleticism, and more generally of the manliness of the Victorian elites, went on to be applied, by the first generation of mountaineers, to this fledgling practice, which was undergoing a process of codification and institutionalisation. This also translated into the establishment of an “ethics”, that is, a body of implicit rules, derived from the rules of sporting fair play, which leads to a voluntary limitation of artificial aids in order to give the mountain a “sporting chance” (Moraldo, 2016). A good example of this ethos being carried over from sport to mountaineering can be found in Leslie Stephen, a famous mountaineer and president of the Alpine Club in the 1860s. A pupil at Eton, a student at Cambridge where he became a Fellow in philosophy, Stephen was always a sportsman and a promoter of university sport. For him, mountaineering was nothing more than “a different kind of athletic exercise” (Stephen, 1868, p. 264) practised by gentlemen who applied the principles of fair play. Similarly, the imperialist ideology inculcated in the young bourgeoisie—and which is part of the same set of values—is very much present in mountaineering, which, from the outset, is seen as a form of exploration within the reach of members of a bourgeoisie with but very little free time. Like the soldier, the explorer or the captain of industry, the mountaineer, in his own way, considered that he was contributing to the glory of the British Empire, and that he too, at his own level, was living an adventure from which he could legitimately derive social prestige. New ascents were

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thus an opportunity to demonstrate the pre-eminence of the English “race”, the social superiority of the bourgeoisie and the manliness of mountaineers. It is through these lenses that, in the discourses of mountaineers, the specifically “English” nature of mountaineering was often referred to. Thus, in the necrology of the famous mountaineer Albert F. Mummery, one reads that “recklessness is a quality essentially English. It is the quality which has made our race the pioneers of the world, which in naval warfare won for us the command of the sea, which by exploration and colonisation has given the wastelands of the earth to Anglo-Saxon enterprise, and the loss of which, if we ever do lose it, will bring our leadership to an end” (Anon. 1895, p.  567). Thus, mountaineering stories from this period portray the mountaineer as a conqueror, an explorer, and a colonist. In the terms used to describe it, in the values that underlie it, in the supposed qualities of its actors, mountaineering was exploratory, conquering, and virile. These were the same terms, values, and qualities that were attributed to the great explorers of the time. This can be observed, for example, from stylistic devices of comparison between mountaineering and conquest or exploration, through the use of military terminology. The mountain, often described as a formidable fortress under siege, is “attacked” and “assaulted”, and is the subject of a battle plan. The ascent is described as a “campaign”, a “battle”, and a “fight” in order to “win” or “conquer” a summit. When one fails, he “retreats”. Conquest is also sexual. Beyond the martial vocabulary, the rhetoric of these narratives implicitly associates “victory” over the mountain with (heterosexual) male domination (Majastre, 2009), with the mention of “virgin” peaks to be “possessed”, whose “prestige” is taken away forever, peaks whose “virginal purity” is “defiled” or “desecrated”, etc. Sherry Ortner also notes this essential component in post-war mountaineering in the Himalayas, which she breaks down into two trends: competition and references to sex (Ortner, 1999, pp. 149–184). Indeed, these representations, forged in the Victorian era, did not disappear afterwards. On the contrary, they are so constitutive of the spirit of mountaineering that they continued to permeate it to a large extent thereafter, and not only in the UK.  In a recent (French) popular work on the history of mountaineering, it is barely surprising to find the term “deflowered” (défloré) regularly used when applied to first ascents (Gardien, 2021). This is one of the signs (among others) of the effectiveness and durability of the model of mountaineering excellence forged by the gentlemen of the Alpine Club. The values, ethos, rules, and hierarchies—in a word, its “spirit”—that organise

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mountaineering and define what excellence is are thus impregnated with their ideologies. Among these ideologies are the ideals of masculinity, which originated in Victorian England and which, even in new forms, continued and spread to France (Moraldo, 2021). This idea of masculinity, that is “manliness”, corresponds well to what Raewyn Connell calls hegemonic masculinity. It is a dominant and idealised form of masculinity but also, above all, a model of masculinity that serves as a support and justification for male domination. Originally forged for upper and middle-class men, that is, individuals in a dominant position, it became an ideal shared by men of all classes. However, not all men were able to conform to it. This is another characteristic of hegemonic masculinity: “Hegemony works in part through the production of exemplars of masculinity (e.g., professional sports stars), symbols that have authority despite the fact that most men and boys do not fully live up to them” (Connell & Messerschmidt, 2005, 846). Hegemonic masculinity, by definition, is not the attribute of the many, but of exemplary and dominant individuals. In mountaineering, the embodiments of hegemonic masculinity are the elite climbers who decide the criteria of excellence, thereby establishing a hierarchy of users and uses of the mountains, at the apex of which they stand. As hegemonic masculinity is also embodied in concrete practices, “i.e., things done, not just a set of role expectations or an identity” (Connell & Messerschmidt, 2005, p. 832), let us look at what these deeds are that underpin the domination of certain men over both women and other men.

Masculine>Feminine: Hegemonic Masculinity as Exclusion of Women Women, understandably, are excluded from this model from the outset. Yet, by extension, as a set of physical but also moral attributes, manliness was not originally thought of solely as a male quality. Kelly Boyd, who has worked on the press for boys, explains that in the Victorian era, “one was not manly by virtue of being gendered male; however, one became manly by learning to perform that role. Boys, women, and indeed, men, were sometimes portrayed as ‘manly’, as the term suggested strength of character in the face of adversity, the ability to stand up for one’s right, or sometimes, just not succumbing to the pressures of life” (Boyd, 2003, p. 46). John Tosh concurs: a woman who was able to overcome the “natural”

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qualities of her sex might be labelled “manly” (Tosh, 2005, p. 91). Thus, a mountaineer like Elizabeth Le Blond (1861–1934) could write without irony: “there is no manlier sport in the world than mountaineering” (Le Blond, 1903). Because mountaineering has been codified from the values, ideologies, and ethos of sport, which are part of a specific form of manliness (that of Victorian gentlemen), its spirit and values are fundamentally manly. While women mountaineers existed at the time, they were, like Le Blond, more likely to conform to this manliness than the other way around. The fact remains that in practice, women were far removed from this ideology, which was inculcated in places that were forbidden to them. Davidoff and Hall (1987) show how, during the first half of the nineteenth century, a view of the sexes as operating in separate spheres was established in Britain, with the domestic sphere being that of women and sport, like other outward-looking or action-oriented activities, being the province of men. In mountaineering, hegemonic masculinity is first expressed in beliefs about the place of women. I dealt with this question at length in an article dealing exclusively with the evolving position of women regarding excellence in mountaineering, from the nineteenth century to the beginning of the twenty-first century (Moraldo, 2020). In that paper, I show that women mountaineers, however much they may conform with the prevailing conception of excellence, were always suspected of not being “real climbers”, either because they were considered too weak to be great climbers or, conversely, because they were too good at climbing to be “real” women. Because hegemonic masculinity is constitutive of mountaineering excellence, women simply have no place in this model. As a result, women mountaineers have long been discredited, rendered invisible, and relegated to the role of second within climbing parties. Even today, they still struggle to become recognised as part of the mountaineering elite, despite repeated exploits (Moraldo, 2020; Rak, 2021). This is the first and most obvious example of what hegemonic masculinity “does” to gender relations: it creates a hierarchy between men, who are dominant, and women, who are dominated. The aforementioned article (Moraldo, 2020) shows that women had to develop strategies, which differed from one period to another, in order to make a place for themselves in the face of male hegemony. Until the beginning of the twentieth century, the dominant strategy was that of discreet practice, consequently little documented and difficult to trace. It was a form of mountaineering under the tutelage of their (male) guides and

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partners who led the party. Although female clubs (like the Ladies Alpine Club) did exist, these merely mimicked, and were considered inferior versions of, their male counterparts from which women (even the most excellent of them, like Elizabeth Le Blond) were excluded. From the 1930s onwards, a second dominant strategy emerged, consisting, for certain ascents only (never the most difficult ones), of climbing within women-only parties. These were not necessarily organised within a female club. This allowed women mountaineers to emancipate themselves from male judgements and to access the valued position of leader which was often denied to women even in mixed parties. Women continued to see themselves as inferior climbers, citing their lesser physical strength, but aspired to achieve a form of autonomy by way of a separate female practice. From the 1950s onwards, new strategies developed that made women “mountaineers in their own right” (rather than “women mountaineers”). Among the latter, solo mountaineering was chosen, for example by Catherine Destivelle or Alison Hargreaves, as it guaranteed being given full responsibility and credit for an ascent. I conclude the article by showing that a new trend today is the reappearance of all-female groups that, like the female parties of the 1930s, claim their specificity and, this time, their value equal to men’s. These groups remain few, as are women in selective clubs (their proportion does not exceed 10%) (Moraldo, 2020, 2021). The fact is that hegemonic masculinity continues to underlie the definition of excellence in mountaineering and, consequently, to distinguish and hierarchise male and female mountaineers.

Masculine>Masculine: Hegemonic Masculinity as Hierarchy Among Men Hegemonic masculinity does not merely produce domination of men over women. The concept also allows one to apprehend the exclusion and relegation of certain groups of men, despite their belonging to the male gender. Demetrakis Z.  Demetriou thus distinguishes two functions of hegemonic masculinity: “external hegemony” (the domination of men over women) and “internal hegemony” (the domination of a group of men over other men) (Demetriou, 2001, p. 341). After studying external hegemony in the first part of the article, we must now turn our attention to the relationship between elite mountaineers and other male users of the mountains as a relationship between hegemonic masculinity and other

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masculinities. The latter can be “complicit”, and they “receive the benefits of patriarchy without enacting a strong version of masculine dominance” (Connell & Messerschmidt, 2005, p. 832): this is the masculinity of the small-scale mountaineer who derives a form of symbolic prestige from the deeds of an elite to which he does not belong. Masculinity can also be subordinate, that is to say, dominated: the tourist visiting the mountains would stand out here. Finally, “marginalised” forms of masculinity (Connell, 1995, p. 80)—those of guides or Sherpas—involve men who, in some ways, are just as manly as elite mountaineers, without enacting the hegemonic masculinity of which the latter are the exclusive embodiment. Indeed, since hegemonic masculinity is constitutive of excellence in mountaineering, the distinction made between these various mountain goers intertwines the gendered, class, and sporting dimensions, that is, the three constitutive planes of excellence. To be an elite mountaineer is, originally, to be a man, a member of the social elite (or, later, to conform to its codes), and the author of renowned ascents. In the mechanism of distinction—understood as the ways in which individuals differentiate, classify, and hierarchise other individuals, practices, products, values, and the results of these operations (Bourdieu, 1979)—at work within mountaineering, it is in fact difficult to separate these three dimensions, even in the case of the distinction between men and women studied above. Indeed, one can notice the very strong overrepresentation of women from the social elite among elite mountaineers: the transgression of gender hierarchy is all the less likely if social hierarchy must be overcome first (Moraldo, 2020). Once more, this shows the combination of the sporting, social, and gender components that make up excellence in mountaineering. On the one hand, hegemonic masculinity is part of the distinction established between elite mountaineers on one hand, and tourists or small mountaineers on the other. The first could be said to practice “hard mountaineering activities” and the second “soft ones” (or, as tourists are concerned, no mountaineering at all), according to Gill Pomfret and Adele Doran’s typology (Pomfret & Doran, 2015). Since the nineteenth century, a contemptuous attitude of mountaineers towards tourists has prevailed. Tourists are seen as parasites who desecrate the mountains, even though they come, at least initially, from the same social groups as the mountaineers that despised them. They are “intrusive insects” (Stephen, 1904, p. 196), a “crowd of idlers” (Freshfield, 1882, p. 195), generally presented as vulgar and incapable. In this contempt for tourists and

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small-­scale mountaineers, references to manliness are never far away. They can be explicit, as in Albert F. Mummery’s, whose positions correspond perfectly to Victorian conceptions of manliness when he states that the “pseudo-mountaineers” (i.e., the small ones) “nursed and coddled by their guides” lose “all proper self-respect and (…) every feeling of self-­ reliant manliness” (Mummery, 1962, p. 357). He adds: “to toil up long slopes of screes behind a guide who can ‘lie in bed and picture every step of the way up, with all the places for hand and foot’, is work worthy of the fibreless contents of fashionable clothes, dumped with all their scents and ointments, starched linen and shiny boots, at Zermatt by the railway” (Mummery, 1962, p.  327). In contrast, true mountaineering is a virile activity that keeps those who practice it in the proper way (i.e. who put all their ardour into the fight against the mountain) well away from any dangerous drift towards femininity: “There is an educative and purifying power in danger that is to be found in no other school, and it is worth much for a man to know that he is not ‘clean gone to flesh pots and effeminacy’”. Using the same opposition between the “pseudo” and the “real” mountaineer, he questions the manliness of the former, who is incapable of making the ascent on his own, reducing him to “a thing that Swiss peasants push and squeeze on top of summits” (Mummery, 1962, p. 351). The way in which the distinction between “real” and “small” or “pseudo” mountaineers (or even mere tourists) is made through the prism of hegemonic masculinity is also apparent in the physical description of the latter who, in addition to their superficial clothing mocked by Mummery, are also depicted as fat or “heavy”. This physical characteristic is at once a social marker (far from the slimness of good society), a sporting marker (the fat tourist can only be inept in the mountains, incapable of endurance), and a gendered marker (a real man is not heavy nor fat). Thus, Leslie Stephen criticises women (“ladies in costume”) and “heavy German professors” (Stephen, 1904, p. 328), a group that another member of the Alpine Club, F.W. Bourdillon, later wrote about when he mocks the “stout and Teutonic” tourists (Bourdillon, 1909, p. 149). Their corpulence is an element that accentuates their ineptitude at the same time as their despicable feminine element. Edward Whymper compares in turn the “stout priest” on the Theodule pass, “carried down, a helpless bundle and a ridiculous spectacle, on the back of a lanky guide”, and a group of young girls with their governesses carried in turn by an exhausted mule (Whymper, 1871, p.  7). This image of tourists never disappeared and examples are

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plenty. In the 1960s, famous Annapurna expedition member and guide Lionel Terray (1921–1965) found it hard to “find good clients”—that is, not “vulgar packages”—with whom he might do “real mountaineering” (Terray, 1961, pp. 311–314). By his own count, over his entire career, he had led clients on only one “very hard” ascent, sixty “hard” ones, and seven hundred “easy” ones (Terray, 1961, 341). This image is still found today in the words of some mountaineers and guides, the latter to emphasise (or deplore) the inaptitude of their clients. In the 1990s, Joe Simpson, himself a hero of Himalayan exploits, “would stare at a client in difficulty and find [him]self lost for words, wondering why, if [he] found it easy, they couldn’t do it” (Simpson, 1994, pp.  158–159). The same tension plays out in the narrative of Marc Batard, a French guide and “record holder” on Everest, who vents his frustration at his need to “earn money” leading him to be treated by useless clients like “a vulgar luxury product that they treat themselves to for a weekend” (Batard, 2003, p. 113). If the masculinity of tourists and small-scale climbers can be described, using Raewyn Connell’s typology, as “subordinate” and “complicit” masculinity, guides and Sherpas, however, often practice mountaineering at a level superior to that of the amateur climbers, even excellent ones (who still used to hire them). They must therefore fall into the category of marginalised masculinity. This can be defined as a dominant and manly masculinity, which would be hegemonic if it were not carried by socially or racially dominated individuals or groups. It is a powerful tool for thinking about the ambiguous position of these adjuvant mountaineers who, for the best of them, are tougher and more skilled than the latter. Before the 1880s, even the most ambitious of climbs could not be envisaged without a guide. But just as there was a hierarchy of mountaineers, with those at the top holding the highest standards of hegemonic masculinity, there was a hierarchy of guides. Smaller guides were not given more consideration than tourists or small climbers. The “first class” guides, on the other hand, those whose services were hired by the best mountaineers from one year to the next, were respected and admired. Their physical qualities, their skill, and their sense of honour and duty were praised. Yet, guides were rejected as being outside the realm of mountaineering excellence, and therefore—and this is the argument we make in this text—outside the hegemonic masculinity constitutive of the spirit of mountaineering. Although they possessed the attributes of manliness, they were not part of the social group that embodied both manliness and excellence in mountaineering: they were not gentlemen but farmers or craftsmen; they were

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not amateurs but professionals, the ultimate offence for gentlemen who, at the time, found it dishonourable to earn money from a practice that ought to be disinterested (Moraldo, 2021). Therefore, just as a road sweeper would never have been able to join the Alpine Club, were he the best climber in the world—as S. Spencer famously explained to a young applicant to the Alpine Club at the end of the nineteenth century (Smythe, 2015, p. 13)—guides were also not on the same level as (amateur) mountaineers—but regarded as socially subordinate. Guides suffered the same prejudice as Black athletes who “may be exemplars for hegemonic masculinity” but whose “fame and wealth (…) has no trickle-down effect” and “does not yield social authority to black men generally” (Connell, 1995, p. 81). Similarly, the masculinity of the Sherpas or porters employed in the Himalayas can be seen as a “marginalised masculinity”. Like European guides, Sherpas are often celebrated for their strength, stamina, their key role in the success of the expedition, their sense of honour or good humour, and moreover, they themselves see their relationship with climbers as one of equality (Ortner, 1999). These characteristics allow them not to be as completely “symbolically expelled from hegemonic masculinity” as, for instance, tourists (in mountaineering) or (in other social scenes) homosexuals (Connell, 1995, p. 78). However, we should not consider that, in mountaineering, relations of domination are only relations between masculinities: if “external hegemony” appears clearly in mountaineering and allows us to insist on the mutual reinforcement of male and sporting dominations, an analysis in terms of “internal hegemony” could give the impression that sporting hierarchies—between elite and small mountaineers—are above all relations between masculinities. They are not only that, because, as I have said, sporting, social, gendered, and even racial (especially when it comes to Sherpas) criteria are intertwined in a complex way.

Hegemonic = Hegemonic? Expressions of Hegemonic Masculinity as Context-Dependent So far, I have insisted on the hegemonic masculinity of the early days of mountaineering, to emphasise the genesis of a form of excellence. However, like any ideology (Corbin et al., 2011) its expression varies historically, depending on the modalities of practice and the symbolic place

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of mountaineering in each era. In particular, the 1880s–1920s in Britain and the 1950s–1970s in France seem to constitute singular moments during which the conditions are met for the expression of a particularly assertive form of hegemonic masculinity. First, these are two moments of exploration of new mountain ranges. An analysis of mountaineering narratives shows that these moments are conducive to the expression of a particularly strong conquering rhetoric, blending colonial domination and male domination. In the United Kingdom, this occurred between the end of the nineteenth century and the end of the 1920s, when the English left the Alps and explored new massifs for the first time, in particular the Himalayas. It reached its peak with the English’s very imperialistic attempts on Everest in the 1920s. The forerunners of mountaineering in the Alps, and then in increasingly remote massifs (the Caucasus, the Karakoram, the Himalayas, etc.), they also had privileged access to the Himalayas, and to Everest, which remained their preserve during the interwar period (by means of diplomatic authorisations issued by Tibet). Thus, the United Kingdom led no less than six expeditions to Everest before the war, all of them failures. To cite just one eloquent instance of this conquering rhetoric, one can simply look at the titles of expeditions’ narratives: The Assault on Mount Everest 1922 (Hunt, 1923); The Fight for Everest 1924 (Norton, 1925); Kamet Conquered (Smythe, 1932). Then, already in the 1930s, the titles began to take on a less martial (but still very heroic) connotation: The Epic of Mount Everest (Younghusband, 1934); Everest, the Unfinished Adventure (Ruttledge, 1937). From the 1950s onwards, it seems to have disappeared in favour of an emphasis on adventure (with the exception of Lowe’s film about the ascent of Everest, The conquest of Everest (1953)): The Ascent of Everest, 1953 (Hunt, 1953); Our Everest Adventure (Hunt, 1954); South Col: One Man’s Adventure on the Ascent of Everest (Noyce, 1954); Kangchenjunga, the Untrodden Peak (Evans, 1956); Annapurna South Face (Bonington, 1971). In France, the rhetoric of conquest appeared with the first Himalayan attempt in 1936 and especially from 1950 onwards. The post-war period ushered in a new phase for world mountaineering (Isserman & Weaver, 2008). India and Pakistan, previously under British authority, gained independence, opening up access to the five 8000-metre peaks in Pakistan. Tibet, home to the British route for their previous Everest attempts, was closed to Westerners, but Nepal opened up and introduced a permit system, thereby freeing up access to the country’s eight 8000-metre peaks,

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including Everest from its south face. This unprecedented opening of the Himalayan massif gave rise to fierce competition, in a geopolitical context where rivalries were exacerbated. Michel Raspaud speaks in this regard of a “heroic-nationalist” phase to designate the 1950–1964 period which saw the ascent of the fourteen 8000s (Raspaud, 2003, p. 164). The style of the expeditions reflects this state of mind and the parallel between ascents and military operations is striking. The emphasis was on heavy, expensive expeditions, with complex logistics, employing hundreds of porters and several tonnes of equipment. The climbers were real heroes. Looking at the titles of the French expedition narratives (translated by the author, as only the Annapurna book and film have been translated in many languages), one can see Annapurna, The First Conquest of an 8000 metre Peak (Herzog, 1951), and the expedition film, Victory on the Annapurna (Ichac, 1951); The Conquest of Salcantay, Giant of the Andes (Pierre, 1953); The Conquest of Fitz-Roy (Azéma, Terray, & Magnone, 1954); Victory over Aconcagua (Poulet & Ferlet, 1955); Record in the Himalayas (Lambert & Kogan, 1955); A Victory over the Himalayas (Pierre, 1960); Battle for Jannu (Franco & Terray, 1977). I have shown elsewhere (Moraldo, 2015) that the existence of this heroic and particularly widespread form of hegemonic masculinity was due to a combination of factors: to the exploration of new massifs was added the action of mountaineering training institutions (this was particularly the case for post-war France) but also the influence of the media. Among them are mountaineering books for boys, such as Mes galons d’alpiniste (Pierre, 1964); Un guide raconte (Rébuffat, 1964); Come climbing with me (Clark, 1955); The True Book about Everest (Shipton, 1955); On Climbing (Evans, 1955); The Young Mountaineer (Unsworth, 1959); The Real Book of Mountaineering (McMorris, 1961); The Boy’s Book of Mountains and Mountaineering (Pyatt, 1963), and so on. They flourished in both countries following the Himalayan ascents, in the context of developing outdoor education and mountaineering teaching organisations. These books, because of their literary simplicity (they are sometimes shortened editions of mountaineering classics), lend themselves particularly well to a narrative in the heroic mode. “Hegemonic masculinity is naturalised in the form of the hero and presented through forms that revolve around heroes: sagas, ballads, westerns, thrillers” (Connell, 1983, p. 186). As such, these books can be seen as vectors for the dissemination of the heroic model outside the immediate field of mountaineering. This seems to have had an effect, as the elite

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mountaineers of the following generations cite these books as being among the narratives that sparked their interest in mountaineering as children or teenagers. The boys’ books are very clearly geared towards a male readership. In several of them, the great heroes of mountaineering are used as role models, mentoring fictional young boys with whom the target audience can identify. These spectacular illustrations show only men—and no female climbers whatsoever. The emphasis is on the most heroic episodes in the history of mountaineering (starting with the ascent of Everest), systematically simplified to the detriment of the secondary protagonists. Thus, in Unsworth’s account of the ascent of Annapurna, only Herzog, “the leader”, reaches the summit. The heroic rhetoric of mountaineering and combat is omnipresent. Unsworth closes his book with Hillary’s supposed comment on his descent from Everest: “Well, George, we knocked the blighter off” (Unsworth, 1959).

Conclusion Three questions were raised in this article. (1) Firstly, how does the equation “excellence  =  masculine” come about? The spirit of mountaineering was built on a triple distinction, sporting, social, and gendered, at the heart of which is the manliness of the Victorian gentlemen. This form of hegemonic masculinity was to endure thereafter. (2) Secondly, what does hegemonic masculinity “do” to mountaineering? It creates a hierarchy between men and women and a hierarchy between certain men (elite climbers) and other men (tourists, small climbers, guides, and Sherpas). (3) What context(s) are conducive to the expression of hegemonic masculinity in mountaineering? Periods of conquest of new mountains are times of heroisation of (male) mountaineers and heightened expression of hegemonic masculinity. Mountaineering as a sociological object, when approached from a gender perspective, tends merely to deal with the positions of women mountaineers within this pre-eminently masculine practice. Although crucial, this must not obliviate other dimensions of gender. At first glance, mountaineering as a sport might seem too male-dominated for masculinity to be a relevant object of study. This article has argued otherwise. Indeed,

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masculinity in mountaineering is not monolithic. The concept of hegemonic masculinity, in particular, allows the sociologist to understand that men do not all occupy the same position in mountaineering. The more visible hierarchies between men and women run parallel to subtle—but no less significant—hierarchies between groups of men, hierarchies that are all the more complex that, just as those between men and women, they reconfigure themselves over time.

References (The bibliography does not include narratives whose titles are mentioned as examples in part

IV.)

Anon. (1895). In Memoriam Albert F. Mummery (1855–1895). Alpine Journal, 17, 567–568. Anon. (1909). In Memoriam Reverend L.S.  Calvert (1850–1909). Alpine Journal, 24, 666. Aubrey Le Blond, E. (1903). True tales of mountain adventure, for non-climbers young and old. Dutton. Batard, M. (2003). La sortie des cîmes. Glénat. Bourdieu, P. (1979). La distinction. Critique sociale du jugement. Minuit. Bourdillon, F.  W. (1909). Another way of (mountain) love. Alpine Journal, 24, 148–161. Boyd, K. (2003). Manliness and the boys’ story paper in Britain: A cultural history, 1855–1940. Palgrave Macmillan. Connell, R. (1983). Which way is up?: Essays on sex, class, and culture. Allen and Unwin. Connell, R. (1987). Gender and power: Society, the person, and sexual politics. Stanford University Press. Connell, R. (1990). An iron man: The body and some contradictions of hegemonic masculinity. In M. A. Messner & D. F. Sabo (Eds.), Sport, men, and the gender order: Critical feminist perspectives (pp. 83–96). Human Kinetics Books. Connell, R. (1995). Masculinities. University of California Press. Connell, R., & Messerschmidt, J. W. (2005). Hegemonic masculinity: Rethinking the concept. Gender and Society, 19(6), 829–859. Corbin, A., Courtine, J.-J., & Vigarello, G. (2011). Histoire de la virilité: Tome 3, La virilité en crise ?, Le XXe-XXIe siècle. Seuil. Davidoff, L., & Hall, C. (1987). Family fortunes: Men and Women of the English middle class 1780–1850. University of Chicago Press. Demetriou, D.  Z. (2001). Connell’s concept of hegemonic masculinity: A critique. Theory and Society, 30(3), 337–361.

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Dunning, E., & Sheard, K. (1979). Barbarians, gentlemen and players: A sociological study of the development of rugby football. New York University Press. Ellis, R. J. (2001). Vertical margins: Mountaineering and the landscapes of neoimperialism. University of Wisconsin Press. Field, J. (1982). Toward a programme of imperial life: The British empire at the turn of the century. Oxford University Press. Freshfield, D. (1882). Midsummer in Corsica. Alpine Journal, 10, 194–219. Gardien, C. (2021). Une histoire de l’alpinisme. Glénat. Hansen, P.  H. (2013). The summits of modern man: Mountaineering after the enlightenment. Harvard University Press. Isserman, M., & Weaver, S. (2008). Fallen giants: A history of Himalayan mountaineering from the age of empire to the age of extremes. Yale University Press. Majastre, J.-O. (2009). La montagne, les deux versants d’un imaginaire au féminin. In C. Ottogalli-Mazzacavallo & J. Saint-Martin (Eds.), Femmes et hommes dans les sports de montagne (pp. 203–210). Publications de la MSH-Alpes. Mangan, J. A. (1987). Social Darwinism and upper class education in late victorian and Edwardian England. In J. A. Mangan & J. Walvin (Eds.), Manliness and morality: Middle-class masculinity in Britain and America, 1800–1940 (pp. 135–159). Manchester University Press. Mangan, J. A. (1998). The games ethics and imperialism: Aspects of the diffusion of an ideal. Frank Cass. Mangan, J. A. (2000). Athleticism in the Victorian and Edwardian public school: The emergence and consolidation of an educational ideology (2nd ed.). Frank Cass. McIntosh, P.  C. (1960). Games and gymnastics for two nations in one. In P. C. McIntosh, F. S. Willetts, A. D. Munrow, & J. G. Dixon (Eds.), Landmarks in the history of physical education (2nd ed., pp. 177–209). Routledge. McLeod, H. (2004). La religion et l’essor du sport en Grande-Bretagne. Revue d’Histoire du XIXème siècle, 28, 133–148. Moraldo, D. (2015). Expression et diffusion d’un modèle héroïque de masculinité dans l’alpinisme d’après-guerre, Intervention à la Journée d’Etudes ‘Produire des hommes’, ENS de Lyon, Lyon. Moraldo, D. (2016). Mountaineering is something more than a sport. Les origines de l’éthique de l’alpinisme dans l’Angleterre victorienne. Genèses, 103, 7–28. Moraldo, D. (2020). Women and excellence in mountaineering from the 19th century to the present. The International Journal of the History of Sport, 37(9), 727–747. Moraldo, D. (2021). L’esprit de l’alpinisme. Une sociologie de l’excellence du XIXe au XIXe siècle. ENS Editions. Moraldo, D. (2022). Using Autobiographies for a Sociology of Mountaineering. Primerjalna književnost, 45(1), 27–42. Mummery, A. F. (1962). My climbs in the Alps and Caucasus (1895). Unwin.

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Ortner, S. (1999). Life and death on Mt. Everest: Sherpas and Himalayan mountaineering. Princeton University Press. Pomfret, G., & Doran, A. (2015). Gender and mountaineering tourism. In G.  Musa, J.  Higham, & A.  T. Carr (Eds.), Mountaineering Tourism (pp. 138–155). Routledge. Rak, J. (2021). False summit: Gender in mountaineering nonfiction. McGill-­ Queen’s University Press. Raspaud, M. (2003). L’aventure himalayenne: Les enjeux des expéditions sur les plus hautes montagnes du monde. PUG. Simpson, J. (1994). This game of ghosts. Vintage. Smythe, T. (2015). My father, Frank: The forgotten alpinist. Mountaineers Books. Stephen, L. (1868). On alpine climbing. In British sports and pastimes (pp. 257–289). Virture & Company. Stephen, L. (1904). The Playground of Europe (1871). Longmans. Terray, L. (1961). Les conquérants de l’inutile, Des Alpes à l’Annapurna. Gallimard. Tosh, J. (2005). Manliness and masculinities in nineteenth-century Britain: Essays on gender, family, and empire. Pearson Education. Whymper, E. (1871). Scrambles amongst the Alps in the years 1860–1869. Murray.

PART II

Transforming Experience: Intersectionality in Mountain Spaces and Places

CHAPTER 5

Reflexive Duoethnography: A Dialogic Exploration of Disability and Participation in Outdoor Adventure Activities and a Mountain Climber Academic T. A. Loeffler and Kim White

Basecamp TA: After eight years of sharing the outdoors together as friends and co-­ researchers, Kim and I embarked on our second duoethnographic reflexive process (Loeffler & White, 2022). The result is a dialogic exploration between a woman with a disability seeking to participate in outdoor activities and that of a mountain climber academic helping to facilitate these experiences. In this duoethnography, we discuss mountaineering both literal and figurative through the lens of equitable and inclusive access to

T. A. Loeffler (*) Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, NL, Canada e-mail: [email protected] K. White Community Centre Alliance, St. John’s, NL, Canada © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 J. Hall et al. (eds.), Gender, Politics and Change in Mountaineering, Global Culture and Sport Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29945-2_5

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mountains and outdoor spaces. Layered over this discussion are the complex terrains of abilities, bodies, risks, and joys. Kim: Specifically, we share narratives of the sexism and ableism that we have experienced in our life journeys towards access and summits. We aim, as Wheeler (2013) suggests, to create “even more complex knowledge [that] results from negotiating multiple minority identities at the same time. Multiple consciousnesses can inspire multivoiced discourses within one narrative” (p. 554). As is the process of duoethnography, we weave our life histories together with an exploration of relevant literature from the fields of outdoor recreation, gender, disability, and mountain studies to find and make meaning in how our mountainous journeys are both similar and different. TA: Given Dupuis’ general call for reflexive research methodologies (1999), as well as Howe (2009), suggesting there is a great need for the “use of reflexive ethnography in leisure spaces” (p.  489), we set out to understand how mountainous spaces welcome or spurn the participation of people with disabilities and women and other equity-seeking groups. We chose duoethnography as the foundation for this writing because it centres critical reflection in and on our life stories by examining specific events, within these stories, that have shaped who we were, who we are, and who we may become (Norris et al., 2017). Kim: We note that, although the inclusion of women and people with disabilities into outdoor spaces has progressed significantly, there are still many mountains to climb until full inclusion is reached (Crosbie, 2018; Gray & Mitten, 2018; Ross, 2001). A relatively new method, duoethnography is a polyvocal and dialogic form of inquiry emerging from a reciprocal process of interrogating the life stories of two individuals of difference (Breault, 2016; Norris & Sawyer, 2017). TA: In reporting our insights, we position our voices in juxtaposition throughout the chapter, as if we were swinging leads on a climbing pitch with each of us sharing equal time at the sharp end of the rope. This collaboration yields “multiple understandings” (Norris & Sawyer, 2012, p.  9) of the mountains we each climb—both literally and figuratively— which we explore in this chapter (Clare, 2015). Kim: To assist the reader in having a context from which to read our exchanges, we now introduce ourselves to you. Learning that I, as a person with a disability, was at a greater risk of the serious health problems associated with physical inactivity, I wanted to be proactive in maintaining my health (Rimmer et al., 2012). Living with a disability since age three

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and using braces and crutches to facilitate my locomotion, I knew that my mobility capacity would likely change as I aged. In 2013, I began to explore new ways to be both active and outdoors. Amid learning to navigate a local gravel trail by adopting the use of my previously unused wheelchair, I accepted your invitation to explore the East Coast Trail using the TrailRider®.1 In hindsight, I think we both see that memorable day on the East Coast Trail, as both our first shared outdoor adventure, as well as the pivotal moment that ultimately propelled us into exploring themes of “ableism and hopes of access” as we traversed that and many other trails together (Johnson & Hineman, 2019, p. 65). For me, it was an intense time of exploring using wheels to negotiate both inner and outer spaces. Winance (2019) so aptly summed it as a double transformation whereby using various wheeled chairs provided a means to gain new awareness of my body while discovering new and different abilities. TA: In my province, I am widely known as the “professor who climbs mountains” because of my community-engaged mountaineering (and other) expeditions. I’m an outdoor generalist who is decently skilled at many outdoor pursuits but an expert in none. I conduct research and teach in outdoor recreation and physical education with a focus on diversity and inclusion at a university in Canada. For this paper, I identify as White, woman, lesbian, and upper middle class. I am middle-aged and constantly negotiating with a changing body that creaks and hurts one moment and moves freely the next. Wendell (1996) summed up this state of bodily flux so aptly, “We are all disabled eventually. Most of us will live part of our lives with bodies that hurt, that move with difficulty or not at all, that deprives us of activities we once took for granted or that others take for granted, bodies that make daily life a physical struggle” (p. 263). Kim: I am currently the Executive Director of a community centre located in a social housing neighbourhood in the capital city of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The centre provides a wide variety of programmes and services for the neighbourhood’s residents focused on social, recreation, health, education, and employment. I identify as a White, middle-class, heterosexual female who lives with a mobility disability. For most of my life, I have been an observer on the sidelines of outdoor activities—due to my mobility disability and my attitude towards 1  The TrailRider® is a singled-wheeled outdoor access device that provides an option for a person with a disability, with group assistance, to ride over inaccessible terrain and trails to wild or remote places (Goodwin et al., 2009).

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it. Ageing with a disability and watching my capacity for mobility start to shift, I was eager to become more active. I struggled to figure out how to do that and connecting with TA opened a world of possibilities to explore. Being an educator by training and an advocate by accident because of my career in community-based work, I saw the impending journey as not just a way to help me age better but to help open minds and animate action.

Camp One TA: I started my path to becoming a mountaineer as a child with a love of heights. Early family pictures capture me sitting on a roof beside my dad at the age of one, ascending ladders at four, climbing trees at six, and jumping off the garage by the age of ten. My father taught me skills to manage the risks of playing at heights, around water, and in the woods. Given what is now the privilege of a “free-range” childhood, I roamed and ranged widely from the forest floor to the tops of mountain ski resorts (Fenton, 2012; Mikkelsen & Stilling Blichfeldt, 2015) developing both physical literacy and confidence in my ability to navigate both wild and urban spaces. My love of outside adventure was further shaped by participating in my high school’s outdoor pursuits club. Run by Mr Hamilton, our mountaineering English teacher of British heritage, club members took excursions to the Alberta Rocky Mountains twice a semester to learn rock-climbing and mountaineering skills. Kim: I have never physically climbed a mountain. For me, the biggest mountain and likely because I’m a teacher at heart is wanting people to learn about what disability is and what inclusion is beyond disability. The older I get, the more death and disability fall away from my thinking. Inclusion becomes more about seeing the humanity in each person. Like Wheeler (2013), I want “Stories that don’t replicate stereotypes. Respect for all landscapes and all bodies” (p. 573). If we, individually and collectively as a society, could let all the incorrect and limiting stories we hold about disability fall away, that would be my summit. TA: While I was first learning to climb, Laurie Skreslet and Sharon Wood became the first Canadians to summit Mount Everest, rendering them heroes in my mind. I stood atop my first mountain, Mt. Utopia, on a crisp autumn morning while the club’s Thanksgiving turkey cooked in a firepit below. The club’s weave of skill development, outdoor adventure, and community planted a deep desire for high peaks that would not truly emerge until three decades had passed. After that first climb, I read what

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Ortner (2020, p. 228) described as “one of the most extraordinary mountaineering books ever written,” Annapurna: A woman’s Place by Arlene Blum (2015). That ground-breaking book showed me at the beginning of my climbing life, that it was possible for women to reach the highest peaks while also showing me that the route to those summits was fraught with sexism, colonialism, and racism (Rak, 2007). Kim: I can only assume from reading your book, More than a Mountain: One Woman’s Everest (Loeffler, 2008), that there is a process to climbing mountains that includes making ground and then slipping back, movement upward and forward with a continuous risk of falling back or off with the frequent risk of harm or death (Pereira, 2005). Having lived with a disability for 50 years, my journey is much the same. Seeing the budding hope that progress is being made towards an inclusive and accessible society, and then seeing that dream slip away amid failures of leadership, poorly designed civic infrastructure, and attitudes that are slower than glaciers to change (Gaete-Reyes, 2015). This slow rate of change likely means that I won’t see my summit happening in my lifetime.

Camp Two TA: My mountain and professional life has been dominated by men and hegemonic masculinity (Frohlick, 1999; Kennedy & Russell, 2021; Ortner, 2020). In the male heroism culture of the brotherhood of the rope, I have never been tall enough, fast enough, or skilled enough in my own and others’ eyes (Doran et al., 2020; Rak, 2007; Rébuffat, 1999). I remember, in an early mountaineering course, being on a rope-team with my instructor and male peers. I was essentially being dragged uphill at an unsustainable pace. I was getting sweaty, tripping over the rope, and basically hating being there. My glacier glasses were fogging due to my overexertion and the instructor yelled at me to “get your shit together.” There was no coaching on how to do this nor any adjustment of the team speed. This was the first of many experiences of being treated as lesser or physically inadequate in the mountains (and in the outdoors in general). Kim: This reminds me of times when I have been out wheeling in my neighbourhood and random strangers coming up behind me assuming I need their help. Their unthinking reaction—that I can’t possibly traverse these hills without them (even though I do every day without them)—is cause for great harm in that it labels me as “disabled.” They fail to see my body as able—(as I do), and they often also refuse to hear that I do not

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need their assistance in that moment. They often do not take “No” as my answer and proceed to push my wheelchair without my consent. These acts of unwelcome “rescue” are an assault on both my autonomy and competence. I am so weary of others perceiving me as physically inadequate and therefore, dependent. I must deal with the fallout of their unexamined actions while they (likely) continue merrily on their way. As Wheeler (2013) suggests, they were thinking about me through the lens of their able body, and thus made inaccurate assumptions about my abilities. This results in me, as a wheelchair user, being treated by others as lesser, invisible, or as a non-person (Gaete-Reyes, 2015). TA: I remember on my mountain search and rescue course that my male peers would very quickly take the carabiners out of our (the women on the course) hands if we showed the slightest bit of hesitation or uncertainty while setting up a lowering system. Rather than pause or wait to be asked, they would swoop in and monopolize the training time. As a result, at the end of those long training days, I practised privately at home by setting up hauling systems to move the chairs around the kitchen until late each night. As is the case in many fields for women, I saw that my technical skills needed to be greater than my male peers to be considered merely adequate (Warren et  al., 2018). Rak (2007) summed it up this way, “Gender forms both the background and the situation of each climbing encounter” (p. 133). Kim: Being constantly watched, measured, and evaluated while going about my ordinary life is exhausting—especially if in the evaluator’s eyes, I come up inadequate (Gaete-Reyes, 2015). When you and I traverse the trails together, people we pass seem to have no filters in what they say to us. Either they are totally surprised that I am outside and give all the credit to you for me being there or they assume that I am somehow superhuman and inspiring. They do not see that the best response would be, “It’s a lovely day out, isn’t it?” rather than placing me (once again without my consent) on a continuum as either unable or an Everest summiteer (Clare, 2015). Similarly, Grue (2016) and Warren (1985), decades apart, recognized the hazards of representing the presence of PwD (people with disabilities) and women in the outdoors as extraordinary or because of individual prowess rather than ordinary and expected. Warren (1985, p. 13) identified this dynamic as the “Myth of the Superwoman,” while Grue (2016, p.  840) problematized it as “inspiration porn.” As Wheeler (2013) so aptly stated, “Mountains and disabled people have something in common:

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they both get stereotyped as inspirational” (p.  553). I remember many times when I was outside or going to the shopping mall and just having to leave because I couldn’t stand to be there, having people stare at me, saying to myself, “I just have to go home out of this.” These avalanches of misjudgement bury me so often when I dare enter these inequitable spaces that I might paraphrase the quotation that you used from Rak (2007) above, ableism forms both the background and the situation of every encounter I have outside my home. TA: I can understand the burden of being constantly monitored. On my first Everest expedition in 2007, the expedition leader kept a publicly posted record of climbing times through the Khumbu icefall with a “line of shame” drawn across an arbitrary pace line demarking fine and too slow. All the women’s times on this expedition were below this line and this process of public humiliation undermined our confidence, though many persevered and went on to summit. That experience left with me a “heavier backpack” because on subsequent expeditions, I was constantly distracted by the cognitive burden of wrestling with the fear of being labelled “not fast enough” although I had a multitude of summits on my resumé. As a result, before my next Everest expedition, I spent hours perfecting my technical skills to shave time from my laps through the Khumbu Icefall since I seemed to already have maximized what my physiology could do (and I could not bear to be found “lacking” again). Similarly, Doran et al. (2020) found that many women mountaineers focused on intensive skill and physical fitness training to negotiate the complex terrain that exists at the collision of gender, ability, physiology, landscape, and sense of competence (Chisholm, 2008; Warren & Loeffler, 2006).

Camp Three Kim: One of the most complex terrains I traverse comes with the need to maximize the mobilities and abilities I do have, to negate those I don’t. This drive to be as independent as possible has also created a dynamic of never wanting to inconvenience others when I might need some assistance in surmounting an obstacle or merely getting in the door. When I was in high school, I wanted to participate in the strength-training club at my high school. The training facility was in an old storage area behind the stage in the gymnasium. It required climbing a ladder to enter. My teachers would carry me up the ladder to gain access to the training equipment. I was willing, at that juncture in my life, to put up with the indignity of

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being carried in exchange for the benefits of the experience; however, that willingness passed with adulthood, expectation of access, and valuing my bodily autonomy. Sometimes, I make the choice to stay home rather than ask someone for assistance, thus inconveniencing them. TA: I am reminded of how many decisions on mountains I’ve made not to “inconvenience” other team members or expedition leaders—with me calling a climb off earlier than perhaps I should have—to not cause difficulties or commotion. In reflection on many such climbs, I see how much I have given up by making these choices, when many of my male teammates have not—they have most often kept climbing until they literally could not and requiring a much larger effort to get them down. I lost a summit on Mount Blanc because a male teammate didn’t call off his summit when feeling poorly lower on the mountain. Had he called his summit bid off earlier, different arrangements could have been made for his safe descent which didn’t compromise the summit for the rest of us. Bottom line—a teammate’s health and safety are always more important than the summit, but I see a pattern of who sacrifices their personal ambitions for the group. It is certainly not wrong to look at the overall logistical picture of an expedition and make a decision that eases egress for all, but I wonder how gender influences these decisions and how often women are gaslit by expedition leaders to pull the plug on their participation early. Kim: This is a very strong theme for my “climbs” as well. I am always traversing the sharp binary ridge that pits independence against dependence where one is seen as good or strength, and the other as bad or weakness (Kerr & Meyerson, 1987). So, for the times I retreat from a situation where I might require assistance, it is not just for the sake of inconveniencing others per say, but instead, it’s an attempt to prevent others from putting that lens or focus on disability once more. That lens is ableism. Callanan (2022) defines ableism as “discrimination against disabled people; the notion that disabled people are of less value than non-disabled people, and that disability is fundamentally burdensome, tragic, and undesirable (and, by extension, so are disable people).” I climb every day to undo the detrimental personal, social, and societal effects of this wedding of burden to impairment and the unrelenting dis/ability that results from it (Goodley, 2013). TA: Ortner (2020), studying Everest climbers, found that women often had to navigate similar terrain of being absolutely categorized as less serious, skilled, or strong by the men they were climbing with. In mountaineering and outdoor adventure, there is a similar enforced binary in

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terms of gender association and respect afforded, through the unrelenting use of the terms hard and soft. Referring to both technical skills and climb difficulty, “hard” is vernacular shorthand for high-risk terrain, requiring advanced rope system skills, remote, independent participation, and male whereby “soft” is verbal stand-in for low risk, communication and group skills, dependent participation, and female (Doran et al., 2020; Warren & Loeffler, 2006). While climbing in Nepal, male teammates and climbing Sherpas ask repeatedly to take weight or carry my entire backpack. I most often decline these frequent invitations because giving up my backpack reduces my independence and typically signals weakness to others in a mountain culture that values stoic masculinity and being self-sufficient above all.

Camp Four Kim: What we are exploring here is truly at the confluence of disability and gender—examining how our various identities intersect as well as how our experiences of difference and marginality are both similar and contradictory. In your discussion above, I am reminded of Garland-Thompson (2005) noting that disability and gender are often woven together with women with disabilities being categorized as subordinate, unfit, lacking, or incapable—in other words, soft. Examining how we climb through this intersecting space of feminist and critical disability studies, we like Garland-­ Thompson (2005) seek new ways to describe our lofty view “because prevailing narratives constrict disability’s complexities, they not only restrict the lives and govern the bodies of people we think of as disabled, but they limit the imaginations of those who think of themselves as non-disabled” (p. 1567). TA: In our work together, it has been so important to both examine and re-imagine the narratives we tell ourselves, that we tell others, and that others tell about us so that we can tear down attitudinal and societal barriers while simultaneously climbing above them (Garland-Thompson, 2005; Goodley, 2013). We have learned to dwell in what Goodwin et al. (2009) identified as “interdependence” (p.  51) layered on our shared interest in outdoor adventure, rather than a typical narrative of dependence. This learning has not been linear, but rather a “spiral of trust” (Norris & Sawyer, 2012, p. 24), woven on an intentional warp of physical discomfort and risk crossed by a weft of emotional discomfort and dialogic risk. From our first outdoor excursion onwards, it has been critical that

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each of us, as well as for the community of access members surrounding us, that each person have a valued place and role in our shared adventures (Loeffler & White, 2022). Kim: Risk has been a critical topic for us. It was a mountainous risk for me to give up my independence and autonomy to ride in the TrailRider® and will likely stand out as one of the psychologically hardest things that I will have done in my lifetime. Knowing that my disability would be obvious and visible to the group, I decided to use humour to diffuse the emotional risk by bringing a “Princess on Board” sign for the TrailRider® and by wearing a tiara. This helped change the narrative for me and the group seemed quite willing to play along with this act of revisionist theatre. At that point, I didn’t know you well, but I knew you were an experienced outdoor instructor, and you would likely be a thoughtful leader as well. TA: It was a potent day for the entire group, me included. As we made our collective way to Torbay Point traversing both primitive trails and rocky outcrops, I could see the power and value of co-creating this adventure where risk and trust ceased to be in binary, instead soaring like the eagle we saw in concentric and layered circles. Bell (2019) offers a succinct summary of that day, “Shared experiences with people who appreciate the dignity of risk often enhance such opportunities, offering valued companionship, cultivating the skills and competencies required to explore a mountain, cave or rock face, or simply offering support, and encouragement” (p. 317). Taking well-considered risks is a fundamental way I learn, grow, and climb but I’ve come to understand that you and many PwD were often prevented by your families or outdoor programmes from experiencing true risk. Rather, those close to you labelled the outdoors as “a very ‘risky place’” and wanted to keep you safely at home indoors or you found that outdoor programmes only offered you watered-down, risk-­ sanitized experiences (Burns et al., 2013, p. 1065). Kim: During our first climbing excursion, the concept of dignity of risk came into clearer focus for me as I both climbed the wall and then belayed your climb. As I pushed beyond the protective cocoon that I had been raised in, I saw how the prevention of risk had eroded my dignity and contributed to my further othering as a PwD (Marsh & Kelly, 2018). Leaving the ground and handling the rope gave me the impetus to explore my capacities and capabilities in new ways. Similarly, when we went ziplining together, I saw that you and the ziplining guides seemed to have a greater tolerance and appreciation of the value of risk for personal growth and capacity building. I agree with Goodwin et al. (2009) that PwD need

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more opportunities for risk in recreational outdoor programmes because it doesn’t exist for us in many other places. TA: I think there has been a similar dynamic in mountaineering where women are sometimes protected more from risk, and at the same time, are expected to risk less, especially if they are mothers. I remember when Alison Hargreaves died in 1995 while climbing K2. Her memory and tremendous mountaineering accomplishments were lashed with intense criticism for daring to take risks in the mountains rather than staying home mothering her young children (Gilchrist, 2007; Summers, 2007). I was angered that her death in the mountains received much more scrutiny than her climbing skill and prowess and that she was frequently portrayed as a ‘bad mother.’ It is only in recent years, that mountaineering and climbing fathers have begun to publicly wrestle with the double dilemma of leaving home and family to indulge in far-away risky pursuits on mountains and crags (Osborne, 2021). Kim: I experienced something similar when I chose to become a mother with many healthcare workers questioning my decision and placing my ability to care for my daughter under intense scrutiny as well. Mothers with disabilities face extreme stigma, invisibility, and pressure to demonstrate that they can be ‘good mothers’ (Grue & Laerum, 2002). Additionally, I see a connection in the navigation of risk, autonomy, and caretaking that climbing parents do, being akin to PwD sorting through risk with their families. Without careful thought and intention, it can be easy to deny PwD autonomy and choice over much of their lives—let alone, outdoor adventure. It was a pivotal moment when you offered to climb while I belayed you. In many ways, this gesture flipped much of this risk calculus on its head, and I was the one responsible for managing the risk of you being high on the wall. Belaying gave me a true share in our climbing experience while fostering a much deeper sense of achievement and empowerment that wouldn’t be as rich if I’d only climbed (Doran et al., 2020).

Summit Bid TA: In belaying, you experienced one of the two sharp ends of the rope. Belaying is an embodied experience of caring for both the rope and the climber attached to it—essentially feeling both the weight of taking responsibility for another through the belaying process and the bond that comes from that—in our case, the sisterhood of the rope (Dilley & Scraton,

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2010). The other sharp end is when a climber progresses the rope up the climb or mountain in the lead which can entail a greater level of risk than for those who follow. Here on the NE Avalon, I see you taking the other end of the rope and leading the way for others with disabilities into the outdoors. Kim: I can see that connection. Before I took that first roll around Quidi Vidi Lake, I didn’t have access to an “expedition leader” to assist me in getting outside nor had I seen many outdoor PwD role models. Fortunately, I accepted your invitation to go out in the Trailrider because that day has led to so many joys and benefits for me. TA: And for me and our community too! We had no idea where that first journey outdoors together would take us—looking back, I see so many peaks and summits, as well as a few inevitable deep valleys along the way. I am grateful to my feminist outdoor leadership mentors for equipping me with knowledge, practices, and ideals for creating inclusive outdoor experiences (Mitten, 1992; Warren et al., 2014). I drew on their and your expertise so often as I sought to increase access to the outdoors for you and others. Kim: I don’t physically climb mountains but there is an analogous physicality to my outdoor pursuits and adaptive dance practices. When you are climbing your mountains or I am climbing mine, we must seek out our kindred spirits. We must continue to find open and accepting spaces for ourselves and create them for others—on both literal and metaphorical mountains. As your niece Rayne so aptly said when you got back from your first Everest attempt, “Maybe next time I’ll paint the mountain shorter for you.” We will continue to make the mountains shorter for others by our very presence in the outdoors as well as fighting ableism and sexism (and other intersecting oppressions) in our time out there together.

References Bell, S. L. (2019). Experiencing nature with sight impairment: Seeking freedom from ableism. Environment and Planning E: Nature and Space, 2(2), 304–322. Blum, A. (2015). Annapurna, a woman’s place. Counterpoint LLC. Breault, R. A. (2016). Emerging issues in duoethnography. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 29(6), 777–794. Burns, N., Watson, N., & Paterson, K. (2013). Risky bodies in risky spaces: Disabled people’s pursuit of outdoor leisure. Disability & Society, 28(8), 1059–1073.

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Callanan, A. (2022, February 26). Ableism kept me ignorant of my own disabilities. https://medium.com/@andreaecallanan/ableism-­kept-­me-­ignorant-­of-­my-­ own-­disabilities-­5993d9c5f8bf. Chisholm, D. (2008). Climbing like a girl: An exemplary adventure in feminist phenomenology. Hypatia, 23(1), 9–40. Clare, E. (2015). Exile and pride. Duke University Press. Crosbie, J. (2018). Disability and the outdoors: Some considerations for inclusion. In B. Humberstone, H. Prince, & K. Henderson (Eds.), Routledge international handbook of outdoor studies (pp. 378–387). Routledge. Dilley, R. E., & Scraton, S. J. (2010). Women, climbing and serious leisure. Leisure Studies, 29(2), 125–141. Doran, A., Schofield, P., & Low, T. (2020). Women’s mountaineering: Accessing participation benefits through constraint negotiation strategies. Leisure Studies, 39(5), 721–735. Dupuis, S. L. (1999). Naked truths: Towards a reflexive methodology in leisure research. Leisure Sciences, 21, 43–64. Fenton, M. (2012). Community design and policies for free-range children: Creating environments that support routine physical activity. Childhood Obesity (Formerly Obesity and Weight Management), 8(1), 44–51. Frohlick, S. (1999). The ‘hypermasculine’ landscape of high-altitude mountaineering. Michigan Feminist Studies, 14, 83–106. Gaete-Reyes, M. (2015). Citizenship and the embodied practice of wheelchair use. Geoforum, 64, 351–361. Garland-Thompson, R. (2005). Dares to stares: Disabled women performance artists & the dynamics of staring. In C. Sandahl & P. Auslander (Eds.), Bodies in commotion: Disability and performance (pp.  30–42). University of Michigan Press. Gilchrist, P. (2007). Motherhood, ambition and risk: Mediating the sporting hero/ine in conservative Britain. Media, Culture and Society, 29(3), 395–414. Goodley, D. (2013). Dis/entangling critical disability studies. Disability & Society, 28(5), 631–644. Goodwin, D., Peco, J., & Ginther, N. (2009). Hiking excursions for persons with disabilities: Experiences of interdependence. Therapeutic Recreation Journal, 43(1), 42. Gray, T., & Mitten, D. (Eds.). (2018). The Palgrave international handbook of women and outdoor learning. Springer. Grue, J. (2016). The problem with inspiration porn: A tentative definition and a provisional critique. Disability & Society, 31(6), 838–849. Grue, L., & Laerum, K. T. (2002). ‘Doing Motherhood’: Some experiences of mothers with physical disabilities. Disability & Society, 17(6), 671–683. Howe, P.  D. (2009). Reflexive ethnography, impairment and the pub. Leisure Studies, 28(4), 489–496.

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Johnson, A. C., & Hineman, C. (2019). A duoethnographic journey of inclusion to access. The Currere Exchange Journal, 3(1), 65–73. Kennedy, J., & Russell, C. (2021). Hegemonic masculinity in outdoor education. Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning, 21(2), 162–171. Kerr, N., & Meyerson, L. (1987). Independence as a goal and a value of people with physical disabilities: Some caveats. Rehabilitation Psychology, 32(3), 173. Loeffler, T.  A. (2008). More than a mountain: One’s woman’s Everest. Creative Book Publishers. Loeffler, T. A., & White, K. (2022). Oh, the places we will go: A duoethnography exploring inclusive outdoor experiences. Journal of Outdoor and Environmental Education, 1–16. Marsh, P., & Kelly, L. (2018). Dignity of risk in the community: A review of and reflections on the literature. Health, Risk & Society, 20(5–6), 297–311. Mikkelsen, M. V., & Stilling Blichfeldt, B. (2015). ‘We have not seen the kids for hours’: The case of family holidays and free-range children. Annals of Leisure Research, 18(2), 252–271. Mitten, D. (1992). Empowering girls and women in the outdoors. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, 63(2), 56–60. Norris, J., & Sawyer, R. D. (2012). Toward a dialogic methodology. In J. Norris, R. D. Sawyer, & D. Lund (Eds.), Duoethnography: Dialogic methods for social, health, and educational research (pp. 9–39). Routledge. Norris, J., & Sawyer, R. D. (2017). Theorizing curriculum studies, teacher education, & research through duoethnographic pedagogy. Palgrave Macmillan. Norris, J., Sawyer, R. D., & Wiebe, S. (2017). Teaching through duoethnography in teacher education and graduate curriculum theory courses. In J. Norris & R. Sawyer (Eds.), Theorizing curriculum studies, teacher education, and research through duoethnographic pedagogy (pp. 15–38). Palgrave Macmillan. Ortner, S. B. (2020). Life and death on Mt. Everest: Sherpas and Himalayan mountaineering. Princeton University Press. https://doi-­org.qe2a-­proxy.mun. ca/10.1515/9780691211770 Osborne, C. A. (2021). Injury at the extreme: Alison Hargreaves, mountaineering and motherhood. In S. Wagg & A. M. Pollock (Eds.), The Palgrave handbook of sport, politics and harm (pp. 187–206). Palgrave Macmillan. Pereira, A.  L. (2005). The experience of risk in high-altitude climbing. World Leisure Journal, 47(2), 38–49. Rak, J. (2007). Social climbing on Annapurna: Gender in high-altitude mountaineering narratives. ESC: English Studies in Canada, 33(1), 109–146. Rébuffat, G. (1999). Starlight and storm. Modern Library. Rimmer, J. H., Schiller, W., & Chen, M. D. (2012). Effects of disability-associated low energy expenditure deconditioning syndrome. Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews, 40(1), 22–29.

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Ross, J.  E. (2001). Water-based outdoor recreation and persons with disabilities. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED463940.pdf Summers, K. (2007). Unequal genders: Mothers and fathers on mountains. Sheffield Online Papers in Social Research. https://www.sheffield.ac.uk/polopoly_fs/1.71700!/file/10-­Summers-­article.pdf Warren, K. (1985). Women’s outdoor adventures: Myth and reality. The Journal of Experimental Education, 8(2), 10–15. Warren, K., & Loeffler, T.  A. (2006). Factors that influence women’s technical skill development in outdoor adventure. Journal of Adventure Education & Outdoor Learning, 6(2), 107–119. Warren, K., Risinger, S., & Loeffler, T.  A. (2018). Challenges faced by women outdoor leaders. In T. Gray & D. Mitten (Eds.), The Palgrave international handbook of women and outdoor learning (pp. 247–258). Palgrave Macmillan. Warren, K., Roberts, N. S., Breunig, M., & Alvarez, M. A. T. G. (2014). Social justice in outdoor experiential education: A state of knowledge review. The Journal of Experimental Education, 37(1), 89–103. Wendell, S. (1996). The social construction of disability. In S. Wendell (Ed.), The rejected body: Feminist reflections on disability (pp. 35–56). Routledge. Wheeler, E. A. (2013). Don’t climb every mountain. Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment, 20(3), 553–573. Winance, M. (2019). ‘Don’t touch/push me!’ From disruption to intimacy in relations with one’s wheelchair: An analysis of relational modalities between persons and objects. The Sociological Review, 67(2), 428–443.

CHAPTER 6

“The whole trip I basically had to hide”: A Goffmanian Analysis of Erin Parisi and Negotiating the Gendered Mountaineering Space Thomas M. Leeder, Kate Russell, Lee C. Beaumont, and Lois Ferguson

Introduction: Who Is Erin Parisi? Erin Parisi has been involved in outdoor and adventurous sports (e.g., climbing, hiking, snowsports, mountain biking) for most of her adult life and is attempting to become the first trans*1 person to ascend the Seven Summits (see https://www.transending7.org/). To date, Erin has climbed: Elbrus (Europe); Kosciuszko (mainland Australia); Aconcagua (South 1

 Stealth refers to Erin deliberately concealing her trans* status.

T. M. Leeder (*) • K. Russell • L. C. Beaumont • L. Ferguson University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 J. Hall et al. (eds.), Gender, Politics and Change in Mountaineering, Global Culture and Sport Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29945-2_6

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America); Kilimanjaro (Africa); and Vinson Massif (Antarctica). She intends to complete the final two summits, Denali (North America) and Everest (Asia), over the next few years. Erin presents herself as having always been in ‘transition’ but commenced her physical and medical transition at 38 years old (she is now in her mid-40s). Erin uses the pronouns she/her/hers.

Outdoor and Adventurous Sports: A Gendered Space? Within outdoor spaces, participation in adventure activities is shaped by masculine ideals (Frohlick, 2005), exhibiting a range of gender inequalities which represent strong ideals of hegemonic masculinity (Warren, 2016). Research indicates additional risks exist for women and girls around misogyny and sexual harassment when participating in such activities (Davies et  al., 2019). Mountain climbing has long been dominated by men due to persisting stereotypes of femininity as weakness, which challenges the proposed characteristics required to succeed in outdoor sports (Davis, 2007). Furthermore, Wigglesworth (2021) highlights the exclusive nature of many climbing routes which often have misogynistic, racist, homophobic, transphobic, or ableist names. Activities such as mountaineering are traditionally positioned as gendered pursuits, with women (as both leaders and participants) needing to work hard to ‘earn the right to climb’ within this social context (Kennedy & Russell, 2021; Rogers & Rose, 2019; Russell et al., 2022; Tulle, 2022; Warren, 2016). Indeed, research by Bell et al. (2018) has demonstrated how outdoor spaces, such as within mountaineering, are gendered through normalised expectations regarding perceived competency, strength, safety, and knowledge of equipment. Nonetheless, while we are beginning to understand some of the issues that women face in accessing and participating in outdoor activities, such as mountaineering, little is known about how those with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, and sexually and gender diverse (LGBTQ+) identities come to experience these spaces, and the challenges they must negotiate within this “troubling terrain” (Bell et al., 2018, p. 199). Trans* Experiences in Mountaineering and Outdoor Adventure The term trans* has been adopted within this chapter as a way of representing the broad range of experiences and the diversity of gender

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identities within this community (Tompkins, 2014). The asterisk opens the term up to a wider range of meanings and is intentionally ambiguous to reflect this multiplicity (Catalano, 2015). While we focus on Erin’s story and acknowledge that her experiences are situated within the gender binary, the term trans* encompasses any individual who identifies differently to the sex assigned at birth and the asterisk could be viewed as a “textual disruption”, encouraging readers to reflect upon this diversity (Nicolazzo, 2021, p. 532). We also wanted to avoid often-conflated experiences of trans* individuals within broader lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) communities (Lucas-Carr & Krane, 2011), by focusing solely on Erin’s story. Trans* identities challenge the ‘naturalness’ of the gender binary and disrupt the notion of a fixed and innate gender identity (McPhail, 2004). Therefore, many of the gendered practices and assumptions that are embedded within outdoor and adventure settings can also impact on the experiences of those who identify within the trans* umbrella. Mitten (2012) argues that both trans* identifying and gender non-conforming young people would benefit from attending mainstream camps, as the camps themselves are inclusive spaces and provide opportunities to explore identity and the outdoor space safely. While the argument is powerful and hopeful for the inclusion of gender and sexual diversity within a wider community as a key aspect of social justice forms of education, others report greater challenges. Warren et al. (2018) highlight barriers to transgender and gender variant outdoor leaders’ participation due to sleeping and bathroom arrangements that typically align with heteronormative assumptions that reinforce the gender binary. Trans* participants can be forced to avoid or carefully navigate these settings to reduce the risk of gender expression harassment. While those with gender-conforming expressions may be able to go stealth and hide their trans* status to gain access to these spaces, the same cannot be said of non-conforming expressions, highlighting an additional tension for these individuals. Accounts from transgender and non-binary climbers demonstrate additional hostilities faced by this group: constant misgendering, concerns over being outed in unsafe spaces, and a lack of inclusive opportunities to compete (Ellison, 2019; Schneider, 2020). Kennedy and Russell (2021) suggest that a disruption of hegemonic masculinity within outdoor education is required to create “conditions for more diverse gender performances” (p.  1). While the focus in Kennedy and Russell’s work is outdoor

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education, we would argue that this context is reflective of mountaineering and outdoor adventure more broadly. Consequently, as part of a wider research project (see Russell et  al., 2022), this chapter critically analyses Erin Parisi’s experiences of the gendered mountaineering space, interpreting her story using Erving Goffman’s (1959, 1963, 1979) concepts of impression management, stigma, and gender displays. While existing research has drawn upon Goffmanian concepts to interpret trans* experiences within diverse social contexts (e.g., Johnston, 2016; Wight, 2011), limited scholarly work has applied this theoretical lens to explore trans* identities within mountaineering and outdoor spaces. While it is beyond the scope of this chapter to fully delve into Goffman’s dramaturgical approach to understanding social life, his concepts focus on a theatrical-based analogy, explaining how stigmatised individuals engage in staged performances to manage the impressions of others within social situations (the audience). Thus, the utility of a Goffmanian approach lies in its ability to understand how and why individuals (e.g., Erin) might engage in both gender displays and transgender performativity (Wight, 2011), to manage the impressions of others within outdoor spaces (e.g., mountaineering).

Methodology: Procedure and Data Collection Following a series of email exchanges and online meetings discussing the logistics of the collaboration, Erin agreed to take part in the research, with the broad aim of the project focusing on presenting Erin’s experiences, perceptions, and journey to date, to help challenge and change the trans* narrative (see Russell et al., 2022). After obtaining institutional ethical approval, over a one-month period three semi-structured interviews using the videoconferencing system Zoom were conducted by the second author, lasting a total of 265 minutes. All interviews were audio recorded via Zoom, before being transcribed verbatim. While Zoom interviews were a necessity due to the geographical distance between Erin and the research team, the online nature offered several benefits. For example, ease and flexibility of scheduling, greater participant control, ease of data capture, in addition to providing a more comfortable and empowering experience for Erin (see Archibald et al., 2019; Oliffe et al., 2021). At the end of the third and final interview, Erin began to touch upon the notion of rapport and trust which had been developed throughout the interview process:

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I think in those few calls we have built some rapport and, you know, I’ve never granted anyone the amount of time that you’ve gotten … again I trust you … I hope it comes out as a helpful thing when it gets read. (Interview 3)

Topic areas discussed within the interviews were initiated by the second author, but also led primarily by Erin and the experiences she wanted to share. Thus, while an interview guide was developed, the semi-structured nature of the interviews allowed the conversations to digress. Nonetheless, topics such as Erin’s experiences of mountaineering both before and after her transition, the role of gender when climbing, alongside the development of the TranSending7 project and changing the trans* narrative were addressed across the three interviews. Data Analysis Interview transcripts were subject to a reflexive thematic analysis process (Braun & Clarke, 2022), where the research team engaged with the iterative stages of dataset familiarisation; data coding; initial theme generation; theme development and review; theme refining, defining, and naming; and eventually writing up. Having read and re-read all transcripts through a process of immersion, codes were assigned to meaningful data extracts related to the project’s aims, at both a semantic and latent level. The research team engaged in collaborative coding to “enhance understanding, interpretation and reflexivity, rather than to reach a consensus” (Braun & Clarke, 2022, p. 8), with each member acting as a critical friend (Smith & McGannon, 2018). The analytical process of coding and initial theme generation involved an abductive orientation to data, where coding incorporated an inductive (data-driven) and deductive (theory-driven) approach, enabling the dataset to function as the starting point for meaning, while using existing theoretical concepts (e.g., Goffman) as a lens to interpret the data (Braun & Clarke, 2022). Having developed and reviewed candidate themes, these were refined to ensure a coherent narrative was present, before weaving together analytical commentary and data extracts within the writing process (Braun & Clarke, 2022). Prior to data analysis, all interview transcripts were shared with Erin as a form of member reflection to generate initial commentary (Smith & McGannon, 2018).

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Results and Discussion As a result of the reflexive thematic analysis process, two themes were developed: (1) Going stealth: Defensive practices and maintaining invisibility and (2) Becoming a speaker: The gendered mountaineering space. Within this section, data extracts from the interviews conducted with Erin are supplemented with an analytical commentary informed by Goffman’s (1959, 1963, 1979) theorisation on impression management, stigma, and gender displays. We use the term ‘trans’ in the data extracts to denote Erin’s true voice, as opposed to the research-informed use of trans*. We refer to Erin’s experiences before and after ‘transition’ to relate to her preand post-medical transition.

Going Stealth: Defensive Practices and Maintaining Invisibility Erin highlighted social situations where she needed to remain invisible and engage with “the arts of impression management … through which the individual exerts strategic control” over others’ impressions (Goffman, 1963, p. 155). Erin outlined situations where she adopted defensive and protective practices to safeguard the impression she portrayed to others (Goffman, 1959), while maintaining stealth. In the extract below, Erin explains how she engaged with dramaturgical discipline, for example controlling emotions and feelings within a performance, when she was exposed to transphobia and stigma within mountaineering spaces before her transition. I was in those spaces I heard what people were saying, you know, I know what my climbing friends think about trans people I know what my climbing friends think about gay men … When you’re in my space as a trans person who’s not manifested yet. You’re seeing it, you’re seeing all that homophobia, all of that sexism, and all of that transphobia kind of around you and saying, God, I better keep hiding because this is how the world will receive me … as soon as I came out all those people, they said we weren’t sexist we weren’t homophobic, we weren’t transphobic … I was there I heard it … they just didn’t know I was there. (Interview 1)

Individuals who adopt dramaturgical discipline can suppress emotions “in order to give the appearance of sticking to the affective line, the

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expressive status quo” (Goffman, 1959, p. 211), to maintain an alignment between virtual and actual identity. However, Erin also engaged in dramaturgical circumspection, referring to the process of preparing for likely contingencies and challenges when encountering a new audience (Goffman, 1959). In this instance, prior to climbing Mount Elbrus, Erin needed to be aware of how she presented herself and stressed the need to remain ‘hidden’ due to the social and cultural environment in Russia. If you’re LGBT … go there but hide, don’t be known. Don’t put yourself out, no public displays of affection. And then the last piece of information I had was I knew that the rainbow flag is considered anti-family propaganda in Russia, so the display of the rainbow colours in the public forum is against the law in Russia … it’s a little bit scary, so yeah, I went in kind of with the idea that I was going to kind of keep my head down … and like my eyes up. So, just keep a lookout and be safe but, you know, kind of keep a low profile too … I wouldn’t expose myself or my group to any danger, and, you know, so that meant that the whole trip I basically had to hide. (Interview 3)

The emphasis Erin placed on keeping her ‘head down, eyes up’ and maintaining a ‘lookout’ epitomises the practice of dramaturgical circumspection to maintain a performance, where Erin needed to constantly be “alive to the social situation as a scanner of possibilities” (Goffman, 1963, p. 110), to safeguard her own personal and group’s safety in Russia. For Goffman (1959), the disclosure of secrets and ‘destructive information’ which are hidden may disrupt performances when in front of an audience. Thus, Erin reiterated the need to keep a low profile. My ability to keep myself safe and possibly the group safe really depends on me being low key … It’s got to be unknown until I get on that plane and land in a different airport. You know, outside of this, outside of Russia. So, you know, I tried as much as I could, but I also couldn’t make a big deal out of it. (Interview 3)

When talking more generally, Erin further described the need to engage in dramaturgical circumspection, specifically when calculating risk and planning ahead of any climb, knowing when to switch between front (with an audience) and back (in private) regions (Goffman, 1959). That’s the risk that I can kind of quantify and calculate and figure out, you know, from base camp to the top of the mountain and, I can work on all of

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those things but it’s going from my house to base camp, that, you know, I can’t calculate the risk I can’t quantify what will happen between those two places so, yeah … I can kind of fly a little bit under the radar and get to places … through stealth. (Interview 3)

Visibility and the presentation of ‘destructive information’ will have varying levels of consequences for individuals. Goffman (1963) explained how people are in a constant struggle to manage information which forms their identity, needing to strategically decide whether “to display or not display; to tell or not to tell” (p. 57). Therefore, an individual’s ability to manage their identity is influenced by the presence of others and whether ‘others’ are aware of such ‘destructive’ information (Goffman, 1963). When climbing Mount Elbrus, Erin encountered this situation: I did it [climbed Elbrus] with a group and I did it with a friend, and, you know, this is somebody who was my boss at my office … you know, somebody that I had contact with, I think, you know, before transitioning so, you know, he knew my whole history … I felt a little bit exposed … And he made some comment like ‘yeah I haven’t fully digested where you’re at in life’ … You know, he was certainly kind of the weak link, as far as I think, you know, letting my information out because the importance of being silent and not being seen. But he didn’t and, you know, he misgendered me a few times on the trip because, you know, that’s just the way some people are. (Interview 3)

While Goffman (1959, p.  216) argued that “with those whom one does not know, careful performances are required”, an individual’s ability to manage their identity is influenced by the presence of others who are also known (Goffman, 1963). Erin highlighted the challenges associated with managing known-about-ness and encountering situations where others do know her identity. In the example above, Erin relied upon her boss’s tact and ability to demonstrate the defensive practice of dramaturgical loyalty, where those in the know must not “betray the secrets of the team when between performances” (Goffman, 1959, p.  207). While Erin’s boss misgendered her on the Elbrus trip, it would seem she was still able to manage her identity. Interviewer: Did you ever get a sense that anybody else within the team that you were climbing with was reading you in a different way?

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Erin: I didn’t know for sure; I just didn’t know. I had no idea if they were or they weren’t but, you know, there’s no way to kind of test those waters either so you just keep quiet. Keep kind of doing what you’re doing. (Interview 3) Despite these challenges, Erin’s successful engagement with impression management strategies enabled her to remain safe in what might be considered a forbidden place, where unpleasant eventualities had the potential to arise (Goffman, 1963). Erin further outlined how she constantly needed to put on a front to “define the situation for those who observe the performance” (Goffman, 1959, p. 32). It’s a hostile environment and it’s intimidation so you kind of at every turn, as far as what your emotions are how you’re kind of carrying on, you know, if you’re part of the, you know, the LGBT+ community, you’re having to maybe change your behaviours just a little bit and always kind of be cognizant of what you should do, or what you shouldn’t do in order just to enjoy what’s around you, and it’s a constraint that, you know … there’s a greater population that can go there without having to think … you’re kind of having to individually weigh up and change your behaviours at every kind of point. (Interview 3)

When managing identities, Goffman (1963) indicated that individuals may find themselves in forbidden (stigmas must be hidden), civil (stigmas accepted), or back (individuals at ease) places. While the cultural and political context of Russia (Mount Elbrus) or Tanzania (Mount Kilimanjaro) can be considered a forbidden place, Erin discussed how more civil places (e.g., North America or Australia) also require the need for impression management techniques to overcome everyday tasks. A lot of people don’t have that, you know, they don’t just have the fear that I have, you know … I have that backstop where if everything else kind of falls apart or I get myself into trouble some other way, by, you know, getting pulled over, or something. I might not face the same abuse that somebody that’s from a different state in the United States faces, or somebody from a different country. (Interview 1) I still worry when I run into strangers because the consequences are so bad so, you know, here in the United States, low consequences but you know there’s a great chance I’ll be outed in my day-to-day life because I come into

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contact with people that, you know, know people that know people that know me, or just directly know me. It’s just a different risk equation. (Interview 3)

Managing visibility and the presentation of information to others will have varying levels of consequences for individuals (Goffman, 1963). For Erin, needing to stay stealth and maintain a greater sense of sensitivity results in a “great psychological price, a very high level of anxiety” (Goffman, 1963, p.  109), which impacts routine day-to-day social encounters. Becoming a Speaker: The Gendered Mountaineering Space Mountaineering is traditionally recognised as a gendered pursuit, which encompasses strong elements of hegemonic masculinity, with women working hard to legitimise their place in this social context (Kennedy & Russell, 2021; Rogers & Rose, 2019; Tulle, 2022; Warren, 2016). For Goffman (1979), the expression of gender can be considered a social construction, where individuals perform ‘gender displays’, adopting behaviours, gestures, and postures to conform to social norms regarding what gender ‘should’ look like. Pre-transition, Erin outlined how she engaged in gender displays to ‘fake’ and conform to gender stereotypes, while covering her true identity. I don’t think a lot of them [other climbers] thought much about it. I think I looked a lot like them and fit in. I faked it pretty well, I was, you know, if I went on an old guy’s trip, you know, I think that they kind of let loose and just, you know, kind of viewed it like that. I think if I went on a mixed trip, it was the same thing I kind of interacted from that very gendered space … everything is gendered. (Interview 1)

In this instance, Erin “perceived an expectation to enact prescribed masculine, competitive behaviours” to align with her gender display (Rogers & Rose, 2019, p.  46). Recent research has demonstrated how outdoor spaces are gendered through expectations regarding competency, strength, safety, and knowledge of equipment (Bell et al., 2018; Russell et al., 2022). Moreover, the naming and classification of mountains and their routes have strong hypermasculine underpinnings (Tulle, 2022; Wigglesworth, 2021), which was identified by Erin.

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The names of routes are completely ridiculous and the way that they’re named is very indicative of the kind of talk that I think goes on … the routes are very indicative of what was on their mind. And, you know, everybody kind of denies it that, you know, like, I mean everybody knows locker room talk exists, but then when you confront it … then it doesn’t exist or it’s not a problem. (Interview 1)

In addition to negotiating locker room talk, Erin further described how the mountain space is gendered through the assignment and enactment of group dynamics, team roles, and decision-making processes within climbs. It could be as overt as kind of how you break up kind of bathroom kind of stuff right or, you know … even like your car rides and how you get places or how you get into a group. You know … there’s like the dynamics of it as well and that’s kind of the hardest part of it, the communication and kind of the decision making and all those parts of it, you know, like when a group starts to form and you start seeing like, the decision making and the personality of the team come together … it even looks a little bit more gendered. (Interview 1)

Erin discussed her experiences of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro both pre- and post-transition, outlining the misogyny, sexism, and gender bias she was exposed to as a woman when negotiating group planning and discussions, where her leadership qualities were seemingly devalued (Kennedy & Russell, 2021; Rogers & Rose, 2019; Tulle, 2022). Specifically, Erin’s experiences align with Goffman’s (1979) function ranking representation of gender, where women have a passive role of being ‘instructed to’ rather than an active role of leading and instructing others. I’m starting to realise like I’m definitely being treated differently this time than last time it was unfolding more emergently … I couldn’t even stand with the guys when they’re negotiating and working it [the climb] out. So, you know, I would just be put in the car for like, you know, before they would take me everywhere … I’m gonna have a meeting with this person but, you know, they’ve got like a little cafe or like table or whatever, just like hang out and like we’d be at a table, drinking Cokes together, and I was not involved in the conversation because they’re speaking Swahili, but I was still there, I wasn’t even invited in, like, I would be left in the other room or left in the car … I was kind of always snipped off … I wasn’t allowed to assert myself in that way and that had never happened before. (Interview 2)

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In line with recent research exploring gender in outdoor spaces (Kennedy & Russell, 2021; Rogers & Rose, 2019; Tulle, 2022), Erin’s experiences demonstrate how mountaineering can be described as a “troubling terrain” for women (Bell et al., 2018, p. 199). In the third interview, Erin further elaborated upon the misogyny and sexism she encountered pre-transition, alongside the ‘locker room mentality’ which is detrimental to women’s equality within outdoor spaces. People don’t know what it’s like … a lot of times you want to be empathetic to somebody else’s plight, but I don’t think it’s always possible. I would hope that in the groups that I’ve been with when there were women present that the behaviour was mostly, I think, respectful, or, you know, striving towards trying to be equal. I can say that I’ve been in climbing circles and I’ve said it before where I think it’s just as detrimental to, kind of, you know, women’s equality is what’s being said when women aren’t around. The country club mentality or the locker room mentality, or, you know, when you get into these spaces that men feel safe enough to open their mouths and, you know, I think a lot of men don’t understand … they vocalise something that they don’t necessarily feel, to feel as though they’re part of the group … I think that the sexism felt was more vocally present when women weren’t present. That being said, it doesn’t matter, it’s equally damaging whether somebody is there to hear it or not. (Interview 3)

From Erin’s recollections, within mountaineering, some men also engage in impression management techniques through their expressions given and given off, for example outwardly displaying an attitude of misogyny and sexism to conform to contextual norms, with acts of gender performativity resulting in a collective representation within mountaineering groups (Goffman, 1959, 1979). As such, the danger for Erin was always beyond the physical and technical challenges associated with climbing the mountain. Instead, possessing an “aliveness to the contingencies of acceptance and disclosure” (Goffman, 1963, p. 136) and managing interpersonal interactions to avoid negative consequences posed a greater concern. Interviewer: So, does that mean that on the mountain, it’s … easier to hide in that, in that sense then, on the journey between home and the mountain base, the base camp? Erin: I don’t know if it’s easier to hide or not, but you’re exposed to a whole lot fewer people … So, you know, I mean in

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Aconcagua [Argentina] I was out there for 20  days or 18  days with the same people, you know, Elbrus was 10  days or something. So, it’s hard to say … I said, the whole goal is that, you know, the challenges we face in the mountain should be the ultimate kind of egalitarian system but because it’s, it’s how steep it is, it’s what my technical knowledge is, it’s how well I trained, it’s how well I know the gear and the weather conditions but yeah … you don’t know as a traveller why you’ll get singled out, but if you do get singled out, you know, what are the consequences? So, you know, as a female traveller I face different risks than I did as a male traveller. (Interview 3) Engaging in impression management techniques and dramatic realisation requires a significant amount of energy and strain for any individual, who must consciously manage their mannerisms, activities, and perceptions to convince an audience of their performance (Goffman, 1959). Hence, to manage her identity within mountaineering spaces, Erin had to “learn about the structure of interaction in order to learn about the lines along which they [she] must reconstitute their conduct” (Goffman, 1963, p.  127). However, over time, Erin had reached a stage where she felt “above passing … after laboriously learning how to conceal, then, the individual may go on to unlearn this concealment” (Goffman, 1963, p. 125). Erin transitioned to a stage of voluntary disclosure, exemplified by displaying the trans* flag when reaching the summit of Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. So yeah, I got to the top and again I kind of said well, it depends how many people are there. It depends on who’s looking, and how I feel and everything and I got to the top … I busted out that banner and just flew it up there and got several pictures taken and figured if anybody finds out what I did, then that’s fine. I’ve got 24 hours to get off this mountain and then everybody can kind of go their own separate direction and hopefully, I can go my own separate direction. (Interview 2)

In this instance, displaying the trans* flag as a voluntary ‘symbol’ conveys information about Erin’s identity (Goffman, 1963). This movement towards a state of voluntary disclosure transforms Erin’s interactions within social situations, as she becomes “an individual with information to

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manage to that of an individual with uneasy social situations to manage” (Goffman, 1963, p. 123). Indeed, while Erin recognised throughout the interviews that there are certain situations where impression management strategies might be required, Erin discussed the importance of visibility. I think it’s important to be visible. You know it’s important to be, you know, be proud no matter where you are in your transition or whether you are at the point, you’re happy even if it doesn’t look like what someone else thinks it should look like. (Interview 2) I remember the times when I felt so alone, and I couldn’t find other people who were like me. And I couldn’t find positive stories and I couldn’t find any sort of reassurance and positivity that … things were going to be okay. You know that I could be myself, and do the things I loved that I could do those two things … I feel like, you know, I’ve been successful in kind of seeding that story into enough places that, you know, the person that finds themselves in that situation where they’re really just looking for positive experience and a positive role model and I don’t actually, I hate the word role model and I don’t like to use it. But just a positive story of what can be accomplished, even in taking this risk of being your true self. (Interview 3)

The extracts above demonstrate that Erin has embarked into what Goffman (1963) suggests is a ‘moral career’, referring to a phase of adjustment, transition, and state of grace. Goffman (1963) used the phrase ‘moral career’ to describe specific patterns of learning and changes in an individual’s perception of self, alongside the adjustment to social environments within a person’s life trajectory. Thus, this state of adjustment means Erin feels she no longer needs to remain stealth within certain contexts, despite this never being an intention. Because, you know, ultimately, I didn’t really ever want to be visible … you know, I’m now kind of doing something that makes me very visible and, you know, most of the time I kind of want to just go out, hike on the trail, or just go climb or just work on things, you know, don’t involve fundraising and speaking with people about, you know, why we need to change the narrative and all of those things. So, I guess I feel good about, you know, what we’ve done. I think that it’s working. (Interview 3)

According to Goffman (1963, p. 45), stigmatised individuals tend to have “similar learning experiences regarding their plight, and similar

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changes in concept of self—a similar ‘moral career’”. While never aiming to become a role model or ‘speaker’ (Goffman, 1963), Erin’s journey provides inspiration and aspiration for other trans* individuals within mountaineering and beyond, presenting a positive narrative which is visible and attainable to others.

Conclusion This chapter has drawn upon Goffman’s (1959, 1963, 1979) concepts associated with impression management, stigma, and gender displays to interpret and analyse Erin’s experiences as a trans* mountaineer. Combining Goffman’s concepts as opposed to applying them in isolation has helped demonstrate how gender is part of a socially scripted performance within mountaineering, emphasising the ways in which “identity management relies on a presupposed socialization process in which persons develop identity patterns in reaction to the signs and symbols they receive, either overtly or subtly, from others” (Whelan, 2021, p. 49). Goffman’s dramaturgical approach and seminal writings on impression management come alive within the data as Erin engaged in performances when negotiating her identity within mountaineering spaces across the globe. Indeed, Erin’s performances revolved around managing aspects of her biography which could potentially ‘spoil’ her identity in various social situations (Goffman, 1959, 1963), often resulting in a need to remain stealth. With mountaineering being presented as a gendered space plagued with hegemonic masculinity (e.g., Kennedy & Russell, 2021; Tulle, 2022), Erin’s experiences highlight how both herself and others performed gender displays to manage the perceptions of others. However, Erin’s story is one of progression, as she moved to a position of voluntary disclosure, rising above the need to hide and unintentionally becoming a role model for other trans* individuals. Rogers and Rose (2019, p.  47) have recently argued that “further research needs to be conducted with both marginalized and underrepresented populations” within outdoor and adventurous activities, while Tulle (2022, p. 18) suggests “the culture of women’s mountaineering can be enriched by unearthing silenced voices, encouraging more diverse women in the UK and elsewhere to add to these voices”. We argue that highlighting Erin’s perceptions, experiences, and journey to date within this book chapter and elsewhere (see Russell et al., 2022) has begun to address these calls, by continuing to bring trans* experiences into our

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understanding of gender within sport and the outdoors (Ferguson & Russell, 2021). We believe Erin’s account has the potential to “broaden horizons and inspire” (Kennedy & Russell, 2021, p. 167), offering a firsthand account of the issues associated with exclusion, hegemonic masculinity, and gender within mountaineering, to portray an alternative narrative and offer a glance of progression. Erin’s story has the potential for several forms of generalisability within qualitative research (Smith, 2018). For example, naturalistic (e.g., Erin’s journey resonates with readers’ experiences), transferability (e.g., to other outdoor and sporting contexts), and finally analytical (e.g., application of Goffman’s theory). However, while Erin’s story may act as a catalyst for change, more research is evidently needed to support existing studies (e.g., Avner et al., 2021; Doran et al., 2018). In building upon the sentiments of Tulle (2022), future research projects might consider the use of ethnographic methods to enable researchers to walk (climb) with participants to help “understand their embodied relationship to mountain spaces and access their sensibility” (p.  7). Interviews and encounters within mountain spaces will allow perspectives and experiences to be understood within broader social, cultural, and historical contexts. Acknowledgements  The authors thank Erin Parisi for her time in sharing her experiences with us. Full details of the TranSending7 project and ways to support it can be found at: https://www.transending7.org/.

References Archibald, M.  M., Ambagtsheer, R.  C., Casey, M.  G., & Lawless, M. (2019). Using Zoom videoconferencing for qualitative data collection: Perceptions and experiences of researchers and participants. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 18, 1–8. Avner, Z., Boocock, E., Hall, J., & Allin, L. (2021). ‘Lines of flight or tethered wings’?: A Deleuzian analysis of women-specific adventure skills courses in the United Kingdom. Somatechnics, 11(3), 432–450. Bell, M., Cosgriff, M., Lynch, P., & Zink, R. (2018). Nourishing terrains? Troubling terrains? Women’s outdoor work in Aotearoa New Zealand. In T.  Gray & D.  Mitten (Eds.), The Palgrave international handbook of women and outdoor learning (pp. 199–215). Palgrave Macmillan. Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2022). Thematic analysis: A practical guide. Sage Publications.

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Catalano, D. C. J. (2015). Beyond virtual equality: Liberatory consciousness as a path to achieve trans* inclusion in higher education. Equity & Excellence in Education, 48(3), 418–435. Davies, R., Potter, T.  G., & Gray, T. (2019). Diverse perspectives: Gender and leadership in the outdoor education workplace. Journal of Outdoor and Environmental Education, 22(3), 217–235. Davis, S. (2007). High infatuation: A climber’s guide to love and gravity. Mountaineers Books. Doran, A., Schofield, P., & Low, T. (2018). Women’s mountaineering tourism: An empirical investigation of its theoretical constraint dimensions. Leisure Studies, 37(4), 396–410. Ellison, J. (2019, April 29). Being Nikki Smith. Outside. https://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-­adventure/climbing/climber-­nikki-­smith/ Ferguson, L., & Russell, K. (2021). Gender performance in the sporting lives of young trans* people. Journal of Homosexuality.. Advanced online publication. Frohlick, S. (2005). ‘That playfulness of white masculinity’: Mediating masculinities and adventure at mountain film festivals. Tourist Studies, 5(2), 175–193. Goffman, E. (1959). The presentation of self in everyday life. Penguin. Goffman, E. (1963). Stigma: Notes on the management of spoiled identity. Penguin. Goffman, E. (1979). Gender advertisements. Harper & Row. Johnston, M. S. (2016). ‘Until that magical day … no campus is safe’: Reflections on how transgender students experience gender and stigma on campus. Reflective Practice, 17(2), 143–158. Kennedy, J., & Russell, C. (2021). Hegemonic masculinity in outdoor education. Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning, 21(2), 162–171. Lucas-Carr, C. B., & Krane, V. (2011). What is the T in LGBT? Supporting transgender athletes through sport psychology. The Sport Psychologist, 25(4), 532–548. McPhail, B.  A. (2004). Questioning gender and sexuality binaries: What queer theorists, transgendered individuals, and sex researchers can teach social work. Journal of Gay and Lesbian Social Services, 17(1), 3–21. Mitten, D. (2012). Transgender and gender-nonconforming participation in outdoor adventure programming: Let’s go mainstream. In B. Martin & M. Wagstaff (Eds.), Controversial issues in adventure programming (pp.  235–240). Human Kinetics. Nicolazzo, Z. (2021). Imagining a trans* epistemology: What liberation thinks like in postsecondary education. Urban Education, 56(3), 511–536. Oliffe, J. L., Kelly, M. T., Gonzalez Montaner, G., & Yu Ko, W. F. (2021). Zoom interviews: Benefits and concessions. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 20, 1–8. Rogers, E.  B., & Rose, J. (2019). A critical exploration of women’s gendered experiences in outdoor leadership. Journal of Experiential Education, 42(1), 37–50.

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Russell, K., Leeder, T. M., Ferguson, L., & Beaumont, L. C. (2022). The space between two closets: Erin Parisi, mountaineering, and changing the trans* narrative. Sport, Education and Society. Advanced online publication. Schneider, A. (2020, August 25). Gender bias: Nonbinary climbers sound off on discrimination in climbing. Climbing. https://www.climbing.com/people/ gender-­bias-­nonbinary-­climbers-­sound-­off-­on-­discrimination-­in-­climbing/ Smith, B. (2018). Generalizability in qualitative research: Misunderstandings, opportunities and recommendations for the sport and exercise sciences. Qualitative Research in Sport, Exercise and Health, 10(1), 137–149. Smith, B., & McGannon, K. R. (2018). Developing rigor in qualitative research: Problems and opportunities within sport and exercise psychology. International Review of Sport and Exercise Psychology, 11(1), 101–121. Tompkins, A. (2014). Asterisk. Transgender Studies Quarterly, 1(1–2), 26–27. Tulle, E. (2022). Rising to the gender challenge in Scotland: Women’s embodiment of the disposition to be Mountaineers. International Review for the Sociology of Sport. Advanced online publication. Warren, K. (2016). Gender in outdoor studies. In B. Humberstone, H. Prince, & K.  A. Henderson (Eds.), Routledge international handbook of outdoor studies (pp. 360–368). Routledge. Warren, K., Risinger, S., & Loeffler, T.  A. (2018). Challenges faced by women outdoor leaders. In T. Gray & D. Mitten (Eds.), The Palgrave international handbook of women and outdoor learning (pp. 247–258). Palgrave Macmillan. Whelan, J. (2021). Specters of Goffman: Impression management in the Irish welfare space. Journal of Applied Social Science, 15(1), 47–65. Wigglesworth, J. (2021). The cultural politics of naming outdoor rock climbing routes. Annals of Leisure Research. Advanced online publication. Wight, J. (2011). Facing gender performativity: How transgender performances and performativity trouble facework research. Kaleidoscope: A Graduate Journal of Qualitative Communication Research, 10(6), 73–90.

CHAPTER 7

Exploring the Gendered and Racialised Experiences of Mexican Mestiza: Women Mountaineers Through the Rhizomatic Body Isis Arlene Díaz-Carrión

Introduction Despite the increasing involvement of women in adventure and tourism activities during the last decade (Carr, 2000; Comley, 2016; Hillman, 2019), several scholars have shed light on entrenched attitudes and practices that promote the continued masculinisation of mountaineering (Frohlick, 2006; Hall, 2018; Pomfret & Doran, 2015). In this chapter, I explore Markula’s (2006) and Knijnik et al. (2010) “rhizomatic body” as a useful construct to promote inclusion in mountaineering. Derived from Deleuze and Guattari (2019), this concept follows a non-central structure that emphasises a network of multiple formations, which allows for heterogeneity, multiplicity, and rupture, thus providing space for new significances of women’s physicality.

I. A. Díaz-Carrión (*) Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Mexicali, Mexico e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 J. Hall et al. (eds.), Gender, Politics and Change in Mountaineering, Global Culture and Sport Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29945-2_7

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The rhizomatic body has been proven as a strong proposition to foster critical perspectives in both adventure and tourism activities (Díaz-Carrión et al., 2020; Knijnik et al., 2010). As suggested by Guia and Jamal (2020), Deleuze and Guattari’s scholarship has provided new insights into practices mainly related to physicality in tourism (Matteucci, 2014); therefore, the rhizomatic episteme in outdoor activities will allow an understanding of mountaineering as a social and cultural practice in a mestiza-gendered society like Mexican. My purpose is twofold: to examine mestiza women’s participation in mountaineering, and to promote inclusion from a rhizomatic perspective characterised by non-centrality and rearranging; considering the scant Deleuzian-informed scholarship in tourism and mountaineering, this chapter will provide new avenues of exploration. Following Lombardo and Mergaert (2013), Bakas (2017), as well as Gao et al. (2020), I conducted in-depth interviews and participant observations to evaluate mechanisms used by Mexican women in mountaineering; by doing so, I advanced a proposal to complement the rhizomatic body episteme from a mestiza cisgender perspective which enabled me to explore “otherness” from a gendered and racialised approach. In so doing, I aim to advance reterritorialisation to promote inclusive mountaineering. Mountaineering in Mexico In the world view of Mexican ancient cultures, the mountains were considered either masculine or feminine deities, and the highest mountains located in the Mexican neovolcanic belt appeared among the most important. According to Broda (2009), two of the most salient mountains are Íztac Cíhuatl (Iztaccíhuatl, la “mujer blanca”, the white woman) and Malinche (Matlalcueye, “la de la falda azul-verde”, the one with the blue-­ green skirt); with a wide profile, these were considered as feminine mountains and fitted with attractiveness and seductive characteristics while masculine mountains were more related to power and nobility. Nowadays these mountains may not be worshipped as in past times, but regarding mountaineering, the masculinisation of space pervades. Mountain climbing in the country revolves around the Eje Neovolcánico (Mexican neovolcanic belt), a chain of volcanoes and part of the so-called Pacific Ring of Fire; this mountain range consists of Volcán Citlaltépetl (Puebla-Veracruz States, 18,410 ft., the highest mountain in the country), Volcán Popocatépetl (México-Morelos-Puebla States, 18,040  ft.), and Volcán Iztaccíhuatl (México-Puebla States, 17,130  ft.), as well as other

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mountains used for outdoor and adventure activities (Arriola Padilla et al. 2014; Ferriz & Mahood 1986). The interest of Mexican society in nature and outdoor activities can be traced back to the beginning of the twentieth century (Club Citlaltepetl, 2019; Sunyer Martín et al., 2018). It was during the 1960s and 1970s that outdoor activities grew in popularity and mountaineering experienced substantial growth, marking a new contemporary era that was largely dominated by city-based middle-class younger generations (Brigada del Socorro Alpino de México A.C., 2015; González, 2019; Sunyer Martín et al., 2018). It is difficult to know the role played by women during that time; the chronicles used were centred on male roles. Considering women’s participation in other countries, it is probable that Mexican women also participated in the practice of mountaineering, and it is evident that their participation started to increase during the last decades (Díaz-Carrión, 2022). However, the masculine definition of mountaineering prevails until today, providing a fruitful area to promote a diverse and inclusive activity. Characterising the Rhizomatic Body Derived from a Deleuze and Guattari perspective, the rhizomatic body has been considered by Knijnik et al. (2010) as a strong episteme to promote critical gazes in both adventure and tourism activities. Built on Markula’s proposal, scholars have generated a fruitful insight into this episteme to deconstruct women’s “otherness” in adventure contexts (Díaz-Carrión et al., 2020; Fullagar & Pavlidis, 2017; Knijnik et al., 2010). Specifically, their work has highlighted the relevance of the rhizome to provide a better understanding of the interconnection between social categories: gender, social class, ethnicity, or physicality, among others. Their findings have been relevant to reconstruct more inclusive sport and adventure practices for women. In all cases, their advances to the theoretical concept also reflect interactions between societal norms and the practice of outdoor adventure tourism that restrict the presence of women in masculinised spaces. For the authors, a rhizomatic body appears as a powerful theoretical construction to face “otherness” and generate new readings about risk and freedom embodiment which can allow women to reconstruct a more inclusive womanhood in the adventure context. Likewise, as a theoretical concept,

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the rhizomatic body will allow a review of individual and collective interconnections, as a relevant strategy to foster negotiations among Mexican-­ mestiza women in mountaineering. In her work about pilates and women, Markula (2006, pp.  35–42) resumes a rhizomatic structure based on the following three concepts: 1. Plan of consistency, to generate unification in different and multiple ways (this allows one to understand femininity without a feminine-­ masculine dichotomy); 2. Assemblages promote coding diverse de-coded milieus and forming substance through the organism, significance, and subjectification (to perform transformations); and 3. Body without Organs (BwO) where gradual transformations take place through practice or sets of practices. To translate the rhizome to sports and adventure activities, I have introduced intersectionality to materialise the three main concepts. The consideration of diversity has been regarded as central to Deleuze and Guattari (2019); therefore, the recognition of the multiple categories that combine with gender (women, in this case) is highlighted in the plan of consistency but also as assemblages (interconnections that are both the base and the result of mestiza mountaineering) and the BwO (as the embodied societal category that is always evolving). Knijnik et al. (2010) rename the BwO as the “rhizomatic body”; their proposal considers a social embodiment to highlight a collective rhizomatic body—a sororal space to interconnect with other bodies. The idea of linkage has also been analysed by Fullagar and Pavlidis (2017) or Olive et al. (2021) to face “otherness” and promote collective negotiation of societal norms. Another important element for the rhizomatic body is strata, considered the basis for the territorialisation processes (Matteucci, 2014). Following Markula’s (2006) and Houge Mackenzie et al. (2020), I have adapted mountaineering through four main strata; as a theoretical exercise, this combination will link the activity to psychological needs and well-being: 1. The first stratum links the activity to psychological needs and well-­ being. It is more related to women’s physicality in outdoor and adventure contexts; this is relevant to the resignification of “otherness”, in concordance with a poststructural approach.

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2. While the second stratum highlights mestiza and women’s embodiment through mountaineering, this level converges directly to women’s bodies. 3. An important third stratum is connected to the physical activity itself, considering the major amount involved in the mountaineering expedition during the activity, but also the training programme to maintain both physical and mental fitness in order to pursue mountaineering. 4. Finally, the fourth stratum summarises vulnerability, even if it is closely related to strata 3. It considers the important risk level implied in the activity and its interactions with societal norms regarded as a restrictive component. All strata perform as layers of thinking and intertwine to create an “otherness” that is quickly territorialised by non-dominant strata. This exercise requires a critical approach, of personal and collective assumptions, to endow women’s involvement in mountaineering with significant and non-­ oppressive practices. Markula (2006) and Knijnik et al. (2010) highlight the relevance of those actions to enhance a zone of transformation; this “safe space” will nest practices aimed to surpass binary oppositions that are used to undervalue women, especially in relation to outdoor and adventure recreation (Carter & Colyer, 1999; Hillman, 2019; Houge Mackenzie et al., 2020). To me, this “safe space” is built on other women’s support, a strategy that is relevant to foster sororal spaces to weave individual and collective rhizomatic bodies. Olive et al. (2021) provided some insights into the way women take advantage of their “otherness” by partnering in marching bands and re-territorialising individual but also collective identities. In a similar way Fullagar and Pavlidis (2017) and Rodríguez Castro et al. (2021) explore women’s embodiment of collective emotions to create resistance spaces and new readings of active womanhood. Deleuze in the Mountain Poststructuralist approaches have been embraced in tourism studies during the last years to promote critical gazes (Guia & Jamal, 2020; Tavakoli, 2016). Some adventure and tourism scholars have relied on a poststructural epistemology to deepen the construction of “otherness”, regarded as an episteme centred on difference and diversity (Frohlick, 2004, 2006; Olive et al., 2021). As mentioned before, the rhizomatic body considers

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“otherness” as a way to materialise diversity; for example for Knijnik et al. (2010) the episteme appears as a means to face societal assumptions or stigmas (women in men’s world or the embodiment of aesthetic). In this line, Frohlick (2004) focuses on the construction of an “otherness” able to take advantage of globalisation (where the “other” is not only gendered but racialised). Furthermore, Fullagar and Pavlidis (2017) and Olive et al. (2021) explore the linkages among an “otherness” defined as collective and sororal constructions to face gender restrictions. Poststructural feminist scholarship has therefore advanced multiple interactions in power relations dynamics, their impacts on restrictive practices, and the way women embody those restrictions and face them (Matteucci, 2014; Rodríguez Castro et al., 2021). The masculinisation of adventure spaces is built on societal norms and is used to exclude women by defining them as the “other” (Comley, 2016; Doran et al., 2020; Roy, 2014). As a consequence, women who engage in the practice of activities which are typically male-dominated, such as mountaineering, also report antagonism and objectification in the pursuit of so-called selfish desires. Frohlick, who explored motherhood in the high mountains, emphasises the intricate ways societies have considered women mountaineers as the “other”. For those women climbers, the heroic and fraternal environment did not apply, and by contrast, their subjectivities were scrutinised and linked “in complex ways to mountaineering” (Frohlick, 2006, p.  482). Frohlick’s work identified how women mountaineers faced societal questioning for not choosing their family over risk while summiting, an argument not experienced by male mountain climbers. This conflict appears to be still at the core of some risky activities in the outdoors, and women are questioned for risking themselves and being selfish mothers (Frohlick, 2006). But motherhood in the mountains as the “other” is not the only symbolic construction. As Tavakoli (2016) has suggested, women’s “otherness” often interweaves gender with race, class, religion, and more categories that support exclusion; therefore, the “other” has been used as a powerful construction by feminist scholars to face gendered constraints (Frohlick, 2004; Olive et al., 2021). The studies have identified the multiplicity of dynamics entrenched that complicate gender negotiations (e.g., Knijnik et al., 2010; Doran et al., 2020), and interactions between local and global scales that can lead to negotiations of gender and ethnic identities (e.g., Frohlick, 2004; Hillman, 2019). With regard to this, the construction of “otherness” reported by Knijnik et al. (2010) involves gender and ethnicity, and depicts black Brazilian professional surfers as doubly

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rhizomatic bodies that must carve their place; in this case, “otherness” is composed by gender and race in the Global South. Some similarities have been found by Hillman (2019) in her investigation of rural Nepal where low-caste, uneducated, or marginalised women are considered as the “other” and take advantage of that “otherness” to find, as skilled trekking guides, an opportunity to enter and gain space in the guiding industry. According to feminist scholars (Fullagar & Pavlidis, 2017; Hall, 2018), poststructuralism has been helpful to promote an “otherness” construct based on multiple edges (gender, ethnicity, physicality, and age, among others); this exercise has been relevant to make heterogeneity visible, to emphasise the importance of non-normative categories, and to show diverse interactions that shape women’s participation in mountain climbing. Drawing on this body of work will make evident the relevance of core elements that shape the Mexican-mestiza women identity in mountaineering and to confront them as the “other” in the practice.

Method I conducted ten in-depth interviews and participant observation to analyse “otherness” experienced by Mexican-mestiza mountaineers. Both qualitative methods have been proven effective while addressing mountaineering from a gender perspective (Doran et  al., 2020; Díaz-Carrión, 2022; Hillman, 2019). I used life stories to explore “otherness” among Mexican, mestiza, women mountaineers from my own mestiza, urban, middle-class, heterosexual, Mexican womanhood, who has been mountaineering for more than 20  years. Life story is described as a biographic narrative method and highlights the relevance of individual experiences (Atkinson, 2007; Fernández Sánchez & Lopez-Zafra, 2019). Thomsen et al. (2016) and Gough (2008) pointed out its relevance to addressing personal changes and the possibility to evaluate highly emotional quotidian events; by doing so, the method empowers specific analysis able to apprehend individual and socio-cultural constructions. My “otherness” also exemplified multiple intersections, and it is therefore not only gendered or classed but also a mestiza one. By focusing on three specific cases, I was able to deepen my understanding of the rhizomatic body generated by participants, as well as multiple interactions in their mountaineering. I contacted participants using convenience sampling (Brewis, 2014; Carr, 2000; Moser & Korstjens, 2018). To be eligible, women interviewed had to be Mexican, to define

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Table 7.1  Participant demographics

Age Mountaineering (years) Social class Profession Gender Civil status

Maura

Melina

Minerva

56 23 Middle class Dentist Cisgender woman Married

23 8 Upper-middle class Student Cisgender woman Single

37 10 Middle class Professor Cisgender woman Divorced

Source: Author

themselves as mestiza, and to be active mountaineers (to perform at least three summiting expeditions yearly). Participants’ names were changed, and some small modifications have been made in their socio-demographic characteristics to preserve their anonymity (Table 7.1). Maura, Melina, and Minerva are Mexican-mestiza mountaineers whose stories were analysed to theorise the rhizomatic body. Their embodiment experiences emphasise diverse identities; however, the intersectionality exercise is limited, as some categories are not represented (for instance, no transgender woman has been included, nor native women). This limitation can be explored in further research to advance the rhizomatic body epistemology. In-depth interviews and participant observations were conducted to structure a life stories narrative; interviews were face to face and carried out in Spanish. Participant observations took place during daily hiking practices—performed during weekends; I documented the activities and used that insight to enrich participants’ narrative (Biernacka et al., 2018; Hall, 2018; Hesse-Bibber & Piatelli, 2014). A subsequent content analysis was performed to analyse “otherness”. To identify dominant and critical discourses I extracted the most significant mentions of “otherness” and rhizomatic body; key themes were related, contrasted, and organised to confirm or challenge findings (Wilson & Little 2008). This analysis started with the identification of four strata(see Table 7.2). A subsequent phase describes interviewees’ perception about the main strata; “physicality”, “mestiza”, and “mountaineering” discourses were reviewed as the content stage and provided the basis for latent analysis. In this step, I focused on “vulnerability in the mountains” to highlight the negotiation experienced by participants (Graneheim et al., 2017). By doing so, I was able to identify the development of the rhizomatic body and the reterritorialisation

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Table 7.2  The rhizomatic body: Mexican-mestiza women mountaineering Maura

Melina

Minerva

Stratum 1. Women’s physicality in adventure contexts

“When you think of a mountaineer … You always imagine a man”

Stratum 2. Mestiza and women’s body

“I am kind of tall considering the Mexican average, but after my daughter was born my body changed and it was difficult … I didn’t fit in the clothes and that made me feel angry and sad … Eventually I accepted it and now I feel confident with my body” “I like mountaineering … I feel free … I also face my insecurity and fears. I endure because of mountaineering”

“A Mexican-woman mountaineer? Until some years ago it was like … No, not at all … If you ask about it, most people will say that yeah!, there are more women mountaineering in foreign countries than in Mexico” “As you see I am short so many people get surprised to see my strength and abilities to summit. I love to be regarded as ‘the little girl who is strong’”

“It’s until recently that Mexican women are starting to be considered as mountaineers … Some have summited some of the highest mountains, but most are non-professional” “There are Mexican women who are tall, but most are short some look very fragile while others don’t match with the athletic aesthetic … For me it’s like no matter how you look like, with the proper training you can be a good mountaineer” “To be a mountaineer you have to be strong, you have to train a lot not only physically but emotionally, you become resilient and more self-confident”

Stratum 3. Mountaineering practices

“For some people it’s crazy, because it’s dangerous … I mean people have died while climbing El Pico [the highest mountain in Mexico] … But for me it is also thrilling and summiting after all the efforts and trainings … You feel nice, you feel good, you feel humble too”

(continued)

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Table 7.2 (continued)

Stratum 4. Vulnerability in the mountain

Maura

Melina

Minerva

“It took me some time to feel safe in the outdoors, I used to go with friends, when I started mountaineering there were few women, and we all climbed with the boyfriend or the brother, mostly with the boyfriend or husband. Women alone … very very few. I noticed this has changed and women nowadays do not necessarily engage through a man as a gatekeeper” “We all are vulnerable in the mountains, but women experience some issues that men don’t … Like we can experience sexual harassment, some female friends feel uncomfortable to share the tent or in the shelter because of men, and some men are respectful but others aren’t and make women feel uncomfortable”

“I know that violence and insecurity are national, but I think young women experience less restrictions than 20 or 30 years ago. I have a friend and nobody from her family used to practise outdoor activities so I introduced her to mountaineering and she loved it”

“Of course, it is a dangerous activity, of course, women, men, people regardless their gender have died or have been in a dangerous situation, but being a woman makes you more vulnerable to certain situations”

“Sometimes it’s like because being a woman you don’t generate a lot of expectations … it’s like others regard you as not determined, like any attempt is enough for women so this can be negative because you’re undervalued, but also you don’t have to be like the alpha-male who is always competing … So you can enjoy your summiting”

“Today women are more prepared to be mountaineers, we have prepared ourselves physically and emotionally but also we have trained ourselves in first aid or in other skills you need to be an active mountaineer, not only the companion … This is important because in case of an accident or emergency you can have a response and be assertive too”

Source: The author

and deterritorialisation characteristics to produce individual and collective rhizomes. Following Lietz and Zayas (2013), and Usher and Gómez (2016), I also conducted peer debriefing to confirm findings and analysis.

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Findings As previously discussed, the rhizomatic body episteme consists of four strata to analyse women’s physicality, mestiza body, mountaineering practices, and vulnerability experienced by participants. Table 7.2 identifies the most important participants’ narratives related to the main strata of the rhizomatic body episteme. Regarding “Stratum 1. Women’s physicality in adventure contexts” and “Stratum 2. Mestiza and women’s body”, participants noted a different Mexican-mestiza mountaineer aesthetic. Bodies diversity and their performance have been identified as core elements for the rhizomatic body by scholars (Fullagar & Pavlidis, 2017; Knijnik et al., 2010; Markula, 2006), and in this case, participants also recognised a “traditional” aesthetic (a man mountaineer), a second layer (a foreign man mountaineer, a Mexican man mountaineer), and a third layer where mainly a foreign woman mountaineer (usually from the Global North) appears: “if you ask about it, most people will say that yeah!, there are more women mountaineering in foreign countries than in Mexico”. It is in this assemblage where the Mexican-mestiza mountaineer is rooting and carving a place to a plane of consistency, to produce unification and diversity (Markula, 2006). Melina’s questioning of the presence of Mexican-mestiza mountaineers (“A Mexican-women mountaineer?”) is reflecting this space where different and multiple bodies are not only reinterpreting the Mexican-mestiza physicality but also the multiple meanings of the gendered and racialised “other” and their embodied mountaineering. Some meanings are closely related to physicality and seem to always refer to the male aesthetic that prevails in mountaineering; as a consequence, shorter bodies have to find their place: “as you see I am short so many people get surprised to see my strength and abilities to the summit. I love to be regarded as ‘the little girl who is strong’” (Melina). Melina’s discourse proposes more inclusive practices to the “other” body, one that adds new reading to the rhizomatic Mexican-mestiza mountaineer body. Bodily changes were also identified by Maura and the impacts on her body after pregnancy. For Maura, pregnancy and motherhood appear as more than an adjustment phase. Motherhood has an important impact on women’s physicality and therefore in their mountaineering; in this case, the rhizomatic body does not only encompass the physical but also the psychosocial dimensions of mountaineering, as the participant recognises when she says: “eventually I accepted it and now I feel confident with my body”. In this case, the rhizomatic body episteme appears useful to include

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life cycles and changes experienced in women’s physicality (such as pregnancy, motherhood, or seniority) and also promotes the inclusion of emotions in mountaineering as a relevant element that cannot be separated. Emotions experienced during the practice of sport and adventure activities have been analysed by Hall (2018), Fullagar and Pavlidis (2017), or Frohlick (2006), among others; scholars have underscored women’s emotions in a power context that are used to restrict them, as well as the diverse actions they use to face and surpass those restrictions. In this case, considering physicality and emotions allowed me to incorporate psychological needs and well-being to the rhizomatic body episteme and to analyse the way they are embodied Participants had been active mountaineers for several years and their experiences as Mexican-mestiza can be read from different perspectives; nonetheless, vulnerability in mountaineering not only addresses general risk but also as Minerva says: “Of course, it is a dangerous activity, of course, women, men, people regardless their gender have died or have been in a dangerous situation, but being a woman makes you more vulnerable to certain situations”. In her opinion a persistent gendered practice can be regarded as a limitation. Minerva’s vulnerability has been constructed as a societal characteristic that is present in the outdoors. Maura’s opinion also notes that “It took me some time to feel safe in the outdoors, I used to go with friends, when I started mountaineering there were few women, and we all climbed with the boyfriend or the brother …”. For participants, this construction acted as a limitation that reinforced their “otherness”. In relation to this, Maura has been mountaineering for more than 20  years, and according to her, the gendered mountain has been experiencing some changes: “I noticed this has changed and women nowadays do not necessarily gain access through a man as a gatekeeper”. Melina, a younger mountaineer, agrees with Maura and recognises that for younger mountaineers the activity is less restrictive. Melina and Maura’s experiences are useful to exemplify “Stratum 3. Mountaineering practices”, mainly how gendered practices in mountaineering enable some limitations based on socio-cultural norms, and how women have to negotiate them in order to be regarded as mountaineers. Even if for participants main issues are related to insecurity or risk, some scholars have identified more specific limitations such as the so-called ethics of care (Doran, 2016), fear (Wilson & Little, 2008), or ethnicity (Frohlick, 2004; Knijnik et  al., 2010; Olive et  al., 2021) to reinforce restrictions to the gendered adventure spaces. Participants’ experiences suggested that

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Mexican women can also face this constraint, mostly because adventure spaces appear to be constructed with elements traditionally identified with manhood rather than womanhood (for instance, Minerva’s strength is taken for granted as a mother but not as a mountaineer). Finally, the last stratum “4. Vulnerability in the mountain” highlights the way participants embody vulnerability as a core element of “otherness”. In Maura’s opinion, it is a gendered practice and sexual harassment appears as a relevant restriction reported in the use of public spaces in Mexico (Lindon, 2020; López Muñoz, 2021). Fragility or lack and/or limited technical training has been noted by Melina and Minerva as other elements that materialise vulnerability in the gendered mountains; these socio-cultural restrictions have also been mentioned by other scholars (Doran, 2016; Hall, 2018; Hillman, 2019). In participants’ opinion, these restrictions are a result of what is traditionally expected from Mexican women, as it has been stated by Melina: “sometimes it’s like because being a woman you don’t generate a lot of expectations …”.

Analysis Several scholars have highlighted the gendered use of public spaces (Carr, 2000; Lindón, 2020); in this case, the Mexican-mestiza mountain appears as an adventure space that is embodied differently. Regardless, other intersections can also be identified through the narrative of participants; for example main core elements highlighted for “otherness”, such as risk, freedom, endurance, insecurity, and vulnerability, are also used for defining gender, ethnicity, or politics (Doran, 2016, Frohlick, 2004; Hillman, 2019; Knijnik et  al., 2010; Olive et  al., 2021; Wilson & Little, 2008). Considering the way participants define their mountaineering and strategies to promote rhizomatic bodies, I have identified four relevant strata (see Table 7.2). Even if each participant experiences the mountain differently, some concurrences identified refer to vulnerability embodied through physical and emotional endeavours. For Maura, Melina, and Minerva Mexican-mestiza mountaineers are regarded as the “other” and their participation is compared to men (Mexican and foreigner), but also other women (foreign women). The finding is consistent with Hillman (2019), who pointed out a narrative that hinders and promotes mountaineering as a subjectivity that is gendered and racialised, as well as locally and globally embedded. In this case, due to the mestiza characteristic of participants, the racialised subjectivity compares Mexican-mestiza women

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with foreigners, while the gendered subjectivity appears in reference to men and participants’ cisgender identity. Figure 7.1 resumes my own interpretation of the question of how sisterhood and solidarity can promote a rhizomatic body in Mexican-mestiza women mountaineering. This graphic exercise aimed to depict the most relevant findings rooted in scholarship regarding gender and mountaineering tourism from a Mexican and mestiza perspective. The comparison of theoretical assumptions against main findings has been arranged to visualise the more relevant dynamics in the experience of the rhizomatic body. By recreating a decentralised rhizomatic structure, each stratum holds the potential for heterogeneity—thus, multiplicity and rupture to nurture new egalitarian significances. For example, Mexican mountaineers consider cisgender participants but can be expanded to analyse transgender experiences, and the mestiza perspective can also include Afro-Mexican

Fig. 7.1 The rhizomatic (Source: Author)

Mexican-mestiza

women

mountaineer

body.

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or Indigenous women to promote more inclusive practices. As noted by Markula (2006), in this framework the mestiza and women mountaineering body pursue the promotion of heterogeneity, multiplicity, and rupture; several assemblages are (and will be) under construction too. As a consequence, crafting processes will materialise in multiple ways, allowing new approaches and elements. This has been noted by Minerva and Melina when they remark on the recent consideration of Mexican-mestiza mountaineers or when Maura suggests that young Mexican mountaineers do not necessarily need men as gatekeepers. Expanding the analysis of “otherness”, it is important to note that societal norms still play an important role in defining women’s vulnerability; as it has been stated by interviewees, womanhood is defined by what society expects and the unexpected is named as the “other”. However, some scholars have identified remarkable possibilities of “otherness” as a protest element for women (Rodriguez Castro et al., 2021; Hillman, 2019; Olive et al., 2021). Maura, Melina, and Minerva seem to also use their “otherness” as a mechanism to negotiate societal norms. For instance, by facing insecurity, experiencing freedom, or becoming strong, they promote new significance to their rhizomatic bodies, and a new stratum can deterritorialise mestiza womanhood and adventure practices in the outdoors. As a consequence, psychological needs and well-being challenge assumptions related to “women’s vulnerability”, the “geography of fear”, and the “ethics of care” can be re-territorialised by theoretical elements related to mountaineering, such as adventure, freedom, or autonomy to offer new reading of their rhizomatic bodies. By being the “other”, Mexican-mestiza women mountaineers can generate reinterpretations about womanhood in the outdoors. Markula (2006) has posed some insightful questions about physicality, femininity, and the symbolic role of exercise as a mechanism to control physicality. And by deterritorialising this stratum (being a short woman, such as Minerva) can open new interpretations to embody risk, freedom, and vulnerability for mestiza mountaineers. Plus, if Mexican-­ mestiza women can surpass the idea of exercise involved in mountaineering as a control mechanism to fulfil standards of attractiveness and define it as an exercise to promote well-being, they will be re-territorialising the stratum. This process is illustrated again in Minervas’ opinion about paying less attention to aesthetics and centring in training, while dynamics related to well-being and mountaineering can provide new significance to risk, strength, comfort, or freedom. In this sense, women can also re-­ territorialise emotions experienced during the practice of adventure

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activities (to feel power but also fragility, or fear as well as calm). By doing so, women would be able to disrupt societal norms used to regard them as fragile and not suited for physical efforts. Another relevant issue is identified by Fullagar and Pavlidis (2017) and Rodríguez Castro and colleagues (2021) about the “ugliness” experienced by women while practising a sport or activity; scholars have emphasised a range of emotions that women face and how some of them are contradictory. This is important because a rhizomatic body is characterised for all ranges of practices that materialise emotions, stereotypes, and behaviours, among others; therefore, struggles are considered vital to negotiate societal norms. In this regard, Maura’s experiences with her bodily changes and emotions during/after pregnancy, or Melina’s experience, about feeling safe, reflecting emerging contradictions that make participants, their families, and society ponder about how fixed societal norms are. As recognised by Rodríguez Castro and colleagues (2021) or Fullagar and Pavlidis (2017), participants experience and face their contradictions as an exercise to deterritorialise and re-territorialise the rhizomatic body. The above is relevant because, despite the increasing involvement of women in adventure and tourism activities, several scholars have shed light on entrenched attitudes and practices that restrict their participation as mountaineers (Doran, 2016; Frohlick, 2006; Hall, 2018). Some scholars have suggested the relevance of promoting the entrance of more women as a positive strategy; regarding this, sororal spaces to increase women’s participation can be used to strengthen the strata and intertwine individual rhizomes with collective rhizomatic bodies. For example, when Melina mentions how important it was to introduce a friend to the activity or to avoid a competitive style of summiting, she might be re-territorialising mountaineering with new significance. Indeed, some scholars have emphasised how open spaces for women can foster others’ introduction and participation (Comley, 2016; Díaz-­ Carrión et al., 2020; Olive et al., 2021). In this regard, sororal spaces can promote solidarity on two levels: personal and at an aggregated-­community level (by attracting other mountaineers); this might be beneficial to the rhizomatic body, particularly to cement advances for future women mountaineers. An increase in the number of participants can promote their visibility and strengthen the opportunity of promoting less restrictive outdoor and adventure activities (Comley, 2016; Doran, 2016; Knijnik et  al., 2010). Finally, as noted by Markula (2006) the rhizome is always evolving; therefore, an empty space appears in the figure to both deterritorialise

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and re-territorialise the Mexican-mestiza women mountaineer. By using the rhizomatic body to analyse mestiza women’s engagement in adventure activities, I have been able to advance resignification of “otherness” (deterritorialisation and reterritorialisation) in relation to gender and ethnicity from the Global South. The core of Deleuze and Guattari’s (2019) proposal has been proved useful to identify societal restrictions and capture the negotiations and advances in the practice of the activity. Regardless of advances some restrictions remain and place inquiries for future research. Even if participants can configure and re-territorialise strata related to the rhizomatic body through practices of freedom, strength, or confidence, how do we promote more inclusive mountaineering practices? As it has been noted by Doran et al. (2020), that women mountaineers have to increase their presence, and relying on women can be an important strategy. Scholars can explore the role of solidarity and sorority as a mechanism to open mountaineering to women and to promote their negotiations. Diverse gender or ethnic identities and their access to mountaineering can also provide relevant knowledge to advance the rhizomatic body to promote an inclusive activity.

Conclusion During the 2021 mountaineering season, newspapers reported some milestones in mountaineering: an incredible number of climbers are summiting the highest mountains and women’s presence is increasing at important rates (Fernández, 2021; ONU Mujeres, 2021). Bloggers and writers have been pointing out massification in mountaineering, a situation addressed by several scholars (Higham et al., 2015; Sanders, 2020), whose efforts to capture the so-called mountaineering tourism phenomena made evident the commodification and colonialism of emblematic locations such as the Andes or the Himalayas. As an amateur mountain climber, I do experience conflicting emotions while reading the news: I am concerned about the future of mountaineering, as a sport, and also about the mountains; on the other side, as a gender and tourism scholar, I feel admiration for those women who defy societal norms and find in the mountain joy and satisfaction. Despite their increasing participation, women are still considered as the “other” in diverse outdoor and adventure tourism. To participate in the “white man’s world”, women try out diverse strategies to gain access and to stay in the activity to surpass personal, socio-cultural, and practical

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constraints. In this regard, the rhizomatic body episteme appears relevant to promote new insights in mountaineering practices to include gender or ethnicity from the Global South. In this exercise it plays an important role to articulate content and stratum landed through mountaineering; therefore, new reterritorialisation and meanings are developed. The chapter proposed an alternative understanding of negotiating restrictions and promoting sororal rhizomatic bodies to cement individual rhizomatic bodies. To gender and tourism scholars, the rhizomatic body episteme can also be used to generate a critical analysis for cis or transgender activities realised during leisure time. Regarding theoretical assumptions, one question remains: What will happen with the “other” once Mexican-mestiza women mountaineers have plenty of access to the mountain? Will the category disappear? Will it be dignified? Future scholars can also analyse the evolution of the theoretical concept. Practical implications can be used by adventure organisations interested in materialising inclusive tours, particularly for only women tours. Findings can also be considered by public policies to promote actions centred in women mountaineers to address multiple womanhoods and their meanings.

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CHAPTER 8

(Re)naming Routes: A Tale of Transformation in the Outdoor Rock Climbing Community Jennifer Wigglesworth

Introduction Rock climbing is shaped by, and shapes, society. It does not happen in a vacuum. An illustrative example of this is how the advocacy around the issue of discriminatory route names in outdoor sport climbing gained momentum in the summer of 2020 alongside transnational calls for racial justice with the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement. With the resurgence of the BLM movement came a powerful reminder that names can change. In the summer of 2020, I witnessed statues and monuments that long honoured racist and colonial figures be toppled and spray-painted, and racist sports team names be expunged across Canada and the United States. In June 2021, as a result of much Indigenous-led activism, I watched on the news as construction crews removed a statue of

J. Wigglesworth (*) University of Northern British Columbia, Prince George, BC, Canada e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 J. Hall et al. (eds.), Gender, Politics and Change in Mountaineering, Global Culture and Sport Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29945-2_8

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Sir John A. Macdonald, the first prime minister of Canada, who is known for introducing Indian residential schools and a nationwide programme of assimilation (Hopper, 2018), from a park in Kingston, Ontario; the statue was not far from where I lived and worked for much of my doctoral work. However, these things happened not only because of the activism of 2020. For instance, the Washington Football team finally dropped its racist name after a decades long battle, which most recently has been led by Diné woman, Amanda Blackhorse. Other significant name changes included the Cleveland Baseball and the Edmonton Football teams dropping their racist names. A group of bird watchers also began the initiative, Bird Names for Birds, which seeks to change honorific common bird names, such as those named after confederate generals; they pointedly describe these names as ‘verbal statues.’ There are a lot of parallels between the conversations about toppling statues and changing names. Statues and names stand and map our landscapes (although their physical removal does not necessitate that they are erased from the nation-state’s cultural memory). Names and statues can be particularly useful texts for thinking about the present sociocultural context, and in addition to telling us about the current moment, names offer us a way to think about how to build a better future. In contemplating how to build a better future, several grassroots climbing organisations, such as Climbers of Color, Brown Girls Climb, Climb the Gap, Melanin Base Camp, Collective Liberation Climbing, Adaptive Climbing Group, and BelayALL, called for changes to discriminatory route names across Canada and the United States. While debates over route names have been taking place for a while (Anderssen, 2019), I was encouraged when, in July 2020, I found myself attending an online webinar hosted by Brown Girls Climb on route names and the future of climbing culture (Walker, 2020). Momentum was building. Climbers and climbing organisations were turning their gaze onto the larger institutional players, such as publishers and advertising companies, which had long avoided transparency and accountability for keeping offensive names in circulation, and BLM’s powerful reminder that names can change reached outdoor climbing. I argue that the successful renaming of discriminatory routes is one example of how to create transformation in recreational spaces and support different ways of being at the crag. In this chapter, I use an analysis informed by feminism, anti-racism, and settler colonialism to discuss the implications of naming practices within a shifting cultural terrain and a settler-colonial state. I begin with a

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discussion of key theoretical concepts. Next, I provide background on the conditions that make route naming possible in climbing before revisiting data I collected in 2018 that examined climbers’ reactions to misogynistic route names. From here, I document significant route name changes that took place within the outdoor climbing ‘community’ in Canada and the United States since the summer of 2020, and I highlight people and organisations that are reclaiming and transforming climbing spaces. My chapter aims to weave together a tale of collective grassroots resistance and oppressive naming practices. I conclude with a discussion of the importance of documenting resistance in climbing and leisure more broadly.

Key Theoretical Concepts In my work, I put feminist perspectives into conversation with poststructural analyses, and I utilise theories of anti-racism and settler colonialism to analyse how gender, race, and the settler state frame understandings of the land and outdoor recreation practices. Together, these theoretical perspectives embolden me to think about the different ways gender discrimination and interlocking oppressions manifest in climbing. One of the most powerful things that feminism has taught me is that privileges and oppressions related to gender do not work independently of other systems of oppression. As Flavia Dzodan (2011) has famously said, “my feminism will be intersectional or it will be bullshit” (para. 1). Intersectional feminism is a movement and an intellectual tradition that recognises that access to gender equality varies according to other aspects of one’s identity, including race, class, sexuality, age, ability, nationality, ethnicity, and religion. Systems of oppression are interlinked, occur in concert with one another, and manifest together. Therefore, for me, feminism is more than working towards gender equality. I subscribe to the American feminist and social activist bell hooks’ (2000) articulation of feminism, that it is “a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression” (p. viii). I position myself within a poststructural epistemology, so I am interested in knowledge and power. Poststructuralism is about meanings, contests over meaning, and how power makes things meaningful in certain ways; it questions whose knowledge has power and in what ways (King & McDonald, 2007; McCormick, 2007). Poststructuralists contend that there is no one knowable reality; instead, they suppose that there are multiple, competing truths in our world (King, 2016). Subsequently, I

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recognise all knowledge as situated, partial, contingent, and interpretive. As a feminist and poststructuralist, I historicise experience and analyse how discourses—or systems of thoughts—produce subjects and their experiences (Scott, 1992). My understanding of anti-racism is influenced by the Black feminist scholar and activist, Angela Davis, who famously said: “In a racist society, it is not enough to be non-racist, we must be anti-racist.” For me, anti-­ racism means fighting against racism. It is a person’s conscious decision to make equitable and consistent choices every day, which necessitates self-­ awareness and self-reflection (National Museum of African American History and Culture, 2022). In her book, Living a Feminist Life, Sara Ahmed (2017) wrote that “so much of feminist and antiracist work is the work of trying to convince others that sexism and racism have not ended” (p. 6). Ahmed’s words resonate with me, because throughout my research, I called for an end to discriminatory route names, which several climbers did not recognise as existing. Beyond underpinning my politics and encouraging me to call out racist slurs in climbing route names, an anti-­ racist lens helps me make sense of settler colonialism. Settler colonialism is intimately tied to white supremacy, which is a system of power that privileges white people above all others. Discourses of whiteness shape settler colonialism, where whiteness is an ‘invisible’ racialised category that functions to continuously subjugate Black, Indigenous, and other racialised people. Whiteness is constantly defined and reproduced through anti-Blackness, and it is a global phenomenon that has been used to justify European imperialist conquest and exploitation in the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Oceania (Cole, 2020). Settler colonialism is about land, resource extraction, and wealth generation. Eve Tuck and K. Wayne Yang (2012) explained that settler colonialism helps us to see how racism was invented to justify stealing peoples’ land and labour. The settler state wants Indigenous land, so it clears Indigenous peoples out of the way to turn Indigenous land into property (Smith, 2012). In Canada and the United States, European settlers used the processes of displacement, spatial confinement, and restricted movement to dispossess Indigenous peoples of their land and destroy their culture and group cohesion (Norman et al., 2019). Settler colonialism is an ongoing system of oppression, not an event in history, that produces ideas about the nation and who is welcome in the national imaginary (Tuck & Yang, 2012; Tuck & Gaztambide-Fernández, 2013). Settler-colonial

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frameworks help me consider the politics of the land upon which outdoor leisure takes place. Finally, my conceptualisation of power includes both oppression and resistance. Power is who exerts influence in a particular sphere, but “power works through will, not simply against will” (Ahmed, 2017, p. 75). So, with power comes contestations of power, or challenge and resistance. An example of a contestation of power would be developing a new technology for naming routes in the climbing community, which is currently underway by Melissa Utomo and a team of racialised women (Saatchi, 2021). It is through these contestations that more is learned about how power operates. When people try to transform institutional norms, we see how techniques of power operate (Ahmed, 2017). Thus, it is important to pay attention to both oppression and resistance to achieve a nuanced analysis of power.

Outdoor Climbing Context In outdoor climbing, the ‘first’ person who successfully ascends and sets up a route—the first ascensionist—gets to choose a name for it. Some first ascensionists use misogynistic, racist, homophobic, transphobic, or ableist names for routes. At one of the crags I studied for my doctoral work, I learned of the names Pussy Whipped, She Got Drilled, Tampon Applicator, Hispanic Panic, and Eskimo Brothers. These names are not an isolated occurrence. Discriminatory route naming practices extend across North America, Australia, and the United Kingdom (Climb the Gap, 2022; Wigglesworth, 2021). Moreover, this issue is a complex one—the first ascent (FA) tradition is made possible by settler colonialism—with a long history; TA Loeffler (1996) wrote about sexist and homophobic routes published in climbing guidebooks across the United States more than 20 years ago. Problematic route names are rarely challenged because of the widely accepted tradition of FA naming rights, and because the names are not well known outside the climbing community. In contrast to ski hill runs, signposts do not indicate climbing route names, and many routes are in the backcountry. For example, most of the discriminatory route names I found were at the furthest end of the cliff on difficult climbing terrain (Wigglesworth, 2021). Setting up a route is a difficult, risky, and time-consuming process. Because of gendered caregiving responsibilities, family time, and financial costs, it can be difficult for women to afford to carve out time for outdoor

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leisure and technical skills development (Warren & Loeffler, 2006). This is seen in the data. The American Alpine Club’s (2019) found that 67 per cent of outdoor climbers identify as men, while only 33 per cent identify as women. In addition to structural constraints, historical bureaucratic barriers have hindered the development of women’s climbing (Bell & McEwan, 1996; Blum, 1980), and gendered discourses construct femininity as weak and at odds with adventure sport (e.g., Davis, 2007). These discourses and circumstances produce a climate where women are less likely to have the time, technical skills, confidence in those skills, interest in confronting risk, and comfort in the outdoors, all of which are necessary for setting up and naming a route. Conditions That Make Route Names Possible There are a few conditions that make discriminatory route names possible: the cultural construction of wilderness spaces; racist and misogynistic toponyms issued by the state; and a laddish or toxic masculinity permeating through the outdoors. Cultural Construction of Wilderness Outdoor climbing cannot take place without access to the land. Climbers require wilderness spaces to set up, name, and climb routes. However, wilderness spaces are not natural; they are culturally constructed. The wilderness had to be created before it could be preserved (Spence, 1999). Settler colonialism upholds a human-centred approach that views the non-­ human environment as inferior, silent, and empty, which validates claims for imposing on the land and serves to restrict Indigenous peoples’ resistance (Plumwood, 2003; Erickson, 2020). Canada’s and the United States’ national parks were made possible through the dispossession and colonisation of Indigenous peoples. The North American ‘conservation’ movement is entangled with histories of conflict, displacement, cultural loss, and notions of racial purity (Mason, 2014, 2021). Yellowstone National Park is the first example of the government’s removal of communities to preserve nature, and it provided a model for the displacement of Indigenous peoples from national parks (Mason, 2021). This removal was not an isolated occurrence; rather, a pattern of exclusion emerged that became part of regional and national policies, including Banff-Bow Valley in Canada. In the words of Jolie

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Varela (2020), Paiute and Yakut founder of the Indigenous Women Hike outdoor advocacy group: “Talking about the history and future of National Parks without acknowledging the removal of Indigenous people is erasure.” Land was appropriated from Indigenous peoples to create wilderness spaces for Western interpretations of “recreation,” such as sport hunting. As scholar Ian MacLaren (2011) asserts, “Parks and protected areas are often heralded for the species they protect, but are seldom examined for the ideologies or cultural values that they protect and project” (p. 340). Settler-colonial policies continue to operate through parks, the areas they protect, and the people and activities that take place in these spaces. Eugene Arcand (2020), an Indigenous advisor to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, emphasised the implications of these policies: “Today, National Parks and Parks Canada have a larger land mass than all of the reserves in Canada put together” (para. 12). Furthermore, the idea of wilderness existing in one space and civilisation existing in another is a uniquely settler-colonial construction because for Indigenous peoples wilderness and civilisation exist as one (Baldwin et al., 2011; Braun, 2002; Erickson, 2003, 2020; Hermer, 2002; Lowan-Trudeau, 2021; Spence, 1999). This relationship between settler colonialism and wilderness is bolstered by the processes of mapping and naming. The coloniser maps and names land to exert dominance and ensure a visible presence, where the coloniser exerts control over so-called wild places by mastering them, r(e) mapping them, and navigating them (Clayton, 2000; Gendron, 2021; King, 2013; Monmonier, 2006; Whetung, 2019); however, there have been and continue to be important forms of Indigenous resistance in contesting colonial land claims (Laurendeau, 2020). Within outdoor climbing in Canada and the United States, the tradition of FA naming rights represents a colonial logic. First ascents are predicated on the notion of ‘untouched cliffs.’ The idea that the land is a blank canvas is a harmful colonial narrative that conditions climbers and facilitates climbing’s tradition of FA naming rights; climbers presuppose that they are the first to climb cliffs, which erases Indigenous peoples’ histories with the land and Indigenous peoples’ names for cliffs and mountains. Furthermore, the association of white masculinity with unfettered mobility discursively produces privileged access to travel, cliffs, and, consequently, FAs and route naming rights for white men (Erickson, 2003; Frohlick, 2005).

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Racist and Misogynist Toponyms A second condition that has facilitated the imposition of discriminatory route names is state sanctioning of racist and misogynistic toponyms or place names. Place names assert ownership, brandish control, and legitimise conquest. Places names not only give both authorship and ownership to the colonising nation, but they also erase the Indigenous knowledge of the land, including that which grounds land claims (Clayton, 2000; Erickson, 2003; Gendron, 2021; Monmonier, 2006). Racism and misogyny are deeply intertwined, so we cannot talk about one without talking about the other—and this shows up in toponyms that refer to natural geographic places. There are many geographic features that have been named with a racist and misogynistic slur that refers to Indigenous women, the s-word. In the United States, King (2013) found that 938 geographic features bear the name in 37 states, including the location of the 1960 Winter Olympics. King (2013) argued that the s-word toponyms re-inscribe violence and conquest on Indigenous women’s lives and bodies, encourage toxic masculinity and heteronormativity in the public sphere, and illustrate the significance of settler colonialism to the knowledge of the landscape. According to the Canadian Geographical Names Database (2021), the same slur is used to name 20 geographic features in Canada. Twenty-six of these names have been rescinded. The geographical names, whether official or rescinded, evidence two states—Canada and the United States— that are sexist and racist and have a sexist and racist past. However, alongside oppressive naming practices, there is collective grassroots resistance. People are pushing for change. A lot of advocacy work and activism is taking place. For instance, Stoney Nakoda chiefs and elders successfully advocated to change the name of a mountain in Canmore, Alberta, that had used the s-word (Valleau, 2020). While the slur continues to be used in some hiking and climbing guides, on Google maps, and on various trail websites, it has been changed on some of these platforms. The new name for the mountain in Canmore is Bald Eagle Peak, which recognises the Stoney Women who are historically known as healers and warriors (Valleau, 2020). In Fall 2020, it was also announced that the name of the American resort that served as the site of the 1960 Winter Olympics, which included the s-word, will be changed to ‘Palisades Tahoe’ after the spring 2021 ski season (Mossburg, 2020; Patel, 2021).

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Laddish/Toxic Masculinity A third condition that makes these discriminatory route names possible is a climate in which laddish or toxic masculinity is allowed to flourish. My thinking is supported by other scholarship that documents how toxic masculinity and heteronormativity permeate outdoor culture across a range of informal sport contexts (Erickson, 2003; Olive, 2016; Olive et al., 2018; Wheaton, 2004; Wigglesworth, 2021). TA Loeffler (1996) wrote about sexist and homophobic route names in climbing guidebooks across the United States and theorised that a “laddish masculinity” makes these names possible. For Loeffler (1996), laddish masculinity is defined as intensive fraternal bonding—where men share experiences, fun, and humour to develop relationships—that frequently involves sexually aggressive, sexist, or racist jokes. Feminist studies of shortboard surfing and windsurfing also report findings of toxic masculinity and heteronormativity (Olive, 2016; Olive et al., 2018; Wheaton, 2004). Within windsurfing, Belinda Wheaton (2004) observed that verbal put-downs of women and homophobic slurs towards less proficient men reinforce a heteronormative male sports landscape. I also heard a homophobic slur and observed laddish masculinity while conducting fieldwork for my doctoral research (Wigglesworth, 2021). It happened while I was on a weekend climbing trip with a university climbing club. On the first night of the trip, as our group of 14 hiked into the woods to set up camp, we walked past a rock face that had “Bob likes cock” spray-painted onto it, and one of the men yelled: “Bob’s a faggot!” This man’s homophobic slur was irritating and impaired my own and, I assume, others’ enjoyment of the outdoors. This experience jarred me into seeing the cross-cutting power systems at play in outdoor climbing—that a white, male-dominated, hypermasculine, homosocial climate supports the formation of misogynistic route names. Now that we know better what makes route names possible, in the next section I revisit data I collected in 2018 to contextualise the practice of renaming routes.

Collecting and Mobilising Data In my doctoral work, I wanted to know how a group of women climbers negotiated misogynistic route names, so I specifically asked about this in my semi-structured and focus group interviews (Wigglesworth, 2021). I spoke with 34 self-identifying women aged 19–34, who were

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predominantly white and middle class and who represented a wide range of climbing abilities. Upon analysing the transcripts, six themes emerged in relation to the topic of misogynistic route names: frustration, helplessness, exclusion, internalised sexism, pushback, and the intersection of sexism and settler colonialism (Wigglesworth, 2019, 2021). Of all my interview questions, the most impassioned responses I received were in response to my question about the route names. Several women felt that nothing could be done to change discriminatory names because of the strong tradition of FA naming rights. They explained that they were apprehensive to advocate changing route names for fear of their climbing reputation being criticised or being called an angry feminist (Wigglesworth, 2021). There were also a few women who defended the FA tradition and found the misogynistic route names funny. Conversely, several participants condemned the route names for making women feel uncomfortable and pushed back against the defence of FA naming rights; they wanted to see change, and they suggested renaming misogynistic route names and rewriting online climbing guides. One participant even refused to climb these routes until they were renamed. Several of the women encouraged me to write a newspaper article to expose the misogynistic route names and lobby for change. This exchange was the impetus behind me writing a public sociology blog about the route names (Wigglesworth, 2019), which got picked up and published on the front page of a national Canadian newspaper (Anderssen, 2019). The newspaper article democratised public access to information about misogynistic naming practices in climbing, and it permitted me to forge connections with other people looking to make climbing more inclusive. For instance, my media exposure led to an informal interview with a journalist, Anaheed Saatchi, who was writing for Alpinist about Black and other racialised women’s climbing experiences. Saatchi (2020) was not interested in debating whether sexism existed in the climbing community; they contended that we had spent too much time trying to convince everyone that sexism exists, and instead, now it was time to shift our focus to the work already being done to make climbing better. Saatchi’s piece reminded me of the importance of looking for moments of resistance, and beginning in the summer of 2020, I found much evidence of this in the climbing community.

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Name Changes For those in the climbing community wanting to enact change, their first step was developing a list of discriminatory names. Climb the Gap, a collective whose mission is to cultivate more equity and diversity in climbing, developed an open-source spreadsheet for compiling a list of discriminatory route names and their first ascensionist(s), locations, and the guidebooks in which they appeared. This document, which is mostly US-based, catalogues over 300 route names. Other lists were compiled by Womxn Who Climb and Dominique Davis (Climb the Gap, 2022). Climb the Gap reviewed the names and reached out to authors and publishers of climbing guidebooks in an effort to change them. They also reached out to the companies who advertise in these guidebooks and the retailers who sell these guidebooks to put more pressure on the authors and publishers to change the discriminatory names. The most well-known climbing application in the industry, Mountain Project, recently included a crowd-sourced feature for flagging discriminatory route names on its climbing website. The flagging feature led to route names being redacted on the online climbing guide. However, there were issues around how a racialised woman climber, Melissa Utomo, was not credited or compensated for her labour in developing this feature (Saatchi, 2021; Walker, 2020). This reminds me of Ahmed’s (2017) note: “I have learned about how power works by the difficulties I have experienced in trying to challenge power” (pp. 89–90). Progress is neither linear nor smooth, but as evidence mounted and advocacy gained traction, route names were redacted, abbreviated, and changed. Popular media articles documented some of the route name changes that occurred at Ten Sleep Rock Ranch in Wyoming, at Clear Creek Canyon in Colorado, and at Squamish in British Columbia (Buhay, 2020; Pullan, 2020). At Ten Sleep Canyon, Slavery Wall, Aunt Jemima’s Bisquick Thunderdome, 40 Acres and a Mule, and Happiness in Slavery were changed to Downpour Wall, Bisquick Thunderdome, Broken Promises, and Happiness, respectively (Buhay, 2020); at Clear Creek Canyon, Towelhead, Welfare Crack, and Smack that Bitch Up were abbreviated to T-Head, W-Crack, and Smack, respectively (Buhay, 2020); and at Squamish, Plugging a Dyke, Women in Comfortable Shoes, and Whorehouse were changed to Plugging Along with My Friends, Comfortable Shoes, and War House, respectively (Pullan, 2020). It is arguable whether these changes create more inclusive climbing spaces, but

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these examples highlight the interconnection of racism, misogyny, and homophobia in naming practices. I also observed two routes be renamed at a crag that I researched, one of which is a route name I called out in a public sociology blog (Wigglesworth, 2019). The first ascensionist issued the name changes in the summer of 2020. The Reacharound was changed to The Big Reach, and Donkey Punch 2.0 was changed to Donkey See, Donkey Do. These two name changes illustrate how some discriminatory route names disguise their oppression behind colloquial language, puns, and inside jokes. I had to refer to an online slang dictionary (Urban Dictionary, 2022) to uncover the possible double meanings of some of the route names. I originally flagged Donkey Punch 2.0 as misogynistic, but I decided to withhold this route name from my interviews and analysis because I was not sure of its intended meaning. However, given its name change, I think I can be more certain of its misogynistic origins. A takeaway here is the need to include diverse people in the conversation to understand how names are harmful. However, with respect to the labour of changing route names, we should not lean on the free labour of marginalised climbers to call out oppressive names one by one, as it is exhausting, and these climbers are often the recipients of the pain caused by these names. Climbers and Organisations Reclaiming and Transforming Climbing Spaces Alongside compiling evidence and campaigning for name changes, climbers organised events to discuss ways forward for transforming climbing spaces and making the sport inclusive. As I mentioned, in July 2020 I attended a webinar hosted by Brown Girls Climb on problematic route names and the future of climbing culture (Walker, 2020). The webinar panellists discussed how discriminatory route names are a form of hate speech or violence that generates embodied responses; they encouraged people to use the term ‘oppressive’ rather than ‘offensive’ to describe the route names in order to highlight how they are a systemic form of oppression rather than a series of individual, isolated events. Bethany Lebewitz, who is the co-founder of Brown Girls Climb, expressed how climbing has been significant for her physical and mental development, but that encountering misogynistic and racist route names was traumatising (Walker, 2020). Despite this, Lebewitz still saw a path forward for change:

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It often seems so big, like we don’t have control because we weren’t the FA (First Ascensionist), that we couldn’t change it … Now we’re like ‘Oh!’ It’s like understanding white supremacy for the first time, we are understanding, ‘this isn’t actually my [climbing] culture, this is something I have the power to dismantle or uproot and create something different’. (Walker, 2020, para. 16)

Another panellist, Erynne Gilpin, similarly wove together a tale of oppression and resistance when discussing the route names. She mentioned that when she attended the Flash Foxy Festival (a multi-day women’s and genderqueer climbing festival), she came across a misogynistic route name: “There was this [climb] we were trying called Up Her Skirt and we were like … ‘we’re not calling it this, there’s no way,’ so we called it Up Yours Misogyny and we had an amazing time climbing” (Walker, 2020, para. 21). Lebewitz and Gilpin’s quotes demonstrate the oppression inherent in the names but also the refusals available to climbers. Therefore, this webinar shed light on the substantial, collective, grassroots resistance within the climbing community and the transformations already taking place on the ground. Beyond the successful change of discriminatory route names, the climbing community has been reflecting on larger questions about the politics of land. This was evident throughout the Brown Girls Climb webinar, as panellists discussed the issues of recreating on land that the American and Canadian states stole from Indigenous peoples. During a brainstorming session at the end of the webinar, participants proposed several strategies for climbing that consisted of including Indigenous Territory acknowledgements in the introductions of climbing guidebooks, posting Territory acknowledgements at the beginning of trailheads, developing strong collaborations between climbers and Indigenous communities grounded in Indigenous values, repatriating land, and respecting sacred Indigenous sites (Wigglesworth, 2021). The issue of climbing on sacred Indigenous sites resurfaced in the media in April 2021 when an American climber, Richard Gilbert, drilled bolts into a rock wall in Utah and defaced a 1000-year-old Indigenous cultural site (Nelson, 2021). Gilbert said that he did not know that he was compromising prehistoric petroglyphs, but his actions revitalised long-­ standing debates about climbing’s problematic history, which entails people spending decades fighting to climb wherever they please, and often succeeding (Nelson, 2021). Gilbert’s bolts were removed from the wall,

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but his actions and admissions sparked backlash within climbing and beyond. In response to Gilbert’s actions, The Access Fund—a not-for-­ profit climbing organisation that keeps climbing areas open and conserves the climbing community in the United States—hosted an online webinar titled “Climbing on Sacred Land: Understanding and Respecting Indigenous Culture.” The Access Fund’s cited goal was to host a conversation about understanding and respecting Indigenous culture with panellists discussing practical ways to ensure that climbers do not harm sacred land and its ongoing legacy. In addition to the above two events, I also want to spotlight four climbers who are contributing to the ongoing activism and advocacy in the world of climbing. First is Melissa Utomo. Utomo is an Asian American climber and web developer in Boulder, Colorado. She is also a member of Brown Girls Climb. In Fall of 2020, she crowd-funded six thousand dollars to hire a team and begin designing a brand-new digital climbing guidebook, called Project Beta, which focuses on universal design and accessibility (Saatchi, 2021). Project Beta is largely coordinated by racialised women, and according to Utomo, its goal is to move beyond one-dimensional depictions of climbers as white, cis-gender, able-bodied men and to create a diverse user experience (Saatchi, 2021). Second is Erynne Gilpin. Gilpin is a mixed Cree Métis, Filipina and Celtic climber, activist and academic in Victoria, British Columbia. She is the founder of Indigenous Womxn Climb, and she locates her climbing within Indigenous cosmologies and place-based knowledge about the land. Along with Indigenous youth climbers, Gilpin set routes named: 7 Generations Boulder, Moccasin Telephone, and BIPOC Bloc (Smart, 2021). These new route names flip oppressive naming practices on their head, showcase a concrete moment of resistance, and give Indigenous youth self-­ determination. Gilpin also plans to produce Indigenous outdoor stories that showcase climbing as safe for all people: “the long-term goal is transformation” (Smart, 2021, para. 12). The third climber is Anaheed Saatchi, whose writing has been crucial to the resistance within the climbing community. They wrote a piece for Alpinist and Melanin Base Camp on discriminatory route names, and they also co-founded the grassroots organisation, BelayALL. This summer 2022, Saatchi helped organise the Drag at the Crag event in Squamish, British Columbia, which celebrated “the intersections of gender, queerness and rock climbing, in a space where diverse queer folx have been historically excluded, and/or not intentionally included” (BelayALL, 2022, para. 5). Fourth is Ashleigh

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Thompson. Thompson is an Ojibwe climber and Indigenous rights advocate in Tucson, Arizona. Throughout her graduate studies, she’s written papers and presented on the cultural appropriation found in route names. One of her proposals for addressing racist and discriminatory route names is an Indigenous climbing festival (Walker, 2020). Utomo, Gilpin, Saatchi, and Thompson showcase that climbers have begun the work of addressing discrimination and making the sport more inclusive.

Discussion It is telling to revisit my data from 2018 within the current context, where climbers’ advocacy has led to a plethora of route name changes (Climb the Gap, 2022). It begs the question of what shifted between the time I interviewed the women in 2018 and the summer of 2020. As I emphasised at the beginning of this chapter, climbing does not take place in a vacuum. Climbing is shaped by society, so when the BLM movement resurged in the summer of 2020, with it came calls to rename racist place names, change racist sport mascots, and remove statues of confederate generals and other colonial vestiges of the past. Sport climbing was influenced by BLM, and alongside calls to remove anti-Asian, anti-Black, and anti-­ Indigenous racist route names also came the demand to remove homophobic, transphobic, misogynistic, and ableist route names. One thing that climbers’ activist and advocacy work has not yet dismantled is FA naming rights. This tradition continues to wield power. Because of this, climbers and climbing organisations had to be creative and smart in tackling the issue of discriminatory route names; they used a multifaceted approach to lobby guidebook publishers, advertising companies, online climbing websites, and retailers, in addition to asking first ascensionists to rename routes. However, while the defence of FA naming rights still lingers, I would say that the defence of discriminatory route names, especially racist names, lost significant traction. Any defence of discriminatory route names makes me think of Ahmed’s (2017) comment: “freedom has become reduced to the freedom to be offensive, which is also about how those with power protect their right to articulate their own views, no matter what, no matter whom” (p. 262). Given this, I would say that climbers’ power to articulate white, straight, male, cis-gendered, and able-bodied views weakened as of summer 2020. Some oppression subsided and made way for resistance, and with this, name changes took place

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that helped transform sport climbing and support different ways of being at the cliff and in the mountains. What climbers and grassroots climbing organisations did well was directly address the problem of discriminatory route names. There was no skirting around the issue. In the words of Ahmed, “we need to engage with the world—know it, understand it—if we are to transform it. We cannot withdraw from sexism and racism” (cited in Mehra, 2017, para. 9). I observed several climbers who did not withdraw from difficult and complex conversations. And people pushed the agenda past the issue of route names to confront the settler-colonial logic upon which climbing rests. This is encouraging, and it reveals that work for one cause has the potential to reverberate through other causes too. Within the vein of reverberating through other causes, I also want to point out that climbers’ strategies for renaming routes and developing inclusivity apply to other outdoor cultures. For instance, discriminatory trail names are also widespread in mountain biking (Chambers, 2020). During a media interview, I learned about a trail named B-line on Squamish Mountain in British Columbia, where mountain bikers frequently nail women’s underwear to a tree next to the trail sign. The journalist, Melanie Chambers, explained to me that the trail is named B-line because it is a beginner trail, so nailing women’s underwear to the tree insinuates that women ride this trail because they are not as advanced as men. Over the past few years, underwear has been repeatedly removed and replaced (Chambers, 2020). Climbing is not exempt from this tradition; male climbers have hung panties from belay bolts and placed dildos on rock walls (Taylor, 2010), and in skiing and snowboarding, a similar custom unfolds where skiers riding a chair lift throw bras and panties onto a tree underneath the left, calling this a “panty tree” or “bra tree” (Shafer, 2018). It is discouraging to learn about how outdoor practitioners devalue women’s bodies and achievements in various ways, but by understanding the problem, people can offer better tangible solutions. These examples point to the significance of documenting tales of oppression and resistance so that lessons can be learned, shared, and used elsewhere, with the goal of making the outdoors safer for all people. Instead of only trying to convince academics and practitioners that oppression exists in climbing, I have also emphasised grassroots resistance. According to Ahmed (2016), the archive of evidence is already full of examples of marginalisation and exclusion:

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Add it to the archive is an expression that allows us to think that an experience however difficult might have use value as evidence (we have somewhere to put it; we have a place for it to go). But of course when I say “add it to the archive” I say so with a degree of scepticism; if that archive is already stuffed, more evidence might be what we do not need. (para. 34)

Therefore, my analysis matters because I’m adding more stories of resistance to the archive. According to Ahmed (2016), I am creating an “archive of rebellion” (para. 31). By highlighting how resistance takes place through various organisations, events, and individuals, I offer a feminist and anti-racist exploration of grassroots advocacy and activism work. Another significant takeaway of the chapter is that power can be shifted through technology. For example, Utomo’s new digital climbing guidebook and Gilpin’s Indigenous outdoor films expect to transform how power operates in climbing. Climbers are creating technology to allow communities to name and represent themselves in certain ways and challenge traditional structure, while also making changes to physical guidebooks and having discriminatory names redacted in online climbing guides. This puts more power into the hands of climbers. Here we see climbers contesting the power of the structure and revolutionising the sport through new technology.

Conclusion Names tell us about the current moment and offer a way to think about how to build a better future. During the height of the BLM resurgence, Angela Davis spoke to Democracy Now (2020) about the issue of changing names and striking down statues: I think this reflects the extent to which we are being called upon to deeply reflect on the role of historical racisms that have brought us to the point where we are today … Attention is being turned toward the symbols of slavery, the symbols of colonialism … . I think that these assaults on statues represent an attempt to begin to think through what we have to do to bring down institutions and re-envision them, reorganise them, and create new institutions that can attend to the needs of all people.

Taking Davis’ argumentation and applying it to my work, I claim that discriminatory route names act as an entry point into a larger discussion

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about the intersection of gendered and colonial power and how they shape landscapes and recreation practices in the American and Canadian context. Furthermore, discriminatory route names act as a springboard to reorganise sport climbing, support different ways of being at the crag, and create transformational recreational spaces.

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Chambers, M. (2020). What do we do about sexist and offensive trail names? Canadian Cycling Magazine.. https://cyclingmagazine.ca/sections/feature/ what-­do-­we-­do-­about-­sexist-­and offensive-­trail-­names/ Clayton, D. (2000). On the colonial genealogy of George Vancouver’s chart of the north west coast of North America. Ecumene, 7(4), 371–401. Climb the Gap (2022). Climbing guidebooks + publishers. Retrieved August 26, 2022 from https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ 1yN9Ekor7Dy8KK6gehkv4T7JyrBMxFxmaS08H9TdCQ0/edit#gid= 1193766121 Cole, D. (2020). The skin we’re in: A year of Black resistance and power. Doubleday Canada. Davis, S. (2007). High infatuation: A climber’s guide to love and gravity. The Mountaineers Books. Democracy Now (2020, July 3). Angela Davis on abolition, calls to defund police, toppled racist statues and voting in 2020 election [Video]. YouTube. https:// www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7RPQo0LW-­I Dzodan, F. (2011). My feminism will be intersectional or it will be bullshit. http : //tig e r b ea t d o w n .c o m / 2 0 1 1 / 1 0 / 1 0/ my -­f e mi ni sm-­w i l l -­b e -­ intersectional-­or-­it-­will-­be bullshit/ Erickson, B. (2003). The colonial climbs of Mount Trudeau: Thinking masculinity through the homosocial. TOPIA, 9, 67–82. Erickson, B. (2020). Witness, adventure, and the competing discourses of the north. In B.  Wilson & B.  Millington (Eds.), Sport and the environment (pp. 67–83). Emerald Publishing Limited. Frohlick, S. (2005). That playfulness of white masculinity: Mediating masculinities and adventure at mountain film festivals. Tourist Studies, 5(2), 175–193. Gendron, D. (2021). Unpacking and repacking the canoe: Canoe as research vessel. In B. Erickson & S. S. Krotz (Eds.), The politics of the canoe (pp. 215–240). University of Manitoba Press. Hermer, J. (2002). Regulating Eden: The nature of order in North American parks. University of Toronto Press. Hooks, B. (2000). Feminism is for everybody: Passionate politics. South End Press. Hopper, T. (2018, August 18). Here is what Sir John A.  Macdonald did to Indigenous people. Washington Post.. https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/here-­is-­what-­sir-­john-­a-­macdonald-­did-­to indigenous-­people King, C. R. (2013). Unsettling America: The uses of Indianness in the 21st century. Rowman & Littlefield. King, S. (2016). In defence of realist tales. In B. Smith & A. C. Sparkes (Eds.), Routledge handbook of qualitative research in sport and exercise. Routledge. King, S., & McDonald, M. (2007). (Post)Identity and sporting cultures: An introduction and overview. Sociology of Sport Journal, 24(1), 1–19.

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Laurendeau, J. (2020). ‘The stories that will make a difference aren’t the easy ones’: Outdoor recreation, the wilderness ideal, and complicating settler mobility. Sociology of Sport Journal, 37(2), 85–95. Loeffler, T. A. (1996). Sexual harassment and experiential education programs: A closer look. In K.  Warren (Ed.), Women’s voices in experiential education (pp. 213–225). Kendall Hunt. Lowan-Trudeau, G. (2021). Mapping (as) resistance: Decolonizing journalistic cartography. Media+Environment, 3(1). https://doi.org/10.1525/001c.19057 MacLaren, I. S. (2011). Rejuvenating wilderness: The challenge of reintegrating Aboriginal peoples into the ‘playground’ of Jasper National Park. In C. E. Campbell (Ed.), A century of Parks Canada, 1911–1921 (pp. 333–270). University of Calgary Press. Mason, C. (2014). Spirits of the Rockies: Reasserting an indigenous presence in Banff National Park. University of Toronto Press. Mason, C. (2021). Colonial encounters, conservation, and sport hunting in Banff National Park. In C. Adams (Ed.), Sport and recreation in Canadian history. Human Kinetics Publishers. McCormick, C. (2007). Poststructuralism. In G. Ritzer (Ed.), Blackwell encyclopedia of sociology. Blackwell Publishing. Mehra, N.  J. (2017). Sara Ahmed: Notes from a feminist killjoy. Guernica.. https://www.guernicamag.com/sara-­ahmed-­the-­personal-­is-­institutional/ Monmonier, M. (2006). From [s-word] tit to whorehouse meadow: How maps name, claim, and inflame. University of Chicago Press. Mossburg, C. (2020, August 25). [S-word] valley ski resort near Lake Tahoe to change name from the ‘racist and sexist slur.’ CNN. https://www.cnn.com/ travel/article/squaw-­valley-­ski-­resort changes-­name-­trnd/index.html National Museum of African American History and Culture. (2022). Being antiracist. https://nmaahc.si.edu/learn/talking-­about-­race/topics/beingantiracist Nelson, C. (2021, May 4). Defaced petroglyphs force rock climbers to reckon with sport’s destructive past. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/ spor t/2021/may/04/rock-­c limbing-­n ative-­a merican-­i ndigenous-­ people?utm_ter m=b987b60787728da55b7d48c0f71639e1&utm_ c a m p a i g n = G u a r d i a n To d a y U S & u t m _ s o u r c e = e s p & u t m _ medium=Email&CMP=GTUS_email Norman, M. E., Hart, M., & Petherick, L. (2019). Indigenous gender reformations: Physical culture, settler colonialism, and the politics of containment. Sociology of Sport Journal, 36, 113–123. Olive, R. (2016). Surfing, localism, place-based pedagogies and ecological sensibilities in Australia. In B.  Humberstone, H.  Price, & K.  Henderson (Eds.), Routledge international handbook of outdoor studies (pp. 501–510). Routledge.

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PART III

Transforming Leadership, Participation and Praxis: Climbing the Mountain of Equity

CHAPTER 9

Climbing Mountains Together: Developing Gender Parity Pathways in Mountaineering Leadership and the Role of Men Cressida Allwood and Linda Allin

Introduction This chapter contextualises the issue of gender parity in outdoor leadership and considers the role of men in actively advancing women in outdoor leadership contexts. We draw from research into gender and leadership in organisations, outdoor leadership pathways, and male allyship. To this, we add our knowledge of current gender parity strategies in mountain leadership and training in the UK. We propose that addressing the issue of gender parity in mountain leadership can be started by building bridges across the gender divide and creating inclusive and psychologically safe spaces for conversations around gender. We provide examples of

C. Allwood Manchester, UK L. Allin (*) Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 J. Hall et al. (eds.), Gender, Politics and Change in Mountaineering, Global Culture and Sport Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29945-2_9

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practical strategies that can be implemented in mountain leadership contexts and suggest how male allies, particularly those in positions of power, can create meaningful change in organisational and leadership cultures.

Women, Gender and Leadership in the Outdoors To understand the issue of gender parity in outdoor leadership, it is important to recognise that despite progress in outdoor participation and the appointment of some high-profile women at CEO level, men continue to hold most senior decision-making positions in outdoor organisations (Rogers & Rose, 2019). Whilst precise figures in the UK are hard to come by, research by Allwood (2015) for the Institute of Outdoor Learning (IOL) found that 77.5% of CEOs in outdoor organisations were male, with more men being employed full time and more male freelance staff. The proportion of female outdoor leadership instructional staff in Outward Bound UK is less than 30% (O’Brien & Allin, 2021). In mountaineering, whilst figures at lowest levels, such as lowland leaders, are showing evidence of progress with women making up over 40% of those qualified, the ratios at Mountaineering and Climbing Instructor (MCI) level have remained relatively unchanged for the last 20 years and lie at around 10% (Sharp, 2001, Mountain Training England (MTE) 2020 personal communication). A recent large-scale demographic analysis in the UK by Christian et  al. (2022) reinforces the ongoing asymmetric pattern of women in adventure sport coaching in the UK, as a whole and at the higher end of qualifications. They showed 27.1% of males qualified in the top four coaching levels compared to 10.1% of women. Women with different intersections of gender identity in outdoor leadership, such as women from black and minority ethnic backgrounds, low socio-economic status or with disabilities, alongside those who identify as LBTQ+, are also visibly lacking. This position should be untenable in contemporary society, where social justice in outdoor leadership has long been called for (Humberstone, 2000; Warren, 2002). Diverse perspectives are also increasingly recognised as beneficial for organisations and leadership practice (Adamson et al., 2021; Allen-Craig et al., 2020). Many outdoor organisations including the Institute of Outdoor Learning (IOL) and the British Mountaineering Council (BMC) recognise the need for the sector to better understand the potential impact of improved gender balance in leadership and have clear prominent equity statements on their websites. The issue of diversity and inclusion across

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the outdoor sector has been further highlighted, with the publication of the INclusivity in the OUTdoors report (Anderson et al., 2021), which provided learning from a webinar series on the topic alongside recommendations for action. The report found that perceptions and understanding were identified as the biggest ‘barrier’ to INclusivity in the OUTdoors. However, in a systematic review of women in sport organisations, Evans and Pfister (2021) found that even where gender equity policies exist, and despite men in leadership roles recognising the under-representation of women, organisational cultures and selection processes that favour men continue to reinforce inequity. This suggests the need for more work in supporting leaders to understand the complexity of gender parity and how to reach it.

Understanding the Issue: Women and Outdoor Leadership Examining the complexity of gender parity in outdoor leadership can be done through critically reflecting on what is termed the ‘leaky pipeline’ (Aman et al., 2018). The ‘leaky pipeline’ refers to the fact that many competent women in the outdoors often leave at an earlier stage in career or leadership progression. As Christian et al. (2022) highlight, women who do work in the industry are predominantly younger, less qualified and coach (or lead) beginners, and do not progress up the coaching or leading levels. Numerous papers highlight ongoing issues with longevity for women leaders in the profession (see Jordan, 2018; Warren et al., 2018; Wright & Gray, 2013). Challenges include lack of confidence in technical skills, concerns around combining career, motherhood and family, feelings of self-doubt, feeling the need to prove themselves or a lack of a sense of belonging, or financial constraints (Allin, 2003, 2004; Davies et al., 2019; Rao & Roberts, 2018; Whittington, 2019). The fact that many women leave outdoor leadership careers early, however, can lead to assumptions that they are not interested or motivated to progress. This often means narrow strategies for gender parity that focus on individuals or a ‘fix the woman’ approach, rather than looking to change wider cultural or structural barriers. Some of the cultural issues in outdoor organisations that deter women’s progression are associated with long-ingrained racial, class-based and hegemonic masculinity values and ways of working that have dominated

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the history of the outdoors (see Humberstone, 2000; Rao & Roberts, 2018). Warren et al. (2018) show that questioning of technical competence, gender stereotyping, sexual harassment, heterosexist norms, and inequity in the workplace still exist within the outdoor field. The existence of ‘old boys’ networks and homosocial reproduction in hiring practices have long been identified as key components of gendered organisational cultures that hinder progress (Acker, 1990, 2006). The ‘leaky pipeline’ phenomenon also means that there becomes a lack of opportunity for women at the beginning of their leadership pathway to see effective role models ‘like them’ (Rao & Roberts, 2018) or create the kind of social networks that are also useful for progression. Similarly, a long hours culture and lack of family friendly or flexible working practices can impact on the careers of women who become—or wish to become—mothers, particularly if they lack wider support (Allin, 2004; Whittington, 2019). Rogers and Rose (2019) also explored gendered experiences of diverse women outdoor leaders in higher education contexts to show how historic masculine conceptions of leadership involving toughness, dominance and challenge still prevailed, leading them to self-question their preferred leadership styles. Other studies have shown how some women mountaineers, whether novice or relatively experienced, can be deterred from progression through mountain qualifications by feeling ‘too slow’ on the hill in comparison to male counterparts (Hall & Doran, 2020). This feeling can also be influenced by dominant discourses of outdoor leadership which emphasise the importance of reaching the summit rather than enjoying the journey, or by constantly being with male company who have a longer stride and pace, and so this becoming the ‘norm’ by which all may be judged. Whilst conceptions of leadership have moved on, remnants of these traditional ideas around gender and leadership remain, despite our knowledge that leadership is more complex set of skills, behaviours and characteristics, and that it can incorporate many different but equally authentic approaches which can be inclusive and empathetic, and not match any binary or simplistic model (Luthans et al., 2006; Gray et al., 2020; Smith & Penney, 2010; Smith, 2021). Over 20 years ago Sharp (2001) noted how the utility of the contents of the summer and winter mountain training scheme at the time were rated differently, with women valuing more the knowledge base of mountain leadership. Yet there has been continued emphasis on physical and technical (or ‘hard’)  skills in mountaineering culture and assessments. Critical reflection on women’s experiences of qualifications and certain

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elements of being a mountain leader come to be prioritised or legitimised, can also help explain why some find progression more difficult or decide to take a different route. For example, O’Brien and Allin (2021) found that women on an outdoor leadership course tended to put the Mountain Leadership qualification on a pedestal, having internalised views from male peers and the outdoor culture that it was difficult to reach and far from their abilities. Accurate feedback from multiple others in a supportive environment revealed this was not the case. Recent findings have also continued to find that more women prefer to feel ‘completely ready’ through enhanced preparation before they put themselves forward for mountain leadership assessments (Hardy et  al., 2019). The same study by Hardy et al. (2019) found that different genders typically cited similar kinds of reasons for not continuing in the schemes, but women identified more barriers to progress.

Supporting Women’s Leadership in Mountaineering In terms of gender parity specifically, the sector has identified the need for identifying and developing practical steps to encourage women (from all identities and backgrounds) through the outdoor leadership pathway. Relevant recent interventions by mountain leadership organisations include a Skills and Training Fund offered in 2021, whereby MTE awarded grants to encourage ethnic diversity. Organisations such as Wanderlust and Black Girls’ Hike have benefitted from such training bursaries, enabling them to attend courses. The resultant increase in confident female role models will hopefully encourage a broader uptake of women on such courses and in outdoor contexts. More broadly, with greater diversity of voices being heard in outdoor related media, the future looks more positive. In the summer of 2022, for the first time, the Walking Leader Awards syllabus outlines key competencies based on transformational leadership. It explicitly advocates that candidates develop their own ethos and beliefs alongside those of Mountain Training (MT) and have knowledge of a range of leadership styles. Words such as empathy and emotional intelligence appear in the candidate handbook (MTE, draft document, personal communication). These interventions represent a significant shift by the UK awarding body for mountain leadership qualifications:

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“We have recently updated our leadership competencies to a more inclusive model based on transformational leadership. We are also investigating whether our requirements for our trainers and assessors can be more broadly defined to allow a greater breadth of talent to represent us. Female leadership statistics are growing near to 50% for some of our qualifications but we know we have more work to do to encourage this through all levels of our sector.” (Guy Jarvis, MTE 2022)

It will be important to monitor how these changes are experienced in practice by those passing through the mountain leadership pathway and to share feedback. In addition to the above actions, the importance of mentoring as a strategy for women in leadership has been recognised across many male-­ dominated organisational settings, including sport and sport coaching (Banwell et al., 2021). Yet, Sawiuk et al. (2022) note there remains limited evidence of effectiveness or optimum mentoring programme design. They also highlight the potential for formal organisational mentoring schemes aimed at meeting institutional agendas (such as targets or access to funding) to be problematic and can serve to reinforce particular social and cultural norms or coaching ideologies if taken uncritically (Leeder & Sawiuk, 2021; Sawiuk et al., 2018). Research reviewed by Leader and Sawiuk (2021) identifies a need to move away from dyadic mentoring to multiple mentoring, where the mentee can gain from different ways from different mentor types. These authors also suggest research is needed on the usefulness of multiple mentors (peers as well as more qualified) and role modelling as well as challenging problematic assumptions around the mentoring of women. Examples of positive outcomes from female mentoring schemes do exist. Banwell et al. (2021) used ecological systems theory to explore the benefits of a specific Female Coach Mentorship scheme in Canada underpinned by Zachary’s four-stage model of mentoring (preparing, negotiating, enabling growth and coming to closure). They found most benefits were at the personal and interpersonal levels rather than organisational or socio-cultural levels. That is, mentoring improved women’s overall development as coaches and as people, including their confidence, and they also enhanced networks in the coaching community. The women also perceived improved relations with the sporting organisation, which they perceived viewed them as more professional or having more of a voice. However, their research supported other critiques of mentoring

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programmes for women in that mentees did not perceive any new opportunities or changes to organisational practices or norms that would help overcome wider organisational or socio-cultural issues. To have greater influence, Banwell et al. (2021) suggest organisations need to build and embed mentorship into their infrastructure and culture by linking it to their overall mission and equity policies, involving staff across the organisation and cultivating “new coaching opportunities that challenge sociocultural barriers” (p. 79). In recent years there have also been mentoring schemes put in place for women in outdoor leadership in the UK. Hardy et al. (2019) also supported the use of such mentoring, suggesting that, in the mountain leadership scheme, enhanced goal-setting through an effective coaching relationship with training providers can improve pass rates. One such scheme was when Mountain Training UK (MTUK) introduced a women-­ only leadership mentoring programme in 2017 for their Mountaineering and Climbing Instructor (MCI) scheme. Unfortunately, negative feedback from male trainees discouraged MTUK from offering women-only support. Criticism of women-only (now often termed women-specific) initiatives to support women’s leadership are often underpinned by the belief that such courses encourage separatism, despite considerable research that shows them to be highly supportive and effective for learning (Avner et  al., 2021; Banwell et  al., 2021; O’Brien & Allin, 2021). MT then developed a more general mentoring scheme which has grown in the last few years. Providing skills training for mentors and facilitating ‘meet your mentor’ sessions have been positive developments and online sessions have also evolved as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. There has also been significant investment in support between training and assessment, though the outcomes of these initiatives need to be continually evaluated. As with most sport mentoring schemes, MTE also aims to match same-­ sex pairings in their mentoring scheme where these are requested, although there is a high percentage of male mentors. In the women’s outdoor leadership course run by the Outward Bound Trust UK in 2019, mentoring was also incorporated as an explicit part of the course. Mentors were matched to mentees on the basis of their profiles and perceived ‘fit’ and were also predominantly male. The mentoring of women by men is controversial as researchers suggest cross-gender mentoring can reinforce unequal gender power relations or there can be greater potential for clashes in style, personality or approach (Leeder & Sawiuk, 2021; Sawiuk

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& Groom, 2019). However, the evidence is inconsistent. For example, O’Brien and Allin (2021) found that many women on the women’s leadership course felt it made no difference to them whether their mentor was male or female, whilst others preferred a female mentor. What seemed to be most important was the ability of the mentor to show empathy and understanding of women’s perspective as well as to provide support in goal-setting, accountability and opportunities to shadow leaders with more experience, skills and qualifications. Feedback from women mentored by male mentors on the MTE scheme has also been positive. It is hoped that these mentoring case studies are shared and celebrated, acknowledging the potential beneficial impacts for all and providing greater insight into ‘what works’. Diversity within the mentor workforce is also important for enabling women mentees from different intersectional identities to see themselves in higher leadership positions (Rao & Roberts, 2018). In their programme, MTE are also mindful of the lack of racial diversity when trying to meet requests. As with research on women mentees, however, there is a lack of research on the lived experiences of other underrepresented groups in mentoring and mentoring effectiveness (Leeder & Sawiuk, 2021).

The Role of Male Allies Allwood (2015) further highlights a disparity between the sexes, when it comes to agreeing who is responsible for gender parity amongst the leadership in outdoor activity organisations. As those most likely to be in positions of power, men are well placed to offer support, guidance and practical help to those who would like to progress further in their careers. The role of male leaders, including CEOs, in improving gender equality has also become an increasingly asked question in the wider world of business (Kelan, 2022). This may be because, as Gray et  al. (2020) highlight so well, “Transformational change rarely happens unless those in leadership positions buy into the espoused model of transformation” (p. 104). Spoor and Hoye (2014) showed that where sport organisations had a positive culture and valued equity from senior leadership downwards, this led to more positive outcomes for all in terms of commitment and engagement. Men also have less to risk in stepping forward to challenging sexist behaviours or practices, and when seen to be doing so they can change the attitudes of others and shift cultural norms (Masden et al., 2020), middle managers can also help drive change through their activities with more

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junior staff (Harding et al., 2014). Another way men play an important role is therefore through the concept of male allyship. Masden et al. (2020) explain how to be a male ally involves being aware of the power and privilege men have as a member of a dominant social group and also of the injustice experienced by those who are not. Male allies can take intentional action to disturb or “interrupt sexism or gender injustice” (p. 241). Research on male allies has shown that having a male ally supportive of gender equality can reduce prospective feelings of isolation and increase anticipation of a respectful, positive and supportive culture within male-dominated settings (Moser & Branscombe, 2021). In her PhD thesis Heffernan (2018) determined that gender allyship existed in the sport industry and that it began with self-awareness of the recognition of the power to create change, leading to personal investment in doing so. Personal experience suggests that such allyship also exists in the outdoor industry, but how much awareness there is of this has yet to be explored. Recent outdoor publications have also called for more male allies to become ‘champions’ and ‘incorporate themselves into the conversation’ around gender and leadership in order for there to be sustained cultural change (Gray et al., 2020, p. 108). Whilst many outdoor male leaders support gender parity, they can feel they lack sufficient knowledge, are concerned they may do something ‘wrong’ or do not know how to move forward (Allwood, 2015; Rogers, Taylor & Rose, 2019). Humbert et al. (2019) found that essentialist views of gender by male senior leaders can also make it more difficult for them to be effective. For change, it is important for all to recognise gender as a social construction and ongoing act rather than a set of fixed ‘differences’. That is, gender is acted, constructed and reconstructed not only through structures and cultures but also in the interactions which take place between people and the language used. Obtaining a shared understanding of gender, the language of gender and leadership and how to discuss the issue is paramount, for as Kelan (2022) recognises, senior leaders “will lead others through their talk” (p2) and middle managers can either “do or undo” gender in their everyday actions (Kelan, 2022). Hence, the sector needs practical strategies and ways of talking about gender that are inclusive and can lead to action which improves the gender balance. Working with men on gender parity involves challenging the categories of ‘us’ and ‘them’, focusing on mutual understanding and complexity, and unearthing differing unconscious biases or misunderstandings which hinder progress. One way to do this is through creating psychologically safe

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cultures where all members can safely speak up on any issue without experiencing negative repercussions (Allwood, 2015; Edmondson, 2003; Gray et al., 2020). Creating psychologically safe spaces for all genders to engage in critical discussion around understandings of gender parity and the issue of gender imbalance in the outdoor sector can reveal some of the myths, tensions and contradictions that exist in relation to the issue. The significance of how gender stereotypes also impact on men’s and other minority experiences of the outdoors can also be discussed and help remove the conflation of gender with ‘women’. A recent publication by Kennedy and Russell (2021) critically re-examines the issue of hegemonic masculinity and alternative masculinities in outdoor education, calling for more men to show leadership in attending to gender in the outdoor field. A pilot project to engage five male stakeholders from the British Mountaineering Council in a workshop and coaching session to explore understandings of gender parity was undertaken by Allwood in conjunction with IOL and Liverpool John Moores University. The project highlighted both the desire by male leaders to understand better how to contribute to change and also revealed the vulnerabilities some men can feel in exposing their views. The project used vignettes or short ‘stories’ and examples of typical scenarios that involve women in outdoor leadership to highlight potential actions based on understanding of how gender operates. These can be a useful tool to engage men in conversations and have been well used by Kelan (2015) to support managers in a variety of organisational settings. Vignettes can be co-constructed, made relevant to the world of mountaineering leadership or tailored to a particular outdoor leader audience. It is inevitable that raising ideas that challenge organisational norms, beliefs or values, which have existed for many years, can elicit questioning or even resistance (Bleijenbergh, 2018; Lombardo & Mergaert, 2013). However, Bleijenbergh (2018) reflected that initial resistance can be a signal of greater psychological engagement and in her experience some of the male leaders who were initially resistant went on to become important allies. In an American study, Masden et  al. (2020) surveyed 243 men and women to identify strategies and behaviours male allies had engaged in to advance women in the workplace. They found that developmental relationships including mentoring were mentioned by 61% of men and 78.5% of women. Mentoring was viewed as the most significant action undertaken by men in supporting women’s leadership. For women this included introduction to networks, communicating confidence or belief in them

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and providing feedback and help with future career planning. In mountaineering leadership qualification pathway, similar ideas may be in facilitating appropriate networks to connect with (male and female), giving accurate feedback on abilities, helping view qualifications and assessments as within reach, and planning and encouraging applications to progress or go for assessment. For male allies who wish to be mentors, we suggest training and support in mentoring is also useful, along with understanding others’ perspectives and ensuring an appropriate and effective relationship can be built. More research and feedback on women’s diverse experiences of male and female mentors in the outdoors can help develop a sense of good practice for the mentoring of all genders in outdoor leadership. Other strategies by male allies identified by Masden et al. (2020) were providing leadership development opportunities, addressing HR processes (such as inclusive recruiting, flexible working, childcare and parental leave), recognising the contributions of women (publicly and privately) and ensuring women’s voices were heard. Men also identified helping other men become more aware of gendered assumptions, such as questioning a woman’s ability to maintain a work-life balance or asking the only female present in a room to be secretary. In the mountain leadership pathway, this may mean men challenging assumptions around technical competence, the ‘right’ way to lead or that women will automatically drop out from the pathway due to having children. Masden et al. (2020) also highlighted that women noted a shift in attitude between generations, with younger men more likely to take it for granted that women saw professional success as important. This points to the value of intergenerational conversations as well as actions. These actions are supported by researchers such as Kelan (2015) who identifies a number of clear responsibilities and practical strategies leaders can engage in to support and promote gender parity. They cite creating accountability, building ownership, communicating, leading by example, and initiating and driving culture shifts. Kelan (2015) further presented four key practices for middle managers, who can be crucial to the success of strategies in reaching and being effective in enabling change. These are: celebrating and encouraging women, calling out bias, championing and defending gender and other targeted support initiatives, and challenging working practices. Allwood and Hardie (2019) propose some key examples of good practice for leaders in the outdoors. These include ensuring gender parity is a priority in the strategic plan, talking to the CEO or Board about the ‘cost’ of gender inequality (or the benefits of gender

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parity), acknowledging the positive impact of female role models, reviewing organisational images, listening to how others speak about women, setting up a working group and investing in unconscious bias training. Having identified male allies on Boards is to be welcomed. Ensuring their contributions towards gender parity are consistent, constructive and helpful for all will depend on their commitment. We recommend such influential figures are both supported and held to account. We hope that more awareness of these strategies, alongside open discussions of how they can work in practice, will be useful in providing some practical guidance.

Conclusion This chapter aimed to contextualise some of the issues around gender and mountain leadership by exploring research around gender and leadership in outdoor organisational and leadership pathways. We sought to highlight the key role of male outdoor leaders as mentors and allies in promoting gender parity and endorse positive actions taken by organisations. We suggest that it is important to engage male stakeholders in the kind of conversations around gender parity which, over the past five years, have begun to take place in the outdoor sector, but have often been by and among women. We recognise the progress that is being made in the outdoor field but continue to advocate that gender parity (and overall diversity and inclusion) in mountain leadership is an ongoing issue that can be best addressed by working together across gender divides. This includes creating psychologically safe spaces for conversations and practical strategies for ways forward. We have identified several strategies that have been highlighted in the research from other disciplines and workplace contexts, with the hope that it provides some direction and ideas for those in mountaineering leadership contexts to consider. “This is an important issue and an important book/chapter that highlights the necessity of gender parity if mountain leadership is to be truly representative and thereby support the aspirations of the whole population. Mountain Training recognises that this is a strategic priority that needs to be addressed by encouraging and supporting potential female leaders, as well as looking at our own systemic biases that may filter out potential female leaders.” Guy Jarvis, MTE 2022.

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CHAPTER 10

A Critical Postfeminist Lens as a Tool for Praxis Emily Ankers

Introduction Women’s experiences of gender inequality and power dynamics are complex. There are claims that women now have “‘self-possession’ of their active bodies” (Dworkin & Heywood, 2003, p. 87), and as we move further into the twenty-first century and away from the late twentieth century, women are more frequently realised as agentic and empowered (McRobbie, 2004; Toffoletti et  al., 2018). However, the notion that women are liberated is inaccurate and gives rise to further complexity. The recent attack on women’s bodily autonomy within the overturning of Roe vs Wade in the US, consequently ending constitutional rights to abortion (BBC, 2022), demonstrates how hard-earned gains are easily retracted. Women’s position in our society and so-called ‘liberation’ is much more fragile than perhaps we would like to think. Considering contradictions between freedom for and attempts to subjugate women, feminist

E. Ankers (*) Brunel University, London, UK e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 J. Hall et al. (eds.), Gender, Politics and Change in Mountaineering, Global Culture and Sport Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29945-2_10

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sentiments for the advancement of women are still relevant. Contentions between advancement and marginalisation complicate lived experiences, as well as different articulations and epistemologies of feminism. There are a growing number of diverse women leading change in their own way within mountaineering and climbing adventure, leisure and the outdoors more broadly, and it is impossible to deny the agency of women (Ankers & Watson, in press; Kay & Ankers, 2022). Yet, as in wider Western society, women continue to face inequality in the mountains and outdoor environments (Doran & Hall, 2020; Evans & Anderson, 2018; Kay & Ankers, 2022; Rak, 2021). I suggest that implementing a critical postfeminist lens helps to account for complexity and contention in research related to gender inequality in the outdoors and beyond. I give my own conceptualisation of a critical postfeminist lens as a theoretically informed critical approach that allows for a longitudinal understanding of women’s experiences, allowing perceptions and understanding of improvement and advancement for women, whilst simultaneously acknowledging that inequalities exist. As a PhD student, I am on a steep learning curve in comprehending and defining my own academic perspective on issues. Thus, I attempt to write in a style that reflects my own sense-making processes, offering ideas on interpreting praxis and critical postfeminism, and connecting the two. I disclose this because I believe that junior academics would benefit from greater transparency in sense-making and writing processes. In addition, a large element of my ‘dot connecting’ of theoretical concepts with the gender and outdoor context is informed by real-world experience and my position as a cultural insider (Berger, 2013; Fletcher, 2014; Skillen & Osborne, 2015). I have held various roles within the climbing and outdoor industry. My interests in mountaineering, climbing and outdoor settings are grounded in my involvement in projects and organisations connected to gender, women and climbing. Although mountaineering and climbing can be classified as their own sub-cultures (Ankers, 2020), lifestyle (Wheaton, 2004) or leisure activities (Dilley & Scraton, 2010), experiences of women in these cultures can also be translated and applied as useful for more general adventure, leisure and outdoor pursuit contexts. They may even be applied to the field of wider sport management. In this chapter I occasionally draw on examples from previous work, namely during my Masters by Research (MRes) project on ‘everyday’ women’s experiences of climbing (Ankers, 2020), to draw illuminative examples of how a critical postfeminist lens can be useful in research. I

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draw on a variety of sources, including traditional academic literatures, alongside informal sites of information, such as podcast conversations (Hutchins et al., 2021) and discussions with colleagues, as these are valuable sites of information and inspiration. The discussion in this chapter is divided into two main sections: critical postfeminism and a critical postfeminist lens as a strengthening tool for praxis. I first outline my experience of attempting to understand postfeminist sensibility, a feat that ultimately led me to construct a critical postfeminist lens as a structured approach to research that draws on complex aspects of postfeminist sensibilities. I then discuss the term praxis, what it means and how it has the potential to be a useful tool for conducting meaningful research. Finally, I will provide suggestions of how a critical postfeminist lens may be used as a tool for strengthening praxis, particularly in processes of reflection and collaboration in work regarding issues of gender inequality in outdoor contexts. Stanley (1990) argues that praxis “is an indication of a continuing shared feminist commitment to a political position in which knowledge is not simply defined as ‘knowledge what’ but also as ‘knowledge for.’ The point is to change the world, not only to study it” (Stanley, 1990, p.15). Stanley’s (1990) argument holds true for this chapter. A critical postfeminist approach should strengthen real-world action required to tackle gender inequality in mountaineering, climbing, adventure and leisure outdoor environments. The next section will introduce postfeminism and offer ideas around postfeminist sensibility and critical postfeminism that serve as building blocks, leading to my own conceptualisation of a critical postfeminist lens as a tool for praxis.

Critical Postfeminism Postfeminism is a contested concept; it is multifaceted, with contradictions and confusion over meaning(s), use and relevance to feminist theorising (Cooky, 2018b; Depper et al., 2019; Gill, 2007). Postfeminism is defined, used and framed in different ways by different authors (Rahikainen, 2020), often according to disparate contextual specificities, for instance, in popular culture, media and feminist analyses (Cooky, 2018b). Firstly, there are several interpretations that accept the ‘post’ in postfeminism as a non-critical movement into a new period. For example, postfeminism can be identified as a movement away from feminist political activism (Cooky, 2018b; Gill, 2007) into a new era in Western culture where women and

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girls are reimagined as agentic, empowered and active subjects—in a postfeminist and neoliberal context (Toffoletti et al., 2018), marking a belief that we live in a world where ‘feminism’ is no longer needed (Cooky, 2018b). Scholars have critiqued this rhetoric; for example, Depper et al. (2019) interrogate the UK-based This Girl Can campaign, a national campaign that appears to channel postfeminist 1990s ‘girl power’ sentiments— placing an emphasis on individual agency as means of participating in physical activity. Depper et al. (2019) identify a sentiment that focuses on the neoliberal everyday, micro-governance of women’s bodies that make women accountable for their ‘choices,’ while the campaign disregards the materialities that women must negotiate in gendered leisure spaces (p. 3). Postfeminism as activism, such as the This Girl Can example, can be characterised as a move away from second-wave feminism to a neoliberal strand of feminist activism which shifts responsibility onto women themselves (see Cooky, 2018b). However, postfeminism can also be understood as a more complex framework than the aforementioned versions. Gill (2007) argues that the term postfeminism can be used to indicate a historical shift within feminism or as a backlash against certain types of feminisms and feminist epistemologies (Gill, 2007; Markula, 2018). Building on Gill (2007), Cooky (2018b) articulates postfeminism as existing in some ways alongside other ‘post’ paradigms such as postmodernism, poststructuralism and postcolonialism—due to its use as a term to signal an epistemological break (p. 24). “Post” instead represents a process of critical transformation and change (Brooks, 1997, p. 1). There are overlaps between a more critical approach to postfeminism and other ‘posts,’ including poststructuralist feminism. Particularly in the sense that the “post” in poststructuralist feminism may not refer to a complete dismantling of feminism, but an internal critique leading to the redefinition of some of its premises (Markula, 2018, p. 402). Poststructural feminism and a critical postfeminist approach are similar in how they reject the idea of a neo/liberal feminist world that has achieved a binaried goal of equity with men (Markula, 2018, p. 405). Yet, poststructural feminism is more explicitly concerned with understanding and attributing that power is not objective or acquired, it is an “interplay of nonegalitarian and mobile relations” (p. 214) and tied to the production of knowledge (Markula & Pringle, 2006). This is particularly useful for analysing power structures within sporting and outdoor organisations. As I interpret these two theories, although a critical postfeminist approach is similar in how it accepts gender relations as complex and

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situated within dynamic power relations, it differs in how it is less preoccupied with dissecting discourses of power and focuses more closely on understanding how subjects of study are caught up in contradicting ideas of agency and subjugation. In addition, poststructural feminisms reject the concept of gender as static and reveal inherent contradictions of binaries like masculinity and femininity (Knoppers & McLachlan, 2018). Similarly, my version of a critical approach to postfeminism does not accept gender binaries as a given, but it does leave space for participants/subjects to express their own views that may or may not prescribe to gender binaries, without contradiction to the theory or framework of critical postfeminism. As we can see, there are some close similarities and overlaps between poststructural feminism and a critical approach to postfeminism. I will now continue to build on the potential for a critical approach to postfeminism. Gill’s (2007) seminal work can be considered a turning point for realising the usefulness and relevance of postfeminism. Gill (2007, 2016) takes an alternative line to the three main uses of postfeminism, arguing that “debates about postfeminism are debates about transformations in feminism and media culture.” Instead of being conceptualised as an epistemological or historical shift, or a backlash “in which its meanings are pre-specified […] Rather postfeminism should be conceived of as a sensibility” (Gill, 2007, p.  148). A postfeminist sensibility is an approach to research that captures the rapidly changing context of gendered powered relations, political activism, media and popular culture’s projections of feminism, femininity, empowerment and agency (McRobbie, 2004). For several years, scholars have been discussing representations and treatment of females in sport drawing on theories and ideas that overlap with postfeminist sensibility, observing tensions and contradictions within representations of athletes (Bruce, 2015; Cooky, 2018a; Dworkin & Heywood, 2003; Markula, 1995; Thorpe et al., 2017). Toffoletti (2016) argues it is becoming more difficult to talk about women as objects of a patriarchal economy, in a postfeminist context that characterises women as active/knowing agents in the creation of their own subjectivities. Due to a woman’s own role in the creation of her representation, we cannot simply argue that she is being objectified or has no power, even if she is involved in the production of problematic representations. Examining media images of women can provide a visual representation of what postfeminism or postfeminist sensibility might mean for women in mountaineering, climbing and outdoor sporting environments. For instance, the

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participation of professional rock climber Sasha DiGiulian in an advertising campaign for Agent Provocateur (Toureille, 2020) can be scrutinised as problematic due to DiGiulian’s role in co-creating images that can be interpreted as perpetuating historic practises of sexualising women within a climbing context (Osborne & Ankers, 2021). To illustrate, in one image, DiGiulian is wearing a black lingerie set with a cheeky style brief and baby-­ doll style skirt over her climbing harness on an artificial sport climbing wall (Toureille, 2020). This is not a typical representation of a female climber, due to its nature as an advertisement, and in one sense, highlights the continued commodification of female sporting bodies (see Hargreaves, 1994; Pressland, 2012). DiGiulian has posted images from the campaign on her public Instagram profile, sharing that she felt empowered by the campaign. DiGiulian has also publicly addressed her personal relationship with femininity and climbing, explaining that she personally enjoys wearing makeup and presenting as feminine simply because she wants to (DiGiulian, 2020). Gill (2016) expresses postfeminist sensibility as an analytical category, a tool that can be used to highlight “complexities of a cultural movement seemingly characterised by a multiplicity of (new and old) feminisms which co-exist with revitalised forms of anti-feminism and popular misogyny” (p. 612). The representation of DiGiulian sits in line with forms of potential “anti-feminism and popular misogyny” (Gill, 2016, p.  612) due to historic representations of women and gender inequality in climbing (Ankers, 2020). The production of the image must be viewed as problematic due to potential wider impact, as it can be perceived to reinvent historic sexualisation and gender inequality within climbing and the outdoors (Dworkin & Heywood, 2003; Gill, 2016; Hargreaves, 2000; Osborne & Ankers, 2021; Pressland, 2012). Yet, simultaneously, the agency of DiGiulian should not be undermined. An expression of postfeminism as an analytical category accounts for complications and multiplicity in representations and experiences. Although this chapter is not focused on media representations of women in the outdoors, discussing representations is illustrative, and the meanings we draw from visual representations can be seen reflected in society’s views and treatment of women. I drew on the aspect of co-existing contradictions observed using postfeminist sensibility (Gill, 2007, 2016) whilst conducting my research on ‘everyday’ women’s experiences of climbing. I fell into a pattern of expressing the application of a critical approach to postfeminist sensibility as a “critical postfeminist lens” (Ankers, 2020). The framing of a critical lens

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provided me with an accessible tool for directly examining this complex ‘postfeminist’ world of climbing. It draws on Gill’s (2016) use of postfeminism as an analytical category but is more explicit. The term helped me to remain focused and critical of the concept of a complicated ‘postfeminist’ era for female climbers, but it also allowed for the examination of complex and contradicting experiences, the new and the old, to comfortably sit together, without undermining one another. I propose that a critical postfeminist lens reminds us to think about experiences within their appropriate time context (Hargreaves, 1994, 2000), acknowledge development (Toffoletti et al., 2018) and remain critical of perceived change or improvement given our understanding of historical context, and looks for historical threads that may indicate knotty issues. Postfeminist sensibility used as an analytical category is found more commonly in conversations around representations of sportswomen in media (Thorpe et  al., 2017; Toffoletti, 2016; Toffoletti et al., 2018) than other areas. I believe that my conceptualisation of a critical postfeminist lens has the potential to be extrapolated into outdoor sport management, reviews, education and beyond.

A Critical Postfeminist Lens as a Strengthening Tool for Praxis Praxis is central for feminist research (Olive, 2018; Scraton, 2018; Stanley, 1990) and the application of a critical postfeminist lens for understanding the realities of women’s lived experiences, works in union with processes of effective praxis. This can be applied to understanding how women experience gender inequality in mountaineering, climbing and outdoor environments and cultures. At first glance, the term praxis refers to the melding of theory and real-­ world practical application. Yet, like postfeminism, it is used differently across varying contexts, often without authors themselves acknowledging the evolution of the term. I would therefore like to offer my interpretation of praxis to contextualise how I see a critical postfeminist lens being used to strengthen praxis or integrate into processes of praxis. Merriam-­ Webster’s Dictionary gives two definitions for praxis: action or practice, for example, of an art, science or skill, or the practical application of a theory (2022). The concept of praxis can be found in the writings of Marx (1845/2009) and Freire (1970), amongst others. These scholars are

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connected in the way they articulate praxis as processes of action, with Marx and Freire’s conceptualisations of praxis being strongly connected to revolutionary action to transform the world (Freire, 1970). Despite different notions of praxis, agreement may be found in the idea that praxis is concerned with the space between theory and practice, where ideas are translated into ‘concrete’ activities (Hall, 1997, p.  5). Praxis can be described as representative of the process of [academic] theory becoming practice (Lather, 1986) to enact change. Many consider Paulo Freire’s (1970) development of praxis to be the most impactful and influential (Darder, 2011; Glass, 2001). In Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1970), he writes that “to no longer be prey to oppression, one must emerge from it and turn upon it. This can be done only by means of the praxis: reflection and action upon the world in order to transform it” (Freire, 1970, p. 51). Freire (1970) tells us that it is the oppressed who must “confront reality” critically and that it is not about explaining matters to others but dialoguing with them (p. 52). Feminist scholars further problematise this definition. Stanley (1990) asserts that the meaning is to “understand the world and then change it” (p. 12) and Olive (2018) identifies that particularly in feminist research, “imagining potential for change is defining for feminist and cultural work” (p. 337), but it is also difficult. Drawing on Freire’s (1970) concern with dialogue, it is important to note that feminist research cannot successfully understand or change the world without dialogue, exchange and collaboration with those who are ‘oppressed.’ Scraton (2018) reflects on the challenges of translating theoretical understandings into transformative practices in the context of Physical Education (PE) and gender. Scraton (2018) observes a significant gap between PE and research, noting that despite research, little has changed in girls’ experiences of PE, alluding to a lack of praxis taking place. Subsequently, she argues that researchers need to incorporate young people and teachers into methods, rather than regarding them only as respondents (Scraton, 2018). In a recent episode for The Media Sport Podcast Series (Hutchins et  al., 2021), Olive and Wheaton speak about their research concerning experiences of blue spaces in Aotearoa (New Zealand). Despite Olive and Wheaton not using the term ‘praxis’ during this specific conversation, I interpret their ideas and methods as an example of praxis being enacted in an effectual way and find their conversation illuminates effective processes of praxis. They discuss working to understand how different knowledge systems speak to one another, identifying

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where they collide, where there are gaps and where there is conflict (Hutchins et al., 2021). Olive and Wheaton (Hutchins et al., 2021) give the examples of engaging with the work of other research projects in Aotearoa concerning fresh water, working with ecologists, scientists and Māori communities as a meaningful way of doing research. As Freire (1970), Scraton (2018) and Olive and Wheaton (2021) all allude to, speaking and collaborating with those at the centre of an issue is key for effective processes of praxis. My position as a cultural insider (Berger, 2013; Fletcher, 2014; Skillen & Osborne, 2015) greatly strengthens my ability to facilitate dialogue with outdoor sector professionals. I asked a colleague who works within a long-established outdoor organisation for their thoughts on the gap between academic research and the industry. They said that they think the gap still exists, but it is closing, particularly through collaborative projects that empower organisations. They drew on a specific example of an academic report being placed on their desk without any prior conversation between researchers and their organisation, resulting in the outdoor organisation feeling unsure of how to act or where to begin, because they were not consulted during the research. By sharing my conversation with a colleague who is an outdoor industry professional, I am attempting to demonstrate in a small way the importance of collaboration with the wider community who is impacted by research. Smith et al. (2022) argue that to bridge the deficit in research surrounding experiences of forced migration, refugees and asylum seekers themselves should be treated as the experts. I echo Smith et al.’s (2022) stance for research with real world implications more broadly, and argue that those working at the centre and directly impacted by issues should be treated as experts. Although my example here is humble, I believe actively involving those working at the centre of issues of gender inequality in the outdoors is key. A critical postfeminist lens as an ingredient for praxis has the potential to bridge the gap where there may be a lack of conversation between the academy and industry relating to understandings of multilayered and complex gender inequality in the outdoors. I can see the potentiality of a critical postfeminist lens in mountaineering, climbing and outdoor contexts for industry professionals; however, I am not sure of the exact mechanics that would be involved in applying it directly into an industry setting due to the level of complexity implicated in the concept of postfeminism. This is in part due to the confusion and multiple epistemologies, definitions and interpretations of postfeminism (Cooky, 2018b; Gill,

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2007, 2016)—as well as the varying ways it can be applied to research. In addition, my experiences of working within the outdoor industry have shown me that industry professionals tend to favour ‘fast and simple’ solutions. Using a critical postfeminist lens to tackle and understand issues will undoubtedly reveal complexity that positivistic approaches are less well equipped to deal with. Yet, a critical postfeminist lens could be taken in different directions for effective praxis. Misener et al. (2022) argue that within sport management to attempt analysis of change and social problems without understanding historical and social concepts is disingenuous (Misener et  al., 2022). A critical postfeminist lens’ ability to facilitate a longitudinal view of gender issues would help to account for complexity when designing, implementing and evaluating strategy and policy in the outdoors and wider sport management. Existing systems  for designing strategies that are ‘data driven’ focus on quantitative measures and navigating the ‘policy push’ often translates into not accounting for the complexity of issues. For instance, Avner (in press) argues that strategies to increase numbers of female leaders may be positive in some ways; it does not account for other complexities such as issues around reinforcing the idea of gendered management styles and the promotion of binaried divisions in sport coaching. Furthermore, female leadership representation is more complex than simply having more women present; organisations should be seeking to meaningfully increase the diversity of female leaders. As such, Rao and Roberts (2018) highlight the need for shifts in organisational culture to ensure that the needs of women of colour are being met in outdoor leadership. During my various roles within the outdoor sector, I have been involved in  and witnessed reviews and implementations of ‘data driven’ strategies and I have seen the simplification of numerical data to inform strategy development—which has resulted in complex issues not being conveyed effectively and simplified significantly. Particularly in research that takes a longitudinal view, long-term processes have a continued and evolving impact on gender dynamics, and these must be reflected upon (Mansfield, 2007). Hargreaves (2000) argues for the importance of examining women’s experiences within relevant cultural and historical contexts, that is situated on a timeline. For example, a conversation taking place at one moment in time about a person’s feelings and opinions on the issue of gender inequality in mountaineering and climbing is likely to sound different to a conversation happening five years later with the same person on the same issues. People change their minds and opinions as they gain different experiences, meet new

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people, learn information and share ideas. As a critical postfeminist lens seeks to interrogate experiences within their context and connect historic threads to events to highlight problematic engagements, reflection from a given place on a timeline is key. This enables researchers to historicise the production of knowledge and call into question what is ‘truth.’ It allows us to look beyond surface-level change and move past liberal feminist sentiments and reflect on multiple and oftentimes historic layers that impact on women’s experience simultaneously and continuously. In a practical sense, a critical postfeminist lens could be employed to evaluate positive changes and identify instances where women have advanced due to acting on their own agency, as well as instances where women may be restricted by continuing structural issues. Connected to this is a critical postfeminist lens’ ability to centre real-­ world, lived experiences. Without accounting for complexity and data that could be considered potentially ‘messy’—like qualitatively recorded lived experiences and if those directly impacted by issues are not having their experiences represented accurately—are researchers and policy makers in the outdoors really doing ethical work (Smith et al., 2022; Spaaij et al., 2018)? Dialogue and collaboration with those affected by issues is an integral aspect of effective and ethical praxis (Freire, 1970; Olive & Wheaton, 2021; Scraton, 2018). The reality of doing research collaboratively on women’s lived experiences in adventure and leisure contexts is messy. Toffoletti et  al. (2018) argue that postfeminist sensibility allows for the recognition of “contradictory constructions” (p.36), and I found this to be true when interviewing female climbers (Ankers, 2020). Many women said things during their interviews that felt contradictory. For example, one participant expressed her opinion that women should wear whatever they choose when climbing, but then proceeded to say: I think sometimes the way people present themselves at the [climbing] gym, sometimes I’m just what are you do-o-o-ing? Why have you taken your t-shirt off and you’ve got the skimpiest sports bra on, why are you doing that and … sorry that sounds really old-fashioned but…

This participant shared the idea that women should wear whatever they want according to individual agency but that she also disapproved of dressing immodestly even though she acknowledged it was a contradiction, an ‘old-fashioned’ point of view that fits into historic expectations of what is acceptable (gendered) behaviour for women. Viewing this example

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through a critical postfeminist lens allows for conflicting views to exist together and connects back to the postfeminist sensibility approach that acknowledges that women have increased agency, but their experiences are still tied to historic and problematic notions around gender, sexuality and femininity (Gill, 2016; McRobbie, 2004; Toffoletti et al., 2018). By holding space for potential contradiction, researchers can work collaboratively and openly with women to find out about their experiences and opinions in full without undermining either side of advancement or hindrance. For example, the lens could help researchers and industry professionals to host and analyse data generated in focus groups with women where open discussion is encouraged. The allowance for contradiction in both data gathering and analysis is valuable for creating a richer, shared understanding of women’s experience, which can subsequently inform the development of solutions for addressing gender inequality that consider these complexities. Researchers, outdoor professionals, national governing bodies and policy makers should be working collaboratively with women (Rao & Roberts, 2018; Scraton, 2018) to not just understand barriers but to develop solutions, programmes and interventions. These should include planning, action and reflection. Although it is beyond the scope of this chapter, there is great potential in methodologies of co-­ creation, codesign and participatory action research for facilitating effective praxis in feminist research (see Donetto et al., 2015; Mansfield, 2016; Mansfield et al., 2019). Collaboration as a key element that critical postfeminism allows for within its framework, has the possibility to be applied to outdoor leisure and sport contexts, as well as sport management more generally, to more effectively navigate processes of policy making and the enactment of change to address gender inequality in relevant and accurate ways.

Conclusion Given the argument that praxis is central to feminist research (Olive, 2018; Scraton, 2018; Stanley, 1990), a critical postfeminist lens can strengthen the work of those seeking to understand and sustainably address unequal gender power dynamics and lived experiences for women in mountaineering and climbing. Ideas of praxis and postfeminist sensibilities are not new but discussing how they may operate together may serve as a foundation for new methods of working with those impacted by gender inequality in

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the outdoors, to develop more robust and accurate strategies and policies for addressing issues. In this chapter I have discussed the tangled and complex nature of the concept of postfeminism. Postfeminism being interpreted differently by different people, it can be understood as a term that indicates a movement into a neoliberal world of empowerment and equality. However, more usefully, a postfeminist sensibility can be applied as a mechanism for a critical process of transformation (Brooks, 1997, p. 1). In other words, a tool that can be used to yield an understanding of the complexity of current gender dynamics, which considers historical and social issues, whilst allowing space for the acknowledgement of progress. I have also discussed the notion of praxis, as a process that enables scholars to do more than create knowledge but work collaboratively with those impacted by issues and address societal issues (Freire, 1970; Olive, 2018). The discussion has culminated in how the two concepts of a critical postfeminist approach and praxis complement one another. Firstly, the power of a critical postfeminist lens to account for complexity that often gets missed in processes involved in addressing gender inequality such as policy making and strategy development. By performing praxis through a critical postfeminist lens, researchers and industry professionals are empowered to translate complex ideas, giving a more accurate depiction of the reality of gender issues. This enables those designing actions for change to be less constricted by a data-­ driven approach that focuses on quantitative measures that fail to account for complexity. Secondly, the role of a critical postfeminist lens in facilitating a longitudinal view of issues, situated instances on a timeline and reflecting critically, using knowledge of historic issues. If during processes of praxis, researchers and industry professionals could take a longer-term perspective, it would reduce the narrative on gender inequality ‘going around in circles’—as per my experiences of working in an Equity, Diversity and Inclusion context where groups are constrained by narrow data sets and evidence, without reflecting beyond the most current data. Thirdly, a critical postfeminist lens has the potentiality to facilitate stronger collaboration, particularly in how it allows space for contradictions within and between voices, and in messy lived experiences. It helps researchers and industry professionals walk a more balanced line, ideally never disregarding information or feedback because the framework allows space for contradiction. The space allows for ‘messiness’ and contradiction but creates open opportunities if those directly impacted by issues are involved in processes of praxis, including conversation, research, strategy planning,

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implementation and evaluation. These ideas also have the potential to inform the work of outdoor professionals in different contexts. There is an urgent need for dialogue between researchers, industry professionals and women in the outdoors to enact meaningful change. A critical postfeminist lens as an ingredient of processes of praxis will facilitate sustained and meaningful engagement with women’s multifaceted, intricate, contradictory, messy but real lived experiences. This approach strengthens researchers’ ability to effectively convey more complex realities on gender issues, which may lead to potentially transformative ways of approaching strategy and policy design in the outdoors and beyond.

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CHAPTER 11

Leave Tracks: Gender, Discrimination, and Resistance in Mountaineering Kate Evans, Dorothy L. Schmalz, and Sasha C. Mader

“Leave No Trace” is a guiding principle in any outdoor pursuit. However, as United States Supreme Court Justice Ginsberg contended, “Whatever you choose to do, leave tracks. That means don’t do it just for yourself…you will want to leave the world a little better for your having lived” (ASHLEYCHANEY, 2020). There are times when leaving tracks is the operative good. Research on outdoor recreation around the world has consistently demonstrated that the outdoors, and mountaineering, specifically, is a space in which women are underrepresented and are often viewed as intruders, outliers in a space reserved for men and is a space wrought with presumed masculine superiority (Evans & Anderson, 2018; Lodes, 2022; Moraldo, 2013; Tulle, 2022). Women who pursue mountaineering experience biases ranging from implicit assumptions of inferiority that K. Evans (*) • S. C. Mader University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, La Crosse, WI, USA e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] D. L. Schmalz University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 J. Hall et al. (eds.), Gender, Politics and Change in Mountaineering, Global Culture and Sport Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29945-2_11

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make them question their abilities to overt discrimination (Evans et  al., 2020). The gendered nature of mountaineering creates a space where women who participate cannot allow their presence to go unnoticed. By simply being present, freely participating in this space, and sharing their experiences with others, women become valuable instruments in opening that space for all to feel welcome. In this chapter, we will examine why it is important for women to consider how they can leave tracks in the mountains to create a trail for other women to follow. By doing so, women can simultaneously resist their own oppression while also being a party to the future resistance of those to follow.

Gender, Difference, Similarity To begin, we would be remiss if we did not discuss the importance of the consideration of gender, difference, and similarity. There is more to leaving tracks for those that come behind us than simply avoiding exclusionary practices; we must also work with intention towards integrating inclusionary practices into our outdoor spaces. Although this chapter is framed through a lens that discusses cis-gendered women’s experience as professional mountaineers, it is important to acknowledge that guided wilderness adventure trips, youth camps, and many outdoor recreation programmes and places have historically used gender as a term of classification. There are a myriad of barriers that gender-diverse individuals encounter as a price of entry into outdoor and recreation spaces including bathrooms, locker rooms, and showers (Oakleaf & Richmond, 2017). Additionally, there is a hypervigilant effort put forth by these individuals to pass, avoid detection, and manage risk including consistent scanning of their environment and avoidance of certain activities or places. One participant in a study about the experiences of transgender individuals in public recreation shared that he would purposefully neglect to bring water to the park in order to avoid the use of the public restroom, stating that he “would rather be dehydrated later” (Oakleaf & Richmond, 2017, p. 114). This example of the protective steps individuals must take when caught in a society that views gender as distinctly either masculine or feminine highlights how important it is for us all to remain diligent in our efforts to cast a wider net of inclusion in our scholarship, professions, and personal lives. Understanding that gender classification in the outdoors is problematic and works to “other” individuals who do not self-identify within the constraints of the gender binary is an important first step. Organisations like

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The Venture Out Project speak to this exclusionary classification by calling it “confusing, prohibitive, and offensive” (McDonald, 2022) and are leaving tracks by creating wilderness trips specifically geared to be inclusive towards trans, queer, and non-binary members of our gender diverse community. This chapter aims to discuss the discrimination experienced by professional female mountaineers, the effects of that discrimination, and how their resistance can help to clear the path for future generations. However, it is with full awareness that we accept that the following discussion may have great depth, but remains limited in its breadth due to being framed through a female cis-gendered lens.

Discrimination Against Women in Mountaineering A range of research has focused on women’s participation in outdoor recreation. The findings of this research have consistently concluded that women face an uphill battle to participation and acceptance within the outdoors. A variety of factors play into this including a lack of early exposure to the outdoors, socially normative gender expectations, and an assumption of female inferiority (Culp, 1998; Denny, 2011; Little, 2002; McDermott, 2004; Warren & Loeffler, 2006). For instance, “masculine” traits such as strength and risk-taking are viewed as central to success in the outdoors (Culp, 1998), and women are less likely to be exposed to outdoor activities when they are young than men (Denny, 2011). When they are exposed, they are more likely to take subordinate roles in their participation (Evans, 2014), and the images historically proliferated in outdoor recreation media of women in the role as romantic partner or observer help to reinforce women’s “appropriate” role in outdoor pursuits (McNeil et al., 2012). The result of these complex and layered gendered experiences is that women who do engage in outdoor recreation, especially in leadership roles, face microaggressions aimed to keep them in line with socially normative behaviour (Jordan, 1992). In masculine leisure environments, microaggressions include restrictive gender roles, an assumption of female inferiority, and sexual objectification (Kaskan & Ho, 2016). Female mountain guides have reported experiencing each of these including sexual overtures and come-ons from clients and implied inferiority regarding their skills from both fellow guides and their own clients (Evans et al., 2020). Additionally, guides have noted not only personally experiencing microaggressions, but also witnessing other women in the profession experiencing them. In response to these

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experiences, guides have explicitly detailed reducing their femininity and sexuality to avoid further objectification, to be taken seriously, and to avoid the appearance that anything other than their skills and experience earned them their current professional role (Evans, 2014; Evans et  al., 2020). This type of awareness and adaptation is necessary because microaggressions are subtle and align with social norms. As such, microaggressions tend to go unexamined and are allowed to proliferate because they are often undetectable (Sue, 2010). Thus, when women in the outdoors experience microaggressions, they often accept and, unknowingly, may become complicit in normalising them. Through managing the social nuances and expectations inherent in their participation in mountaineering, women have found ways to navigate discrimination in their participation. Yet, there remains a price to be paid for the occurrence of discrimination. These costs are often behaviour-­ altering and have an impact not only on professional female guides, but also on the sport of mountaineering more generally. The effects of prejudice on behaviour are insidious and interrelated. Social psychologists have identified and labelled a number of prejudiced-based behaviours, and the subsequent reactions that subjects of the stereotypes embrace. Four of these are illustrated in the experiences of women in male-dominated outdoor recreation arenas: (1) emotional labour (Wharton, 2009), (2) stereotype threat (Steele & Aronson, 1995), (3) benevolent sexism (Glick & Fiske, 2001), and (4) stereotype tax (Caruso et al., 2009). Emotional labour is defined as “the process by which workers are expected to manage their feelings in accordance with organizationally defined rules and guidelines” (Wharton, 2009, p.  147). First emerging from the work of Hochschild (1983), emotional labour is grounded in the notion of feeling rules, or the socially appropriate emotions one should demonstrate within particular contexts (e.g., feeling sad at a funeral) (Hochschild, 1979). Emotional labour emerged more fully as the transformation of the economy from one focused mainly on the production of goods to one focused more on the purveyance of services. While mountain guiding is based on hard technical skills, a focus on safety, and the achievement of identified goals (e.g., summiting a particular mountain), it is also firmly grounded in creating an experience for clients. Because of this, women must meet the expectation of their clients (and the guiding companies who employ them), so must they manage the discrimination they face in a “professional” manner. In previous research on guides’ reactions to discriminatory behaviour, an interesting theme emerged.

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Regardless of how egregious the behaviour (e.g., being told “women don’t matter”, denial of pay, and near mutinies), the response was always to stay professional, shrug it off, and move on while avoiding the recognition that the interaction they had just endured was, in fact, discrimination (Evans et al., 2020). What compounds the emotional labour female guides face is the fact that they face it in their role working in the field with clients and within the male-dominated guiding companies in which they work. The next phenomenon, stereotype threat, was first investigated by Steele and Aronson (1995). In their research, Steele and Aronson set out to examine the effects of racial stereotypes on academic performance. They noted that despite widely held stereotypes that Black people were less academically inclined than white people, there was in fact no statistical difference in academic performance between the races unless the stereotype was brought to the attention of students in an academic situation. To assess this, Steele and Aronson (1995) devised an experiment where the academic performance-based racial stereotypes were brought to the attention of students prior to taking a test, and another situation where the stereotypes were not brought to the fore. As the researchers predicted, Black students performed poorly when they were reminded of the stereotype, but found no difference in performance between Black and white students when the stereotype was not highlighted. Steele and Aronson proposed that the stereotype played out as a threat to the subjects of prejudice which resulted in their poor test performance. Being reminded of a negative perception of their group psychologically led to a self-fulling prophecy. This phenomenon can be paralleled in mountaineering—when women are treated as less-than, or reminded of social perception that they are inferior to men when it comes to outdoor recreation, their performance can be negatively affected, despite there being no statistical support for this being the case. However, even recognition of the social stereotype that women are not as good as men at the activity contributes to women questioning their abilities. Self-doubt is insidiously effective at keeping, in this case women, from seeking promotion or leadership positions. This phenomenon plays out in the mountains as well. In research on mountain guides, specifically, guides have identified the specific ways stereotype threat slowed down their career progression (Evans, 2014). For some it meant not taking on lead guiding responsibilities as early in their career as their male colleagues, questioning their ability to take on leadership roles within the guiding companies they work, or influencing the types of trips and clients they took on (Evans, 2014; Evans & Anderson, 2018).

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Another phenomenon of interest here is benevolent sexism. In this instance, stereotypes that women need protection or to be cared for by men (Glick & Fiske, 2001) create a somewhat sinister morass into which women are just as susceptible as men (Hopkins-Doyle et  al., 2019). Hopkins-Doyle et al. (2019) theorised that is because benevolence is seen as being warm and compassionate as compared to more hostile forms of sexism. In a series of experiments, Dardenne et  al. (2007) determined that the chronic nature of benevolent sexism is in fact more detrimental to cognitive performance and self-perception of women than hostile or overt forms of sexism, making benevolent sexism particularly perfidious. Again, research on female mountain guides’ experiences highlights how benevolent sexism seeps into their professional experiences. An investigation of how gender bias affected leadership roles in mixed-gender climbing dyads showed that men were more likely to assume leadership in dyads where the woman fit the gendered stereotype and where the woman also upheld benevolently sexist ideals (Kulich et al., 2020). The study also went on to conclude that women were able to resist benevolent sexism by intentionally seeking the leading role. This reconfirms the notion that women play a critical role in both the resistance and the reinforcement of discriminatory behaviour and stereotypes. A lesser-known, but empowering phenomenon that brings a tenor of optimism to this discussion is stereotype tax. In this instance, Caruso et al. (2009) drew from the mathematical theory of conjoint analysis to determine how people let implicit biases affect purchasing decisions, and the “price” they pay. For example, when shopping for a television, people may enter into the process with a preconceived conclusion that a particular brand is best, despite price point, screen size, or added features. The consumers’ commitment to the brand may mean that they spend more on a smaller TV with fewer features and shorter lifespan simply because they value the name brand. Of course, different people weigh different features, but the central tenet is that people may spend more on something they believe to be better, overlooking other qualities and features of a lesser-known or considered quality. Caruso et al. (2009) applied this concept to social behaviour, and found the same practices came into play. If a hiring team had a preconceived notion that a white man would make a better boss despite a Black woman applicant with more expertise and leadership qualities, the company would pay the price of a less experienced boss because of the implicit bias. In

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mountaineering, especially in cases where women are as good or more experienced and skilled than their male counterparts, everyone pays the price of not having the better and more experienced guide. Cost of Discrimination The costs of discrimination are staggering and produce negative outcomes for the individual who experiences the discriminatory behaviour, the organisation within which the discrimination takes place, and the surrounding community. These experiences at the most elite level of the profession also trickle down to even the most novice of participants—making it less likely for women to find their way into the mountains. Clearing the path for women in mountaineering must first require an understanding of these costs. The costs of discrimination to the individual can be measured in the biology, cognition, emotional well-being, and behaviour of the women who experience it. These consequences present in ways that can ultimately lead to negative implications for their overall health (Kaskan & Ho, 2016). These can include enhanced risks associated with prolonged stress (e.g., heart disease/hypertension) (Sapolsky, 2004), lowered levels of performance (Sue, 2010; Beilock et al., 2007), and lower body esteem/eating disorders (Roth & Basow, 2004; Robinson & Ferraro, 2004). One other consequence of microaggressions and gender-based discrimination is that women often participate in apologetic behaviour, both verbally and non-­ verbally. This means that women “apologise” for non-gender normative behaviour (e.g., mountain guiding) through overemphasising gender-­ normative dress, actions, and behaviour outside of the professional context including hyper-sexualisation and overt displays of heterosexual behaviour (Davis-Delano et  al., 2009). This apologetic behaviour is embraced by the media (Carty, 2005; Musto & McGann, 2016) and witnessed by other women who, in turn, internalise their need to align with gender-normative and heteronormative behaviour and expectations. This creates a cycle that reinforces gender-norms, and undermines efforts for resistance through non-normative pursuits (Morgan & Davis-Delano, 2016). As Davis-Delano et  al. (2009) concluded, when women themselves accept and subscribe to socially constructed gender and heteronormative behaviours, they are their own microaggressors, perpetuating gender discrimination even further.

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Organisational and community costs must also be considered as negative outcomes of discrimination. In research focused on microaggressions in a professional context, Biggs et al. (2017) found that perceived sexist climates, in this case at professional academic conferences, play a central role in women’s intention to leave academic careers. Research on workplace gender diversity is not without complications, not least of which is defining gender as two unique categories and assuming a base-level of consistent marked difference between “men” and “women” as outlined previously in the chapter and as highlighted in workplace-focused research (e.g., Annis & Nesbitt, 2017). The far-reaching implications of gender discrimination in the workplace have been consistently demonstrated to negatively impact job attitudes, psychological and physical health, and work-related outcomes (Triana et al., 2019). When applied to mountaineering, research on workplace gender diversity suggests that cultivating such diversity would help to enhance occupational well-being, reduce sex discrimination, reduce the focused androcentrism in mountaineering experiences, and improve overall organisational and climbing team performance (Fine et  al., 2020). Furthermore, when viewing mountaineering from the organisational perspective, it is important to note that researchers posit that female leaders in professional settings are more in tune with the needs and interests of consumers, are more committed to meeting the needs of employees throughout the organisational hierarchy, and are associated with higher levels of community engagement (Glass & Cook, 2017). Thus, the resistance of societal norms and the increase in female participation and leadership in mountaineering means all will reap rewards. Leaving Tracks: Women as Resistors What complicates this situation further is that to maintain status in spaces in which they are non-normative, subordinate group members must, at least to some extent, embrace the notion that they do not belong in the space. Schwalbe et  al. (2000) referred to this as defensive othering, or a subordinate group member’s acceptance of the dominant group’s devaluation of their status. To illustrate this phenomenon, Ezzell (2009) captured the complicated psychological process this requires: individuals will align themselves with the dominant group (thereby shedding the negative connotations related to their subordinate group membership), while embracing the stereotypes the dominant group holds of subordinate group members, and accepting the idea that “dominant group members

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are, and should be, dominant” (p. 112). To force microaggressions and stereotypes inherent in mountaineering into the light—to force them to begin to be examined—it is incumbent upon everyone involved in the mountains to “leave tracks” by resisting expectations. While both dominant and subordinate group members must be a part of the solution, women who have forged the path have a unique opportunity to clear a path for those who follow in their footsteps. Allies or Adversaries? Coping mechanisms for gender-based discriminations are often the unfortunate response of women in male-dominated spaces who feel cornered into self-preservation. While one would hope the opposite, research on male-dominated spaces has found that while women might be expected to be greater advocates for supporting other women’s advancement than men, it is often not the case. The historic hypermasculine nature of outdoor recreation creates an environment in which women feel the need to protect their seemingly fragile acceptance, and they often perceive that there are a finite number of opportunities for women (Evans, 2014). This self-protection can cause women to demonstrate an implicit preference for men over women (Kaiser & Spalding, 2015) and may even go so far as to penalise female colleagues (Bergsieker et al., 2021). This occurs for a wide range of reasons, but most boil down to self-protection—of self-esteem (Parks-Stamm et  al., 2008), to maintain the perception of competitive advantage (Lee, Kesebir & Pillutla, 2016) or as a sanction for women who align with their subordinate group status (Bergsieker et al., 2021). This phenomenon is evident in outdoor recreation professions. For example, in a study of experiences with sexism in recreation, a female whitewater kayaker recounted that the biggest constraints she faced in her professional career were often the women she competed against (Evans, 2014). In her explanation, she contended that women were protective over their spots on teams and within competitions, a behaviour which has been supported in other research (Parks-Stamm et al., 2008). She described that female competitors with a high level of skill were seen as threats induced by the male-dominated nature of the sport. Similarly, a female mountain guide in the same study identified that one of the most overt negative interactions she had with a fellow guide was a woman with whom she led a trip (Evans, 2014). She recounted having her expertise questioned in front of clients, her co-guide contradicting decisions she made while summiting the

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mountain—all, she surmised, because her co-guide was not secure in her own skills, so felt the only way to elevate herself was to denigrate the women around her (Evans, 2014). This research and the experiences of these professional outdoor athletes align more broadly with the literature on how women in male-dominated workplaces, especially those in power, tend to treat other women who are at lower levels of skill and organisational hierarchy. The phenomenon has been studied enough to be coined the queen bee phenomenon (Faniko et al., 2016). First identified by Staines et al. (1974) to describe a more general resistance some women held towards a shift away from traditional gender roles, the idea has since been applied liberally in understanding how women treat other women in the workplace. The queen bee phenomenon, when applied to the workplace, describes how women who find professional success, particularly in male-dominated spaces, either actively weaponise the stereotype threat phenomenon and work to prevent the success and upward mobility of other women, or do so when other women challenge their status (Faniko et  al., 2016). In addition, Thayer-Bacon (2011) highlighted the chilly climate created by women in positions of power, particularly when those women held racial privilege (p.  23). In theory, a chilly climate also includes acts of exclusion, dehumanisation, and isolation of members of the non-dominant group (Thayer-Bacon, 2011). The results of this included the targeted women feeling less confident in their own ability, and that women who tried to speak up against those in positions of power were blamed for their own experience, requiring an enormous amount of emotional labour while keeping the chilly climate firmly in place. Additionally, the stereotype tax paid by the organisation by excluding potentially impactful female leaders is a self-inflicted wound suffered by the queen bees who create said chilly climate. Thayer-Bacon’s (2011) findings are not surprising given the consistent finding by the Workplace Bullying Institute that women bully other women at twice the rate of men and the vast majority of individuals who are bullied are in non-­ management, non-leadership positions (WBI, 2022). Related research indicates that an additional barrier towards advancement was the fact that women are often hesitant to discuss the barriers they face (Magee & Penfold, 2021). Although the research specifically examines behaviour in corporate environments, mountain guides have described these phenomena in detail. When confronted with overt discrimination—from men or women—women guides were quick to dismiss the incidents and to describe their own sensitivity as the issue rather than the problematic

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behaviour of clients, co-guides, or supervisors (Evans et al., 2020). While research points to these negative outcomes associated with how women treat one another in professional spaces, there has been a recent focus on a broader understanding of the phenomena that come together to create women’s experiences in the mountains. Allies Placing an acute focus on the tendency of women to undercut peers or create a chilly climate, the queen bee syndrome, or bullying of female peers as the essential issues hindering women’s professional advancement reduces a complex and layered issue into one that is oversimplified (Sobczak, 2018). Doing so places the blame for women’s experience in mountain guiding to the actions of other individual females. Even when efforts are being made to improve organisational climate, research has unearthed the complexity of outcomes related to the inclusion of diversity programmes and gender equality practices in organisations. For instance, Shin and Kim (2022) found that in organisations with female executives or in which men are encouraged to use parental leave, diversity programmes improved supervisor/employee relationships among both male and female supervisors. However, in organisations that hosted only diversity training and programmes without these other elements, relationships between female supervisors and their female staff were actually harmed. Thus, arguably, the first step towards leaving tracks for women to follow is to understand the environment that causes women to feel they must protect their positions within the hierarchy, and then how individual-level actions work together with socio-political and cultural values to weave an intricate web of experience. Understanding and encouraging non-normative standards and practices will allow for great integration of women into mountaineering. This idea relates to previous research on how the outdoors can be made more inclusive to women by helping to once again reinforce the idea that gender discrimination and under-representation is not a “women’s” issue, but one that is created and recreated by outdoor recreation participants, and ultimately negatively impacts them too. What is reassuring is that research on professional guides has found that though women have experienced the queen bee phenomenon, bullying, and the chilly climate, they are interested in turning the tide—in providing the mentorship and support they did not experience while entering the professional mountain guiding ranks (Evans et al., 2020). Based on the

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experiences of female guides and on relevant research on professional leadership, there are a number of steps that can be implemented within the mountain guiding profession to create a trail for women to follow to achieve their own professional goals. These steps include creating a collective understanding, fixing a broken system, focusing on intersectionality, and recognising female peers as allies. Collective Understanding First, and maybe most simply, it is important that female guides acknowledge that the constraints to achieving professional success exist, are experienced by others, and have a real impact on their careers (Magee & Penfold, 2021; Rogers-Adkinson & Feldhaus, 2022). Acknowledging and giving voice to the gendered experiences they are facing on a daily basis as mountain guides, women can begin to work towards a collective understanding of what the barriers are to professional entrance in the field and how to successfully navigate them. As it currently stands, women too often feel what they are experiencing is unique or is just the way things are—that the only way to navigate the experience is to grin and bear it (Evans et al., 2020). However, research on leadership in a range of professions indicates that a key to creating a more welcoming environment for women is to create an open dialogue through both formal and informal channels through which women are able to openly discuss their experiences and strategies for overcoming the hurdles along the way. Examples of these are formal mentoring programmes or informal discussions both within particular guiding companies, but also in the broader professional guiding community. Once created, these collective acts can refocus on supporting individual women in their particular circumstances by connecting them to the most relevant mentors, creating or providing support for advancement opportunities, or providing support in particular elements of the profession (Magee & Penfold, 2021). Fixing a Broken System Next, as suggested previously, rather than focusing on individual women as perpetrators or receivers of negative gendered treatment, it is important to focus on the guiding profession as a whole (Rogers-Adkinson & Feldhaus, 2022). To begin, this means that men and women (again, this essentialisation of the gender binary is problematic and will be addressed

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more fully in the next section) should be employed as a part of the solution. This aligns with previous research in which female guides described a desire to avoid women’s only opportunities or focus in mountaineering (Evans & Anderson, 2018). It is unlikely that a female-only mountaineering space will ever exist, so it is important that both men and women are a part of the experience in the mountains and the solution to women’s often disparate reality. This begins with including men in the conversations during which a collective understanding is arrived upon and the discussions surrounding creating and increasing inclusivity (Rogers-­Adkinson & Feldhaus, 2022). With this shared ownership of identifying the issues and the possible solution(s), then, the system as a whole—the mountaineering profession—can be a part of improving the experience of all of those that participate at any level of mountaineering. Specific actions the profession can take towards this end include creating and abiding by a code of ethics that details, specifically, how to reduce gender bias, how to be fully inclusive of all users in the mountains, and elucidates specific expectations on how guides, themselves, are expected to perform their professional duties. The International Federation of Mountain Guides Associations (IFMGA), for instance, already has a Code of Professional Conduct that includes provisions that bump up against these issues, but do not go as far as specifically identifying them as topics of focus (IFMGA, 2022). Articles 7 and 10 of their current code detail that, respectively, guides are expected to “uphold the status of the profession and [are to be] mindful of the consequent obligations and issues of professional integrity at all times” and to be “friendly and helpful to other Guides and mountaineers” including by being “polite and helpful” to all they encounter professionally (IFMGA, 2022). The IFMGA’s current language does not, however, focus on inclusion, disparate gendered treatment, or a specific focus on cultivating female leaders in the profession. The IFMGA’s code of conduct is not the only place these could be included as each country’s mountain guides association, or even individual guiding companies could codify gender inclusion into their own codes of ethics—if it is a principle that the profession values (Rogers-Adkinson & Feldhaus, 2022). In addition to overarching expectations certifying bodies could implement, individual companies and organisations that serve the mountaineering profession can also play an important role by addressing workplace bias and microaggressions—other central components that help to create the environment in which female guides have disparate professional experiences (Kaskan & Ho, 2016; Magee & Penfold, 2021; Sue,

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2010). Again, these initiatives can come from any level in the field and can include both formal (e.g., mandated diversity and inclusion training) and informal (e.g., networks that hold an ongoing dialogue surrounding these topics) channels.

A Focus on Intersectionality A third core component in addressing gendered experiences in mountaineering is to recognise that the various identities mountain guides hold will impact their experience of discrimination. Thus, any successful inclusion efforts must, at their core, focus on experiences that vary based on the various identities (e.g., sexuality, race, gender, religion, disability, etc.) a guide may possess. This understanding and recognition of personalised experiences is an important aspect of both achieving a collective understanding and fixing a broken system. In turn, guides who hold dominant group membership (e.g., men, white women) can move forward from a place of understanding in leveraging their own privilege to work towards improving the collective good (Rogers-Adkinson & Feldhaus, 2022). An individual’s gender identity or expression would likely be a main focus, especially if either is considered non-normative related to the gender binary. This is why, as outlined early in this chapter, while we often essentialise gender for ease of discussion, it is incredibly important to keep a focus on gender beyond the binary in understanding how individual guide’s experiences are created and impacted in doing the work of increasing inclusion in the field. Female Peers as Allies Finally, it is important that women begin to distinguish their female peers as allies and supporters rather than as adversaries who will replace, rather than work alongside, them (Rogers-Adkinson & Feldhaus, 2022). One woman’s advancement does not mean another loses her position—rather it means that more women are advancing in the profession and moving into leadership roles. Expanding upon the previous discussion on growing collective understanding, women can act as the mentors and role models for other female guides, in other words, they can lift as they climb. Not only is this idea impactful in principle, but research bears out female guides’ desire to support other guides in this way. For instance, an IFMGA-­ certified guide and examiner described providing specific and substantive

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feedback to up-and-coming guides as she acknowledged the harm it caused to her own advancement when she did not receive formal mentorship or specific feedback early in her career (Evans, 2014). Other IFMGA-­ certified guides have described inviting practicum guides along on trips to assist in their education and providing specific, formal education of skills rather than relying on more informal on-the-job training they were often provided (e.g., “watch how I do it”) while learning the ropes of guiding (Evans & Anderson, 2018). These guides recognised that training young guides would not mean they would be replaced in the profession, but, rather, that doing so would provide them the opportunity to work alongside more women in the future (Evans, 2014).

Conclusion Issues of gender discrimination and inequity in the workplace, be it a corporate or outdoor environment, are complex. Research has shown that subjects of discrimination can simultaneously be their own best advocates and their own worst enemies. However, nothing is as simple as it seems: neither the problems nor the solutions. For many organisations, diversity training courses are the primary resolution to check the proverbial equity and inclusivity box. But data show that such courses can do more harm than good if they are not backed up with supportive cultural practices. Arguably, outdoor recreation broadly, and mountaineering specifically, are slower to introduce efforts towards gender equity and integration because of its highly (masculine) gendered nature. Being well-informed about how psychological biases and defensive attitudes negatively impact behaviour is imperative for women to, first, understand their own experiences and, ultimately, to leave tracks that will guide women towards reaching their own professional summits.

References Annis, B., & Nesbitt, R. (2017). Results at the top: Using gender intelligence to create breakthrough growth. John Wiley & Sons. ASHLEYCHANEY. (2020, September 25). Question and answer with high school students [Video]. C-SPAN. https://www.c-­span.org/video/? c4909871/user-­clip-­rbg-­ashley-­chaney Beilock, S. L., Rydell, R. J., & McConnell, A. R. (2007). Stereotype threat and working memory: Mechanisms, alleviation, and spillover. Journal of

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PART IV

Transformational Pedagogies: Creating New Spaces to Mountaineer

CHAPTER 12

Into the Mountain: Challenging Hegemonic Discourses of Mountaineering and Expanding the Relational Field Simone Kenyon and Margaret Kerr

Introduction Historically, the discipline of mountaineering and its literature has tended to emphasise hegemonic narratives of conquest and competition. Within this, a notable exception is Nan Shepherd’s The Living Mountain (2011). Shepherd offered a relational vision of kinship with the mountains and emphasised presence over pursuit of a goal. Her work has become visible in recent years due to a growing cultural awareness of our interdependence with the rest of nature. Our research addresses how, as women working with people and mountain environments, we might contribute to emerging, and less

S. Kenyon (*) University of Leeds, Leeds, UK M. Kerr Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 J. Hall et al. (eds.), Gender, Politics and Change in Mountaineering, Global Culture and Sport Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29945-2_12

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anthropocentric narratives. We highlight embodied arts practices which are ecological in their approach. As an exemplar, we describe our collaborative work on ‘Into the Mountain’, a site-relational performance in the Cairngorm mountains, the area that inspired The Living Mountain. This project expanded upon Shepherd’s writing to further explore our bodily and experiential relationships with mountain environments. We draw on interdisciplinary arts practices—haptic and somatic-based facilitation from dance and performance contexts, ecopsychology and outdoor education. This intersection of approaches allows a flexible and interconnected way of being in the mountains, and working with each other. Both mountaineering expeditions and performances require close collaboration between people. However, performances like the one we describe call for a relational field that expands more widely to include not only performers and audience, but also the more than human. They invite and make conscious a deep resonance with the ephemeral but potent experience of immersion in the mountain environment. This kind of relational, ecological praxis offers the possibility of subverting orthodox narratives of conquest and competition in mountaineering. We seek to illustrate how cross-disciplinary research and site-related art events can help re-address the gendered and anthropocentric imbalance, inherent in mountaineering histories. Walking alongside each other, we can begin to make visible the multitudinous experiences of women and of the mountains themselves. Historically, the discipline of mountaineering and its literature has tended to emphasise hegemonic narratives of conquest and competition (Purtschert, 2020; Rak, 2021a). Within this, a notable exception is Nan Shepherd’s The Living Mountain (2011). Shepherd offers a relational vision of kinship with the mountains and values presence over pursuit of a goal. Her work has become visible in recent years due to a growing cultural awareness of our interdependence with the rest of nature (Fleming, 2022; Shepherd, 2011; Walton, 2020). Our research addresses how, as women working with people and mountain environments, we might contribute to emerging decolonial and less anthropocentric narratives. We highlight embodied arts practices which are ecological in their approach. As an exemplar, we describe here our collaborative work on ‘Into the Mountain’, a site-relational performance in the Scottish Cairngorm mountains, the area that inspired Shepherd’s work. The project which we describe in this chapter draws on interdisciplinary arts practices, haptic (sensory) and somatic (bodily)-based facilitation

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from dance and performance contexts, ecopsychology and outdoor education. This intersection of approaches allows a flexible and interconnected way of being in the mountains, and working with each other. Both mountaineering expeditions and performances require close collaboration between people. Performances like the one we describe also call for a relational field that expands more widely to include not only performers and audience, but also the more-than-human. Working in this way invites and makes conscious a deep resonance with the ephemeral but potent experience of immersion in the mountain environment. We would suggest that this kind of relational, ecological praxis offers the possibility of subverting orthodox narratives of conquest and competition in mountaineering. It challenges historical discourses of colonialism and patriarchy, which set up a binary of rational, disciplined, effectual and strong masculine versus emotional, undisciplined, ineffectual and weak feminine (Nandy, 1983; Rak, 2021a). These hegemonic discourses still linger in the contemporary valorisation of linear ‘progress’ and act as foundation myths for our industrial culture (Merchant, 1990; Worthy et al., 2019). In this chapter, we seek to illustrate how cross-disciplinary research and site-related art events can help redress the gendered and anthropocentric imbalance inherent in mountaineering histories. Walking alongside each other, we can begin to make visible the many and varied experiences of women and of the mountains themselves. The sport of ‘mountaineering’ started to emerge in Western Europe in the mid-nineteenth century as industrialisation created transport links to the Alps and made mountainous areas accessible to recreational travellers, particularly from England. From an early stage, ’summiting’ mountains were advocated in popular public writings as a preparation for colonial exploits. As Hansen (1995, pp. 322–323) notes: Mountain climbing helped to legitimise exploration and the broader imperial expansion by transforming imperialism from an abstraction into something tangible and readily accessible to ambitious professional men… adventure stories became “the energising myth of imperialism”, inspiring Englishmen “to go out into the world and explore, conquer and rule… the British conquest of the natural world came to symbolize British imperial domination of other territory during the nineteenth century.

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Integral to the British Empire’s ‘civilising mission’ was the conquering and ‘taming’ of ‘wild nature’ and other races of people, who were equated with wildness and savagery (Bayers, 2003; Elkins, 2022). The devastating ecological and human costs of this ‘conquest’ are two sides of the same coin (Ferdinand, 2022). In the context of mountaineering, a successful conquest was achieved by applying “the rational masculine imperial mind that cooly and systematically manages the challenges of the natural environment or the indigenous people encountered and used on expeditions” (Bayers, 2003, p. 5). Just as Imperialism objectified and exploited people, Mountains were secularised and objectified as: “passive, interchangeable summit-objects to be classified and collected” (Galanis, 2019, p. 83). From Victorian times to the present day, European, and latterly North American mountaineering literature has described how expeditions have ‘conquered’ mountain sites sacred to indigenous peoples (Driscoll & Atwood, 2020; Frohlick, 2005; Galanis, 2019). The bodies of mountaineers were also a site for taming and ‘improvement’: accounts of bodily mortification in the service of building character and virility are common in the literature of colonial times. As Bayers says, “although their bodies are emaciated and pushed to their limit, it is precisely their bodies’ ability to endure the hardships of mountaineering that defines their masculine virility” (Bayers, 2003, p. 57). In the spirit of optimistic industrialisation, which historically ran parallel to ‘improvement’, the body of the white male mountaineer was seen as a machine that was satisfying and invigorating to inhabit when it was in good working order (Rak, 2021b). After the First World War, the fiction of the British warrior’s strong and resilient body was crushed by industrial warfare, the widespread circulation of literary and visual imagery from that war, and the return of wounded and debilitated men to civilian society. Mountaineering offered a site for redemption of vitality and heroic masculinity, perhaps even a site in which inter-war culture could turn its back on the all too obvious vulnerability of men’s bodies and minds (Bayers, 2003). The narrative of the White male hero has continued in elite mountaineering contexts into the twenty-first century. For example, Frohlick (2005) identifies many of the tropes of colonial-era discourse still alive and robustly thriving at a mountaineering film festival in 2002. Films almost exclusively depicted white male heroic adventurers conquering, excelling,

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risk-taking and engaging in extreme bodily hardship. Frohlick (2005, pp. 179–180) described the films as: Heterosexualised spaces upholding a masculine-feminine binary… which [suture] tropes of adventure closely with white masculine unfettered mobility, colonialist desire, elite athleticism and male fraternity… and ‘’reinscribe the integral themes of colonial adventure fiction, fashioning them for today’s audience.

Over 20 years after Frohlick’s study, Georgie Abel (2017) notes the same biases persisting in the media of elite climbing. From the second half of the nineteenth century until the late twentieth century, the membership of the elite British Alpine, Climbers’ and Scottish Mountaineering Clubs remained exclusively male. From the early 1900s, much smaller exclusively female clubs were established in Scotland and England. Women rarely wrote publicly of their mountaineering exploits during this time, and often when they did so, it was under assumed male names. Occasionally, their experiences were written about by men (Moraldo, 2020). Women were seen as minor players in the Victorian and Edwardian elite mountaineering establishment and mountains that could be, or were, climbed by women were often relegated in prestige. Women were constructed as physically weak in comparison with male mountaineers, or in rare cases, portrayed as super-human. The first part of the twentieth century saw more women becoming involved in elite mountaineering, but at least until the 1930s they were expected to play second fiddle to their male climbing partners, with few claiming the position of mountaineers in their own right. Perhaps their fear of ‘going public’ was influenced by the not-­ uncommon derision, and invocation of gender stereotypes that public commitment to the mountains might bring (Moraldo, 2020). As late as the 1940s Samivel in France was writing: “Ah! We know them, these unfortunate ‘pic ladies’, these lonely owls who haunt refuges and rock faces like men, handle like men the hard tools of the mountaineer… Nay, real women are too gentle for the bitter mountains” (Moraldo, 2020, p. 736). Even today, elite mountaineering clubs’ female membership is around 10% at most. Although the sport has opened up to women slightly more, there are still obvious residues of male hegemony. Rather than the overt contempt of earlier ages, it lingers for example, in women not being mentioned in written accounts by male mountaineers, apart from as wives

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waiting anxiously at home. Female mountaineers on the other hand describe endeavouring not to show fatigue or discomfort and to be ‘one of the guys’. As Moraldo (2020) notes: “Mountaineering is still today the place of hegemonic masculinity… a domination of men over women through a set of practices and symbols… the whole history of mountaineering… bears the weight of this hegemony” (p. 743). There is little doubt that the early hypermasculinised imperialist mountaineering discourses of the Victorian era have survived and are still active. However, the picture is more nuanced and complex than that, and closer examination shows multiple discourses coexisting historically and in the present day. The historian Clare Roche (2013) examined private correspondence and alpine mountaineering logbooks from 1850 to 1900. She found evidence that many women climbed and hiked in the Alps and that focusing on published, mainly heroic, accounts written by men has led to an oversimplification. Many British middle-class women enjoyed ‘first ascents’, winter climbs and long mountain expeditions, and were physically fit. Mixed parties of men and women and women-only parties were both common, and included varying intentions to climb, walk, sketch and study flora and fauna. Much as today, women started off with shorter walks and graduated to more challenging mountaineering trips. These women resisted male constructs of frailty, needing male guidance, or being incapable of sustained physical exercise, or exercise during menstruation. There are reports of competitiveness between women climbers. However, there is also much evidence of relationality: many women’s unpublished accounts from this time show a non-competitive joy in physicality, of the mountain environment and ecology and human companionship in the mountains. In contrast, to the rather self-aggrandising and weighty tone of many men’s published accounts, women’s private correspondence about their mountain experiences was more self-effacing, humorous and light-hearted. Frohlick’s (1999–2000) examination of alternative masculinities in the elite world of contemporary high-altitude mountaineering also reveals the emergence of a more embodied and relational alternative discourse in men’s recent mountain writing. This discourse normalises every day, and sometimes visceral descriptions of physical experiences of vulnerability. For example, Frohlick (1999, p. 16) quotes the mountaineer, Venables: “then my strength gave out and I collapsed, wetting myself and suffocating in another fit of hyperventilation” and: “I was physically exhausted and had

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just ridden an emotional rollercoaster”  (p. 16). Frohlick (1999–2000) also contrasts the dispassionate, conquering, competitive nature of some descriptions of mountaineering experience to the presence in many other accounts of the deep bonds of friendship between male mountaineers and the existential importance of being together, encapsulated in another climber’s heartfelt lament, “why couldn’t they just give the dying man the comfort of their presence?” (p. 17). As Frohlick (1999–2000) reminds us: “Masculinity is neither tangible nor an abstraction whose meaning is everywhere the same. In practice, people operate according to many different notions of masculinity” (p. 17). Salovaara’s (2015) study of mountaineering films shows evidence that different notions of masculinity are becoming more prominent in the contemporary canon. While the mainstream hypermasculine tropes are still prevalent, there are also depictions of masculine physical and mental vulnerability and connectedness with the rest of nature. A more recent study by Salovaara has investigated how the outdoor sports retailer, Salomon, invokes a discourse of masculine connectedness to, and intimate identification with the mountain environment in their advertising videos (Salovaara, 2021). Their use of a more nature-connected discourse of masculinity does suggest that the ways in which male mountaineers can think of themselves in relation to the mountains is changing. However, Salovaara and Kennedy (2022) have identified a ‘hybrid masculinity’ among privileged men participating in (and educating others in) outdoor sports. While overtly ecologically conscious, caring and rejecting of hypermasculine behaviour, many of these men still reinforce tropes of hegemonic masculinity such as risk-taking, physical strength and skill and endurance in the face of pain. Although Abel (2017) points to the persistence of hypermasculine tropes in mountaineering, she also affirms the presence, in the contemporary climbing world, of women of colour and women with different abilities, sexual orientations and backgrounds. The diversity that Abel writes of is gradually starting to be acknowledged in the climbing media. For example, the Banff mountain film festival recently included a panel entitled ‘Climbing Through Barriers’, which focused on diversity and intersectionality (Croston, 2021; Rak, 2021a). Women writers have recently offered new way markings in mountaineering literature and outdoor recreation. They have highlighted the lived experience of relationships and challenges that some women face, including navigating mountaineering and motherhood (Mort, 2022), spiritual

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and somatic perspectives on the nature of adventure (Kerr, 2021), and the role of race in experiences of outdoor activity (Davis, 2019). A recent study illustrated how women experience, negotiate and resist discriminatory names given to rock-climbing routes, that are rooted in patriarchal and settler-colonial ideologies and ‘laddish masculinity’ (Wigglesworth, 2022). This evidence of different discourses coexisting in mountaineering is reminiscent of Bakhtin’s and later Anna Tsing’s evocations of polyphony (Robinson, 2011; Tsing & Ebron, 2015). Attending to this multiplicity of voices opens up a chance for a creative loosening of the hegemonic tropes that still persist in mountaineering. It allows the possibility of a ‘third space’ where communication can take place and the wider ecological, relational and spiritual elements of mountaineering can be openly explored (Solomon, 2008). Nan Shepherd’s literary work The Living Mountain (2011) opens into just such a space, and provides an early alternative representation within Scottish mountaineering literature. Whilst not outrightly criticising athleticism and the competitive nature of racing up mountains, she offers experiential alternatives to the conquering mindset of pitting oneself against the wilderness. She refers to a learning in the mountains which evolves over time; from having a thirst for the summits in her youth to exploring and lingering in places less trodden as she comes to know them. At the time of writing, in the 1940s, Shepherd was advised by her friend and colleague, the Scottish writer Neil Gunn, that her work would likely not find a publisher, so she closed the manuscript away in a drawer and did not publish it until 1977, towards the end of her life (Walton, 2020). However, the fact that Shepherd was writing, in the way that she did in the first half of the twentieth century, illustrates clearly that it was possible to go into the mountains at that time, as it is now, without being hidebound by contemporary norms. Her approach to writing from her mountain experiences may have been deemed by some as inferior, against the heroic and dramatic accounts of most memoirs where mountains were reified and conquered, where the body was something to be controlled, and the chaotic other-than-human was to be subdued through the application of reason and force. However, we would argue that The Living Mountain is a rare and foundational text in mountaineering literature, in that it captures an indigenous ‘herstory’ of the mountains ‘from below’ (Robinson & Slemon, 2018). The lyrical prose in Nan Shepherd’s collection of 12 essays weaves together many strands of her embodied experience of mountaineering in

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the Cairngorm mountains of Scotland. Her writing combines playful, philosophical, poetic, sensual, elemental and deeply relational aspects of how it felt to walk, explore and linger among the mountains. The relationships described by Shepherd are, however, not only human—they are with everything in the field of her experience: with friends, rocks, water, body, feelings, movement, plants, animals, weather and the experience of Being. She constantly weaves herself into the mountain, and is constantly woven in by it. Outer and inner worlds are implicit in each other—as she writes: “It is a journey into Being; for as I penetrate more deeply into the mountain’s life, I penetrate also into my own” (Shepherd, 2011, p. 108). There is a sense of continuity and interconnectedness in the description of Shepherd’s experience, as if she feels in her body the greatest and tiniest of folds in the fabric of the place, and of herself (Deleuze & Strauss, 1991). These folds are pleated upon themselves, and open into hidden chambers and realities. And yet there is an infinite openness and spaciousness to her descriptions that cannot be conveyed only by the metaphor of enfoldment. The constant fluidity and exchange between Shepherd and the places she inhabits are reminiscent of Karen Barad’s (2003) description of “open ended practices” which “are perpetually open to rearrangements, re-articulations and other reworkings” (p.  817) and are shaped by the constant intra-action of dynamic forces. Like Barad’s (2003) agential realism, Shepherd’s embodied exploration of the mountain does not solidify a boundary between “human” and “non-human” but rather, she participates with the mountain as “part of the world in its open-ended becoming” (p. 821). “Part route guide and part word map” (Andrews, 2020, p.  185), Shepherd’s writing offers alternative ways in, taking us off the well-­trodden paths and focusing on the sense of interior, rather than the rush for the “tang of height” (Shepherd, 2011, p. 9). It is her invitations to linger in places, to take time and develop ways in which “to apprehend things” (Andrews, 2020, p.  20) that make this book also a guidebook for the movement-minded outdoor practitioner and choreographer. Shepherd writes with movement at the forefront of her experience. Even while grasping for words to express the intangible feeling of her relationship with the mountain, she knows that “something moves between me and it” (Shepherd, 2011, p.  8). Robert Macfarlane, in his introduction to the 2011 edition, writes of Shepherd using “attention as devotion” (p. xiii). She searches and explores the interiority of the mountain as well as her own interior, in her close attention to the movements of both.

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Nan Shepherd’s focus on movement as a touchstone, and her devoted, embodied attentiveness resonate strongly with our work as somatic practitioners. Somatic work and embodied experiences of the environment bring keen attention to self and things: they are devotional practices that impress a sense of responsibility to know and understand the other. Through movement awareness and choreographic approaches, we, like Shepherd, go into a deeper exploration of the inner and outer landscapes of both body and environment. The permeable boundaries between us and place become less distinct so that there is “little to indicate where the human ends, and the mountain begins” (Andrews, 2020, p. 181). Through dancing, walking, mountaineering and ecological practices we attempt to find the possibility of a transmigration … an exchange of some kind of essential matter between the human and the lithic—a vital, and vitalising, petrification (Andrews, 2020, p. 180, emphasis ours). But it is not only the lithic that interpenetrates our bodies as we move in the mountain environment. It is all life. In Shepherd’s words: when the aromatic savour of the pine goes searching into the deepest recesses of my lungs, I know that it is life that is entering (Shepherd, 2011, p. 52). It was from our engagement with Shepherd’s work, as movement practitioners that the project Into the Mountain came into being. The project took the form of a curated programme of events spanning 12 months, and included creative workshops, with ecological movement and mountain-­ based retreats, exploring words in the landscape (with Scottish author, Linda Cracknell), public talks (e.g. with Erland Clouston, Nan Shepherd’s literary executor) and educational workshops across schools, working with the Cairngorms National Park Authority. A symposium day brought artistic and mountain culture experts together for a dynamic meeting of discussion and exploration. Free training opportunities were offered, in collaboration with Mountaineering Scotland, and these included the Summer Mountain Leader training for two women. This programme of events developed the context and audience for the culminating outdoor performance event. The performance Into the Mountain, in May 2019 was a site-relational work which took place in the Glen Feshie area of the Cairngorm Mountain range. This performance included a newly formed women’s choir, a group of five dancers and three mountain leaders paired with somatic (bodily)/movement practitioners who guided the audience on three different walking routes to the performance site. The performance and programme were managed, produced and delivered by an all-women team.

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The trans-disciplinary approach of the project allowed for a widening of participation and included the voices of many women, whose diverse knowledge and experience helped shape the project both creatively and politically. This intersectional approach, working with cross-sector collaborations through the variety of supporting partners, was primarily publicly funded within the creative arts, by Creative Scotland. For the project’s full scope of events, activities, partnerships and funders, see: www.intothemountain.co.uk As creative practitioners working with embodied, choreographic and ecological arts, we (the authors) are committed to considering and exploring what our contributions could be when offering new perspectives on mountains and an evolving mountaineering culture. Into the Mountain was an attempt to devise alternative ways for people (whether experienced mountain lovers or not) to engage with the Cairngorm Mountain ecology as a social, embodied and poetic experience. Into The Mountain sits within the wider context of site-specific performance and dance. This discipline emerged from postmodern arts practices including the Land Art movement of the 1960s onwards (Kloetzel & Pavlik, 2011) and developed by writers, like Lippard (1997) who expanded the notion of place-specific to include the traces of historical and social contexts in creative process and research. Dance artists working with site-­ specificity are wide-ranging. Trisha Brown’s choreographic communications across a U.S. cityscape in Roof Piece (1971) (see Graham, 2013), Tess de Quincey’s (2021) expansive Australian desert project, Triple Alice (1999–2001) and Simon Whitehead’s walking in the Welsh rural environment (2006) are just a few examples within this broad field. Site-related dance methodologies explore local and global (Barbour et  al., 2019; Hunter, 2015) and more recently, New Materialist perspectives (Hunter, 2021). UK artists working, training or making performance in relation to mountain environments are few, but include the environmental performance maker and scholar, Louise Ann Wilson’s walk-performance, The Gathering/ Yr Helfa (2014) in Snowdonia (Wilson, 2022) and Kate Lawrence whose approach incorporates vertical dance and climbing practices (2019). The 2020 publication, Performing Mountains (Pitches, 2020.), maps the territory where mountain and performance studies meet. This includes how the physical, metaphorical and cultural understandings of mountains have influenced methodologies in performance training, design and conceptual approach.

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Beyond public performance making, dance training focused on the ecological body and movement practices has been widely explored within the Western tradition (Reeve, 2011). Somatic training and artistic development taking place within mountainous environments are exemplified by the Body Weather dance practices, which were key to the making of Into the Mountain. Japanese artist, Min Tanaka developed Body Weather (Fuller, 2018) in the context of a working farm in rural Japan and will be described later in this chapter. Notably, Kenyon’s longstanding training with dance artists, Frank van de Ven and Katerina Bakatsaki (Body Weather Amsterdam, 2022) and Christine Quoiraud (Kenyon & Quoiruad, 2021) (all original members of Tanaka’s, Maijuku dance company) influenced the development of methodologies and choreographic approaches for the performance of Into The Mountain. As Shepherd (2011, p. 1) states in her opening paragraph of The Living Mountain, “to know the mountains, essential nature…is not done easily nor in an hour”, and the same can be true for art making that is process driven, socially as well as environmentally engaged. Over six years this work developed from an individual artist (Kenyon, 2019a) following in Shepherd’s footsteps, becoming familiar with her words, coming to know the Cairngorms in all seasons (Kenyon, 2019a), then connecting with a diverse group of women to discuss mountaineering more widely, and ultimately create a collaborative, interdisciplinary performance which drew on the experiences of many women in relationship with the mountains. From these interactions it was apparent that the nuances of women’s experiences were invisible within mainstream, professional narratives. Julie Rak (2021a) poses the question, if we challenge the hierarchy and obsession with summiting, ever present in mountaineering stories, then what new potential narratives can emerge and “who would get to be a climber if other stories of climbing start to matter?” (Rak, 2021a. p.  7). Rak is referring to the lack of diversity in elite international mountaineering endeavours, but Scottish hill walking and amateur mountaineering are still bound to colonial and patriarchal narratives where subaltern discourses remain relatively invisible. This project sought, through a creative process, a space in which to generate and witness alternative narratives that expressed the multitude of ways we go into rather than onto the mountains: making performance work that gave voice and visibility to women’s lived experiences in the foothills of the mountain environment. It created a frame in which participants could spend time together outdoors and witness their collective

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experience; to see, in ourselves and each other a glimpse of what Shepherd (2011) described as “a journey into Being” (p. 108). The journey of transmigration was a thread that wove throughout the performance. As the audience travelled through the landscape to the performance site, there was a transmigration from one state of being to another; from a focus on ‘getting somewhere’ to an unfolding experience of ‘being here’. As well as the physical and experiential transmigration, there was also perhaps an ontological one: a movement from the sense of ‘soul’, or life being encapsulated in the physical body to an awareness of the ensoulment and vitality of the whole landscape (Fig. 12.1). Echoes of transmigration also haunted the landscape in which we worked. The mountain environment is not a blank pristine wilderness, ‘cleansed’ of any trace of indigenous people like those uninhabited landscape scenes depicted by artists of the colonial era—see for example descriptions by Abramson (2009) and Thomas (1987). Until the Highland clearances of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, Scotland’s glens were thronged with people, who lived and worked there. The walking routes within the performance followed the paths that generations of

Fig. 12.1  Into the Mountain. 2019. (Image Felicity Crawshaw)

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humans have made. We felt our forebears’ movement and endeavours through the groove we collectively cut or eroded into the mountainsides. Whether we are comfortable with this physical impact or not, we added to those human traces as we walked together. Participants followed three distinct routes through the mountain landscape, gradually circling in and following ridge lines to converge at the performance site, where two streams (burns) also converge, deep in Glen Feshie, a valley that cuts through the Cairngorm mountains. The sense of movement of lines of water and lines of people converging formed part of a larger choreographic mapping through the performance (Fig. 12.2). The design of the audience’s facilitated journeys to the site of the performance was informed by a trans-disciplinary approach that included methods from Body Weather dance training, eco-somatic practices, awareness-­ through-movement approaches such as The Feldenkrais Method® (Feldenkrais, 1977), (Buchanan & Ulrich, 2001), sensory interoception (Farb et al., 2015) and mindfulness (Gibson, 2019). Three separate walks were designed to bring pace, rhythm, time for following curiosity, exploration of individual bodily senses and a collective sense of

Fig. 12.2  Into the Mountain. 2019. (Image Felicity Crawshaw)

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wonder in the micro and macro details of the mountain environment. The walks offered a frame in which to embody the quality of contemplative experiencing that Shepherd describes in her work; “Thus, the senses must be trained and disciplined, the eye to look, the ear to listen… I can teach my body many skills by which to learn the nature of the mountain. One of the most compelling is quiescence” (Shepherd, 2011, p. 90) The three walking routes to the performance site differed in length and difficulty, to accommodate people with various fitness levels and access needs. The routes were 5 hrs, 3 hrs and 1.5 hrs, respectively. We acknowledge here that although these routes were designed with various levels of prior hill walking experience in mind, mountain performances are, by their nature, limited in the degree of accessibility they can offer to audiences of more diverse physical ability. A full discussion of this important area is regrettably not in the scope of this chapter. The walks were structured to introduce people to the place, creative themes through embodied ways of knowing, whilst moving along a path collectively. Each group was led by an experienced mountain leader and a somatic practitioner who facilitated sensory, embodied and poetic explorations en route. This involved reading extracts from The Living Mountain to suggest ways of getting to know the immediate environment. The shift in perspective that Shepherd’s work brought helped participants understand more-than-human points of view. (For an example of a somatic practice and reading used and developed for the project’s education pack, see Fig. 12.3.) The approach was often light and playful, as exemplified in this quote: By so simple a matter as altering the position of one’s head, a different kind of world may be made to appear. Lay the head down, or better still, face away from what you look at, and bend with straddled legs till you see your world upside down…Nothing has reference to me the looker… This is how the earth must see itself. (Shepherd, 2011, pp. 10–11)

Shepherd’s mountaineering practice could be described as Stravaiging, a Scottish term for strolling about (Thomson, 2018, p. 217). This intentional wandering shifts the focus away from goal-orientated pursuits such as summiting, towards an exploration of ecological encounters, kinship and relational understanding. She writes: “often the mountain gives itself more completely when I have no destination, when I reach nowhere in

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Fig. 12.3  Education pack example. Into the Mountain. 2019. (Design Maeve Redmond)

particular, but have gone out merely to be with the mountain as one visits a friend with no intention but to be with him” (Shepherd, 2011, p. 15). It is illuminating to contrast Shepherd’s stravaiging to the observational position of Baudelaire’s predominantly male, urban Flâneur (Tester, 1994) so often referred to within the history and context of Walking Arts (Smith, 2015; Richardson, 2015), and as a research method (O’Neill & Roberts, 2019). Far from the detachment of the Flâneur, Shepherd is intimately and somatically engaged with the places she finds herself in. She surrenders to their mystery and is transformed in the process. While staying true to the idea of stravaiging in each group as they made their way through the mountains, it also was important to the overall choreography of the event that each group might witness each other from a distance, arriving at the place of the performance. The practicalities of this design had many uncontrollable elements so the idea of a seamless folding together of groups at times felt like a fragile possibility. Even so, these ideal macro choreographic journeys were kept in mind, always with the acknowledgement that one might need to let go of a fixed idea of how events

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could develop. The mountain leaders took responsibility for pacing and adaptation to weather changes while the somatic facilitators adjusted the time devoted to group explorations and readings, to fit with the overall schedule (Figs. 12.4, 12.5 and 12.6). As participants listened to readings of Shepherd’s words, got to know each other, and engaged with somatic practices along the way, the quality of relationships in the group often shifted, becoming quieter, closer, more attentive. As the journeys progressed along paths, over streams and rough ground, walking styles changed in response to the terrain; knees and feet up higher, attention turned downwards, to avoid not only the hidden sunken holes but also the newly arrived frogs that were present there. Attention and softer steps were needed to take care, to notice the startling movements of the camouflaged inhabitants and to avoid the untouched lush mosses and lichens. As Shepherd describes: “Eye and foot acquire in rough walking, a coordination that makes one distinctly aware of where the next step is to fall” (Shepherd, 2011, p. 13).

Fig. 12.4  Saffy Setohy (group facilitator) reading extract from Shephers’s prose. Into The Mountain. 2019. (Image Felicity Crawshaw)

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Fig. 12.5  Margaret Kerr and Kathy Grindrod (group facilitator and mountain leader). Into the Mountain. 2019. (Image Felicity Crawshaw)

Fig. 12.6  Participants during the walk explored ecological details. Into the Mountain. 2019. (Image Felicity Crawshaw)

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The performance site itself is gentle, focused on dense mossy mounds that rise above the heather and wind-scoured vegetation. Audiences were invited to sit and rest, eat a sandwich, continue having a chat with their group or read aloud a final section of The Living Mountain, shared casually amongst the group, whilst they waited for the other walking groups to arrive. Already present were a choir of between 15 and 21 women. The vocal composition created by artist Hanna Tullikki and led with singer, Lucy Duncombe, explored in part, the dynamics and complexities of mountain water so often described and explored by Shepherd: “The sound of all this moving water is as integral to the mountain as pollen to a flower. One hears it without listening as one breathes without thinking… On one short stretch of burn, the ear may distinguish a dozen different notes at once” (Shepherd, 2011, p. 26). Working with the mountain acoustics in live performances could be considered as challenging, but again acknowledging the impossibility of creating perfect conditions brought a new sense of performing with the mountain ecology. The flexibility and porosity of the vocal and movement scores mirrored and related back to one another, but the underscore was always the place itself. The mountains were choreographing the experiences of our human bodies through their contours, fauna, atmospheres and climates. We saw their weather writ large, when we lost sight of the dancers in the hanging fog, and when the mood of the work changed dramatically from one day to the next. The mountain was the dramaturg to the unfolding gathering (Fig. 12.7). The length of sections, tempo and drive was determined by the ever-­ changing physical relationship between the dancers and the space. The timing of one section for example would take as long as it took for the dancers to run from all directions down the hillsides, navigating and negotiating that uneven, heather-rung steep ground, “becoming rivulets, following gravity, gradually gaining momentum” (Kenyon, 2021, p. 224). The choir sang with them for as long as it took for them to arrive in the middle distance of the space. As Shepherd noted: place and a mind may

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Fig. 12.7  The choir in rehearsals. Into the Mountain. 2019. (Image Felicity Crawshaw)

interpenetrate until the nature of both is altered (Shepherd, 2011, p. 8) (Fig. 12.8). As the dancers reached the now-quiet space where the audience were sitting on the heather and moss, they looked up to the sky, their bodies arching back, and falling slowly as the soft ground received them: the body … keyed to its highest potential and controlled to a profound harmony deepening into something that resembles trance (Shepherd, 2011, p.  106). Dreamlike, but keenly attentive, crouching low they moved among the audience, slowly, exploring the ground, the moss, the heather with their hands, their bare feet, their bodies: drawing all those who witnessed into a sense of wonder at the plants and insects whose way of life lies in the mountain’s way of life as water lies in a channel (Shepherd, 2011, p. 50). The audience and dancers surrendered to a shared mystery and were held in its infinite folds. How do we become beyond desire (Shepherd, 2011, p. 108) like this, so we can come to rest in the ineffability of the mountain and its ecology? How do we empty ourselves of striving, the urge to conquer, to reify, to

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Fig. 12.8  Audience and dancers Keren Smail, Caroline Reagh, Petra Söör, Claricia Parinussa, Jo Hellier. Into The Mountain.2019. (Image Felicity Crawshaw)

colonise, to own? Do we need to simply become passive receptors for all that surrounds us? The notion of ‘emptying oneself’ is widespread in somatic and well-­ being practices. It is often misunderstood as reducing the human body to something that only receives information from the outside. Seeing the ‘emptied’ body as passive repeats the colonial artists’ trope of painting the landscape emptied of its inhabitants, offering itself to the coloniser’s desires. In a parallel process to the misinterpretation of ‘emptying the body’, the ‘emptiness’ (Sunyata) described in Buddhism (which may have influenced Shepherd (Walton, 2020)) has sometimes been incorrectly rendered in the West, as a lifeless void that leads to a nihilistic concept of ‘non-­ attachment’. However, the original Buddhist understanding of ‘Sunyata’ is visible in Shepherd’s prose: it describes not a lack, but a constant ‘becoming’, a deeply interconnected vitality (Fraser, 2022). This vibrant understanding of ‘becoming’ in outdoor praxis is exemplified in the Japanese dance method of Body Weather (Fuller, 2014; de

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Quincey & Maxwell, 2019). This practice endeavours to explore the porosity of body and sense of place and to experience one’s constantly shifting nature as part of the world in its open-ended becoming (Barad, 2003, pp. 820–821). Body Weather training challenges ingrained movement and behavioural patterns, perceptions and ways of relating to other bodies—be they human or more than human—and encourages us to open outwards, through movement. This was a key methodology for the company of dancers in the Into the Mountain performance, and helped them develop embodied attention as a means of expanding the sense of where movement comes from and ends. When Nan Shepherd articulates her sensation of having walked out of the body and into the mountain (2011, p.  106), she echoes the experiences of dancers investigating the fluidity and permeability of body, environment and improvisatory movement practices. The emptying of self that Shepherd (2011) describes is not the bleak emptying of the “cleared landscape” (p. 108). Nor is it the desperate flirting of a heroic ego with the risk of annihilation, as it faces down the ferocious sublime. The kind of emptying described in The Living Mountain, and that which we invited in the performance is much more complex, yielding, fleshy and messier than any of these. It is not ecstasy, Shepherd (2011) says, “that leap out of the self that makes man like a god. I am not out of myself, but in myself. I am” (p. 108). Perhaps one of the most deep-rooted legacies of patriarchy and colonialism is an ontological one—the positivist notion that ‘nature’ and ‘self’ can be divided up into solid parts, objectively observed, exhaustively understood, ultimately mastered and owned. Shepherd’s work, dance practices like Body Weather and the Into the Mountain project and performance event ask us to turn away from these notions of separation and dominion, and immerse ourselves in the experience of a physical world that is ever-changing, and into which we are deeply woven: a world that we depend on for our very Being. We would suggest that when we can let go into this immersion, we can start to know and care for our own lives, the lives of each other and that of the mountains in all their fragility and strength (Fig. 12.9). We hope that the work we have described here might inspire new perspectives on how we, as outdoor practitioners, can experience and share the mountain environment. Colonial, industrial and patriarchal discourses are still so prevalent in mountaineering, and our society as a whole, as to often be almost invisible. If we are educated in a certain way of being in

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Fig. 12.9  Claricia Parinussa, Into the Mountain. 2019. (Image Felicity Crawshaw)

the mountains, it can be hard to see another way. But sometimes we can feel another way that tugs on us as we follow a route to the summit, an invitation to linger and surrender to the mystery of the place we are in. Perhaps we have always felt the pull of that other way as an insistent and intuitive disquiet with a worldview that emphasises summiting, competition and the technical aspects of mountaineering. It is important, and can be lifesaving, to learn the technical skills of mountaincraft. It can be exhilarating to experience height and empowering to make it to a summit if we are able. But in this chapter, we have shared how we found a complementary way, with the help of Nan Shepherd’s work. In doing this, we have given voice to the disquiet we have often felt about narratives that objectify mountains and extol conquering them through reason and physical strength. We hope that by sharing our journey, we might help others among us who feel this unease to have the courage to find their own ways: to rebalance the focus of outdoor practice towards a more interconnected, life-affirming and tender way of being in the mountains (Fig. 12.10).

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Fig. 12.10  Dancers: Keren Smail, Caroline Reagh, Petra Söör, Claricia Parinussa, Jo Hellier. Into The Mountain. 2019. (Image Felicity Crawshaw) Acknowledgements  We would like to thank Professor Natasha Lushetich, Kate Bell and Joe McManners for their insightful comments on the manuscript and all the women who contributed to and created the wider Into The Mountain project.

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CHAPTER 13

Transformational Learning on the Journey to Mountain Leadership Katherine O’Brien

Welling with tears, with pride, but why? For this day I have endured, enjoyed, made me cry. Alone I have been, seen wondrous things. But am I selfish for not sharing with friends and kin…? Welling with tears—so touched, that’s why. Heartfelt notes from dear friends bring an itch to my eye. Alone I have been, such an empowering thing. Words don’t do justice to the feeling today brings. Alexandra Ridge, 2021

Many educators believe that the ultimate goal of adult education is a sense of self-empowerment (Freire, 1970; Mezirow, 2000) like that described above by Alexandra. Her poem was written during her solo

K. O’Brien (*) Outward Bound Trust, London, UK e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 J. Hall et al. (eds.), Gender, Politics and Change in Mountaineering, Global Culture and Sport Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29945-2_13

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mountain experience as part of Outward Bound’s Women’s Outdoor Leadership Course (WOLC), a ten-week programme for women working towards their Mountain Leader qualification, as well as other outdoor assessments such as Rock Climbing Instructor and Paddlesports Leader. Despite being the first female mountain guide, Gwen Moffat, qualifying in 1953, there has been a gender imbalance in the Mountain Leadership profession in the UK spanning decades (Hardy et  al., 2019; Moffat, 2014). Women make up 46.8% of the Hill and Mountain walking participants in the UK (Sport England, Active Lives Survey, 2018); however, just 18% of Summer Mountain Leaders in the UK are female and the gender gap in qualified leadership continues to decline as one progresses further up the qualification levels (Hall, 2018). The Outward Bound Trust (OBT) is an outdoor education charity, which aims to “inspire young people to achieve more than they ever thought possible” (OBT, 2022). With 50% of participants being female, OBT has embarked on a journey to attempt to create and retain an instructor team that more closely reflects the demographics of participants, in order to provide a better gender balance of role models. One of the core qualifications to work within OBT is the Mountain Leader Award, as mountainous day walks or expeditions are a core part of most courses. The WOLC was created with the aim of “creating a nurturing environment with opportunities for personal progression towards the technical, intrapersonal and interpersonal skills required to work within Outward Bound UK and progress within the outdoor sector” (OBT, 2018). The hope is that the women completing the course will be more able to actively pursue their Mountain Leadership qualification, as well as others, and subsequently, the career pathways to which they aspire. Since the course began in 2019 there have been over 70 applicants to the programme, making it four times oversubscribed. There are women who love being in the mountains and want to be enjoying a career in this area, but who feel held back from doing so. A wealth of research also suggests that there are many competent and motivated women who experience gendered barriers to their progression in outdoor careers (see Gray & Mitten, 2018b). This chapter explores the experiences of eight women who have taken part in the WOLC at OBT. It starts by considering the women’s narratives and the types of challenges they have experienced on their journeys to Mountain Leadership, as they arrive at the course. Transformational Learning (TL) theory (Mezirow, 1978) is used to consider how the

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gendered landscape can affect women’s journeys, potentially constraining but also offering the possibility for change from within. Finally, some of the key learning that resulted from participating in a single-gender course is unpacked and insights concerning practice are shared to support the development of female Mountain Leaders, who will be key role models for those becoming involved in the sport in the future.

Methodology The eight participants provided data at two different time points. Initially, information on motivations, challenges and aspirations was gained through written applications, with consent to use the content for research purposes. Thematic analysis of these was undertaken, identifying themes concerning the challenges and barriers to gaining qualifications such as the Mountain Leader. Following the course research took a grounded theory approach that aligned with Transformational Learning theory (see O’Brien & Allin, 2021). Data was collected through semi-structured interviews conducted by an external researcher in partnership with Northumbria University as part of a research project, focusing on their experiences and the impact of the course. All data has been pseudo-anonymised to protect the identity of participants.

Transformational Learning (TL) TL is a constructivist theory of adult learning (Mezirow, 1991). Constructivism posits that people construct their own meanings and realities from within, through experience and social discourse, rather than there being absolute truths out there to be discovered (Piaget, 1950). Central to TL theory are “frames of reference” which are the structured assumptions through which experiences are understood. For example, ethnocentrism is when a person regards their own group as superior to others. This leads to a complicated array of feelings, judgements and attitudes towards specific individuals or groups, for example homosexuals, people with tattoos, people of a different ethnic background or women (Mezirow, 1997). TL refers to the complex process of making changes to the beliefs, thoughts and feelings which make up frames of reference, leading to significant perspective shifts enabling learners to alter their worldviews and different possibilities for new, more empowering ways of thinking and

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behaving (Mezirow, 1978). In contrast to other types of learning, such as informational learning, TL changes the way people see themselves, their world and their place within it. This type of learning requires that learners become aware of how their knowledge, values and perspectives are arrived at. Culture, media, socio-economic structures and ideologies often combine to promote conformity and influence beliefs about one’s place and role in the order of the world. Griffiths (1995) in discussing feminism and the self asserts that The self I am—the identity I have—is affected by the politics of gender, race, class, sexuality, disability, and world justice… and the feelings I have, the reasons I recognise, the wants I act upon—they are all deeply political. (p. 1)

The formation of identity, how we come to understand who we are and what we deem possible for our lives, is a complex process, often happening outside of our conscious awareness, with gender being a significant component (Rippon, 2019). Mezirow describes how people generally adopt their frames of reference without much thought, through socialisation growing up. While this can help us to make sense of the world, out-of-date frames of reference can also constrain potential (Dirkx, 1998). It is typically only once such meaning schemes and perspectives have been habituated that their validity can be questioned. When consideration is given to how being female has been understood historically in society and subsequently within the realm of the outdoors and Mountain Leadership, the possibility that women may have come to develop what Mezirow would call problematic frames of reference becomes apparent (Mezirow, 2000).

Transformational Learning Landscape

and the Gendered

In the 1800s it was generally believed that women were inferior to men— less strong, less intelligent and less courageous, making them unsuitable for any kind of physical endeavours, responsibility or power (Darwin, 1886). This shifted in the twentieth century to the idea that women have valuable and natural roles as carers, mothers and womanly companions of men. Men were viewed as active and having a role outside of the home.

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Women as more passive: there to be admired for their appearance, with their main sphere being inside the home (Sheilds, 2007). The mountains are not immune from this patriarchal socio-cultural context and cannot be understood in isolation from it. Despite female interest and participation in mountain pursuits first being recorded in the 1900s, women were subjected to very different rules and expectations from men. Lizzy Le Blond and Lady Evelyn McDonnell were among the first to undertake (what was so unusual it was required to be specially named as) “manless climbing.” In the club scene it was commonplace for women to be barred from entry, with the Alpine Club not allowing women to join until as late as 1975 (Band, 2006). OBT shares this gendered past, and it is worth turning briefly to the history of the organisation due to its influence in how outdoor education and subsequently Mountain Leadership are understood today, and to understand the journey that it is on. Outward Bound was set up by men, for men (or so the dominant narrative goes), in 1941, espousing the masculine values of the day: rugged individualism, survival against the challenges of the elements and conquering of the natural world (Mitten, 2018b). Female participants were not initially granted access to such courses, with the first girl’s course not taking place in the UK until a decade later in 1951, and not until 1965 in the US. Even then there were widespread concerns that women may not be able to cope with the demands of the environment or even that women would become “de-­ feminised” by taking part in Outward Bound (Davis, 2019). In recent years it has come to light that in fact one of the co-founders of the organisation was female. Marina Ewald was Kurt Hahn’s partner in planning and the co-director of Salem School, becoming director after his departure for the UK. Despite the expeditionary model of outdoor education being hailed as Hahn’s invention, he never completed a major expedition due to sunstroke in his late teens, and it was Ewald who pioneered this way of working (Mitten et al., 2018). This is just one example of how women’s adventure stories, where they did exist, have been side-lined or remain outside the public consciousness due to gendered beliefs of the time (Mitten et al., 2018). Despite gender equality now being written into law in the Western world, frames of reference which indicate women to be “lesser than” or “only valued if,” remain firmly embedded in society and the culture of the outdoors. Beliefs do not need to be encoded into words to hold power; they can be embedded in repetitive interactions and generalised, often

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outside of conscious awareness (Mezirow, 2000). Stuart (2018) reflects on how developing a career within the masculine-gendered outdoor environment can contribute to the development of problematic frames of reference for women which may limit their leadership potential. She writes: In my autoethnographic account, I am reacting to the oppression that I have experienced as a woman and am trying to live up to the machismo, heroic, masculine outdoor norms. I was not aware of this at the time, and Freire (1973) defined this as people’s naïveté rather than critical consciousness. At this stage, people lack insight into the way in which their social conditions undermine their well-being and so do not see their own actions as capable of changing these conditions. (p. 239)

This draws parallels with research suggesting women working in the outdoor industry do so in an environment where the traditionally masculine norms that exist are taken for granted, leading to them assuming a position as “one of the boys” (Lugg, 2003) or, if they do not, feeling out of water and a sense of not belonging (Allin, 2003). Some specific examples will now be drawn from the research participants highlighting some of the barriers which still exist today.

Women’s Initial Challenges as Mountain Leaders To understand in more depth some of the initial challenges participants faced in getting the Mountain Leader Award we will now delve into the intra-personal themes which stood out from the women’s applications, relating them to the literature. Never Prepared Enough One major theme research participants described was how they hold back from career progressive training or assessments, waiting until they “feel ready.” Several participants describe upholding high standards of themselves and wanting to be “overly prepared,” linking these to putting off progressing skills and shying away from assessments. In examining some of the challenges to women pursuing an outdoor career involving Mountain Leadership, academic studies have noted aspects such as lack of confidence in ability and issues around perceived physical or technical competence (Allin, 2003; Allin & West, 2013; Jordan,

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2018; Loeffler, 1995; Warren et al., 2018). Despite some positive changes in the representation of women in the Mountain Leadership pathways (Mountain Training, 2022), such challenges are still alive and well in the 2020s. Women continue to be judged against male standards and many may have internalised the fear of being exposed as not “good enough” or needing to prove themselves by being absolutely perfect and top of their game with every skill in order to earn a seat at the table. There can be a feeling and with that a weighty pressure, of representing the entire female gender when taking part in training or assessment activities (Jordan, 2018). Therefore, mistakes are perceived to have a much higher cost, than of providing proof (supporting deeply ingrained, outdated and false historical beliefs) that women in fact do not have a place as leaders in the mountains. Sophia describes in more detail how this can dissuade her from engaging in the types of experiences that are useful for learning and progression: Sometimes I will neglect to focus on a particular skill, such as micro navigation because I do not want to get it wrong in front of my friends. Subsequently, I struggle to devote time to improving my personal skills and logging quality mountain days, as opposed to social walks with friends.

Women can find themselves continually hypervigilant against any threat of failure, a phenomenon which has become known as stereotype threat (Steele & Aronson, 1995). A stereotype is defined by the Oxford Dictionary of Psychology (Colman, 2015) as “a relatively fixed and oversimplified generalisation about a group or class of people, usually focusing on negative or unfavourable characteristics” (p. 730). Such ideas are perpetuated by being widely held in society, for example women cannot read maps or solve technical problems, men can’t multi-task and will never ask for help (Rippon, 2019). Stereotype threat occurs when a person fears that their actions will reinforce negative views about a group to which they belong. Studies have shown that this phenomenon contributes to achievement gaps based on gender and ethnicity (Aronson et al., 1999; Aronson et al., 2002; Spencer et  al., 1999). More recently it has also been discovered that stereotype threat invokes different processes in the brain bringing an additional cognitive burden to the task for those affected, compared with those not stereotyped (Rippon, 2019). Over-thinking, continual monitoring for mistakes and the stress that stems from the perception of being judged leads to different regions of the brain being activated instead of those that

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would be most helpful for the task (Wraga et al., 2007). Stereotype threat can be literally exhausting and have huge implications for a person’s real, as well as perceived, competence. Following Men Up Mountains A few of the women go on to describe the impact of being in predominantly male training environments based on male standards and the impact that differing pace can have on learning and in turn confidence. Amelia observes, So, every activity that I went and did was all male. So, I had to run up mountains, you know … Following men up mountains, basically. And they would work out all the navigation aspect of things, and I would just catch up. And they would be like, “Right—you ready? Off we go.” And I’m like, oh, I don’t even know what you’ve just learned. So, I think it hindered my learning

The outdoors and subsequent Mountain Leadership environment are not neutral physical spaces; rather, they are socially constructed spaces created by individuals, often prioritising certain values and ways of being over others. Straker (2018) observes that often outdoor work and leisure spaces have been “designed by men for men, not usually as a deliberate way to exclude women but with little thought as to how women respond differently” (p.  103). The idea that Mountain Leadership should be about being fast-paced, strong and striving for the summit is one that is so firmly ingrained within the culture and qualification pathways, it can appear as common sense. Building a Repertoire of “Not Good Enough” Research suggests that underlying beliefs in society, including males having higher status and therefore their opinions being more valid, can lead to women regularly experiencing second-class citizenship (Kaskan & Ho, 2016). It has also been found that participants in the outdoors have a bias in favour of male leaders, which can lead to women questioning their own leadership validity (Cousineau & Roth, 2012).

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While some participants identified specific situations where they felt marginalised, others reflected on how multiple factors contributed to a feeling of inadequacy built up over time: And, you know, it’s one of those weird things. I couldn’t necessarily give you … Oh, such-and-such person said this on this day—and that made me feel like that. It wasn’t like that. It was very nuanced … Sort of, lots of passing comments and attitudes that are shared, and just a building repertoire of, oh, I’m not good enough. (Sophia)

What this applicant is describing may be the impact of microaggressions (Jordan, 2018). These are subtle signals within a language or the environment which convey disparaging messages based on an aspect of identity, in this case, gender. They are often subconscious and unintentional stemming from outdated and false frames of reference which perceive women to be “lesser than” (men) or “only valued if …” (they uphold traditionally gendered norms, including a feminine appearance, characteristics and roles). As micro-moments they often appear inconsequential to those who are not impacted by them on a regular basis. Some clearly indicate that women’s views are less valid while other examples can appear to have positive intent; however, the underlying message is that of incompetence or inferiority, for example a man offering his warm jacket to the female in the group without any indication that it is needed; “women need to be protected.” Or similarly, a woman is being helped to put her rucksack on without any indication that help is required, and the same offer is not being applied for the men present; “women are less strong and need male help in the mountains.” Mezirow (2000) reminds us that we develop habitual expectations based on past experiences, uncritically assimilating perspectives (including distortions, stereotypes and prejudices) from our social world, community and culture. Recognising the impacts of stereotype threat and understanding the microaggressions that women experience on their journey to becoming Mountain Leaders offers insight into how the external culture can lead women to develop disempowering internalised identities, which drive unhelpful thoughts, feelings and subsequent patterns of (in)action.

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Women Outdoor Leadership Course (WOLC) Rationale Women-only courses can be controversial as some suggest they can be divisive (Hall & Doran, 2020), reinforce gender stereotypes and divisions (Fielding-Lloyd & Mean, 2008) or put too much onus on women to “fix themselves” when in fact it is the external culture that needs to shift (De Vries, 2006). Meaningful change in the gender balance of Mountain Leaders requires both external change in the culture and internal awareness from women as to how the gendered landscape can be disempowering, to allow power and agency to be reclaimed. The internal realities of women and the external culture are intrinsically connected and therefore influence each other (De Vries, 2006; Cranton & Taylor, 2012). Mountain Leadership and workplace cultures need to move towards providing frames of reference which support women’s sense of capability and belonging in the mountains so that women can have more positive experiences of their training, assessment and subsequent career development (Tulle, 2022; Warren et  al., 2018). Simultaneously women can also become critically aware of how gender may have shaped their experiences and reality. Self-awareness can be developed, and internal limitations overcome. This may contribute to more effective navigating of the systems women find themselves in, thereby enabling women to become part of the process of recreating and co-creating a culture of equality. More women leading from a place of authenticity and self-knowledge ensure more female role models in mountain spaces, and the positive spiral of change can continue. The WOLC is one part of OBT’s journey in this area. The programme consists of ten weeks, focussing on the intra-personal, interpersonal and technical competencies required to be an outdoor instructor at OBT. The theoretical underpinning for the intra-personal aspects of the course was Growth Mindset (Dweck, 2000), which shares a similar constructivist epistemology with Transformational Learning. It considers how underlying beliefs about the self, which have been unconsciously accumulated throughout life, can impact motivation and behaviour in learning and achievement situations. Growth Mindset offers a socio-cognitive model which illuminates how implicit beliefs about aspects of the self, such as intelligence, personality or ability at a particular skill, can lead to vastly different patterns of cognition, affect and behaviour (Dweck, 2000). Dweck describes how people develop different meaning systems

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dependent upon their fixed or growth mindset. In a fixed mindset, a person believes that their intelligence, personality or abilities are innate and set from birth; therefore, these are not areas they have much control or influence over (Dweck & Sorich, 1999). This leads to a meaning system which is preoccupied with proving oneself and engaging in experiences which endorse this pre-set ability. Challenge is viewed as a theatre of judgement and perceived as threatening due to its potential to highlight ineptitude, and failure is viewed as an end point and evidence of incapability. Effort is also evaluated through this lens and experienced as fruitless, or worse. Consequently, people in a fixed mindset are likely to avoid challenges through fear of revealing weaknesses; they may dislike effort and give up easily or procrastinate when the task is perceived as too difficult or cannot be mastered quickly. The growth mindset shows up very differently. With the belief that intelligence, personality and ability are malleable, and thus open to growth and development throughout the lifespan, comes a more successful response in achievement situations. Challenges are viewed as opportunities to learn and therefore sought out. Effort is believed to be a necessary ingredient of success and the switch which turns on ability. When the going gets tough, those with a growth mindset look for new approaches, try different strategies, continue to apply effort and use self-monitoring to persevere creatively with the task. Decades of research now demonstrate the ecological validity of the theory across contexts highlighting that mindset really does matter and has a huge impact on how people can create successful outcomes for themselves (Dweck, 2008). Crucially, it has been shown that they can be changed, especially for those experiencing stereotype threat (Aronson et al., 2002). The course consisted of sessions explicitly encouraging a growth mindset as well as understanding other aspects of psychology relating to potential, relationship building, technical skills development, experience working with groups of young people, a solo experience in the mountains and mentoring with male and female mentors. The next section explores the course impacts, enabling factors and insights for practice. Impacts, Enabling Factors and Insights for Practice O’Brien and Allin (2021) explored the impact of the WOLC as a strategy for addressing the gender imbalance in outdoor leadership, through the

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lens of TL.  The paper found that transformations primarily took place relating to confidence and particularly developing a stronger authentic sense of self. Confidence was found to have developed with technical ability, with many of the women feeling that qualifications such as the Mountain Leader were much closer and within reach. There was also shown to be a significant shift in the women’s frames of reference in learning situations and subsequent ability to participate in positive learning behaviours. Prior to the course the women observed that they could be drawn into proving behaviours including perfectionism, hiding their true ability and avoidance of failure, or asking questions. Post course interviews suggested that these behaviours had shifted, opening new possibilities of proactively “opting in” to stretch experiences at the edge of current capability which enabled further learning and professional development. Asking for help, acknowledging not knowing something or making a mistake had now become a normal part of the learning process rather than an act threatening to shine a spotlight on incompetence or incompatibility with the role. For some these changes had led to the booking of assessments such as the Mountain Leader, a practical step indicative of this perspective transformation. For others, there was an awareness of potentially limiting internal narratives and how conceptually they could be changed, but this had not yet led to sustained behaviour change, with some expressing concern as to how they would respond back in the “normal” environment. The findings from this research will now be used to illuminate approaches organisations and practitioners could adopt. Women Only—Not a “soft touch” Prior to the course some of the participants were motivated specifically by the female-only component, while others were unsure or neutral about this aspect. Unequivocally, the post course response to the female-only environment was positive, with all the women sharing that they would welcome further female-specific learning opportunities. However, how these experiences are packaged, marketed, designed and experienced can have a big impact on both their desirability as well as efficacy in moving towards gender equality. Issy shared:

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I think sometimes the perception of women’s only things is … it’s easier. Or to do with feelings … Or there’s not as much challenge. Or I’d be made to feel like I was … Had to fit this mould of being less capable

It has been common practice for women-only experiences to be promoted as introductory, remedial or a progression to the “real thing” (Mitten, 2018b) which only serves to further perpetuate gendered stereotypes and, it seems, turn some women off. The reality may be very different and can in fact challenge this notion, as Ava reflects: I was actually not very sold on the female only before the course. And then having done it, I think it’s awesome. Which was actually quite … one of the biggest surprises. I was worried that female only would be like a soft touch. Whereas actually it wasn’t that at all. I definitely felt challenged on the course and achieved things I didn’t think I could.

The value of female peers was found to be significant for Transformational Learning for two key reasons. Firstly, training alongside other “capable and powerful” women challenged the (unconsciously internalised) notion for some that the course may be pitched at a lower level due to women’s lower levels of technical expertise. Training with competent female peers and female leaders offered a contradiction to this which is not often experienced, as women can tend to find themselves in a minority on courses, with peers and in the outdoor workplace. Capable women, when encountered, can sometimes be viewed as an anomaly. In contrast, having a variety of female peer role models to train alongside meant the women experienced a variety of ways of displaying leadership and competency providing more opportunities to relate to those around them. Secondly, getting to know other capable female outdoor professionals at a similar stage of their qualification journey and hearing that they had faced comparable challenges in their working lives seemed to depersonalise some of the internal struggles participants felt. What were felt as personal issues with confidence transformed into a more critically conscious viewpoint incorporating some of the wider social structure and power relations which underpinned some of their experiences. This enabled some to question and reinterpret their ability to change their own situation to one which was more desirable.

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Insight for practice: Women’s courses have worth and should be understood to be more than introductory, remedial or an alternative for those who can’t cope in mixed-gender environments. Their value can be promoted, and they can be celebrated for the benefits they offer in terms of unique opportunities to learn from and with other capable women. Supportive AND Ambitious Supportive is not synonymous with easy. For this group of women, the supportive nature of the course was described in contrast to the “normal” outdoor culture and was found to be one of the most enabling factors when it came to Transformational Learning. Supportive was explained as the following (O’Brien & Allin, 2021): A very obvious lack of ego’, feeling ‘accepted’, genuinely understanding, valuing and helping each other towards goals, collaborating rather than competing, being able to ‘ask questions about anything’, and an ‘openness to being vulnerable and sharing how you’re feeling. (p. 7)

Participants described how technical challenges, that had previously appeared insurmountable, were now perceived as manageable because of feeling a sense of psychological safety, collaboration and belonging within the group. This enabled participants to actively pursue their more challenging goals, such as the ropework and security on steep ground aspects of the Mountain Leader. This was juxtaposed with other environments where participants had felt more likely to hold back or put difficult things off for fear of failure or embarrassment in front of peers. Rather than the supportive environment meaning easier tasks were undertaken, it seems that the opposite was true. Insight for practice: All outdoor professional development courses, such as the Mountain Leader, should feel supportive and enabling of all participants to learn effectively and pursue their goals. Course providers can recognise the influence and responsibility they have in providing and encouraging a collaborative and aspirational space while ensuring technical skills are demonstrated to the standard required.

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Connecting the Intra-personal and the Technical The blend of intra-personal, interpersonal and technical skills was new to many participants with several commenting on the heavier weighting towards technical skills they’d experienced previously. This is also a common finding within the outdoor literature (Kennedy & Russell, 2020). The intra-personal, and particularly growth mindset, was described as a thread woven throughout which kept reappearing. It is possible that gender role socialisation and widely held stereotypes (“women can’t read maps”), combined with the impact of microaggressions within the sector, promote a fixed mindset in some women. The subsequent disempowering ways of thinking, feeling and acting, such as avoidance of challenging situations, fear of failure and viewing effort as an indicator of incompetence, can become self-fulfilling prophecies perpetuating powerful internal barriers. Focusing on changing this aspect of the intra-personal landscape by including sessions which explicitly encouraged a growth mindset appeared to transform previously limiting frames of reference and enabled the women to engage with their own professional development more effectively. Participants described how they were able to experience a deeper level of self-reflection due to their relationships with the other women on the course. Research suggests that some aspects, such as the emotional and relational, can have more significance for women in beginning critical reflection, a crucial aspect of Transformational Learning (Taylor, 2000). This may be more apparent for women in the outdoors as an area that has previously been lacking due to the aforementioned favouring of technical skills. Women may also have found validity in being in an environment which placed equal value here, as it has been found women are often expected to use their interpersonal skills, despite technical ones being more highly valued within the culture (Jordan, 2018). When it came to technical skills, the women experienced themselves as competent in areas where they’d previously perceived were lacking. Because a woman’s sense of competence within outdoor leadership environments is largely based on their perceptions of themselves within a masculine context, their sense of competence and actual competence may be incongruent (Loeffler, 1995). Warren et al. (2018) further make the point that gendered socialisation meaning common outdoor skills have not been engrained from an early age and being relegated into pastoral or assistant type roles when training or working, may mean that women have simply

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had less time to practise outdoor technical skills than their male counterparts. Encouraging a growth mindset, purposeful practice, skills audits including personal reflection on competence against the qualification criteria, as well as feedback from staff and peers, enabled the women to experience a marked progression in both their actual skill level and perception of where they were at in relation to the assessment criteria. Insight for practice: All outdoor courses and workplaces can move towards consciously valuing intra-personal, interpersonal and technical competencies within their culture. Educating course providers and outdoor workforces about the impact of gendered socialisation and women’s experiences of the workplace on their ability to gain, recognise, accept and claim their technical competence may help (Warren et al., 2018).

Conclusion Women and men have equal value as outdoor leaders and are equally capable of learning and developing all the skills required to be a Mountain Leader and work in the outdoors. Taking a critical perspective on the gendered history of Mountain Leadership can help to situate women’s challenges within the wider cultural context, opening possibilities for change from within, as well as external change within the sector. The different genders are likely to have had different experiences of socialisation, as well as training and working in the outdoors. Recognising that women may have had encounters throughout their lives, in the outdoors as participants and within developing their professional careers that may be disempowering, or indicative of inferior status, means that consciously creating positive learning environments which foster improving rather than proving behaviours may be of particular benefit and relevance in supporting more women to develop a positive sense of self-efficacy. Research undertaken on the WOLC suggests that women-only experiences have clear value beyond the introductory or remedial, particularly when an approach combining the three aspects of intra-personal, interpersonal and technical learning is applied, using growth mindset as a framework. This supports the continuation of female-specific opportunities for women in the sector, as well as development of mixed-gender spaces to ensure a supportive and learning-focussed environment for all. Further research is required to determine the longer-term impacts of the WOLC, including participants’ responses when returning to mixed-gender environments. It

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may also be beneficial to explore the efficacy of an intervention which has a female-specific element alongside an organisational component so that learning can be more widely disseminated.

References Allin, L. (2003). Challenging careers for women? Negotiating identities in outdoor education. [Unpublished doctoral thesis]. Brunel University. Allin, L., & West, A. (2013). Feminist theory and outdoor leadership. In E. C. J. Pike & S. Beames (Eds.). Outdoor Adventure and Social Theory. Routledge. Aronson, J., Fried, C. B., & Good, C. (2002). Reducing the effects of stereotype threat on African American college students by shaping theories of intelligence. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 38(2), 113–125. https://doi. org/10.1006/jesp.2001.1491 Aronson, J., Lustina, M.  J., Good, C., Keough, K., Steele, C.  M., & Brown, J. (1999). When White men can’t do math: Necessary and sufficient factors in stereotype threat. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 35(1), 29–46. https://doi.org/10.1006/jesp.1998.1371 Avner, Z., Boocock, E., Hall, J., & Allin, L. (2021). ‘Lines of Flight or Tethered Wings’?: A Deleuzian Analysis of Women-specific Adventure Skills Courses in the United Kingdom. Somatechnics, 11(3), 432–450. Band, G. (2006). Summit: 150 Years of the Alpine Club (pp. 236–237). Collins. Colman, A. (2015). A dictionary of psychology. Oxford University Press. Retrieved May 13, 2022, from https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/ acref/9780199657681.001.0001/acref-­9780199657681 Cousineau, L., & Roth, J. (2012). Pervasive Patriarchal leadership ideology in seasonal summer camp staff. Leadership, 8(4), 421–440. Cranton, P., & Taylor, E. W. (2012). Transformative learning theory: Seeking a more unified theory. In E. Taylor & P. Cranton Associates (Eds.), The handbook of transformative learning: Theory, research, and practice (pp. 3–20). Jossey Bass. Darwin, C. (1886). The principal works of Charles Darwin: The origin of species; the descent of man. John B. Alden. Davis, M. (2019). Women Outward Bound. [Film] IMdPro. De Vries, J. (2006). Can’t we just fix the women? Designing a women’s leadership development program that challenges the organisation. In T. Jefferson, L. Lord, N. Nelson, & A. Preston (Eds.), Changes. Challenge., Choices. Conference proceedings from the Inaugural International Women and Leadership Conference, Fremantle, 16 & 17 November, 2006, pp. 108–127. Conference Proceedings from the Inaugural International Women and Leadership Conference, Fremantle, 16 and 17 November 2006, pp. 197-210. Available from www.cbs. curtin.edu.au/wiser

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Dirkx, J. (1998). Transformative learning theory in the practice of adult education: cit0017An overview. PAACE Journal of Lifelong Learning, 7, 1–14. Dweck, C. S. (2000). Self-theories: Their role in motivation personality and development. Francis and Taylor. Dweck, C. S. (2008). Can personality be changed? The role of beliefs in personality and change. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 17(6), 391–394. https://doi.org/10.1111/cdir.2008.17 Dweck, C. S., & Sorich, L. A. (1999). Mastery-oriented thinking. In C. R. Snyder (Ed.), Coping: The psychology of what works (pp.  232–251). Oxford University Press. Fielding-Lloyd, B., & Mean, L. (2008). Standards and separatism: The discursive construction of gender in English soccer coach education. Sex Roles, 58(1–2), 24–39. Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. Continuum. Gray, T., & Mitten, D. (2018b). The Palgrave international handbook of women and outdoor learning. Palgrave Macmillan. Griffiths, M. (1995). Feminisms and the self: The web of identity. Routledge. Hall, J. (2018). Women mountaineers and affect: Fear, play and the unknown. In H. Saul & E. Waterton (Eds.), Affective geographies of transformation, exploration and adventure (pp. 147–116). Routledge. Hall, J., & Doran, A. (2020). Researching female mountaineers. Capel Curig, Mountain Training UK (Unpublished Report). https://ray.yorksj.ac.uk/id/ eprint/4625/ Hardy, W., Roberts, R., & Hardy, L. (2019). Developing excellence in outdoor provision: Enhancing training pathways for outdoor qualifications – the mountain leader qualification. Mountain Training and Bangor University. Hornibrook, T., Brinkert, E., Parry, D., Seimens, R., Mitten, D., & Priest, S. (1997). The benefits and motivations of all women outdoor programs. Journal of Experiential Education, 20(3), 152–158. Jordan, D.  J. (2018). Ongoing challenges for women as outdoor leaders. In T.  Gray & D.  Mitten (Eds.), The Palgrave international handbook of women and outdoor learning (pp. 217–233). Palgrave Macmillan. Kaskan, E., & Ho, I. (2016). Microaggressions and female athletes. Sex Roles, 74(7), 275–287. Kennedy, J., & Russell, C. (2020). Hegemonic masculinity in outdoor education. Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning, 1–10. https://doi. org/10.1080/14729679.2020.1755706 Loeffler, T. A. (1995). Factors that influence women’s career development in outdoor leadership. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, University of Minnesota. Lugg, A. (2003). Women’s experiences of outdoor education: Still trying to be “one of the boys”? In B. Humberstone, H. Broen, & K. Richards (Eds.), Whose Journeys? The outdoors as social and cultural phenomena (pp. 33–48) Selected

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papers from the International Conference Buckingham Chilterns University College, England, April 2002. Mezirow, J. (1978). Perspective transformation. Adult Education, 28(2), 100–110. Mezirow, J. (1991). Transformative dimensions of adult learning. Jossey-Bass. Mezirow, J. (1997). Transformative learning: Theory into practice. New Directions for Adult and Continuing Education, 74, 5–12. Mezirow, J. (2000). Learning to think like an adult: Core concepts of transformation theory. In J.  Mezirow Associates (Ed.), Learning as transformation. Critical perspectives on a theory in progress (pp. 3–33). Jossey-Bass. Mitten, D. (1992). Empowering girls and women in the outdoors. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, 63(2), 56–60. Mitten, D. (2018b). Women and leadership: Commitments to nurturing, more than human worlds and fun. In T.  Gray & D.  Mitten (Eds.), The Palgrave international handbook of women and outdoor learning (pp. 109–128). Palgrave Macmillan. Mitten, D., Gray, T., Allen-Craig, S., Loeffler, T. A., & Carpenter, C. (2018). The invisibility cloak: Women’s contributions to outdoor and environmental education. Journal of Environmental Education, 49(4), 318–327. https://doi.org/1 0.1080/00958964.2017.1366890 Moffat, G. (2014). Space below my feet. Norman, L. (2014). A crisis of confidence: women coaches’ responses to their engagement in resistance. Sport, education and society, 19(5), 532–551. O’Brien, K., & Allin, L. (2021). Transformational learning through a women’s outdoor leadership course. Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning. https://doi.org/10.1080/14729679.2021.1925565 Outward Bound Trust UK. (2022). Outward Bound – About us. www.outwardbound.org.uk/about-­us/ Outward Bound UK. (2018). Women’s outdoor leadership course. https://www. outwardbound.org.uk/womens-­outdoor-­leadership-­course Piaget, J. (1950). The psychology of intelligence. Routledge. Rippon, G. (2019). The gendered brain. Penguin Random House. Sheilds, S. A. (2007). Passionate men, emotional women: Psychology constructs Gender Difference in the late 19th Century. History of Psychology, 10(2), 92–110. Spencer, S. J., Steele, C. M., & Quinn, D. M. (1999). Stereotype threat and women’s math performance. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 35(1), 4–28. Sport England. (2018). Active lives survey. Steele, C. M., & Aronson, J. (1995). Stereotype threat and the intellectual test performance of African Americans. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69(5), 797. Straker, J. (2018). Women’s voices in the outdoors. In T.  Gray & D.  Mitten (Eds.), The Palgrave international handbook of women and outdoor learning (pp. 95–108). Palgrave Macmillan.

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Stuart, K. (2018). Alice through the looking glass: An autoethnographic account of women’s leadership in outdoor education in the UK. In T. Gray & D. Mitten (Eds.), The Palgrave international handbook of women and outdoor learning (pp. 235–246). Palgrave Macmillan. Taylor, E. W. (2000). Analyzing research on transformative learning. In J. Mezirow (Ed.), Learning as transformation (pp. 285–328). Jossey-Bass. Tulle, E. (2022). Rising to the gender challenge in Scotland: Women’s embodiment of the disposition to be mountaineers. International Review for the Sociology of Sport. https://doi.org/10.1177/10126902221078748 Warren, K., & Loeffler, T. A. (2006). Factors that influence women’s technical skill development in outdoor adventure. Journal of Adventure Education & Outdoor Learning, 6(2), 107–119. Warren, K., Risinger, S., & Loeffler, T.  A. (2018). Challenges faced by women outdoor leaders. In T. Gray & D. Mitten (Eds.), The Palgrave international handbook of women and outdoor learning (pp. 247–258). Palgrave Macmillan. Whittington, A. (2018). Changing Girls’ Lives: One Programme at a Time. In Gray, T., Mitten, D. (eds) The Palgrave International Handbook of Women and Outdoor Learning. Palgrave Studies in Gender and Education. Palgrave Macmillan. (pp. 661–671) https://doi-org.yorksj.idm.oclc. org/10.1007/978-3-319-53550-0_45 Wraga, M., Helt, M., Sullivan, E., & Jacobs, K. (2007). Neural basis of stereotype-­ induced shifts in women’s mental rotation performance. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 2(1), 12–19.

CHAPTER 14

An Autoethnographic Writing of Mountain Skill Courses Emma Boocock

Introduction The past decade has seen a marked growth in participation in adventure sports (Breivik, 2010; Morton, 2018), including a welcome increase in girls and women’s involvement. The benefits of outdoor sports participation have been well-established, with scholars and participants acknowledging the increased sense of competence (Laurendeau, 2006), the ability to escape from the “trappings of modernity” (Atkinson, 2010a, 2010b), and the potential for positive self-transformations (Brymer & Oades, 2009; O’Brien & Allin, 2022). As such, there has been a steady growth in girls’ and women’s participation in adventure sports over the last decade, which is a welcome development. While acknowledging these positive gains for women and girls, as research has also shown, social disparities and inequalities remain integral to most adventure sporting contexts (Doran et al., 2018; Morton, 2018). For example, adventure sports are

E. Boocock (*) Northumbria University, Newcastle, UK e-mail: [email protected] © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 J. Hall et al. (eds.), Gender, Politics and Change in Mountaineering, Global Culture and Sport Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29945-2_14

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still largely characterised by a lack of ethnic and racial diversity as well as the underrepresentation of women and minority groups in outdoor leadership positions (Allin & West, 2013; Gray & Mitten, 2018; Warren & Loeffler, 2006). Although these disparities and inequalities are being addressed more systematically by adventure sport educators, outdoor centres, and local and national governing bodies through different strategies and initiatives (e.g. women-specific learning environments), there remains a dearth of literature which understands their impact, efficacy, and (un)intended consequences. Recently there has been a drive towards addressing research which has a focus on women’s learning and skill development experiences in both recreational and professional outdoor contexts (Avner et  al., 2021; O’Brien & Allin, 2022). Avner et  al. (2021) examine women’s experiences of women-specific skills courses at a national outdoor centre in the UK. Here, the authors began to break down the enduring stereotypes that women only access women-only/specific spaces because they lack confidence in their skills and abilities. The authors challenge the reductionist assumptions of women’s motivations behind participating in women-only spaces, and shift our understanding towards a more layered and complex understanding of women’s participation in women-specific courses. Some of these include women who want to ‘take the lead’, in outdoor partnerships they may have; escaping egos and patronising attitudes; and finally their desire to experience different types of relationships, whether that be “to their body, others, learning, material objects, or the movement and activity itself—which far extended simply attending to an ‘absence’ or ‘lack’ in confidence, competence, or ability to operate within mixed-­ gender outdoor participation settings” (Avner et al., 2021, p. 443). In a professional leadership development setting, Kate O’Brien and Linda Allin (2022) explore transformational learning through a women’s leadership course. This paper focused on the experiences of a group of women on a leadership programme delivered by Outward Bound, UK. In particular, the authors acknowledged that a key contributing factor to the success of the women completing this programme was because of the supportive environment, the focus on learning, the challenge and reflection, and their relationships with female peers. Similarly, Avner et  al. (2021) highlighted the lack of ego and a genuine sense of supportiveness to reach their potential. Their shared sense of connectedness allowed the women on the programme to challenge each other and lead to positive transformations—“For these women, encountering other powerful outdoor

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women who contradicted the stereotypes they had potentially internalised, and realising there was another way to experience the outdoors, was such a moment” (O’Brien & Allin, 2022, p. 199). What both these papers show is women’s participation and outdoor leadership experiences continue to be shaped by gender role stereotyping and dualistic thinking, whereby women are expected to either take a peripheral role or act more like men (Warren et al., 2018). However, with the opportunity and the right environment, women can and will thrive in outdoor spaces. Nevertheless, women are still bound within masculine mountain spaces and continue to have to work harder in order to be perceived as “competent” and to avoid being seen as “troublemakers” (Hall, 2018). This chapter aims to build on the work of scholars in this field, by providing an autoethnographic account of my own experiences within both mixed-gendered and women-only spaces. Granted, it was not until I started investigating women’s experiences in the mountains in 2019 that I appreciated how pervasive gender stereotypes were in mountain spaces. Therefore, the aim of this chapter is to reflexively analyse my own experiences of participating in various women-specific and mixed-gender adventure sport skills courses and provide some broader reflections on the affordances and limitations of women-specific spaces as a strategy for change.

Autoethnographic Writing In an effort to move beyond traditional approaches to research generation and dissemination, an autoethnographic approach was adopted as a novel method for extending our understanding of women’s experiences in mountain skill courses. Autoethnography has been cited as a methodology with “considerable untapped opportunity” (Anderson & Austin, 2012, p. 131), with it being used successfully in beginning to explore mountain guiding (Beedie, 2003), triathlons (Kidder, 2006), rollerblading (Kahn, 2009), and whitewater rafting (Jonas et  al., 2003). Autoethnographies offer “highly personalised accounts that draw upon the experience of the author/researcher for the purposes of extending sociological understanding” (Sparkes, 2000, p. 21). There are two distinct approaches to autoethnography that a writer can take. The first is evocative autoethnography, which seeks to stimulate emotional empathy and perspective. The second is analytical autoethnography, which employs traditional theoretical and

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conceptual analyses that align with social science epistemologies (Snow et al., 2003). This chapter draws on an evocative autoethnography to facilitate emotional identification with others’ experiences in similar spaces. It is hoped that this approach would allow the reader to empathise and relate to the authentic emotions and experiences conveyed in the memoirs that are presented, and thereby gain an understanding of the value of future women-specific courses in mountain spaces.

Methodology Autoethnographic memoirs were generated across a period of six years, after each involvement with an adventure skill course. The courses featured in this chapter are taken from the Introduction to Winter Skills in 2017 in Aviemore, Scotland; an Introduction to Winter Mountaineering in 2018 in Aviemore, Scotland; and finally, the Women’s Adventure Weekend in 2019 in Aviemore, Scotland. The Introduction to Winter Skills course in 2017 had six participants in total, all were male, except myself. The core focus of the two-day winter skills course was to broadly learn how to use an ice axe, walk with crampons, and plan a safe day in the hills with winter weather conditions and navigate potential hazards, like avalanches. The Introduction to Winter Mountaineering in 2018 was a private course, involving only my partner and I. The core features of this skill course were to move our winter skill walking knowledge on to steeper and rockier terrain, by being able to place climbing gear and protect ourselves in winter conditions. The Women’s Adventure Weekend in 2019 saw around 50 women participating in kayaking, mountain biking, rock climbing and navigation courses across the weekend. I was involved in the mountain biking programme that weekend, which saw five other women and I learn and develop our mountain biking handling skills over varying terrain. After each skills course I would write a set of notes, largely on what I had learned from the course, focusing specifically on the technical aspects covered (i.e. knots/rope skills). However, the writing soon evolved into exploring my overall experiences on the skill courses and my position as a female within those mountain spaces. It became almost like a diary, and I began to engage with evocative autoethnography to articulate my emotions during these skills courses. For the purpose of this chapter, the initial notes have been rewritten into memoirs in order to better display the experience during the skill courses. These memoirs will be presented first, with sense making to follow.

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Memoir 1: Differing Bodies—“I just can’t keep pace” My first winter skills two-day course stays with me. Not just for the things I learnt and experienced, but also because of how aware I was of my gender. I’ve never been one to be bothered too much by being the only woman in the room, and never really shied away from experiences because of my gender. But January 2017 stays with me and has probably shaped my experiences and interest in this topic ever since. I attended my first winter skills course in January 2017 with my partner, Matt. We were keen to push our mountain skills beyond ‘good weather’ hiking, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity. Turning up to the course, I was nervous but excited. As I looked around though, I noticed one big thing. I was the only woman. Now, this doesn’t tend to put me off, and to be honest I felt fine about being the only woman in that space on that first day. Most of the men were 6 ft tall, which did make me wonder how I would match up when out in the hills. But I knew I was fit, and knew I could generally hold my own on the mountains. But, when we were out on the second day, trudging through deep snow, my gender really came to the forefront. After having done several ice axe arrests down a snowy slope, we were trudging back to the Cairngorm summit. After only a couple of minutes of walking behind the group, I noticed that I was quite far behind. My footsteps, unfortunately, shorter than the men in the group, meant that I had to kick additional steps into the snow for me to make progress. This meant that I fell behind without anyone, bar my partner noticing. At that moment I felt disheartened. As much as the instructor was great throughout the course, this was one thing he had failed to notice. I simply couldn’t keep up. After a few hundred yards I was exhausted, but knew I had to keep pace to try and stay on the tail of everyone. When the instructor finally noticed how far behind I had become (and Matt at this point), he stopped the group for me to catch up. When getting to the group I could feel the exasperated annoyance at having to wait in the cold, windswept space. No one looked at all out of breath, yet here I was puffing and panting, and clearly struggling to keep pace. That’s when I first felt inferior in this mountain space. Matching up against 6ft men, I literally had no chance of being able to keep pace in this snowy landscape. The additional physical and emotional labour I had had to endure further up the mountain really started to show as we got closer to the ski resort at the end of the day. While much of the group were yards and yards ahead, I was still battling with the never-ending steps that lead off the mountain and to the café. Intentionally or unintentionally, the members of the group, and the instructor made me feel like I couldn’t compete in that space. I wasn’t fit

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enough, strong enough, fast enough. The additional physical labour that I had endured was in effect wasted, because to them, I wasn’t competent enough to be in that space. Although elated at what we had done and experienced that day, I felt defeated, and for the first time questioned my place and belonging in this landscape.

Memoir 2: “Why are you treating me so differently?” With the spindrift beating down on my face, I take another piece of gear out of the rock. Scottish mountaineering at its best apparently. Four degrees, with a windchill factor of about minus 10, we are being guided up a gully in the Cairngorms, Scotland. We are on the introduction to winter mountaineering course, with an instructor who seems to have a bit of a distaste for inexperienced mountaineers like us! Making our way to top out of the gully, I’m getting pulled and dragged in every direction. My harness dragged my body to the top, piercing my legs and groin. When topping out, we suddenly find out why. Wind gusts of about 30 mph were buffeting our instructor as he belayed us to safety. “Keep low” he kept shouting! Not that I didn’t know already. I could barely stand up as it was, especially with him pulling at my harness so fiercely. Once down and in the shelter of the hostel café, we debriefed the day and planned for the next. With the weather deteriorating, we decided we would head out to a crag, not too far from the hostel to practise some rope skills. With more chances to ‘chat’ at the crag, rather than on a snowy gully, it started to become apparent the clear differences in how the instructor treated Matt and I.  It was almost like chalk and cheese! I became acutely aware of this when the instructor explained how to abseil. With an exasperated sigh the instructor talks Matt through the process of setting up the abseil again. I can noticeably see him getting frustrated with having to explain this again—even though this isn’t something you should get wrong. Once Matt had gone through it again, attention was thrown to me. I was hyper aware of the potential annoyance the instructor might throw my way when I ask him to explain it again. But it never came. He patiently talked me through how to set the anchor and tie back in to lower myself down. He treated me with care, and lowered tones. The complete opposite to Matt, who got aggression, annoyance and severity in his tone. In that moment it was clear that I was getting treated differently and that Matt was too. Despite having the same level of experience as each other in terms of rope skills, I was getting treated in a way that assumed I knew nothing. Matt however was talked to as though he should already know it. Inadvertently then, whether the instructor did it

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intentionally or not, we were treated entirely differently from one another based on our gender, rather than our experience. We never did pick that guiding company again for other mountain skill courses.

Memoir 3: There’s Just a Different Energy My only experiences of women-only/specific spaces are when I have engaged groups in research projects. This reflection is no different. In the summer of 2019, I was part of the women’s adventure weekend at a national outdoor centre. I was there to lead a research project into women’s experiences of the weekend. I had zero expectations as to what it was going to be like, other than to try and immerse myself in the weekend and talk to the women involved. I was part of the mountain biking session, which saw five women of differing abilities come together to improve their handling on their mountain bikes. The sun was shining, and for Northern Scotland, this was something to be celebrated! Once in the room with conversation starting about our own experiences and what we hoped to learn, I felt a different sense of connection to those women at that moment, compared to other skill courses I had been on. A sense of vulnerability that we perhaps hide in other spaces, being opened for everyone to see. This was noticed when all of the groups came back together on the final day for an ‘end of course discussion’ about women-only/specific environments. As you entered the room you felt a tangible buzz in the air. It almost cackled. The energy was high after two days of learning and experiencing new things. You felt it almost in your soul. As you looked round the room, rosy faces greeted you, and a clear sense of accomplishment and awe at what they had been involved in. When the leader of the discussion went round the room, asking about what makes this space different to mixed-gendered environments, most agreed that you just felt different, safe, and comfortable to ask questions, not to be judged, or not to have ego’s in the way of engaging with the day. Ripples of agreement went round the room when it was asked whether they would actively seek out spaces like this again. Even I found myself agreeing, having never experienced this before. That deep sense of connection to your fellow female. The acceptance that they knew what you had experienced before. It’s hard to put into words the tangible energy that was felt in that room after the skills courses. And that is probably the reason why some don’t understand the need for these spaces until they have been there and experienced it for themselves. It isn’t just about providing a safe space for women, it’s about the support they get, the unquestionable ear that listens rather than judges. I walked away from that weekend feeling lighter. Feeling

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powerful. I have never once walked away from another skills course feeling that way. My skills on my mountain bike didn’t necessarily improve, but what did was my sense of feeling like I belonged to a community. A community that cared and wanted to forge a way forward for women in these spaces to belong. Four years on, and I am still in touch with the participants on that mountain bike course.

Sense Making In a bid to make sense of the three memoirs in this chapter, three core themes have been identified, which aim to correlate those experiences with the current literature in the area. The first theme is the additional emotional and physical labour that women continue to endure in mountain spaces, both in our careers and in our leisure pursuits. The second theme relates to the continued intended and unintended sexism within mountain spaces. Finally, the third theme addresses women-only spaces and their place within the future of mountaineering. Additional Emotional and Physical Labour Women’s presence in mountaineering and mountain spaces continues to be contested both psychologically and physically, and women continue to work hard to legitimise their endeavours within these spaces. Mountaineering and other such ventures have been described as male sports, whereby the view of the male adventurer conquers summits and undertakes immense achievements in extreme environments. As such, although women have been incredibly successful in their own right, there is still a major representation of women being thought of as ‘soft’ and less significant than men in these spaces (Frohlick, 2005). Because of women’s lack of legitimacy within the mountains, women have had to endure additional emotional and physical labour in order to survive and also conquer. Memoir one speaks to the additional labour that my body and mind had to endure during the skills course. Given the natural physical differences between course members and I, there was significant additional physical labour which tangibly showed itself during that course. Not only this, the additional emotional labour that was endured both during and after the course, was something that I did not anticipate. Those feelings of insignificance and weakness continued to make me question my legitimacy within that space. Hochschild (1983) described emotional labour as “the

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management of feeling to create a publicly observable facial and bodily display” (p. 7). Torland (2011) goes on to suggest that continued emotional labour can be draining for individuals and lead to feeling a sense of inauthenticity. So, whilst I celebrated with the group at having completed the two-day course and thanked the instructor for their time, my real emotions under the surface actually promoted those feelings of inadequacy and feminine weakness in that space. That internalising of emotions was something I had not anticipated or fully recognised until I experienced a women’s-only space in 2019 and felt my sense of self and legitimacy be confirmed in that space. Within that space, in memoir three, I felt at ease with my physicality and my legitimacy within that space. I did not need to question my knowledge or my skill level. There was an openness to not knowing or not being able to physically carry on. This openness counters those dominant norms of masculinity and understandings of expertise within mountain spaces, which continue to hinder learning, change, and innovation in many coaching, sporting, and physical activity contexts (Avner et al., 2021; Mills & Denison, 2018). Despite the progress being made to dampen the hypermasculinised nature of mountaineering and mountain spaces, women continue to experience this both in their career and in their leisure time (Hall & Brown, 2022). Perhaps there is still a need to redesign the room (Sharp, 2001) and consider not just how women are viewed in these spaces, but how both male and female instructors are addressing their pedagogical practices in order to address the additional emotional and physical labours that women endure in these spaces. It may also be suggested that it is not just the pedagogical delivery of these courses, but the actual content and structure which closes doors for women or makes them question their presence within these spaces (Sharp, 2001). So, although the additional negative physical and emotional labour I experienced within the winter environment could be accountable to instructor pedagogy, there is a need to develop our ability to support a diversity of bodies and raise instructors’ awareness of gendered dynamics to better support participants undertaking winter skill courses in the future. Unconscious Bias and Sexism Throughout the literature there seems to be a consensus that sexism and gender biases still occur and occupy a lot of space in mountain landscapes, both for female leaders and participants (e.g. Rak, 2021; Warren et  al.,

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2018; Warren et al., 2019; Warren & Loeffler, 2006). As also discussed in Chap. 8, gender stereotyping along the masculine–feminine gender binary is a significant factor affecting women in outdoor spaces, specifically because of gender bias (Eagly & Carli, 2007; Rogers & Rose, 2019). There is often stereotyping of women who take on feminine leadership styles, who are often seen as less competent. In contrast, those who make directive and assertive decisions are frequently perceived as too masculine and often find themselves ostracised (Humberstone, 2000; Wittmer, 2001). This is also experienced in the participatory field of outdoor sports whereby women who show strength and exceptional skill competencies are often termed masculine or ‘not normal’. Because of implicit and also explicit gender bias, women often underestimate or devalue their own competencies and skills within outdoor spaces, leading to feelings of a decreased sense of self and unworthiness. Certainly, within memoir two, the outdoor instructor confirmed those gender biases by making clear assumptions that I, as the female in the duo, would naturally want to ask questions and continue to repeat skills. Whereas there was also an assumption that my male counterpart should know and already be competent in those technical skills, undermining both my partner and myself. Whether this was intentional or not, it still brings to question the innate gender biases and overt sexism which still occur and continue to be reinforced in adventure skill courses by instructors. In Warren and Loeffler’s paper in 2006, they examined some factors which often distort women’s opportunities for technical skill learning. A central feature of this was the existence of both territorial and linguistic sexism. Territorial sexism suggests that the control of the common space by men is one to claim and maintain power (Van Nostrand, 1993). This can be seen when skills are being taught: the men are usually at the front of the crowd, positioning themselves at the front of the action, whereas women will often position themselves behind in a more observational role. Whilst Warren and Loeffler (2006) acknowledge that this may not be overt territorial sexism, it raises questions as to how acutely aware instructors are of this and how the learning environment could be manipulated in order to disrupt this in the future. Linguistic sexism refers to the use of language which may marginalise or invalidate a person’s experience. In memoir two, we see the invalidation of my partners’ experience through instructional tone and body language that the instructor used towards him. Whilst most instructors unintentionally do this, it is important that instructors continue to question their unconscious bias, which excludes

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those of difference, be sensitive to the gender role expectations of their participants (both male and female), and be willing to interrogate and interrupt the conditioning of territorial and linguistic sexism within outdoor spaces (Warren et al., 2019). Women-Only Spaces To address inequalities in the outdoors, the development of women-only or women-specific courses has become more popular over the last decade. Courses provided by national outdoor centres, national governing bodies, and other organisations (e.g. Women’s Climbing Symposium; Trad Festival) offer a space for women who want to progress. There have been a number of studies which have shown that women or girls who take part in these courses or events, gain a sense of empowerment, and often talk about an increased sense of belonging in those spaces (Avner et al., 2021; Hornibrook et  al., 1997; Mitten, 1992; O’Brien & Allin, 2022; Whittington, 2018). Despite this, women-only, or women-specific, courses have come under scrutiny with some suggesting that can be perceived as divisive (Hall & Doran, 2020), or reinforce gender stereotypes (Fielding-Lloyd & Mean, 2011). Interestingly, those courses that have been developed have largely been introductory courses, aimed at those entering the outdoor space, rather than technical skill development past the introductory stage. Although these courses aim to be inclusive to some, it naturally excludes some women who want advanced skill development, therefore being exclusionary by default. While there is agreement that women-specific courses do not offer a panacea for addressing the systemic-gendered discourses within the outdoor industry, they do offer women something which they do not get elsewhere. Although not the only reason why women access these spaces, the development of or change in confidence levels was echoed throughout the literature as to why women access these spaces (Avner et  al., 2021; O’Brien & Allin, 2022). As reflected in memoir one, I was feeling a severe lack of confidence in my physical and technical abilities after the ‘mixed’ winter skills course. My sense of self was decidedly low and had been impacted by the gendered comparisons that I was exposed to on that programme (e.g. feeling physically weak). However, after engaging in a women-only space, for just two days (memoir 3), I had almost a ‘subjective reframing’ (Mezirow, 2000) whereby I felt like I did belong in that space and that my voice and my skills did matter. Traditionally, women’s

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voices have been marginalised or silenced, and their capabilities within the outdoors judged and demoralised by our male counterparts (Belenky & Stanton, 2000). However, as Freire (1970) explains, “The criteria of knowledge imposed upon them are the conventional ones … Almost never do they realise that they, too, know things” (p. 63). Thus, the women’s space that I was involved in, in 2019, confirmed to me that I too did know things, and I too was a valued member in those spaces. Not to be judged or competed against, but to be supported and recognised for my contribution. This is supported by O’Brien and Allin (2022), whereby trainee instructors, on a women-only programme, noted that they changed their frame of reference to acknowledge that “they no longer saw lack of knowledge as an indication of weakness, inferiority or incompetence but rather as a sign of authenticity and opportunity to learn” (p. 196). Women’s participation in the outdoors is subject to prejudice and discriminatory ideas that women are less worthy, less capable, less confident, and overly emotional beings which show weakness (Humberstone, 2000). However, the openness to not knowing, involvement in a space which promotes authenticity, contradicts the dominant norms of masculinity which dominates these spaces and as a result can lead to change, innovation, and enhanced learning (Avner et al., 2021; O’Brien & Allin, 2022). So, although women-­ only, or women-specific, spaces are being continually questioned, there remains a body of evidence both academically and personally that supports the continuation and promotion of these spaces in order to better support women and their feelings of authenticity and legitimacy within these spaces.

Concluding Thoughts The aim of this chapter was to provide an evocative autoethnography to show my own experiences with both mixed and single-gender mountain skill courses in the UK. The reflections provided show some of the affordances of women-only/specific spaces and also show the authentic emotions and experiences faced during mixed-gendered spaces. From my own experiences, additional physical and emotional labour was encountered in two mixed-gendered winter training courses. Although physical exertion within these spaces is not unexpected, the individual pedagogies of instructors and their ability to notice and address the differences within a group are important to highlight, in order for change to occur. Further, intended and unintended sexism was evident and not just portrayed to myself as a

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female, but also to my male counterpart, again raising questions about instructor personal biases and assumptions over what is known and not known by men and women in these spaces. Finally, although women-­ only/specific spaces do not offer a panacea to offset the gender conversation within mountaineering, it does offer women the capacity for new affective intensities, experiences, and embodiments to support their continuation in the outdoors (Avner et al., 2021). Bob Sharp’s (2001) past attempts at highlighting the need to redesign the room in outdoor spaces have been somewhat unsuccessful. Unquestionably, if my experiences and memoirs are anything to go by, mountain skill courses’ content, structure, and most importantly the pedagogies of instructors need to be addressed in order to facilitate greater access to a wider diversity of participants and an overall sense of inclusion.

References Allin, L., & West, A. (2013). Feminist theory and outdoor leadership. In E.  C. J.  Pike & S.  Beames (Eds.), Outdoor adventure and social theory (pp. 125–136). Routledge. Anderson, L., & Austin, M. (2012). Auto-ethnography in leisure studies. Leisure Studies, 31(2), 131–146. Atkinson, M. (2010a). Fell running in post-sport territories. Qualitative Research in Sport and Exercise, 2(2), 109–132. Atkinson, M. (2010b). Entering scapeland: Yoga, fell and post-sport physical cultures. Sport in Society, 13(7–8), 1249–1267. Avner, Z., Boocock, E., Hall, J., & Allin, L. (2021). ‘Lines of Flight or Tethered Wings’?: A Deleuzian analysis of women-specific adventure skills courses in the United Kingdom. Somatechnics, 11(3), 432–450. Beedie, P. (2003). Mountain guiding and adventure tourism: Reflections on the choreography of the experience. Leisure Studies, 22, 147–167. Belenky, M. F., & Stanton, A. V. (2000). Inequality, development, and connected knowing. Learning as transformation: Critical perspectives on a theory in progress (pp. 71–102). Jossey-Bass. Breivik, G. (2010). Trends in adventure sports in a post-modern society. Sport in Society, 13(2), 260–273. Brymer, E., & Oades, L. G. (2009). Extreme sports: A positive transformation in courage and humility. Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 49(1), 114–126. Doran, A., Schofield, P., & Low, T. (2018). Women’s mountaineering tourism: An empirical investigation of its theoretical constraint dimensions. Leisure Studies, 37(4), 396–410.

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Fielding-Lloyd, B., & Meân, L. (2011). I don’t think I can catch it’: Women, confidence and responsibility in football coach education. Soccer & Society, 12(3), 345–364. Freire, P. (1970). Cultural action for freedom (pp.  476–521). Harvard educational review. Frohlick, S. (2005). ‘That playfulness of white masculinity’ Mediating masculinities and adventure at mountain film festivals. Tourist studies, 5(2), 175–193. Gray, T., & Mitten, D. (Eds.). (2018). The Palgrave international handbook of women and outdoor learning. Palgrave Macmillan. Hall, J. (2018). Women mountaineers: A study of affect, sensoria and emotion. Unpublished doctoral thesis, York St John University. https://ray.yorksj. ac.uk/id/eprint/3793/ Hall, J., & Brown, M. K. (2022). Creating feelings of inclusion in adventure tourism: Lessons from the gendered, sensory and affective politics of professional mountaineering. Annals of Tourism Research, 97. https://doi.org/10.1016/j. annals.2022.103505 Hall, J., & Doran, A. (2020). Researching women in mountaineering, United Kingdom, 2020. Hochschild, A. R. (1983). The managed heart: Commercialization of human feeling. University of California Press. Hornibrook, T., Brinkert, E., Parry, D., Seimens, R., Mitten, D., & Priest, S. (1997). The benefits and motivations of all women outdoor programs. Journal of Experiential Education, 20(3), 152–158. Humberstone, B. (2000). The ‘outdoor industry’ as social and educational phenomena: Gender and outdoor adventure/education. Journal of Adventure Education & Outdoor Learning, 1(1), 21–35. Jonas, L.  M., Stewart, W.  P., & Larkin, K.  W. (2003). Encountering Heidi: Audiences for a wilderness adventurer identity. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 32, 403–431. Kahn, C.  A. (2009). Go play in traffic: Skating, gender, and urban context. Qualitative Inquiry, 15, 1084–1102. Kidder, J. L. (2006). Bike messengers and the really real: Effervescence, reflexivity, and postmodern identity. Symbolic Interaction, 29, 349–371. Laurendeau, J. (2006). “He didn’t go in doing a skydive”: Sustaining the illusion of control in an edgework activity. Sociological Perspectives, 49(4), 583–605. Mezirow, J. (2000). Learning as transformation: Critical perspectives on a theory in progress. The Jossey-Bass Higher and Adult Education Series. Jossey-Bass Publishers. Mills, J. P., & Denison, J. (2018). How power moves: A Foucauldian analysis of (in) effective coaching. International Review for the Sociology of Sport, 53(3), 296–312.

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Mitten, D. (1992). Empowering girls and women in the outdoors. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, 63(2), 56–60. Morton, S. (2018). Using qualitative methodology to better understand why females experience barriers to regular participation in adventure sport in Scotland. Sport in Society, 21(2), 185–200. O’Brien, K., & Allin, L. (2022). Transformational learning through a women’s outdoor leadership course. Journal of Adventure Education and Outdoor Learning, 22(2), 191–202. Rak, J. (2021). False summit: Gender in mountaineering nonfiction. McGill-­ Queen’s Press-MQUP. Rogers, E.  B., & Rose, J. (2019). A critical exploration of women’s gendered experiences in outdoor leadership. Journal of Experiential Education, 42(1), 37–50. Sharp, B. (2001). Take me to your (male) leader. Gender and Education, 13(1), 75–86. Snow, D., Morrill, C., & Anderson, L. (2003). Elaborating analytical ethnography: Linking fieldwork and theory. Ethnography, 2, 181–200. Sparkes, A. C. (2000). Autoethnography and narratives of self: Reflections on criteria in action. Sociology of Sport Journal, 17, 21–43. Torland, M. (2011). Emotional labour and job satisfaction of adventure tour leaders: Does gender matter? Annals of Leisure Research, 14(4), 369–389. Van Nostrand, C. H. (1993). Gender-responsible leadership. Newbury Park, CA: Sage. Warren, K., & Loeffler, T.  A. (2006). Factors that influence women’s technical skill development in outdoor adventure. Journal of Adventure Education & Outdoor Learning, 6(2), 107–119. Warren, K., Mitten, D., D’amore, C., & Lotz, E. (2019). The gendered hidden curriculum of adventure education. Journal of Experiential Education, 42(2), 140–154. Warren, K., Risinger, S., & Loeffler, T.  A. (2018). Challenges faced by women outdoor leaders. In The Palgrave international handbook of women and outdoor learning (pp. 247–258). Palgrave Macmillan. Whittington, A. (2018). Changing girls’ lives: One programme at a time. In The Palgrave international handbook of women and outdoor learning (pp. 661–671). Palgrave Macmillan. Wittmer, C. R. (2001). Leadership and gender-role congruency: A guide for wilderness and outdoor practitioners. Journal of Experiential Education, 24(3), 173–178.

Index1

NUMBERS AND SYMBOLS 8000 metre peaks, 65 A Ableism, 6, 74, 75, 79, 80, 84 Ableist, 5, 90, 133, 143 Aconcagua, 89, 101 Activism, 32, 33, 129, 130, 136, 142, 145, 171–173 Adaptive Climbing Group, 130 Adrenaline, 23 Adventure sport skills courses, 8, 259 Advocacy, 129, 135, 136, 139, 142, 143, 145 Affective, 4, 8, 94, 269 Age, 2, 32, 33, 39, 74, 76, 113, 131, 213, 251 Agent Provocateur, 174 Aggression, 2, 262

Ahmed, Sara, 35, 132, 133, 139, 143–145 Alpine Club, 51, 55–57, 62, 64, 241 Alpine Journal, 55 Alpinism, 4 Alpinist, 138, 142 Amanda Blackhorse, 130 American, 24, 25, 131, 132, 134, 136, 141, 142, 146, 162 Andes, 123 Anglo-Saxon, 57 Annapurna III, 40, 42, 43, 45 Annapurna South Face, 65 Annapurna, The first conquest, 66 Anthropocentric, 7, 210, 211 Anti-colonialism, 6 Anti-racism, 6, 130–132 Archive of rebellion, 145 Asian women, 35, 42 Assemblages, 110, 117, 121

 Note: Page numbers followed by ‘n’ refer to notes.

1

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 J. Hall et al. (eds.), Gender, Politics and Change in Mountaineering, Global Culture and Sport Series, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29945-2

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Assessment, 41, 156, 157, 159, 163, 238, 242, 243, 246, 248, 252 Athleticism, 54, 56, 213, 216 Authenticity, 246, 268 Autobiography, 5, 25, 32, 53 Autoethnographic, 8, 242, 257–269 B Bakhtin, 216 Banff mountain film festival, 215 Barker, Mary, 17 Batard, Marc, 63 Baudelaire, Charles, 224 Behaviours, 24, 42, 97, 98, 100, 122, 156, 160, 162, 179, 189–193, 195–197, 201, 215, 246, 248, 252 BelayALL, 130, 142 Belaying, 83 Belonging, 7, 20, 60, 155, 242, 246, 250, 262, 267 Benevolent sexism, 190, 192 Binary, 2, 80, 82, 91, 111, 156, 173, 188, 198, 200, 211, 213, 266 Biography, 103 Bisexual, 90, 91 Black Girls’ Hike, 157 Black Lives Matter (BLM), 129, 143, 145 B-line, 144 Blum, Arlene, 41, 77, 134 Body Weather dance, 220, 222 Body without Organs (BWO), 110 Bonnington, Chris, 45 Bourdillon, F. W., 62 Bravery, 2, 19, 20, 23, 39 British Empire, 55, 56, 212 British Isles, 24 British Mountaineering Council (BMC), 154, 162 Brotherhood of the rope, 77 Brown Girls Climb, 130, 140–142 Buddhism, 229

C Cairngorm mountain, 7, 210, 217–219 Cairngorms National Park Authority, 218 Canada, 6, 75, 129–132, 134–136, 158 Carabiners, 78 Careers, 6, 155, 156, 160, 194, 198, 238, 252, 264 Cartographer, 26 Caucasus, 65 Childcare, 44, 163 Children, 16, 20, 38, 44, 67, 83, 163 Chilly climate, 196, 197 Cho Oyu, 31 Choreographer, 217 Cisgender, 108, 120 Classification, 2, 98, 188, 189 Classist, 5, 33 Climbers of Color, 130 Climb the Gap, 130, 133, 139, 143 Coaching, 4, 77, 154, 155, 158, 159, 162, 178, 265 Codification, 2, 56 Coleridge, Samuel Taylor, 15–17, 23 Collective Liberation Climbing, 130 Colloquial language, 140 Colonial, 33, 65, 129, 130, 132, 135, 143, 144, 146, 211–213, 220, 221, 229, 230 Colonialism, 33, 37, 77, 123, 130–136, 138, 145, 211, 230 Colonisation, 2, 57, 134 Commodification, 36, 123, 174 Compass, 22, 27 Competence/competencies, 7, 78, 79, 82, 156–158, 163, 242, 244, 246, 251, 252, 257, 258, 266 Competition, 2, 57, 66, 195, 209–211, 231 Conceptualise, 5, 173

 INDEX 

Confidence, 76, 79, 123, 134, 155, 158, 162, 242, 244, 248, 249, 258, 267 Connell, Raewyn, 2, 5, 52, 54, 58, 61, 63, 64, 66 Conquest, 20, 26, 57, 65, 67, 132, 136, 209–212 Constraint, 3, 37, 97, 112, 119, 124, 134, 155, 188, 195, 198 Constructivist theory, 239 Continent, 5, 32 Covid-19 pandemic, 159 Cracknell, Linda, 218 Crenshaw, Kimblerlé, 33 Critical postfeminist, 169–182 Criticism, 43, 83, 159 Cross-disciplinary, 210, 211 Cultural appropriation, 143 Cultural memory, 130 D Darwinism, 56 Davis, Angela, 132, 145 Death, 16, 21, 37, 76, 77, 83 Decentralised, 120 Decolonise, 6, 8, 48 Defensive othering, 194 Deities, 108 Deleuze, G., 5, 107–113, 123, 217 Democracy Now (2020), 145 Destivelle, Catherine, 60 Deterritorialise, 121, 122 Dialogic, 73–84 Difference, 2–5, 32, 34, 36, 39, 40, 42, 45, 47, 48, 74, 81, 111, 160, 161, 188–189, 191, 194, 262, 264, 267, 268 DiGiulian, Sasha, 174 Dis/ability, vii, 2, 5, 6, 33, 73–84, 154, 200, 240 Disclosure, 95, 100, 101, 103

275

Discourses, vii, viii, 3, 5, 6, 32, 33, 36, 44, 45, 53, 57, 74, 114, 117, 132, 134, 156, 173, 209–232, 239, 267 Discrimination, 2, 3, 7, 33, 45, 80, 131, 143, 187–201 Disempowering, 245, 246, 251, 252 Diverse, 3, 40, 90–92, 103, 109, 110, 113, 114, 118, 123, 140, 142, 154, 156, 163, 170, 188, 189, 219, 220, 223 Diversity, 7, 34, 45, 75, 90, 91, 110–112, 117, 139, 157, 160, 164, 178, 181, 194, 197, 200, 201, 215, 220, 258, 265, 269 Domesticity, 33, 44 Domestic roles, 32 Dominant norms, 2, 33, 35, 265, 268 Dramaturgical, 92, 94–96, 103 Dualistic, 259 Duoethnography, 6, 73–84 E Eco-conscientization, 7 Ecological, 210–212, 216, 218–220, 223, 226, 247 Ecological systems theory, 158 Ecopsychology, 7, 210, 211 Efficacy, 248, 253, 258 Egalitarian, 40 Ego, 230, 250, 258 Eighteenth century, 15, 22, 26, 35 Elitist, 51 Embodied, 2, 4, 5, 35, 46, 58, 63, 83, 104, 110, 117–119, 140, 210, 214, 216–219, 223, 230 Embodiments, 2, 8, 58, 61, 109–112, 114, 269 Emerson, Ralph Waldo, 25 Emotional intelligence, 157 Emotional labour, 8, 38, 44, 190, 191, 196, 261, 264, 265, 268

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Employment, 3, 75 Epistemology, 111, 114, 131, 170, 172, 177, 246, 260 Equality, 4, 32, 37, 38, 46–48, 64, 100, 131, 160, 161, 181, 197, 241, 246, 248 Equity, 6–7, 74, 139, 154, 155, 159, 160, 172, 181, 201 Erasure, 135 Escapism, 7 Essentialising, 2 Ethical, 6, 92, 179 Ethics of care, 118, 121 Ethnicity, 2, 6, 109, 112, 113, 118, 119, 123, 124, 131, 243 Ethnocentrism, 239 Ethnographic, 104 Evocative autoethnography, 259, 260, 268 Exclusivity, 2 Expeditions, 3, 31, 32, 35–48, 53, 63–66, 75, 79, 80, 111, 114, 210–212, 214, 238, 241 Exploitation, 131, 132 Exploration, 2, 6, 26, 34, 56, 57, 65, 66, 73–84, 108, 145, 211, 217, 218, 222, 223, 225 F Familial, 32, 37, 38, 44 Fathers, 37, 76, 83 Fear of failure, 250 Feelings, 22, 23, 35, 39, 42, 62, 80, 83, 94, 122, 155, 156, 161, 177, 178, 190, 196, 217, 237, 239, 240, 242, 243, 245, 248–251, 263–268 The Feldenkrais Method®, 222 Female coach mentorship scheme, 158 Femininity, 2, 33, 38, 39, 42, 45, 48, 62, 90, 110, 121, 134, 173, 174, 180, 190

Feminism, 6, 42, 130, 131, 170, 172–174, 240 Feminist, vii, viii, 3, 4, 8, 33, 34, 81, 84, 112, 113, 131, 132, 137, 138, 145, 169, 171, 172, 175, 176, 179, 180 First ascensionists, 133, 139–141, 143 First ascents (FA), 32, 36, 39, 42, 57, 133, 135, 138, 141, 143, 214 First World War, 212 Firsthand, 104 Flâneur, 224 Flash Foxy Festival, 141 Frames of reference, 239–242, 245, 246, 248, 251 Fraternal, 112, 137 Freedom, 22, 109, 119, 121, 123, 143, 169 Freire, Paulo, 175–177, 179, 181, 237, 242, 268 French, 52, 57, 63, 66 G Gandi, Indira, 46 Gaslit, 80 Gatekeeper, 118, 121 Gau Ming H, 35, 36 Gay, 90, 91, 94 Gender dynamics, 29, 178, 181 Gender gap, 7, 238 Gender parity, 7, 153–164 Gender politics, vii, 3 Geography, 4, 26, 29, 121 Geopolitical, 66 Gilbert, Richard, 141, 142 Ginsberg, Ruth Bader, 187 Girls, 5, 8, 29, 37, 43, 62, 90, 117, 172, 176, 241, 257, 267 Glaciers, 77 Global, 2, 5, 34, 42, 43, 46, 48, 112, 132, 219 Globalisation, 112

 INDEX 

Global south, 6, 113, 123, 124 Goffman, Erving, 92–104 Governance, 2–5 Governing bodies, 180, 258, 267 GPS, 22 Grassroots resistance, 131, 136, 141, 144 Grounded theory, 239 Growth mindset, 246, 247, 251, 252 Guattari, F., 107–110, 123 Guidebooks, v, vii, 24, 133, 137, 139, 141–143, 145, 217 Guides, 6, 19, 21–24, 26, 27, 32, 35, 46, 59, 61–64, 67, 82, 93, 113, 136, 138, 139, 145, 189–193, 195–201, 217, 238 Gunn, Neil, 216 H Haptic, 7, 210 Hard and soft risk, 81 Hargreaves, Alison, v, 60, 83 Harm, 77, 142, 201 Hate speech, 140 Hegemonic, 2, 209–232 Hegemonic masculinity, 5, 51–68, 77, 90, 91, 98, 103, 104, 155, 162, 214, 215 Helplessness, 138 Helvellyn, 17, 18, 27 Hero, 5, 47, 63, 66, 67, 76, 212 Heroism, vii, 2, 42, 77 Herzog, 66, 67 Heterogeneity, 4, 107, 113, 120, 121 Heteronormative, 5, 91, 137, 193 Heterosexist norms, 156 Heuristic, 7 Hierarchies, 52, 57–64, 67, 68, 194, 196, 197, 220 High-altitude, vi, 3, 32, 36, 39, 42, 44, 47, 48, 214 Himalayan Mountain Trust, 36

277

Himalayas, 31–32, 40, 42, 45, 57, 64, 65, 123 Hochschild, Arlie Russell, 190, 264 Homophobic, 6, 90, 94, 133, 137, 143 Homosexuals, 64, 239 Homosocial, 33, 137, 156 Honourific, 130 Honouring High Places, 32, 48 Humanistic, 4 Humiliation, 79 Hypermasculine, 2, 4, 37, 98, 137, 215 Hyper-sexualisation, 193 Hypervigilant, 188, 243 I Identity, 2, 4, 33, 45, 58, 74, 81, 90–92, 95–98, 101, 103, 111–114, 120, 123, 131, 154, 157, 160, 200, 239, 240, 245 Ideologies, 5, 56, 58, 59, 64, 135, 158, 216, 240 Impairment, 80 Imperialism, 37, 56, 211, 212 Impression management, 92, 94, 97, 100–103 Inadequate, 77, 78 Inclusion, 5, 7, 32, 42, 48, 74–76, 91, 107, 108, 118, 154, 164, 181, 188, 197, 199, 200, 269 Inclusive, vii, 6, 73, 77, 84, 91, 108, 109, 117, 121, 123, 124, 138–140, 143, 153, 156, 158, 161, 163, 189, 197, 199, 267 Independence, 21, 22, 43, 65, 80–82 Independent, 33, 79, 81 India, 35, 40, 46, 65 Indigenous, 45, 46, 121, 132, 135, 136, 141–143, 145, 216 Indigenous Peoples, 45, 46, 132, 134, 135, 141, 212, 221

278 

INDEX

Indignity, 79 Inequalities, 2–4, 6–8, 32–34, 38, 39, 90, 163, 169–171, 174, 175, 177, 178, 180, 181, 257, 258, 267 Inferior, 60, 134, 191, 216, 240, 252, 261 Inferiority, 187, 189, 245, 268 Innovating, 8, 48 Inspiration porn, 78 Instagram, 174 Institute of Outdoor Learning (IOL), 154, 162 Institutional, 6, 51, 92, 130, 133, 158 Internalised, 138, 157, 243, 245, 249, 259 International Federation of Mountain Guides Association (IFMGA), 199–201 Interpersonal, 100, 158, 238, 246, 251, 252 Intersect/intersecting, 3–5, 33, 34, 81, 84 Intersection/intersectional/ intersectionality, vii, viii, 1, 3–6, 31–48, 110, 113, 114, 119, 131, 138, 142, 146, 154, 160, 198, 200–201, 210, 211, 215, 219 Inter-war culture, 212 Into The Mountain, 7, 209–232 Intra-personal, 242, 246, 251–252 Intruders, 6, 187 Invisibility, 5, 83, 94–103 J Japan, viii, 32, 35–38, 40, 44, 45, 47, 220 Japanese, 32, 34–48, 220, 229 Japanese Alpine Club, 35, 37 Japanese Alps, 32 Japanese Women’s Annapurna Expedition (JWAE), 40, 42, 45

Japanese Women’s Everest Expedition (JWEE), 31, 32, 40, 43–46 Johnson, Samuel, 15, 16 Joshi-Tohan, 32, 40, 42 Justice, viii, 3, 91, 129, 154, 237, 240 K K2, 83 Kangchenjunga, 65 Karakoram, 65 Khumbu icefall, 79 Kinship, 209, 210, 223 Kogan, Claude, 31 Koichi Yoko-o, 38 Kojima, Usui, 35 Krakauer, John, 35, 36 L Laddish, 134 Laddish masculinity, 137, 216 Lake District, viii, 16, 17, 24–26 Land Art movement, 219 Le Blond, Elizabeth, 59, 60 Leadership, viii, 2, 3, 5–7, 43–45, 47, 57, 77, 84, 99, 178, 189, 191, 192, 194, 198, 200, 237–253, 258, 259, 266 Leaky pipeline, 155, 156 Learning, 8, 46, 58, 74–76, 81, 101–103, 155, 159, 170, 201, 216, 237–253, 258, 263, 265, 266, 268 Learning environments, 252, 266 Leave No Trace, 187 Legitimacy, 39, 43, 44, 52, 264, 265, 268 Leisure, viii, 1–8, 35, 37, 74, 124, 131, 133, 134, 170–172, 179, 180, 189, 244, 264, 265 Lesbian, 75 LGBTQ+, 90

 INDEX 

Life cycles, 118 Life stories, 42, 74, 113, 114 Lifestyle climbers, 3 Linguistic sexism, 266, 267 Literary, 4, 27, 33, 35, 41, 46, 48, 53, 66, 212, 216, 218 Lithic, 218 Living a Feminist Life, 132 Locker room talk, 99 M Machismo, 242 Male allyship, 36–39, 153, 161 Male/female binaries, 2 Male institutions, 2 Manaslu, 37 Manliness, 2, 4, 17, 54–59, 62, 63, 67 Mansplaining, 21 Maps, 16, 21, 22, 24, 27, 130, 135, 136, 217, 219, 243, 251 Marginalisation/marginalised, 32, 61, 63, 103, 113, 140, 144, 170, 245, 268 Martineau, Harriet, 17, 24–29 Masculine spaces, 6, 8 Masculine virility, 212 Masculinist, 2, 4, 33 Masculinities, vii, viii, 3–5, 7, 33, 36–39, 42, 44, 48, 51–68, 77, 81, 90, 91, 98, 103, 104, 134–137, 155, 162, 173, 212, 214, 215, 265, 268 Material, 4, 53, 258 Materialise, 110, 112, 119, 121, 122 Meiji era, 35 Melanie Chambers, 144 Melanin Base Camp, 130, 142 Memoirs, 42, 48, 216, 260–267, 269 Menstruation, 214 Mentoring, 67, 158–160, 162, 163, 198, 247 Messner, Reinhold, 41

279

Mexican-mestiza women, 34, 110, 115–116, 119–121, 123, 124 Mexico, viii, 5, 108–109, 117, 119 Mezirow, J., 8, 237–240, 242, 245, 267 Microaggressions, 189, 190, 193–195, 199, 245, 251 Middle-aged, 36, 75 Middle-class, 2, 34, 55, 75, 109, 113, 138, 214 Middle-class men, 58 Mindfulness, 222 Minority groups, 3, 258 Misgendered, 96 Misogynistic, 6, 90, 131, 133, 134, 136–138, 140, 141, 143 Misogyny, 90, 99, 100, 136, 140, 174 Misrepresentation, 41, 42 Mobilities, 75, 76, 79, 135, 196, 213 Moffat, Gwen, 238 Moral career, 102, 103 Moral values, 55 More Than a Mountain: One Woman's Everest, 77 More-than-human, 7, 223 Motherhood, 33, 43–45, 112, 117, 118, 155, 215 Mountaincraft, 231 Mountaineering and Climbing Instructor (MCI), 154, 159 Mountaineering practices, 3, 6, 117, 118, 123, 124, 223 Mountain leadership, 8, 153, 154, 156–159, 163, 164, 237–253 Mountain skill courses, 257–269 Mount Elbrus, 89, 95–97, 101 Mount Everest, 31, 36, 42, 43, 47, 76 Mount Fuji, 32 Mount Kilimanjaro, 90, 97, 99, 101 Mount Nasu-Dake, 31–32, 37 Mt. Utopia, 76 Multi-dimensional, 5, 33 Mummery, Albert F., 57, 62

280 

INDEX

N Namba, Yasuko, 36 Naming practices, 6, 130, 131, 133, 136, 138, 140, 142 Narratives, 6–8, 34, 41, 42, 48, 53, 54, 57, 63, 65–67, 74, 81, 82, 92, 93, 102–104, 113, 114, 117, 119, 135, 181, 209–212, 220, 231, 238, 241, 248 National outdoor centres, 258, 263, 267 National Parks, 134, 135 Nation-building, 2 Neoliberal, 172, 181 Nepal, 35, 40, 45, 46, 65, 81, 113 Networks, 24, 40, 107, 156, 158, 162, 163, 200 New Materialist, 219 New technology, 133, 145 Nineteenth century, 4, 15–29, 35, 53, 55, 59, 64, 65, 211, 213, 221 Non-human, 4, 134, 217 O ‘Old boys’ networks, 156 Ontological, 221, 230 Oppression, 3, 45, 84, 131–133, 140, 141, 143, 144, 176, 188, 242 Orientalist stereotyping, 35 Otherness, 5, 108–114, 118, 119, 121, 123 Outdoor leadership, 7, 84, 153–157, 159, 162–164, 178, 247, 251, 258, 259 Outdoor sector, 155, 162, 164, 177, 178, 238 Outdoor spaces, 6, 74, 90–92, 98, 100, 188, 259, 266, 267, 269 Outdoor studies, 4 Outward Bound UK, 154, 238, 258 Overexertion, 77 Ownership, 136, 163, 199

P Pace, speed, 2, 77, 79, 156, 222, 244, 261 Pakistan, 35, 40, 65 Panacea, 8, 267, 269 Pan Duo, 42 Panty tree, 144 Parisi, Erin, viii, 5, 89–104 Participation, 2, 3, 5–8, 32, 37, 73–84, 90, 91, 108, 109, 113, 119, 122, 123, 154, 174, 189, 190, 194, 219, 241, 257–259, 268 Participatory, 180, 266 Patriarchy, 52, 61, 211, 230 Patriotism, 56 Pedagogies, viii, 7–8, 265, 268, 269 Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1970), 176 Pennines, 24 People with disability (PwD), 74, 78, 82–84 Peruvian Andes, 40 Photographs, 29 Physical appearance, 41 Physical hardship, 37 Physical labour, 262, 264–265 Physiology, 79 Pioneering, 4, 15–29, 39–42, 46–48 The playground of Europe, 4 Policies, 124, 134, 135, 155, 159, 178–182 Political activism, 32, 171, 173 Polyvocal, 74 Popular culture, 171, 173 Porters, 45, 46, 64, 66 Positivist, 230 Postfeminism, 7, 170–175, 177, 180, 181 Postfeminist, 169–182 Post-medical transition, 94 Postmodern, 219 Postmodernism, 172

 INDEX 

Poststructural, 4, 110–112, 131, 172, 173 Poststructuralist, 111, 131, 132, 172 Post-transition, 99 Post-war, 57, 65, 66 Power, 19, 34–36, 39, 54, 56, 62, 82, 108, 112, 118, 122, 131–133, 137, 139, 141, 143, 145, 146, 154, 159–161, 169, 172, 173, 180, 181, 196, 240, 241, 246, 249, 266 Power relations, 34, 35, 112, 159, 249 Praxis, 6–7, 169–182, 210, 211, 229 Prejudice, 39, 41, 44, 64, 190, 191, 245, 268 Professional, 32, 38, 56, 58, 64, 77, 112, 158, 163, 174, 177, 178, 180–182, 188–199, 201, 211, 220, 248–252, 258 Project Beta, 142 Psychological, 98, 110, 118, 121, 162, 194, 201, 250 Psychology, 4, 247 Public policies, 124 Public schools, 54–56 Publishers, 130, 139, 143, 216 Q Queen bee, 196, 197 Queer, 90, 142, 189 R Racial boundaries, 45, 46, 48 Racialised, 5, 34, 47, 107–124, 132, 133, 138, 139, 142 Racist, 6, 35, 41, 90, 129, 130, 132–134, 136, 137, 140, 143 Rak, Julie, 2, 3, 33–37, 41, 42, 45, 48, 54, 59, 77–79, 170, 210–212, 215, 220, 265

281

Rébuffat, G., 66, 77 Recreation/recreational, 17, 74, 75, 83, 111, 130, 131, 135, 146, 187–191, 195, 197, 201, 211, 215, 258 Reductionist, 36, 258 Reflection, 8, 74, 80, 93, 156, 171, 176, 179, 180, 251, 252, 258, 259, 263, 268 Reflective, 6, 92 Reflexive ethnography, 74 Relational, 7, 209–232, 251 Religious, 37, 46 Representation, 3, 4, 6, 7, 36, 41, 45, 46, 48, 54, 57, 99, 100, 173–175, 178, 216, 243, 264 Resignification, 110, 123 Resistance, 44, 55, 111, 131, 133–136, 138, 141–145, 162, 187–201 Reterritorialisation, 108, 114, 123, 124 Re-territorialised, 121 Reverend L.S. Calvert, 55 Revisionist, 82 Revolutionising, 145 Rhizomatic body, 5–6, 107–124 Risk, 2, 5, 44, 47, 74, 76, 77, 81–84, 90, 91, 95, 96, 98, 101, 102, 109, 111, 112, 118, 119, 121, 134, 160, 188, 193, 230 Ritual, 46 Rocky Mountains, 76 Roe vs. Wade, 169 Role models, 3, 67, 84, 102, 103, 156, 157, 164, 200, 238, 239, 246, 249 Romantic, 26, 39, 189 Rope skills, 260, 262 Route names, 129–134, 136–146 Rumie Sasou, 39

282 

INDEX

S Saatchi, Anaheed, 133, 138, 139, 142, 143 Sacred, 141, 142, 212 Safe spaces, 111, 153, 162, 164, 263 Sagarmatha, 46 Same-sex, 159 Sangaku kikobun, 35 Scafell, 16–19, 25, 26, 29 Scotland, 15, 22, 24, 213, 217, 218, 221, 260, 262, 263 Semiotic, 2 Sense making, 170, 260, 264–268 Sensory, 2, 210, 222, 223 Sensual, 217 Separatism, 159 Setsuko Kitamura, 47 Settler-colonial state, 6, 130 Seven continents, 32 Seven Summits, viii, 89 Sexism, vii, viii, 6, 8, 32, 48, 74, 77, 84, 94, 99, 100, 131, 132, 138, 144, 190, 192, 195, 264–268 Sexual harassment, 90, 119, 156 Sexuality, vii, 2, 5, 33, 34, 48, 131, 180, 190, 200, 240 Sexually aggressive, 137 Shepherd, Nan, 7, 209, 210, 216–218, 220, 221, 223–225, 227–231 Sherpa, 45, 46, 61, 63, 64, 67, 81 Shinto Mountain pilgrimage, 37 Silenced, 2, 4, 103, 268 Simpson, Joe, 63, 215 Site-relational performance, 7, 210, 218 Skreslet, Laurie, 76 Slang, 140 Slow, 37, 77, 79 Snow, vi, 4, 261 Snowdon, 17, 20–24 Social change, 3, 47 Social distinction, 33, 52

Socialisation, 103, 240, 251, 252 Social norms, 4, 43, 44, 98, 190 Social processes, 35 Social shaming, 4 Socio-cultural, 1, 113, 118, 119, 123, 130, 158, 159, 241 Socio-economic, 154, 240 Sociology, viii, 4, 138, 140 Solidarity, 6, 120, 122, 123 Solo climb, 17 Somatic, 210, 216, 218, 220, 223, 225, 229 Sororal, 110–112, 122, 124 Sorority, 6, 123 Speed, 2, 77 Spiritual, 215, 216 Sports, 1–8, 17, 19, 29, 33, 37, 51–68, 89–92, 104, 109, 110, 118, 122, 123, 129, 134, 135, 137, 140, 143–146, 154, 155, 158–161, 170, 173–175, 178–180, 190, 195, 211, 213, 215, 239, 257–259, 264, 266 Squamish, 139, 142 Stealth, 5, 91, 94–103 Stephen, Lesley, 4, 56, 61, 62 Stereotyped, 79, 243 Stigma, 83, 92, 94, 97, 103, 112 Stoddart Hazlitt, Sarah, 22 Strategies, 3, 4, 6–8, 59, 60, 97, 102, 110, 111, 119, 122, 123, 141, 144, 153–155, 158, 161–164, 178, 181, 182, 198, 247, 258, 259 Stratum, 110, 111, 114, 117–121, 124 Stravaiging, 223, 224 Strength, 2, 25, 39, 41, 47, 55, 56, 58, 60, 64, 80, 90, 98, 117, 119, 121, 123, 189, 214, 215, 230, 231, 266 Structural, 6, 134, 155, 179 Subjugate, 132, 169

 INDEX 

283

Subordination, 2, 33, 34, 52 Summiteer, 78 Summits, 5, 6, 16, 18–20, 22, 25, 27, 29, 31, 36, 37, 39, 40, 42, 46, 57, 62, 67, 74, 76, 77, 79, 80, 83–84, 90, 101, 117, 156, 201, 216, 231, 244, 264 Superhuman, 78, 213 Sustainable, 6 Symbolic, 51, 61, 64, 112, 121 Symbols of slavery, 145

Transgender, 5, 90–92, 114, 124, 188 Transmigration, 218, 221 Transnational, 129 Transphobia, 94 Transphobic, 90, 94, 133, 143 Tshering, Ang, 41 Tsing, Anna, 216 Twentieth-century, 31, 33, 35–37, 56, 59, 109, 169, 213, 216, 240 Twenty-first century, 4, 36, 59, 169, 212

T Tabei, Junko, viii, 5, 7, 31–48 Tabei, Masanobu, 38, 44 Technical ability, 39, 248, 267 Technical competence, 156, 163, 242, 252 Technical training, 119 Terray, Lionel, 63, 66 Territorial sexism, 266 Thematic analysis, 93, 94, 239 This Girl Can, 172 Thompson, Ashleigh, 142–143 Tibetan, 42, 45 Tosh, Josh, 55, 58, 59 Tourism, 4, 24, 33–36, 46, 48, 107–109, 111, 120, 122–124 Toxic masculinity, 134, 136, 137 Traditionally, 3, 90, 98, 119, 242, 245, 267 TrailRider®, 75, 75n1, 82, 84 Trans*, viii, 89–94, 101, 103 Transcended, 4, 38, 43–46 Transending7, 5, 93 Transform, 6, 16, 101, 133, 144, 145, 176, 251 Transformation/transformational, viii, 1–8, 17, 32, 48, 75, 111, 129–146, 157, 158, 172, 173, 181, 190, 248–251, 258

U Unconscious bias, 8, 161, 164, 265–267 Underrepresentation, 2, 197, 258 Underwear, 144 United Nations, 46 Unsworth, W., 41, 66, 67 The Untrodden Peak, 65 Unwelcome “rescue,” 78 Unworthiness, 266 Upper class, 51, 54, 55 USA, 6, 25, 33, 97, 129–137, 142, 169, 241 Utomo, Melissa, 133, 139, 142, 143, 145 V Valorisation, 211 The Venture Out Project, 189 Victorian, 2, 4, 5, 55–59, 62, 67, 212–214 Violence, 136, 140 Visibility, 6, 96, 98, 102, 122, 220 Voices, 5, 6, 34, 43, 74, 94, 103, 157, 158, 163, 181, 198, 216, 219, 220, 231, 267, 268 Vulnerability, 111, 117–119, 121, 162, 212, 214, 215, 263

284 

INDEX

W Wales, 20 Walking Arts, 224 Wanderlust, 157 Watanabe-sensei, 37 Ways of being, 3, 6, 130, 144, 146, 210, 211, 230, 231, 244 Weakness, 2, 80, 81, 90, 247, 264, 265, 268 Weeton, Ellen, 16, 17, 20–25 Well-being, 37, 110, 118, 121, 193, 194, 229, 242 Wasdale Mountain Rescue, 16 Western-centric, 34 Wheelchair, 75, 78 White male history, 48 White man’s world, 123, 192 Whiteness, 36, 132 White supremacy, 132, 141 Whymper, Edward, 62 Wilderness, 134–135, 188, 189, 216, 221 Women’s Climbing Symposium, 267

Women’s outdoor leadership course (WOLC), 8, 157, 159, 238, 246–252 Women-only, 7, 32, 39, 40, 42, 44, 45, 48, 60, 159, 214, 246, 248–250, 252, 258, 259, 263, 264, 267–269 Women-specific, 8, 159, 258–260, 267, 268 Women’s Trad Festival, 267 Wood, Sharon, 76 Wordsworth, Dorothy, 4, 16–20, 25, 26, 29 Wordsworth, William, 16, 17 Workplace Bullying, 196 Worldview, 231, 239 Y Yellowstone National Park, 134 The Yomiuri Shimbun, 43 Yosemite, 33 Younghusband, 65